Chapter 10- Leaf Five vs. Sound Four II

Neji attacked ferociously, calling out each single attack he placed on the man spider, "Ni Shou! Yon Shou! Hachi Shou! Juuroku Shou! Sanjuuni Shou! Rokujuyon Shou!" Kidomaru was blasted heavily through the wide tree trunk.

The Hyuga jumped through the hole to be silently shocked at his opponent, who had golden plated armor over his skin. "Well…that was a close one, if you have actually hit me with that technique; you would have disabled my chakra network." Kidomaru commented smugly.

"So…that material of yours doesn't only come from your mouth."

Kidomaru boasted loudly, "My Kumo Nenkin is a form of metal that instantly turns hard once it comes in contact with the air and also that I can not only emit this metal from my mouth, but every sweat gland from my body…meaning that your Gentle Fist is useless against me."

The spider man thought, "My techniques will be useless against him, but his own will be useless against my own…I will have to strike his blind spot at a defense." He jumped away from Neji, who didn't move an inch. Kidomaru smirked as he let loose of the string and a kunai sunk down next to the Leaf ninja.

Neji moved to the side just as several daggers were aimed at him, "A fake…damn it." The branch Hyuga shouted as he spun in a circle, "Kaiten!" Kidomaru was shocked at this predicament he was in and Neji took out a kunai to aim at the spider man, who ducked under the kunai.

"Does he have eyes in the back of his head? First, he uses chakra to block my attack, and then he finds me in a secure location where I made sure he didn't see or hear me at all." The Sound Four member thought to himself.

"You might as well as come out right now…I can see you." Neji stated in monotone. At the Hyuga's suggestion, Kidomaru came out with dark spirals all over his body as he smirked, "Fine, I will admit that this game is quite the challenge…I will play for real this time."

"Those markings…it is just like that time in the Chunin Exams with Sasuke." Neji thought in curiosity as he stared at his opponent while Kidomaru began to strategize, "So from his moves and that jutsu he just used…it seems that he had a wide field of vision as well as penetrating vision too…so then…"

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Kidomaru shouted as he simultaneously made a huge web and summoned a giant spider. Soon the spider birthed out a sac as the Sound Four member boasted out loud, "I will find the perfect strategy for you."

Then he made a dagger and cut the sac as he shouted, "Spread out!"

Neji's eyes widened a bit as baby spiders came out from web threads to attack, but as Kidomaru predicted, the Hyuga uses Kaiten, making the threads trap him in place just as the Sound Four member flung his self-made weapon at the Leaf shinobi.

The kunai whizzed straight and true, but Neji decided to change that by omitting chakra from his body to alter its trajectory just as he thought, "These spiders are slowing me down with their threads, I have to cut them off first…if my Kaiten doesn't work, then I will dodge them one by one."

Soon Kidomaru began with his assault, throwing daggers and directing his spiders to attack the Hyuga, Neji dodged, jumped and twisted out of harm's way until Kidomaru witnessed one of the daggers strike Neji's shoulder.

"Looks like there are some daggers he can't dodge now…I got you now." Kidomaru said to himself with a smirk. Neji frowned, "Hakke: Hyaku Nijuhachi Sho!" With great speed, the young Hyuga began to attack all of the spiders within succession.

"Next, it is two daggers…" Kidomaru whispered with glee and true to his words, Neji suddenly gasped out in pain as two daggers stabbed deeply into his back. The Sound Four member cackled with glee in his mind as he thought, "I have found the perfect strategy…looks like that move of his is to cover the shortcoming of his eyesight, meaning that his visual eyesight is not perfect."

As Neji got up, the small bandage that wrapped his hair shredded, causing his long hair to fall down to frame his face. "What are you struggling for? The game is already finished, a newbie like you in an easy game is meant to be defeated easily. You will never beat me!" Kidomaru shouted, seemingly from everywhere.

Kidomaru smirked, "Here is the last one." He released the last strings connected to his fingers and at that moment, the giant spider came down crashing upon Neji until the Hyuga looked up and charged a large bit of his chakra within his hand before slamming his hand into the body of the spider, causing it to explode into a sticky web fluid that heavily covered him.

Neji's eyes widened in surprise as several daggers came at him; blood was spilled as some of them have hit their mark into his back, causing the boy to fall face forward onto the ground once again. Kidomaru's sadistic smirk grew just as his marks were covering his body, "Well…it looks like he is dodging the daggers by a hair to avoid them hitting his critical organs. Hmph, I have had enough of this shitty game anyway, but I will thank you for the fun…by killing you."

