Yuki tried to fix his dishevelled outfit after the anxious genin had swarmed him.
"Jeez, you'd think I was the one who left the cliffhanger... ahem... Chapter 13: Infiltration of Mokkijō."
Naruko's Perspective
Naruko was down on one knee, gasping for breath and leaning on her sword for support. She had just been thrown through several buildings by the monster that had once been Inaba Kogorō.
The girls were already worried for Naruko, while several of the boys had winced and glanced at Naruto. Naruto was blank-faced, you could tell he was hiding how he felt, as if he could imagine just how much pain his other was going through.
"Not so cocky now, are you whelp?" Kogorō's voice boomed across the ruins of Morimura.
"Jerk..." The girls and Yuki heard Naruto mutter as he watched on.
"Hah! I'm just getting started, you oversized weed!" Naruko shouted as she leapt to her feet and ran up the nearest building. She spotted Kogorō's oversized body lumbering forwards towards her.
"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!)" Naruko roared as over 500 Shadow Clones appeared around her, perching on walls and buildings as they did.
"What is this? How are there so many clones?" Kogorō demanded, "Girl, exactly what are you?"
Yuki smirked, trying to alleviate some of the tension "A badass is what she is." From the look of Naruto's slowly growing grin, it worked.
"Uzumaki Naruko, Genin of Konohagakure no Sato!" All the Naruko-Clones shouted back defiantly, "And we're gonna peel you apart like an onion!"
Yuki returned to the story "Let's just hope he doesn't stink like one."
"Bah!" Kogorō scoffed derisively, "You are welcome to try, runt. No matter how much chakra you possess, you cannot so much as touch me!"
"Let's just see about that!" The original Naruko snarled as she and ten others made the Tiger handsign, "Doton: Doryū Taiga!"
The concentrated effort of eleven Doryū Taiga jutsu in concert sent the giant treeman flying, covered in mud. Naruko and the other clones maintaining the jutsu upped the amount of chakra they were feeding to the jutsu so the small river became a huge river, throwing more mud on top of Kogorō.
"Gaaaaah!" the former human roared, "I will rip you to pieces for this!"
"Get in line." a Naruko-Clone snarled.
"Less talking, more blasting!" Naruko ordered. Her clones really were too independent and mouthy sometimes.
The Naruko Clone Army moved to surround Kogorō, who had come to rest against a wall. All of the Naruko-clones began making handsigns.
"Suiton: Teppōdama no Jutsu!"
"Suiton: Hōmatsu Rappa no Jutsu!"
"Raiton: Jibashi no Jutsu!"
"Katon: Takibi no Jutsu!"
"Katon: Endan no Jutsu!"
"Fūton: Reppūshō no Jutsu!"
"Fūton: Fūrō no Jutsu!"
Yuki winced a little "Water and Wind are ok, the wind jutsu grant any paired water jutsu a greater concussive force, and wind amps up the power of fire jutsu... but using water and fire jutsu together like that isn't recommended, solely because there's a chance that the fire jutsu will get cancelled out and the water jutsu weakened before they reach their target. You can do it, it just isn't recommended if you want the full power." That got nods and note taking from the more ninjutsu orientated genin.
The Naruko Cones rained jutsu after jutsu down upon the retainer of the Yanagi Clan. She wasn't taking any chances with this guy, he had to be put down and put down hard. Otherwise, he'd try to hurt her friends.
"ENOUGH!" Kogorō roared in fury, "Yanagi Kinjutsu: Mokki: Meido Konsō no Jutsu! (Yanagi Kinjutsu: Tree Demon: Underworld Root Spears Jutsu!)"
Roots from his burnt, electrocuted, soaking and windswept body lanced out at the Clone Army. Naruko stared in shock. All of her jutsu may only have been C-Rank, but she had never heard of anything that could simply shrug off seven jutsu being dealt out by an army of 500 shinobi at the same time, unless it was a Boss Summon like Gamabunta and even then, the jutsu had to be fairly weak.
The Shadow-copies of her Adamantine Katana couldn't cut through the roots, so the clones who tried were skewered and puffed out of existence. The rest of the clones tried to avoid the roots but they were relentless.
Soon, Naruko stood alone against Kogorō once again. The treeman's root-encased body was scorched and badly damaged in places, but it clearly didn't hinder him in the least.
The girls started to get worried, would Naruko even be enough to take this guy down?
'Ok Naruko, keep calm,' The Uzumaki Heiress thought to herself, 'Remember what Ji-chan told you. There is no such thing as an unbeatable jutsu. There is always a way to counter or defeat any jutsu.'
The main problem was, there didn't seem to be a lot she hadn't done to defeat this guy. She'd hit him with fire, water, wind and lightning and he still managed to take out her entire clone army.
With a single jutsu.
"I have had enough of your disrespect and irritating little jutsu!" Kogorō roared, "You will regret the day you ever set foot in Morimura!"
"Looking at the monster you've turned yourself into, I already do." Naruko shot back, "You were an ugly bastard before, but now? Man, you're ten times worse!"
Yuki facepalmed. "That's it, I'm throwing in books on how to properly trash talk and battlefield banter for everyone..." he muttered.
"Grrrr! I will turn you into skewered kunoichi meat!" Kogorō growled, "But first, to prevent you from running away…Yanagi Kinjutsu: Mokki: Konrō no Jutsu! (Yanagi Forbidden Jutsu: Tree Demon: Root Prison Jutsu!)"
Around the border of Morimura Village, thousands of vines shot up from beneath the earth, arching into an enormous dome that blocked out the sun and cast the village into darkness.
There was light though. The roots that made up the dome glowed a sickly black and green light that just barely illuminated the shattered remains of Morimura, making the ruins look haunted.
Naruto was... currently being squished in the middle of all of the girls clinging to him as they watched on. Yuki merely hoped nothing got broken...
"Now then…where were we…?" Kogorō purred smugly.
Naruko gripped her Kongōgatana tightly. This was going to be a long fight. If jutsu didn't work, she'd have to rely on her sword to cut the damned man out of his root suit.
"Let's get this over with, Inaba Kogorō." she said coldly, "I have too much to do with my life to die in such a place as this."
"Hah! Spunky, aren't you?" Kogorō snorted, "You will come to regret that spunk when your body lies broken at my feet."
"You don't have feet anymore." Naruko pointed out, "You have roots."
That got a few snickers.
"Shut UP!" Kogorō howled in rage as he thundered forwards.
Naruko dodged his slow charge and thought, 'Seriously, this guy has no sense of humor.'
Yuki deadpanned. "When you sell your soul into blind fanaticism like that, logic and humor are usually the first things to go."
With the Rest of Team 8...
Kurenai regarded the old man carefully. He claimed to be the Elder of Morimura Village, but he looked too old and frail to have gotten himself all the way out here from the village during the attack that had reduced Morimura to a ruin.
"If you are the Elder of Morimura, kindly explain why a C-Rank request was submitted for a situation that is clearly an S-Rank situation?" she asked the man coldly.
Everyone seemed to lean in to listen, none more so than Hinata, Ino and Naruto. Naruto was surprisingly serious compared to what his classmates normally saw of him.
"The choice was not mine, I'm afraid." Shin'ichi said solemnly, "You must understand, the Yanagi have ruled us with an iron fist for years. We have been punished most severely for the smallest infractions and the least signs of rebellion or disobedience."
Looks ranging from dislike to outright disgust flashed across the faces of the genin.
"Kurenai-sensei, I think it's time you started explaining the situation to us in full." Ino said fiercely, "What the hell is going on and why were we being followed by ANBU?!"
Ino most likely would have agreed, however she had heard it during the meeting with the Hokage at the beginning of the mission, so there wouldn't really be a point to speaking up now.
Didn't stop her from nodding along with her story counterpart though.
Anko exchanged a look with Kurenai and began, "There have been far too many disappearances around Morimura in the last five years, brat. Civilians, samurai and ninja. So when this mission request came to the old man's attention with the information that residents of Morimura were being abducted from their own homes, he decided that enough was enough and the place needed investigating."
