Once the others were on their way, Ashikuma turned to face Hinji. He grinned savagely and bowed his head slightly, gesturing to the team mates he had let escape. "See? We have no reason to keep those fools here. The others will see to them. You belong to us." He licked his chops and growled at the boy.

Hinji simply scoffed at the man. "You will find that I belong to no one but myself and the shadows." his raven cawed from his shoulder as he spoke. "I give you this chance to return to the Eternal Frost village and turn yourself in."

"Turn ourselves in?" Ashikuma laughed at that. "Ye really have no idea who ye're talkin to do yah?" He twisted his neck until it popped and then he growled again, still in the form of the man-beast mimicry.

"All right." Hinji said as he plucked a card from his hat and tossed it into the air where it burst and five shadow trails shot to the ground. From their impact spots, gremlin looking creatures crawled from the ground. They looked at the man and his bear and cackled as they each drew two long, curved knives.

Ashikuma couldn't help but grin from ear to ear when he saw the little gremlins. "They look good enough to eat, wouldn't ye say, Brutus?" He asked of his partner, who turned and nodded his identical head.

Hinji did nothing but point his finger at the two ninjas and the gremlins screamed and charged towards them. Two went after the bear while three went for the man, with their knives ready to pierce flesh. Hinji plucked another card from his hat and set it in the ground in front of him, but nothing happened except for a slight vibration in the ground between the rogue ninjas and himself.

Twisting to look at each other, Ashikuma and Brutus nodded and spun into a powerful taijutsu move. The air rippled around them as they spun their bodies forward. "Fang over fang!" He called out, declaring their joined attack as they slashed through the pitiful little gremlins.

The gremlins were small and weak looking, but they were much faster and agile then they were given credit for. Three fell, but two managed to get out of the way and continued to cackle. From the shadowy wisps that was the remains of the felled gremlins arose two new gremlins from each pile. They likewise began to cackle and charge towards the attacking ninjas. Hinji watched in satisfaction as they did their jobs.

Brutus growled as the number of gremlins doubled. Ashikuma looked at Hinji and couldn't help but grin. "Old trick with a new look. Interesting."

Hinji started to worry if he had under estimated his opponent. Began to worry that such a simple trick would quickly be defeated. Before he could dwell much on these worries he let out a frustrated huff and blew them away. He instead returned to preparing for his next move. His gremlins, however, surged forward, looking to spill the blood of Brutus and Ashikuma.

"Beserker Fury!" Ashikuma declared as he spun in a massive spinning cyclone of claws. Brutus mimicked him perfectly and tore through the other half of the gremlins. They were the perfect tag-team, the only thing that separated the two of them was the fact that Ashikuma could speak.

The gremlins were ripped apart before any of them could land a strike, it seems Hinji's worries were quite founded. He went through his mental card list before grabbing one he knew would be better against such a melee oriented foe. He threw the card and from it sprang a creature that looked like a merging of a monkey and a porcupine. It pulled out one of its quills, which was quickly replaced, for each hand and began lobbing these razor sharp projectiles at the two enemies with near blinding speeds.

The man-beast twins dodged back and forth from the quills. There was no doubt in Ashikuma's mind that this boy's attacks would be poisonous. In unison, they formed the necessary handsigns. The fur sprouted all over their bodies, forming thick and dense armor of stark white fur. There was a sheen to the coat of fur and it glistened in the sunlight. "Frost Armor!" The ninja declared as the dark quills pegged into the fur-armor on the two of them.

The creature continued its relentless assault on them from afar as Hinji returned to plotting. This man and his bear were by far the hardest opponent he had faced thus far, considering he hadnt fought much more then a giant pig and one of his fellow students, but this one was far superior then anything he expected.

"Give it up boy!" Ashikuma called as the quilled creature pummeled them with spines. The white fur was beginning to look more and more black as the needles dug into the armor with no visible effect. "Ye can't beat us!"

"I bet that would sound more convincing if you weren't so far away." Hinji said over the sound of his creature, "I would challenge you to come at me, but I think I prefer your stench over there."

