Chương 1324: 29
Kisame – Ok, so what do we call this?
Itachi – Sooner than we expected, but later than we would have liked.
Kisame – Yeah, I guess that sums up this up.
Lee – Yosh! I'm just glad there's a new chapter. I didn't like how the last one ended.
Itachi – Can't say I enjoyed it ether.
Kisame – *Cough*Bro-con*Cough*
Itachi – *Glares*
Lee – What's a "bro-con"?
Kisame – I'll tell you later when I'm at a safe distance from Itachi.
Itachi – Grrr… Anyways, here's PHD's chapter 29…
Arm of an Angry God
Wet footsteps echoed in the semi-flooded hallway. "Well… This was an unexpected turn…" A deep voice said into the empty space.
In the darkness, a pair of red, canine eyes scanned the walls around them. The old and poorly lit hallway seemed even more battered and dark that it had ever been. It was almost as if a destructive explosion had gone off in it.
"It seems that the spike of chakra was too much for the Kit." The voice reasoned. "The power surge caused severe damage to this place… Who knows what it did to his chakra pathways." He added with just the smallest hint of concern in his tone.
A clawed, furry hand reached out to something under the water. "Huh? I guess this is all the remains of that bastard's seal… It was finally destroyed completely." The voice said as he brought up the broken wooden plank. "Not that I can do anything with that anymore." Kyuubi commented as he continued to look at what remained of his former jail.
This particular part of Naruto's psyche seemed to have received the brunt of the backlash caused by the forceful introduction of the fox's chakra into the young human's pathways and was throw so deep into his consciousness that Kyuubi could no longer sense him or the world outside.
"Ok, Kit, you're on your own for a while." The Bijuu said, wishing that his host would hear him. "Try not to get yourself killed again." He added.
Weakly, the raven haired genin opened his eyes and looked at the other Leaf shinobi. "Naruto…?" He was able barely able to mutter.
"It's over…" The blond stated. "It's over now…" The Uzumaki said wearily as he pulled his fist out of the rock.
Sasuke continued to look at his teammate and struggling to remain conscious. Suddenly, the Uchiha's eyes widened as he pushed his body forward. "Look out!" He exclaimed before pushing Naruto out of the way.
The spiky haired teen was caught by surprise and all he could do was watch in horror as Sasuke was impaled by a barrage of bone-like projectiles that was meant for him. "Sasuke!" Naruto shouted in disbelief before catching his teammate as he fell back.
"My, my… This simply will not do." A vaguely familiar voice reached the Jinchuuriki's ear causing him to look up at its source. On the other side of the lake, an older shinobi with gray hair and glasses stood watching the two Leaf genin with a smirk on his face. "I can have Sasuke-kun dying on me right now, so could you please hand him over to me, Naruto-kun? After all, it is your fault that he is so gravely wounded since that attack was meant for you." He stated.
The blond gritted his teeth. "Kabuto…!" The Sharingan user spat out. Glaring at the Sound shinobi from across the lake, the boy noticed the loose bandages wrapped around Kabuto's left arm. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw bones sticking out of the Missing nin's forearm.
Noticing what the blond was looking at, Kabuto's smirk widened. "Oh? You noticed, didn't you?" He said raising his left arm. "I take it you met Kimimaro early, so you must know about his bloodline limit. Orochimaru and I both agree that it would have been a shame for it to die with him, so we preformed a couple of experiments with his blood." The gray haired man said as he willed the sprouting bones to continuously change in size. "I managed to isolate the part of the Kaguya DNA that controls this ability and I'm currently testing on how to integrate it to others, so far it is only localized to my arm and…" The bespectacled man suddenly started laughing. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to ramble on, I'm just particularly proud of this accomplishment."
All that Kabuto's words accomplished was intensifying Naruto's glare.
"Anyways, back to the matter at hand." The gray haired man suddenly started again. "As you can see, Sasuke-kun is in a very precarious situation. However, what you may not know is that I am a pretty accomplished medic and I could save his life if you simply hand him over and walk away." He offered with a kind smile. "I even promise not to attack you as you make your way back to the village." The smile widened.
Naruto tightened his hold on his friend. "I'll never let you, or that bastard Orochimaru, take Sasuke!" He stated.
"So you would rather let your teammate die?" Kabuto countered in amusement.
Carefully laying the raven haired teen's body on the ground, the Uzumaki stood up and glared at the older ninja. "No, I will just beat you again and take Sasuke back before it gets to that." The spiky haired boy stated firmly.
