Despite it All

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Yuno's POV (Nearby Ruined Den - Western River Plains)

Evening

Yuno stalked forward cautiously. Despite her rapid pursuit after the young woman, she had somehow disappeared. 'She couldn't have got far, and indeed she wouldn't flee anyway. She came with her Master to stop us, which seems like a dedicated sort. It's best to be on guard; she was likely lying in wait.' Though Yuno was concerned, she couldn't help but notice that she had bypassed her Genjutsu at the last moment before Yuno kicked her away.

Somehow, the woman was hapless enough not to notice and be utterly ensnared by her illusions, but she broke through it instantly upon noticing. That simply was different from how Genjutsu's defense worked. If the woman was a genius or prodigy, it'd make sense. But purely guessing? Absurd.

However, her time to ponder was short, as suddenly, a familiar whip burst through the water's surface and lashed out violently. Yuno sidestepped the first swing, ducked a second, and ran to her left to gain bearings. 'Her whip wasn't nearly so long before.' Yuno fell into the river as she cried out in pain, a sudden impact to her back causing it to spasm in pain. Yuno looked up at the whip, and even as she fell in and choked on water, the whip had been extended by solid water. 'She used water nature to increase its length. Not to mention, hiding her position makes it challenging to entrap her in a Genjutsu. All the while, the woman could attack with relative safety. Yuno felt a burning sensation settle on her ankle and, looking down at it, realized the whip was wrapped around it. She barely held her breath as she was dragged to the surface, breaching it. She gasped for air before she was flung high into the air.

Careening high above the river, Yuno did not resist and turned to face it as she rose. The river now had the whip that had thrown her and several water tentacles. She had upped her attack volume massively.

'But throwing me away was a crucial mistake!' Yuno thought as she dug into her pouches and withdrew a handful of kunai and a matching amount of explosive tags. 'Give me time to counterattack!' She throws them among the river, each booming within the center and masking the river in smoke. 'Surely one of those-' The water tentacles burst through the smoke a moment later, disproving her hope of having managed to take her out.

Weaving hand signs, Yuno frowned as she tried a different approach. If she couldn't use Genjutsu on Tamaki, perhaps the environment? Weaving a relatively weak, illusionary blank sky before her, she waited with bated breath. However, yet again, the tentacles burst through it without hesitation. How was she so quickly seeing through her illusions? Tamaki's creations offered no answer, simply stabbing through the air to get a hold of her.

Yuno cursed as she fell toward them, flaring her chakra as one reached for her throat. Her substitution barely saved her from the blow, as she switched to a piece of driftwood. Now, the rapid relocation allowed her a momentary breather at the edge of the river below where she had been. 'She's obviously a water nature user. Most of them can either hold their breaths underwater for absurdly long periods or even bypass the need to, in general, use chakra to siphon oxygen through their skins to their lungs. Either would mean it was unlikely she'd have to come up for air soon. But how could she fish her out of the water?

The woman, however, had caught onto her trick and location. Various tentacles of water smashed the ground around her in an attempt to crush her as she scrambled. But Yuno was no slouch; any Genjutsu user worth their salt spent dedicated time increasing their evasiveness. A key tactic when doing so often bought the time Genjutsu users usually cherished in battle.

The woman's voice echoed out to Yuno as she ran. The woman was using a jutsu to make her voice seem to come from everywhere. Her knowledge could have been more consistent. It was as if she had been roughly taught second hand knowledge. Like a more primitive shinobi… "I won't allow you or your friends to trouble the wonderful creatures of Irminsul. My Master has taught me all about you humans…"

"A bit ironic coming from another human, isn't it?!" Yuno cried out as she continued her desperate mad dash. The two were conversing, even as they did their best to survive. Yuno hoped to split her attention and stall for time to formulate a solid strategy; antagonizing her simply was a good first step. "Besides, you have been harassing the creatures of Irminsul and our world! If not for your Master, we wouldn't even be here in the first place!"

"I will not be fooled by your lies. You all came here to force clans to serve under you; my Master merely sought to stop you. Blechumi is no mere man; he has evolved, allowing him to be great and know better!"

