章節 1471: 61
Kumogakure Infiltration
Naruto had been to Kumo plenty of times in the past, so he was actually well-versed in the hike up the mountain pass that he, Darui, Karui, Samui, and Omoi were taking. That said, he could have done without his hands being bound in chains.
"We're almost home," Omoi said with something that sounded a lot like longing.
"Given the situation, I'm not sure being home is a good thing," Samui muttered under her breath. "Are we sure this plan is going to work?"
"Well, it would have been easier if we'd just given Darui a summoning scroll and had him summon everyone after entering the village," Naruto said with a shrug. "However, Kakashi and the others don't trust you guys enough to do that. We had to modify the plan so I could act as a failsafe in case you decided to betray us."
The steep incline was something you'd never see in Hi no Kuni. These mountains that pierced the sky were so steep in some areas that they had to maintain their balance with chakra. It was almost like walking up walls.
During one of these areas where the group used chakra to climb, Samui turned her head to eye him with a skeptical glance. She looked at his feet as he used chakra to keep from falling. Then she looked back at his face.
"I suppose that makes a kind of sense." She allowed with a nod. Then her nose wrinkled. "But wouldn't you traveling with the four of us into enemy territory put you at a disadvantage. What if we just decide to kill you or take you prisoner for real?"
"You wouldn't be able to." Naruto gestured at Samui with his bound hands and, more specifically, at the seal just barely visible on her left breast. "That seal is tied to the seal on my palm." He held out his right palm so she could see the intricate patterns on it. "I call it Shibaindo Fuiin. The moment you decide to betray me, that seal will activate and cause a massive explosion with enough power to take out this entire mountain. The seal will also activate if I die."
"I thought you said this seal was supposed to help us locate you at all times!" Karui shouted as she suddenly whirled around on him. The mountain pass had leveled out some, so she fortunately didn't trip and fall.
"It does that too." Naruto nodded. "This is another feature of the seal."
"You forgot to mention that part!" Karui spat.
"He didn't," Darui said in the front. He craned his neck around to look at them from the corner of his eye. "I already knew what the seal did when I had him put it on us. This seal is the real reason he's here with us."
Naruto nodded. "The seal only has an effective distance of about two kilometers. After that, I won't be able to activate the seal."
"And that's why you decided to pretend to be our prisoner?" asked Omoi.
Naruto shrugged. "Like I said, Kakashi and the others don't trust you, and considering what happened, I don't blame them. This is a failsafe to ensure you can't betray us."
"You didn't need to go that far," Karui muttered in a bitter voice. "We know what's at stake here."
Naruto shrugged again but didn't say anything, though not because he had nothing to say; they had reached the gates of Kumo.
As the massive gates leading into Kumogakure loomed over them, the four-man cell of Darui, Karui, Samui, and Omoi moved into a diamond formation with him in the center. Not only were Naruto's hands bound in chains, but Darui had the cord attached to them. That made it look like he was being dragged along against his will.
Knowing that he had to play his part, Naruto put his fine acting skills to good use. He put an aggrieved yet defeated expression onto his face.
"Darui!" a man standing before the gate shouted as they wandered up. He was an average man. His skin was dark, he had light brown hair, and he wore the regular garb of a Kumogakure Chunin. "What are you doing here? I thought you were leading the army against Konoha."
Nodding at the man, Darui responded in his usual lazy voice. "I was, but I captured a very unique prisoner. I didn't think it was a good idea to keep him at the camp, so I decided it would be better if I escorted him to Kumogakure myself."
At those words, the man finally noticed Naruto in the center of their formation. The way his eyes bulged in shock was almost amusing.
"Hey, hey… isn't that…?"
"Yes." Darui nodded.
The Chunin whistled. "Well, I'll be damned. Never thought I'd see the day you managed to capture a jinchurikki."
"It took a lot of work. We have currently sealed his chakra, but we'll need to think of a more permanent solution soon," Darui said.
"Right. Right. Okay, you guys can go in."
The man waved them through the gate, which opened to admit them. On the other side was Kumogakure. It looked vastly different than Konoha. Aside from being built on a mountain range, all of the buildings were built up instead out. They were also built into the mountains themselves, giving the village an entirely different aesthetic than what he was used to.
"Come on," Darui muttered quietly. "Let's head over to the prison."
"Sir," the three other Kumo ninja said.
"Are you sure about this, Naruto?" asked Darui.
Naruto chuckled. "Even if I wasn't, it's good late to back out now."
"Dull. I guess that's true."
The prison was located in the same mountain that the Raikage's office was on. Naruto allowed himself to be led through the village, doing his best to ignore the gawking stares his presence caused.
Kumo was a mostly military village, so unlike Konoha, which had a larger civilian population, about 75-80% of Kumogakure was made up of ninja. It basically meant everyone knew who he was. Naruto wondered what thoughts were going through their mind as they saw Konoha's jinchurikki get dragged through the village.
Their destination was a door built into a mountain and guarded by a chair of Chunin. The two ninja looked shocked as Darui and his group wandered past them, but they didn't say anything, though whether from shock or because they'd been trained to keep their mouths shut, Naruto didn't know.
As they entered the well-lit interior, Naruto was led through a series of perfectly square hallways and down several flights of stairs.
"So what's the plan?" asked Darui.
Since he felt safe talking, Naruto assumed there were no guards who could overhear them. "We'll initiate our plan tonight. You still have the summoning scroll, right?"
"Of course." Darui nodded.
"Good. I'll take care of the guards before you arrive. All you need to do is show up."
"You realize this dull plan of yours is crazy, right?"
"Sometimes the craziest plans are the most likely ones to work," Naruto said.
While he and Darui spoke, the other three ninja looked on with uncertainty, but they didn't say anything. They had reached the prison.
As they entered the prison, the warden looked up. He was a big man with hulking muscles bulging from his arms and chest. While Naruto didn't think he had the Raikage's ridiculously muscled body, this dude's arm was definitely thicker than Naruto's head. While he wore the standard one-shoulder flak jacket of Kumogakure, he wore nothing underneath it.
"Darui? What are you doing here?" asked the warden.
"We've got a prisoner I'd like to keep incarcerated." Darui gestured toward Naruto.
The warden eyed him for a moment before his eyes widened. Naruto almost sighed. That was the same reaction everyone gave. It actually made him worry a little. Maybe one of these people would be skeptical about whether or not Darui could really capture a jinchurikki and decide this must be a trap. However, the warden didn't appear to think that way.
"Damn. Never thought I'd see the day this brat becomes our prisoner. We'll need to keep him locked up in our special cell made for jinchurikki."
A special cell just for jinchurikki, huh?
Naruto didn't know what that was, but he had his guesses, and judging from the way Samui, Karui, and Omoi stiffened, they probably knew something about it. He guessed it sealed the powers of a jinchurikki somehow.