A short laugh escaped the Sound nin at the boy's words, however a hint of bitterness could be heard in it. "I would not wager Sasuke-kun's life on another lucky shot if I were you." He commented.
Naruto simply continued to glare as he prepared himself to attack. Unfortunately, the moment he took a step forward, Naruto felt as if his body had suddenly become a thousand times heavier and it took all of his strength not to fall on his knees at that very moment. "What…?" The blond blurted out in surprise before he could help himself.
The Leaf genin's predicament did not go unnoticed by the gray haired man. "It seems that today's exhausting events have finally caught up to you, Naruto-kun."
Ignoring the taunts, the Jinchuuriki tried to recompose himself. "What… What's going on… It's as if all my chakra was gone…" The boy's mind raged. "Did Kyuubi's chakra… Did the transformation… Caused this…? Burn me out?" He wondered.
Casually scratching the back of his head, the smirk returned to Kabuto's face. "Done already, Naruto-kun? Can I take Sasuke-kun with me now?" The Missing nin mocked.
Brining his eyes up to sent a glare at his opponent, the Sharingan user straightened his body. "I guess I have no other option." Naruto commented as he tore his right sleeve off to reveal his summoning tattoo. Smearing some of his blood over it, the blond performed the necessary hand seals. "Namikaze – Kuchiyose not Jutsu!" He called out. The next second, the entry valley was engulfed in a blinding light.
Immediately, Kabuto brought his arm up to protect his eyes from the light. The young man could feel an immense heat emanating from the blonde's direction and he could hear the churning of arcs of lightning striking all around him.
After several seconds, the light finally started to die you. Putting his arm back down, Yakushi Kabuto's eyes widened at the sight that greeted them.
From across the lake, it would seem as if the right side of Naruto's body was completely covered in electricity, but upon closer look it could be seen that the lightning was originating by the artifact in his hand.
The young man's right hand was closed lightly around the body of large, ornate spear make out of a lustrous, navy colored metal with a wide, curved, dark blade up front and golden markings running along the entire body, ending on a large crimson chain with a smaller blade at the end coiling around the blond as if it were a tail.
Kabuto made no attempts to hide neither his amazement nor curiosity. "Tenkai no Ryuga…" The bespectacled shinobi said in wonderment. "A weapon that emanates its own chakra… So many legends and myths about it… The blade that sealed the skies, forged out of dragon blood and bones, a raging storm taking corporeal form… It was believed that the spear was lost along with the Namikaze clan after the Yondaime died…" Realization suddenly dawned on the gray haired man's face. "So that's it… You're the Fourth's brat… Well, that answer so many of the questions I had about you, Naruto-kun."
As a respond to his opponent's words, Naruto trained the blade of his spear at him.
"Along with the Second Hokage's Raijin Sword and Uchiha Madara's War Fan, Ryuga is one of the most prominent weapons associated with the Hidden Leaf. I would love to have a chance to examine it." The sound nin commented. "Tell me, Naruto-kun, after I kill you, will Ryuga remain behind or disappear immediately?" He wondered with a mixture of amusement and mockery.
Without acknowledging the medic nin's words, Naruto pushed his body forward. Immediately, the lightning around the spear increased to the point that it hid the blonde's body completely, making it seem as if he wear a bolt of lightning racing across the water at its target.
Swiftly, Kabuto jumped out of the way a second before the ground where he had been standing on exploded in a blast of Lightning chakra. Turning around in mid air, the gray haired man pointed his transformed arm at the cloud of dust hat had risen and unleashed a barrage of bone projectiles towards its center.
Out of the dust, Ryuga's chain shot out, seemingly moving on its own to quickly intercept all of the incoming bones.
"I see…" The medic nin started as he landed back on the ground. "You're already out of energy so you are relying on Ryuga to fight this battle for you." He commented in a mocking tone.
Another streak of lighting shot out towards the Sound ninja. Kabuto barely had time to dodge it and land back down before he was forced to jump again as a third attack followed suit. When the fourth attack came just a few second later, the bespectacled young man decided to stop evading. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, the Yakushi willed a long, thick bone out of his altered arm and brought it out to meet the incoming bolt of lightning.
To the Kaguya Shikotsumyaku's credit, the bone that the medic had conjured actually managed to meet the Ryuga's blade head on and not break on impact.
