Dawn's Sage
Chapter 21
The tension in the room was palpable, not that it fazed the six world leaders sitting in an elongated semicircle in the middle of it. The only one not sitting at the single curved table was Mifune, who sat off to the side at his own, much smaller table. As the neutral host of the proceedings, it made sense. And as the host, it was his duty to breach the topic of why the Five Kage were meeting in the first place. "As a neutral country, the Land of Iron welcomes you all, and while we have not heard much of this Akatsuki organization, I assume that it is a concern to all of you. It would certainly explain why both Lord Raikage and Lady Hokage called for a meeting. Perhaps they can tell us why this meeting became necessary."
Tsunade stood up at the same moment as the Raikage, and the bodyguards tensed in the balcony as the two Hidden Village leaders stared each other down. After a second, the Raikage blustered forward, and Tsunade sat back down, willing herself to let it slide. "Akatsuki captured the Hidden Cloud's second jinchuriki very recently. To be perfectly tactless, our spies have informed us that there is only one jinchuriki left to the Hidden Villages as a whole. Akatsuki must be stopped!"
The bodyguards twitched before settling down again once they realized that the Raikage's angry pounding was just that, and posed no threat to anyone but the desk in front of him. Both bodyguards and Kages alike looked around for any clues as to which village still had their Tailed Beast. Seeing the other Kages and bodyguards doing the same thing, there was only one conclusion to draw. And it was Mifune who drew it first. "And I see that the one village with a Tailed Beast left is the only one not in attendance. Should we postpone until my messengers can reach the Hidden Waterfall?"
The other Kages almost groaned at the thought of spending any more time in the Land of Iron than necessary, but the Raikage actually grinned. "That won't be necessary, or possible. Akatsuki did attack the Hidden Waterfall to get the Seven Tails, and they succeeded in wiping the village off the face of the map, though it remains so hidden I doubt anyone has really noticed yet." If there had been more people present, the Raikage's announcement would have no doubt sent murmurs and whisperings rippling throughout the room. As it was, the other Kage and their bodyguards settled for wearing various expressions of surprise and horror.
"This is a most disturbing development." said the Tsuchikage, hand raised to his chin in thought. "And I don't suppose you'll tell us how you've come to know of this attack?"
Information was power in the ninja world, and brash, young people like the Raikage showed off their power on a regular basis. So the wizened old man wasn't all that surprised when the musclebound Kage tipped his hand. "I know because two survivors came to my village, seeking refuge. One of them… was the jinchuriki herself!" With a dramatic flourish, the Raikage pointed up to the banner behind him, which bore the kanji for lightning. Fu stuck her head out from behind the cloth and waved at the assembled ninja below with a small smile on her face.
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"Today, the world shall know pain, and through it, peace." Pain turned towards the other eight members of Akatsuki assembled before him, in addition to Orochimaru's squad. Almost every member of Akatsuki had followers on their payroll, though Orochimaru was the only one who had any that were worth something in a fight. "We shall go in, defeat the Five Kage, and secure the jinchuriki."
"Where the fuck is Zetsu?" asked Hidan, with his usual amount of tact. "Did the pansy chicken out of a good fight?"
"Which Zetsu are you referring to?" asked Sasori sarcastically. "Regardless, he's both inside already, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."
"Naruto got up from his meditative position. "There's a whole lot of samurai on the lower floors, but the only people up top are the Kage and their bodyguards. There don't appear to be any barriers, but I've been wrong before." Pain nodded at the members of Akatsuki, and they all followed him towards the large meeting hall of the Kage. As they all leapt through the trees, Naruto dropped back next to Kisame. "He's here. Outside the building. On this path, we'll barely miss him."
Kisame's sharp toothed smile widened to nightmarish proportions as he veered off course to intercept a target he wanted to fight. The rest of Akatsuki continued onward to a fight that would lead to peace, destruction, or both.
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Sasuke leaned up against the tree, keeping a clear line of sight with the large building where the meeting was taking place. He had been told to not enter the building, as the last thing a peace negotiation needed was for the Hokage to find out that the Hidden Cloud's source was one of her own missing ninja. If Akatsuki attacked, the building would likely not be in mint condition for long. When the building began to explode, Sasuke would move in, and hope he wasn't too late to find a member of Akatsuki.
