Restoration of Faith
Karrafear
Summary: SEQUAL to Faith in Humanity; Naruto OOC; PG-13. After Sandaime's death, Naruto made a promise to himself to defy his own destiny and pursue a future that will lead to freedom and happiness. Chapter Eleven: War I
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"Demon's talk", /Thoughts/ , "Speech" , 'Speech emphasis' , (FLASHBACK) , Titles , (Author's interruptions)
Warning: Violence. Blood. Gore. A lot of violence... and a lot of jump scenes. Hope you get use to it. And please, if you CAN'T STAND the blood, gore, body parts, et cetera - DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER!
I must give a BIG APOLOGY to people who got confused last chapter. The last four characters that I described at the end of the chapter DO belong to Akatsuki. They are: Itachi, Kisame, Deidara (spelling?), and Sasori. I completely forgot that some people aren't following the manga and have only watched the episodes as they come up. I'm truly sorry that I wasn't able to explain things properly! I will try my best to describe each of the characters later on as they appear in greater detail so that at least you know what they look like.
I also must apologise for mistaking Deidara as a girl. It is now PROVEN that he is a male! I'm sorry for the confusion before hand and will start proclaiming his male stature from this point on.
Another interesting note, I just realised that the leader of the Akatsuki has the same 'Yochigan' eyes as those described in my story! You know, the dot within a circle thing. This is REALLY interesting because now, I can actually incorporate that into the Faith Arc. Yeah!
Chapter 11
It had started off as a quiet evening. Naruto was still resting within his hospital room, Sasuke in his imprisoned chamber and the rest of the rookie genins in their respective homes. Even the Godaime Hokage is soundly asleep, safe in her office. Now that things had 'officially' stabilised, Hiashi had forcefully resigned himself from the position as 'The Hokage's assistant' and returned to his own family affairs, leaving the bulk of the work to Tsunade and Shizune.
Even though things seemed to be quiet and peaceful, the fates had actually got something completely different planned.
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"Is everything ready?" A shadowed figure asked.
"Yes." A calm voice spoke up beside the first person.
"Then let's begin." The original figure hissed in delight.
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Suddenly, the very earth of the land reverberated in a wave of motion, shaking and quivering as if an earthquake had risen without warning. There was absolute silence for a few seconds, even the bird; dogs, cats, and various other animals in the near by forest froze in complete stillness. And as quickly as the quiet came, it shattered with a loud explosion in the distance.
All life within Konoha woke to the sudden disruption, all Shinobis were already dressed and out of their homes, ready for battle in a split second. What they saw terrified them.
There were nine giant snakes curling and burrowing from the ground up, forcing their ways through the earth and crushing anything that stood in their way. Unearthly screams suddenly rang through out the entire village – inhuman and human screams alike, as animals and people both found themselves in the middle of a nightmare.
The massive shockwaves caused by the giant snakes' various movements in the tightly structured streets of Konoha literary rendered whole houses to crumble like sand castles in the wind and the wave. Powerlines fell like blocks of Lego, cutting off all power supply to the entire village, rendering the entire town into complete darkness, lightened up only by the moon.
Another huge explosion from the Western edge of Konoha finally brought the stunned Shinobis into action. They realised they were under attack.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! EVACUATE ALL CIVILIANS! PROTECT THE HOKAGE! GO TO THE BORDERS AND SEE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Shouts of order and commands issued by Jounins or Chuunins helped moved the stunned crowd into motion.
Instantly, all non-combatants tried to find their way towards the shelters as best they could, trying to avoid the destruction caused by the snakes directly on their heel. Some Chuunins had taken up the responsibility to protect as many people as possible and to distract the snakes. However, even if they succeeded to distract one from its prey, another would take its place. Any jutsus that they had tried to throw at the snake had only led to their own demise. Fire Jutsu upon fire Jutsu rained down towards the giant serpents, but with a flick of its massive tail, the flames were extinguished. It was a horrific scene of carnage and slaughter.
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"WHAT THE FXXK IS GOING ON?" Tsunade swore under her breath as she roughly slammed the head communicator on to her ears and directed the microphone to her mouth. "REPORT! GOD DAMN IT! WHAT THE FXXK IS GOING ON OUT THERE!" She screamed into the headphone. She had been woken abruptly by the sudden silence of the entire village, her instincts warning her that such silence can only appear before a true storm. As such, she had immediately stood in attention before rushing off to the communication's station, just when the snake summons appeared. In a split second, there was chaos everywhere and even she had to scream at the top of her lungs to be heard above all other sounds. She had a sinking feeling that everything was going to hell from this moment forth but pushed all anxiety aside. What was important now to get as much information as possible and work with what she got.
A static sizzling effect echoed from her earphones. "Hokage-sama! ZZzzzZZZZ... Shinobis carrying the Rain forehead protector... ZZzzzz ZZZ zzzzZZZZ … attacking the West gate... We're trying to hold them off... But there's too many of them..." The communication was cut off.
"Hokage-sama! Another channel has just reported in from the central tower!" One of the Shinobi subordinates working with the communication machines called out to her and she was immediately by his side, listening to the report on this end.
"GIANT SNAKES!...ZZZZzzzzZZZzzzz... Crushing people with their tails and bodies... ZZZZzzzzZZZzzzz... people dying! EVACUATE CIVILIANS NOW!"
/Snake?/ "OROCHIMARU!" Tsunade growled loudly like a pissed-off lioness as her cub was being attacked. Suddenly, she snapped at several buttons on the central machines, instantly starting up the emergency alarms all over the village and opening up all communication channels to her signal so that she can finally send out proper orders to her subordinates.
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"ATTENTION! ALL COMBATANTS! WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER ATTACK BY THE SHINOBIS OF SOUND AND RAIN! ALL JOUNINS MOVE TO THE FRONTLINES AND ENGAGE IN COMBAT AGAINST THE RAIN NINS IN THE WESTERN QUARTER OF KONOHA! ANBU GUARDS, SEEK AND DESTROY ALL TARGETS WITHIN KONOHA PREMISES! CHUUNINS, EVACUATE ALL CIVILIANS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! AND ALL ACTIVE GENINS, SURROUND AND SET UP A THRID LINE OF DEFENCE INSIDE KONOHA WALLS, AROUND SECTIONS E, A AND C! ATTENTION! WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER ATTACK..." Tsunade's orders reverberated all over Konoha from the special sound system amplifiers built into various areas of Konoha.
With Tsunade guiding their actions, the rest of Konoha's current and active Shinobi force leaped into action. The Jounins moved off into the village borders, especially the western border to engage against the Rain Shinobis. The Anbu instantly started setting strategic plans of their own to deal with the cumbersome Snake summons while helping out the Chuunins in the evacuation procedures. Genins however, were the slowest to react. But due to the drills that had been run on random times during the year, they at least knew where exactly sectioned E, A and C were.