Kurenai took over here, "Hokage-sama sent us, because we were the best prepared out of all of the rookie genin teams. We are also the most combat capable, with Anko here."
"Thank you Nai-chan." Anko said and fluttered her eyelashes bashfully.
Yuki could see Kurenai sigh and facepalm at Anko's antics. It turned into a deadpan when Anko tried teasing her by doing the same. He hid a chuckle and turned back to the story.
"Hokage-sama also dispatched two teams of ANBU to shadow us." Kurenai continued, rolling her eyes at Anko's antics, "They were supposed to investigate the four Clans that rule this area while we acted as the stalking horse and drew the enemies attention, but if there's a kekkai, I doubt that they were able to enter the forest at all."
Hinata still looked unhappy. "Ano…What about Naruko-chan? She's fighting that Kogorō person!"
Shin'ichi looked shaken. "You…left someone behind to fight him? Alone?"
"She volunteered." Kurenai snapped, "He announced that he would kill her before taking us. I suspect it has something to do with the fact she could cut those roots with her sword."
The old man paled. "She…actually cut them? Really? That…explains a lot. No-one has ever cut the roots of the Mashinju before."
"'Demon God Tree'" Anko said with a frown, "I think that you should start explaining how everything came to be like this, Shin'ichi-sama."
All of the genin nodded along in one way or another. On with the back history!
"Of course. Follow me, I will escort you to the resistance's cave." the Elder said, turning around and beckoning them to follow him. Exchanging wary looks, Team 8 followed him.
They moved deeper into the cave, until they hit a dead end. Shin'ichi reached out and twisted a seemingly random rock. With a crack, the wall split in two and retracted to the sides.
"Wow. Just like Naruko-chan's home." Ino whispered to Hinata, who nodded in reply.
Yuki spoke up from the story for a moment. "I'm surprised. Karakuri mechanisms like that aren't usually used much in your own world outside of those used in Suna Puppetry and yet this story employs much more. Something to think on when it comes to the differences between dimensions I guess."
They climbed a staircase that was cut into the rock of the mountain and reached a sturdy looking wooden door. The old Elder banged on the door three times with his hand.
The door opened a crack. "Password?" A female voice asked cautiously.
Yuki had to make a joke "The Password is Password." He said with a grin, getting a couple chuckles from Naruto and Shikamaru, while Shino had a ghost of a smirk.
"Haruka, hurry up and open the damn door already." Shin'ichi said irritably, "If I was a Yanagi stooge, I would have broken the door down rather than knock. Now open up already!"
Yuki made another jab "Would have been funnier if that was the actual password." This got more chuckles and giggles this time around.
"Yes, Elder." the girl squeaked and flung the door open, revealing a girl no older than ten straining to hold the door open.
Team 8 followed the Elder and the little girl into a vast cavern that looked as if it had originally been a natural formation, but had been enlarged by extensive mining and carving. It was filled with women, children and the elderly, but very few men of fighting age.
"Most of the younger men acted as a rearguard when the Yanagi launched their attack on us a week ago. Not many survived to flee here." Shin'ichi told them quietly. He led them to a small chamber off the main cavern that had a soft chair and a carved stone couch covered in pillows.
Shin'ichi sat in the chair with a groan of relief. "Those damn stairs get steeper every time I have to climb them."
"This looks like a Ninja Clan's emergency storehouse." Kurenai said conversationally.
The Elder chuckled, "Yes indeed. It used to belong to the Kashi Clan before they were destroyed."
The humour faded from Shin'ichi's face then. "How much do you know about the history of this area and the four Ninja Clans that used to rule here?"
Everyone paid attention at this point. Here comes the presentation.
"We know that all four clans have a common ancestor, Morisato Kazenotsuchi, and that they have fought each other for dominance here since before the Warring Clans period. Other than that, we know very little of this area's history as the four Clans were very reclusive and stand offish." Kurenai replied as she and the others took a seat.
"I see." Shin'ichi sat quietly for a moment to organise his thoughts, "Well, Morisato Kazenotsuchi was said to have learned from one of the original disciples of the Rikudō Sennin Himself. He created many jutsu and was a kind man. He also carried out numerous experiments on plant life. He had heard of the Rikudō Sennin's Sennin Mode, which allowed him to gather Natural Energy, and was determined to create something that would allow an ordinary Ninja to use Natural Energy."
"He…that's…What kind of an idiot…?!" Anko spluttered, eyes wide with disbelief.
"What's wrong, Anko-sensei?" Ino asked with a frown, "Natural Energy is just another form of chakra, right? So it shouldn't be that difficult to use."
"Flower Girl, only those with immense chakra reserves are able to safely gather Natural Energy." Anko replied in a strangled voice, "My bastard ex-sensei is able to do it, as can Jiraya of the Sannin. Those are the only two who can use Senjutsu that have come from Konoha in my lifetime. Oh, the Yondaime Hokage was able to mould Natural Energy as well, now I come to think about it, although the Kyūbi came shortly after he learned and he never fully mastered it."
"But…why?" Hinata asked with a frown.
"Most people who use Sennin Mode are associated with a Summoning Contract," Anko explained, "The two that I know about are the Toad Clan from Myōbokuzan (Mount Myōboku) and the Snake Clan of Ryūchidō (Ryūchi Cave), although for all I know the Slug Clan of Shikkotsurin (Shikkotsu Forest) can make people a Sennin as well.
"Those two use a special oil, toad oil for the Toads and snake oil for the Snakes, which aid in gathering Natural Energy. Thing is, if you gather too much Natural Energy, you turn into either a stone toad statue or stone snake statue, depending on where you are learning, and there is no known way to reverse the transformation. That is why Morisato's idea is insane."
That got quite the reaction from all of the genin listening. And to boost Naruto's true ego a bit "Jiraiya still can't gather and balance it properly and ends up looking a little more toad-like than normal." Two headshots of Jiraiya appeared on the screen, the left was of the pervert in his normal form, while the one on the right showed him in Sage Mode.
"This is what happened when Naruto finished learning it." There was a picture of Naruto as a fifteen year old on the left, and Naruto in the perfected Sage Mode on the right. The girls were blushing at how handsome Naruto becomes in three or so years, as well as how serious he looked in SM. Naruto looked in awe at how powerful he looked.
"Word of warning Naruto. Jiraiya takes you on a three year training trip in the future and while you came back a bit stronger, your intelligence dropped in comparison and actually put you behind the growth of your classmates. Most of that can be blamed on both Kakashi and Jiraiya's terrible teaching habits. I'll include some evidence you can give the Hokage when the pervert tried to take you training that should help you out."
"Interesting…" Shin'ichi muttered, "I always wondered why he stopped, but this does explain much. Anyway, ultimately, he failed. But he did create something that was horrifically powerful as a result: The Hason Shinboku (Corrupted Sacred Tree) or, as we now know it, the Mashinju."
"What exactly is it?" Kurenai asked.
"A monstrosity that should never have been created." Shin'ichi said firmly and with disgust in his voice, "He took an extremely old and powerful Shinboku, one that had been exposed to the raw chakra of the Rikudō Sennin, and he…experimented on it, twisting it, corrupting it, until he created a foul being that did, in an odd way, fulfil his goal.
"The Mashinju does indeed allow a person to use Natural Energy, in small quantities, but the price is far too great to be called an equivalent exchange. The price…is that it creates the Natural Energy from the distilled lifeblood of victims sacrificed to it."
Kurenai gasped in horror. Anko scowled and muttered under her breath, while Ino and Hinata turned green at the thought.
Every listener except for the Crewgers followed suit.
"Then…your villagers…" Kurenai said in sudden realisation.
"Yes…all of the kidnapped villagers have been used as 'fuel' for the demon tree." Shin'ichi said as he sagged in his seat, "Oh, they aren't dead, but they wish they were."