Now that his eyes were fully healed, his basic Sharingan took next to no chakra to maintain, and it was only the fact that he had them active that he managed to notice the attack. He leapt to the side as the large shark made entirely of water crashed down on where he had been standing. Jumping higher up into the branches of the trees, Sasuke began to jump towards the Kage Summit building. "Water Style: Flying Fish!" Sasuke looked over his shoulder to see another watery fish flying behind him, slowly gaining ground.
His hand lit up with a shriek of lightning, and he turned around midair to face the shark. "Chidori Mine!" The ball of lightning simply stopped where it was, and exploded when the shark touched it. The Water Style fell to the ground like rain, and Sasuke whipped out his sword to block the incoming strike. He was swatted down to the ground as if his katana had been used to try and stop a building from crushing him, only it was even less effective.
Sasuke crawled out of the crater in the snow he had made, and looked upon the strangest Akatsuki member he had seen, perhaps with the exception of Zetsu. He was a good six feet tall, and carried a sword covered in bandages that might have been as tall as he was. But the strange part was his blue skin, and the gills that seemed to be a part of his cheeks. Sasuke also noticed the Akatsuki cloak he wore, and he enviously noted that it was likely much warmer than his own cloak.
"You know, usually I'm the one killing my teammates." said the shark man, and Sasuke noted the pointed teeth. "Now that you've killed Itachi, I get a chance to see what avenging a fallen comrade feels like. Care to help me experience that?"
"Amaterasu!" Sasuke did not feel like helping this Akatsuki member get revenge for the only living Uchiha's older brother. And he didn't waste any time as his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun to life and shot black flames as hot as the sun. The shark just brought up his sword like a large shield, and the black fire of Amaterasu hit the blade.
Sasuke's Sharingan widened as the black fire that was able to burn for seven days in a heavy downpour was simply sucked into the sword, which seemed to grow a bit larger. The swordsman grinned, and it was then that Sasuke realized that he was fighting another one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Bloody Mist Village. Years ago, he had had a run in with Zabuza, and if it hadn't of been for Kakashi, he would have died then and there. Now he was fighting someone just a strong, if not stronger, alone.
"Samehada and I are in agreement. You're fire isn't nearly as strong as Itachi's." said the Akatsuki swordsman. "But I guess that just means I can feel a bit nostalgic while I tear you to shreds. I'm Kisame Hoshigaki, and my blade and I are going to eat you alive."
Sasuke brought up his sword, and blue lightning shrieked down the blade as he ran at Kisame. "Fancy yourself a swordsman? Let me show you how wrong you are!" shouted Kisame as he leapt to the challenge. Their swords clashed, but Sasuke was ready for Samehada's bulk this time, and his sword simply rolled away. Sasuke twirled his sword around, and sliced Kisame across the face as he continued past the legendary swordsman.
Sasuke grinned as he turned to face the bleeding swordsman, but he was annoyed to see that his attack had only left a tiny scratch on the Akatsuki member's cheek. It would have been more effective, but Sasuke's Sharingan had noticed his opponent's sword eat the lightning chakra right off his own blade. The feeling was only annoyance though, which was infinitely superior to the burning pain that shot up his leg a second later. Looking down, Sasuke saw the mess that used to be the back of his calf.
"Unlike your pathetic excuse for a sword, Samehada only needs a moment of contact to cripple its prey." bragged Kisame, swinging Samehada over his shoulder confidently. Sasuke glared at the Akatsuki member, and the Sharingan in his left eye spun wildly.
Kisame looked up in confusion as the sky became blood red, and the clouds began to move backwards across the sea of red. He looked down in pain and shock at his right hand, which still clutched Samehada as it fell to the ground. Kisame turned to look at Sasuke, who had moved without Kisame even seeing a blur as he cut off the legendary swordsman's hand.
"You might be the better swordsman, but this is my world now." said Sasuke as he stood up slowly. Kisame howled in pain as another sword impaled him from behind. Looking over his shoulder, Kisame saw another Sasuke clutching the sword behind him. Kisame felt a familiar presence crawling up his arm from where his hand had been cut off, and he closed his eyes, grunting as even more swords stabbed through him.
