Naruto Shippuden -H-: Chapter 025: You don't want this!
Shikamaru had been stabbed by the ethereal spirit conjured by Jesei, and it was now approaching Sakura, this time surrounded by four blue orbs.
"You have no one to blame but yourself for this predicament, I am afraid." said Jesei with a apathetic tone as he was certain of his victory.
"I have had it up to here with your ways, I will not let one of my comrades die!" yelled Sakura as she was pierced by the scythe of the spirit, and hit by all four of the blue orbs at once, causing a large cloud of smoke to surround her.
"Well, at least you faced death like a true shinobi, but unfortunately, Naruto may not be too happy with us after this, oh well, it was an order from the boss himself..." said Jesei as he was punched in the face by Sakura, with the Chakra Enhanced Strength activated, causing a large crater to form.
"I had to use the last bit of chakra from the Mastery of One Hundred Seals to heal those injuries and destroy the scythe of that spirit, but it appears to have gotten rid of your jutsu for good." said Sakura as her injuries from taking the jutsu head on were still healing.
"Ughhh, fuck, damn it, I cannot move...you really did survive Mind Release some how, hehehe." laughed Jesei as he laid in the middle of the crater, caused by Sakura's punch, with blood pouring from his mouth.
"I told you I would not just sit idle by and let you do whatever you want, I can handle things on my own, and I am not worthless." said Sakura as she jumped into the crater and stood over Jesei as five in the evening of the fourth day of the journey came around.
"I guess you passed your test of determination and approval after all, but Shikamaru was a nessecery sacrifice it looks like." said Jesei as he was still trying to get into Sakura psyche.
"I don't care about what you have to say anymore, as soon as I heal Shikamaru, I will be back to deal with you, and get any information out of you that I can." said Sakura as she kicked Jesei in the side of his ribs, causing him to wince in pain.
"That is for assurance." said Sakura as she walked towards Shikamaru to heal him.
"Ugh, uhhh, but do you...have enough chakra left to heal him thoroughly?" asked the immobilized Jesei with a look of strife.
Naruto was looking at the hundreds of shards of glass caused by the destruction of Lunesto's jutsu, believing him to be hiding amongst one of the shards.
"I don't see anyone yet Naruto, although it looks like things are wrapping up over where Sakura is, however Shikamaru is not looking too well." said Sai with a worried tone.
"Don't worry Sai, we will help Shikamaru in a moment, as soon as I capture this Lunesto as well." said Naruto as he created twenty-nine shadow clones of himself, and had each one prepare a Tailed Beast Rasengan.
"If I destroy all of these pieces of glass, which might be like a portal for Lunesto to travel between, then he will be forced to show himself." thought Naruto as he and his clones all slammed their jutsu towards the ground and caused all of the strengthened shards of glass to shatter into nothingness, except one shard, which landed beside Naruto's right foot.
"Naruto, there is one more shard of glass beside you, Lunesto has to be hiding in it!" yelled Sai as he noticed the piece of glass from above.
"I see, then I will just stomp it, and that Lunesto can be stuck in some alternate dimension forever." said Naruto as he raised his foot up in the air, and started to slam it down towards the piece of glass.
"You are just too much, Naruto!" yelled Lunesto as he appeared from the ground behind Naruto, with another remaining shard of glass behind him.
"I thought I destroyed them all." said Naruto with anger.
"I created one more piece, and hid it underground, after you shattered my barrier, just in case of a situation like this." said Lunesto as he started to prepare more handsigns.
"Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll Extermination!" yelled Sai as he drew up four pairs of large swords, and had them home in on Lunesto.
"Those large weapons made of ink are probably as effective as the real thing, hehehe." said Lunesto as he got some distance between Naruto, Sai's jutsu, and himself.
"Glass Release: Piercing Shards of the Ground!" yelled Lunesto as several large columns of sharp, pointed glass rapidly started to emerge from underground, with one managing to leave a very deep cut on Naruto's right thigh, and destroyed Sai's ink weapons.
"Fuck, I was too worried about Sakura and Shikamaru to react quick enough." said Naruto as he appeared to be unphased by the injury.
"I can also control these large shards of glass and increase the size and sharpness, but for a target in the air, I have a different plan." said Lunesto.