"What do you…?" Kurenai asked.
"That comes at the end of the tale." The Elder said, "Where was I again…ah, yes. Once he discovered the price for the Natural Energy being distilled, Morisato-shi was most distressed. He tried to destroy the foul thing, but it was, as it is now, incredibly resilient to destruction. He couldn't even scratch it, despite his best efforts.
"Once he realised he couldn't destroy it, he had a special room built deep beneath his castle and transferred the Mashinju to it. He used numerous powerful seals to restrain its power and prevent it from escaping and spreading to the forest. He then closed the doors and locked them up with some very heavy and solid chains, along with an immensely complicated locking mechanism. Finally, he sealed the path to the hidden chamber beneath layers of bricks, concrete and stone, and gave instructions that no-one was to ever excavate that door, on pain of death."
Anko blinked. "Wow. He sure was thorough."
"Indeed." Shin'ichi nodded in agreement, "Unfortunately, Morisato-shi had been poisoned by his constant exposure to the undiluted evil chakra of the demon tree and he soon fell gravely ill. On his deathbed, he ordered that his sons were to guard the castle together and to raise their families so that none could reach his greatest mistake."
"Let me guess, the four idiots misconstrued that completely and took it to mean that only the one whose family was the most worthy could inherit his greatest secret?" Anko asked, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
Cue widespread synchronicity between the listeners, as they each gave their own form of disgust at what they were hearing.
"You got it right on the nose." The Elder snorted in disgust, "The Eldest son who eventually became the Clan Head of the Yanagi claimed his father's castle, Fūrinkan-Jō (Wood Wind Hall Castle) as his own and evicted his brothers after he got fed up of them arguing all the time.
"The next oldest took his followers and built a castle in the eastern area, calling it Washigan-Jō (Eagle-Eye Castle) and swore to maintain a strict watch on the other three until his family won.
"The second youngest moved to the north, built a castle and called it Kurou-Jō (Black Crow Castle), swearing to wipe out his brothers' families and lay claim to the secret of Fūrinkan-Jō for himself.
"Finally, the youngest built a castle in the west, calling it Katagi Kijō (Temperament Demon Castle) and supported his eldest brother.
"In this way, the deadlock between the four Clans was maintained for hundreds of years, with the balance shifting between the clans every so often, but none of them could break the deadlock.
"At least until nine years ago."
"Just after the last survey of the area by Konoha." Kurenai muttered, "The Hyūga Incident happened the year after that and with all the diplomatic brouhaha, another survey was put off and kept getting put off for some reason."
She had reviewed the records for the area before meeting with her team the previous day.
"Quite." Shin'ichi chose to ignore the flinch that Hinata let show at the mention of her almost-successful kidnapping by Kumogakure, "The incident that changed the balance of power among the four Clans completely was the early death of the Clan Head of the Yanagi Clan, Yanagi Gozaburo. There was a great argument among the Clan Elders as to which of his twin daughters should become the Clan Head.
"The older sister, Sae, was a great beauty, even at the age of sixteen and had a brilliant mind in matters military and domestic. Unfortunately, she was also unstable and quite cruel.
"Saeko, on the other hand was quiet, shy and disliked combat. She was a shadow of her sister's beauty, attractive, but never as good looking as Sae. Her mind was even more brilliant, however, and she specialised in esoteric jutsu research."
Hinata shifted uneasily. This Clan's inheritance troubles were an inverted shadow of what the situation had been like before she had revealed her real skill to her father and little sister.
Hinata was just as uncomfortable as her story counterpart. Naruto attempted to give her a reassuring hug, but that just pulled the other girls into a large bear hug.
"What happened?" Kurenai asked.
"Sae went for a walk in the grounds and the ground beneath her collapsed. She fell into the chamber of the Mashinju." Shin'ichi said bluntly.
"Of all the times…"Anko muttered.
"No-one knows what exactly happened beneath the castle, but when Sae emerged, she was connected to the demon tree and used its power to subjugate the Clan, sacrificing all who stood against her to the Mashinju. Fully two-thirds of the Clan were either slain or sacrificed that day."
"How…" Kurenai couldn't find words to express her feelings on the matter.
"From there, it became a slippery slope." Shin'ichi sighed wearily, "Sae spared her sister and made her work on the Mashinju, firstly designing a seal that protected people from the chakra the tree emitted so no-one died from it, and then creating a facility so that sacrifices could be used to the fullest extent before being…disposed of."
"How could she agree to help her sister do such awful things?" Hinata whispered.
"Saeko-sama is not a particularly brave individual." Shin'ichi said with a shrug, "She does not want to be sacrificed to the tree, at any costs. Not everyone has the raw physical courage that most ninja have."
"Still…she could do something! Anything!" Ino exclaimed, "Her cowardice is causing suffering for your entire village!"
"What's done is done, child." The Elder smiled tiredly at Ino, "I admit to wishing that Saeko-sama was braver, but sadly, the only result from that would be her death, and the appointment of someone else who would just carry on in a less efficient manner, which would just cause more suffering to those captured by the Yanagi."
"He's right, Flower Girl." Anko said sourly before turning back to the Elder, "So, the Yanagi were taken over by a borderline nutcase who may or may not have been pushed over the edge by this damn demon tree. How did she conquer the other Clans? She did wipe out all but a third of them."
"This is where the Vassal Clan, the Inaba, comes into play." Shin'ichi said, anger boiling in his voice, "They moved into the area a hundred and fifty years ago, during the Warring Clans Period. They tried to conquer the Yanagi, but the combined efforts of the Yanagi Clan and the Kaba Clan defeated them and the Inaba were made into Vassals of the Yanagi and Kaba.
"Yanagi Sae discovered her ancestor's notes on the demon tree and had Saeko-sama augment a portion of the Inaba Clan with Natural Energy. With the enhanced Inaba Clan members added to the regular forces of the Yanagi Clan, the Kashi Clan fell within two months, the Momiji and Kaba Clans falling soon after that."
"She turned on her own ally!?" Anko hissed in outrage.
Soon anger joined in the disgust at what they were hearing.
"Sae considers herself above such mundane things as morality, as I'm sure Inaba Kogorō informed you." Shin'ichi said, "To each clan, she offered them a choice: life in service to her or eventual death at the hands of the Mashinju. Most of the three Clans fought to the death rather than suffer either fate."
"Of course." Ino huffed, "My Clan would have made the same choice in the same position as the Kashi, Momiji and Kaba!"
Hinata nodded in agreement. "A-As would my Clan." she said.
"A few members of each clan were captured, including the Clan Heads, and they were sacrificed to the demon tree." The Elder continued, "Sae then set up…seedlings would be the best term for them I think…seedlings at each of the castles, all of them interconnected to each other and to the main tree.
"That was six years ago.
"Now, the Mashinju has spread across the entirety of the forest and Saeko-sama created the Kekkai around the circumference of the border both so none of the villagers can escape and so none can enter without being captured by the twisted Inaba Clan members, that we call Ankonhei, unless a section of the barrier is deliberately dropped."
"'Dark Root Soldiers'?" Kurenai queried.
"There is a particular Kinjutsu that turns the user into a walking construct of roots." Shin'ichi explained, "Sae had several Inaba sacrificed in order to perfect it. The roots, which were incredibly resilient, act as a near perfect defence and can also be used as an offence. The worst part is that the one who uses the jutsu doesn't require handsigns for other Yanagi Kinjutsu."
"What is the jutsu's name?" Anko asked, a horrible thought occurring to her.
"I believe it is called 'Jarinma', or 'Evil Forest Demon'." Shin'ichi replied, slightly confused by the question, "Why do you ask?"
"SHIT!" Anko cursed, "That was the name of the Jutsu that Kogorō bastard used just before Naruko told us to run for it!"
Worried looks were exchanged among the genin.
"Then I am afraid your friend is lost." Shin'ichi said sadly, "None who have stood against an Ankonhei have ever walked away."
