As Lin felt the tension between the Raikage break, her own mind wavered as well, she was going to kill him, that was what she was about to do. No, no this man, the thing that was in front of her, no matter how protected by chakra, was the Raikage's soul. It was a manifestation of his chakra, nothing else. This was not someone who had a heart, lungs, bones, or skin. He wasn't made of blood, and lymph, and tendons, he was made from some other thing, a manifestation of the collective consciousnesses of the kages before her.

She drove the chidori harder, breaking through his outer shell with surprising ease, she had thought that it was a protective barrier, and found, pleasantly, that it was not. It plunged deep into one of his lungs, some of the arcs hitting his heart, she could feel the inside of the chakra Raikage as he spit up blue blood all over her.  She could feel his heart, moved it away and grabbed onto his spine, he wouldn't go down with just that would he? Others had sustained much worse, and she didn't know what type of chakra being he was. Perhaps he fed on chakra, parhaps she had just given him the boost that he needed to keep fighting?

Her own aura blazed forth, renewed vigor as she wrapped her fingers around his spine, separating the muscle from it and gripping. Then his words reached her ears, he leaned his head on her shoulder, and she could feel his muscles relax, unresponsive to the pain he must have been feeling. She retracted her hand and gripped him under the ribs, as she was taught to do as a nurse in the hospital before she became an Iryoninja, an iryo kunoichii. He said that he was proud of her, and she didn't know what to say, perhaps it was pride that kept her lips shut, but no... that wasn't it, it was a sense of... a sense of loss. She wasn't going to be herself anymore.

She couldn't date whoever she wanted, and let the world burn, but had to keep the world from burning. She would be constantly on display, constantly a person to be admired, feared, or despised. Perhaps, she would be loved, but it would be the people's love, and she would probably not be able to get anyone to love her in the way that she had always yearned. Perhaps she could find someone to love her that way. No sense in making any plans yet.

Sanosuke's body slumped forward a bit, he repeated all that she was saying in her head, she wasn't living for just her anymore. Perhaps she wasn't right to take on this mantle, perhaps... No. No she may not be the perfect person, but she fit the bill right now. She would hand off the Raikage spot if anyone else had a better chance at making Kumogakure successful, happy, and healthy, but she wouldn't squander the chance that was given her.

"I already gave it up to the patients of the Kumogakure hospital a while ago, to the villagers outside of Kumogakure, and to the people that I helped every day with my missions. Now I am willing to give it up for the good of all of Kumogakure no sato. I am willing to fight for them,
to heal them, and to guide them should they need it. The people of Kumogakure are strong, and need little guidance, but a nudge here and a prod there wouldn't hurt."

Her knee gave out, she slumped to the ground, exhausted. The Raikage falling with her, she grit her teeth and looked from him to the wound. Ripping the fabric of her shirt, she made a makeshift tourniquet and wrapped the knee, just above the wound, to stop the arterial bleeding. It wouldn't have taken long to bleed out, the adrenaline pushing blood much faster than she was used to. Her leg was 10 meters away, and she could reattach it. Was it getting cold in here? Her vision was blurry, and she could see spots, perhaps the spots were the dim glow of the kages in the room, or perhaps they were wisps coming to take her away from consciousness.

No, she would fight to stay awake. She would fight to the very end of it all. First thing's first, she would reattach her leg, then help Sanosuke. It was much the same practice as when people fly on an airplane, save yourself and then save others, you are useless if you fall unconscious before you have the chance to save others, she started to crawl towards her leg, setting down Sanosuke before she did. She would be able to reach it in a bit of time, just needed to keep going, keep fighting. She could have regrown it, if she had the technique to do so, but she had used it too recently, couldn't remember the way to make her guanyin needle, not in time anyhow. The pain shot through her leg, giving her an adrenaline shot of energy. She would make it.