Darui glanced at Naruto. Locking gaze for a brief second, he nodded at the man, who flicked his gaze back to the warden.
"That's fine. I'll leave him to you."
"You got it."
Darui handed off the cord to the warden, who gave it a firm tug that made Naruto stumble. Realizing what was going to happen, Naruto forced himself to remain relaxed as a fist became embedded into his gut. The sound of air being expelled from his lungs echoed around the room. He coughed and hacked several times, but the warden didn't give him a moment to recover.
As Darui and the others left, the warden dragged him through the prison, yanking on the cords with little regard to the fact that Naruto was breathless. He winced and forced himself to keep up.
It seemed the special jinchurikki prison was its own chamber. Upon being shoved into the room, Naruto glanced at the numerous seals lining the wall. They were a bit sloppier than what he was used to. These seals weren't nearly as complex as the ones his parents or Jiraiya could do. That said, it wasn't like they were bad either. They were just really simple to understand.
"You'll be staying here for the foreseeable future," the warden said. "At least until we figure out what to do with you."
After saying that, the man slammed the metal door shut. There were several grating clicks as the door locked. It sounded like the locking mechanism was more complex than a normal door. Naruto strained his ears and listened for the warden's footsteps, waiting until the man was far enough away that he didn't have to worry about being overheard.
"Well, that was pleasant," Naruto mumbled as he wandered over to the wall and studied some of the seals. He recognized the kanji being used. "So it looks like this chamber is used to keep a jinchurikki from being able to call upon their bijuu's power. Interesting. This must also be the sealing chamber then."
Of course, this chamber did nothing to Naruto, who was no longer a jinchurikki. Just to test this theory out, he quickly began channeling his chakra through his body. It flowed smoothly through him. Like the seals around this room, the seals on these chains couldn't keep his chakra restrained since it was a mixture of his and Akane's chakra. It wasn't human anymore.
"Right. Time to get out of these."
With nary a grunt, Naruto shattered the chains binding his hands together. He rubbed his wrists and glanced around the room some more. However, nothing new revealed itself to him. A sigh involuntarily escaped from his mouth.
"I guess now all I can do is wait until it's nightime."
Sitting down against the wall, Naruto leaned back and closed his eyes. He'd take a quick nap before dealing with that warden.
XoX
After dropping Naruto off at the prison, Darui, Karui, Samui, and Omoi traveled up to the Raikage's office.
"So it's true, then? You've really captured Naruto Uzumaki?" asked the Raikage.
Darui felt a distinct sense of unease, a shiver that traveled up and down his spine and refused to leave, as he stared at the Raikage and his brother, Killer Bee. The Raikage wasn't lifting weights and Killer Bee wasn't making raps. They also weren't fighting, which happened quite often. Those were good indications that something was wrong with them. Darui was cursing himself for not realizing it sooner.
"Yes, Lord Raikage," Darui said. "He's currently being held prisoner in the Jinchurikki Sealing Chamber."
"Hmm…" The Raikage mumbled something to himself that Darui couldn't hear, then nodded. "Good work. We don't have any suitable hosts for the Kyuubi, so we'll have to keep him imprisoned for now. We'll work something out later. Good work."
"Thank you, Lord Raikage." Darui and the other three knelt down in reverence.
"Now that you've dropped your prisoner off, I expect you to return to the battlefield tomorrow," the Raikage continued. "Much as I trust Yugito, she's not leader material like you are. We need someone who is capable of leading our forces against Konoha."
"Yes, sir," Darui said. He was slightly surprised that the Raikage didn't know anything about their army's terrible defeat, but he guessed Naruto had made sure none of their ninja could escape to report back.
After being dismissed, the group traveled back down the tower and exited via the door they had come in from with Naruto. No one said anything. They couldn't talk there. Instead of hanging around, they slipped through the crowd of ninja and found a quiet bar to converse in.
The bar wasn't very large, but it was big enough that they could sit far from everyone else. It was a well-lit establishment. Several lanterns hung from the ceiling to illuminate the floor. All of the tables were round instead of square of rectangular. Perhaps thanks to the time of day and the war on Konoha, there weren't that many patrons. Darui could only see a few older Genin sitting around at some of the tables.
"Are we really going through with this?" asked Samui after everyone had ordered some saki from a waitress that wandered by.
"Do we have a choice?" asked Karui. "You heard what that brat said about these seals." She gestured angrily to the seal on her left breast, hidden beneath her flak jacket.
"But… he's in the jinchurikki sealing chamber, isn't he?" asked Omoi. "He shouldn't be able to use his chakra or call upon his bijuu. It's not like he can activate it."
"He can," Darui murmured, silencing the other three. "I can't say anything right now, but he's perfectly capable of using chakra even in that chamber."
The other three grew silent, perhaps unsure of what to say, or maybe they didn't believe him. Darui sighed. This entire situation was one he never thought he would find himself in, so he didn't blame them for being skeptical.
As he leaned back in his chair, the waitress came up with their saki. She didn't seem bothered by the silence. Of course, she lived in a militaristic ninja village. This girl dealt mainly with ninja, so she was likely aware of their generally unique dispositions. She set their saki on the table and left with a quick smile.
The four of them drank their saki in silence for a time. No one said anything. No one wanted to say anything. However, after finishing about half of his bottle, Darui decided they couldn't afford to remain silent.
"Tonight, I want all of you to meet me outside of the prison. We begin our operation then," he said.
Karui, Samui, and Omoi nodded.
XoX
Naruto opened his eyes as he suddenly and quickly woke up. He stretched his arms above his head, yawning as his back cracked several times. It was hard to tell how long he'd slept. Even so, his internal clock was telling him that at least several hours had passed. No doubt night had fallen on Kumo by now.
"I guess now's as good a time as any to begin the operation."
Walking over to the door, Naruto placed a hand on it and sent some chakra through the door. A frown stretched across his face. Just as he had suspected, this was no ordinary door. There were sixteen bolts locking this door. Four traveled from the bottom to the top, while the remaining twelve moved horizontally across the door. Each bolt was also made from a material that absorbed chakra. Even now his chakra was being siphoned from him.
Cutting off the flow, Naruto tried to think of what method he should use to break down this door. He could probably just overpower the chakra absorbing metal's ability to absorb chakra and break it down. However, that would alert the warden. He wanted to be quiet. The last thing he needed was for the warden to sound the alarm.
"I guess I should undo each lock individually…" he grimaced.
There was no keyhole or anything for this lock. The method to unlock was the spindle on the other side. Rotating the spindle would unlock the door.
As he stared at the door for a bit longer, Naruto finally unsealed a tool kit and flipped it open. There were several items inside. Most of them were lockpicks meant for various types of locks. However, he also had items meant for drilling holes into doors. None of them would be able to drill through steel, though, not unless he used wind chakra.