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At first, Naruto had been completely surprised by the sudden onslaught of sounds and screams emitting from outside his hospital room window, but once Tsunade had uttered her orders, he too, had quickly prepared himself for some action. Though not completely healed, he was at least good enough to defend section C of Konoha, which just so happened to be the hospital area that he currently resided in.
Jumping out of his bed, quickly getting dressed and supplying his body with full weapons, Naruto leapt out his room window to land in front of the hospital where he found several of his other Genin fellows were stationed. Kiba and Akamaru stood proudly on one side of him even while Lee stood unsteadily on his other side. Naruto really wasn't sure whether Lee was up to the fight considering he had just recovered from his operation yesterday, but knowing the current circumstances, they really didn't have a choice.
"Oi! Naruto. Since you're a Chuunin anyway, you gonna lead us or something?" Kiba muttered to him, shifting nervously from one side to the other, unsure of what he should be doing.
Naruto blinked in surprise. He had completely forgotten that he was a newly established Chuunin since Tsunade's return. He wondered whether he should be stationed with the other Chuunins finishing off the evacuation procedures. But after glancing at the number of nervous Genins slowly surrounding the hospital, he decided against it. /Kiba's right, these Genins really have no idea how to act in such a combat situation. If they don't have someone leading them, they're screwed!/
"Okay, here's what we do. Since I'm the newly appointed Chuunin, I'm gonna be in charge of this operation. Everyone hear me out." Noticing that he had all the gathered Genins' attentions, Naruto quickly thought up a plan and set it into motion. "You two and you two." He called, pointing to the various people at random. "Go to the top of the Hospital building and stand guard on all four corners of the building. Keep continuous watch on any oncoming enemy. Trust no one, if you see anything suspicious, light up one of the ninja flares in your pack and you will have some assistance coming to your aid." The four people he picked disappeared to their ordered positions.
"You five!" Pointing to another group of bystanders, Naruto continued his orders. "Go and help the Medic Nins and Doctors move all the mobile patients to a secure area. There will be some we won't be able to move so we'll still have to protect the hospital as best we can. Also make sure that the most important equipments and medical supplies are safely stored. By the time this battle ends, we will all be in need of them." The appointed five immediately left to assist the Medics still within the building.
"Lee. Can you still run?" Naruto frantically asked the green clad boy, whom only nodded back tightly. "Good, go and find Sakura, protect her and bring her to sections E. Help her take charge of that section." Lee nodded and quickly sprinted away, fully committed to protecting the lovely, pinked haired kunoichi whom had stolen his heart.
"What about me? Do you want me to find Shikamaru?" Kiba asked tensely.
Naruto only shook his head. "No, Shikamaru's smart enough that he would go to section A, himself. He also knows it's probably the place where he'll be of most help. For now, I want you to keep your nose open and tell me immediately if you smell any enemy coming our way, okay?"
Kiba nodded and Akamaru yelped in reply. Naruto then proceeded to relay to the other present Genins on which positions to take within and around the hospital building, creating the best defensive procedure if they were ever attacked. "Now, all we can do is wait." Naruto narrowed his eyes and he gazed into the distance where the giant snakes are still wrecking havoc.
That is, until an idea suddenly hit him. /Of course, I can use summon against summon, can't I!/ Realising this little irony, Naruto quickly bit his thumb, knelt down onto the rough ground and drew a quick circle, writing the characters for 'fox' inside the circle before completing a quick seal. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Come forth! Kibi-Kitsune! Kirin-Kitsune! (Summoning Technique – Kibi, Kirin)"
In a burst of smoke, both small sized kits were standing, wagging their tail at their owner, happy to be of service to him again. "Oi, Kiba, give me some of your soldier pills." Naruto quickly caught the pill the dog boy had thrown at him and swallowed it whole in one gulp. Feeling the large chakra surge flowing through his very veins, Naruto wasted no time in launching into his next set of seals. Once he had completed the seals, Naruto placed his still bloodied hand onto both foxes' foreheads before calling forth his next technique: "Fuuin Kai! Kyuubi Bubun! (Seal Release! Partial Nine Tails."
Instantly, both normal sized foxes evolved in to their offensive, battle-formations – Kibi with his five, long swaying tails and Kirin with her large size and two tails. "Go out there and destroy those snakes!" Naruto ordered the foxes and mentally gave both free reigns on what attacks they use. Both foxes quickly replied with a roar of approval before leaping forth to do their master's bidding. Naruto stood still for a while before he turned away from his summons to let them do as they wish. /I'm a Shinobi of Konoha. I will protect my home, no matter what the cost./
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Kakashi stabbed a masked Rain Nin in the chest, before quickly pulling out the weapon of his choice and slashing another Rain Nin as he ran across from Kakashi. Flicking his wrists just so that the blood which stained his kunai were flicked off, Kakashi seamlessly dodged a clumsy attack from a third Rain Nin before disappearing and reappearing behind said Shinobi and stabbing the man from the back.
As he prepared for another strike, Kakashi felt the energetic form of his comrade and rival – Maito Gai – suddenly landing behind him. They were back to back, a silent promise to watch out for one another was passed between them and just as suddenly, both leapt towards the various targets again.
/Something's wrong./ Kakashi thought to himself. From his earpiece, he was sure he heard the Hokage specifically state that they were being attacked by BOTH the Rain and the Sound. /So... Where is the Sound? The only people we've seen so far are the Rain Nins! Where the hell are the Sound stationed?/
As if Fate had overheard his doubts, it finally confirmed the whereabouts of the Sound Ninjas. Without warning, a whole section in the Northern most barrier walls surrounding Konoha collapsed, revealing another giant snake, but this time, the snake was huge compared to the previous nine – it had purple scales and three strange spikes upon his forehead.
Kakashi shuddered at the menacing look upon the snake's manic eyes. /MANDA!/ Kakashi remembered the last time he had seen the fearsome summon of Orochimaru. It had been the time when Orochimaru betrayed the leaf. The snake man had to literary fight his way out of Konoha since the moment Sandaime discovered his experiments. Even in his dreams, Kakashi still feared ever having to fight Orochimaru and his boss summon. And now, his nightmare had come to life once again.
/SHXT! There's no way the Anbu and Chuunins inside the city will be able to deal with both the nine extra snakes and Orochimaru and the Sound as well./ "RETREAT!" Kakashi ordered as loudly as he could be heard over the chaos. "RETURN TO KONOHA! THE SOUND ARE INVADING FROM THE NORTH! RETURN AND DEFEND KONOHA!"
In one giant mass, almost 80 percent of the Jounins currently fighting against the Rain decoys turned and headed back towards Konoha. Each and every one of them knew that Orochimaru and the Sound were a bigger threat then the Rain would ever be. Each and every one of them hoped that they could return in time to protect their loved ones, Kakashi and Gai included.