WC: 6517

Chakra Remaining:

So it wasn't as though she was blindly accepting this role without any thoughts of what her fate would be like once she had taken the mantle. Just from her answer, she knew full well what she was giving up. Sanosuke had wondered if thats what Reika would have experienced if she was still alive and it was her time to pass the baton to him. Would she experience any guilt that giving him her duty as Raikage would mean putting a halt of Sanosuke's nomadic tendencies of traveling and fighting stronger foes than the ones he had faced in the past? Lin had already stated that as a medic of the village, she had already forsaken her name and her desires. That was right, she was the village's best medic. And for her to do so well against him, Sanosuke couldn't help but chuckle softly. [color=teal]"...good answer."/color] Sanosuke was able to get out with a smile on his lips. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to keep his eyes open. He just wanted to rest at the moment. He was cold. Blood was seeping from his wound. Even as an astral projection, Sanosuke could feel that his time was closing to an end.

As the lights in his eyes were slowly beginning to dim, Sanosuke could see the gigantic crystal overhead above them beginning to glow brightly with an enormous amount of chakra gathering at its tip. A bolt of lightning was being prepared to strike the both of them. It was custom for the ending match of the Trial by Lightning to end with the combatants being struck by a bolt of lightning. While having the same pain of being struck directly by a bolt of lightning, it will ultimately lead to the living participant's wounds being mostly healed. The more serious wounds like limbs being maimed and other wounds on the same level would be treated, but obviously a medic will still have to have a look at the wounds. Considering Lin was a medic, Sanosuke knew she'd be fine herself. All that was left for the lightning bolt to strike them both, and his projection itself will be erased.

The sound of thunder rippling and a flash of white light was all Sanosuke's dying projection was able to take in from his surroundings as the lightning bolt struck the both of them. He felt no pain from the lightning bolt as his projection was wiped clean from battlefield. When the light died down, Sanosuke opened his eyes to see he was back in his earthly body still in his cat form and in the arms of Reika. She was watching Lin the entire time, mystified at what she was seeing. All the Raikage were. They had witnessed the birth of a Raikage before their very eyes. They were all pleased with the candidate that was chosen. Sanosuke smirked from his cat henged form as he leaped from Reika's arms and bounded over to Lin's form. She'd most likely need a hand to help her get herself up from the ground if she could manage. Sanosuke released his henged form, and approached the girl. He was still no longer in his Raikage robes, but in his garments that he'd wear underneath the robes.

Sanosuke reached out with his hand for her to take, "Well then Raikage, need some help getting up from the ground? Sanosuke asked using the word Raikage. For once the title was being used and it was being used to reference himself. It was as though a weight that was on his chest had been moved and he could move once more. He was free from the weight of the village having such a hold on his fate. Sanosuke had regained his independence. Now he was free to move without it being a reflection of the village. Smirking to himself, the long silver haired man began to wonder where he should go to first with his new freedom. But first he'd guide Lin out of the cave.

If she'd allowed him, Sanosuke would put the girl on his back and carry her out of the sacred chambers of the Raikages. Sanosuke would look back at the spirits one more time before walking up with Lin on his back. There was a new spirit among them all, it was Sanosuke's own. As a Raikage, it'd make sense for his spirit to join the others. The spirit of the Jyuudaime Raikage, looked back at the physical representation of himself as the two starred at one another. The Raikage Sanosuke Flynt and the Wandering Sage Sanosuke Flynt. The two identities, or halves if preferred, were now seperate beings. One would live on in Kumo as being one of the hearts of the village, protecting it from the inside along with the other Raikage spirits; the other would protect Kumo from the outside. With a simple nod, Sanosuke turned his back on the spirits of his predecessors, and walked towards the door. With a push from his chakra, the doors would creak open to reveal the stairs. He knew that if he'd look back, the spirits would no longer be there with them in the chamber. Even then, Sanosuke could still feel their eyes on the two of them; more so on Lin Katonrai, the Jyuuichidaime Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato.

[leave thread]