Surrounded by Lightning chakra, the two shinobi locked eyes as each tried to push the other back. Naruto gritted his teeth as he put all his weight behind his spear.
Kabuto could feel the lighting chakra emanating from the Namikaze weapon starting to burn bits of his skin off and he could see as bone club he created was already starting to break.
The Sound ninja had no other choice but to jump back and put some distance between himself and the genin. "So it is true that Ryuga will only accept someone with Namikaze blood to be near it." The gray haired man commented. "That is yet another incentive to finish by gene splicing project." He added as he flexed his altered arm.
Despite using the chakra emanating from Ryuga for bulk of his offensive, exhaustion was quickly creeping up Naruto. "I need to… Keep going… So close to putting an end to all of this…" The blond thought as he lifted the spear once again and propelled himself forward.
The bespectacled young man jumped out of the way to evade the attack. "Dokugiri!" Kabuto said, taking a deep breath before releasing a purple cloud of poison down on the Leaf nin.
Seeing the venomous attack coming down towards him, the Jinchuuriki lifted his weapon up over his head and started spinning it in his hand.
Ryuga's chakra flooded out of its form as it spun and created a twister that easily dissipated the poisonous cloud.
Kabuto braced himself as the charka cyclone let out shockwaves that rippled throughout the valley. "This is starting to get out of hand…" The young man commented before starting to make hand seals at a heightened speed. "Suiryudan no Jutus!" He called out before the lake suddenly erupted and a large water dragon emerged from its depth.
The water behemoth let out a powerful roar as it thrashed around on top of the lake until it positioned himself between its creator and his opponent before charging towards the spiky haired boy.
"Gyargh!" Naruto let a strong roar of his own before swinging Ryuga at the incoming attack.
A powerful streak of Lightning chakra shot out of the spear's blade as a wave that met the liquid dragon head on. The powerful water jutsu was easily ripped apart by the flying slash, which continued its destructive path towards the Yakushi.
Shaking off the surprise that a high level jutsu like Suiryudan was so easily defeated, Kabuto tried to dodge the incoming attack by jumping away. Unfortunately for the medic nin, he was not quickly enough to fully evade the attack, and some of the electricity managed to make contact with the right side of his body.
As soon as he landed on the ground, Kabuto started applying some of his medical jutsu to the searing wounds that the last strike had caused, but he barely had a few second to numb some of the pain when another lightning charged assault from the Uzumaki came down towards him.
This time, the Oto shinobi managed to move away in time to properly evade the attack. However, his success was short lived when Ryuga's tail shot out of the cloud of the smoke again and went flying straight towards the gray haired young man, wrapping itself around his ankle.
Less than a second before the chain's hold on his ankle was taut, Kabuto felt his body being pulled towards the dissipating cloud of dust from which some streaks of lighting could already be seen, letting the Missing nin know that his opponent was already charging another attack.
Before Naruto could unleash Ryuga's wrath, the medic nin made a hand seal. The next second his body suddenly disappeared, letting the chain recoil back, and resurfaced some distance away. For the first time in the fight, Kabuto panted as he tried to regain his bearing after the close call. "I set up the Shunshin marker before the fight started… But I honestly never thought I would actually have to use it…" He admitted. "It seems that I cannot afford to underestimate you any longer, Naruto-kun."
Despite himself, the Uzumaki had no choice but lower his spear for support for a few second while he caught his breath. "Don't beat yourself up… People around me have a habit to underestimate me." The blond said, he knew that for him to even have a chance at emerging victorious he could not lose the offensive, unfortunately he was near exhaustion and had no other choice but to try stalling and buy some time to recover his energy.
A smirk appeared on Kabuto's face. "We do that, don't we?" He commented. "I remember right before the Chunin Exam started, I passed Orochimaru-sama my report on Sasuke-kun and all the people around him. At that time I had you classified as a minor annoyance, that even with the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside you, there was no way for you to interfere with the plan of recruiting Sasuke-kun."
The Leaf genin let out a short laugh. "Boy, were you wrong." The spiky haired teen mocked.
"Tell me about it." Kabuto responded. "The following day, you managed to make our Genin team piss on their pants and held your own against Orochimaru-sama, then you defeated a Hyuuga prodigy, stopped Sabaku no Gaara, and got one over yours truly." The Sound ninja summed up. "At every turn you manage to blow away my expectations of you. So, please, help an inquiring mind, what is it that it makes you so strong?" He asked.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he regarded his opponent. "It's something that you don't have…" The young man stated plainly.
