A/N: Hi all. I'm sorry for the exceedingly long wait. Without wasting more of your time, here's the chapter. Thanks as always to my wonderful beta for sticking with me through my hiatus.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 24
Shielding their eyes from the shining pillar of darkness, the crowd could only wait with baited breath to see the result of Tenjin's attack. Everyone present could recognize the power behind the attack, but only a select few truly understood what it was-an S-ranked jutsu. Much like missions, jutsu are arranged on a scale of A-E with decreasing difficulty and chakra requirement the further down the list one goes. For those top-tier shinobi, there are S-level jutsu which supersedes even A-rank techniques in both power and complexity. Most of these techniques are forbidden, require a kekkai genkai, or force the user to sacrifice their life to use (sometimes all 3). Combined, the many kage-level ninja throughout shinobi history know at best a handful of them to call upon if the situation is truly dire.
After what felt like an eternity, but in reality was a mere few seconds, the jutsu began to burn itself out-the column of lightning began to shrink, decreasing in diameter towards its center. As the lightning began to recede, the audience could only gape in wonder at the devastation left behind. Nothing of the arena floor remained. Rather, a gaping hole now existed in the arena easily 30 feet deep, and 100 feet across.
'It can't be.' Thought Jiraiya, Tsunade, Gaara, and many others as the outlook for the blonde-haired protagonist looked beyond bleak.
Finally, however, the lightning disappeared entirely revealing what most would consider impossible. With the roar of the lightning now gone, the shrill sound of a buzz saw could be heard, the shrill noise grating to the ears. There, exactly where he had been before the attack, stood a radically changed Uzumaki Naruto. Below his feet, an almost comically narrow (in comparison to the hole surrounding him) column of stone extended into the abyss below. Potent red chakra swirling violently around him; once-blonde hair now turned crimson; eyes now red, slitted, and predatory; whisker marks thicker and more feral; Naruto kneeled down on one knee holding above his head a maelstrom of power. The Futon: Rasen Shuriken he held was very different from the one he had shown Kakashi. Easily three times the size, the central ball was now an angry mass of swirling red, the wispy blades of wind were spinning so fast that the jutsu appeared to be a solid disk rather than a four-pronged blade.
"Impossible!" shouted the Tsuchikage, gaping at the transformation. As the existence of a Kyuubi jinchuuriki was hardly a secret, those of Iwa were well aware that Konoha held such a weapon at their disposal. However, he had never truly considered the possibility that the 'beloved' son of his most hated enemy would have been selected for that burden. Even with that unaccounted for variable, even the Kyuubi host should have been incinerated by the power of Tenjin's Raiton: Tenshu No Eidan, which was the strongest lightning attack he had ever encountered. The possibility that the Gennin-ranked Namikaze was the container for the strongest Biju and held an S-rank wind jutsu up his sleeve never could have crossed his mind.
Sighing in relief, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and even Gaara allowed relieved smiles to grace their faces. Turning to the disbelieving Tsuchikage, Tsunade couldn't help but rub in the small victory. "Well, what did you expect from Konoha's most unpredictable ninja?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moments earlier:
"RAITON: TENSHU NO EIDAN!" he heard his opponent call out. Immediately, he could feel it, the electrical charge that filled the air around him. They say, in our last moments, our lives flash before our eyes. To Naruto, however, time seemed to slow to a halt as he looked desperately for an escape route. However, the opposite polarity of the electrical currents had caused the wires around him to rise off the ground creating a nearly impenetrable forest of razor-sharp wire. Looking to the sky, he saw the ever-approaching column of lightning approaching. With no other option in sight, Naruto dove deep and began to pull out Kyuubi's chakra, as much as he could handle. He hated doing this, the more of the beast's chakra he used, the closer to the surface of his mind the demon lord came and the more of a sway he had over him.
Even as the power began to rush through his veins, forcing the painful expansion of his already large chakra pathways, Naruto began to swirl the power into his palms-chakra in the right, wind conversion in the left. In less than the instant that the judgment from above took to engulf him, Naruto had formed his most powerful attack. The rapid spin of the blades drowned out by the roar of his opponent's attack. Raising the immensely powerful attack above his head, he braced himself for the impact.
