章 1457: 48
Chapter 48
Face Off in the Land of Snow
They had been forced to take shelter for the night. Yuki no Kuni was a cold country. Its days were cold, and it's nights were even more so. Anyone who tried to traverse the icy plains and snow covered forests during the twilight hours would surely die from hypothermia long before they reached their destination.
Naruto sat within a room, a candle the only source of light. He wasn't alone. Jiraiya and Sandayu sat with him. Both of them wore severe expressions, the kind that Naruto rarely saw on his sensei's face. While Jiraiya often cracked jokes in dangerous situations, the current situation warranted more gravity from them all.
"We must rescue Princess Koyuki immediately," Sandayu said, his grave voice making Naruto's shoulders twitch. "There's no telling what might happen to her the longer she's left with that monster."
"We will rescue her, but we can't rush this." Jiraiya sat with his legs crossed. Tapping his index finger against his knee, the frown on his face was one that rarely appeared. "I doubt they'll kill her, not when she can prove to be such a useful bargaining chip. Thanks to Naruto replacing her necklace with a fake, they need to keep her alive in order to barter an exchange"
Naruto reached into his shirt and pulled out Koyuki's necklace. It was attached to the other ones that he had. All of them glittered as the candlelight played off their multi-faceted surface.
I wonder what's up with these necklaces.
It does seem odd that they all look the same. I actually remember owning one of these.
W-what? Really?!
Hm, it was a really long time ago. A rich merchant gave it to me when he was trying to ask my hand in marriage.
Let me guess, you allowed him to make attempts at winning you over, and then you left after he'd given you everything that he owned.
More or less.
"What should we do?" asked Sandayu.
Naruto focused once more on the older man, who appeared to be fraught with worry. The lines of his face had creased more than usual. His skin, ashen and pale, gave him a ghastly pallor. Naruto supposed it was natural for the man to look like this. He could only imagine how awful it was to know that someone who was important to you had been taken hostage.
"Our rescue operation will have to be done during the day," Jiraiya said. "My plan is for myself and your army to act as a distraction. Our goal will be the draw the enemy out. In particular, I would like to force Hidan and Kakuzu into battle with me. While we're dealing with Doto's forces, Naruto will sneak in, rescue the princess, and then sneak back out."
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked. "Not to be rude, but we're talking about two S-rank shinobi. Are you sure you're going to be enough to handle those two on your own?"
"Are you doubting my skills?" Jiraiya asked, finally breaking into laughter. "You should know better than to doubt the great Jiraiya-sama!"
"If you say so." Naruto shrugged.
"In either event, killing them isn't in my game plan," Jiraiya admitted. "Those two aren't the type that you can just off like a couple of rookies. Both of them are called immortal for a reason. Kakuzu has been around since the time of the shodai hokage, and Hidan, well, you've already seen what he can do."
Naruto didn't need a reminder. He remembered how he'd beheaded Hidan, but the bastard had still been alive even then. That shouldn't have been possible. Even Naruto, who'd gained a form of immortality, would die if his head was cut off.
Jiraiya continued. "My plan is to hold them off long enough for you to rescue Koyuki, and then get your ass back to me. Once we've got them one on one, I'm sure we can get rid of them. Kakuzu might be difficult, since I don't know anything about him, but Hidan is actually pretty weak. From what I've seen, you can defeat him, if not kill him. If you can cut off and seal away his head, then you've won."
Outside, the wind howled, causing the windows to rattle. Naruto frowned as he tried to ignore the sound and focus on the plan. While those two Akatsuki members were definitely a problem, they weren't the only one.
"What about Nadare and the other yuki ninja?" Naruto asked. "If you're busy dealing with those two, then Nadare can come out with a squad of shinobi and attack Sandayu's forces. If that happens, the entire battalion of samurai will be demolished."
No offense to Sandayu and his men, but they were not shinobi, or even what he would call true samurai. Old veterans past their prime and young men who'd never experienced battle, that was what they were. People like that could not defeat shinobi of the caliber of Nadare. Heck, even a regular yuki ninja with those strange kunai launchers could decimate Sandayu and his forces.
"I-I don't think you will need to worry about that, Naruto-san." Sandayu pressed a hand to his chest as if to emphasize his point. "Though we may not look it, our forces are strong, and our determination is stronger still."
Naruto didn't want to be the one to tell this man that determination meant little in the grand scheme of things. Considering how most of his time at the academy he'd had nothing but his determination, telling someone else that it wouldn't matter felt like an awful thing to do.
Fortunately, he didn't have to.
"Naruto brings up a good point." Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "Nadare isn't a normal shinobi, and that chakra armor gives him a huge advantage in combat. He could probably defeat your forces on his own. This isn't even mentioning the technology that they have at their disposal. In a straight up fight, I'm afraid your forces would be wiped out."
"Then why don't we change our tactics a bit," Naruto suggested.
With that, he began to lay out his plan to the other two.
XoX
Dotou sat on his throne, contemplating the most recent series of events. Two of his more powerful shinobi were dead, which left Nadare and a horde of cannon fodder to fight for him. That wasn't necessarily good, but he could always make better shinobi through human experimentation and mechanical augmentation.
Beside him, Hidan and Kakazu stood silently…
"Fuck, I'm bored."
Well, almost silently.
"Shut up, Hidan."
"Maybe I will if you can make me."
Dotou would have sighed if that hadn't been so out of character for him. These two members of Akatsuki were annoying, but they were also strong. Either one could have destroyed Nadare, Fubuki, and Mizore in one-on-three combat if the mood struck them. Considering they were now dealing with Jiraiya of the Sannin and his apprentice, it was a good thing he'd possessed the foresight to hire them.
Down below his elevated throne, Nadara knelt down before him. As one of the ninja who'd served him since before his inception, Nadare was his most loyal subordinate. As such, he was also the one who acted as his bodyguard.
He wondered when those two shinobi would show up to rescue Princess Koyuki, who was even now being kept in the dungeon below the palace. He would have expected them to have shown up by now. Then again, this was Jiraiya they were up against. The man might have acted like a fool, but there was a reason people hailed him as one of the most powerful shinobi in the Elemental Nations.
Just then, the doors to his throne room creaked open. A man dressed in the traditional white and gray garb of a yuki ninja rushed into the room, moving before the throne and kneeling down.
"My Lord, you bade us to tell you when Jiraiya of the Sannin was spotted. Our men have seen him moving toward the palace with an army of samurai!"
"An army of samurai, you say…" Dotou murmured.
"It must be that group that we almost killed a while back," Nadara said. "What would you have me do, My Lord?"
Dotou thought about the situation for a moment. This sounded a lot like a feint. Having a large army like that come in a full on frontal assault, while normally sound, wouldn't work against his forces, and Jiraiya had to know that. In which case…
"Nadare, I want you to take our troops out and meet Jiraiya in combat. Destroy him."
"Yes, My Lord," Nadare said.
"Woah, woah, woah, hold the fuck on," Hidan complained loudly. "You want to use these dipshits in a fight and not me? What the fuck? I thought I'd finally be allowed to kill people, and now you're telling me that this bitch is going to fight instead?!"
"Shut up, Hidan," Kakazu snapped. "We're not getting paid so you can gripe."
"I don't fucking care about getting paid. Jashin only needs to be paid in blood."
"Do not worry," Dotou assured Hidan, his face widening into a grin. "I've got another plan for you two."
XoX
Jiraiya stood on a cliff overlooking Dotou's palace. In truth, it didn't seem like a palace so much as it did a fortress. Massive spires jutted into the sky like stakes, a wall surrounded the entire compound, and the only way in was the large gate in front. From his bird's eye view, he could see past the gate. Inside the compound were various buildings and facilities. Jiraiya couldn't begin to guess what they were, but the one in the center, which was massive compared to the others, was most definitely Dotou's private chamber.
As he continued to watch, the gates opened and a horde of shinobi marched out. It seemed they were aware of Sandayu's forces. Of course, they probably weren't aware that those forces were all fakes. Either way, it was time to do his part.
"Heh, one ninja against an army." Jiraiya chuckled as he ran through a series of hand seals. "I feel a strange sense of nostalgia. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
The summoning jutsu took a lot of chakra on the best of days. However, in that moment, Jiraiya poured more chakra into it than he normally did. He'd been gathering his chakra ever since this morning just for this moment. Oddly enough, the smoke that normally clouded everything around him was surprisingly small. In fact, it was just two short puffs.
"What are ya doin' callin' us out to somewhere so cold?!" a croaking female voice shouted.
"Jiraiya-boya, I hope you have a good explanation for why you're calling us out like this," another voice said.