The smile in the medic nin's face widened. "Oh? Something I do not posses?" He repeated. "Is it the Kyuubi? Your Sharingan? Or that weapon in your hands?" The Sound shinobi pondered in amusement.
"It's none of those!" The spiky haired boy responded before charging forward once more.
Jumping back, Kabuto got out of the danger area right before the lightning charged genin stroke.
Immediately, Ryuga's chain came alive as it launched itself at the gray haired ninja, forcing the young man to produce another large bone out of his transformed arm and use it to try to fend off the incoming duo of chain and blade.
Caught up on deflecting the stabs from Ryuga's tail, Kabuto almost missed a charge that came in crashing down at full force. The Oto nin was able to get out of the way and avoid the bulk of the impact, but some of the Lightning chakra managed to reach him, scorching his cloths and quite a bit of the skin underneath it.
This time, the older shinobi did not even have time to numb his burns before the chained end of the blonde's spear was back on the assault, furiously stabbing at the young man, forcing him to fight it off again.
Slowly but surely, Kabuto started to lose ground against the Namikaze weapon. Even creating a second bone sword did little against the lightning charged strikes and soon the medic nin was backed against a wall at the end of the valley.
Predicting what was coming next, the Oto nin used the wall behind him to jump out of the way of the attack that followed a second later. "Ok, Naruto-kun…. You forced my hand." Kabuto commented as he landed, smiling at his own pun.
A pair of sapphire eyes widened when they saw his opponent's already-monstrous arms, suddenly being covered by a dark rip-like patter. The blond barely had time to register that the markings were identical to the one he saw on Kimimaro's body before the rip-like pattern started to glow and expand, turning Kabuto's arm into a dark, tan color.
The Sound ninja took a couple more jumps back to increase the distance between himself and the genin. "Sawarabi no Mai!" Kabuto called out before slamming his left palm onto the ground.
Immediately, the ground started shaking.
Acting on instinct, Naruto jumped into the air just in time to evade the hundreds of giant, sharp bones that sprouted out of the ground that would have completely ripped him to shreds.
"Not so fast, Naruto-kun." The Sound nin commented with a smirk. The next second, a barrage of bones shot out of the ground at a high speed, all aiming at the genin.
Despite the efforts of Ryuga's tail in blocking the incoming projectiles, many of the bones managed to land several cuts on the airborne Jinchuuriki. "There's no other way out…" Naruto murmured to himself at realizing how helpless his situation was. Trying to block out of the pain inflicting on him by the ongoing barrage, the spiky haired boy placed both hands on his spear and pumped his remaining chakra into it.
Suddenly, electricity covered the entire chain and its movements became a lot faster, deflection all of the incoming projectiles, before it shot down and started circling around the gray haired ninja.
Before Kabuto could even react to his opponent latest strategy, the older ninja started to feel a numbing sensation spreading through his body. Looking at the circling chain, the medic's eyes widened in astonishment as he figured out what was happening. "The Lightning chakra from the chain…! It's affecting my nervous system!" He exclaimed in surprise, finding that it was already difficult to move his body.
"Arashi no Kago…" The sudden words caused the bespectacled man to look up in the air. Naruto was right over him with the Namikaze weapon trained straight down. "It's over, Kabuto…!" The younger ninja stated before he was completely covered by electricity and shot downwards.
Restricted by the chain's effect, Kabuto could only look up helplessly as he was struck down by lightning.
The blinding impact sounded like a dragon's roar that echoed far pass the valley.
Dust and the occasional arc of electricity followed the immediate wake of the thunderous assault, and at the middle of it all, Naruto could not even see anything past his own nose. Eventually, the rubble started to settle, allowing the blond to regain his vision. Looking down, the genin let out a weary breath at the sight of Kabuto's lifeless body at his feet, Ryuga's blade impaled on the Missing nin's chest. "It's finally o…" The young man stopped at might sentence when something caught his eye.
Suddenly, all physical traits started to disappear from Kabuto's body until all that was left behind was a human size mud doll. The surprised genin, immediately removed his weapon from the earth figure, unfortunately, this only caused his eyes to widen even more since the crack left behind on the figure revealed an explosive tag hidden inside. The spiky haired teen did not even have a second to react before the mud clone exploded.