Kisame opened his eyes just in time to swat Sasuke away with Samehada as the Uchiha leapt at him for the finishing blow. Breathing heavily, Kisame glared at the Uchiha. "So sorry, but your genjutsu is nowhere near Itachi's level. It's plenty god, but my partner is always there to break me out of a nasty genjutsu." Sasuke took notice of Samehada's hilt, which had several blue spikes shooting out of it to pierce Kisame's hand. Injecting its chakra directly into Kisame had been enough to snap him out of the imperfect Tsukiyomi.
Sasuke looked up to the building where the Five Kage were meeting without any warning of the organization of terrorists that were heading there at the moment. He had to warn them somehow, and he could only think of a few attacks big enough to get their attention. So he used one of them as Kisame ran at him to avenge Itachi, which was still a strange concept to him. He had never really thought that his murdering brother could actually become close enough to someone that they would want to avenge him, though it made sense that if he did, it would be a fellow monster like Kisame.
Samehada was brought down hard on Sasuke, but it was stopped by glowing purple ribs. They cracked a bit, but repaired themselves as Susanoo roared to life with an explosion of purple chakra. The blast sent Kisame hurtling back, and he skidded to a stop to look up at the towering spectral warrior. It had taken a good deal of training, and he was still unable to cloth his Susanoo in armor like Itachi's. Still, his Susanoo loosed an arrow at Kisame, who barely had time to bring up Samehada and deflect it. Even then, the arrow pierced the ground barely a foot from where Kisame stood.
"Good, it's only interesting when the prey fights back." said Kisame, a sick grin covering his face. Samehada's hilt bent like a snake and wound its way up Kisame's arm as it seemed to fuse with his skin. He held his hands up in a simple sign and reared his head back. Kisame's cheeks swelled to insane proportions before he opened his mouth and spat out a mind staggering amount of water. Sasuke's Susanoo flailed uselessly in the watery dome as it was hit from all sides in quick succession. Kisame took a moment's pause to let Sasuke take in his new, even more shark like form. "Water Style: Water Prison Shark Dance. All that's left is to play with my food."
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The Five Kage Summit had burst into a small uproar at the Raikage's possession of the last free jinchuriki, and everyone present seemed insulted and furious, with the sole exception of the Raikage and his entourage. "What right do you have to the Seven Tails!" shouted the Tsuchikage, only raising his voice to be heard over the din. His question went unanswered in the general chaos of the moment however, and all the bodyguards present were tightening their grips on their weapons, ready to defend their leaders at a moment's notice.
"ENOUGH!" They were saved the trouble by Mifune, who had unsheathed his sword so quickly it created a large gust of wind. Before the bodyguards could react, the katana was resting once more in its sheath, and Mifune sat back down. "Now, while you are in my land, this will be an orderly and peaceable summit." He turned to face the Raikage. "Now, Lord Raikage. I will ask you what I'm sure we are all thinking. How did you come across the Seven Tails jinchuriki?"
The Raikage sighed in relief at the subsidence of yelling. "The jinchuriki was brought to our village after the destruction of her own by a wandering ninja, who had apparently set out to protect her from Akatsuki, and only arrived just in the nick of time."
Tsunade's eyes widened as a ninja that fit the description jumped to the front of her mind, vowing to stop Akatsuki with or without the Hidden Leaf. Her suspicions and fears were confirmed when the Raikage answered the Kazekage's query. "Who was this ninja?"
"Sasuke Uchiha." said the Raikage calmly. Every ninja was aware of the last Uchiha, and the repercussions of one of the Hidden Leaf's founding clans potentially relocating to the Hidden Cloud. While one Uchiha wouldn't usually be a big deal, it became a big deal when the entire clan was comprised of one member. Kakashi in particular was rattled by his student's defection. It was clear that without Mifune's harsh gaze, the room would descend back into the clamor it had just left. In fact, no one could think of a way to voice an objection without making the problem worse.
As the awkward silence dragged on for painful seconds, a messenger entered the room, bowing respectfully to Mifune. "Sir, there is a large sphere of water and large purple man trapped within outside."