Two toads had appeared on his shoulders, one male and one female. The male was a green toad with white hair that appeared reminiscent of a mohawk. His eyebrows were thick and he had a small goatee. Two capes covered his body: A high-collared one and a simpler version on the inside. The female had a green underside and purple markings around her mouth and back. She was wearing what looked like a hairnet on her head, with hair-rollers underneath. It made her appear old, which she was—old, that is. Like the other toad, she wore a high-collared cape and a simpler one underneath it.
These were Fukusaku and Shima. They were the two great toad sages of Mount Myoboku and his teachers.
"I'm sorry for calling you out like this," Jiraiya said. "But I need your help."
"Ah, you want to enter sage mode? I'm surprised. You always complained about how ugly it made you," Fukusaku said.
"Well, I'm not worrying about impressing the ladies today, so it's okay."
"Hmph!" Shima snorted. "Always trying to impress the ladies. You really are a lecher, Jiraiya-chan."
Jiraiya smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. Anyway, would you two mind giving me a hand."
"Fine, fine," Shima clapped her hands together. "We'll help ya out this time."
"But you know, Jiraiya-boya, you really should learn to gather senjutsu on your own," Fukusaku said as he also clapped his hands together.
Clapping his hands together as well, Jiraiya began gathering his chakra. "I know. I plan on teaching Naruto to become a sage at some point, so it would be a good idea for me to get some more practice in. I'll start training again after this mission is over."
"Very well," Fukusaku said.
"Fine by me!" Shima added.
Gathering senjutsu was not a simple matter. Intense training was required. Even Jiraiya was barely able to use it, despite having trained for decades. That was because it required the gathering of nature chakra, which was dangerous to humans, and then combining the nature chakra with one's own chakra to create senjutsu chakra. Jiraiya still couldn't do it on his own. Hence the reason he needed to summon Shima and Fukusaku.
He could feel the chakra gathering around him as Shima and Fukusaku helped direct the nature chakra's flow into him. His body became enhanced. He could feel power flowing through his muscles, could feel his chakra expanding.
Senjutsu not only enhanced the body, but it made one's chakra far more potent. Jutsu became more powerful, attacks became more destructive, and the body became capable of withstanding a lot more punishment. Even though Jiraiya was a novice at senjutsu, he was still a force to be reckoned with whenever he used it.
"All right!" he said with a grin. "Let's go wreak havoc on these fools."
With a crackling laugh, Jiraiya leapt down from the cliff and descended toward the army as they were emerging from the gate.
Several kilometers away, the army that had caused the gates to open disappeared within a puff of smoke.
XoX
Within a darkened tunnel, Naruto and several grizzled old men walked. One of them was Sandayu Asuma, who stayed beside Naruto, guiding him along the path they needed to take.
"It's a good thing you remembered this hidden passage," Naruto said. "Otherwise sneaking into the palace would have been a hell of a lot harder."
"During Dotou's rebellion, this was the passage that I took to escape," Sandayu said. "The flames of war were everywhere. Death had been around every corner. I remember looking for Princess Koyuki and, when I couldn't find her anywhere, I fled by myself. To this day, my greatest shame was not rescuing her, even though she had already been saved by that man."
"That man?" Naruto asked.
Sandayu moved the light in his hand, revealing the worn down tunnel, which was made of old stones that were cracked and decayed. Water dripped from cracks in the ceiling, hardening into sharp icicles. Naruto didn't think any of them would fall. They looked study. However, should they fall on one of these men, well, he didn't want to be the one to clean the floor of their blood.
"His name was Kakashi Hatake," Sandayu said. "You might know of him, since he's a shinobi for Konoha."
Naruto remembered telling Neji that fate was bullshit, but hearing what Sandayu said made him wonder if there might be such a thing has fate. What were the chances that he'd be taking on a mission in the same place as his first sensei?
"What was Kakashi-sensei doing here?" he asked.
"He was apparently on a mission for Sousetsu-sama." Sandayu turned down a corner. Naruto and the others followed him. "I'm not sure what it was, since I wasn't informed, but I hear it had something to do with a dream of Sousetsu-sama's."
"A dream?"
"Yes."
Naruto was tempted to ask more, but then they arrived at a stairwell. Dark and worn, derelict and rundown, cracks traveled along the gray stones, which appeared glassy. Ice. They were covered in ice.
"This is going to be a bit of a problem," Sandayu said.
"No, it won't." Naruto stepped forward. "I can melt this ice easily enough. Just follow me."
Naruto called upon his chakra, which he channeled to his feet. Steam rose all around him. The ground hissed—or rather, the ice that had been covering the ground hissed as it melted instantly, bursting into thick steam.
"W-what the—?!" Sandayu stumbled backward, away from Naruto.
"My chakra is pretty potent. It's also quite hot." Naruto place one foot on the staircase. The ice melted, hissed, and then evaporated within seconds. "I can melt this ice pretty easily like this. Just follow a few seconds behind me."
"Um… right…"
Naruto walked up the stairs, which lead into what, at first glance, appeared to be a hallway. It wasn't until he'd looked left and right that he realized this wasn't a hallway at all. It was a prison. Rusted bars stood in front of large cells that looked as if they hadn't been used in decades. Every cell was empty, filled with nothing but cobwebs, chains hanging from the ceiling, and decrepit bricks that seemed like they would fall apart if touched.
Naruto and the others walked through the prison. They moved cautiously. There was no telling who might have been around, though it seemed as if this place had been abandoned long ago.
"This place used to be a prison for criminals," Sandayu said. "But since Dotou kills anybody he deems a criminal, it's probably been abandoned."
Naruto shook his head. "Not quite."
"What?"
"Be quiet?"
Naruto stopped everyone and had them hide underneath the walkway over their heads. Footsteps echoed from above, precise and measured, quiet—a shinobi's walk.
Gesturing for Sandayu and his men to remain where they were, Naruto channeled chakra into his legs and leapt into the air. He latched onto the walkway. By applying chakra to his hands, he was able to stick onto it. The footsteps were getting closer. Naruto waited until they had passed before swinging himself onto the walkway.
A guard was walking away, having not heard him. Keys dangled from his waist. Naruto didn't hesitate, moving behind the man and snapping his neck before the shinobi was aware of the danger. Setting the man on the ground, Naruto unhooked the keys and searched through the jail cells until he found the person that he was looking for.
Princess Koyuki didn't appear to be injured, though her expression reminded him of a beaten child. She hung from shackles attached to her wrist, which were in turn attached to the ceiling. They looked painful. Her wrists were red, the skin rubbed raw.
"Koyuki."
She raised her head. Her eyes widened. "N-Naruto! What are you doing here?! How did you find me?!"
"Shh!" Naruto raised a hand to his lips. "Keep it down or some other guards might hear you and come running."
As if his words were prophetic, the loud clanging of feet reached them. Fortunately, it wasn't other guards coming to see what the commotion was. It was just Sandayu and his ragtag band of fighters.
"Princess Koyuki!" Sandayu cried. "You're all right!"
Naruto facepalmed as the sound of the various shouts and cries echoed all around them.
And he'd just finished telling Koyuki to be more quiet.
XoX
"He's a demon!"
"Monster! Monster!"
"I WANT MY MOMMY!"
The shinobi had barely a second to realize the danger they were in. One moment they were on their way to defeat an army. The next Jiraiya was in the middle of their formation, decimating them like they were newborn pups.
The thing about senjutsu was that it didn't just grant someone a few extra abilities. Everything about them was enhanced to levels that most humans would have never been able to reach on their own. Heightened reflexes. Enhanced strength. Incredible sensing abilities. This was on top of having his chakra nearly quadrupled.
Those whose ranks he'd appeared within had tried to fight back at first, but as the minutes passed, their hope for victory had wanned. Now, many of them were trying to flee. Jiraiya wouldn't let them.
"Oh, no you don't. Katon: Gamyu Endan!"
Working in conjunction with Shima and Fukusaku, who both spat out oil, Jiraiya launched a massive fire bullet from his mouth. It slammed into the oil, creating an even larger, hotter flame. The fires then crashed into a group of shinobi who'd been trying to flee. The ninja screamed in agony as the conflagration burned them within seconds.
Jiraiya ignored them and turned to the others. A massive rasengan appeared in his hands, which he didn't hesitate to slam into another group of ninja. The explosion of energy that went up was very much like a maelstrom. Bright blue energy expanded outwards and engulfed the area around it, transforming into a dome, which, when cleared, revealed a massive crater.
"Hm, are you sure you needed us for this, Jiraiya-chan?" Shima asked. "These idiots don't seem like much of a threat."
"Jiraiya-boya could have easily handled these on his own," Fukusaku agreed.