Naruto's body was sent flying away like rag doll, skipping on the ground as he landed harshly. "I have to hand to you, Naruto-kun…" The blond heard as he struggled to get back up. "That was a really nice try. I sensed no hesitation as you delivered the killing blow." Kabuto added as he emerged from underneath the earth just a few feet away from the Uzumaki.
"Dam… Damn you…" The genin spat out as he used Ryuga to help himself get back on his feet. Suddenly, an intense, searing pain shot through the Leaf nin's body. Looking down at his hands, Naruto saw the weapon's chakra sparking wildly. "No… Not now… Damn it!" He cursed.
From his position, Kabuto watched the events unfold with curiosity.
The spiky haired boy brought both hands to the spear as he tried to force the blade to yield to his will. "Damn it… I still haven't mastered this thing… And without any chakra left I can't keep it under control!" The young man raged inside his mind.
While the Jinchuuriki tried to get the weapon under control, Ryuga started to glow with a blinding light, and then suddenly banished from the Jinchuuriki's hand, leaving a stunned and defenseless Naruto behind.
"That's a shame." The Sound nin's voice seemed to echo inside the blonde's mind. "I really would have liked to study Ryuga just a little longer." The medic revealed as right hand suddenly started to emanate chakra in preparation for the young man's Chakra no Mesu technique. "You fought well, Naruto-kun… I hope you find some solace in that fact." He said before moving in for the finishing strike.
"I'm… I'm done…" The young genin pondered as he waited for the killing blow. "I have no chakra left… No energy left… No strength left…" He thought. "I couldn't protect Sasuke, let down all my friends that put their lives on the line in this mission, and I failed to keep my promise to Sakura." The Uzumaki summed up all of his failures. "I'm going to die… I'm going to die…" The boy repeated in his head.
Kabuto readied his strike as he quickly closed in
"I don't want to die!" Naruto screamed in his mind. Suddenly, several images started flashing in the spiky haired teen's mind. Iruka inviting him to ramen, Kakashi announcing that Team Seven passed their test, Sasuke protecting him from Haku, playing chess with Shikamaru, Sakura comforting him after the Sound invasion, falling asleep next to Hinata in the hospital, traveling with Jiraiya, receiving the First Hokage's necklace from Tsunade. Those, and many other memories flooded back into the young man's conscious. "I can't die!" The Sharingan user shouted just as Kabuto thrust his chakra scalpel forward.
The medic nin's eyes widened at the sight before him. Just a few inches from its target, his strike had been stopped by what appeared to be a large, ribcage covered in dark blue flames that encased the spiky haired genin.
Naruto was just as surprised as he looked at the strange, fiery construct that protected him. "At the limits of the sun and the moon… A storm will rise." The Leaf ninja absentmindedly found himself reciting the words he had seen on the Mangekyou scroll with his Sharingan.
The gray haired man took a couple of step back as he was unable to shake off his astonishment. Right in front of him, the spectral ribcage started to widened and take a more humanoid look as bones for the shoulders and the beginning of the neck started to manifest.
Realization of what was going on dawned on the blond and all of the sudden the young man felt his energy returning, making him feel elated and strong. "This is…" He started as he looked down at his right hand.
As if reacting to blonde's actions, more bones started to appear on the construct's right side, forming its gigantic right arm and hand.
Naruto glared at Kabuto with a look full of determination, closing his fist as the manifestation over him copied his action. "Susanoo!" The Sharingan users exclaimed as he punched forward, willing the monstrous apparition to do the same.
The medic nin was still stunned as the colossal fist came crashing down on him.
Tenkai no Ryuga – Dragon Fang of the Heavens (Made up)
Dokugiri – Poison Mist
Suiryudan no Jutsu – Water Dragon Jutsu
Sawarabi no Mai – Dance of the Seedling Fern
Arashi no Kago – Tempest's Cage (Made up)
Itachi – And that's the real reason why Phoenixsun wanted to get this chapter out.
Lee – What do you mean, Itachi-san?
Itachi – Susanoo is Phoenixsun's favorite jutsu in the series, he really wanted to get to it.
Kisame – I have problems with that Ryuga-thing. I remember it being different.
Itachi – Oh, Phoenxisun went through several different version of it. First it was a sword, then a spear, a chain, a spear again, and then settled on a spear with a chain.
Lee – That's a lot of changes… Was it even one of those wind-up monkeys with the cymbals? Heheheh…
Kisame – Wouldn't surprise me…
Itachi – Either way… Thanks everyone for reading this chapter of PHD. Hopefully, we'll see you next time.
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