Before anyone else could react, the Mizukage and her sole bodyguard were on their feet. The other bodyguards leapt into action at the swordsman's action, and the banners fell to the floor. "Kisame Hoshigaki." said Chojuro, both terrified of fighting a living legend who had reportedly killed the previous Mizukage and impressed with himself for moving so quickly upon recognizing the threat.
Tsunade was the next to speak up, standing up to be seen above Kakashi and Tenzo. "I think we all know that Akatsuki somehow knows that we have the last jinchuriki, and they're coming for her." she said, gesturing to Fu, who was the only one still sitting in the balcony. Then the conversation was cut short as the roof exploded. Luckily, all the shrapnel had managed to hit all around Fu without even scratching the jinchuriki herself.
The Tsuchikage looked up at the white birds hovering above the newly created opening in shock. "Deidara…" Just then, the doors burst pen, and a sole samurai ran in, followed by a triple bladed scythe that flew through the air behind him. It came down to impale him, but was stopped by Mifune's blade, which defended his samurai and sent the weapon flying back.
"Damn it, I was going for a perfect record. Oh well. Kakuzu, how many did you get?" said Hidan as he caught his scythe out of midair and casually strolled into the room, along with the rest of Akatsuki.
"They weren't worth anything, so I left the killing to you. The big game is at the top." said Kakuzu as Naruto leapt down to join the other earthbound Akatsuki members. Konan and Deidara continued to hover above the meeting room.
"Orochimaru!" shouted Tsunade angrily. Her attention was diverted however, when Tenzo stabbed Kakashi in the back. "Tenzo, what are you doing?"
"I guess the Copy Ninja isn't that great at spotting a copy, is he?" said Tenzo, as his skin slowly paled to a ghostly white. His brown hair also changed to a light green, and his clothes seemed to melt into an equally white skin. "It's been a while since I've gone undercover for so long, but that Wood Style user really boosted my strength." The world leaders watched, suddenly cautious of their own bodyguards, as Zetsu jumped back to the group of Akatsuki, where a completely black version of him rose out of the ground, and they fused together.
Tsunade knelt down to heal Kakashi, and he was up in seconds, though he was clearly still injured. Battlefield trauma was her forte after all. The Kages stood by, ready to attack at a moment's notice, as Akatsuki parted to let a tall man with orange hair and numerous piercings walk forward. He fit the description of Pain that Jiraiya had given, though Akatsuki's deference to him was a dead giveaway as to his status as Akatsuki's leader.
"Akatsuki will be taking the jinchuriki." he said matter-of-factly. "The only question is, how much pain will you suffer before we do?" The Raikage decided to try and swipe Pain's head off then and there, but he was stopped dead in his tracks and launched back the way he came just as quickly. "A lot then."
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The Tsuchikage hadn't stuck around long after that. The oldest Kage had a score to settle, and sure enough, Deidara pursued him into the air. Once he had gotten high enough to ensure that he wouldn't accidently vaporize the leaders of the world's most powerful countries by accident, he turned to face his wayward protégé. "You know, all those times I had hired Akatsuki, I honestly didn't know you had joined them. By the time I found out, Akatsuki had stopped taking jobs."
"What can I say? World domination requires a good deal of our attention, yeah." replied Deidara. She tossed out a small clay figure, and jumped off of her current bird as it flew towards the Tsuchikage. Deidara was enveloped in a cloud of smoke as the clay beast was trapped within a transparent cube. The white clay hawk tried to explode, but was atomized by Onoki's feared Dust Style. The floating man looked at Deidara's latest piece emerged from the smoke that had obscured it.
A large clay serpent coiled around in the sky, suspended by large clay wings. Deidara stood atop the head of the long and skinny dragon with a smile on her face. "Well old man, is this a waste of time?" The serpentine dragon flew through the air gracefully, dodging the cube that came threatened to vaporize it, and fired a smaller dragon out of its mouth as its tail grew shorter. The dragon flew at the Tsuchikage, who deftly flew out of the way.