"Bat Symphony of the Garden!" yelled Lunesto as he conjured another group of bats, that all suddenly appeared around Sai, each with glowing red eyes.
"Ninja Art: Ink Explosion Blast!" said Sai as he surrounded himself with a drawing of a large greyish sphere, which he planned to use to defend himself from Lunesto's jutsu.
"You have to fly away from the bats, not create a physical defense, that will not protect you from their sonar attacks." said Lunesto with joy.
All of the summoned bats let out a large screech, which seemed to cause great pain to Sai, as his ink bird was destroyed, along with his barrier, as he fell to the ground.
"They are too loud, I could not focus enough to get away." said Sai as the vibrations of the sonar waves disrupted his chakra network.
"I got you Sai." said Naruto as he created a shadow clone to hold him.
"Now it is just me and you, Golden Hero." said Lunesto as he smiled with joy now that he had the chance to be alone with Lunesto.
"No, it is just me." said Naruto, in his Tailed Beast Chakra cloak, as he dash towards Lunesto at great speeds, destroying all of the large columns of glass, and the summoned bats in the process.
"Fuck, no time to get away from this." said Lunesto as he was kicked in the stomach, then swiftly punched in the face by Naruto, Naruto then grabbed Lunesto by his right arm.
"Mini-Tailed Beast Rasengan!" yelled Naruto as a chakra arm from Naruto's cloak created a small black orb of red and blue chakra, and firmly launched it into Lunesto's stomach.
"Gyaaahhahhhhhhh!" screamed Lunesto as he was sent flying into a large building in the vicinity of Ishigakure, resulting in a large explosion that followed.
"Sai, let's go check on Sakura and Shikamaru." said Naruto as he and a shadow clone holding the immobilized Sai ran quickly towards Sakura's location, around seventy kilometers away.
Sakura was tending to Shikamaru's wound, and was very tired from the massive amount of chakra she expended during her battle against Jesei.
"C'mon Shikamaru, you have to pull through, don't let me down now." said Sakura as she started to feel light headed and dizzy.
"Fuck, I cannot pass out now, I have to heal Shikamaru first, that is an absolute must!" yelled Sakura as she pushed herself, before finally starting to faint.
"I hope it was...enough." said Sakura as she passed out, with Shikamaru still having a large portion of his his stab wounds not yet healed.
"Ahhhh, Sakura, can...can you hear me?" asked Shikamaru as he came back to consciousness, and was struggling to move.
Sakura did not respond as she laid beside Shikamaru without moving a muscle.
"Shit, she has passed out from the amount of chakra she expended, but I cannot move, due to these wounds." said Shikamaru as Naruto, and his shadow clone holding the injured Sai, appeared right in front of them.
"Sakura, Shikamaru, I took care of that Lunesto guy over there for the time being, let me heal the three of you." said Naruto as he held out his hand, on the palm being a marking of the sun.
"Naruto touched Sakura's forehead, returning the diamond seal, and bringing her friend back to consciousness.
"Shikamaru, you are up next." said Naruto as he held the palm of his hand on Shikamaru's chest, healing the wound within a few seconds.
"Sai, are you feeling better too?" asked Naruto as he three friends stood to their feet again.
"Yes, thanks Naruto, I feel a lot better now, but more importantly, is Jesei and Lunesto both immobilized?" asked Shikamaru as he was still a little shaken up from the wound he received.
"Yes, I believe so." said Naruto.
"I will go check around that collapsed building where Lunesto was sent flying, you and Sakura can check on Jesei." said Sai as he and Shikamaru went over to the area that Lunesto was launched, due to the effects of Naruto's Mini-Tailed Beast Rasengan.
"Let's check on the state of Jesei." said Sakura as she and Naruto walked to the crater that the old man laid in.
"Hahahaha, so the Golden Hero pull through again, well I'll be damn." said Jesei as he was still slightly bleeding from the mouth, but he was still unable to move.
"That is enough out of you, Lunesto is gone as well, and we will be taking you with us on the rest of our journey, I am sure you can tell us more about this boss of yours, and this time, you will not get away." said Naruto with a stern voice as he was still in his Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak, minus the Kurama Avatar.
"I see, no problem with that, you were victorious today, go ahead, The Apathetic Judge will be pleased to know you passed the first test." said Jesei as three more men appeared behind Naruto and Sakura.