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"FXXK! WHERE'S JIRAIYA WHEN YOU NEED HIM?" Tsunade growled as she leapt off the Communication's tower, jumping from roof-top to roof-top, heading towards Orochimaru's position. When she had first glimpsed the appearance of Orochimaru and his trusty sidekick – Kabuto – by his side (and a third teen with grey-white hair standing behind them), all standing smugly on top of Manda's head, she instantly knew what a mistake she had made by sending all the Jounins to the western front lines. Her assumption that both Sound and Rain would have attacked the same position at the same time had been crucially wrong. Now that the third Sannin had finally appeared, it was her responsibility – as the new Hokage of Konoha, as well as a fellow Sannin to stop him.
Strangely enough, she had left the communication tower and Hokage tower to the command of the two old Councillors – Homura and Kotetsu, as well as the newly qualified Chuunin – Shikamaru. The Hokage and Communication's tower had made up section A, so a large number of Genins had already formed a line of defence around the building, with Shikamaru taking charge of them. She trusted their wisdom and knowledge of warfare to help guide the rest of Konoha safely away from all this chaos while she herself, continued on her pursuit of the traitor – Orochimaru.
Suddenly, the once absent Sannin was running along side her, preparing for the worse. "This time... this time we will finish it once and for all." He muttered seriously, his face showing absolutely no emotion what so ever. Tsunade could only reply with a tight nod in return, for she knew how much was riding on this final confrontation. She couldn't lose. There's just too much at risk. She couldn't lose... or else Konoha would cease to exist.
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The Anbu had successfully cornered what was left of the giant snakes to the Eastern corners of Konoha, where the least number of villagers live. However, with the sudden emergence of a large Sound army, as well as the appearance of Orochimaru and Manda, the Anbu and Chuunins were finding themselves being pushed back.
However, their desperate pleas for backup were heard when another surge of Konoha hunter Nins and the returning Jounins (from the Western front) arrived just in time to battle off the Sound army and a large number of Nuke Nins (Missing Nins) in the middle of them as well.
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Somewhere in the distance, Sakura and Lee had made their way towards the southern end of Konoha where all the most important infrastructure buildings – such as the electricity supplier, the water treatment plan and so on and so forth – were located. This part of the city made up the specified Section E. There was already a large gathering of Genins surrounding the area, including most of the Rookie Nine. However, with Sakura now in the lead, she quickly divided the large assembly up (with Neji and Shino leading two other groups) and sent them on their various responsibilities – namely, to stay in pairs or their assigned teams to set up a third line of defence, to kill any enemy on sight and if overwhelmed, call for help, and last but not least, to help any civilians that they could find.
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With a hard slam, the door suddenly gave way, landing haphazardly onto the dusty ground. Finally released, Sasuke glanced nervously from one end of the empty hallway to the other. The emergency alarms rang loud and clear from this side of his confinement cell. Sasuke tensed his fist slightly; still unsure of what he should be doing in the current situation.
/Should I take this opportunity to leave Konoha? I bet the person who is attacking is none other than Orochimaru. He's attacking to get me back, that's the most logical reason./ However, instead of feeling pleased that he was so important to the Sannin, Sasuke's mind drifted towards that of his fellow genins. /But what about Sakura and Naruto? Can I leave them a second time, especially now, when they need me the most? Can I... Can I truly turn my back to them and never look back.../
Sasuke thought back to the visions that Naruto had showed him a few days ago. Ever since Naruto's visit, Sasuke had been questioning his own motives, his own actions. Every decision that he had ever made since the day of the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke had taken the time to think through logically and analyse it from a rational point of view. What he found out about himself... disturbed him. /I know I'm becoming a lot like Itachi... when I don't want to be... I know I'm following his orders since day one... when I swore that I wouldn't… Does that mean that I'll end up doing the same things as him? Does that mean that one day, I will kill my best friend and force the rest of my family and friends to suffer in my absence... are we siblings really that different? Why can't there be an easy answer, it was always so easy to act before Naruto came but now…./
He didn't have any answers. He still couldn't decide whether going to Orochimaru was a mistake or not, and he was still confused over his relationship with Naruto and Sakura. Had his betrayal completely destroyed any chance of them being a team again? He knew that Kakashi was thoroughly disappointed in him, but at least, the man was willing to give him a second chance. The new Hokage however, was not so lenient. His original sentence had been to be imprisoned for at least 5 years before he could be released on parol. However, with this sudden invasion of Konoha, his guards had left to attend to more important business and so, he had found himself free and in a serious predicament as to what he should do next.
Finally, Sasuke came to a decision. /I'll let my emotions and fate guide me... I can't... I can't honestly decide on something to do right now... I'm still too confused... So I'll just walk around outside and see how everything is going... and then... I'll see what fate has in store for me.../ Decision made, Sasuke slowly but surely made his way out of the confinement building.
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"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Two voices called out their attacks and an instant later, Gamabunta (with Jiraiya upon his head) and Katsuya (with Tsunade standing atop her head) faced off against Orochimaru and Manda.
"Well... this certainly brings back memories." Orochimaru hissed irritably even while the crooked smile stayed on his face, unmoving.
"This time won't end like last time, Orochimaru!" Jiraiya shouted in a threatening manner.
"Ku ku ku..." The snake man laughed. "Indeed it won't. Because this time, I can actually use my arms." And he lifted both his arms to showcase that both was perfectly fine, shocking Jiraiya and Tsunade into silence.
"How... It's not possible!" Tsunade muttered in utter disbelief.
"It's easy, when you have a few Dokudes working under you and when you have an immortality technique that can take over other people's bodies." Orochimaru sneered back in glee.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru's response. "Then you've already transferred to another body? That means that you won't be able to use Uchiha Sasuke until three years later."
Orochimaru's smirk remained. "Who said I'm interested in the Uchiha anymore? I now have his blood and his DNA sample, I can clone myself as many Uchihas as I want!" His inhuman eyes glowed with insanity and greed.
"You heartless bastard." Tsunade angrily spat out as she launched herself at Orochimaru, jumping off Katsuya in the process. Raising her fist and channelling the her body's chakra into her tightly held hand, Tsunade aimed to slam a punch directly into Orochimaru's face when she was suddenly tossed aside by Kabuto's twisting kick, now standing in front of Orochimaru.
"You're battle is with me, Tsunade-sama." Kabuto commented firmly as he pressed his glasses higher up his nose.
"On the contrary, your battle is with me, Kabuto." Kakashi suddenly puffed into existence standing on a near by building, aiming his Sharingan glare towards the other white-haired teen.
"Go take care of Kakashi-kun, Kabuto. Kimimaro-kun and myself can handle these two old geezers." Orochimaru snorted from behind Kabuto.
Kabuto gave his master a short nod of acknowledgement before jumping off Manda's head, heading in Kakashi direction. Within a few seconds, both combatants had disappeared from the scene.
"Now, let the fun begin." Orochimaru licked his lips with his long tongue, delighted at having two pawns to play with, especially these two pawns since they were none other than his ex-teammates. The newly introduced Kimimaro too, had stepped forward to face his master's enemies head on.