Kidomaru's Level 2 was complete and he made himself a bow and notched an arrow into the string, "Maximum Impact, 100% Accuracy….Die!" he thought to himself as he let the arrow loose straight towards Neji. A cloud of dust and gravel lifted from the area and slowly cleared to see that the arrow had not killed his opponent.

"What?!"

Neji huffed in exertion, "That was too close, but I managed to deflect that shot off course a bit. There is no mistake, he has figured out the weak point of the Byakugan." Meanwhile Kidomaru was still in shock, "What? How?! Why did my arrow miss by 7 inches upward?!"

Using his third eye, he found the reason, "Ah…I see, it is that chakra, he must be continually emitting that to cover it in a wide space. No wonder he could detect and deflect the trajectory of my arrows with his chakra. On that other hand, emitting constantly must be a pain for him…he has no other way to dodge my attacks."

Neji clutched the gaping hole in her shoulder as he thought, "Ugh…he doesn't waste any attacks at all and those that he does waste, and he deliberately does to gain information from it. Using that, he discovered the coveted secret of the Byakugan…incredible, out of all the opponents that I have faced, he is definitely the strongest."

Kidomaru stared at the Hyuga at a distance, "His vision is 360 degrees and he can accurately deflects any attack within a 50 meter radius, but on the other hand, there are some attacks he can't dodge at all because he couldn't see them. Therefore, it indicates that there is a small weakness, a blind spot. He cannot react to those attacks because they were in his blind spot, so he uses his defensive technique to cover that. It is all clear to me now…behind his first thoracic vertebrae, there is a small point starting from a minuscule point."

At that point, Neji began to move quickly and shifted from side to side, Kidomaru scoffed as his attempt as he said to himself, "If he shifts his blind spot from side to side, it would be harder to target it with an arrow, but such things don't apply to me at all."

Kidomaru notched another arrow within his bow, only this time he had a thread connected to the end as he thought to himself, "His style is utterly useless unless he is close to his opponent, but he doesn't have the time to think about that. Right now, it is all about survival, but despite your attempts, you are going to die…after all, weak opponents in easy games are meant to die."

With that, he released the arrow, but suddenly an iron arrow split it within two. Kidomaru growled, "What the hell?!" A figure leapt down to Neji and brought him to safety at a distance behind another tree, "Are you alright, Neji-kun?"

Neji looked up in shock and surprise, "Hinata-sama, Tenten, Ino-san…what are you three doing here?" Ino smirked, "Isn't it obvious, we are here to help, we just can't have you boys having all of the fun now…is it true that Sasuke has been captured by the Oto forces?"

"It is…wait, did you three see?"

Hinata nodded, "We had medics take care of Choji-kun and he is on his way back to the hospital…" Tenten responded, "Furthermore, who is this guy? He must be strong if you look this beaten up, Neji…" The male Hyuga replied, "He is…he is a good shot with weapons, uses spider-like techniques and he is very smart…he knows the weak point of the Byakugan."

Hinata's eyes widened, "He found the blind spot that quickly? Is that true, Neji-nii-san?"

"It is…that is why I need you and Ino to follow Naruto and his group quickly, me and Tenten will cover you. I am already badly injured, so it is obvious that I must stay here and Tenten can provide me with the best support since she is the best weapons specialist we have."

Hinata stuttered, "A-Alright, let's go, Ino…"

"Right…"

The two kunoichi sprang into action and Kidomaru notched two arrows quickly, "Oh, no you don't, you rats..." Tenten took out a crossbow and aimed down her sights as Kidomaru released his arrows at Hinata and Ino's backs.

"Not today, big boy…" Tenten murmured as she exhaled and released two bolts, killing the arrows completely. Kidomaru growled as he looked at her, "So…we have a new player joining the game, fine, it was getting boring anyway. Now…I have an injured Hyuga, which she has to cover, but she is really good at a distance with her crossbow and is that a bow too? Shit, a weapons specialist…"

Tenten whispered to Neji, "Where is he?"

"He is about 124 meters southwest…what do we do, Tenten…I am out of options, and he is the strongest opponent that I have ever faced before besides Naruto and I refused to lose this guy."

Tenten said, "Alright…what can you tell me about him?"