"I should have enough chakra for this…"
Taking out a small drill, Naruto placed it against the door, channeled wind chakra through it to form a sharp blade, and began drilling holes into the door.
It took more chakra than it should have to drill a simple hole through the door. The material was greedily sucking up his chakra like a sponge sucked up water, which meant Naruto had to keep a constant, steady flow just to maintain the wind drill. However, he soon drilled 32 holes into the door, two for each bar.
"And now to unlock them."
The bars were meant to be moved into a series of holes in the wall. The horizontal bars moved left or right, while the vertical bars moved up or down. Naruto stuck his finger into one of the holes and poked the bar. Concentrating hard, he created a blade of wind chakra on his finger and sliced through the bar—or he would have, but the material absorbed a good portion of his chakra. Only a small cut appeared on it. With another grimace, Naruto funneled more through through his finger and continued working, until he'd sliced the bar clean through.
There was no noise to indicate the bar had been cut. It was being held in place by the rest of the locking mechanism. Naruto proceeded to cut through the remaining bars. When the last one was sliced through, he pushed the door open, wincing as it creaked.
I really hope the warden didn't hear that…
The jinchurikki sealing chamber was located at the bottom of the prison, meaning Naruto had to climb up several stairs and down several halls. He was glad the prison cells were barred with actual doors and not bars. None of the other prisoners could see him, and he made sure his footsteps were silent so they wouldn't hear him. Before too long, he was back on the first floor of the prison.
The warden was over by the exit/entrance, which was on the opposite side of the door Naruto stood by. Of course. It would have been too easy if he was closer. Karmic laws demanded that nothing ever be too freaking easy.
As Naruto complained to himself, he thought up a plan of action. First, he created three Shadow Clones. Then each clone transformed into spiders, which began crawling along the walls toward the warden.
As he impatiently waited for his clones to reached the warden, Naruto unsealed another item from the seals on his arms. This time what he unsealed would have been mistaken for an egg… because that was what it was. It looked innocuous enough—just a plain white egg from a chicken. Only Naruto knew that this egg was not a plain egg.
Just then, a muffled shout echoed from the exit/entrance. Naruto glanced around the door to see that his clones had put the warden into a submission hold. One of them had forced the man to his knees, another was holding his arms behind him in an arm lock, and the last was covering his mouth so he wouldn't scream.
Naruto walked out from behind the door, enjoying the way the warden's eyes widened. He stopped in front of the man. The warden struggled to escape from the hold, but even though they were just clones, each of them had a good portion of chakra and were using it to strengthen their limbs. There was no escaping from that.
"You know that punch of yours hurt," Naruto said in a conversational tone. "I think that deserves some punishment."
He nodded at the clone keeping the man's mouth shut. The clone nodded back and removed his hands. As soon as he did, the warden opened his mouth to yell, but Naruto shoved the egg into his mouth, and then the clone forced his mouth closed again. This caused the warden's struggling to grow even more fierce as he did everything his power to open his mouth, but the clone held fast and the man was soon forced to swallow the egg.
Barely a second after he did, the warden began spasming as strangled gurgles escaped his mouth. The clones placed the warden on the ground as he flopped like a fish out of water. Froth bubbled from his mouth as his eyes rolled up in the back of his head. He went still seconds after that.
And this was the scene Darui, Karui, Samui, and Omoi arrived at. Naruto was standing triumphantly over the frothing at the mouth warden alongside his clones. Darui glanced at the warden to make sure he was alive, and then looked at Naruto with a frown.
"What did you do to him?" he asked.
"Heheheh." Naruto swiped his nose and gave a pleased grin. "Back when I was younger, I used to pull a lot of pranks. I still kept some of my prank items in storage. The one I just used on him was actually a boiled egg. What I did was remove the yoke, and then I replaced it with a mixture of spices and gaseous chemicals. Let's see… I think this mixture was a combination of chilly powder, serrano peppers, manure, and sewer water."
A heavy silence filled the air as the four Kumo ninja looked at Naruto, their faces turning an interesting shade of green.
"What?" asked Naruto.
"N-nothing," Darui muttered, coughing into his hand. "Anyway, let's hurry up and summon everyone here."
He reached into his pouch and pulled out the reverse summoning scroll Naruto had given him. Spreading it on the ground revealed the scroll in all its splendor, the numerous complex looking squiggles mixed in with kanji. Only a seal master would have been able to read it.
Darui placed his hands on the reverse summoning scroll and channeled his chakra through it. A massive burst of smoke filled the room, causing everyone who wasn't prepared to begin cough, but then the smoke cleared and revealed the four people who were going to take part on this mission with them: Akane, Choujuro, Kakashi, and Zabuza.
"How about that?" Zabuza said with an impressed whistle. "That scroll actually worked."
"Of course it worked." Naruto puffed out his chest. "I made it."
"Now that we are here, we should begin the mission." Kakashi quickly took charge. "We'll be splitting off into groups of three. Group One will cause a distraction. Group Two will confront Killer Bee. Meanwhile, Group Three will work on removing the genjutsu placed over the Raikage."
There were nine people present, which meant they'd be divided into three groups of three.
It was decided that Naruto, Akane, and Zabuza would deal with the Raikage. It was originally going to be Naruto, Akane, and Kakashi, but Zabuza had said he wanted to go with "the brat." The group going after Killer Bee would be Kakashi, Samui, and Darui. All three of them were Jonin and therefore the ones most likely to survive a battle against the eight-tailed Jinchurikki. Finally, Choujuro, Karui, and Omoi would cause the distraction.
"Once your group causes the distraction, we'll move in and engage Killer Bee," Kakashi said. "Then you guys will confront the Raikage and remove the genjutsu on him. Does everyone understand the plan?" Everyone gave an affirmative. "Then let's move out."
Under the cover of darkness, the three groups of ninja moved off toward their respective objectives.
XoX
The group consisting of Choujuro, Karui, and Omoi traveled through the streets under the cover of darkness. There were many Kumo ninja still patrolling the village even this late at night. It wasn't even that they were on high alert. Kumo was a military village who acted like a military village. They were nothing at all like the peace-loving Konoha.
Karui and Omoi were able to walk in the open, but Choujuro could not. He used the stealth skills Kirigakure was known for to travel alongside the two. Karui glanced left and right, up and even behind her, but no matter where she looked, she still could not see the swordsman accompanying them.
"Damn, that's creepy," she muttered.
Omoi glanced at her. "What is?"
"That guy's stealth skills. I can't even detect him."
"Hmm… well, he is one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist, you know? They're well-known for their sword skills and assassination techniques," Omoi lectured her. "It only makes sense that an amatuer like you wouldn't be able to detect him."