"Hold on a minute! There is still the Prideful Azura Beast of Konoha to deal with! I will not let you interfere with our newly appointed, miracle making (1), wonderful Hokage-sama's fight!" A green clad man standing on the opposite side of where Kakashi had once stood signalled.
Orochimaru grimaced at Gai's appearance, but more than that, he had always detested the man's choice of words. "Kimimaro-kun. Could you please get rid of this eye-sore?"
"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama." With that said, Kimimaro instantly jumped towards Gai's position, forcing the Jounin to back away as his opponent continued to run towards him, pulling out a strange white weapon from the palm of his hands.
"Now, there's only the three of us left. Shall we begin?" Orochimaru snarled one last time before launching into his own attack pattern with Manda.
XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX (Ibiki & Anko Vs Aoi)Most of the Jounins had left the Western end of Konoha to return to the Northern side, just to combat the new surge of Sound Nins, leaving behind only a handful of Jounins to deal with the remaining Rain Nins. Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko are one of those few who remained.
"Rokusho Aoi." Ibiki grunted distastefully as he stared at the man in front of him.
"Well, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it, Ibiki-san." Aoi sneered at the Special Jounin. "How's life treating you?"
"Hmp." Ibiki grunted again, narrowing his eyes in the process.
"What are you doing back here? You worthless coward! Traitor!" Anko hissed in irritation, even while she readied herself to fight against the former Leaf Jounin.
Aoi held up his trusted sword – none other than Nidaime's famous Raijin no ken (sword of the Lightning God), as if taunting the two Special Jounins in front of him. "Remember this, Ibiki-san? I'll have to thank your younger brother for this. It was with his help that this wonderful weapon landed in my hands." Aoi laughed at the irony of the situation.
Anko continued to glare at the Rain Nin. /HOW DARE HE! HOW DARE HE RUB THAT FACT INTO IBIKI'S FACE! I'm gonna so rip his head off!/ Taking a few seconds to glimpse at her comrade's blank face, Anko wondered if Ibiki was feeling anything by Aoi's subjection. /I remembered all those looks that were thrown at me when Orochimaru turned traitor. They were not fond days indeed. If it wasn't for the Hokage supporting me, I may have been branded a traitor too... Damn this man for bring the memory of the boy back into Ibiki's life!/ However, if Ibiki did feel anything, his face remained emotionless – just as the head of Torture and Interrogation was famous for.
"Idate... Is he dead?" Ibiki finally asked. There was not an ounce of curiosity in his dead tone, his eyes remained blank.
Aoi continued to smirk. "Do you really want to know?" He taunted back.
After a long pause, Ibiki finally answered. "No... I guess I don't. He is dead to me, has been for the last 3 years."
Aoi's smirk instantly vanished and was replaced by a frown instead. "You really have no heart, do you? Morino Ibiki."
"The one who doesn't have a heart is YOU! You BXXTXXD!" Anko snarled as she called forth her own attack. "Senei Jyashu! (Sublime Snake Hands)" Stretching her right hand out, several vicious green snakes emerged from her long coat's sleeves. The snakes seamlessly flew through the air and effortlessly wrapped themselves around Rokusho Aoi, biting him in several places even while rendering him immobile.
/SHXT!/ Aoi thought as he tried to manoeuvre the arm that held the legendary Raijin no ken, hoping that with a slight swing, he could disengage the snakes from his body.
"IT'S NOT OVER YET!" Anko yelled passionately as she pulled with all her might, tugging the immobile Aoi in her direction at rapid speed. "TAKE THIS!" Twisting her arm around, Anko slammed Aoi's body hard onto a large tree. Releasing her snakes, she threw several kunai at the man's direction.
Quickly recovering from the impact, Aoi instantly tried to get away from the kunai's trajectory, succeeding in some cases but not in others – he received a few kunai cuts to his arm and legs. Landing slightly, Aoi pushed off his uninjured leg, running towards Anko at full speed, the Raijin no Ken blazing in golden fire in front of him. And just as sudden as his movements, his body stopped in mid-step. /WHAT!/ Aoi thought frantically, wondering why he suddenly couldn't move his body at all.
"Kanashibari no Jutsu. (Body Freeze Technique) I wouldn't have thought that a Jounin of your calibre would so easily fall into my Ninjutsu. Just goes to show how weak you have become ever since you got your hands on the Raijin no Ken." Ibiki muttered confidently from behind Aoi.
"Senei Jyashu! (Sublime Snake Hands)" Anko called forth again. This time, she directed the snakes to attack Aoi's hand – the hand that was still holding the Raijin no ken. Biting deeply onto Aoi's hand, Aoi gave a small cry of pain before instinctively releasing the Raijin. Once the Raijin had left Aoi's hand, the golden blade itself disappeared and Ibiki quickly grabbed onto it and stuffed it back into his jacket.
"The Raijin no Ken is finally back in the proper hands of Konoha. Now is the time for retribution, Rokusho Aoi." Ibiki monotonously told the struggling man (who was holding tightly onto his bleeding hand now that the snakes had released him).
Aoi glared back fiercely, he reached to his back and pulled out a normal looking umbrella. "Now. The real fight begins!" He growled threateningly. Throwing the umbrella up high into the air, Aoi prepared his Jutsu. "Ninpou! Jouro Senbun! (Ninja Art: Raining Needles)." The umbrella then started spinning in midair, due to Aoi's commands. Soon, large masses of needles were released from the umbrella, all-diving through the air towards Ibiki and Anko's positions.
The needles struck true, piercing deeply into both Ibiki and Anko's bodies, and Aoi smirked in triumph. That is, until both figures puffed into smoke and revealed that they were only small logs pierced by needles. /Shit! Kawarimi? (Replacement technique)/
"You really have become so much weaker than before, Aoi-kun." Anko's sadistic voice echoed from behind him. With a powerful kick to his side, Aoi was flung against another tree only to smash into its trunk, resulting in him suffering a few broken ribs.
Anko did not give him any time to recover however, she pulled out a long coil of wire, biting one end with her teeth, and flung a few kunais with the other end of the wire attached to it's handles. Almost like a copy of the preparations for the Uchiha's famous 'Ryuuka no Jutsu (Dragon Fire Technique), Anko's version worked similar to her Senai Jyashu (Sublime Snake hands), as some of the kunais' pierced into Aoi's chest while the others twirled around his body, wrapping behind the giant tree trunk before flying forward again to strike onto another part of the tree, rendering Aoi completely immobile.
This move was followed up Ibiki's own calmly prepared Jutsu. "Kyofu no Te! (Hand of Fear)(2)" Ibiki simply placed the palm of his right hand directly onto the forehead of Aoi and an instant later, Aoi was screaming at the top of his lungs. His desperate cry echoed through out the battlefield on the western side of Konoha. It was easy to dismiss the high pitch scream as inhuman. Though many of the Leaf Shinobis present knew about Ibiki's new and improved fear-induced Genjutsu technique, none had had the pleasure of actually witnessing it in action. It was definitely something that they wished to never become a target of.