Anko opened her mouth, probably to bite out an angry retort, when a man ran into the chamber, one of the few men who were not a geriatric.
"Chōrō-dono! (Lord Elder!)" He bellowed.
"What is it? Can't you see I'm in an important meeting right now?" Shin'ichi barked irritably.
"My apologies, Chōrō-dono, but…there's a change in the landscape of the forest!" The man said, an edge of panic in his voice.
Shin'ichi stiffened. "What has changed? Spit it out!" he demanded.
"Morimura Village! It's been covered by a black dome of roots!" the panicking man replied.
"What?!" All of Team 8 exclaimed in shock. Shin'ichi stood up.
"Let's go to the observation post." The Elder said briskly, "I feel we should see this for ourselves."
He led Team 8 to a crude wooden elevator of some kind. After they got in, it was raised up to the peak of the mountain, where a stone observation post had been built, which offered a panoramic view of the entire forest.
In the distance, the giant shape of a dome covered the ruins of what had once been Morimura Village. As the panicking man had said, it was made entirely out of roots and looked dark and menacing as the roots glowed a sickly green/black colour.
"Kami…" Kurenai whispered.
"This…is…unprecedented!" Shin'ichi exclaimed, "The last time a dome such as that was raised, it was in the final battle against the Kaba Clan, around the entire castle. For Inaba Kogorō to have raised it here…your friend must truly be a great threat for him to have used this jutsu."
"What is it?" Ino whispered, her face horrified.
"A small boundary jutsu." The Elder replied, "Those roots are drawing chakra and Natural Energy directly from the Mashinju itself, rather than Kogorō's own chakra. They are now nigh invincible and will not fall until either Kogorō wishes it, or he dies."
"Naruko-chan…" Hinata whimpered.
"I must ask…how is it that you know so much about ninja techniques?" Kurenai said neutrally, "It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that a rural village elder would know about, certainly not in the depth of detail that you seem to."
"Sharp." Shin'ichi chuckled, "I was formerly the Kaba Clan's Castellan, the man who was in charge of the Castle's Wall Guard. The same year that your survey team was in the area, I 'retired' and became the Morimura Village Elder. I was also the spymaster for the Clan and, even now, my single surviving contact within the Yanagi Clan feeds me information about their jutsu and plans, which is how I know so much about the mechanics of Yanagi Clan Jutsu and the workings of the demon tree."
"I see. This explains how you were able to escape from the village, I take it?" Kurenai asked.
"Ah, now that's another tale." The Elder said, "For now, let's get back to the main chamber and I will finish my own story."
"I'm staying here!" Ino said fiercely.
"Me too!" Hinata agreed.
"I would advise against it." Shin'ichi said sadly, "As I said earlier, not a single opponent, or even group of opponents for that matter, have ever survived an encounter with an Ankonhei."
"Naruko-chan stayed behind to protect us." Ino replied, "The least we can do is keep a vigil over where she is fighting for her life!"
Hinata nodded, an unusually obdurate expression on her face.
"Very well." Kurenai said. Clearly, her two remaining genin were not going to back down on this subject.
"If you pull that rope there, you will summon the elevator." Shin'ichi pointed at a heavy looking rope near the elevator, "Kindly inform us if anything changes."
"Hai." the two genin responded automatically as they turned their attention to the black dome where their teammate was trapped.
Anko, Kurenai and the Elder rode down the elevator, leaving the two anxious genin watching the dome that imprisoned their friend.
With Anko and Kurenai…
"This must be hard on the two of them." Shin'ichi remarked to the two Jonin as they left the elevator.
"Naruko's been friends with Ino since they were seven, and with Hinata since they were eight." Kurenai said with a sigh, "Ino and Naruko drifted apart slightly as they got older, but they grew close again after being assigned to the same team. Hinata was always shy, but she admires Naruko for her confidence and upbeat attitude."
"I see." The Elder sighed, "The evil of the Yanagi Clan has a lot to answer for."
"More than you know." Yuki muttered as he flipped the page. He noticed his siblings had said something of that sort to the other groups, which made the adult Ninja sit up straight.
They re-entered the small chamber that they had been in before and retook their seats.
"Let's see, where was I? Ah, yes." Shin'ichi said with a frown, "After the boundary kekkai was set up, the conditions that the Yanagi forced upon us were…harsh, as I told you before. Affairs continued as they had before, with the Ankonhei occasionally capturing any foolish enough to venture into the forest from outside.
The only exceptions were the Konoha Chunin Squad two years ago. They managed to avoid the patrolling Ankonhei. Inaba Kogorō defeated them himself and dragged them off to the castle of the Yanagi, which we now call Mokkijō (Wood Demon Castle), himself."
"Are they still alive?" Kurenai asked intently.
"No…the last of them died six months ago." Shin'ichi replied, "A year and a half is how long it usually takes to kill someone with active chakra coils after being sacrificed to the demon tree."
Anko and Kurenai cursed creatively.
In the other section, Yuki saw the face of the Hokage darken in anger.
"I agree with you." Shin'ichi assured them, "Recently, however, there were members of the village who disappeared without a trace. I would ordinarily dismiss this as a couple running off together, as the first to vanish were teenagers, but then again, this is not an ordinary situation and the list of missing people started growing to include the elderly, children and middle-aged people.
"Then I received information from my contact that confirmed my worst fears: the missing villagers were being offered to the Mashinju in preparation for something, something big. Then, an edict came from the castle ordering me to send a C-Rank mission request to Konoha asking for a team to investigate the disappearances. If I refused, the village would be razed to the ground as a punishment."
"Shit, and then they did it anyway!" Anko hissed angrily.
"I suspected that they would," The former Elder of Morimura stated serenely, "so I arranged for most of the children and older people to come here during a time when I had been informed that Sae was not watching using her Rinma: Rinmagan Jutsu (Demon Forest: Forest Demon Eye Jutsu) to spy on the forest.
The day after I sent the request, as I predicted, Inaba Kogorō attacked. The Village Guard and most of the combat trained resistance fighters counter-attacked while the rest of us fell back to here, luckily avoiding any of the Ankonhei. This takes us full circle."
"I see. Thank you for being candid with us, Shin'ichi-sama." Kurenai said with a nod, "The question is, what can we do about this situation? We cannot defeat these…Ankonhei, nor can we counter the Kinjutsu using the Mashinju physically because we cannot cut them or even scratch them with either weapons or Jutsu. What has this entire situation accomplished other than trapped us here with you?"
The Elder opened his mouth to reply, but Ino burst in at that moment looking frantic.
"The dome has vanished!" she shouted, "The bastard's the only one at the Village! Naruko's disappeared!"
A lot of the genin (besides Sasuke, Neji and Shino for obvious reasons) paled and worried for their friend's counterpart.
Fifteen Minutes Previously…
Beneath the Dome…
Naruko dodged another swipe of the treeman's whip-like arms before striking out with her Kongōgatana, cutting another few inches of roots from the limb in question before leaping back to dodge the second arm.
'This is getting me nowhere!' The Uzumaki Heiress growled to herself, 'No matter where I cut, the roots are packed so tightly that I can only cut a few inches into the arms, never mind the main body!'
Kogorō was also irritated. The brat had been jumping around like a jack-in-the-box and the only two disadvantages of this form was that his speed was significantly less and his ability to react was reduced due to his sheer size.
'Enough. I have let this brat irritate me for long enough. It is past time to end this absurdity.' he thought coldly.
"Jerk." Naruto muttered.
After dodging another whipping arm, Naruko leapt back several times to put some distance between the two of them.
'I only have one chance at ending this quickly.' Naruko thought as she readied herself, 'I wish I had spent more time on my Clan's Kenjutsu Style, but even with Shadow Clones there's only so much I can take in per day. The only special technique I learned is still not ready for actual combat. It should work, but I don't know what this guy will do if it fails. Regardless, it's a calculated risk. Here goes nothing…'
"A hint to all of you: never use a jutsu that you haven't mastered to a decent level in combat." Yuki warned the genin, "What is about to happen is an example of why."