He was unprepared however, when the dragon swooped around to follow him, even as Deidara launched another. Stuck between the two, Onoki stopped midair and slammed his hands together. The dragons exploded upon contact, but when the smoke cleared, the Tsuchikage was unharmed, covered by a smoking layer of solid rock. Deidara glared at the old man as his Golem Armor fell off. Her C2 dragon lost another segment of its tail as it pulled back its mighty wings. Small bits began to bulge from the clay creation, and they came flying out as a hail of clay insects when the dragon flapped its wings toward the Tsuchikage.
Looking onward at the mass of exploding insects propelled toward him by a large gust of wind, Onoki's eyes narrowed as he clapped his hands together. When he opened them, he held a glowing rectangle between his hands that was incredibly thin. As he launched it forward, his Dust Style grew to enormous proportions and turned all of the miniature bombs into dust as they tried to pass through. It wasn't aerodynamic enough to cross the distance required to hit Deidara and end the fight though.
"I would have taught you the Dust Style, you know." he shouted across the gap to his former successor. "Just as Muu taught it to me. You were to be the Tsuchikage after me. And then you betrayed my trust."
"Oh shove it, yeah! My art is all I need! And it's a hundred, no, a THOUSAND times better than your pathetic Dust Style!" Deidara lowered her hand into her clay pouch and began to chew on the white sculpting material as her dragon launched a particularly fat and fast dragon from its mouth.
"Such a shame to waste your potential." muttered the Tsuchikage, before raising his head to glare at Deidara. "But I'll end it here! Lightened Boulder Technique!" His weight decreased even further by the same technique that enabled him to fly, Onoki shot forward, faster than the smaller dragon could react. With his increased speed, he delivered a punch to send his former student hurtling to the ground below.
However, Deidara's left hand came up and caught his wrist as his fist touched her abdomen. The renegade bomber however, remained unmoved by his punch. "Wow, you might hit fast, but you lose the force behind your punches too, yeah. It might not have been a big deal when you were young enough to still hit hard, but now you're just a feeble old man!" The mouth on Deidara's right hand opened up and spat out a small bat, ready to explode.
Reacting quickly, the Tsuchikage lowered his other hand to touch the massive dragon's head. "Weighted Boulder Technique!" Its weight increased several hundredfold, the massive clay dragon fell to the ground like a ton of bricks, leaving the bat to detonate uselessly several hundred feet above them. Her visible eye widening in shock, Deidara released the Tsuchikage and jumped off her falling creation at the last second. She knew the old man had to keep contact with the target, and quickly detonated the large dragon. The explosion large enough to damage the meeting hall, but if it meant killing the Tsuchikage, she didn't care.
"You know, replacing myself with a Rock Clone on such short notice like that is bad for my back." Deidara whirled around to see the Tsuchikage hovering behind her, one hand resting on his lower back. With a glare, the two resumed their exploding aerial dance, and Deidara wondered idly if she had at least destroyed the Kazekage's stupid hat.
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The fighting had been rather small scale in the beginning, as either side breaking out big attacks would result in friendly fire. In that regard, Deidara's dragon blowing up a good portion of the building was a blessing in disguise for both sides. It separated them all into smaller groups, where they could more safely use their better techniques.
"You remind me of the first leaf ninja I ever fought." said Kakuzu, glaring at the voluptuous Hokage in front of him.
"Well let me show you what a competent Leaf ninja can do to an enemy of her village." said Tsunade, cracking her neck. She was a bit surprised by the masked Akatsuki member's angry response to her words.
"You won't even hold a candle to his strength." he said angrily. "I might even indulge in Hidan's favorite pastime here. I'm not sure I can resist the chance to end his entire clan."
"Wait, who was this ninja you fought?" asked Tsunade, ready to attack the moment he confirmed or denied her suspicions.
"Of course he wouldn't mention me." said Kakuzu, his voice dripping with spite and sarcasm. "After I lost to the First Hokage, I was banished from my village. I stole the Earth Grudge Fear before I left and exacted my revenge on those who had wronged me, but your grandfather, the man who ruined my life, was always too strong. So I'll have to settle for killing his useless excuse of a granddaughter."