Once Aoi's scream had died out, Aoi simply passed out while still confined by Anko's wires and kunais. Anko gave Ibiki an impressed look bordering on awe. She whistled in admiration. "Wow. That was certainly a show. Hey, can you teach me that?" She asked energetically. Ibiki grimaced at Anko's delighted expression and simply moved away from the hyperactive, sadistic Kunoichi (3). The two then leapt off to their various targets. This particular battle may have been won, but there was still a war going on, and everyone was needed in order to win that.
xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (Gai Vs Kimimaro)
Kimimaro stared impassively at his opponent. Unlike his master, Kimimaro has no distaste against the colour green, but even he had to silently admit to himself that the man before him was an eye sore.
Gai, on the other hand, was passionately shouting out a long speech about the power of youth and how Konoha will prevail against even these odds, completely ignorant of what thoughts were going through Kimimaro's head.
With a soft cough, Kimimaro finally drew the strange man's attention back to the fight that was supposed to happen soon. "Shall we get started? Once this is finished, I can return to Orochimaru-sama's side."
Gai grunted and narrowed his eyes but decided to remain silent just this once, standing in his preferred battle stance – feet together, back straight, one hand in front in an inviting gesture while the other hand bend behind his back.
/This man is a jounin. I must be extra careful and not let my guard down./ Kimimaro thought to himself even while long shards of bone punctured the palm of both his hands, gleaming in the light.
/Bones? It can't be…/ "WAIT!" Gai held up his right hand in a sign for 'stop.' "Do you use bones as a means of weapons?" He asked, voice unwavering, even while his heart raced at the possibility of facing 'that' particular clan. When Kimimaro only nodded in reply, Gai started sweating. "Are you... by any chance... a member of the Kaguya clan?" He finally muttered, and Kimimaro once again nodded in reply. Gai's blood pressure rose slightly due to the tension in his body.
/The Kaguya clan... Their bloodline limit ability is to be able to summon their bodies' bones as weapons to be used against their enemies. But more than that, they thrive on battle. They are all highly skilled Taijutsu users and anyone who gets too close gets stabbed in return. I must be extra careful about my approach./ Gai thought to himself.
Holding both his bone pierced palms in front of him, Kimimaro muttered to himself. "Yanagi no mai (Dance of the Willows)." He then rushed towards Gai's position, thrusting one palm forward, of which Gai dodged to the side. Swinging around, Kimimaro swung his other opened palm towards Gai's new placement again. Gai managed to block the attack with his arm and aimed sidekick to Kimimaro, of which, the green-eyed boy jumped backwards to avoid.
After a short pause, the two men charged at each other again. Kimimaro struck forward and Gai dodged. Gai punched or kicked and Kimimaro ducked or sidestepped. Both Taijutsu masters performed a seemingly endless and deadly dance. Feet blocked feet, bones met arms, again and again, assault after assault, both combatants remained on a relatively equal ground, unable to perfectly strike the other.
After a few minutes of these intense close combat fight sequences, both combatants suddenly jumped backwards to take some time off and try their best to analyse their opponents' weaknesses.
/He's fast and strong./ Kimimaro concluded.
/Every one of the attacks I've launched at him was met with a block or a side step. This boy truly is a highly skilled Taijutsu master./ Gai mentally commended.
"Boy." Gai called for Kimimaro's attention. "Why are you serving Orochimaru?" he asked, truly curious as to why such a talented young man would waste his life following that traitorous snake.
Kimimaro retracted the bones back into the palm of his hands; instead, he pulled down the zip on the front of his clothes, exposing the 'gaia' seal that is present on his chest. Pulling one side of his shirt down, Kimimaro summoned forth his humerus bone from shoulder socket all the way down to his elbow, coupled with a second humerus bone with a razor sharp tip at the end. The massive bone ripped out of his shoulder, tearing through skin and flesh alike, leaving behind a large hole on his shoulder. Kimimaro silently pulled out the bone structure with his other hand, and the wound slowly be surely healed back to show clean skin, as the tear had never happened before hand. (4)
Gai successfully fought against gagging as he watched the unnatural sight of a man pulling his own bones out of his body. But once the procedure was done, Kimimaro finally took the time to answer his question. "I follow Orochimaru-sama... because I believe in him. As long as I am fulfilling Orochimaru-sama's aspirations... I will forever stay in Orochimaru-sama's heart. (5)" Kimimaro answered resolutely.
Gai's eyes wavered slightly in pity as he remembered a time where another person, just as naïve as this boy in front of him, also looked up to Orochimaru like a god. /Anko had been devastated. Absolutely devastated when Orochimaru betrayed and abandoned her. She almost committed suicide several times over... Now, Orochimaru has another pawn to play with./ "Do you truly think that Orochimaru cares for you, boy? Do you truly believe that that traitorous man would care for anyone else except himself? If you do, then I pity you, to be brainwashed so thoroughly by that man." He commented.
Kimimaro's eyes narrowed in anger. "I'm not wrong! I'm not brainwashed! It's all my own REASONING!" Kimimaro pulled up his bone sword in a ready stance and charged towards Gai's position. "Tsubaki no mai! (Dance of the Camellia)" A large barrage of strikes and swipes came Gai's way, but the self-proclaimed green beast of Konoha managed to dodge most, if not all of them.
Dodging another strike, Gai managed to thrust his palm forward and redirected the force of Kimimaro's arms, before following the move with a jump and a swinging kick in Kimimaro's direction. "Konoha Dai Senpuu! (Leaf Great Spinning Wind)" Gai called as he knocked the boy some distance away.
Cursing at his own mistakes due to his raging emotion, Kimimaro immediately stood up again. This time, he summoned forth small bone pellets from the tips of his fingers before quickly flinging them at Gai like oncoming bullets. "Teshi Sendan! (Finger Bullets)"
Gai's eyes widened at the onslaught of small missiles coming his way and instantly dodged by jumping up, and to the side. Kimimaro followed his movements by continuously firing bullets towards the green-clad man's new locations. Jumping, flipping backwards, ducking and dodging, Gai somehow found some time to reach behind his back and into his hidden Ninja pouch and pulled out a pair of nunchucks (5). Swinging the nunchucks in a practiced manner, Gai easily slammed the various bullets away with consecutive blocks and slaps. Finally, Kimimaro stopped with his barrage of bullets, as Gai seemed to be dealing with them fairly easily.
Kimimaro, knowing that all his attempts at defeating the Jounin so far were unsuccessful, decided to bring things to the next level – he activated his curse seal to level one. Instantly, dark tattoos of his Gaia seal started appearing all over his chest area. Not only that, Kimimaro could also feel a giant boost in Chakra to his already large capacity. Pulling the other side of his shirt down as well, Kimimaro easily called forth the bones on both his arms to pierce forward, out of their confined skin and flesh.