"If I only had to deal with these small fry, then I wouldn't have called you two," Jiraiya said.
"Does that mean you're expecting a troublesome opponent?" Fukusaku asked.
"Two troublesome opponents."
As if his words had prophetic powers, several ice spikes were suddenly launched from the ground, trying to skewer him. Jiraiya leapt backward. However, as he did, a dozen birds made of ice flew at him from behind. They would've struck him in the back had he not used the replacement technique at the last moment.
Someone as waiting for him when he reappeared several meters away. It was Nadare Roga. The yuki shinobi who he'd battled a while back.
Nadare tried to get in close, engaging him in a taijutsu battle, but the man clearly wasn't a taijutsu specialist. His moves were slow. What's more, even though Jiraiya was technically a ninjutsu specialist himself, he was leagues above this guy when it came to hand to hand. He was also using Kawazu Kumite.
A fist came at Jiraiya. It was dodged more easily than when Jiraiya was avoiding attacks from angry women after peeping. In retaliation, he threw his own punch. While Nadare did dodge the actual attack, he couldn't avoid the side effects that came from using senjutsu.
"Buwa!"
Even though the fist was dodged, Nadare was still sent flying backwards. He was lifted off his feet, sailed through the air, and then slammed into a cliff side with enough speed to cause an avalanche that buried him underneath several hundred pounds of snow.
When a practitioner of senjutsu used Kawazu Kumite, the sage chakra created an aura around them, which acted as an extension of themselves. With this aura, Jiraiya could extend the range of his physical attacks. What's more, because nobody but another senjutsu user could sense senjutsu chakra being used, it meant that Nadare wouldn't be able to figure out how Jiraiya had still hit him even though he'd dodged.
"Hyōton: Rōga Nadare no Jutsu!"
The large hill of snow that had buried Nadare suddenly erupted. Several snow wolves burst from the snow and tried to attack Jiraiya. While he could have used a jutsu of some kind, like a fire jutsu, the attacks were coming in too fast for him to create hand seals. Therefore, Jiraiya decided to use his fists. He pounded each snow wolf that came, shattering them as if they were made of brittle glass.
"I'm surprised you survived that," Jiraiya called out. The snow had risen up before him like a cloud, making it impossible to see inside. It was an excellent smoke screen, and it would have worked, if Jiraiya couldn't sense Nadare's chakra.
"You'll find that I'm a lot more resilient than the other two that you've faced," Nadare said. "You might be a sannin, but within this iceland, my powers and abilities far exceed your own."
"You think so, huh?" Jiraiya mumbled.
He didn't know how this guy could be so arrogant, but he guessed it didn't really matter. Nadare was confident in his victory. Jiraiya would have to show him that his confidence meant nothing when faced against a Sannin.
"Naruto needs my help," Jiraiya said, shifting his feet and adopting a wider stance. "So, I'm afraid I'm going to have to remove you from the equation, just like I did your friends."
"Friends?" Nadare snorted as if the notion that had been proposed was inconceivable. "Don't be stupid. Those two weak fools that you and your apprentice defeated weren't my friends. They were just subordinates who proved to be less useful than I had anticipated. I have no use for weak fools who can't serve their feudal lord."
So, Nadare was one of those people, the kind of person who didn't care for others if they weren't useful to their cause. That was fine. In fact, that would make killing him even easier.
"Is that so? Well, that's fine, then. It's not like I care anyway." Jiraiya moved into a basic Kawazu Kumite stance. "Now come at me so I can beat you to death. You're in the way of me helping my apprentice."
XoX
After rescuing Koyuki, Naruto had Sandayu lead them back the way they'd come… well, that had been the plan anyway. Unfortunately, Hidan and Kakuzu were waiting for them in that narrow secret passage, which apparently wasn't much of a secret.
They stood side by side. Hidan had slung his large, triple-bladed scythe over his shoulders. While there was a belligerent and impatient look etched on his face, Kakuzu appeared unruffled. Then again, Kakazu also wore a mask. Naruto couldn't even see his face.
"There you are, Kyuubi Jinchurikki," Hidan cackled. "I've been waiting for you. You don't know how badly I want to pay you back for cutting my head off."
"I'm afraid I won't let you cut my head off," Naruto rebutted. "Sorry, but your payback's not happening."
"Heh, you make it sound like I'm giving you a choice," Hidan licked his lips.
"We need him alive, Hidan," Kakuzu admonished.
"Che. I know that. It was a figure of speech, Dhipshit."
Kakazu grunted. Naruto realized that their situation had gotten worse. Jiraiya was supposed to have drawn out the Akatsuki with the noise that he was making outside, but it looked like they'd seen through the ruse. Perhaps it had been naivety on their part to assume they wouldn't recognize a diversion when it happened.
"Sandayu," he murmured. "Please turn around and find another exit. Jiraiya-sensei isn't fighting against these two, so he should be finishing up soon. Take Koyuki, get out of here the other way, and link up with Jiraiya-sensei."
"H-hold on!" Koyuki started, "You can't seriously mean to fight these two on your own, can you?"
"Course I do," Naruto grunted. "If you haven't figured it out yet, these two aren't here for you. They're after me. If I went with you, they'd follow us and you'd get caught up in my battle."
"B-but—"
"Sandayu, when you see Jiraiya, tell him that I could use a hand."
"Right."
"H-hold on a second!" Koyuki shouted. "Are you really going to just leave Naruto to—h-hey! What are you doing?! Let go of me!"
Sandayu grabbed Koyuki, picked her up, and carried her over his shoulder. Naruto didn't turn around, but he could hear her obscenities as they grew ever more distance. The stampeding of marching feet eventually receded. Silence took its place.
"I'm surprised you let them go so easily," Naruto said.
"I've already gotten my money from the feudal lord of this country, so I don't really care about them," Kakuzu admitted.
"I fucking do care! Damn it, Kakuzu, I wanted to kill something!" Hidan whined.
"Like I care."
"Fuck you!"
Naruto didn't know what was with these two, or why they were arguing. He felt like they weren't taking him seriously. The thought pissed him off, but if training with Jiraiya had taught him anything, it was that it was sometimes better to be underestimated.
Before either member of Akatsuki had time to so much as turn back around, Naruto pulled out a scroll, which he unrolled to reveal that a massive sealing matrix had been written on it. He bit his thumb, drawing blood, which he then smeared across the scroll.
Water and lightning burst from the scroll. There was enough volume that the entire hallway was filled with electrified liquid. Kakuzu and Hidan were engulfed. Naruto didn't close his eyes, even though he wanted to. The light from the crackling lightning as it combined with water was so intense that his retina were being burnt. He dared not look away, however, for doing so could mean death. When dealing with Akatsuki, it was important to confirm that they were dead before turning the other way.
"Doton: Domu."
Naruto leapt back as, before the water had even dispersed, Kakuzu burst from it and tried to pound a fist into his face. He hit the ground instead. A massive hole was blasted straight through it, and Kakuzu's arm became buried all the way to his bicep.
"Fuck!" Hidan shouted as Kakuzu pulled his arm from the ground. "Do you fucking know how much that hurt, you little fucking shit?!"
The water cleared away, going from a flood to a mere trickle as the content in his scroll ran out. Hidan was still standing, though lightning skittered along his body. His triple-bladed scythe had been dug into the stone floor. He'd likely done it before the water had hit him, otherwise he would have been swept away.
Kakuzu stood back up. His skin had turned a dark gray, signifying the use of some technique. The cloak that he'd been wearing was also gone. Several masks were on his back. Four. The dark skin suddenly flickered, changing back to its normal color—or what Naruto assumed was its normal color.
"To think you would destroy one of my hearts so easily," Kakuzu muttered. There seemed to be an underlying current of anger within his voice, like a live wire that Naruto had just stepped on. "You are a dangerous opponent… tch, and now I'm going to need to find a new heart."
Hidan laughed as he pried his scythe from the ground. "Serves you right, ya bastard! That's what you get for acting like a jerk!"
"Shut up, Hidan!"
Naruto didn't get the entire conversation. He didn't care. His surprise attack had failed, which meant that he needed to go on the offensive. It was the only way he'd survive.
"Tsuin Senpukan!"
Naruto thrust out both of his fists, releasing two fist-shaped gusts of compressed wind at Kakuzu and Hidan. Neither of them did anything. Lightning crackled along Kakuzu's fist as he cut through the compressed wind fist like it was made of butter. Hidan's laughter echoed through the tunnel as the silver-haired ninja slashed through his wind attack with his scythe, cutting it in half.
"Is that the best you've fucking got?!" Hidan screamed.
"Raiton: Gian."