"Like I said, he is very smart, he can make his own weapons from his kekkei genkai, he called it Kumo Nenkin…it allows him to make sticky web fluid that he can secrete from his sweat glands on any part of his body…like armor or to make weapons like his arrows. He also has a cursed seal like Sasuke, but there is a second level to it and currently he is in that state. Right now, he is using thread to control the trajectory of his attacks…"

"How come you got stuck with this guy?"

"His kekkai genkai makes his webs from his chakra; my Gentle Fist was the only way to counteract his unique way of fighting…"

Tenten's eyes widened, "Wait…his thread, Neji…there is a chance that we can defeat this guy, but we need for him to use his thread to control his arrows." Neji looked at his teammate, "What are you talking about?"

The weapons master replied, "You can attack him using your Gentle Fist through his thread, which is how we can beat him, it will be connected to him still, but…"

"But…"

"It is risky, but you may have to let him hit you in order for this to work."

Neji was silent for a moment as he thought, "What would you do, Naruto…" He closed his eyes and opened them once again, "Alright, Tenten, let's go…I need you to distract him while I get into position."

"Righ…"

Suddenly Neji tackled Tenten out of the way of an arrow, which slammed down into the earth with a heavy thud. Tenten noticed that the spider archer was still using his thread to control the direction and nodded in determination, "Alright…let's play."

Tenten unsealed another crossbow and loaded up the bolts within the notches, "Time to play…" she whispered with a smirk and dove out of cover, unleashing bolts within Kidomaru's direction. The spider man flipped from his camping position and dodged the bolts narrowly before going to a different position, "First…I need to take out that Hyuga and then it will be easy pickings for the girl."

With that, Kidomaru began to use his Third eye to track Neji, "There he is…but he is just standing there, is he giving up? Well…to be sure." He made an arrow with a drill head on the end and notched it within his string, "Maximum Power…Accuracy 120%...Fire!" He fired the arrow and Neji turned to see the arrow coming towards him, the arrow pierced through his lower left abdomen, pinning him to the trunk of the tree.

"Now!" Neji thought with a smirk as he grabbed ahold of the thread and sent his piercing chakra within the thread into Kidomaru's mouth, destroying his insides. Kidomaru was in surprise, "What? How…why is he? No…I must have taken him down with that final shot unless…"

Then he realized back to what Neji said at the beginning and realized, "I see, Gentle Fist, he must have…sent the last of his chakra into the thread." He fell backwards down from the canopy, "He damaged some of my organs…but I can still move." He looked down to see Tenten with a smirk, looking up at him, "Ninja Art: Sogu: Getsuryoshi!"

She aimed both of her crossbows at the falling Kidomaru and shot explosive tipped bolts at him, each of them hit him as well as with an added element such as lightning, fire and wind. Needless to say, the Sound Four member was in agony.

Next, Neji came in from behind, "This is the end…!" Kidomaru flipped through the air before landing on his back and Tenten looked at Neji in relief, "Neji!" Kidomaru weakly got up and asked, "How? That hit should have killed you instantly…how are you still alive, damn it?!"

Neji said as he got up weakly, "I knew that I couldn't dodge it…I was too injured and too low on chakra. So I was prepared to take it…plus I know my own weaknesses better than you. The Byakugan does have a blind spot…but if I knew where you were aiming at, I could concentrate my chakra into that spot, and then it wouldn't be so difficult to dodge it by a few centimeters…even though I would be fatally injured, I would at least avoid an instant kill shot."

Kidomaru breathed heavily, "So you took the hit…but either way, you are going to die. You could only do so much…" Neji smirked, "You are the strongest foe that I ever faced…there was a reason why I couldn't afford to lose. Because the strongest one that I have faced told me this…because you are not a loser like me."

Tenten rushed to Neji's side, "Hold on, Neji…" She cradled his head in her lap and Kidomaru laughed weakly, "You are going to die soon anyway…so it doesn't matter." Neji smiled as he looked at the dying Sound Four member, "I can't die so easily…I am the heir of all the skills of the Hyuga Clan."

"Hmph, bluff all you want…not even your friend can save you, plus you can't stop the tides anymore. Sasuke-sama has become a part of the Sound by his own choice…engulfing himself within the dark." The member boasted.

Tenten replied, "No, you are wrong…there is one person who can save Sasuke Uchiha from himself and that person is Naruto Namikaze, a member of the Hidden Leaf and his teammate."

"Ha! Uchiha-sama belong to Orochimaru-sama now, no one can save him…"

Tenten and Neji interrupted strongly, "He can." Kidomaru was surprised at the conviction within their voices and then suddenly coughed up blood, then keeled over on his side, "Damn…I have been this close to death…since Kiminaro…fucking damn it."