Despite his preparations, Naruto was floored by the overwhelming force of Tenjin's attack. Unable to stand, he dropped to one knee, his attack barely holding back the black death that now surrounded him. Struggling to breathe, he knew, it wasn't enough. Gritting his teeth, Naruto dug deeper. Slowly, his attack stabilized, and began to push back against the electricity above him. However, just as he considered himself safe, he recognized his mistake as cold, merciless laughter began to echo throughout his mind before everything went black.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
Back in the present, Naruto's power continued to overflow. Yelling out a bestial roar, he activated Soru and disappeared from the insignificant pillar, the backlash of his departure casing it to collapse into the abyss below. For the civilians in the audience (and even some of the shinobi) the only indication of Naruto's position as he rushed towards the Iwa jinchuuriki was the appearance of an army of clones who launched their assault at the time. Unlike the rest of the fight, Naruto no longer seemed to be calm and in control. His attacks were now less refined and much more feral.
Despite the shock that his opponent had survived his strongest attack, Tenjin met the attacking army head on. The aura around him forming a more pronounced canine shape, the white chakra behind him split into a rainbow of five colored tails (blue, red, yellow, brown, and gray). Dropping into a familiar stance, he called out "Rogafuufuuken." and began to pummel the approaching masses. Independently of the man's taijutsu attacks, the chakra tails swirled around him launching a continual flow of elemental attacks of every element to stave off attacks from every direction.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
"This match is insane." Kiba broke the silence that had encompassed the area of the stands where the once-entitled 'rookie nine' were sitting.
The rhetorical statement was certainly agreed upon by the other gathered Gennin. This wasn't like watching a match of Gennin, Chuunin, or even Jounin. Rather, the fight occurring below them looked to be a cross between that of nearly kage-level shinobi and wild animals.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The ever-present noise permeated his mindscape. The cold, dank sewer filled his vision as Naruto opened his eyes. The lighting was so dim, he could hardly see around him other than the massive glowing, slitted eyes and razor sharp teeth which seemed to hover above him.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself." he said simply, indicating the beast's smile.
"I HAVEN'T HAD THIS MUCH FUN IN A LONG TIME, THANKS TO THIS ACCURSED SEAL." the beast said, its voice powerful and rumbling.
As Naruto focused, the lighting began to improve, revealing the towering form of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Once again, Naruto couldn't help but admire Jiraiya's improvements to the original seal. Shackled down, the Kyuubi no longer had free reign within his cage. In fact, he could hardly move, let along threaten his host. However, the muzzle that his mind used as a metaphor for what held back the beast's communications with him now lay discarded on the floor below the great beast.
"You know you don't have any actual control over my body. Only your more primal urges can reach me, no matter how hard you try." Naruto conversed, seemingly totally calm. In reality, he was anything but. Until he managed to regain control of his body, he could only watch, a spectator able to see the world around him only as though he were watching TV. Beyond that, his seal had clearly weakened, the Kyuubi's power simply too strong to be contained forever by the relatively weak three trigram seal.
"PERHAPS NOT, BUT EVEN SO, ANGER AND RAGE ARE POWERFUL EMOTIONS. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN FRIEND AND FOE. SOON ENOUGH, YOU'LL BE SLAUGHTERING THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU."
Weaker than the Gogyou Fuuin that Orochimaru had once put on him, Jiraiya's added seal was not powerful enough to inhibit his access to the kyuubi's chakra. It did, however, prevent a seal that could from completely cutting off his access. Anything he was currently channeling could be still be used, so the immediate exhaustion wouldn't hit him and he would retain consciousness and his ability to fight with his own chakra.
Chuckling at the Kyuubi, he indicated the views around them. "I'm only attacking that other jinchuuriki. So, thanks for the help." and, with that, he closed his eyes and began to meditate, a small smile on his face as the Kyuubi growled his frustration.