Kakuzu opened his mouth and launched a lightning spear. The attack was so fast that Naruto almost missed it. He moved to the side and spread out his hands. There was no time to create a jutsu, so he used pure chakra manipulation, creating a large gust of wind in front of him in the shape of a shield.
Even though lightning was weak against wind, Naruto still pain jolt through his fingers. He winced. Gritting his teeth, he pushed more chakra into his make-shift shield. The lightning dispersed—
"I've got you now!" Hidan cried as he appeared in front of Naruto, his scythe already raised.
With no time to do much, Naruto rolled across the ground. Hidan's scythe sliced through the wall as if it was butter. As Naruto kipped to his feet, the insane jashinist attacked him again.
The air in front of Naruto was cut. He backpedaled, forcing Hidan to following him. Perhaps if he could separate these two, he could at least dispose of, or incapacitate, this guy. That was his hope anyway.
"Katon: Zukokku."
"Fūton: Atsugai."
That hope was dashed as a massive firestorm rushed toward both him and Hidan. Soon, they were both engulfed in the powerful attack.
XoX
"Hyōrō no Jutsu!"
Nadare seemed to have learned his lesson. He didn't try to get in close again. Kneeling on the ground, he released chakra into the earth, which Jiraiya could feel like a vibration beneath his feet.
While he didn't know what was coming, he already knew that these yuki ninja used snow in their jutsu.
Leaping into the air, Jiraiya avoided the large ice pillars that jutted from the ground and tried to skewer him like an angry female kunoichi with a naginata. While still in midair, he held out his hand. Chakra swirled around the hand. A rasengan was formed. Then it grew larger and larger, until it was nearly ten times the size of a regular rasengan.
"Senpō: Chō Ōdama Rasengan!"
Jiraiya fell back toward the ground. He slammed his attack into the ice pillars, which became engulfed in a massive explosion. Icy winds kicked up. Snow and bedrock was launched into the air. Thanks to the fierce winds, Jiraiya was blasted backwards, but he used that to flip around and land several dozen feet away.
His opponent wasn't so lucky, though perhaps that was to be expected. Nadare had been close to the explosion. When the massive dome-shaped blasted of highly condensed chakra struck the ground, he was hit with the full brunt of the attack. The fierce winds lifted him off his feet, icy shards pelted his body, and when he struck the ground, another large cloud of snow was kicked up.
Jiraiya sensed the small burst of chakra that signified a replacement technique being used. He guessed Nadare had replaced himself with some ice at the last minute or something. Seconds later, a loud shout rang out around him.
"Hyōton: Haryū Mōko!"
Ice burst from the ground, shifting into a massive tiger that launched itself at Jiraiya. The attack was destroyed when he punched it.
"Now it's my turn. Ranjishigami no Jutsu!"
Jiraiya channeled his chakra into his head, manipulating his metabolism and causing his hair to grow near instantly. Several thick bundles of hair slammed into the ground several meters away. Nadare appeared from beneath the surface and leapt back to avoid the strands of hair, which punched through the ground and kicked up more snow.
"Shima! Fukusaku!"
"On it, Jiraiya-boya!"
"Let's finish this!"
"Katon: Dai Endan!"
Jiraiya created oil inside of his body with senjutsu chakra. Fukusaku and Shima did the same, causing them to swell up like a pair of balloons. As the oil filled their mouths, all three of them released it in a massive stream, which ignited seconds later, and then merged into a much larger inferno. Nadare screamed before, seconds later, he was overtaken. When the technique ran its course, Nadare was gone. Not even ash remained.
"It looks like the battle is over," Fukusaku said.
Jiraiya turned around and ran toward the castle. "This one might be, but there's another battle that still remains."
"This next battle, is that the reason why you called us?"
"Yes," Jiraiya grunted. "The two that we're going up against are Akatsuki, S-class ninja who are after the Kyuubi."
"Then they're going after Naruto-chan?" Shima squawked. Neither she nor Fukusaku had met Naruto yet, but Jiraiya had told them plenty about the boy.
Jiraiya nodded. "That's right. That's why I called you here. I'm going to need your help to take those two down."
"Then let's hurry up and find them," Fukusaku said.
As if answering his words, the earth suddenly shook. Jiraiya didn't know what had caused it, but he would have bet all of the money he'd made off of his books that Naruto was at the center of it.
Hang on, Naruto. Just hold on a little longer.
XoX
Naruto was very lucky that Hidan had been in front of him. Immortals made excellent shields.
Disarming Hidan had been easy enough, though the man had proven to be stubborn when it came to his scythe. He'd even managed to cut Naruto before being disarmed. However, once his weapon was gone, Naruto had been able to put Hidan in front of him, using him a makeshift shield while he summoned a wall of water from one of his scrolls.
Steam rose everywhere. The water wall that he'd created had barely been enough to protect him, and even then, Naruto had still received several severe burns for his trouble. The skin on his arms was blistered and cracked in some places. Thankfully, they were healing quickly. He was extremely lucky to have suffered so little.
"I'm impressed that you managed to block my attack," Kakuzu's voice rang out all around him. "Blocking an attack like that in an enclosed space like this is no small feat. Those seals of yours really are problematic."
"Oh, yeah? Well, that combination attack of yours was really problematic for me, so I guess that makes us even."
"Yes, I suppose it does."
"Oi! Stop fucking talking you two! Kakuzu! What the fuck was that about?! You nearly fucking incinerated me!" Hidan shouted from somewhere within the steam.
Naruto had shoved Hidan in front of him when the attack had hit, using him as a first line of defense. He'd been hoping that Kakuzu's attack would have destroyed him. It looked like that was wishful thinking.
"Oh, you're still alive?"
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?!"
When the smoke cleared, it revealed that not only had Naruto survived Kakuzu's attack, but Hidan had as well. Though the man looked like he'd seen better days, certainly. His clothing was burnt and turning into ash in some places, his skin had numerous third degree burns, and there were several cracks along his body, as if the heat had broken apart his skin. Dark red blood ooze from within the cracks.
He was standing inside of a circle. It looked like the circle, a pentagram, had been made from somebody's blood, though that blood was blackened and burnt. Hidan had also gotten ahold of his scythe again. Fresh blood dripped from one of the blades. A sudden stinging sensation on Naruto's cheek made him realize that it must have come from him.
How did he move so fast, and why didn't I notice this injury until now?
"He-he, you're fucked now," Hidan cackled. Then he brought the blade to his lip and licked the blood off.
Naruto would have wrinkled his nose in disgust, but in that moment, a transformation came over Hidan. His skin darkened, becoming almost pure black, all except for the strange white lines that appeared along his body, reminding Naruto of a skeleton.
What is this?
"Now you're fucking screwed, Bitch! You. Are. Screwed."
While Naruto didn't know what was going on, he knew better than to remain still. Whatever was happening to that guy had to be dangerous. This was likely some secret technique that would deal tremendous damage to him.
He rushed forward. If he could reach Hidan and take him out before he could do anything, then Naruto should be safe. Before he could get even five feet, however, Hidan impaled himself through the thigh with his scythe—and Naruto cried out and stumbled forward as a sharp pain shot up his thigh. He placed a hand against his leg and was surprised to feel warm blood sticking to his palm.
W-what the…?
"Na-ha-ha-ha!" Hidan's supremely pleased expression pissed Naruto off. "Are you shocked? Angry? Good. Good. Why don't we kick this up a notch?"
Snarling, Naruto leapt to his feet and charged at Hidan. His wound had healed already, so he wasn't worried. However, when Hidan stabbed himself in the shoulder, Naruto yelped and lost his balance as something invisible impaled him in the same shoulder. He hit the ground hard. His already injured shoulder screamed at him as he slammed it against the stone floor, rolled, and landed in a heap on the ground.
"Gya-ha-ha-ha!" Hidan's mad cackling rang in Naruto's ears. "What's this? Are you having some trouble? Here, let me help you!"
Naruto bit down on his tongue as fire laced through his chest. He looked down. A long line of blood was being drawn along his skin. Flesh split like a ripened fruit being cut by a wind enhanced kunai.
W-what's going on…?
"That man is a jashinist."
"Jashinist?"
"Yes, he worships the God, Jashin. It's a false god created by humans. Really, this man is just a human experiment. His immortality was granted to him for his technique. Basically, by ingesting the blood of someone else while standing in that circle, he can inflict any damage given to him onto the person whose blood he ingested."
"Ugh, I see. That's a troublesome ability."
"It is, but if you can get him out of that circle, or destroy it, you can negate his ability."
"Right. Got it. Thank you, Kyu."
"Anytime."
Naruto was thankful for his high-level regenerative abilities. That was the only reason he hadn't been more grievously injured. Still, if he didn't do something soon, then he'd likely pass out from pain if not blood loss.
