In this chapter, Team NRSY are going up against Orochimaru. And to make matters worse he can control Grimm. How can he possibly do that?
You'll find out.
Also, we'll feature the sound genin...plus one RWBY character. It's kind of like the Sand Siblings having Penny on their side. I figured they would be from Atlas in this fanfic so I figured why not.
Chapter 14: The Shirugan
"This is bad..." stated Ruby.
For some strange reason, numerous Grimm had gathered towards the genin team and now they were attacking them. The Grimm seemed to come in all shapes and sizes.
Ruby slashed at the Beowulves with her scythe.
Since her scythe also doubled as a gun, she decided to fire some bullets at them as well.
Grimm in small numbers weren't dangerous to them, but large numbers could cause them a lot of trouble.
"How is she controlling them?!" exclaimed Yang.
Something told her that this lady had darkness in her heart.
Quickly, she punched a Beowulf away, causing it to burst into black mist.
Zwei was assisting Yang in attacking the Beowulves.
The Beowulves wondered how a small dog like him could be so strong. He was probably stronger than a tiger.
And yes, there were tigers living in the forest.
Likewise, Ruby severed an Ursa's head from its body.
Even so, more of them kept on coming.
"How did she gather such an army?" asked Ruby.
"I don't know...but I'm worried about Naruto. He wouldn't happen to be dead, would he?" inquired Yang. Granted, they seemed to have been doing fine in the exams up until now, but she was still concerned about his safety.
"I REALLY hope not." answered the brunette girl as she attempted to defend herself from a Boarbatusk.
The Boarbatusk snorted, and rushed towards Ruby.
Fortunately, she was fast enough to avoid Boarbatusks, even when they charged at her.
However, the longer the fight went on, the lower her chakra levels would become.
If she ran out of chakra, she'd be a goner.
Yang grappled an Ursa and flung it to the ground.
Sasuke was using his fire jutsu to burn the King Taijutus that were attacking his friends.
However, for some strange reason, none of the Grimm seemed to be attacking him.
Where was Naruto?
They could really use his bravery.
Meanwhile...
Inside the King Taijutu's shared stomach, Naruto decided that he wanted to live...even if he did have a lousy childhood.
"Nuh-uh! There's no way I'm becoming snake food!" exclaimed Naruto.
Naruto decided to summon his clones to get him out of this mess. That was what he did best.
The King Taijutu wondered what was going on. The two heads felt...fuller than normal.
Naruto kept on summoning more and more clones.
Eventually, the King Taijutu was split in half, causing it to dissolve into black and white mist.
"Serves you right for trying to put ME on the menu!" exclaimed Naruto.
However, he got the feeling that his friends were also being attacked by Grimm. Perhaps that King Taijutu wasn't flying solo.
It would probably be in his best interest to try to save them. Ren had once told him that sometimes the worst action thst you could take was to do nothing at all.
Besides, he couldn't pass the second part of the chunin exams without his teammates.
Since he still had plenty of clones left over from bursting out of that King Taijutu, he decided to charge.
"Here I go!" exclaimed Naruto.
Unfortunately, he discovered that there were Grimm standing between him and his friends.
"Aw man..." said the genin.
Elsewhere...
"Third Hokage, we have terrible news. We believe that Orochimaru has returned!" exclaimed Anko.
The Third Hokage sighed.
"I was afraid that he would return to Vale someday..." stated the Third Hokage.
"What should we do?" asked Dr. Oobleck.
"Has he attacked any genin?" inquired the elderly man.
"Yes...he attacked a team of genin...and he stole their faces." explained Anko.
The Third Hokage wondered why Orochimaru had returned home. It had been ten years since he had even stepped foot into the city.
He then remembered Orochimaru's interest in the Sharingan.
All of a sudden, he suspected what he was after.
He contacted Kakashi Hatake on his sending scroll.
"Kakashi?" asked the Third Hokage.
"Yes, Hokage?" inquired Kakashi.
"I need you to locate Team NRSY immediately. Orochimaru is likely attacking them as we speak." warned the man.
Kakashi gasped in shock.
He nodded and agreed to do so without question.
Meanwhile...
"I have to admit. I'm impressed. The genin I encountered earlier didn't put up as much of a fight against the Grimm." stated the wicked lady.
Ruby gulped. Was this lady a killer?
If so, she was worried about her safety.
Yang was worried about Ruby as well.
"I can't die now...I need to kill my brother first..." thought Sasuke. His clan wasn't going to avenge itself.
And yet for some strange reason, this lady was only attacking his friends, not Sasuke.