Ashikuma snarled, "You're the coward who's hiding behind summons." TO emphasize his point, he threw a handful of ninja stars at the quill-beast

Hinji's creature did an impressive series of twists, turns, and dodges and evaded the ninja stars easily and even managed to return fire during its evasion. "This coming from someone who sends a bear to do some of his fighting." Hinji countered.

"I don't send Brutus to do anything." Ashikuma replied with a growl. He rushed forward to keep the creature occupied as Brutus moved around to the other side of it.

The ground rumbled as Ashikuma began across the ground between him and Hinji's creature. Suddenly dark tentacles with curved, barbed spines ripped through the ground and sought out Ashikuma's limbs and torso.

Ashikuma snarled as the tentacles wrapped around him, the spines driving into his fur armor. The fur was thick enough to protect him, as long as the bindings didn't tighten at least. Brutus tackled the quill-beast from behind and tore at it with his claws.

More tentacles joined the others as they started to tug him down, as if trying to pull him under the ground. Hinji watched as his creature fell to the superior bear, and took this time to summon another creature. Now infront of the bear was a large humanoid shadow that stood about 7-8 feet, two red glowing dots for eyes stared down at the bear before striking out with a large fist in an uppercut.

With a POOF! Brutus broke from his beast-man mimicry as he flew through the air from the uppercut. He landed with a slightly sickening thud. "Brutus!!!" Ashikuma hollered from his confining tentacles. He spun, pulling the bonds tighter around his body, "Fang Over Fang!" The claws tore through the tightened bonds, tearing the tentacles to ribbons.

The tentacles were ripped apart, but only gave Ashikuma a few inches before more tentacles burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around him, pulling harder. The shadow creature gave no quarter as it lumbered, quickly, after the bear to continue its assault.

Ashikuma growled as the tentacles wrapped around him again. He couldn't do the same trick twice here, he highly doubted that. But Brutus needed his help. He'd fallen out of the jutsu, that wasn't a good sign. It didn't take him long to figure out what would work best right now. He didn't even need the handsigns for this jutsu. His chest expanded, engulfing his arms and then his legs pulled up inside the ball of fur armor. Before his head disappeared inside it, he called out the name of his jutsu. "Bear Boulder!" The giant ball of man-beast spun in place, the opposite direction of the wrapping tentacles, sending them away from himself. Dirt and snow kicked up behind him as he surged forward, free of the tentacles

"Crap." Hinji said as the tentacles continued to pop out at Ashikuma, only to be brushed away like nothing. He knew he was going to have keep the two of them separated or this fight was going to be horrendous. He tossed another card between himself and Ashikuma and, as the tentacles ceased to try, a giant black barrier sprung up from the ground and was bristling with spikes blades.

Ashikuma ground to a stop before the black wall of spikes. His armor groaned as it smashed into the spikes. With a POOF! he leaped back and glared at Hinji. "Your wall won't protect you forever."

Nor did Hinji expect it too, he turned his attention back to the fight with the bear. He knew he was going to have to put that thing down quickly or Ashikuma will rejoin with him and create a bad situation.

Hinji had no idea what sort of a bad situation Ashikuma and Brutus could make if they rejoined again. He still had a few trump cards up his non-existent sleeves, but the majority of them required the assistance of the bear. He showed off another set of his jutsu tricks as his arms expanded outward into massive giant arms. He tore his claws through the air and smashed them into the black wall of Hinji's defense.

Brutus crawled to his feet and shook his head, sloshing saliva through the air. His fur bristled and he growled at the black shadowy giant as it approached.

The wall shook violently as parts of it crumbled under Ashikuma's assault. Hinji's list of viable summons was dwindling, but he did have to admit being impressed by his opponents strength. Fortunately the giant was fairing much better against its opponent as it finally closed the gap and reengaged, trying to get the bear in a headlock to either snap its neck or remove its jaw.