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Karui slammed her fist into the back of Omoi's head.
None of the Kumo ninja paid the two any mind as they bickered back and forth. They were known throughout the village for their arguments, so the most they got were a few exasperated headshakes.
"Hey," Karui suddenly whispered. "Are we really sure we can trust those Konoha ninja?"
"What do you mean?" asked Omoi.
"Don't give me that!" Karui hissed as she leaned in closer. "I mean, can we really believe them when they say the Raikage is under a genjutsu? I mean, how would they know unless they placed him under it, right?"
"But Yugito was also under a genjutsu," Omoi pointed out. "She admitted it herself, and if she was under one, then it stands to reason Kirabi-sensei and Lord A are also under a genjutsu, right?"
"I guess…"
While Karui didn't look convinced, Omoi seemed sure of himself, so he nodded several times as they finally arrived at their destination.
Their goal was to create a distraction large enough to gather the vast majority of ninja. It had to be in a place that was far enough away from the Raikage's office that it would take time to go back, but it also needed to be somewhere that was both important and wouldn't kill people if it got blown up. That was why they had decided on the Kumogakure training ground.
Konoha had a lot of training grounds, but Kumo's space was much more limited, and with that being the case, they only had one training ground. It was a massive, bowl-shaped zone that vaguely resembled a stadium. During the times when Kumogakure hosted the Chunin Exams, this place was used during the final test. According to myth, the training ground had been the impact point of a meteor, but there was no evidence to support that.
The interior of the bowl-shaped ground had been flattened, smoothed out, and divided into multiple zones. There were places with training dummies for ninjutsu practice in one section, combat zones where people sparred each other in another, and even a gymnasium for people who wanted to lift weights. That had been a relatively recent addition. It was the Fourth Raikage's idea.
Once they stepped into the training field, Karui suddenly appeared before them as if by magic. Karui let out a shocked squeak as the man bashfully rubbed his head. Even Omoi seemed somewhat shocked.
"Don't do that!" Karui hissed. "Damn! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"S-sorry," Choujuro apologized.
"Whatever."
"So… how are we going to do this?" asked Omoi as he took a lolipop from his pouch, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth.
"We need to blow this place up, right?" Karui shrugged. "Let's just set up a lot of explosive tags everywhere and blow it sky high."
"Are you sure that will work?" Omoi didn't seem as confident in this plan as Karui. "This training ground was made to withstand powerful ninjutsu. Even if we combined all the explosive tags we have on hand, I'm not sure they'll be enough to put even a dent in it."
Karui looked like she wanted to argue but couldn't. Her cheeks had puffed out and become red as she glared at Omoi. While she was doing that, Choujuro looked like he had an idea.
"Then why not just blow up the front?" he suggested. "We could probably plant numerous explosive notes around the entrance. All we need is to cause enough damage that the ninja in Kumo all come over here right."
"That is true…" Karui said.
Omoi nodded. "It's a better idea than Karui's. I'm in."
"You jerk!"
"We should probably split up and consider hitting multiple spots at once. I don't think we'll be able to attract all the Kumo ninja if we only hit one spot," Choujuro announced at last.
"Tell us that sooner!" Karui snapped at him next.
After much debate, it was eventually decided that they would split up, plant explosive notes in multiple locations, and set them off when they were a safe distance away. Karui would destroy one of the weapon depots, Omoi would attack a food storage facility, and Choujuro would blow up the place where ninja accepted missions. Of course, the training ground also became littered with numerous explosive notes placed in key locations that would cause the front entrance to collapse.
Each of them traveled to their determined locations. Omoi and Karui had it far easier than Choujuro did. All they had to do was walk to their location since no one would expect them of betrayal, but the Kirigakure Swordsman needed to use stealth, and while it had been easy for him to sneak around thanks to Karui and Omoi's comedy routine, it was harder when he couldn't rely on them for a distraction.
Despite the numerous hardships he faced, Choujuro still managed to accomplish his mission, placing numerous explosive tags within the building used to give ninja missions. He did his best to place the tags in inconspicuous locations that wouldn't be noticed but still looked like they would do incredible damage. Their ultimate goal was to cause a large enough distraction that people would come running.
When all three of them had finished their tasks, they met up next to the Raikage's office and looked at each other.
"You two ready?" asked Karui.
"I am," Omoi said.
"Me too." Choujuro nodded.
"Okay." Karui sighed as she made a hand seal. The other two also made hand seals. "I can't believe we're doing this."
XoX
Naruto and the others were waiting for the signal to begin their own respective missions when numerous explosions went off at once in four separate locations. Loud sirens blared as squads of ninja poured out from barracks located across various sections of Kumo. If nothing else, these people were incredibly quick to mobilize.
Their hiding place was actually a janitor closet within the main building where the Raikage's Office was located. Even though they were surrounded by walls made of rock on all four sides, they were still able to hear the explosions. Following the explosions was the sound of numerous pounding feet. They all waited until the last pair of footsteps disappeared before nodding to each other.
"It's time to begin the mission," Kakashi said as he opened the door and peeked out. Seconds later, he opened the door wider and stepped outside before allowing everyone else to emerge.
"Lord Raikage and Kirabi are probably both in the Raikage's Office," Darui said.
"So our goal will be to split them up to engage them separately," Naruto muttered.
"That's right." Darui nodded at him.
"Sounds fun," was Akane's sarcastic comment.
The group moved swiftly through the now deserted building. Samui and Darui appeared creeped out by how no one was present. According to them, this building almost always had people bustling through it even in the middle of the night, so seeing this normally busy place without a sole around disturbed them.
Traveling swiftly up several flights of stairs, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the bridge that would lead them to the Raikage's Office. They walked along it. As they did, Naruto chanced a glance down and immediately looked back up. While he didn't have a fear of heights, he would admit that looking down while standing on a bridge so far in the sky gave him a slight sense of vertigo.
Before long, all six of them had entered the Raikage's Office. Just as Darui had suspected, both the Raikage and Kirabi were present. The moment the group entered, the two looked up, and the Raikage's expression immediately darkened.
"What is the meaning of this, Darui? Samui?" he asked in a gruff voice as he stood up. "I hope you have a good explanation for why several Kirigakure and Konoha ninja are in here with you."
"I do," Darui said with a nod. "We're here to break you out of the genjutsu you've been placed under."
The Raikage's eyes widened in astonishment. "You think I'm under the influence of a genjutsu?" His expression darkened again, but this time, it seemed almost ominous, like a premonition of imminent violence. "You had better be joking."
"I'm not," Darui said.
While he spoke, Naruto, Akane, and Zabuza gathered together in a group behind him, while Kakashi and Samui moved next to Darui. The Raikage and Kirabi both noticed the shifts in their formation and scowled.