Yuno hummed as an idea slowly burned in her mind. The years of studying science as part of their curriculum seemed foolish when she was younger, yet now, it holds the key to her victory. Not to mention, something about how the woman spoke needed to be corrected. "No one is perfect, sweety; that includes your odd mentor. Have you ever wondered why he abandoned the Blechumi?"

"They weren't worthy of him! They envied his nature, didn't value his teachings!"

"An idea, I suppose…" Yuno teased with a cruel smirk. "But I find it much more likely he simply got what he wanted from them. Learned some tricks, gained some connections, and had a roof over his head. But the time to split came; it always does with those types. And it will be with you and yours as well as anyone else he interacts with. Your Master isn't some evolved being; he is a delusional and arrogant man wielding his power over others cruelly."

"Because of my name, Tamaki Neeko., I know the Master is not the individual you accuse! I was discovered by the shinobi cats; you see, they raised me as one of their own. But I never felt like I belonged; I longed to meet another like me… the Master changed everything… Both when Neeko and I needed him most, he came. Made everything better."

Yuno's smile only grew as her mind fully settled onto a plan. First, draw her out of the water, then force her free of her indoctrination. While she was certain Tamaki was not entirely mind-controlled. Instead, it seemed she worshipped the Master. An image Yuno was sure she could shatter with a mere matching of eyes. But first, there is a bit more prodding. "I can understand why that makes you loyal! But when we're at our lowest, our judgment is clouded. You can't see past the image you've given him!"

"My Master is a kind, gentle soul determined to protect those he considers family!" Tamaki countered.

"I see your Master has lied to you plenty! Are you even aware he has kidnapped your neighbors as well, right? Or did you think the Runic Wolves willingly followed his every whim!" Yuno ranted with the intent of making the Tamaki snap. "So he convinced you we're evil! Does that make enslaving us right? Is that the actions of a kind man?!"

"SHUT UP!" Tamaki howled.

"You're blinded by your love!" Yuno snapped, finally putting enough pressure to push Tamaki over the edge. Hero worship was something that seemed charming but was ultimately an ugly thing. Expose what the charmed considers hidden and risk their ire.

Tamaki howled angrily as she had hoped as the tentacles whipped out of the water faster and with greater force but utterly randomly. Yuno easily avoided each, as she did, spitting mini fireballs into the river at various points. While each was small, each was white hot, and the temperature of the flowing river slowly increased even as her reserves dipped from the effort. Tamaki had lost her temper and was focused on catching and beating her mercilessly. But was heedless of what she was doing. Such would be her downfall.

Yuno's plan was two-staged; the first part was strange, but she could only think of one way to drive Tamaki out of her hiding without being lashed to withers. Her intense high-temperature fireballs were unlikely to find nor draw even all that close to Tamaki. But such wasn't the point; they would slowly raise the temperature of the water. Draining to her reserves, but if done correctly, would work flawlessly. This would slowly but surely lower the amount of oxygen in the river. As the water was heated, it lost the dissolved oxygen, making it impossible for a water nature user to breathe.

Once she ran out of breath and went for air, Yuno would attack with a particularly strong Genjutsu. Not one to stun or allow her to attack but one to reveal the actual state of the Blechumi, the ploy of the wolves, and her Master's involvement in Yuno's enslavement. Indeed, this would shock Tamaki into betraying her Master. Yuno had a gut feeling Tamaki had been leading astray, and she would prefer not to kill her if able.

It took nearly a full draining minute for her ploy to work; after almost two dozen fireballs, the water had finally been heated enough. Once it bubbled, a red-skinned and gasping Tamaki breached the surface shortly after. Yuno stumbled over but was lucky Tamaki was both writhing in pain from burns and breathless. Desperately attempting to regain her bearings as Yuno drew close. However, Yuno allowed no such thing; closing in on the wenching woman, she kicked her on the ribs to make her land flat on her back on the water's surface. Yuno stepped over her and placed her foot on her neck as Tamaki desperately clawed at it. But instead of finishing her off cruelly or drawing a weapon to do so humanely, Yuno locked her calm Sharingan with Tamaki's wild, alert eyes. "Sharingan." She spoke calmly.