"Lunesto is still alive, he is over there, I will get him immediately." said Lehourihm as he Zaire, and Tetsuga all abruptly appeared in Ishigakure.
"Damn, what now?" asked Naruto.
"Three more of these guys, they are Knights of Dawn too!" said Sakura with distressed tone.
"Sai, look out!" yelled Shikamaru as Lehourihm as he appeared in front of the unconscious Lunesto and blocked Shikamaru and Sai's path.
"Tetsuga, let's get Jesei and Lunesto back to Castle Leviticus, now." said Zaire with a look of excitement on his face as he and Tetsuga stood in front of Sakura and Naruto respectively.
"More of you guys as well huh, hear to clean up the mess?" asked Sakura with a tone of vigilance.
"Bitch, we could care less about you, we are just fuckin' here to get these two deadbeat fucks, orders from The Apathetic Judge, or if you are wanting his real name, Hi..." said Zaire as Tetsuga cut him off.
"Let them find out on there own, it will be more interesting." said Tetsuga as Zaire decided to comply.
"Fine, I will listen for now, but even if you don't want us to save Jesei and Lunesto, we are going to fucking do that anyway!" yelled Zaire as he rammed his left fist towards Naruto, only for the Uzumaki to block it, causing a large shockwave behind Naruto, the result of Zaire's attack.
"Damn, that hurt my forearm, this guy is different from the others." thought Naruto as he threw a punch right back that hit Zaire in the face.
"Wood Release: Emergence of A Flowering World of Trees!" yelled Zaire as he instantly created a large forest of trees that swallowed up the civilians of Ishigakure, killing the entire population, and causing the trees to produce large flowers, which began to open.
"No, all of those poor people, you fucking bastards!" yelled Sakura as she activated her Mastery of One Hundred Seals jutsu again.
"Naruto, Sakura, you two don't want this, trust us, just continue on your journey, let us leave in peaces, and don't mourn the villagers of this place, they were as good as dead anyway." said Tetsuga as he picked up Jesei's body, which Zaire made sure to protect.
"Sai, are you okay?" asked Shikamaru as he and Sai managed to survive Zaire's jutsu.
"Yes, but all of the townsfolk are now dead." said Sai with anger.
"Relax, they are now in a better place, the be with our god in Heaven is the utmost form of compassion that one could ever hope to show." said Lehourihm as he held the unconscious Lunesto, who was bleeding heavily, and missing his right leg, and left arm.
"Goodbye for now, you infidels." said Lehourihm as he vanished with Lunesto before Sai or Shikamaru could react.
"Damn it, we need to find Naruto and Sakura now!" yelled Shikamaru with haste.
"I agree, let's fly over this forest with my jutsu, come on." said Sai as he created two large ink birds, for him and Shikamaru to fly on.
"Zaire, grab Jesei, and use the pollen in case they decide to show resistance." said Tetsuga.
"Make another move and I will turn into Kurama and kill you both!" said Naruto with a look of extreme anger from what Zaire did to the villagers.
"Alright, that is the goddamn spirit, let's have some fuckin' fun, I want to eat skinned fox tonight anyway!" yelled Zaire as veins were popping in his forehead and his eyes blood-shot heavily.
"That is enough, Boss, teleport us back!" said Tetsuga as he and Zaire, who managed to get Jesei's body instantly vanished, as the flowers of Zaire's jutsu closed.
"Fuck, they got away, although I tried to move to stop you, but I swear I could not move." said Naruto as he heard a faint voice in the back of his head.
"The dirge of the golem of Zenith is at a moment's wind, come forth Uzumaki, and face yourself." said a faint voice from within Naruto's head as he passed out.
"Naruto, are you okay?" asked Sakura as Shikamaru and Sai arrived at their location.
"He must also be exhausted from today's battle." said Sai.
"No, he has immense amounts of stamina reserves, he did not pass out due to fatigue, it is something else, that is for certain." said Shikamaru as he picked up the unconscious Naruto and held him on his back.
"The only thing to do now is say a silent prayer for these lost villagers, and then move on once Naruto awakens." said Sakura with a angry, yet sad tone.
-To be continued next time with Chapter 026...-