Standing to his feet, Naruto glared at Hidan, who laughed some more. "That's a good look, Shitstain. Bitches like you need to know their place."
A growl escaped from the back of Naruto's throat as he tucked his arms into his torso. "I'll show you my place! Tsuin Senpukan!"
Two compressed bursts of air were jettisoned from Naruto's fists. Hidan laughed. "You can't hurt me with that! You're just going to hurt—"
The two powerful spheres compressed air slammed into the ground, and, more specifically, the circle that was the basis for Hidan's technique. The ground was crushed, denting and cracking, breaking up the lines that made the circle. Hidan's transformation vanished.
"What?!"
Hidan's shout was cut off as Naruto channeled chakra to his feet and blasted off the ground. He was in front of Hidan before the man could react. Grabbing Hidan's head with both of his hands, he brought the man down to his knee. The loud crunch! of a nose breaking echoed across the hall. Blood ran down Naruto's knee, warm and thick. The scent of copper filled his nose, making it wrinkle.
"Gya! My nose! You broke my fucking nose, you little shit!"
"I'm gonna break more than that!" Naruto declared.
"Fūton: Atsugai."
A voice came from behind him. Naruto turned around. One of Kakuzu's masks was standing several meters away, a tornado-like mass of compressed wind in its mouth. It was then released, tearing apart the ground with ease. Naruto's eyes watered. The intense wind not only tore the ground apart, but also the walls and ceiling. Was this man trying to bury them underneath tons of rubble?
Naruto unfurled a scroll, which contained a pre-written storage seal. The scroll was at least two meters in length. He lifted it over his head and channeled chakra into it, causing the scroll to glow a light blue as it activated.
The debris that had been falling toward him was sealed within the scroll. Naruto then threw the scroll in front of him and released the contents, which he then shoved forward with an intense blast of wind chakra. His hope was to negate Kakuzu's attack with an attack of equal power.
The two wind attacks collided in the middle. The rubble between them was crushed. However, true to Naruto's hope, his wind technique plus the large chunks of stone helped negate Kakuzu's jutsu, leaving him uninjured.
This… isn't good.
"Have you thought about using your hanyou form?"
"I'd rather not. If I use that and run out of energy before they do, it will leave me defenseless."
"You really are a difficult opponent," Kakuzu said. "I've rarely met someone who was able to survive against us both for so long."
"Staying one step ahead of posers like you is easy," Naruto spat.
"Fucking easy? Ha! Don't make me laugh. You've been on the run from the very beginning of this fight." Grinning, Hidan stepped up to Kakuzu's side. He was bleeding heavily, and his body was still burnt, unlike Naruto who was already healed up. "Face it, shitty Kyuubi brat. You're nearly done for. It's only a matter of time now before I gut you like a fucking filet."
Naruto had no intention of admitting that this jerk off was right… but, well, Hidan was kinda right. He wasn't on his last rope, but neither were they. While Hidan might have looked like death warmed over, Kakuzu was perfectly fine. What's more, Hidan didn't appear to be bothered by the damage that had been done to him.
"You've put up a good fight, but it ends now," Kakuzu said—and three creatures with masks for faces emerged from his back.
Oh, fuck.
"Gay-ha-ha! Time to say your prayers, shitty Kyuubi brat!"
Hidan rushed forward, killing intent pouring from him like water from a broken sieve. Naruto readied himself for the next round of this battle. He didn't have much hope of winning, but he would be damned if—
"Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari!"
—The world around them became pink. The walls, floors, and ceiling, not only had the color changed, but flexible and rubbery-looking protuberances emerged from all sides like bubbles. Sticky and dripping with mucous, everything looked like a potential hazard. Naruto recognized the technique. It was one of Jiraiya's jutsu.
Hidan, who'd been bull-rushing at Naruto, suddenly found his foot stuck. Not one to miss out on such a golden opportunity, Naruto leapt at Hidan, a rasengan forming in his hand. He even went a step further and added some wind chakra to it, though he kept the wind chakra powered down—mostly because he didn't want to damage himself too much.
"Fūton: Rasengan!"
Naruto slammed into Hidan, who raised his scythe to try and slice at him. It was fortunate that he'd already taken this action into account. He flipped over the attack and, while in mid air, slammed the rasengan down on the scythe. Metal squealed as the wind-coated rasengan sliced through all three blades.
"What the fuck?! My scythe!"
Still in mid air, Naruto spun around and created another wind style rasengan in his other hand, and then he slammed that into Hidan's face. The result was not pretty. Hidan's head exploded as if it had been stuck inside of a grinder. Blood, bits of brain matter, and skull fragments flew across the toad esophagus, splattering along the walls and clattering to the floor.
Hidan's body remained standing. Miraculously, it was still moving, as if it was trying to find its head. Naruto realized that this man really might have been immortal.
So he slammed another wind style rasengan into Hidan. His body was torn apart as well. Naruto, his face and the front of his body covered in blood, breathed heavily, as if he'd exerted himself a great deal more in that one second than he had for the entire battle.
"If this doesn't kill him, then I don't know what will," he declared.
"No, he's dead. Not even someone who's been enhanced like that man can withstand having their entire body destroyed."
"Good to know."
"Naruto!"
It wasn't until he heard his name being called, but Naruto suddenly realized that Jiraiya was with him. Of course, his sensei had to be there. This technique was his doing. Still, having Jiraiya suddenly appear out of nowhere like that was startling.
"Ero-Sennin!"
Jiraiya whacked Naruto over the head. "Don't call me that, Brat! It's Jiraiya-sensei! Sensei!"
"Whatever." Naruto rubbed his head. "What are you doing here? More importantly what happened to your face?"
Jiraiya's face had become quite hideous. His nose had grown large and bulbous. Warts had appeared all over his face, and his eyes reminded Naruto of a toad's. Now that he was looking, Jiraiya's entire body had taken on a more toad-like appearance. His hands were webbed, his body was hunched, and there were two small toads sitting on his shoulder…
… wait. Small toads sitting on his shoulder?
"Hello, Naruto-boya," the male toad said. "My name is Fukusaku. I am one of the sages of Mount Myoboku. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"And I'm Shima!" the female spoke with a huff. "I'm glad I can finally put a face to a name."
"Uh… nice to meet you two," he said, looking at Jiraiya for an explanation.
"These are the two elder toad sages of Mount Myoboku. They were sort of like my senseis when I was your age and helped me a lot."
"I see." Naruto didn't really see, but he decided not to bother with it. "Anyway, where did Kakuzu go?"
"He escaped," Jiraiya said reluctantly. "I think he realized that I was coming and left before my technique was complete. I'm sure he's long gone by now."
Naruto looked around, and, indeed, it seemed as if Kakuzu had fled the battle. That was… disheartening. After the trouble that man had given him, he'd been looking forward to giving him a little payback.
"Still, I'm impressed," Jiraiya commented as he dispelled the technique. The walls, floor, and ceiling went back to normal. "You managed to fight against two S-rank criminals and survive long enough for me to arrive. That's no small feet."
"Uh, thank you." Naruto shook his head. There were more important things to be worried about than being embarrassed. "If you're here, does that mean you ran into Sandayu and the others?"
"Sandayu and the others?"
The questioning look on Jiraiya's face made Naruto feel like someone had punched him in the gut. He knew, from that expression, that Jiraiya had not, in fact, met up with Sandayu and Koyuki. Naturally, this also meant that Sandayu and Koyuki had not made it outside of the castle, which in turn meant…
"Damn it!"
Swearing, Naruto rushed out of the decimated hallway. He ignored Jiraiya's shouts, burst into the jail, leapt to the top floor, ran down several lateral passages, and eventually found himself in a massive room. It looked like a throne room. It was large and empty, with a single raised podium that had a large ass chair on it. There was a hole in the roof.
Sandayu and his men were in the room, on the ground. Many of them appeared to be dead but a few unconscious. Naruto ran up to Sandayu, who lay on his back, and knelt down.
"Sandayu! Where's Koyuki?!"
With a haggard groan, Sandayu opened his eyes and blinked several times. Blood stained his lips. That said, he didn't seem to be in danger of dying any time soon.
"Koyuki… was taken… Dotou… he…"
"Say no more," Naruto cut him off. "Where did he take her?"
"R-Rainbow Glacier…" Sandayu lifted his hand and pointed in a direction beyond the castle.
Naruto nodded and stood up. "Hang in there, Sandayu. I'm going to rescue Koyuki and kick Dotou's ass!"
Without wasting another second, Naruto channeled chakra into his legs and leapt through the ground. His destination: Rainbow Glacier.