Tsunade roared in anger as she ran at Kakuzu, fist reared back to send him flying to the Hidden Sand Village. To his credit, Kakuzu simply stood there as his skin darkened. The punch collided, and Kakuzu doubled over in pain as he felt several ribs break, gasping at the force of the blow. Perhaps Tsunade wasn't quite weaker than the First Hokage had been. Still, his Earth Spear technique absorbed most of the force, and he was conscious enough to have one of his hearts fire a blast of wind through his Akatsuki cloak to hit the Fifth Hokage in the head.
Tsunade was sent hurtling back by the blast, and the wind shredded her face. Kakuzu stood up, placing a hand on his wounded stomach, and looked for the now headless granddaughter of his most hated enemy. And Tsunade looked back, unchanged save for the tattoos spreading out across her body from the former location of the diamond mark on her forehead. "I might not be my grandfather, and it's true that I can't use the Wood Style. But I am still the Hokage, and I refuse to be underestimated!"
Kakuzu decided to sop underestimating his foe as he discarded his damaged Akatsuki cloak. Grunting in pain as his four extra hearts tore their way out of his back, Kakuzu regained his composure once his back finished stitching itself back together. "Very well then." he said gruffly through his mask. "If you can heal, let's just see how much you can heal at a time."
The mouths behind him opened with a loud crack and launched their powerful elements. Tsunade dropped her foot to kick up a wall of stone that used to be a part of the floor to block the attack, and it worked for a second. Then the overwhelming strength of the combined attacks tore the simple rock to pieces. When the blast died down, Kakuzu's eyes widened when he saw Tsunade running at him, flesh only halfway done healing itself. He ducked under the punch, but was given a kick in the face for his trouble.
If it weren't for his skill in reattaching limbs, the fight would have been over right then and there. As it was, several threads shot out of his neck to catch his severed head and reattach it to his torso. Tsunade was having none of it, and grabbed the threads with both hands. Using Kakuzu like a mace, she swung his body around, nailing his fire heart. It was a testament to her strength that the blunt force trauma was enough to crush the heart behind the mask.
Kakuzu's lightning, wind, and water hearts flew upwards to dodge the body turned weapon. Firing a beam of lightning at the Hokage to get her to release Kakuzu proved incredibly ineffective. The first female Kage used Kakuzu's body as a shield, and his earth heart took the attack instead, getting destroyed in the process. She did let go of the body though, as the beam showed no signs of stopping. Granted, her drop kicking the wind heart was less than ideal, but by the time she had regained her footing on the shattered floor, Kakuzu's final two hearts had reentered his body.
If Kakuzu had been less prideful, he would have readily admitted his mistake in comparing the woman before him to her grandfather. He would fight, not a medic or a woman, but an S-Ranked threat. Deciding then and there that he wouldn't let his emotions come into play from here on out, Kakuzu cracked his neck, which now connected his body and head.
"Kakuzu, the Akatsuki member with five hearts." said Tsunade, staring down the man she had just identified. "You killed ninja under my command. I can't bring them back. I'm the best medic in the world, but even I'm not that good of a medic. But you'll find that the people best able to keep you out of the afterlife are the people best able to send you there as well. And if I have to kill you five times? Well that's just more therapy for me."
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Chojuro was quite proud of himself. Through all the chaos and explosions, he had managed to stay by the Mizukage's side. Mei Terumi had entrusted him with her safety, and he would be damned before he let her face a member of Akatsuki alone. Still, he had been hoping for an Akatsuki member with a little less terrifying reputation.
As if sensing the boy's thoughts, Orochimaru's freakishly long tongue snuck its way out of his mouth and slowly licked his lips. Chojuro shuddered at the man's actions, and the three men on around him didn't fill the only legal member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist with confidence either.
He stopped shaking when he felt the Mizukage's reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Chojuro, I can handle myself against this snake. You just handle his little worms. I know you can handle this." Chojuro gulped, but steeled himself for combat with the two stoic looking ninja, and the one ninja who looked ready to kill for the legendary sword in Chojuro's hands.
"Kimimaro, Suigetsu, Juugo." said Orochimaru, addressing his three followers. "You handle the guppy. I'll take care of the big fish." The white haired one, apparently named Kimimaro, nodded silently. The massive orange haired giant next to him seemed more resigned than eager to fight, but his lack of enthusiasm was countered by the shortest ninja's barely checked fervor. Chojuro was honestly surprised that this Suigetsu had contained himself this long.
