Chapter 85: Chapter 85 The Day Before the Takeover
Wilbur looked down from the trees down at Sasori with a smile on his face. He watched as Sasori left the area and Wilbur calmed himself. Then he became apparent he was not alone.
"You lost your battle, why do you smile", asked Hiruko.
From the battle ground below The child of Shub-Niggurath rose and began to heal from the black flames.
"A tactical retreat, I had hoped that when he would have killed one of Shub-Nigguraths children she would have punished the puppet greatly, but it seems I miscalculated my kins abilities, they are hardier than I expected. I find myself surprised that those flames did not kill the beast. Seeing as he failed to kill the beast, The mother of a thousand young will not retaliate. A shame, it was a good plan", said Wilbur as he returned the beast to it's realm.
"You summoned it, would this mother you speak of not kill you as well", asked Hiruko.
"To kill the son of Yog-Sothoth would be most foolish, the only ones who could do it and not suffer my fathers power would be Nyarlathotep and Azathoth. For one is much to clever, the other is much to powerful", said Wilbur.
"What will you do then", asked Hiruko.
"I will wait for the time when I may claim the tome, come let us watch the turtle child", said Whateley.
Hiruko nodded.
Naruto sat in the cave watching as the rebels marveled at the weaponry they were receiving.
"Think they can pull it off", asked Sasuke.
"Won't know until they try, but I believe there chances are good", said Naruto.
"I heard about the Mizukage, killing people for being born with bloodlines, he's just an evil bastard", said Sakura.
"Evil is a matter of perspective Sakura. No one sees themselves as evil no matter what they do. If you meet someone who identifies himself as such, you may want to get them in an asylum. There is an old proverb, we are all the hero of our own story", said Naruto.
"Whatever", said Sakura with a shrug.
"So what's the plan", asked Sasuke.
"Mei is drawing them up, I never was a good strategist, just ask Shikamaru", said Naruto.
"Shogi is hardly the same as a real battle", said Sasuke.
"Yes, this is true, but I am not very adaptable. I over think the best possible plan, and if my plan A doesn't go well, then I am in trouble. I do not put as much thought into plan B or C. Shikamaru has always been good at that. Either way My only job is to capture the current Mizukage", said Naruto.
"Really, and here I thought you were a smartass in everything", said Sakura.
"Not everything, just most things", said Naruto with a smirk.
It was at this time that Sasori walked into the room. He scanned the area for a moment before spotting Naruto and heading to him.
"We seem to have a problem", said Sasori.
Naruto raised an eyebrow as he motioned for Sasori to continue.
"I met the one you warned me of, Wilbur Whately", said Sasori.
Naruto froze. He was silent for a moment as he put that information with everything else he knew.
"You fought him", asked Naruto.
Sasori nodded.
"I had to bring out many puppets, he has a habit of not staying dead, his clones do not help, and his summons were worse. He called a breast, some creature with Goat legs and many tentacles, it looked like a tree", said Sasori.
"Sounds like a child of Shub-Niggurath, not good. If he's calling on the progeny of Outer Gods then his can spiral downwards. Did he display any other powers not seen", asked Naruto.
"None that I saw, though it does seem that he can only produce his copies from shadows", said Sasori.
"That could be useful, though I want to know why he is here specifically", said Naruto.
"Maybe he followed us", said Sakura.
"Unlikely, we hid well in the wagon", said Naruto.
He began rubbing his chin as he thought of everything he knew. After a moment his eyes widened.
"Oh no", said Naruto.
"What", asked Sasuke.
"I think he joined the Akatsuki, we knew there were two new members in the area, Wilbur could have been one of them", said Naruto.
"He did not wear the standard cloaks", said Sasori.
"No he wouldn't. His physiology might make it difficult to do so and remain hidden. We need to look into this more, I'll send a message to the base, see if the communication room can send spies to see who these new members are. If I am right, then the Akatsuki has jumped up the scale and would be on par with the great cult as a threat ", said Naruto.
"What do we do", asked Sasuke.
"Well for now, Keep yourselves busy and enjoy yourselves, it helps to keep you from killing yourself when things go straight to hell", said Naruto.
"A bit dark for you don't you think", asked Sasuke.
"Look whose talking", said Naruto.
Sasuke glared at him before shrugging.
"point taken", said Sasuke.
"Anyway I am not being pessimistic, just realistic. Keep in mind Wilbur might be able to summon things that make you kill yourself just by looking at them", said Naruto.
"If I can survive dinner with the shadowed man, I'm pretty sure I can survive whatever Wilbur can bring out", said Sakura.