Brutus curled into a ball and expanded, using the same jutsu that Ashikuma had. The bear expanded into a massive furry white ball the size of a car. It rolled forward, surging into the giant, sending snow and dirt flying up into the air behind it.

The giant caught the ball that was Brutus and tried to over come him, but was unable to and fell under, instantly crushed. The sign it ever existed was the black mist that rose from the spot where it was crushed before being blown away by the wind. With nothing but his wall in between him and defeat, Hinji had to think quick. He pulled two cards from his hat, the first card he threw through the wall and in front of Ashikuma appeared two large Anacondas who hissed menacingly. The second he placed against his chest and two more Hinjis appeared next to him.

Brutus turned and headed for the wall, to protect his partner. Ashikuma dispersed the giant arms in order to better defend himself from the large snakes. A huge grin was across his face, this was turning out to be quite a fight

The two anacondas sprang into action against Ashikuma, one seeking to constrict the man and bind his arms. The other one lunged to disables Ashikuma's legs.

Ashikuma couldn't believe this boy was restraining him AGAIN! He fought against the constricting power of the anacondas, but their strength was greater than he anticipated. He felt his breath leave him as they tightened around him. Brutus roared and slammed into his partner, knocking the man over and digging his teeth into the black snakes.

The snake that Brutus bit, released Ashikuma and immediately recoiled onto the bear, biting and constricting. Hinji readied himself in case the snakes failed. He knew that they wouldn't expect this move should he have to use it.

The two of them struggled with the snakes, twisting about on the ground, trying to keep the fangs from digging into their throats. Brutus roared and rolled about the ground, trying to crush the snake beneath it's weight on instinct alone. Ashikuma pulled at the snake, keeping the head away from his throat and applying as much pressure as he could at the same time, hoping to choke the snake into submission.

Hinji could feel the sudden stalemate between his snakes and his opponents. With a sigh of resignation he activated his backup plan. With a flick of wrist he threw a shadow kunai with a small paper bomb attached to the back. It dug into the back of his defensive wall before detonating and sending large sharp, sometimes spiked, pieces of shrapnel into the fray of the struggling combatants

Ashikuma hissed when a spike embedded itself in his thigh. He spun with the blow and his arms expanded suddenly, bursting through the anaconda. He hated using the same jutsu twice, but when something worked, it was usually best to stick with it.

Brutus growled and rolled along the ground, trying to snap the snake's neck, while trying not to get strangled by it at the same time. If it wasn't such a deadly encounter, it might have been amusing to watch. There was a startled "Blargh!" from the bear's mouth as a hunk of the black wall speared him in the backside as he rolled with the snake.

Hinji was pleased with his little success, but now that his snakes had been destroyed in the process he had to act fast. Even though there were now three of him, that ploy would only last so long, especially since they couldn't operate independently of him. "Do you wish to surrender now?" he asked, trying to bluff the confidence he wasn't sure he had.

Ashikuma grimaced as he pulled the spike from his leg. He glared at the boy and barred his teeth. "Was gonna ask ye the same question boy." He told him as he limped to Brutus's side and pulled the chunk from his backside as well.

Hinji didn't say anything else, but instead threw another card. By now his fingertips were covered in dried blood and some fresh. The card landed and a black pool formed around it, enveloping the card. Then it started to grow upwards till it was about the same size and humanoid shape as Ashikuma. As it stood there watching the two rogue ninjas, its form seemed to shift and move as if it was a plasma-based creature.

Ashikuma looked at the new threat curiously. It didn't look like much at all to him, but then again neither did the rest of the boy's tricks. Brutus whimpered and licked at his wounded backside.

The creature hunched down and assumed a fighting stance before extending a hand, palm upward, and gesturing the universal "Come at me" gesture.

Ashikuma growled and assumed his own fighting stance. He glanced at Brutus, who seemed too over attentive to his own wound at the moment. He wouldn't be expecting any assistance from the bear this time around. He roared and surged forward, aiming a punch for the thing's head

The thing sidestepped the punch and brought a knee up to catch Ashikuma in the chest as his momentum, hopefully, carried him into it. It also added in a chop to the back of the neck for good measure.