Gai seeing that Kimimaro is activating his curse seal, decided that it would be best to defeat the boy before the seal could be fully completed. He launched himself at his opponent, jumping high into the air before twisting around slightly to try and slam his leg directly down onto his enemy. "Konoha Shofuu! (Leaf's Rising Wind!)" However, his attempted assault was firmly blocked by Kimimaro's bone pierced arm.
Gai grimaced slightly as he felt his own bones within his leg crack slightly at the impact of slamming against the boy's bloodline limit. Quickly catching himself before Kimimaro could follow up with thrusting his other bone pierced arm in his direction, Gai twisted again and flipped over the boy, avoiding any major attack in the process. /Damn. I can't attack front on anymore./ Gai thought to himself even while he started running around the boy at incredible speeds, trying to find a blind spot to attack.
/Fast!/ Kimimaro noted to himself even while he readied his body for the upcoming attack. Instantly noticing Gai as he suddenly came closer, Kimimaro performed his next attack. "Karamatsu no mai. (Dance of the Larch tree)." Several more spikes of bone pierced out of his body in various positions and with him twirling on the spot, the spinning porcupine gesture easily prevented Gai from coming any closer, less he wish to take the chance of getting pierced more readily by Kimimaro's bones.
While still analysing his opponent for a weak spot, Gai quietly returned his favoured nunchucks back into his Ninja pack, knowing that it'd be practically useless against one of Kimimaro's hardened bones. /There's no choice. I have to do it./ With that thought in mind, Gai fisted his hands tightly and bit his teeth to stop from screaming as he willed his body to open up the first couple of Chakra gates. /Hachimon Tonkou! Dai-San, Sei (6) Mon... KAI! URA RENGE! (Eight Gates Opening! Number Three, Life Gate... OPEN! Primary Lotus!) (7)/
With a huge release of Chakra, Gai literary sprinted off in a blur of dust and sand, running at incredible speeds towards Kimimaro's position. In a split second, he had reached Kimimaro and slammed his red skinned fist right into the younger man's face, punching him with enough power to bring a whole house down.
Instantly flung backwards by the powerful assault Kimimaro twisted in mid air and landed harshly on the ground, skidding along with his extracted bones, while trying desperately to get a good grip on the ground to stop his motion. As soon as Kimimaro had finally come to a complete stop, Gai appeared from out of thin air to smack his feet right into Kimimaro's lower jaw, pitching the white haired man sidewards, flying through the air into another direction.
/I can't keep this up much longer. Even though my body is mostly healed, but it still can't sustain the Curse seal for too long a time. I have to finish it now and return to Orochimaru-sama's side./ Kimimaro thought vehemently to himself as he silently activated the Curse seal level two, while still in mid air. Retracting all his protruding bones from his chest, legs, arms and back, Kimimaro felt the familiar surge of tainted Chakra coursing through his veins, darkening his skin, elongating his claws and most of all, the development of a tail swinging freely.
With the transformation just finished, Kimimaro opened his eyes just in time to see Gai perform another swinging kick right into his face. "Konoha Dai Senpuu! (Leaf Spinning Wind)" Gai called as his feet impacted against the hard face of Kimimaro again. But this time to his surprise, Kimimaro's newly formed tail suddenly sprung up and gripped onto Gai. So, while Kimimaro is being flung backwards by the force of Gai's kick, Gai too is being pulled in the same direction due to the tail that had grabbed onto Gai's leg.
In the end, we find both combatants slamming onto the hard ground underneath them. Catching his breath, Gai quickly disentangled himself from the dark scaled appendage and jumped away to safety. It was only then that he realised there was a change in Kimimaro's form once again. /Shxt! This must be his curse seal level two form!/ Gai could only shudder at the half-human, half-monster like form in front of him; moving his eyes from the tail to the claws to the massive bones stuck out of Kimimaro's once pale body. It was not a pretty sight.
"This time, you will die." Kimimaro confidently proclaimed as he slowly but surely pulled out his very spinal cord from the back of his neck. With a powerful pull, the long appendage is drawn free of its confines, standing as straight as a sword and made from the hardest of material. "Tessenka no mai! (Dance of the clamantis)" With a swing of his wrist, the seemingly docile piece of bone-made structure suddenly extended into a whip like form.
Caught by surprise of the estranged weapon, Gai suddenly found himself gripped within the confines of the spinal cord whip, unable to move or escape. /SHXT!/ He thought to himself as he desperately tugged and pulled, struggling against the tightening grasp of the whip.
"Now I have you. Hana! (Flower!)" Kimimaro called again. This time, the thick bones summoned forth from his hand (the one not preoccupied by holding onto the whip) slowly but surely formed a strange cone like structure. "This is the thickest bone in my body, it will easily pierce through your pathetic body. This is the end." Kimimaro commended even while he raised his bone spear higher and readied himself to thrust the object forward.
/There's no choice. I have to go all out./ Gai mentally concluded as he shut his eyes tightly to concentrate on opening as many gates as he could. /Hachimon Tonkou dai-roku Keimon KAI! (Eight Gates Opening Sixth – View Gate OPEN!)/ With six of the eight celestial gates opened, Gai used his new surge of Chakra to force the whip to release him, freeing himself effortlessly.
Dashing forward and avoiding Kimimaro's strike with his spear, Gai landed an upward kick right into Kimimaro's chin (8) forcing the other man upwards into the air. Jumping up himself, Gai took up a strange fighting stance – that of a crane waiting to strike (9). He swung his feet - now burning with flames due to the increase speed and friction against the air itself – to kick away Kimimaro's tail, giving him ample space to follow up on one of his most powerful moves. "ASA KUJAKU! (MORNING PEAKOCK!) (10)"
In a single instant, Gai had punched forth a huge barrage of burning fists, creating a collage of flames forming the sight of a peacock with its tails all opened wide to greet the morning son. It was a magnificent if not intimidating vision.
As soon as Gai paused in his burning punches, the flaming form of Kimimaro finally fell from the sky to land haphazardly onto the hard ground. Landing himself, Gai gasped tiredly while trotting along to see if his opponent is still alive. To his eternal surprise, Kimimaro was still burning, though unconscious and rather scorched by Gai's final attack. Gai debated with himself whether he should kill his opponent instead of letting him live, but in the end, Gai was and always would be a honourable fighter. This may have been a war crisis situation, but he would not strike a man while he was down. And as such, he only did his best to bind the unconscious Kimimaro and kept him knocked out instead of killing him.
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Raidou and Genma(11) glared at the hordes of Sound Shinobis standing in front of them. To say the enemy was fanatic was an understatement. In fact, Genma would go so far to say that they were all brainwashed or something. After all, it wasn't everyday you see a large mass of people, all with slightly pale skin tinged with an eerie green colour, and when they open their mouths to talk, a strange green vapour escapes their lips.
There were even children as young as 8 or 9 in the army, all wielding kunais, swords, chains and various other weapons, even house hold kitchen knives for goodness sake. It was literary an unbelievable sight. One that brought dread and fear into the pits of hardened Shinobis.