"Letting foreign ninja enter our village, confronting your Raikage with such a ludicrous claim, and I bet you are responsible for those explosions as well. I see what is going on here." He removed his haori and let it drop to the ground, revealing his powerfully built body. "You two have become traitors."
Darui and Samui both flinched at the accusation. As loyal Kumo ninja, hearing those words from their kage probably hurt more than they were willing to admit, but even so, they didn't back down. Naruto felt his admiration for them rise.
A sense of tension hung in the air as the two forces faced each other down. Kirabi and A both moved apart as though giving the other room to attack. Naruto knew all about their combination attacks, so they would probably attempt to use one of them if they didn't separate the pair first. On their own, these two would be a handful. Together, they would be even more problematic.
Naruto was preparing to enter his hybrid mode, which he knew they would need, when Akane suddenly thrust out her left hand. Before the Raikage even had time to blink, a powerful red chakra slammed into him with enough force to lift him clean off his feet. The glass of his office window shattered as he was flung outside and disappeared.
"Let's go!" Akane shouted quickly as she darted for the window.
Naruto and Zabuza followed after the woman as she leapt out of the window without regards to how high up they were. Kirabi tried to follow them. However, the sound of a thousand chirping birds forced him to leap back seconds before Kakashi slammed his hand into the ground.
"I'm sorry," Kakashi apologized as he, Darui, and Samui surrounded Kirabi in a triangle formation. "But your opponent is going to be us, I'm afraid."
"Hmph. I see. Then let's do this."
Kirabi rotated his arms around as though testing his limbs, and then he removed all seven of his swords and adopted a stance Kakashi had never seen before. One sword was in his mouth, one was underneath his left arm, while another was being held between his shoulder and collarbone. Another was under his right armpit as the fifth sword was similarly held in the crook of his right arm. Finally, the sixth sword was gripped between his left leg and torso, and the last was held between his thigh and calf at the joint.
"Get ready," Samui mumbled. "He's coming."
At that moment, Kirabi attacked.
XoX
The wind whistled around Naruto as he descended head first to the ground. He blinked several times as the distance between him and the distance to the ground shrank at astonishing speed. Fifty meters. Twenty meters. Ten. Five. At one meter, Naruto flipped around just in time to let his feet strike the ground. He bent his knees to absorb the shock. Even so, the impact from descending so far stung a bit more than he expected.
Unlike Naruto, who simply leapt from the building, Zabuza ran down the building. At the ten meter mark, he kicked off and landed on the ground before springing to his feet.
"You and that chick are fucking crazy," he grumbled. "Who jumps from a two hundred meter mountain?"
"This guy." Naruto pointed at himself.
Zabuza snorted.
Just then, several powerful explosions rocked the area around them. At first, Naruto thought someone was throwing around fire jutsu, but there was no heat. He looked up and quickly found the source. It was Akane and A.
"Wow…" Zabuza whistled. "And here I thought she was all talk. Look at that."
Akane and A were duking it out with an incredible fist fight. Their strikes were so fast their limbs looked like blurs, and each time they attacked or blocked an attack, the air around them would detonate, creating an intense shockwave that Naruto could feel from where he stood.
Even as he continued to watch, A lashed out with a powerful fist that caused the air to shriek. Any normal shinobi would have been pulverized if they met such an attack head on. Akane met him punch for punch. Their knuckles collided and were consequently blown back as the air between them exploded with a powerful sonic boom.
"Let's not stand around watching," Naruto said. "Our goal is to subdue the Raikage so she can break the genjutsu. She'll need our help."
Zabuza cracked his neck, reached behind him, and removed his sword. "Right. Right. Can't let your woman have all the fun."
Pushing off the ground, Naruto sprinted toward the Raikage with chakra infused speed. He leapt into the air upon reaching the man and used the resulting torque to spin around and launch a surprise kick at A's head. However, this man was not a Raikage for nothing. Even as he raised a leg to block Akane's attack, he blocked Naruto's kick with his left forearm.
Naruto was not one to be outdone. After his initial attack did nothing, he used A's arm to push himself into a counterclockwise rotation and launch another kick from the opposite direction. That was blocked as well. Unfortunately for the Raikage, he could not block Akane's next attack that happened at the same time. The redhead delivered a powerful double palm thrust to the village leader's chest. A powerful red chakra had engulfed her hands as she attacked, and the resulting explosion sent the Raikage flying backward—where Zabuza was waiting.
"Here I come!"
Descending from the air like a bird of prey, Zabuza swung his sword at the Raikage. In most normal circumstance, such an attack would have done serious and perhaps even fatal damage. A was a kage, however. Before Zabuza's attack could hit its target, lightning chakra exploded from A's body like a thunderstorm. Several bolts lashed out at Zabuza, who was forced to use the substitution jutsu to escape certain death. As the man appeared beside Naruto and Akane, the Raikage regained his bearings and stood to confront them.
"That doesn't look good," Zabuza said, though he sounded more excited than worried. His eyes were shining as he stared at the Raikage.
A's body had become wrapped within a layer of lightning chakra. An intense blue aura surrounded him as arcs of lightning flew and skittered around his body. His hair had also become spiked like a crown.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is A's Raiton no Yoroi," Naruto said. "It is a lightning jutsu that's used passively instead of offensively. It speeds up the neural synapses reaction time and pushes the user's physical prowess to the absolute limit a human can achieve, allowing them to unleash tremendous raw speed and power."
"That actually sounds kind of bad," Zabuza admitted.
"Naruto, you should enter your Hybrid form," Akane advised.
"Right." Naruto nodded. "Give me time to transform."
"Hm. I'll keep him distracted."
Akane covered herself in a thick layer of bubbling red chakra that burst from her pores, then dashed forward at speeds that surpassed anything a Jonin-level ninja could achieve. The Raikage met her dash head on. Their fists collided with each other. A massive explosion resulted in their colliding fists, which not only pushed them away but caused the ground beneath them to break apart. This didn't stop them from continuing to fight.
Akane, nine tails made of red chakra floating behind her, attacked with massive claws that she created from her chakra. The Raikage didn't back down as he prepared to meet her attacks. He slammed his fists into the claws, forcing them away but not destroying them.
They were merely a distraction. While he was dealing with her claws, she sent several of her tails to attack him from below. Anyone else would have been defeated right then, but A once more proved he was deserving of the title Raikage. He dodged all of her tail swipes like they were nothing. To the average Jonin, it would have looked like he was simply teleporting around her attacks.
"Damn," Zabuza mumbled. "I'm beginning to feel a little outclassed here. Also, is it just me, or is that woman using the Kyuubi's chakra."
"That woman is the Kyuubi," Naruto muttered. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you that."
"What?!"