Chojuro was taken aback when Kimimaro removed his shirt, letting it fall around his waist. The reason became clear when a long, white sword rose out from under his skin. Chojuro's confidence actually swelled a bit before he realized what that meant. In a sword fight, he wouldn't be beaten by anyone. He was the current leader of the other (nonexistent) members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Then he recalled where he had heard of these abilities before.
The Kaguya Revolt had been a rallying point for the Fourth Mizukage's followers after he had adopted an anti-bloodline stance. While the event's political implications were terrible for the cause, Mei had agreed with the actions themselves. The warlike clan was dangerous, and far too bloodthirsty to operate in any civilized society. And now one of them that had somehow survived the eradication of the Kaguya clan was standing right in front of Chojuro, holding a sword made out of his own bone in his hand.
Sighing in an attempt to calm his franticly beating heart, Chojuro pulsed his chakra through Hiramekarei and the bandages wrapped around the sword exploded off of the steel in a burst of chakra. Suigetsu's eyes lit up at sight of the sword, and despite the Kaguya's inherent advantage with his bloodline, only one to really seem eager about the fighting was the first to charge at Chojuro. In disbelief of the simple, idiotic attack, Chojuro swung his sword down, and the chakra emitted from the two holes at the tip of the massive sword took the form of an even more massive hammer.
Chojuro saw the ninja in front of him turn into water right as the hammer crushed him into the floor. The bespectacled ninja was an experienced ninja from the Hidden Mist, and immediately identified the crushed person as a Water Clone and was immediately on guard. It saved his life, when he was able to block the small pellets that Kimimaro had launched at him from his fingertips. Changing the chakra around his sword into a massive fly swatter, he did one better than simply blocking the projectiles, sending them straight back.
The ten fingertip bones were stopped by a wall of water that rose up from the puddle that had been the Water Clone and absorbed the bullets of bone. The clone then reformed, wearing a fearsome grin with sharpened teeth. Opening his mouth Suigetsu spit the bits of bone out. Which was something Water Clones couldn't do. Jumping away as Suigetsu smashed the ground where he had been standing with a strangely proportioned fist, Chojuro was forced to reevaluate his opponents.
Kimimaro was clearly a Kaguya, which meant he had a unique control over his skeleton. It could supposedly harden to become stronger than the strongest armor, or form nearly indestructible weapons. If Suigetsu's ability was what Chojuro thought it was, he was the same little brother of Mangetsu Hozuki. Which meant that his older brother had been the previous owner of the same sword Chojuro now wielded. Fighting an opponent who could transform into water at will would be difficult, but he had a plan of sorts. The only unknown was the hulking orange haired man who had remained silent until now.
Kimimaro turned to his companion. "He is skilled. If you do not fight, I might have to push myself too far to defeat him."
Looking down at the last Kaguya, Juugo responded calmly. "Then don't." he said simply.
"My devotion to Lord Orochimaru is absolute. I will win here, no matter the cost. And I cannot count on Suigetsu to watch my back. Can I count on you?" Suigetsu was indeed doing a wretched job of watching Kimimaro's back, charging recklessly at Chojuro, reforming from the splatters of water whenever Chojuro cut him in half.
Juugo sighed in resignation. "Very well then." he said, as flaming red marks crawled across his skin, slowly covering his whole body. Whatever Juugo could do, Chojuro had a feeling he would find out soon. "You know, it isn't nice to take advantage of our friendship like that. Kind of makes me mad. No furious is the right word. And when I get furious, I just want to kill things."
Grinning as his friend's bloodthirsty alternate personality slowly surfaced, Kimimaro pointed to Chojuro, who was still trying to keep his distance from the watery Hozuki who wanted his sword. "Then kill him." A mad grin spread across Juugo's face as the red marks faded to a light gray. His eyes now a deranged looking black and gold, Juugo began to laugh maniacally.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" he shouted as he ran towards Chojuro, sped up by the chakra jets affixed to his back. Bringing up Hiramekarei to block the punch, Chojuro was nevertheless sent hurtling along the ground from the sheer power behind Juugo's hit. Skidding to a stop, he was barely able to get Hiramekarei in time to block Kimimaro's straight stab. The bone sword was impressive, and almost got through the hole in the legendary sword's tip to hit Chojuro. Twisting his sword to dislodge the bone blade from Kimimaro's hand, Chojuro kicked out to nail Suigetsu in midair.