Ashikuma somehow managed to tuck his gut in from the knee blow, avoiding it altogether. Just when he was about to make his own attack, he caught the chop at the back of his neck and pitched forward with a groan. He slammed into the thing from the force of the chop.

The figure went down and hit the snow underneath Ashikuma and turned into a puddle before quickly slithering out from under him and reforming a few feet away. Ashikuma would also notice that where he came into contact with the thing he had received harsh second degree burns and his clothes were damaged.

Ashikuma growled and whirled around to seek out his target again. The burns throbbed on his chest and he scented the air, trying to figure out what this enemy was. It burned his flesh, damaged his clothes. Acid? He wondered as he looked at the figure.

The figure did nothing, but await Ashikuma's next move. He didn't seem in a hurry to finish the fight.

Aggravated by this thing reluctance to attack, Ashikuma surged across the field to it. His claws raked through the air and sank into the thing's chest

The thing tried to counter, but wasn't quick enough. When the claws sunk in, they sunk in to the wrist and splashed stuff outward onto Ashikuma. Then the burning, searing pain set into his hands and the places splashed on. To make it worse the thing started throwing punches at the ninja's face and head.

Ashikuma howled in pain as the acid sprayed him. His nails were sizzling off, the bones beneath melting with a horrendous odor to accompany the offending appearance of it all. He hadn't been wanting to use this last jutsu, but given the current state of his body, he didn't have much choice. As his eyes met Brutus', he reached behind him and awkwardly removed a scroll. He unfurled it and pressed a blood, melting hand to the seal. The ground shook and both man and beast erupted in white smoke. The smoke plumes drifted to one another and intertwined, then expanded. When the smoke cleared way, a tremendous roar shook the entire area. A monstrous, clawed foot slammed into the ground, and the larger creature took a foreboding step forward. It towered over Hinji and his summons, towered over the buildings and trees as well. Atop the beast's monstrous shoulders, it's neck split apart and hosted two massive heads, one for each of those used for the jutsu. The creature was a giant white bear, very much like Brutus, except for the size and presence of two heads. It's fangs dripped with acidic saliva, it's claws tore into the frozen ground like a hot knife through butter. It looked down at the boy summoner and roared again, sending foul stenched gale force winds slamming into him.

Hinji's kimono fluttered from the gust of rancid breath and his hat stayed on only with the assistance of his hand. With a wave of his hand his acid minion blew away with the breath as it was no longer useful. His mind raced as he slowly came to the realization that he had next to nothing that could defeat a creature like this. With a few quick hand gestures he activated one of his few jutsus, "Shadow Augmentation jutsu." with that him and his two copies started to give off a shadowy smoke. He knew he could keep one step ahead of this beast and hopefully wear it down.

The monstrous two headed bear glared down at the boy as if it wasn't impressed at all with the child's jutsu. Though it had no idea what the jutsu was capable of, it didn't sound impressive to it. The ground trembled beneath its feet as it stepped towards the little ninja

Hinji moved in a near zip out of the current path of the walking monstrosity. He didn't know what this thing was capable of, nor did he really wish to find out. He threw shadow kunai at the creature's heads with exceptional speed and strength, even though he figured it would be more like a bee's sting then a fatal move.

The beast roared as the kunai pelted it. Hinji was right, it did feel like bee stings to it. It shivered, shaking the small weapons from its fur. It turned on the boy and roared again, sending a blast of wind at him yet again. The beast didn't have many attacks it seemed. It was rather simple minded, especially considering it had two heads...

Hinji didn't relent in his kunai attack as he moved back towards the downed building, hoping to use it to hide or cover himself till he came up with something better.

The bear roared and pounded its forelegs into the ground, sending a tremor down along the surface of the ground.

The shockwave caught Hinji unprepared and caused him to trip and fall. He got up as quickly as he could and continued towards the supposed cover of the ruined building.