Naruto ignored Zabuza's shock, took several deep breaths, and then opened the floodgates within his body. Dark purple chakra burst from him. The ground beneath his feet cracked. Zabuza took a step back as Naruto transformed into his Hybrid Form. He could feel his nails growing longer, his whisker marks growing thicker, and his body growing stronger. Even though he couldn't see the physical changes, he knew what was happening.
"Holy shit…" Zabuza stared at him in shock. "What the fuck are you, brat?"
"That's a good question." Naruto spoke in a gravelly voice. "I'm not really sure myself, though Akane and I call me a Hanyo."
"A half-demon?" Zabuza paused for several seconds, then nodded. "Yeah, you certainly look like a half-demon."
Giving the man an aggrieved look, Naruto sighed and said, "Akane and I are going to engage the Raikage. We'll weaken him. When we do, I want you to use your knowledge of vital points to land a crippling blow that will knock him out cold."
"So in the end, I'm barely getting to do anything." Zabuza sighed as he stabbed his sword into the ground. "Well, fine. This is your mission. Besides, I'm interested in seeing how this fight goes."
"I hope we don't disappoint you then," Naruto said before disappearing.
Akane and A were still duking it out with each other. However, now that they were using chakra to enhance their bodies, the fight had become even more destructive. Every time their extremities collided, the ground would split open like an overripe fruit and the air would explode with power. Each time one of them landed a blow, the other would fly backward and blow a hole into the nearest building. Their fight was clearly getting out of hand.
Naruto leapt high into the air and aimed himself at the Raikage as the man blocked a low kick from Akane. Flipping around to increase the power of his attack, Naruto dropped a heel kick at the man's head. Even though the Raikage was fighting Akane, he still had the sense to raise his arm and block Naruto, though doing so caused the ground beneath his feet to crater.
Flipping off A's forearm, Naruto landed several meters away as Akane leapt back to stand beside him. The two eyed A, who seemed to be sizing up Naruto now that his Hybrid Mode was activated.
"This man is a lot tougher than I expected," Naruto muttered.
Akane clicked his tongue. "Holding back is harder than I expected. I'm doing my best not to cause too much damage to him or the village, but…"
Several of the buildings had already collapsed thanks to their fight. They were smaller buildings, not the ones that had been built into the mountains, but even so, it was unintentional destruction.
"Yeah." Naruto sighed. "I guess we just have to weather his attacks until he uses up all of his chakra."
"Such a pain," Akane moaned.
While they were standing there, the Raikage rushed forward and thrust out his elbow at Akane. The woman slipped around his attack and struck it with her fist—or tried to. The Raikage pulled back before it could hit, lifted his left foot off the ground, and delivered a powerful kick to Naruto's side as he tried to sneak up and attack from a blindspot. He took the attack head on. A grunt escaped his lips as the powerful kick slammed into his abdomen, but Naruto ignored the pain and wrapped his arms around the man's leg. He lifted A off the ground and spun around and around before throwing his opponent.
As A soared through the air, Akane appeared above him. She was holding out her left hand, which had formed an unusual L-shape with her index finger and thumb. Red chakra gathered near the tip of her index finger, growing brighter by the second before, with a strange whining noise, a massive burst of red chakra flew into the Raikage.
Being in the air, A was unable to dodge the attack and got hit. The powerful burst of energy slammed him into the ground. A massive crater formed beneath his body and several nearby buildings crumbled from the resulting shockwave. Naruto hoped no one was in those buildings. As dust billowed out in a makeshift smokescreen, Akane landed on the ground next to Naruto.
"Did that get him?" she asked. Not even a second later, the Raikage burst out of the dust cloud and flew at them.
"I don't think I need to answer that," Naruto said before he and Akane split apart.
A must have determined that Akane was a larger threat since he went after her. The woman did her best to remain one step ahead of her opponent, but A actually seemed to be a bit faster than she was. Akane was forced to block and dodge his attacks as Naruto came in from behind and attempted to deliver a double punch to the Raikage's spine. It missed when the Raikage disappeared and reappeared behind him.
I see now why this man was said to be on par with my dad.
Naruto grimaced as he spun around and crossed his arms above his head. A jumped above Naruto and brought his foot down in a powerful downward kick, using the momentum of his fall to increase his attack power. The shockwave unleashed from the attack was enough to make Naruto's bones vibrate and his teeth to clatter. He released a pained groan as his forearms snapped like brittle twigs before regenerating. Even though the pain was immense, he gritted his teeth and withstood the attack.
At that exact moment, Akane appeared and landed a powerful kick to the Raikage's head, sending the man flying into another building.
"We're gonna get in so much trouble for this," Naruto murmured as they caused even more property damage.
"It's his own fault for allowing himself to be controlled by a genjutsu," Akane said with a huff. "Oh, look. He's back."
At that moment, the Raikage raced out of the hole in the wall and rushed toward them. Naruto and Akane split apart again, forcing A to choose one of them over the other, and he chose Akane again. That kind of hurt Naruto's pride. Just a bit. In either event, the man launched himself at the redhead and initiating another coordinated assault of fists and feet.
Thus far, Naruto and Akane had done their best to avoid using any ninjutsu. Their battle was already doing enough damage. Adding jutsu into the mix would have just created even more problems. However, the Raikage didn't seem to have any such compunctions.
"Raikyaku Suihei (Lightning Opression Horizontal)!"
The man performed a simple backhanded horizontal chop. While Akane blocked it, even she winced as the attack lifted her into the air and threw her back. A was about to go after the woman as she skidded across the ground, but then Naruto appeared next to him, engaging the man in a hand to hand bout.
Both of them stood in place as they attacked each other with a series of lightning fast punches and kicks. Compressed bursts of air exploded between them. Cracks appeared on the ground. However, it wasn't as powerful as before. Naruto had noticed it. The Raikage was running out of chakra.
In the next moment, Akane appeared alongside Naruto and forced the Raikage into a two-way battle. Just as Naruto had suspected, where before the Raikage had been capable of keeping up with them both, now he was backpedaling as he tried to evade their attacks. The two of them had no intention of letting him off. They kept up the pressure, attacking together and forcing him to divide his attention as he expended more chakra.
A brief flicker marked the end of the Raikage's jutsu. The lightning armor encasing him was released, his chakra spent. A wobbled on his legs as he tried to remain standing. In that moment, there was a short but intense burst of killing intent, and then several acupuncture needles pierced the man's back in several specific points. Naruto and Akane watched in silence as the leader of Kumo pitched face first to the ground. Behind him was Zabuza.
"I really feel like I didn't do anything at all here," the Kiri ninja complained.
Naruto shrugged. "Given the difference in your affinities and abilities, you were at a disadvantage. Besides, me and Akane don't have any experience working with you. It would have only added more chaos to the fight."
"Whatever." Zabuza sighed in discontent. "So, what now?"