Naruko raised her sword above her head and assumed the high-offensive stance. Following the instructions she remembered from her practice sessions, she channelled both fire chakra and wind chakra towards her Kongōgatana.
The power emanating from the blade made Sasuke the pyromaniac almost drool.
Almost.
He had an image to keep after all...
The result astonished her. The sword erupted in a blazing flame that grew with every moment that passed, until she was holding a seven-foot long blade of bubbling fire that pulsed with restrained power.
'But…how…' Naruko wondered numbly, 'Of course! The En'ō Kago-te is made of both Adamantine and chakra metal! That means that instead of just coating my blade with fire and wind chakra, the chakra actually entered the sword and combined, the wind chakra making the fire chakra that much more powerful! That's why the instructions recommended a chakra metal sword!'
"What is this? What have you wrought, Whelp?!" Kogorō boomed, "What manner of blade is that? I have never seen it's like before!"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Naruko smirked, "There's no point telling a dead man any secrets. Just know that this sword is your end!"
Naruko charged forward as she spoke and, faster than an ordinary human could see, impaled the treeman directly in the centre of its body.
"Uzumaki-Ryū Kenjutsu: Kaen Ittōryōdan! (Uzumaki Style Sword Technique: Blazing Single Stroke Bisection!)" Naruko hissed and dragged the fiery sword upwards, neatly cutting the treeman in half before the blade extinguished itself.
The two halves fell to either side of where it had once stood and Naruko's eyes widened. The treeman was hollow! What the…?!
"Yanagi Kinjutsu: Mokki: Meido Jubaku!" a familiar voice boomed from around her. Naruko twisted around but was caught by the swift root that erupted from beneath her. In moments, she was wrapped up in roots that were as strong as steel, her right arm trapped against her chest and her sword clattered against the ground and skittered away from her after her hand was forcibly twisted to disarm her.
A cry of dismay came up from the genin and Naruto found out that having a worried Hyūga Heiress bury your head in her cleavage was not as comfortable as it sounds, as he did not have a way to breath in fabric. Well, he'd known that since the last time this happened, but reinforcing the lesson wasn't exactly a bad thing.
The ground to her front rumbled and the familiar form of the treeman Kogorō had become rose up from beneath the earth to loom above her.
"Now I have you, bothersome insect!" Kogorō sneered at her, "How naïve of you to fall for my Yanagi Kinjutsu: Konki: Kyokon Bunshin no Jutsu (Yanagi Forbidden Jutsu: Root Demon: Hollow Root Clone Jutsu), especially since you seem to specialise in Clone Jutsu yourself. A fatal error."
"Is it me or are the jutsu this Kogorō guy's using unnecessarily long named?" Sakura mused.
"Provincial clans with way too much time on their hands." Yuki shrugged.
"When the hell'd you switch?" Naruko snarled as she tried to free herself in vain.
"When you began your attack." Kogorō said smugly, "Your sword technique was powerful enough to have pierced my actual root armour, I freely admit that, but it was too bright after being in this darkness for all this time and made it hard for you to see clearly for a moment while your vision adjusted. I shed the top layer of my armour to make my Ne Bunshin and sunk into the ground just before you impaled it. After that, I merely had to wait for you to drop your guard and bound you in those roots you are constricted by."
"Heh…I lost because my technique was too powerful…figures." Naruko chuckled humourlessly, "Now what?"
"Now? Now you die." Kogorō stated as he raised his right arm, "Yanagi Kinjutsu: Mokki: Daikon Ressō no Jutsu! (Yanagi Forbidden Jutsu: Demon Tree: Great Root Twisted Spear Jutsu!)"
The arm flexed, extended and spun until it formed a large lance-like shape that ended in a wickedly sharp point. The entire construct took up two thirds of the treeman's arm.
"Any last words, whelp?" Kogorō asked as he hefted the weapon attachment threateningly.
Naruko looked at him evenly. Then she spat at his feet contemptuously.
"Go to hell, asshole." she snarled at him, "Konoha knows I'm here and they will find out what you did here. Then they will come and burn this whole kami forsaken forest down around your ears! The Hokage himself will rip you to pieces and make you watch as he kills your 'Sae-sama' before your eyes."
"Very brave." Yuki praised her, "Foolish in the face of an enemy, but brave."
"I fear not the weaklings of a Hidden Village who feel the need to group together in order to feel safe and secure!" Kogorō roared, "Nor do I fear a senile old man past his prime! I shall slay him, just as I shall slay you for your gross disrespect! Now, perish!"
Leaping up high, the treeman flipped over with surprising agility for his size and landed on the dome of roots. Kicking off from the dome moments later, Kogorō sped towards Naruko from above with blinding speed, arm-spear drawn back and ready to strike.
"Jishin Tensō! (Earthquake Heaven Spear!)" Kogorō roared as he slammed the arm-spear into the chest of the immobile Uzumaki Heiress and caused an immense dust cloud to rise up around the two, obscuring all things for many meters around the impact site.
A great clamour went up from the Genin as Yuki played the scene as a video. Neji did not smile, but had the attitude of someone who had his beliefs vindicated. At least before Yuki caught his eyes, smirked and tapped the book, showing that they weren't even close to the end, which deflated him somewhat.
Yuki loved doing that.
Kogorō straightened after a few moments and raised his weapon to view the tip in confusion. It was completely devoid of blood and, even more perturbing for the retainer, was squashed and bent beyond recognition, as if he had slammed it into the dome that covered the village.
'What is the meaning of this?' Kogorō wondered, 'Nothing should be able to stop that technique. I punched through a five foot thick stone wall during the Siege of Katagi Kijō using that Jutsu before, so what could possibly stop it?'
Suddenly, an alien presence touched his mind, which made Kogorō catch his breath. It was Sae-sama, using her Rinma: Yōma Sasayaki no Jutsu (Forest Demon: Leaf Demon Whispering Jutsu) to communicate with him.
"Kogorō, what are you doing? I sent you to capture the Konoha scum, not kill them!" Sae demanded within his mind.
"M-My apologies, Sae-sama, but I had to kill one of them." Kogorō explained, "She had a sword that was able to cut the roots of the Mashinju. She had to be neutralised."
"Impossible!" Sae exclaimed, "The roots have never been so much as scratched before!"
"Regardless, that is what happened Sae-sama. The blade was even capable of damaging my Jarinma form." Kogorō replied, "Regrettably, she somehow got away from me, despite the fact I had her bound by roots and tried to impale her with my Jishin Tensō."
"How?" Sae asked flatly, "No-one can use a Kawarimi no Jutsu while bound by the roots because of the seals Saeko drew on them and they should be immune to conventional chakra-enhanced strength due to their own chakra enhanced durability. Moreover, your Jishin Tensō is the strongest physical attack out of all of the Inaba Clan. Nothing should be able to block it directly. She should be skewered like a Dango on a stick right now."
Yuki's lip twitched upwards as he caught sight of Kurenai and Anko over in the Sensei section. Apparently from the hit to the back of the head Kurenai had given Anko, now was not the time to be drooling over thoughts of Dango.
Kogorō was about to answer when he heard the sound of rapidly flowing water. He looked down at the hole in the ground and saw something that made him curse.
"Sae-sama, I pierced the ground all the way to the natural underground waterway that supplied Morimura with its water. Can you track the roots that I used to bind the girl?" Kogorō asked.
"No, you blithering fool, because you snapped them off of the Mashinju when you attacked the girl!" Sae snapped at him, "Do you at least have her sword?"
The retainer looked at where the unusual black bladed Katana had fallen when he had disarmed the whelp. It was gone. Kogorō stared at the spot in disbelief. Was everything going to go wrong when it came to that damned blond whelp?
Shikamaru smirked as he connected the dots. Very clever of her.