"Ditto", added Sasuke.
Naruto nodded with a soft smile.
"Point taken", said Naruto.
"Hello brief mortals, what's going on", said Herbert who butted into the conversation.
"Sasori had an encounter with Whateley", said Naruto.
"Really, well that sucks", said Herbert.
"How very perceptive of you", deadpanned Sasori.
"Bite me puppet boy, besides I'm blunt, what can I say. Besides, me an common sense don't really get along well. Case and point, I just insulted an S-rank ninja", said Herbert.
"Herbert, behave yourself", said Naruto.
"You know he was the one who convinced me to join you, I sometimes wonder if that was wise on your part Naruto", said Sasori.
"Maybe not, but it got results", said Naruto.
Sasori did not say anything back, he simply conceded as he watched Herbert begin fiddling with some small device. It was Sakura who first asked what he was doing.
"What is that", asked Sakura.
"Just a radio, I'm trying to fix it, the humidity of this place can be really bad for the stuff. Usually it's not a problem, but apparently the crates got soaked, now some radios are out. I have a few clones fixing them, I'm trying to find ways to waterproof them", said Herbert.
"How long until they are fixed", asked Naruto.
"With all the clones, not long. A few hours maybe, but expect static", said Herbert.
Naruto nodded.
"Good, keep it up", said Naruto.
"Don't tell a mad scientist how to mad science, it's insulting", said Herbert.
Deidara sat atop his dragon as he waited for the Umibozu to return. He was getting impatient. To pass the time he sent clay dragonflies into the sky where they would explode like fireworks. Seeing the explosions made Amachi more and more nervous as he was being constantly reminded what was in his stomach.
"What is taking so long", asked Deidara.
"She is no fan of me, and helps me out of convenience. She has a habit of hiding from me as much as she can get away with. The only reason she has stayed with me is because she believes I can cure her of her condition", said Amachi.
"Wasn't aware turning into mermaids was a condition, what aren't you telling me, un", asked Deidara.
"I worked for Orochimaru, the project was to create ninja who could breathe under water. The project was dropped but I continued. Eventually I got to how I am through much research, I fund this project with the gold from capsized ships", said Amachi.
"Is that so, well tell me, can you cure her", asked Deidara.
"If I intended to do so, maybe. But seeing as it is not my intent I cannot", said Amachi.
"Use and then throw away, from what Sasori tells me about Orochimaru, you two must have been peas in a pod", said Deidara.
Amachi chuckled.
"Throw away, oh no, I was going to dissect her. She still has uses even after death", said Amachi.
"Wow, and people call me an asshole", said Deidara.
In the distance a raise in the water headed for them. It was the Umibozu, in one of its tentacles was Isaribi struggling to escape. Deidara nodded.
"Well looks like you get to live a bit longer, un", said Deidara.
Amachi only glared at Deidara. A moment later Isaribi was placed on the clay dragon where she sunk to her shoulders as well. Deidara nodded.
"Off to home base", said Deidara.
The Dragon flapped it's great wings and swiftly turned to head back to the Land of Whirlpools.
Kin sat in the chair looking at Zaku through the glass wall as he flexed his wooden fingers. The puppet arm creaked and rattled as he moved it. He turned to Kin with slight anger in his eyes.
"Why did you betray Orochimaru, after all he's done for us", asked Zaku.
Kin narrowed her eyes.
"Because that bastard experimented on me, used me to perfect his procedure to make his hosts like him. He implanted those snake eggs into us, we would have ended up like Dosu. That man betrayed us, not the other way around", said Kin.
"At least he saved us, when no one else would look at us twice he brought us in, we owe everything to him", said Zaku.
"he used us like sheep", said Kin.
"To make us stronger", countered Zaku.
"If I may interject", said Konohamaru who was siting at the Colors cage studying it. He did not look at them.
"What do you want to say shorty", asked Zaku with venom.
"Orochimaru proves himself to be a masterful manipulator. He realizes the best way to gain allies is to have them owe you their very lives. Tell me once he had your allegiance did he treat you as he did before", asked Konohamru.
Zaku thought about it. Kin almost smiled as Zaku's face fell just a bit.
"No, but I still owe him everything", said Zaku.
"Exactly, and because you owe him everything, he owes you nothing. Once he had your loyalty, he moved on to get another's loyalty or continue with his plans. His past shows that he has no loyalty to anyone but himself, and recently Yig. A solipsist if I ever seen one", said Konohamaru.