"Now we—"
Almost before Naruto could finish speaking, several dozen Kumogakure ninja landed on the ground around them. They were all armed to the teeth.
"I guess our battle attracted their attention," Akane said as she looked at the mass of angry shinobi.
"Well, shit," Naruto sighed. "This is just not my day."
XoX
The goal in separating A and Kirabi was not just to fight them individually; it was also to break them free of their genjutsu individually.
Kakashi thought it would have been better if Akane had fought against Kirabi. She'd managed to break Yugito from the genjutsu placed on her by traveling into the seal that contained the Nibi. Kakashi wasn't sure he had that ability. That said, Akane had theorized that the genjutsu had been placed on everyone by a Sharingan user, which meant it could also be broken by another Sharingan user.
Unfortunately, Kakashi wasn't being given a chance to even try breaking it.
"Watch out!"
At Darui's warning, Kakashi began backpedaling as Kirabi attacked him with seven swords. The man was a whirlwind. His swords spun through the air as he tossed them, attacked, caught them, attacked, tossed them again, caught them again, and attacked again. The swords came at Kakashi from every conceivable angle as the man known as the perfect host leapt and spun in a zany dance that not even his Sharingan could accurately predict.
Darui and Samui were hanging back, waiting for an opportunity to attack, but it didn't look like one would be forthcoming.
Kakashi had already brought out his chokuto. He used the blade to try and defend against the ridiculous onslaught, but there was no way his one sword could compete with seven. It was even harder because he wasn't a swordsman. Kakashi's training was basic ANBU kenjutsu. This man, Kirabi the Eight-Tailed Jinchurikki, was a master who had created and refined his own sword style after who knew how many hard years of training.
Cuts began appearing on Kakashi's clothing and skin. A blade flashed across his cheek, drawing blood. Another struck his arm. More blood. The sting of Kirabi's blade couldn't be underestimate. While each wound inflicted did little damage, as Kakashi was able to use his Sharingan to barely avoid the attacks, the number of cuts that began appearing would eventually overwhelm him.
"I could use a hand right about now!" Kakashi shouted.
"R-right!"
Samui pulled out her tanto and rushed in to help Kakashi. However, even with another person fighting, Kirabi's prowess was not diminished in the least. In fact, it seemed as if his abilities increased as more people joined.
Blades flipped around through the air as Kirabi spun, only to be caught and used to attack from a different angle. A sword flew in from below. Another came down from above. One tried to pierce them through the head. Samui tried her best to keep up, but even though she was a Jonin, the difference in skill between her and Kakashi was huge. She was probably a newer Jonin. It wasn't long before cuts began appearing on her skin.
Kakashi realized that he would need to do something if he wanted to emerge from this battle victorious. He had been hoping to avoid using any of his Mangekyo Sharingan abilities due to the backlash they caused, but he realized now there wasn't much choice.
"Chidori."
Letting lightning chakra flow through his chokuto, Kakashi attacked Kirabi with increasing speed, while simultaneously trying to defend against the seven swords flowing around the man like a tornado. If this had been a battle against anyone else, his blade would have sheared through his opponent. However, lightning soon flowed along Kirabi's sword. That more or less negated his own lightning natured chakra.
However, using lightning chakra served its purpose. The blinding flash created from the chakra gave Kakashi the chance to grab Samui and jump away.
"Now, Darui!"
"Ranton: Reiza Sakasu!"
A bright halo of energy spread around Darui's hands as he activated the technique. Then it encircled his hands. Several beams of intense blue energy shot out and angled toward Kirabi. The jinchurikki tried to block and dodge the attacks, but Darui manipulated his chakra and altered the beams directions, slipping around swords and slamming into Kirabi without pause.
Kakashi took several deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. He watched as the ranton jutsu crashed into Kirabi. However, as he expected, the attack didn't do much damage.
Kirabi had activated his jinchurikki cloak.
"I always knew you had some good moves," Kirabi said. "But that sort of attack won't work on me."
"Damn." Darui cursed. "There's no way for regular Jonin like Samui and me to go up against a man like Kirabi, after all."
"In a battle like this, we are at a complete disadvantage," Samui added. "We're honestly just lucky this battle is happening in the Raikage's office. Had it been anywhere else, Kirabi-sensei would have already unleashed his Bijuu's full power and squashed us."
"That's why Naruto and the others took their battle outside instead of us," Kakashi said. "Do you think you can buy me some time?"
"How much time do you need?" asked Samui.
"One minute should be enough."
"Asking for sixty seconds?" Darui grimaced. "That's a dull bargain."
"I need at least that much time to activate my jutsu."
"We'll do our best," Samui said as she prepared her tonto. "Try to stay cool until then."
"Roger."
The two quickly attacked Kirabi, Samui with her tonto and Darui with his cleaver sword. They had much better teamwork than he and Samui had, which explained how they were able to stall Kirabi.
Kirabi's increased power was a problem, though. The man was covered in a thick cloak of bubbling red chakra with eight tails, and each tail seemed to be able to move independently. The two ninja found themselves struggling to defend against the combined assault of eight different appendages, plus the man's arms and legs.
Creating a hand seal, Kakashi closed his non-Sharingan eye and focused his chakra. While he couldn't necessarily see the change taking place, he knew his Sharingan was changing to look like three triangles were wrapping around the pupil similar to a pinwheel. He grimaced as blood welled in his eye, but Kakashi focused on Kirabi as hard as he could.
Generally speaking, Kakashi's eye allowed him to use the space-time technique, Kamui. By remotely forming a barrier around whatever he looked at, he could warp the target to Kamui's dimension. He was even able to travel there himself. However, it wasn't like that was the only thing he could do. The Mangekyo not only gave him unique abilities, but it increased the Sharingan's other abilities. That said, he could not use Tsukuyomi.
Kakashi watched the battle between Darui, Samui, and Kirabi play out as he gathered more chakra. The two were struggling against Kirabi now. Their bodies were battered and bruised, with blood leaking from numerous cuts, but they refused to give ground. He waited until it looked like Kirabi was about to attack, and then he Shunshined directly in front of the man.
Their eyes locked.
In that moment, just as their eyes locked, Kakashi sent his chakra into Kirabi through eye contact. He could already see the genjutsu being used to control him. Not only was it powerful, but it was also complex. Fortunately, it was not a Mangekyo technique, which he would not have been able to break. Kakashi quickly overwrote the genjutsu with his own genjutsu, which returned Kirabi to normal.
Almost the moment he cast the genjutsu over Kirabi, the red bijuu chakra died down, disappearing as though it had never existed. Kirabi took several steps back and looked around. He eyed Darui, Samui, and then Kakashi.
"Yo, yo, ya fool. You helped me break free from that mind control, yo."
Kakashi sighed as he covered his Sharingan eye. He'd forgotten how annoying this man could be.