The great bear loped after the poor boy, sending tremors along the ground as it thundered its pursuit of him. The chakra pouring off the beast was enough to melt the snow as it moved, the air around it rippled slightly from it's very presence

Hinji threw a card behind him that sprouted a giant wall made of upright standing, sharpened pieces of wood looking material. He hoped that would slow the beast down.

The bear roared as the wall sprouted up. It stamped its monstrous feet again, sending another tremor towards the boy, aiming to knock the wall over. For extra measure, it roared again, sending the wind blast to the wall as well

Hinji had little time to be upset about his wall going down as he was to busy being hit with shrapnel. He would have made it were it not for one piece pierced his leg and put him on the ground.

That couldn't have worked out any better if the bear had actually tried! It surged forward, foul acidic drool pouring eagerly from its mouths as it moved in for the kill

Hinji saw the creature coming for him and knew that he had to act quickly. He shifted himself so he could reach into his kimono and from it he removed a neatly rolled scroll with a single black ribbon wrapped around it to keep it together. He unfurled it and then, with a deep and preparatory sigh, he used the piece of shadow wall in his leg to gash open his arm, nearly from wrist to elbow and smeared the blood onto the scroll. As the blood activated the scroll, he used the black sash from the scroll to make a crude bandage on his arm to slow some of the bleeding.

As the scroll activated, this black mist began to pour from it at an alarming rate. At first there was no sound, but then an eerie buzzing sound grew louder and louder. The mist started to thicken and each small little speck grew into a fist size winged scarab. Soon the massive swarm of scarabs was higher then the two headed beast was tall and nearly twice as wide. When the beast got within range, the bugs set upon him and began to try and eat it's flesh.

The bear roared as it was suddenly set upon by thousands of hungry piercing mouths. It stamped its feet, causing multiple tremors in the ground, as it thrashed about madly

The tremors may have shook and hurt Hinji, but had no affect on the ravenous swarm as they started working their way under the beast's skin to the tender insides.

The beast collapsed and rolled about the ground, acting on instinct, trying to smother and crush the flesh eating insects

The bugs lost many of their numbers to the beasts rolling, but it seemed like every one that died was replaced by another. It also had no effect on the scarabs that had already crawled under it's skin.

The mighty two headed bear thrashed and growled as the insects bore deeper into it's flesh. There seemed to be no end to their menacing torture.

Nor would there be till the great beast died, then the bugs would continue to consume it till it was nothing but bones, or Hinji dismissed them. He stood from his spot on the ground and leaned heavily on his staff and watched the beast be devoured.

The beast looked at Hinji as the swarm covered it's faces. It's hate filled eyes burned with the need for vengeance as it was devoured by the shadowy insects

Hinji stared back with remorseless eyes, "I gave you a chance to surrender. You should have accepted." he said simply as he turned and started hobbling back towards the village. As slow as he was going he would be able to dismiss the swarm before they move off after finishing their meal.

Tsu was there in an instant. She'd been watching from the shadows... he'd done well. "Hey now..." she said gently, placing a gently hand on his shoulder "You did well out there." She slipped herself beneath his arm for support "We'll head back."

"Werent you supposed to be fighting the boss?" Hinji said as he subtly declined Tsu's assistance. He didn't need help walking, he needed help not bleeding to death as the shadow wall fragment evaporated and left a large hole.

"He ran away. He's heading back to the relief centre." Tsu said, grabbing him "Now shut up and let me help you." She wasn't in the mood for Hinji acting like an ass.

Hinji took that as an order and reluctantly accepted her help. He didnt feel like he needed it, but he could tell that the blood loss was starting to affect him as the edges of his vision began to blur. "We should hurry then."

"Right." Tsu said with a nod, noticing how weak he was getting "Want me to patch up your side a bit? To make sure you get there."

"No. I will make it." Hinji said with false confidence. He just wanted to get moving and away from the sound of a billion little mouths eating.

"Right, right," Tsu said, leading him away. She had quite a bit of blood over her hands and face as well. She had been mauling a bird a moment ago after all.