Never in the history of warfare had a proper Shinobi army faced off against such a large and yet unorganised mass of people, it was simply unimaginable. There were at least ten thousand men, women and children, some not even bearing Shinobi garbs, standing as the main force of Orochimaru's army.
Raidou, Genma, and their fellow Shinobis cringed at the thought of slaughtering their way through that crowd, but it had to be done. No matter what the cost, Konoha must be protected, for their own family's sake if nothing else.
Though the Leaf Ninjas suspected that all these people were under some sort of spell (perhaps Genjutsu), but they had no idea how to deflect or release the civilians from their imprisonment, and as such, they could only fight and pray for the best. The massive gathering of mismatched 'warriors' from the Sound, were actually brainwashed and currently under the control of Orochimaru.
Orochimaru had developed a technique in which he could implant a special, sealed, snake's egg into a person's body. That egg is swallowed whole and the serpent within is born inside the victim's body. Once the snake creature is free of its shell (and yet still resistant to the human host's stomach acids), it physically taps into the Inner Coil system and takes control of the host's body as well as mind.
The Snake-Sannin favoured this technique and named it "Hebi Noroi Fuuin no Jutsu" (Snake Bewitchment Seal) (12). This technique differed from the curse seal in that it only controlled the mind and body of the victim, and didn't give them any additional power source or deteriorates the victim's bodies by changing them into monster-like hybrids.
With their mind and body being controlled, the hosts become puppets to their masters; and the serpent symbiont living within them are only loyal to one person – Orochimaru (their creator). The serpents will stay within their host, living off the live mice that it forces the host to eat as nutrition, and will only leave when it feels it is too dangerous to stay inside the body (usually done through a really accurate punch to the stomach area).
However, the Leaf Nins knew none of this knowledge. Therefore, they have no way in knowing that the people they are currently facing would give their very lives for Orochimaru and his cause, for nothing more than death and freedom.
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Sasuke stared almost sightlessly at the ensuing carnage that surrounded him. /This isn't a battle... it's a slaughter./ He concluded in his mind.
Indeed, to the naked eye, it really does look like the Konoha Shinobis were ruthlessly slaughtering their opponents. But when you look closer, you could see that the supposed inferior enemy held much larger numbers than the few hundred Chuunin, Jounin and Anbu that are attacking them. And even as we speak, the horde of slightly green-faced swarm of supposed Sound Nins were pushing the Konoha ninjas back.
Sasuke started feeling slightly nauseous as his eyes were unconditionally drawn towards the struggle between the two armies transpiring right in front of him. He watched silently as women and children had their heads sliced off, limbs broken and left to fall on the grown unnoticed and uncared for. The Shinobis of the Leaf cut down as many as they could, leaving behind dead bodies or body parts, before efficiently moving on to the next kill, never looking back nor showing any mercy to those that threatened their home.
Due to the Sound armies' haphazard collection of fighters – if they are to be considered as 'fighter's in the first place - it was easy for the Leaf Nins to kill off individual people because they weren't that powerful on their own. But as a whole, the Sound army could match the Leaf Ninjas: technique for technique, kill for kill. For every single Sound Nin killed or decommissioned, at least ten took his or her place. No matter what move the Leaf Nins tried on their opponents, they just don't give up until they are forced to stop fighting – namely, to either kill them straight away or disable their entire body forcefully. It had been proven that some of the Sound Nins, even while having their very arms sliced off with a sharp kunai, would continue on forward until someone killed them properly.
It was all just too gruesome to Sasuke, bringing back horrid memories of how his clan had died the night Itachi went insane. And even then, their bodies at least remained intact. Here, Sasuke tried to push down his own vomit as he glanced over a decapitated head on one side of the building he was standing on, while the rest of the man's body laid else where in the bloodbath.
Entire streets were littered with body parts and blood. Muscles and organs that he had studied during his time in the Academy stained the very walls of buildings while the every inch of the ground were besieged with broken glass and various other obstacles to the fighters.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself and wincing at the stench of already decomposing bodies, Sasuke decided that he couldn't take anymore. Turning around, Sasuke chose the coward's way out and pulled away from his hiding stop, leaving behind a nightmarish scene of hell on earth that would haunt him for years on end.
/I've got to get out of here./ Sasuke thought vehemently to himself. /I... I'm not ready... not for this.../ In his mind, Sasuke continued to chant his litany of fear and shock, willing himself to runaway as fast as he could from whatever it is that scared him. Once again, unbeknownst to Sasuke consciously, the 'scared little boy' within his soul had taken control and decided upon the quickest action that would get him out of trouble. However, Sasuke had absolutely no clue as to what type of consequences await him once he had decided on this path.
Suddenly, a child's scream from near by brought him out of his mental struggle of fleeing the scene unnoticed.
"MOMMY!" The child cried again, sounding louder than the symphony of other screams, cries, sounds of rubble falling onto the earth and the snarling of the giant snake summons.
Without thinking, Sasuke jumped away from his chosen path towards the origin of the child's cry. Upon reaching his destination, Sasuke watched in horror as a young girl that he recognised as 'Moegi', a young friend of his teammate – Naruto. The girl had tears streaking down her face in an endless flow. She had bruises all over her face and her lips were bleeding even as she continued to cry for her mother, while still wearing her pyjamas even.
Moegi was being slowly strangled alive by a masked man. Her tearful mother watch helplessly from a few metres away, currently being held back by a man obvious a missing Nin as Sasuke recognised the slashed Stone forehead protector wrapped around the man's neck. Gazing impassively as the woman begged and sobbed for the men to release her young daughter, Moegi continued to struggle weakly against the other man's grasp. Slowly, Sasuke's anger boiled over.
/No! I won't runaway from this fight! I can't runaway from this fight! I'm a Shinobi. I have a responsibility to fight. And more than that, I'm a Shinobi of the Leaf, I have a responsibility to protect the people of the Leaf, to protect Konoha... because... because it's my home!/ Sasuke thought resolutely as he abruptly remembered all those memories from his childhood – the memories of good times – of playing in the playgrounds with his mother, of practicing throwing Shurikens with his brother, of walking around town proudly with his father. The sudden realisation that all those places - all those memories would be wiped out if Konoha no longer existed tore at Sasuke's heart and soul. And in that instant, Sasuke made his choice, a choice he would live by for the rest of his life. /I am a Shinobi of the Leaf. No matter what happens in the future... I won't betray my home. I won't follow in Itachi's footsteps... I won't betray my own home./
With that resolute promise in mind, Sasuke jumped into action, performing several hand seals before disappearing into the very ground underneath his feet.
"Ha ha ha ha!" The man (whom held back Moegi's mother) abruptly found his laughter being cut off mid way through as he felt his body suddenly submerged into the ground until only his head was above the earth's surface.
"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Type: Inner Decapitation Technique)" Sasuke proclaimed his technique even while he quickly launched into another set of hand seals.
The man whom held onto Moegi quickly turned around to see what had happened to his companion only to find several fireballs flying his way.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Fire Type: Mythical Fire Flower Technique)" Sasuke called out his second attack even as he spat out small fire ball after fire ball at his enemy, Sharingan flaring brightly in the tense battle.