While Naruto knew he was probably more powerful than the other jinchuuriki, even in this berserker form, how, could he defeat an opponent nearly as powerful and durable as himself without involving the spectators around him? Suddenly, it hit him. Unable to repress the opportunity mock the fox he added, "Well, it's been fun, thanks for the powwow. Your dragging me down here actually had the added benefit of ensuring my victory. Thanks again. Oh, and rot in hell." With that said, the sewers around him began to swirl as his meditation allowed him to slowly regain control over the Kyuubi's chakra, returning control of his body back to his conscious mind.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
World snapping back into focus, Naruto dropped to the ground, rolled, and dove backwards to avoid the never ending attacks of his opponent. Creating a wall of shadow clones, Naruto placed some distance between himself and Tenjin preparing to give himself some time to initiate his plan.
Now that he was back in control of all of his faculties, his clones too had calmed down and were now approaching the enemy in more coordinated attack patterns. However, being just normal shadow clones, of course, they lasted no longer than the rest had as the five-tails container demolished them in a matter of seconds. However, they had served their purpose, and thanks to all the information the clones had been providing him with, he had a pretty good idea of what to expect from his opponent.
With luck, however, having slaughtered a large number of them already, Tenjin may be complacent that he knew their capabilities which would hopefully, enable Naruto to put his plan into motion. Creating his most commonly used hand seal, Naruto called forth an army of clones, shadow clones hidden within the larger number of illusionary clones to once again stall for more time.
Concealing himself with a few clones around to guard from attack, Naruto drew a pen and some ink. Penning furiously, Naruto handed the drawing to a nearby clone. Those clones that had moments before been protecting him spoke in unison "Hachimon Tonko: Daisan: Kai!" In an explosion of chakra, the group attacked.
The celestial gates, when opened properly can allow a shinobi access to the full capabilities of their body, releasing the natural limitations that every person contains to keep those abilities from harming them. However, opening even a single gate will put massive strain on the body, the strain becoming severe, even permanent damage as more gates are open. However, for a clone this is not really an issue. Muscle exhaustion is hardly something to be worried about when in you won't be around long enough for the lactic acid to build up. Thus, shadow clones are capable of opening gates for a short time indiscriminately of the strain the body would normally suffer. However, opening more than three gates is impossible as the strain begins to cause actual damage to the clone's tendons and muscles resulting in the clone being dispelled. Likewise, continual use of the first three gates will result in the clone puffing out of existence unless the user has regenerative capabilities, something Naruto just happens to have.
Augmenting the speed boost granted to them by opening the gates with Soru, six superpowered clones brought the fight to Tenjin. Dodging jutsu and strikes, they flitted about occasionally rushing in to score a hit. While Tenjin's partial Biju form made him incredibly powerful, highly resilient, and capable of dealing phenomenal offensive damage, the potency of the Biju's chakra made it impossible to rationalize and form a strategic plan of attack.
Obliterating the normal shadow clones about him, Tenjin simply brushed off the strikes-powerful though they were-of the speedier clones. Naruto, still standing a 'safe' distance away, had expected this. He doubted, in fact that the other jinchuuriki had even noticed the difference given the massive number of clones, both solid and illusion he was dealing with. The only thing differentiating those few clones was a minor glow around them and slight darkening of their skin which, while noticeable likely got lost in the sea of orange and black.
Seeing his opening, the clone which Naruto had given the paper to rushed in to complete his task. Dodging a boulder tossed his way (which crushed several clones behind him who lacked his speed boost), the clone ducked under a punch, and spun around an earth spike which erupted at his feet, thrusting the paper onto Tenjin's forehead.
The result was immediate. The chakra that had until then been pouring off the earth jinchuuriki began to recede into the seal. Eyes widening, the giant man immediately erected thick walls of earth to protect him from his opponent's assault. Ripping what he now recognized to be a suppression seal off his face not 5 seconds after it had been applied, Tenjin let the chakra explode back out of him blasting apart the earth walls around him and showering rocks in all directions, in the process serendipitously destroying all of Naruto's solid clones.