"Sae-sama…I-I don't understand how, but the sword is…gone!" Kogorō stammered, "I distinctly recall disarming her, but the sword is gone! I know it did not fall into the waterway, it was too far away! I…"
"Enough of your inane and foolish babbling, Kogorō!" Sae snapped irritably, "The sword could cut the roots of the Mashinju, so it is clearly no ordinary weapon. It might have a seal that sends it back to its owners hand after a pre-set period or something of that nature.
Regardless, you have failed me twice today. Firstly by failing to kill the wielder of such a powerful weapon and secondly by allowing the weapon itself to escape you. Please tell me that you have not failed me a third time by allowing the other Konoha Shinobi to have fled before you could capture them?"
"I…I am sorry to report that they fled whilst the sword wielder acted as a rearguard, Sae-sama." Kogorō replied nervously.
Sae was silent for a moment before saying in a flat, emotionless voice that chilled Kogorō to the marrow of his bones, "Very well. You have failed me three times this day. When you return to the castle, we shall discuss your punishment in person. Get back here on the double."
"Somehow I doubt that she's going to leave it at talking about it." Ino said nervously. She didn't feel sorry for the man, but she still didn't want to see someone being tortured.
"B-But Sae-sama, what of the other Konoha Shinobi?" Kogorō asked hesitantly.
"I cannot see or hear them in the entire forest, so there is only one place they could be." Sae told him bitingly.
"The Rachi no Tanima!" Kogorō realised in horror. Now there was no way for him to regain honour with Lady Sae.
"Return, Kogorō. That is an order." Sae ordered flatly before breaking the connection.
Kogorō sagged for a moment. Lady Sae's punishments were legendary among the Inaba, even before she had become one with the Mashinju. This was not going to be a pleasant experience for him.
He regarded the dome with a slight scowl that was visable on the caricature of a face on the Jarinma shell he wore.
"KAI!" he ordered, deactivating the enclosure jutsu now that it was useless, causing the roots to retract back into the ground and exposing the village ruins once again.
'I bet that brat is laughing herself silly at having outsmarted me yet again, somehow.' he thought sourly.
Naruto pulled back with a gasp as Hinata's grasp had loosened enough for him to pull his head out and began greedily sucking in air into his starved lungs.
Underground Waterway
Naruko fought to keep herself conscious. Her entire body below her neck was throbbing and aching in enormous pain. She was having a hard time thinking straight, the pain was so great. The freezing cold water at a rapid pace was sweeping her along and she could barely keep her head above water in her current condition.
'Hurts…so much.' she thought fuzzily, barely restraining a whimper of pain.
A gasp went up from the girls. Naruto positioned himself to avoid being suffocated by lovely chest pillows again.
She had been lucky that Kogorō had aimed at her chest, right at where the centre of her right arm was trapped against her chest. She had read the location where he would strike easily. The main weakness of overly large weapons was that they telegraphed where their user was going to attack. She had cancelled the transformation of En'ō Kago-te, reverting it to its gauntlet form and gambling that the Adamantine would withstand the impact.
It had, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of her body. She could feel that her right arm had multiple breaks in it and she was sure that her ribcage had at least a few fractures and a couple of outright breaks as well. Her back was sore as well, but she wasn't sure whether anything was broken or not.
So, overall, she was wounded worse than she had ever been in her life. And she didn't want to add 'almost drowned' to the list of near death experiences she had been through, so she fought as hard as she could to keep her head above the water, which meant dodging hanging stalactites with only her left arm to steer with.
Time went on, but the tunnel seemed to keep going on, twisting, turning, and even sloping downwards at one point. Naruko was becoming steadily more clearheaded as her Kyūbi-enhanced healing factor worked its usual magic on her injuries, but that only made her more aware of exactly how numb her extremities were becoming due to the ice-cold water.
She was shivering like a leaf, her heart was racing, her breathing was rapid and her skin, what little of it she could see, was becoming very pale, all the symptoms of mild hypothermia. She wasn't sure if the Kyūbi could heal hypothermia or not, but the fact that she didn't know made her very eager to get out of the water, dry off and warm up.
"It can, but only if she gets out of the water." Yuki informed the genin.
Suddenly, she emerged from the waterway into an immense underground cavern that was at least as big as the Hokage Tower. Naruko didn't pay much attention as the river she now found herself in swept her into a large lake. Shivering, she saw the shore ahead of her and pushed herself into a one-handed forward crawl towards it.
'Just a little further…come on, move it!' Naruko urged her body as blackness began to edge in on her vision. She realised that she was losing consciousness as the combination of physical trauma, rapid healing and massive chakra expenditure, combined with the rapid drop in her body temperature caught up with her.
'I… can't give up here…! I have to…get to…my team!' Naruko fought herself back to consciousness through sheer willpower alone, 'Have to protect them…Hinata-chan…Ino-chan…Kurenai-sensei…An-chan…have…to…'
Yuki could practically see the pride Naruto's new girlfriends had at how protective their paramore's other was to her team.
She finally, after what seemed like an eternity, made it to the shore of the lake. She hauled herself up the rough gravel that covered the lake, not feeling able to stand at the moment. With a groan, she flopped onto her back and sucked in deep breaths for a while.
'Tired…so tired…' Naruko thought exhaustedly as darkness rapidly overtook her again. The last thing she saw was a figure with black hair and shining azure eyes standing over her silently, before she saw no more.
Back with Team 8...
Quite a few of the group were glaring at the book for the transition. They wanted to find out what happened to Naruko dammit!
It had taken Kurenai and Anko less than a minute to run up the stonewalls of the elevator to the observation post to see the distant towering form of Kogorō's Jarinma no Jutsu smash through the wooden palisade and tromp off into the forest.
"Dear Kami in heaven…Naruko had to fight THAT?" Kurenai exclaimed,
Yuki put up pictures of what it looked like from Naruko's standpoint and the far away shot that the rest of Team 8 saw.
"Holy shit!" Kiba shouted as he back up in his seat, knocking his chair over in the process. While not to that extreme, quite a few of the others had their jaws hanging open at the sheer size of the thing, as well as the fact that Naruko had fought the thing off as well as she had.
"Hinata, what does the village look like now?"
"L-like a worse ruin than it was." Hinata responded shakily, "There a-are several indications of a l-large-scale ninjutsu bombardment near t-the village market's former location. T-there also appears to be a h-hollow shell of roots that s-seems to have been c-cut in half near a large hole in the ground. Before that…t-thing…left the clearing, I noted several cut marks on the arms, a-although they were rather shallow, as well as several minor burn marks."
"Sounds like Naruko fought the damn thing to a standstill, at least for a while." Kurenai mused.
The elevator arrived at that moment carrying Ino and Shin'ichi. Anko filled the Elder in in a couple of terse sentences, Ino listening worriedly.
"Hmmm…judging by Kogorō's behaviour, he failed." Shin'ichi muttered, "Had he succeeded, he would have disengaged the Jarinma no Jutsu. That's what he did after the fall of Katagi Kijō, or so a few survivors who escaped claim."
"Then…Naruko's still alive." Ino realise in relief. Hinata let a few tears leak out as she realised her friend was still among the living. Anko steeled herself to show no reaction outwardly, but inside she was dancing with joy that her lover had survived.
Kurenai smiled, "Looks like Naruko is just as stubborn as her mother was reputed to be in the face of overwhelming odds."
"Extraordinary…a single genin held Inaba Kogorō at bay for over an hour." Shin'ichi muttered, "Kogorō is the strongest member of the Inaba Clan and Chief Retainer to the Yanagi Clan, so he is entrusted with more jutsu than the regular Inaba Clan members."
"But…where is Naruko-chan?" Ino asked worriedly.
"What is she likely to do, based on what you know of her personality?" Shin'ichi enquired.
Ino deadpanned, "She'll go looking for the Yanagi Clan to beat the crap out of them."
"Hah, good joke. No, really, what's she likely to do?" Shin'ichi asked.