XoX
Naruto should have known that reaching Dotou wouldn't be that easy. Like, there must have been some universal law that said "anything Naruto wants to accomplish has to be as ridiculously hard as possible" or something. Yes. Someone up above must have truly hated him.
"Raiton: Gian."
A spear of lightning blasted out from the tree tops. Naruto reacted more quickly than even he'd expected, substituting himself with a log and reappearing on a branch several meters away. The lightning spear slammed into the ground. Snow sizzled as it was fried by electricity, and the ground shook like a ship struck by cannon fire.
In retaliation for the lightning spear, Naruto launched a double Senpukan at the tree tops where the spear had come from. Kakuzu burst from the tree. He landed on the ground and glared up at Naruto, his red and black eyes irritated.
"This is as far as you go, Kyuubi Jinchurikki," Kakuzu said. "I may not be able to take your heart, but since you've appeared before me, I refuse to come back to Akatsuki empty-handed."
There were so many words that Naruto could have said in that moment. Fortunately, he wouldn't get to say anything of them.
"Oodoma Rasengan!"
Like a descending meteor, Jiraiya fell from the sky. Kakuzu jumped back as the toad sage hit the earth. A massive explosion of energy caused the ground to erupt. Jiraiya leapt back, toward Naruto, and grinned at Kakuzu.
"Sorry, but the day I let you take my apprentice will be a cold day in hell."
"Ero-Sennin?!"
"Tch! Would it kill you to give me some respect?"
"It might. What are you doing here?"
"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm here to deal with this guy while you go rescue the princess." Jiraiya cracked his knuckles as he stared at Kakuzu. "Anyway, why don't you get going? I can handle things here."
"Right. Thanks… Sensei."
"Now you call me sensei."
Naruto took off, leaping clear over Jiraiya and Kakuzu. He thought the Akatsuki member would try to attack him. Kakuzu didn't. He must have realized that attacking him while Jiraiya was there would invite an attack in retaliation. It wasn't long before the two disappeared from his sight as he continued running.
The sounds of battle echoed behind him.
XoX
Naruto eventually reached the Rainbow Glacier. True to its name, the place that Naruto stood in was a valley set between several mountains, and standing over him like silent guardians were three massive glaciers. Their icy figures gleamed in the bright sun, which seemed to contrast with the tense atmosphere.
Standing in the center of these massive pillars of ice, Dotou used Koyuki as a shield. He stood behind her and pressed a kunai to her neck. The expression on Koyuki's face made Naruto clench his fists.
"I didn't think it would take you long to find this place," Dotou said. "Tell me, boy, do you know what this place is?"
Since he didn't know how to rescue Yuki, Naruto shrugged and played a long. "Your grave?"
Dotou sneered. "Cute. This place is where the secret treasure of the Kazehana family is buried. I've searched for ages and could never find it, but I eventually came upon my brother's journals one day when I was searching for a way to rebuild this kingdom. That was when I uncovered the location. Everything that my brother had worked for, all of the riches that he hid, they are all here. That is why I need the hex crystal. So, hand it over, if you'd please."
They were at an impasse, or rather, Naruto was hesitant to give this man what he wanted. "If I give this to you, what guarantee will I have that you'll let Koyuki go?"
"On my honor as the king of this country, I promise you that I—"
"I'm sorry," Naruto cut him off, "but since you've sent assassins after us, your honor doesn't mean shit to me. Instead, here's what we'll do." Naruto created a clone, which he gave the necklace to. "This clone will bring the necklace to you. At the same time, you'll let Koyuki go and have her walk toward me."
"And what guarantee do I have that you won't take Koyuki back along with the necklace?" asked Dotou. "No deal."
"Then how about this." Naruto tossed the necklace near the center of the space between them. "Let Koyuki go and grab it yourself. Be warned: If you try to take Koyuki with you, I will get to that necklace first and you won't get the key."
The cogs turning in Dotou's head were practically visible. Naruto knew that this man had to realize there was no other compromise. Eventually, he reluctantly let Koyuki go and shoved her away.
"Fine. Have it your way."
As Dotou went toward the hex crystal, Naruto sunshined to Koyuki, appearing by her side in an instant. He grabbed her hand and sunshined back to where he'd been standing before. By now, Dotou had already picked up the hex crystal and was walking back toward the glacier that apparently hid Sousetsu's treasure.
"Are you all right, Koyuki?" Naruto asked.
"Y-yes," Koyuki said. "But Naruto, my father's treasure. Why did you give him the hex crystal?"
"Because this place is going to be a battleground soon anyway." Naruto shrugged. "He knows that I'm not going to let him just walk off with the treasure, just as he knows that your more valuable as a hostage than a corpse. He's currently setting the playing field against me."
Dotou was likely going to force Naruto to protect Koyuki. It was always harder to fight when you had to protect someone, after all, especially when the other person didn't care if the one that you were protecting was killed.
"Can you beat him?" Koyuki asked.
Naruto grinned. "What are you saying? Of course I can. I'm the strongest shinobi in the entire world. There's no way some spoiled feudal lord can… eh?" Naruto blinked and looked around. "I-is it just me, or has it gotten warmer all of a sudden?"
"Now that you mention it, it does feel a little warm," Koyuki said in surprise.
She and Naruto looked around. Naruto had to blink twice. The snow, it was melting. All of the snow and ice that had covered the ground turned into water, which flowed into a stream that fed into a large lake. The lake must have been frozen underneath the ice. Meters away, ice sloshed off of the glaciers, and Naruto realized that they weren't glaciers at all. They were…
"What the hell is this?!" Dotou screamed as he looked up at the obsidian pillars gleaming like monolithic obelisks.
"These are… heat generators," Koyuki sounded like someone who'd just been told that the dead could be brought back to life.
"I see." Naruto stood up and looked at the obelisks. "This is the treasure of the Kazehana family. It wasn't money or riches. It was these heat generators. I guess… your old man was trying to bring a season other than winter to his people, or maybe he was just trying to bring it to you."
Koyuki didn't say anything, but her wide eyes as she gazed around at the melting snow told him enough.
Several feet away, Dotou was glowering at the generators. Naruto didn't particularly care about what was going through that man's mind. However, this was a good chance to end their fight before it even began.
"Hey, Koyuki?"
"Hm? What?"
"Tell me I'm the best."
"E-eh?"
"Tell me I'm the best," Naruto insisted. "I need you to tell me that I'm the best ninja you know, that I'm the strongest. If you tell me I'm the best, I'll be able to beat that douchey uncle of yours no problem."
Koyuki gawked at him for several seconds, but then, like storm clouds breaking, she smiled at him. "Naruto, you are without a doubt, the greatest, most incredible ninja that I have ever met."
"Heh. With encouragement like that, there's no way that I could lose."
With chakra encasing his feet, Naruto launched himself forward so quickly it was almost like he'd shunshined. A rasengan appeared in his right hand. Perhaps it was because of the light from the now melting ice, but the rasengan suddenly became multi-colored, like a rainbow.
"Is that… rainbow chakra?!" Koyuki gaped.
Dotou noticed his approach and went through several hand seals. "Do you really think I'll let you come anywhere near me! Hyōton: Sōryū Bōfūsetsu!"
Thrusting out his hands, two black dragons appeared as if bursting forth from the ether. They were launched at Naruto, merging to create a massive back snow dragon that turned into a giant tornado.
Naruto didn't know what this technique was, but he wasn't about to let himself be beaten here. He pumped more and more chakra through his body, releasing his own transformation. His hair grew longer and became even more spiky. It also went from blond to red. His eyes, once blue, became amethyst. Teeth became sharp fangs, nails became claws, and the whisker marks on his cheeks thickened and turned jagged like lightning bolts.
Bright purple chakra burst from his body. Naruto slammed his free hand into the monstrous black dragon technique. He might as well have been punching paper. The double black dragon exploded before his fist, shattering into millions of fragments and massive gusts of tornado-like winds. Naruto burst through the intense aftermath of his attack…
… and then he was in front of Dotou, whose eyes were bulging, whose jaw had become unhinged, and whose very presence radiated shock.
Naruto grinned.
"Eat this, you son of a bitch! Nanairo Rasengan!"
He slammed the rasengan into the shocked Dotou's chest. The chakra armor that covered Dotou's entire body held for several seconds. However, Naruto's chakra was a blend of his own chakra and the Kyuubi's. Corrosive and poisonous, it was far too intense for human technology to deal with, and so, mere seconds after the attack slammed into him, the chakra armor was rent like paper being shredded by a lightning jutsu.
"GGGYYYAAAAAAAA!"