"As enjoyable as it is to watch my Grimm fight you, I think I'll try something different." stated the mysterious woman.
The woman pressed her hand on the ground, and an enormous snake appeared.
Ruby, Sasuke, and Yang were all alarmed at the sight.
Zwei decided that he should stay back.
"T-t-that's one big s-s-s-nake..." muttered Ruby.
Yang gasped in shock.
The snake hissed.
Yang got ready to fight, cracking her knuckles.
The snake lunged towards Yang.
"Sis, look out!" exclaimed Ruby.
"Huh?" asked Yang.
The snake struck Yang, and knocked her out cold.
"Aah!" screamed Ruby.
"Yang!" exclaimed Sasuke.
Zwei whimpered. Would Yang be alright?
"You might want to consider giving me your scroll fast, I'm sure that my snake is feeling hungry..." stated the woman.
The snake began to open his mouth.
Suddenly, Ruby's eyes began to glow.
"What?" asked the mysterious lady.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
Could it be that he wasn't the only one on his team to have a dojutsu?
Suddenly, Ruby fired a beam from her eyes.
The woman wondered what was going on.
The beam hit the woman square in the face.
She screeched in pain as her face began to melt off because of the beam.
Sasuke was unnerved by the sight.
Ruby then went onto her knees.
"Did you get her?" asked Sasuke.
However, when he looked at the woman again, he noticed something surprising.
It seemed that the woman wasn't actually a woman after all.
It was a man...who looked like a snake.
Apparently, having his master injured aggravated the snake, as he began to lunge towards Ruby.
However, Sasuke wouldn't allow that, especially since Yang had already been knocked out by the serpent.
He launched a fireball at the snake.
This was effective. Unfortunately for him, this reptile wasn't fireproof.
The snake screeched in pain and eventually burst into smoke.
Sasuke sighed in relief.
Much to his surprise, Orochimaru applauded him.
"Very impressive, Sasuke. However, don't assume that this will be our last meeting. I'm certain that we will be seeing each other in the future." stated Orochimaru.
"What?" questioned Sasuke.
"Before I go, allow me to give you a parting gift." said the Sannin.
Suddenly, Orochimaru stretched his neck and bit Sasuke on the back of the neck.
Sasuke gasped.
For a moment, he felt like his heart was filled with malice.
However, it eventually subsided.
Even so, Sasuke felt rather strange.
"Farewell, Sasuke. My eyes will always be on you." stated Orochimaru.
With that, Orochimaru leapt away into the darkness.
"Who was that man?" questioned Sasuke.
At that very moment, Naruto returned.
"Naruto, you're OK!" exclaimed Ruby.
"What just happened?" asked Naruto.
"We were attacked...by a woman, who turned out to be a man." answered Ruby.
"What?" asked Naruto.
Suddenly, he noticed Yang, who was still unconscious.
"Oh no! Yang!" exclaimed the jinchuriki.
"She's still knocked out..." answered Sasuke.
"I hope she'll be alright." stated Ruby. She wouldn't be in a coma, would she?
At that very moment, Kakashi approached them.
"Kakashi? Is that you?" questioned Naruto.
"Not that I'm not glad you're here, but what are you doing in the Forest Of Death?" inquired Ruby. They were supposed to learn to fend themselves here. Other ninjas wouldn't always be holding their hands.
"I need you to come with me to the tower in the center of the forest immediately." stated Kakashi.
"But we haven't gotten our two scrolls y-"
Suddenly, Sasuke noticed that Orochimaru had left an earth scroll on the ground.
Sasuke picked it up.
"Never mind." stated the brunette boy.
Sasuke wondered if Orochimaru wanted them to pass the second part of the Chunin Exams.
Well, he decided not to dwell on it.
Kakashi picked up Yang, and together they made their way to the tower.
Meanwhile, at the forest tower...
Kabuto and his muscular comrade approached Orochimaru, who had disguised himself as a jonin. Specifically, the jonin assigned to his genin team.
"Ah, Kabuto and Hazel. Did you gather the information about Sasuke that I requested?" asked Orochimaru.
Kabuto and Hazel nodded.
Kabuto gave Orochimaru a ninja info card.
"Excellent..." stated Orochimaru.
This would come in handy.
"I made sure to give Sasuke a cursed seal...it should make controlling him much easier." said the sannin.
Hazel had to question the depths that Orochimaru would sink in order to obtain all jutsu.
He heard that he had sided with the Akatsuki in the past.