The damage, however, had already been done. Using the split second in which Tenjin's demonic chakra receded into the seal, Naruto's clones had watched diligently to identify the seal the giant man had containing his Biju. Even as the thought passed through his mind of the absurdity of trying to contain the Biju of five tails with a mere four point seal, Naruto rushed his opponent, hands forming the necessary seals. Materializing behind the larger man, fingers already aglow, Naruto dug his hand into his opponent's back. "Gogyou Fuuin."
Like flipping a light switch, in an instant, the massive chakra that had run through and leaked out from his body his entire life vanished. For Tenjin, that chakra was as much a part of his existence as his own chakra- as necessary as the air he breathed. Much like Naruto did when Orochimaru had applied the seal to him all those years ago, Tenjin immediately pitched forward in blissful unconsciousness.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
Up in the Kage's box, Tsuande couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. Turning to her Earth country counterpart, her smile widened at the way his eyes were bulging in shock and anger as Shikaku announced Naruto as the winner and the medical team rushed quickly onto the field. Before the other military leader could regain his composure, she stood to address the cheering crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for attending this year's Chuunin exam. Congratulations to all of our competitors for the wonderful demonstration of ninja skills they provided us. You have brought great honor to your respective countries…"
Tuning out the deceptively young-looking woman, the Tsuchikage gritted his teeth in murderous rage. 'Impossible!' that was the single thought repeating over and over in his mind. Tenjin was his nephew, his prized student, his ace-in-the-hole, the most powerful shinobi amongst his ranks despite his Gennin status (though Roshi, with his own Biju and experience, would possibly come out on top if the two were ever pitted against each other). He had never lost to an opponent before, crushing every enemy underfoot with his Biju's seemingly limitless power. It was unthinkable, inexcusable, for him to lose now-not to the son of that man. Not when he was so close to having his revenge. Throwing all diplomacy and caution to the wind, he was prepared to issue his men in the stands the command finish the blond-haired brat ('he surely had to be severely weakened and exhausted after the fight') when an explosion below caught his attention.
The medical team, which until a moment ago was approaching Tenjin to tend to any moves he may have received, was gone. In its place was nothing but a smoking crater splattered with blood and littered with body parts. Even as the crowd screamed in surprise and fear, eyes honed from decades of training flitted around the field looking for the culprit.
"What is the meaning of this?!" he heard the Hokage accuse even as his eyes locked on the attacker as the man rose from the ground. He saw red.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Thank you for gift wrapping the Biju for us, yeah." Naruto heard from his left. Tearing his eyes from the obliterated medics to the source of the voice, Naruto saw only shifting black cloak with red clouds. Exhausted from the strain of controlling the Kyuubi's overwhelming chakra as well as the energy expended by the battle, he couldn't move in time as a powerful kick connected with his chin sending him crashing several yards away. "He was pretty damn strong, this is much easier than fighting him myself, yeah."
With an underhand throwing motion, almost like a frisbee, the man tossed an item on the ground next to him. With a quiet 'poof,' a large clay bird appeared. A grin graced the man's lips as he heard none other than his old boss scream "It's Deidara! Kill him!" Seeing the motion as the contingent of Iwa shinobi moved to attack, the grin widened and became more predatory as his hands came together in a single hand seal. He had the entirety of the finals matches to prepare his attack, his clay explosives having plenty of time to get into position. "Art is a bang!" the blond man yelled as an explosion rocked the stadium as the entire set of bleachers detonated sending the Iwa shinobi flying in all directions-some dead, some injured, and only a small subset having the experience to escape unscathed.
Seeing the demise of his subordinates, the Tsuchikage moved to attack the S-ranked Iwa criminal while Tsunade signaled her hidden ANBU, and other shinobi scattered throughout the stadium to attack the intruder. Before the Tsuchikage could even make it out of the box, sand swirled around them sealing them in.
"What are you doing Gaara?!" Tsunade asked rounding on the young kage.