"That's right."
"I'm grateful, yo. That genjutsu was hateful. I just be mindin' my own business when that fool looked me in the eye and everything went hazy like crazy."
"I'm sure," Kakashi mumbled.
As he spoke to Kirabi, Samui was drawn toward the window. She glanced down for a moment, then turned back to them.
"Guys, we have some trouble," she said. "It seems Naruto and his team are surrounded by Kumo ninja."
As Kakashi heard those words, he could not help but sigh.
"Let's go rescue them then," Kakashi said as he glanced at Kirabi. "We could use your help to smooth things over."
"Worry not, brotha of my brotha." Kirabi made several odd hand gestures. "I go yo back, yo."
"Right…"
XoX
Thanks to Kirabi explaining what was happening to the Kumo ninja who'd been seconds away from attacking Naruto, Akane, and Zabuza, the situation had been resolved. Akane had been able to break the genjutsu on the Raikage, who'd been sent to the hospital immediately after to recuperate.
Because of the circumstances surrounding what happened, Naruto and his squad had been asked to remain in Kumo for the time being. They had been set up in a small hotel that hadn't been destroyed by their battle against the Raikage.
Most of the people gave them a wide berth. It was understandable. They had fought against and defeated their Raikage, regardless of the circumstances, and so it was only natural no one would want to associate with them. Fortunately, Naruto was friends with Kirabi, who'd decided to stick around. That helped ease some of the tension.
The Raikage remained asleep for most of the first day immediately after their battle. He didn't wake up until the morning of the second. Naruto and Kirabi had gotten the call while they were trying to come up with dank raps for their new single, Jinchurikki Mania.
"Yo, yo, yo, we be fighting like mad."
"These jinchurikki battles will blow your mind."
"You can't stop it, fight it, so just sit back and unwind."
The two of them were sitting on the ledge of a building and trading rhymes that Kirabi would write into his notebook. Their goal was to create something that would adequately express the greatness of two jinchurikki battling against each other. Of course, Naruto wasn't a jinchurikki anymore, but he'd lived most of his life with a bijuu in his gut, so he felt like he still was.
However, as the two of them went back and forth, Akane wandered up behind them and wrinkled her nose.
"Do you two ever stop?" she asked.
"Ah! Akane!" Naruto leaned back until he was looking at her upside down profile. "Is something up?"
"A is awake," she said. "We've been called in to meet with him."
"Got it!"
"Yo, yo, yo, let's go!"
The two of them stood up and followed Akane to the hospital room where A was resting—well, he was at least sitting on the bed. However, he was also doing curls with a barbell that looked like it weighed at least a ton. Naruto almost snorted when he saw the exasperation on the nurse's face. She looked ten seconds away from giving the man a lecture.
Everyone else who'd taken part in the operation was already inside. Kakashi, Darui, Samui, Zabuza, Karui, Omoi, and Choujuro were all present. Kirabi, Naruto, and Akane made themselves comfortable as well.
"I'm glad you're all here." The Raikage carefully set down his barbell on the tiled floor, and then placed his hands on his knees. "It seems I have caused you all a lot of trouble. However, all of you saved my village even when it looked like we had turned against you. You have my thanks."
"We were glad to help." Naruto threw his hands behind his head and grinned.
"While we were happy to be of assistance, I'm hoping we can learn more about the person who managed to do all this," Kakashi said.
A remained silent for a time, and then rubbed his jaw. "I cannot tell you exactly who cast a genjutsu over myself and my brother. I don't think the face I saw when he confronted me was his real face. That said, I can tell you that he had the Sharingan. I remember you saying Sasuke managed to defect to Otogakure, which leads me to conclude that the one who cast this genjutsu on me was none other than Orochimaru."
Everyone sucked in a breath. Of course they were all aware of who Orochimaru was, what he had done, and they knew he was more than capable of doing something like this. However, the implications were not pleasant.
"If that is true, then it means Orochimaru managed to take over Sasuke's body." Naruto took a slow breath. Sasuke was not his friend, but it still sucked to hear this.
"Probably," A grunted.
Everyone remained silent for a moment as though absorbing this information. Naruto glanced at Kakashi, whose single visible eye had welled up with guilt. He looked away. The others didn't seem to have as much of an emotional response toward this matter, but he could see the worry visible on their faces. Orochimaru had been an S-ranked, kage-level ninja without the Sharingan. There was no telling how powerful he'd become if he really did have it now.
"We'll be returning to Konoha soon," Kakashi announced after some time. "If what you said is true, then we can't afford to remain here. We need to tell the Hokage."
"I understand." The Raikage nodded. "I'll be sending a messenger bird ahead of you, letting Tsunade know what's happening as well. I'll also issue an order for our forces to withdraw from Hi no Kuni."
"Actually," Kakashi began, "I was hoping to ask for your assistance in repelling Iwa. It seems they have also invaded our borders, which I assume is Orochimaru's doing as well."
"Consider it done," A said without even taking a moment to think about his response. "After the trouble we have caused you, this is the least my village can do to repay you."
Naruto let Kakashi hash out the details with the Raikage, but it was decided that they would travel back to their army and inform them of what was happening. A wrote down his orders on a scroll and sealed it with his village's symbol. The orders were for Kumo's army to march toward the border where Konoha's First Division was fighting against Iwa and provide aid.
Yugito Nii would not be traveling with Darui and the others. At Naruto's request, she would be heading back to Konoha with him. When the Raikage asked him why, he had shrugged and said, "It's been a long time since we've seen each other. I'd like to catch up."
When the meeting with the Raikage had concluded, Naruto, Akane, Kakashi, Zabuza, Choujuro, Darui, Samui, Karui, Kirabi, and Omoi all left the hospital room. Much as he hated it, A still needed to recover from his battle against Naruto and Akane.
As they were leaving the hospital, a loud cracking sound caused Naruto to turn his head. He stared at the window, which now had a crack running down the center. Frowning, he hurried his pace to catch up with the others.
"That wasn't ominous at all," he muttered.
"What isn't ominous?" asked Akane.
"Nothing," Naruto said with a shake of his head.
The group stepped outside of the hospital and began preparing for their journey back to Konoha.
I sort of feel like this arc didn't get enough chapters to really flesh out what happened, but I also don't want to drag this story out for much longer. While I'm not sure how many chapters are left, I don't think it will be more than a few more. That said, I'd like to thank everyone who stuck with me on this story for 61 chapters. You're all pretty awesome.
I've officially closed my PMs. I barely come on FFN anymore except to upload a chapter, so there's not much point in keeping it open. If you would like to contact me, I'd suggest following me on Facebook and Twitter. My Facebook is AmericanKitsune and my Twitter is BrandonBVarnell. I'm more active on Twitter than Facebook because tweets are easy.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票