"Solipsist, what's a solipsist?", asked Zaku.
"A philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. Everything else is just a fabrication of his mind and thus is his to use, or so he believes. He would have remained believing himself a god, had Naruto not shown him how igsignificant his life really is, but he still holds onto those original ideals. Bad habits are hard to break", said Konohamaru.
"Prety smart for a kid", said Zaku.
"I am over a billion years old mentally, I have seen species come and go. Many that could have changed the universe for the better, I have seen die. And many that can change it for the worse have lived. I have seen every personality type and traits combined into a contradictory behavioral pattern to create the most interesting individuals and have seen the blandest of the bland. I am very good at reading others as a result. You for instance are not so surprising. Orochimaru is your god in a way, he was the first to treat you as a human, and he made sure of it. You were indoctrinated into a way of thinking that is difficult to break. I do not care what you choose to do, I am just voicing my own opinion", said Konohamaru.
Zaku looked at the boy confused. Despite evidence to the contrary, he could almost believe this boy was as old as he claimed, almost.
"A billion years old huh, yeah right", criticized Zaku.
"You are looking for any hole in my argument to latch on to so as to continue your beliefs, it is pathetic. If I found something that disproved my world view, I would look deeper into it and if necessary change it without a second thought. You humans baffle me in how you keep to your beliefs with such vigor no matter how wrong you are", said Konohamaru.
"Humans? You talk like you are not human yourself", said Zaku.
"My body is human, my mind is Yithian. We are a race of mental time travelers. This body was chosen by many for several specific purposes. I am not at liberty to say what they are, but it is true. As such, I am not human. I am not even from this planet", said Konohamaru.
Zaku turned to Kin with a confused look.
"Ok, you need to tell me what has been going on while I've been dead", said Zaku.
Kin smiled as she started the story.
Amaru watched as Dr. Shinno tested his newest possible false skin created from the Zero Tails body. They were running low, and getting more samples was not easy, and the Zero Tails made sure it stayed that way. After a moment Dr. Shonno sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
"Another failure", said Shinno.
"You'll get it, I know you will", said Amaru.
Shinno chuckled.
"I thank you for your faith in me Amaru, but I am on my last leg. This is not as simple as I thought, it is close, but not close enough. I might have to start from scratch", said Shinno.
"What is the problem", asked Amaru.
"While past samples have bonded with skin, they eventually deteriorate when exposed to humid air. Sweat also causes the same problem, but much slower. I added sodium to the mix, but it does not last as long as needed. I'll crack it eventually, but at this rate my research may have proved pointless", said Shinno.
Amaru looked to the sample in the petri dish. She began to think on what could be done when an idea hit.
"What if we give the stuff regenerative abilities", asked Amaru.
"I attempted that with Naruto's DNA, but it will not work, he isn't even made of ordinary matter and rejection is defiant if the false skin isn't made of normal matter. And I cannot find anyone else with the regenerative abilities fast enough to counteract the deterioration", said Shinno.
"Well, what about Herbert. He has a nine tails in him to, and he is made of normal matter", said Amaru shrugging.
Shinno stroked his beard for a moment as he thought it over. He had forgotten there were two nine tails now. Herbert showed his powers gained from the nine tails so sparingly it was easy to forget sometimes. That and Shinno found the man difficult to work with and would usually push him from his mind.
"That, could work. We will have to try when he returns, good thinking Amaru", said Dr. Shinno.
Amaru smiled.
Naruto watched as the rebels stood in a line wearing and wielding the weaponry developed by the CDA. Behind them, more of the special clones each of which had the same weaponry and the skills of an S-rank ninja. Looking over it Naruto found his chances of success were good. The plan was simple. Naruto's clones do a frontal assault, diverting attention to the gates, while the rebels sneak past to go straight for the ANBU headquarters. While Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura with Zabuza, Haku, and Mei go to the Mizukage. Herbert and Sasori watch for Wilbur and the other Akatsuki member while providing long range support for the rebels. If all went well, then they could tae the village in less than a day. He smiled at his chances. No matter what, this would change the history books. The only question was would it be seen as a great resistance takes it's country back from a wicked foe, or would it be seen as a footnote in the history of the Hidden Mist as yet another failed coup.
Looking at everyone, Naruto saw better chances for the former. Besides, he had to survive. If he didn't then there would be none who would stand against Cthulhu. Mei walked p to the front as she started a speech on what would be expected from each and every soldier tomorrow. There was fear in some of there eyes, but also determination. Oh yes, Naruto thought there chances were very good.
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