The rasengan ground through flesh, muscle, and bone. Dotou was then sent flying backwards. His scream echoed across the valley before, with a boneless splat, he crashed into the side of a mountain, which exploded and sent tons of rubble collapsing on top of him.
"Compared to my fight with Kakuzu and Hidan, that was really easy," Naruto said, clapping his hands. "I'm almost disappointed in how easy that was."
"I think we should be glad that it was so easy. I'm personally not interested in fighting anymore right now."
"I'm the one who did all the fighting. You just sat there on your comfy bed and watched."
"Hm, true, but watching you fight is almost as tiring as if I were to fight myself."
"Whatever."
Naruto stretched his arms and walked back over to Koyuki, who sat on the ground like an idiot. She must have been surprised that the fight had ended so quickly. He didn't blame her. With everything that had happened, he'd been expecting an epic showdown, but it seemed that Dotou didn't live up to the hype of his ninja.
"Well, Koyuki," Naruto stretched his hand, "how was that? Was I awesome?"
Koyuki stared at his hand, and then, with a smile, she took it and allowed him to pull her up. "You were amazing."
"What did I tell you? Best ninja ever," Naruto said with a grin.
"Believe in the future and spring will surely come," a voice announced.
He and Koyuki looked around. A large 3-D projection had appeared in the air above them. It was of a younger Princess Koyuki, who couldn't have been more than five or six when it was taken.
"What will you do when spring comes, Koyuki?" the voice asked.
The little girl's bright smile was like a rainbow after a rain storm. "I'm going to be a princess!"
"Oh?" the voice sounded amused. "What kind of princess?"
"Let's see…" Little Koyuki looked thoughtful. "One that's strong, and kind, and most of all, one who fights for justice!"
The voice chuckled. "That's some dream."
Koyuki held a hand to her mouth. Tears had gathered in her eyes as her younger self spoke again. "But… there's something else that I want to be, too."
"And what is that?" the man, who Naruto guessed now was her father, asked.
Beaming at the camera, or rather, the one who was holding the camera, Koyuki, her voice full of gusto, said, "An actress!"
The Koyuki standing next to Naruto laughed as her tears finally fell. They were not tears of sadness, however, as the smile on her face proved otherwise. They were tears of joy.
Several dozen meters away, the director, who must have arrived some time during Naruto's fight, turned to his cameraman. "Tell you got all that?"
The cameraman gave the director a thumbs up.
XoX
Preparations for Koyuki's coronation had gone underway. It was a large event. Not only did the people of Yuki no Kuni need to be informed about the new regime change, but repairs had to be effected to downtrodden cities, Koyuki had to make several appearances to let everyone know about her, and everyone needed to learn about the heat generators that had melted the snow. This was on top of creating a new council, rebuilding the army, and filing massive amounts of paperwork to determine things like budget and new policies set down by Koyuki.
Kakuzu had managed to escape, according to Jiraiya. The man had apparently sacrificed two of his masks. That was disappointing, but Jiraiya had assured Naruto that it would take the man a long time to recover from his injuries.
Naruto spent most of his time with Koyuki, who had requested him to be her bodyguard whenever she went out. His days were often spent looking at her backside. He had to admit, spending time staring at Koyuki's backside was time well spent—and not just because hers was lovely. While standing guard was boring, he and Koyuki got to have fun during the evenings.
Thanks to the toads of Mount Myoboku, Naruto was well on his way to becoming an alcoholic. He blamed it on the first time he drank saké with the toad boss, Gamabunta. That day, Naruto had discovered the joys of being shit-faced, which was why, every night after her tasks were done, he and Koyuki would go to her room and drink firebrand saké until they passed out.
That night, he and Koyuki were hitting the saké a little harder than normal. By a little, Naruto meant they'd already drunk two whole jugs of saké and showed no signs of stopping. The seal that Naruto used to slow down his metabolism was working wonderfully, and he was well on his way to becoming drunker than Jiraiya in a brothel.
He and Koyuki were sitting on the bed, which was a luxurious bed indeed, large and soft and covered in satin sheets. Koyuki was sitting cross-legged. Her expensive dress had long since been discarded. She was now wearing a pair of black shorts that did an adequate job of covering her butt and a loose sleeveless shirt. Naruto was only wearing his pants and a black shirt.
"Can you believe that jerk?" Koyuki asked, referring to the minister who she had a meeting with that day. "The punk thought he could… he thought I was easy! Did you see what he did?"
"I saw," Naruto said, hiccuping.
"He tried to touch my butt!"
"Well…" Naruto slurred. "It is a very nice butt."
Koyuki sent him a sly expression. "Oh? You like my butt?"
Maybe it was the alcohol, but Naruto was feeling really bold. "Yes."
"Heh… wanna touch it?"
"Can I?"
A grinning Koyuki uncrossed her legs and shifted until she was on all fours, her backside facing Naruto. "Go on. Give it a feel."
Naruto belatedly realized that he must have been drunker than he thought. He didn't even hesitate in placing his hands on Koyuki's ass, which was somehow firm yet squishy, kind of like a marshmallow. Were all women's asses this nice?
"Do you like it?" Koyuki asked, her breathing hitching when Naruto squeezed.
"It's nice."
Naruto felt like he was in a trance as he squeezed, caressed, and massaged Koyuki's buttocks, which clenched with his movements. Her shorts folded as he worked, conforming to her mound and outline the traces of her lips. Naruto's pants became unbearably tight.
"N-not so rough," Koyuki moaned as she fell forward, burying her face in a large, fluffy pillow. She turned her head and, with her cheeks turning a pale pink, she said, "You have to be more gentle."
Still lost in a drunken haze, Naruto did as told, caressing her ass more tenderly. However, butt rubbing soon wasn't enough. Leaning over, Naruto stuck his head between her thighs and placed his mouth over her crotch.
Koyuki's moan was stifled as she buried her face into her pillow. Her butt cheeks clenched and quivered as her thighs closed around Naruto's head. This normally would have been heaven, but the act ended up knocking off the seal that Naruto had been using, sobering him up instantly.
It didn't take more than a second for Naruto to comprehend his situation, and he did, he panicked. Koyuki squawked in surprise when Naruto jerked his head from between her thighs. He leapt off the bed and backed off. Koyuki turned around and, sitting on her haunches, she frowned at him.
"What are you doing, Naruto? Why'd you stop?"
"I… I'm sorry. We shouldn't be doing this?"
"Why not?"
Naruto grabbed his left arm. "You… wouldn't understand."
"Oh, yeah?" Koyuki pinned him with a surprising glare. "Try me."
There must have still been some alcohol running in his system. That was the only explanation he could use to justify why he said what he did next.
"It's… because I'm a monster…"
"What?"
"I said I'm a monster! I'm not human!"
Judging from the look on Koyuki's face, she didn't understand what he was saying. "Naruto… I know you're a super awesome and powerful ninja, but just because you're strong, that doesn't mean you're not human."
"You don't get it!"
Frustrated, Naruto channeled wind chakra into his fingers and sliced his left forearm clean open. Blood gushed forth as the veins in his arm were severed. It spilled over his forearm and splashed against the ground, creating a dark pool.
Koyuki screamed. "What are you doing?!"
"Just watch!" Naruto said forcefully enough that Koyuki could do nothing but watch.
She didn't have to watch long. Mere seconds after he sliced open his wrist, the wound closed. When Naruto wiped the blood off, her eyes widened. The wound had disappeared entirely, as if he'd never cut it open.
"What… what…?"
"Do you see now?" Naruto asked. "I'm immortal. I can't age, I heal from any injuries I receive, I'm not even sure if I can die. What can I be if not a monster?"
All his life, people had been calling him a monster. Naruto knew that the reason he'd been called that was because of the Kyuubi being sealed inside of him. That was why it hadn't bothered him as much when he found out. His thoughts had been that if he could just change their opinion, that if he could show them what a splendid ninja he was, they would accept him. But now…
… everything they said about him was true. He was a monster. He couldn't blame this on the Kyuubi, though a part of him wanted to.
Koyuki slowly climbed off the bed. Her bare feet padded across the carpet. Naruto was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't know what she was doing until she had already pulled him into a hug. He stiffened, and, for just a second, Naruto went into a panic and prepared to run.
Then she spoke. "I don't know why you think that would make you a monster, but I can promise you that you're the only one who thinks that way."
Naruto wanted to run away. This was just like the situation with Toki, and he didn't want any part of it. Someone like him shouldn't be getting this close to others.
"No one else knows about this. If they did, then they would all hate me."
"I don't hate you."
"You're drunk."
"I'm drunk enough to be honest. I don't hate you. I could never hate you, and if anyone else found out, if they really cared about you, they wouldn't hate you either."