A bone sprung out of Kimimaro's other palm and he thrust it toward Chojuro's prone form. Suigetsu reformed and grabbed a hold of Chojuro's ankle, which was still stuck in Suigetsu's stomach. In his rage though, Juugo smashed down on Chojuro at that same moment. The explosion or debris and floor tiles was actually enough to send Chojuro through the floor to the level below. When the dust cleared, Chojuro stood, still shaking, holding a dented Hiramekarei above his head. Juugo, Kimimaro, and Suigetsu jumped down to surround him, and Chojuro hoped that Lady Mizukage was having better luck than he was.
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Orochimaru stood facing the Mizukage, who stared back unafraid. "Sorry, but you're not really my type; a tad too old for my tastes." said Mei, a small grin tugging at her lips.
"Kukuku." laughed Orochimaru, as he licked his lips. "I'm afraid you'll have to put up with me for a bit longer. Strength, chakra reserves, and two bloodlines; what more could I ask for in a body?" Not waiting to see what the rogue Sannin was talking about, Mei began to run through hand seals.
"Water Style: Hyper Cutter!" Mei spit out a super concentrated stream of water that could cut through steel. Orochimaru dodged the blast of water by slithering along the ground on his stomach like the snakes he summoned. Cutting off her stream of water when it became clear that Orochimaru wasn't going to get hit so easily. The moment the water stopped, Orochimaru turned to slither towards the Mizukage.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Orochimaru lifted his hand, and several large pythons shot out of his sleeves to wrap themselves around the Mizukage. The speed of the attack took her by surprise, though it made sense considering the former Leaf ninja's legendary status. Orochimaru's legs reformed from the more snake like blur as he same to a stop in front of her. "Now then, your body is mine."
Smirking seductively, the Mizukage breathed out a fine mist of acid. Orochimaru's skin began to melt off his body, and the same happened to the snakes wrapped around her. Jumping away from the Sannin, who was screaming in pain as his body melted, she grinned in victory. "I'm sorry, I'm simply not into older men."
She turned away to go help Chojuro with his own fight, but whirled around when Orochimaru's screaming turned to laughter. The mouth on the Akatsuki member's deformed face opened wide, and another body crawled out, without so much as a scratch. ""You won't be rid of me that easily. I won't take no for an answer. Your body will be mine."
"Lava Release: Lava Globs!" Mei spat out several globules of lava at Orochimaru, who ran through his own hand seals.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" The massive blast of wind that Orochimaru shot out of his palm was enough to turn the lava balls into miniscule bits of hot rock that cooled into a rain of pebbles by the time they landed around Orochimaru. Grinning insanely, the Snake Summoner launched another blast of blunt air at the Mizukage. It sent her flying back towards the wall. Twisting around midair, the Mizukage sprung off of the wall to shoot towards the pale skinned Sannin.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!" Using her own velocity to make the Water Dragon even faster, the Mizukage's technique bore down on Orochimaru. A cloud of smoke enveloped him before the water could crash over the Snake Summoner.
When the water collided with the Sannin and dispersed the smoke, Orochimaru had been replaced by a large purple snake. The snake opened its mouth to hiss at the Mizukage, and the rogue Sannin stepped out of the fanged reptile's mouth. "You'll need to try harder than that if you want to beat me, or you could just give up. Kukuku."
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A/N: Chapter twenty one up! Wooo! If life was hectic last week, next week, it plans to beat my face in. So as a heads up, there may not be a new chapter next week. I am sorry, and will try to get one up next Saturday, but I might not be able to. With that out of the way, on to the reviews. When I mentioned Mount Myobokuzan in the last author's note, it was just to point out an example. My actual plans do not involve Naruto betraying Akatsuki and living on a mountain surrounded by toads for all eternity. I honestly hadn't thought of bringing up Naruto and Nagato's blood relation, mostly because of how distant and vague it is. If I do bring it up, it will likely just be in passing. That said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and reviews are always appreciated. See ya!