Orochimaru probably would be a good idea to mold Sasuke into an ideal host before he went after his body, even if he DID have the Sharingan.
He had previously tried that with a boy with a unique kekkai genkai, but nowadays he was bedridden. Just what horrible disease was plaguing him?
Ironically, his sensei Kakashi also had the Sharingan. He had gotten it from a friend years ago.
However, he doubted that Kakashi could be corrupted by him. He had dedicated his entire life towards his city. He certainly wouldn't betray it in a heartbeat.
It probably would be better to go after Sasuke instead of his jonin instructor.
"By the way, are your sound genin still competing in the tournament?" asked Hazel.
"Adam Taurus sent them after his former partner...he says that he wants revenge on her for leaving him." answered Orochimaru.
Kabuto noted that Sasuke wasn't the only one seeking vengeance.
Apparently, Adam Taurus wanted to destroy everything that Blake "held dear".
If so, her teammates would probably be a good start.
"I don't think I would ever want to be on Adam's bad side..." remarked Kabuto.
That man was slowly but surely going more and more insane.
Back in the Forest Of Death...
Team JHAK continued to approach the tower in the center of the forest, when suddenly Blake heard rustling in the bushes.
"What was that?" asked Blake.
"Did you hear something?" inquired Jaune.
"I suspect somebody may be after our scroll." answered the cat.
It was a standard tactic during the second part of the Chunin Exams to ambush another team if they were lacking a scroll if they were heading towards the tower in the center of the forest.
Alternatively, perhaps they were simply collecting scrolls for their own purposes. That had its uses, such as bribing another team for information.
Unfortunately, this particular team wanted more than just a scroll.
At that very moment, the sound genin approached them.
Team JHAK got ready to fight.
"So, you're the kitty that walked out on Adam Taurus, did you?" asked Zaku.
"He wasn't happy about that...he says he's going to destroy everything you love if it's the last thing he ever does..." stated Kin.
Blake gasped in shock.
Had Adam gone off the deep end?
Jaune Arc and Hinata began to shiver with fear.
Suddenly, Blake recognized one of the sound genin.
It was a former friend of hers.
"Ilia? You're working with these three? But I thought you hated humans..." stated Blake.
Ilia noted that she had been reluctant to work with them herself.
However, Orochimaru assured her that instead of hating humans, she should try to corrupt them instead. It wasn't impossible to manipulate them into doing what she wanted.
Even so, the three of them seemed rather violent for her tastes.
Well, except for Dosu. He seemed reasonable.
"That's in the past." stated Ilia.
"We figured we would start with your teammates. Personally I'm looking forward to hearing them scream." answered Zaku.
Not wanting to take any chances, Kiba decided to fight back. It seemed that there was more at stake here than just a simple scroll.
"Akamaru, attack!" exclaimed Kiba.
Akamaru nodded and bit Zaku in the ankle.
"Grr, stupid mutt!" shouted Zaku.
He had to admit, Akamaru had surprisingly strong jaws for a puppy.
However, Dosu lunged towards Kiba at a surprising speed.
"What?" asked Kiba.
He then slammed into him with his fist.
Kiba was sent crashing into a tree.
"Kiba!" exclaimed Blake.
Ilia then followed by striking Jaune with her whip.
"Agh!" shouted Jaune.
Kin followed by launching senbon at Blake.
Fortunately, she managed to summon a clone to protect herself.
Zaku kicked Akamaru away.
"Stupid dog..." said Zaku.
Suddenly, Hinata lunged towards him and punched him in the face.
He began to bleed from his lip.
Zaku glared at Hinata, and sent her flying away using Decapitating Airwaves.
"What the..." said Hinata.
For some strange reason, Zaku had air tubes on his hands.
It was as if someone had experimented on him.
"Why Ilia? Why are you doing this?" asked Blake.
"I thought you cared about the White Fang...and then you left them." answered Ilia, swinging her whip.
"I did care about the White Fang...but then they turned to violence." stated Blake.
"What else were we supposed to do? The humans wouldn't listen to reason." stated the chameleon faunus.
"I have friends that are willing to overlook me being a Faunus..." answered the cat girl.
"How long will that last?" asked Ilia.
Blake began to wonder that question.
Kin continued to fire senbon. Jaune used his shield to block them.
He then swung his sword at Kin.
However, Kin was fast enough to avoid it.
"You'll have to do better than that." answered Kin.
"Don't think I won't try..." stated Jaune.
Meanwhile...
"Who was that man?" inquired Ruby. He didn't seem like any of the genin at the exam. What kind of genin could summon a giant snake and control Grimm?