With that last thought, he died as Neji also began to cough off blood and Tenten cried out in concern, "Neji…hold on…just a bit longer." Neji smiled up at Tenten, "I am glad that you are here, Tenten…despite the way that I have acted towards you and my team, you have never left my side…thank you."

Tenten replied, "You are welcome, Neji…now how about you keep those eyes of yours focused on me until help arrives." The Hyuga smiled softly, "That would be very nice…I think I would enjoy the view immensely."

With Shikamaru, Naruto and Kiba- Kiba's nose began to twitch and he turned to his comrades, "They are close…" Shikamaru replied, "Alright…we got two more enemies, the long range genjutsu user and the joined duo ninja. If we work together, we will be getting Sasuke, beat the bad guys and be home for dinner."

Meanwhile with the remaining Sound Four, Sakon glanced behind him, "It is nearing dusk…looks like they have their hands full." Tayuya replied, "Forgot that, we have to worry about Lord Orochimaru…we have only accomplished a third of the plan in half a day…"

Sakon silently agreed with a nod, "Yeah…you are right, at this rate, I am not even sure if we will be able to make it at all on time." Meanwhile at one of the various bases in Sound, Orochimaru was screaming in agony as the water cascaded over his body, his arms began to rip in various places.

"Sasuke…where is Sasuke?!"

Kabuto thought in silence, "We ran out of time…this is his limit." Then the traitorous medical ninja replied in concern, "Orochimaru-sama, we have plenty of bodies prepared for you…besides you could also use me."

"It has to be Sasuke! Do you know how long that I have waited?!"

The doctor protested loudly, "But this is an emergency! The Sandaime's curse is far stronger than we expected, if you don't transfer to another body soon, it is possible that you might lose everything!" Orochimaru let out another scream in pain and Kabuto immediately turned swiftly, "I will gather the best of the best…and deal with the salvage of Sasuke."

"I wonder…if I should use Kimimaro?" he thought as he released the prisoners into one arena and spoke up in a microphone with a smile on his face, "Everyone, please listen closely…in order for you to be released from this prison, you must survive by killing everyone in this room…the one that is left standing will be given safe passage."

Later, he strode into the medical room and opened the door where a body was lying there and it spoke to the medical traitor, "I wasn't called again…Kabuto-sensei, I am…" Kabuto interrupted him, "Your job is to take care of your body, your duties to Orochimaru-sama are over…Kimimaro, you are no longer part of the Sound Five."

There was silence between the two for several moments until Kimimaro spoke again, "I still…"

"We have already found your successor; he also possesses a seal of equal power to your Cursed Earth Seal of Power, the Cursed Seal of Heaven. Plus he has a Kekkai Genkai as well…I wonder which one of you was stronger, you or him?"

Kimimaro began to twitch as his heart rate went up, Kabuto glanced over at him and stated calmly, "What is wrong, don't excite yourself too much now." The mysterious Sound member still rose up as he asked, "How long do I have?"

Kabuto stated, "You really shouldn't talk anymore."

"I have just recently realized that everyone has been given life for a reason…everyone has something important to accomplish. The quest to discover what that truly is the only freedom that God have given us."

The doctor replied in a cold tone, "I understand what you want to say, Orochimaru-sama is in terrible pain and this situation has gone way past critical…but the matter now is what can you do now, you have lost your ability to be a container and we now have a new one on the way. Well, that in itself is late as well…"

He looked to the screen to see that the battles were over and watched as Orochimaru took over the body of the surviving prisoner. Kimimaro chose this time to get up and speak as well, "I know that I have lost my chance in the metapsychosis…in fact, it is very hard to discover that my purpose now that I have lost everything. However, I finally understand that although he may not be me, I will bring the new container here even if it costs me my life. This is how I will show my thanks to Orochimaru and repay him for my uselessness."

Kiminaro ripped off the sealed and unhooked himself from the various machines keeping the disease at bay as well as himself alive, "Kabuto-sama, I am going to retrieve Orochimaru-sama's next vessel." On that note, the Kaguya sped off out the door, failing to notice Kabuto's devious smirk.

The spectacled boy pushed up his glasses and smirked, "Well, I couldn't have pull that off better than before. Although we will lose Kiminaro, we will surely gain Sasuke in our ranks, a small sacrifice to get the king as it is in chess…now Konoha, your move."