The group (excluding Naruto, Yuki and Hinata) deadpanned. It did sound like a joke until you got to know Naruto/Naruko. Then you got to know exactly how reckless they could be.
"Flower Girl just told you." Anko said with a sigh, "She hates people like the Yanagi, who show no respect for the dead. Since the Yanagi also sent an assassin after us, she's likely furious with them."
"She's really that reckless?" Shin'ichi asked in astonishment.
"She's young and makes mistakes." Anko shrugged, "She's never really been hurt badly as a result of any of them, so she's never felt the need to learn restraint."
"Well, in which case, we're going to have to move up our timetable." Shin'ichi said determinedly.
"What timetable?" Kurenai asked suspiciously.
"The assassination of Yanagi Sae and Yanagi Saeko." Shin'ichi replied, "I was about to tell you about the plan when we heard about the dome coming down."
"I see." Kurenai said neutrally, "Please, continue, Shin'ichi-sama. I will pass judgement on the plan after I have heard it."
"Ah, well the thing is, this storehouse, wasn't just a storehouse." The Elder replied with a smirk, "The Kashi Clan's First Clan Head had it built, along with a secret tunnel that links up with the wine cellar of Mokkijō to act as a secret invasion route, just in case. It was built of stone, rock and concrete that was well maintained right up until the day of the Clan's destruction."
"Why didn't the Kashi Clan ever use it?" Ino asked with a frown.
"Apparently the policy was to wait until the Yanagi Clan was split by civil war or besieged by allies before it was used." Shin'ichi replied, "My agent wasn't exactly certain of that, but it fits as well as any explanation of not using a useful resource such as a direct path into the enemy stronghold."
"So, the Yanagi never knew of its existence?" Kurenai pressed, "And Sae has no idea as to its existence either?"
"I had one of my now-deceased agents copy the master blueprints of the castle and send them to me a month before Sae's coup." Shin'ichi replied, "There was no sign of any tunnel leading out of or into the castle. Just to be safe, I ordered my agent to gain access to the secret blueprints for the castle. Once again, no tunnels were shown. If they aren't on the blueprints, they are either unknown to Sae or they were kept in the Clan Head's Personal Files and she knows and has taken steps to neutralise the tunnel. We have no way of knowing until we try."
Kurenai turned to Anko. "What do you think?" she asked.
"Depends. Why are we killing those two? What's the point? The damn demon tree will still be there."
"True, but there is a point to doing this." Shin'ichi smiled somewhat smugly, "I have received information that Sae has grown more paranoid over the last couple of years. She sees possible betrayal from every member of the Yanagi Clan, but she especially fears betrayal from her sister. She forced Saeko-sama to make modifications to the demon tree that mean that if Sae is killed, the tree will kill Saeko-sama. We can use this to either pressure Saeko-sama to somehow disconnect Sae from the Mashinju or kill them both with one stroke.
"Either way, we put Sae out of power and we can then send to Konoha for some more ninja to help quarantine the area and evacuate what remains of my people before we attempt to deal with the thrice-be-damned demon tree."
Anko and Kurenai were actually surprised by the old man's cunning and ruthlessness, while Ino and Hinata were far more concerned by the possible location of Naruko to be concerned with local politics.
"The saying 'old age and treachery' isn't for nothing you know." Yuki remarked.
"Very well." Kurenai conceded, "We'll do it. And there's no better time than the present. Where's the tunnel's entrance?"
"Follow me." Shin'ichi led them back to the elevator, which took them back to the large chamber. He then led them down a gently sloping tunnel that spiralled down until they came to an immense octagonal steel door. It bore the symbol of the Kashi Clan across its entire surface and was bare of any handles, knobs or switches. The only thing that resembled a lock was a small panel to one side.
"The Kashi Clan were very paranoid themselves." Shin'ichi remarked, "Only a member of the Kashi Clan by blood can open this door. Fortunately, my mother was a blood-member of the Kashi Clan, so I can -and have- open this door."
"And the door on the other side?" Kurenai asked.
"The same." Shin'ichi replied.
"I suppose you want to tag along then, Shin'ichi-sama." Kurenai stated resignedly.
"You can bet your Hitai-ate I do." The Elder said fiercely, "My Clan has been destroyed, my people butchered like livestock and my home has been razed into ruins. I need to at least accompany you in order to see the wrongs righted."
Anko put a hand on Kurenai's shoulder, "Nai-chan, let him come. He has the right and he is from a ninja Clan, so he ought to be able to keep up."
"Of course I can." Shin'ichi growled, "I've forgotten more about ninjutsu than you whippersnappers have ever learned."
"Fine." Kurenai was getting tired of constantly being opposed by people with the moral high ground. It made making a decision from a neutral standpoint a living nightmare, "You can come. Here are the rules of engagement. If we come across a member of the Inaba or Yanagi Clans, we kill them before they can use any of their Kinjutsu. Should they use the corpse animation or root binding jutsu, we ignore them and go for the user before they can use the Jarinma no Jutsu. Understood?"
"Hai!" Team 8 plus Shin'ichi responded.
"Good. Then Shin'ichi-sama, if you would?" Kurenai gestured at the panel that seemed to open the door.
The Elder tottered over to the door and ran through a long sequence of handsigns and a low chant in a mumble that none of the kunoichi could make out. Finally, Shin'ichi ended the chant with a shouted, "Satori no Tobira: Kaifū! (Door of Enlightenment: Unseal!)"
The door shimmered before melting away like liquid mercury, revealing a dark tunnel that stretched into darkness. Shin'ichi walked over to the team looking pleased with himself.
"Whew! I've missed using my chakra, I must say." the retired ninja said with a small smile.
"'Door of Enlightenment'?" Ino asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The brother who built this door was an arrogant so-and-so." Shin'ichi replied, "He viewed any castle and lands governed by him or his family to be far more enlightened than any other, thus the name for the door."
"Arrogant much?" Ino scoffed.
"Again, provincial ninja clans." Yuki answered with a shrug. "They haven't left the area since the Warring Clans Period ended."
"Let's get moving." Anko said tensely, "The sooner we kill those mad bitches, the sooner we will know what happened to Naru-chan."
Aside from an odd look from Kurenai, no one commented on Anko's repeated use of the '-chan' honorific as they entered the tunnel. As they walked, the Team took in the tunnel. It was a stark, concrete grey tunnel that was utterly dull in its mediocrity. There was phosphorescent moss across the ceiling that provided absolute minimal lighting for the tunnel, which was economical, if not all that terribly good at actually illuminating the tunnel much.
"I sent men in to maintain the tunnel only last week, although only up to the halfway point." Shin'ichi said in a quiet voice.
"Why only up until there?" Hinata asked in an equally quiet voice.
"There is another door that requires opening. It comes out in an underground cavern and I don't rightly know where the other door is." Shin'ichi confessed sheepishly, "For safety reasons, the map of the tunnel was split into three parts by the Kashi Clan. The Kashi Clan Head, who burnt it before being captured, held one part, the central part. My agents 'acquired' the other two parts from the Clan Heir and the Washigan-Jō Castellan respectively. The door should be relatively easy to spot, however, as it looks exactly like the first two."
"Fair enough." Anko said begrudgingly, "Anything else you've neglected to tell us?"
"Not that I can think of." Shin'ichi replied breezily.
At length, the group came to another door bearing the Kashi Clan symbol and another panel. Shin'ichi once again ran through his long handsign sequence and odd chant, this time ending with a shouted, "Hakana no Tobira: Kaifū! (Door of Transience: Unseal!)"
The door vanished like the other one had and the team stepped forward into the cavern. It really was quite beautiful, with shining quartz seams in the walls that reflected the sunlight coming from the hole in the ceiling.
"This must be naturally formed from a volcanic eruption." Shin'ichi said in awe, "We are fortunate for this happenstance; the Mashinju can only grow in fertile soil."
They were interrupted from further conversation by a shriek of fear from Hinata.