Zwei was currently munching on a bone that Ruby had given him.
"I'm afraid you had the misfortune of meeting Orochimaru, one of the three legendary sannin." stated Kakashi.
"He was one of the three legendary sannin?!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Yes, he was." nodded Kakashi.
"What was he doing taking the Chunin Exams?!" asked Yang. At this point she had recovered from her fight with Orochimaru.
"I believe that he wanted Sasuke." stated the man.
"He gave me a mark on his neck..." said Sasuke.
"That would be his cursed seal...if left unchecked, it could cause you to become very violent." answered Kakashi.
"Can you do something about it?" inquired the teenage boy.
Kakashi pressed his fingers on Sasuke's neck.
However, he couldn't remove the seal completely.
"I'm afraid you may be stuck with the cursed seal for a while." answered Kakashi. Though he HAD weakened it, it could still grow if Sasuke continued to think negative thoughts.
Sasuke sighed.
"There was one other thing that I wanted to talk about." stated Sasuke.
"Yes?" inquired Kakashi.
"During our fight with Orochimaru, Ruby ended up firing a strange beam from her eyes. Before she did that, her eyes started to glow..." said the black-haired teenager.
"About that...like you, she happens to have access to a dojutsu." explained Kakashi.
"I do?" asked Ruby.
"Yes...it is called the Shirugan I believe. Those that possessed the Shirogan dedicated their lives to fighting evil, namely the Grimm. Legends had it they could kill a Grimm simply by looking at them." stated the man.
"Any other legends?" inquired the teenage girl.
"They say that whoever had the Shirugan were destined to lead the life of a warrior." continued the jonin.
"I think I AM destined to lead the life of a warrior." answered Ruby.
"You probably are." nodded Kakashi. "The reason why you were partnered with Naruto was because you had the Shirogan..." stated the man.
"Huh?" asked Naruto.
"You see, several years ago, we were attacked by Kurama. He ended up killing many people during the attack. As such, the people of Konoha are worried that Kurama will break our your jinchuriki seal and will invade the village again. However, this time we have something that we previously did not." answered Kakashi.
"What?" inquired the blonde genin.
"The Shirugan can be used to counter evil chakra such as that originating from your beast. In the event that you lose control of your tailed beast, Ruby can use her Shirogan to quell the evil chakra radiating from your seal and allow you to regain control over it." stated Kakashi.
"That makes sense." nodded Naruto.
"That's why she was chosen to be your teammate." answered the jonin.
"I thought it was because she was one of my first friends..." stated the genin. She was willing to overlook the tailed beast living inside him.
"Well, obviously. In fact, that was the same reason Ruby was partnered with Yang. However, there's a reason aside from that. We figured if she was close to you at all times we wouldn't have to worry about you losing control. This wouldn't be the first time that a jinchuriki has lost control of their tailed beast." stated Kakashi.
This worried Naruto. Hopefully he could keep the nine-tailed fox under control. He didn't want history to repeat itself.
Fortunately, it appeared that Ruby could help with that, thanks to her dojutsu.
"Anyways, you've managed to pass the second part of the chunin exams." stated Kakashi.
"But you escorted us there..." said Ruby.
"Yes...but not many have faced Orochimaru and survived, let alone injure him." answered their jonin instructor.
Ruby nodded. That was pretty remarkable.
"If you wish you can wait here or take this summoning scroll to head back to Vale. It works both ways in case you were wondering." stated Kakashi.
The four of them nodded.
Currently, Zwei was chewing on a Beowulf doll.
Meanwhile...
"Did you manage to find Orochimaru?" asked the Third Hokage.
"I'm afraid not. He seems to have disappeared from the cameras entirely." answered Ozpin.
The Third Hokage sighed. If there was anyone that was good at stealth, it was Orochimaru.
Something told him he was going to have to confront his former pupil sooner or later.
His monkey summon Emma had told him that he should have killed Orochimaru when he had the chance.
He was starting to wonder if that was what he should have done.
Still, he wondered if he had treated Orochimaru differently, he wouldn't have become the monster he was in the present.
Well, ther was no point in trying to change the past.
For now, he decided to continue the chunin exams.
There was no point in not allowing some of the genin to become chunin these six months.
Fortunately, it seems that Team NRSY has survived their encounter with the snake sannin. However, this won't be the last we see of him.
And to make matters worse, Sasuke now has a cursed seal on his neck.
Hopefully, it won't cause any problems.
In the next chapter, more genin will arrive at the tower.