His opponent, quickly realising that holding onto the girl severely limited his list of offensive attacks, immediately threw the girl aside to concentrate wholly on the upcoming battle.
Moegi, crying out as she found herself being flung away, suddenly fell into the protective clutches of her mother, whom had been freed previously when the man that held her was incapacitated.
"Run! While you still have the chance." Sasuke grunted calmly, eyes never leaving his opponent's still form.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I can never thank you enough!" Even while the mother sobbed in relief, she quickly collected her crying daughter and ran off into the distance, heart praying for the safety of the young man that saved her and her beloved daughter.
"You think you're some kind of hero, kid? You have no idea what the world out there is like. You ain't gonna survive a single day in the real world." The Nuke Nin (Missing Nin) in front of Sasuke taunted, hoping to distract the boy. Although the man remained calm on the outside, he was intensely nervous inside because he had recognised the swirling red Sharingan eyes before him and feared the power held within.
"I may be young... and I may be naïve... I have every right to fight for what I believe in." Sasuke stated resolutely. "I'm a Shinobi of Konohagakure no sato (Hidden Leaf Village) and as such, I will die protecting my home." He confirmed.
The man's dirty brown eyes narrowed in irritation. "So be it, kid. Give my regards to hell, with you?" With that said, the man instantly launched into his own set of hand seals. "Doton: Doryo Dango (Earth Type: Mud Dumpling)!"The man called out, slamming both his hands deep into the ground and pulling up a large chunk of earth with him. Steadying his balance, the ex-Stone Ninja quickly followed up by throwing the giant projectile towards Sasuke.
Sasuke, having already copied the technique with his Sharingan eyes, opted to use another technique to combat it. "Katon! Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Type: Powerful Fireball Technique)!" Releasing the giant fireball, Sasuke tensed, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The impact of both the fireball slamming into the earth boulder created a giant explosion of flying debris and dust covering the entire immediate area. Sasuke took this opportunity to disappear into the dust while the man was distracted by all the loud sound and sight. Quickly reappearing behind the man, Sasuke charged his palms with the highest voltage of electricity his body could handle. "Raikan Mahi no Jutsu! (Lightning Shock Paralysis)" Slamming his palm into the back of the man, his opponent quickly crumbled onto the ground, knocked unconscious by the attack even while his body continued to vibrate with the intensity of the electricity coursing through the man's veins.
Turning off his Sharingan eyes and taking a deep breath to calm himself, Sasuke suddenly felt a slight shift from beside him. Heeding his instincts, Sasuke instantly shifted to the right, narrowly missing an invisible blade that came close to slicing his head off. /What the! I felt the air move as if something was slashing through it!/ Not taking any chances, Sasuke re-activated his Sharingan eyes and instantly saw through the other man's invisibility illusion.
Suddenly, Sasuke realised how the man had escaped his earlier trap. This was a missing Nin from Hidden Stone village; of course he was going to know some way to escape Earth based techniques. /But no matter, what I did before brought me enough time to defeat the other man, so it wasn't a waste./ As Sasuke continued to debate mentally with himself and readied a Chakra enhanced kunai in his hands, he didn't notice his Sharingan eyes slowly evolving into its complete form – a third black dot surfaced onto the iris of his eyes, shifting the other two aside to give it more room.
Suddenly, not only could Sasuke see the Chakra coursing through his opponent's body, he could also see the 'intended' actions of his enemy, where the man attack from, from what angle, using how much force, et cetera. Every thing became so clear and crisp, so easy to read. It was with the littlest of effort, Sasuke easily dodged the man's attempted thrust of his weapon and simply slammed his chakra enhanced kunai directly into the man's heart – blowing a giant hole from the man's back and releasing a flood of blood and pieces of muscle, veins and organs. The man didn't even speak as he silently dropped onto the ground, dead.
Sasuke shuddered, suddenly realising that this was his first kill.
(end)
(1) Gai was referring to how Tsunade was able to heal Lee. That's why he called her 'miracle making'.
(2) Original Jutsu, so it belongs to me. Basically, this is a powerful Genjutsu that is activated when Ibiki physically touches his opponent. What it does is that it forces the victim to live through some very torturous situation. What the torturous situation is depends on what the user wants it to be. Think of it as something similar to what Itachi would do. Since I'm no Genjutsu expert, I just left it blank to be filled in by the rest of you.
(3) I've been told that 'Kunoichi' (female ninjas) are spelt with a 'u'. I'm terribly sorry for the mistake and will do my best to correct my spelling from now on. But, if you do see 'konoichi' somewhere sometimes, please don't be upset because I usually don't pick up on these minor mistakes most of the time and it may happen, more often than not.
(4) I'm mainly following the manga pictures so expect a lot of gruesome description of what happened to Kimimaro's body. None of the anime's bone emerging through skin stud is going to happen here.
(5) Nunchucks – a weapon made of two pairs of wood with a metal chain in between linking them. Probably the most recognisable weapon used by Bruce Lee in his many films. (Took me a while just find the English name for it, too!)
(6) Neither Inane nor Aone actually translated the English 'sound' of this word, so I looked it up on a dictionary myself. Hopefully it is the right translation for the sound.
(7) Inane called it 'Extreme' Lotus while Aone called it 'Primary' Lotus; I stuck with 'Primary'.
(8) Basically, I'm describing the first move of the Initial Lotus – where Lee leans backwards while striking his opponent up and into the air.
(9) For those of you who don't collect the manga and don't know what I'm talking about, if you can remember the movie – Karate Kid (the first one), then you know that I'm describing the final stance the main character of the movie takes in his Karate competition.
(10) The English translation came from Inane and Shanaro had something similar.
(11) Genma is the guy usually found with a stick in his mouth; he refereed the Final Chuunin Exams. Raidou is the guy with a weird burnt mark stretching across his face; he was the one standing behind the Hokage during the Final Chuunin Exams and was struck by a kunai.
(12) This jutsu idea belongs solely to Hitomi no Ryu. I have absolutely no claim on the Jutsu whatsoever! However, I have listed it on my 'original Jutsu' list which will be updated soon.
God! This chapter is sooooo BLOODY LONG! In actuality, I had wanted to include a section about the fight between Kakashi and Kabuto but looking at the 20 page long text, I decided against it. If I had done that, it might have taken longer to post.
Okay, okay. For the next chapter, I will finally have the Akatsuki members appear (Kisame, Itachi, Deidara and Sasori). I'm wondering, should I fully describe all four characters as some of the readers don't follow the manga and won't know what they look like; or should I just post a picture of what they look like on my site and then for those who don't know them, can just visit my sight to have a look. Which way is more suitable for you guys?
Remember to read and review. I hope you like how it's going so far. I know that I didn't really incorporate enough fight scenes in this chapter but I wanted to get an overall feel of it first before I go into the nitty gritty stuff. Hope you enjoy!