"Hinata? What is it?" Kurenai said worriedly as she came to the side of the distressed girl.
"N-N-N-Naruko-chan!" Hinata sobbed as she pointed at a figure that was barely visible on the bank of the large lake that took up a quarter of the cavern. It was the battered and bruised form of their lost teammate.
Anko was running to her side in a flash, closely followed by the rest of the team. They skidded to a halt next to the shallowly breathing figure of Uzumaki Naruko, Anko using a diagnosis jutsu to scan her for injuries.
"…Shit!" Anko cursed, "That Kogorō bastard is dead meat for this!"
"What's the damage?" Kurenai asked intently.
"For a start, she has mild hypothermia that is bordering on medium," Anko snarled as she used her Shōsen no Jutsu on her student's right arm, "Then there's her actual injuries! Her right arm is broken in three different places; her chest has several clean breaks, along with more than a handful of minor fractures! Her spine has several slightly damaged vertebrae, nothing I can't fix though, thank kami. Her internal organs are a bit bruised, but no serious damage, although her leg muscles are slightly torn. What the hell did he do to her to cause this kind of damage?!"
The girls were definitely getting angry and upset in Naruko's stead as they heard the damage and injuries listed off.
"The gauntlet!" Kurenai said and pointed at the En'ō Kago-te. In the very centre, it had a small dent about a millimetre deep and wide. Anko gaped in astonishment.
"What the hell?! What kind of kind of impact could dent Adamantine?!" she yelped.
"Adamantine? The legendary metal?" Shin'ichi asked in astonishment, "I thought it was just a myth!"
"It was a gift to her from the Sandaime Hokage, the only Summoner of the Monkey Clan." Kurenai replied, "It was forged of chakra metal and Naruko's own chakra, transforming it into Adamantine. It also transforms into a sword, which is what Naruko used to cut the roots. You can see how the battle left her."
"Nai-chan, she's too weak to move." Anko said urgently, "She needs warmth and healing, in that order."
"Right." Kurenai looked around and saw a crate on one wall near the door they came through, "Hello, what do we have here?"
She walked over and inspected it. The crate was made of metal and emblazoned with the Kashi Clan's symbol. She cautiously opened it with a kunai. The crate was crammed full of camping gear, all standard shinobi issue as of fifty years ago. There was also a large stack of dry wood and tinder to the other side.
"Hinata! Get over here and examine this wood for traps with your Byakugan so we can use it to help Naruko!" Kurenai shouted over to her student, who was hovering at Naruko's side. Hinata moved so fast she almost seemed to use the Shunshin no Jutsu, vanishing from Naruko's side and appearing beside Kurenai.
Hinata quickly examined the entire box in minute detail before declaring it safe. They quickly built a campfire near Naruko and changed her out of her wet clothes once Anko had healed her all she could without exhausting her chakra.
"The campfire isn't enough." Shin'ichi said as he gazed at Naruko's trembling form.
"I can sort that out." Anko said as she devoured a food pill. She ran through a handsign sequence as she knelt next to the campfire.
"Katon: Taiyo-Ken no Jutsu! (Fire Style: Heliosphere Jutsu!)" She muttered as she breathed a slim jet of fire into the campfire. Almost immediately, there was a marked rise in the temperature of the flames, as well as the range their warmth.
Quite a few of the boys, Sasuke especially, looked at Yuki in curiosity at the jutsu.
Yuki merely shrugged "No idea, my guess is it's one of the higher level non-combat fire jutsu... Although to extend the range of heat like that should take more control than chakra... could it be because of the seal?" the last two sentences Yuki mumbled to himself in thought for a moment, before he snapped himself out of it and returned to the story.
"I'll need to reapply the jutsu in a couple of hours' time." Anko said as she slumped in exhaustion, "Wake me then, 'kay?"
Yuki resumed muttering to himself for a moment. "Ah, the chakra cost was more for what she built up to extend the allotted time of the jutsu..."
"Okay, Anko-sensei." Ino said softly as she started cleaning the sweat off Naruko's brow as the girl started developing a fever.
Team 8 and their guide sat a vigil around their teammate, who had clearly fought until she could fight no longer, and awaited her awakening.
Unknown Location
Naruko's Perspective
[Drip!]
"Urrrgh…." Naruko groaned as she regained consciousness. Her head was pounding as if someone was using it as a battering ram to break down a castle gate.
She sat up and looked around warily. She…was in a sewer? OK, what the hell? The last she could remember, she had been in an underground cavern of some kind. How the hell did she end up here all of a sudden?
Yuki then spread an arm out to the side, as if presenting something "Dalies and Mentlegen," he always took humor in that line, "Welcome to the Sealscape. This is the mental representation in Naruto's Mindscape where the seal that holds back the Kyūbi manifests itself. Due to its nature, anyone who enters Naruto's mind will end up there as well, which is why it is heavily discouraged for any Yamanaka to dive inside, as there is a high chance the delver will be killed and their physical body left brain dead from the Kyūbi attacking them through the seal, which takes the mental form of a cage big enough for his arms to at least reach out of."
Ino shivered at the thought of such, and agreed with the reason why.
She got to her feet and looked around. The place was dark and dank, fetid water was underfoot, yet she wasn't wet, despite the fact she had been lying on top of it. Stranger and stranger. She shrugged and looked around some more.
The sewer seemed to have pipes across the top of the tunnels and Naruko somehow knew where they came from. She turned that way and, lacking a better idea of what to do, started walking that way.
As she walked, Naruko considered the fact she could walk at all, considering the condition she had been in before she blacked out. Hell she should be screaming in agony right now considering her estimation of what her injuries had been.
"Well, I'll take what I can get." Naruko spoke aloud, "And if I'm not in pain, I'll take that, thank you very much."
She kept walking and eventually came to a massive chamber that had pipes across the walls and ceiling. They all led behind a massive set of metal gates that blocked off access to the second half of the chamber. In the centre of the gates was a giant paper tag that had the kanji '封' (Seal) written atop of it.
Naruko stood frozen as a wave of the most evil chakra she had ever felt washed over her from behind the bars. An orange glow suddenly sprang into existence and a massive face filled the length and breadth of the bars. The teeth were massive, even the smallest being as big as one of the Konoha gates and Naruko could tell that the teeth were set in a snout.
It was the eyes that drew her attention. They were crimson red and glowed with malevolent power. The face, despite its animal appearance, seemed to be…smirking at her.
Naruko gulped. She had known this day would come eventually, but she hadn't thought it would come so soon.
"Kyūbi no Kitsune." she whispered.
"Hahahahaha! Indeed!" a massively deep voice boomed. It was deep and guttural sounding, filled with barely contained rage and hatred, "I am the mighty Kyūbi no Yōko, he who creates natural disasters with his very presence, he whose tails smash mountains and send tsunami crashing to the shores. I am the strongest of the nine Bijū, the mightiest of all beings."
"It can talk?!" Some of the genin shouted.
"Yes, HE can." Yuki answered sternly "And I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to him as an it."
Naruto understood the sentiment, and wholeheartedly agreed. He had enough of that from the more ignorant villagers.
Naruko felt the Kyūbi's KI blasting her with such strength, she barely held on to consciousness as he spoke the next words.
"And I am the one sealed in a pathetic, weak excuse for a being such as you." The Kyūbi growled at her, "So, my jailer finally decides to visit. What do you want, brat?"
Naruko took a moment to compose herself, another to think on what she wanted to say. Then she looked the Kyūbi straight in the eyes.
"I want you to tell me who the miserable bastardized son of a bitch who killed my mother is!" she shouted at the Kyūbi.
Naruto's eyes hardened as he heard what his other had said.
The Kyūbi regarded her for a moment, and then burst into laughter.
Yuki closed the book for a moment to summon a glass of water, which he proceeded to drain. Following that, he opened the book to the next chapter "Ok, so next up, Chapter 13: Nine Tails and Demon Trees"