One eye closed as he watched outside with his third eye, the jinchuuriki responded simply "We're under attack." As he spoke, he allowed 100's of projectile weapons to pass gently through the sand to emphasize his point. As the hail of weapons ceased, the sand dropped allowing the kages to glimpse the madness outside.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
The moment the explosion engulfed the Iwa delegation, dozens of red-cloaked, masked figures appeared seemingly from thin air bursting from the smoke. A good 30 began launching a massive hail of kunai and shuriken towards the Kage's box to keep the strongest opposition preoccupied as the remaining force moved to intercept the remaining Iwa and gathered Konoha shinobi.
Having recovered from the Akatsuki member's kick, Naruto launched himself at the assailant. He only made it half way to the man before having to duck and dive out of the way of attacks sent by a trio of the red-cloaked, masked figures.
His smirk turning to a full-blown grin, as the Tsuchikage appeared in front of him, his hat and mask long forgotten revealing the middle-aged man hidden underneath, Deidara picked up the still-unconscious jinchuuriki at his feet and tossed the much larger man onto the back of his clay creation. 'Tail feathers' of the bird wrapped around Tenjin, securing him in place as Deidara sent a flock of explosive birds towards his old superior.
With an effortless set of seals, the Tsuchikage caused a 15 foot tall earth wall to erupt between them. However, the birds, controlled by Deidara's chakra avoided impact and flew around the wall to converge on the other side. A small explosion ensued and smoke poured on either side of the rock wall.
Before he could celebrate his victory, the earth wall melted as though made of wet mud and reformed into the heads of several dragons. "Doton: Dai Doryuudan." He heard from the other side of the wall as the dragons' mouths opened and unleashed a torrent of earth missiles. Hopping on the back of his clay bird, Deidara took to the air, flying above and away from the kage's attack. As he flew higher, he couldn't help but taunt the man, the sound carrying down over the sounds of battle all around. "You're still too weak old man. First your wife, now your nephew, I may well take your whole family from you, yeah."
With senses honed from years of experience, Deidara commanded his bird into a corkscrew, narrowly avoiding the large 'hand' of sand that had formed behind him and threatened to swat him out of the air. Settling back right side up, he glanced around to find none other than the Godaime Kazekage floating on a large volume of sand rapidly approaching him. 'Perfect.'He thought. 'Looks like it's time to leave.' Gliding away, out of the stadium and away from Konoha, he looked back to see if the Ichibi was following him. Grinning as the Kazekage raced after him, Deidara pushed his vessel on towards his destination.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------
Back in the stadium, every capable shinobi was battling what many of the more experienced had come to recognize as puppets when suddenly the entire army disappeared. Eyes searching the stadium, confirming the lack of hostiles, the previously battling shinobi burst into motion, scrambling to help the wounded and the civilians.
Up in the stands, a red-haired teenage smirked as he concealed a large scroll within his cloak. Turning away from the frantic crowd around him, he calmly exited the stadium.
A/N: And there you have it. The second half of this chapter I don't necessarily feel is really up to snuff, but it's time to start moving the storyline forward. Again, I apologize to all my avid readers for the long hiatus. I had this chapter around 70 percent done back in July, but thanks to a computer crash, I lost the entirety of this story. By the time I got my computer back, I had lost plenty of motivation. After that, school, work, and life got in the way. Unfortunately, I can't promise that such a hiatus won't occur again, but I'll do my best to get chapters out in a far more reasonable amount of time. Thanks to everyone who's still reading. As always, R&R.
Jutsu Library:
Futon: Rasen Shuriken-Wind Element: Spiral Shuriken
Raiton: Tenshu No Eidan-Lightning Element: Heaven's Judgement
Soru-Shave (Rokushiki: Taijutsu technique allowing user to move at rapid speeds by stomping the ground 10 times in an instant, concentrating chakra into the ground until it explodes to propel the person forward)
Rogafuufuuken-Wolf Fang Fist
Gogyou Fuuin-Five Elements Seal
Hachimon Tonko: Daisan: Kai-Eight Gates Opening: Third Gate: Release
Doton: Dai Doryuudan-Earth Element: Great Earth Dragon Projectile