He shouldn't have been there, in this position, with this woman holding him. It was imperative that he get out of this position. If Naruto remained like this… if he stayed like this… then he was going to become too comfortable.
"I can't let myself get too close to others…"
"Why not?" Koyuki asked.
"Because I… I can't give anyone a normal relationship."
Naruto didn't know if it was because of Koyuki's calming presence, the alcohol still in his system, or some other factor that he hadn't considered, but, in that moment, the floodgates keeping his mouth shut released. There was no stopping him now.
"I'm immortal. I'm going to outlive everybody else. Even if I allowed myself to fall in love, even if she accepted me despite knowing everything, our relationship wouldn't last. She'd eventually die, and I would be alone again."
It was something that had hit Naruto only within the last few months, but now that he understood what it meant to be immortal, he'd realized that most of his dreams would never come true. An immortal couldn't become Hokage, an immortal couldn't have a wife, an immortal couldn't start a family. Even he tried, even if he succeeded, he would outlive everyone. That was not the kind of life that he wanted.
"But you don't want to be alone, right?" Koyuki asked.
Naruto twitched. His intention had been to jerk away from her touch, but his will was weakening. Instead of moving away, he moved closer, pressing his face into her chest.
"Of course I don't. No one wants to be alone for their entire life."
"Then why should you let yourself be alone?"
"Because—"
"Because you don't want those people to eventually leave you?" Koyuki finished. Naruto remained silent. "I understand how you feel. It's difficult to have people you love disappear from your life… but isn't even worse to not have those people in there at all?."
Naruto needed a moment to reply. "I can't believe you're the one telling me this."
"I'm merely paraphrasing what I've learned from you," Koyuki shot back. "Aren't you the one who kept berating me about letting go of my dreams because I was afraid of losing the people close to me."
"I don't remember saying that," Naruto said.
"Well, you did."
A good portion of Naruto's strength fled him, or maybe it was just the fight going out of him. He no longer had any desire to move from this woman's embrace. Still, some part of him did try to resist.
"I can't promise you a stable relationship."
"I didn't ask for one. If you grant me this one night, that will be enough."
"Just tonight?"
"Well, I won't mind if you decide to come back every now and again."
He would've liked to keep blaming the alcohol, but he was completely sober now. His thoughts were about as rational as they would get. "You don't mind that I'm a monster? You might live to regret it."
A soft, delicate yet strong hand went under his chin and lifted his head up. Koyuki's smiling face was there to meet him.
"I could never, would never, regret this," she said.
Then she kissed, and every argument that Naruto could have given fled.
All that remained was the feeling of her lips.
XoX
Itachi and Kisame were sitting together around a campfire.
It was the middle of the night, and the fire cast shadows along their faces. Despite the late hour, neither of them were asleep. They were shinobi. S-ranked missing ninja. They could go days without sleep if required. Even when they did sleep, it was only in fits, and always a light sleep that they could easily wake up from.
"Ne, ne, Itachi, are you thinking about your brother?"
"Hn."
"He-heh, I wonder what happened to that brat. We know that the retrieval team from Konoha was not successful in getting him back, but we don't know anything else. Do you Orochimaru took over his body?"
"Hn."
"Was that a twitch?"
"Kisami," Itachi said coldly. "Do not speak of things that we have no information on."
"He-he, you really are worried."
Itachi said nothing to Kisami's comment. He stared at the fire, doing what he did best, not speaking at all.
Just then, without warning, the area around them suddenly exploded. However, Itachi and Kisame were not S-ranked ninja for no reason. They both replaced themselves with a log. Reappearing several meters away, they stared at the scorched ground where they had been standing seconds prior.
Kisame whistled. "That was a close one, ne, Itachi—"
Kisame was unable to say anymore as something large and covered in black markings slammed into him. He was sent flying, out of Itachi's sight. The object, a person, flew after him along with two other figures, one male and two females. That meant Itachi was alone with their original attacker.
Several snakes coiled around his body. They bared their fangs and sunk them into his flesh—except Itachi had already cast an illusion, and the body that the snakes had bitten turned into a flock of crows.
Itachi appeared from around a tree, walking calmly into the clearing.
"Ku ku ku, I should have expected nothing less from you, Itachi-kun," a familiar voice said, echoing around the clearing.
"Orochimaru…"
"That is correct."
A figure stepped into the clearing.
It did not look like Orochimaru.
Not at all.
"Hello, Itachi-kun," Orochimaru wearing the face of Sasuke Uchiha said, the tomoe in his red sharingan eyes spinning. "It's been a long time."
XoX
Two weeks after Koyuki was coronated as the daimyo of Yuki no Kuni, now renamed Haru no Kuni, Naruto and Jiraiya were slated to leave. Much of their time in the newly minted spring country had spent with Koyuki… well, Naruto's time had been. Jiraiya had wandered off to the nearest brothel unless his presence was required.
Naruto wondered what Ero-Sennin would think if he discovered that his student was sleeping with their client.
A lot of his time had also been spent training. Since Naruto was essentially training himself these days, his days of training mostly went with him coming up with his own techniques, and occasionally asking Jiraiya for advice or a sparring partner. Their battles had become a bit closer. That was what Naruto had thought anyway, until Jiraiya upped his game and pounded him into the dirt. Still, he was making his sensei work now. Considering how easily that blasted perv had beaten him before, this was a major improvement.
Kyuubi had stopped talking to him. Naruto had tried speaking to her several times, but she'd grown silent for some reason. He'd once tried entering the mindscape. However, for whatever reason, he'd been unable to get in. It was like his mindscape had become inaccessible somehow. He'd wondered about that, but shrugged it off as a Kyuubi thing.
On the last day, Naruto stood on a dock, next to a procession of people who had all come to see them off. Technically, it was only Koyuki who'd come to see them off, but everyone else had joined them for "security purposes" or something.
"Looks like this is it, Koyuki-dono," Jiraiya said.
"Indeed." Koyuki smiled pleasantly at the man. "I hope that you two have a safe journey."
"I'm sure we will." Jiraiya, carrying a small sack over his shoulder, turned and walked up the ramp. "Come on, Brat."
Despite Jiraiya's words, Naruto remained where he was. There were so many things that he wanted to say to Koyuki; thank you for your words, thank you for accepting me, thank you for helping me… but the words wouldn't come out. They'd become lodged in his throat.
"W-well, I guess… this is it," he said instead.
"Yes." Koyuki smiled. "It is. Please be careful on your journey back home. Also, do not forget what I said. You are welcome here any time."
"R-right."
In the end, Naruto couldn't say what he wanted to. He turned around and walked up the boarding ramp, and the vessel that they were on was on its way soon after.
Naruto stood by the port side, watching as Koyuki and her entourage grew smaller and smaller until they disappeared altogether.
"I guess this was inevitable, huh, Kyuubi?"
…
No response. Naruto sighed.
"I'm surprised you didn't give your girlfriend a kiss goodbye," Jiraiya said, coming up beside him.
Naruto blushed, but kept his school. "She's not my girlfriend."
"Really? Could have fooled me. Haven't you been banging her since Dotou's defeat?"
If Naruto had not been standing still, he would've tripped. Instead, he slammed his face against the railing, and then looked up at Jiraiya. "How did you—I don't know what you're talking about!"
A grinning Jiraiya, whose face reminded Naruto of himself after he pulled a successful prank, crossed his arms and chuckled. "Is that so? Then I must have been seeing things. I'm sure that the blond who was screwing Koyuki-dono's brains out every night for the past two weeks was some other spiky-headed blond. Sorry. My mistake."
It only took Naruto a few seconds to understand what Jiraiya's words meant. This man had spied on him. His sensei had been spying on him and Koyuki. He'd been spying on them, and he saw them having sex, and… and… and…
I'm going to kill him.
"ERO-SEEEENNNIIINNNN!"
Jiraiya laughed and leapt into the air as Naruto swiped at him. Scowling up at the man, Naruto felt his hackles rise when his sensei pulled down his eyelid and blew him a raspberry.
"I'm going to murder you!"
Naruto leapt at Jiraiya, who laughed like a loon and dodged. It wasn't long before the sound of explosions echoed across the ship, and sailors scurried every which way while the captain shouted himself hoarse trying to make the two stop.
His sensei was never going to let him live this down. He just knew it.
Stupid Ero-Sennin.
First off, please allow me to apologize for not updating in slow long. Life has been hectic. That said, this chapter marks the end of the training arc. The next chapter, Naruto will return to Konoha.
I don't plan on following canon anymore. I'm sure many of you have noticed, but with all the changes, following canon even a little bit is going to be impossible. I've got other plans. I hope you'll all enjoy them when they come to fruition.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット