Kurenai watched fearfully as Naruto and Imada stared each other down. She could sense Imada's shinobi hidden around the room, and didn't move a muscle for fear of them reacting.
"Is there a reason you came barging into my hotel room, Imada-sama?" Naruto asked cooly.
Imada smirked cruelly, his thick mustache curling atop his lip. "I've come to apprehend the ones responsible for the increase in crime around the country."
"Surely you can't be referring to my friends, we've only been in Hot Water for a few weeks."
"That's not what's it says in my report to the Daimiyo," Imada replied. "These terrorists have been sowing discord throughout Hot Water and have aggravated local gangs, turning our capital into a warzone." As he spoke a loud bang could be heard down the street from the hotel followed by a multitude of screaming. "The Daimiyo sits pretty in his little resort while the rest of the people suffer at the hands of these gangs. Eventually they will turn to the only one doing anything to keep them safe, and when they do, Yuga will once again become a respectable shinobi village."
"So, what are you planning on doing with them?" Naruto incquired.
"Oh, I have an associate who will make use of them," Imada said. "In the meantime, I think I'll take them with me for… interrogation…"
There was a brief surge of chakra and Imada vanished with Ryuka, Taisa, and Yomito in a strange sort of blur, while several shinobi dropped down infront of Naruto, Kurenai, and Guren. Kurenai didn't even get a chance to react as she felt Naruto's chakra flare, and a multitude of dark blurs cut through the air, striking down their attackers.
"Guren, notify the Hokage what's happened. Kurenai, guard the door while I call everyone else back."
Kurenai didn't hesitate to follow her orders when she saw the look in Naruto's eyes and activated a Genjutsu to hide herself while she watched the door. Minutes later, Tsume, Kiba, Sakura, and Kanagi were trudging behind Tayuya into his room and she followed them in.
"This better be good, Uzumaki," Kanagi said, his arms crossed. "In case you haven't noticed the capital's going to hell in a handbasket."
"Tsume-san, I'd like to request yours and Kiba's help tracking my friends from Yume," Naruto said. "They were abducted just now and I'm going to get them back."
"Hold on," Kanagi interrupted. "Why should we help you? You got yourself into this mess, it's not our job to get you out."
Kanagi's mouth snapped shut as an enormous pressure crashed down on them all, as if gravity had just been increased ten-fold.
"You said it yourself, Kanagi," Naruto growled. "Things are getting worse out there, and the only way we're making it through this night is by working together. Now, are you going to listen to what I have to say, or am I going to have to make you shut up?"
Kanagi wisely kept his mouth shut, though the glare he directed at Naruto showed he was not happy about being put in his place.
"Akamaru and I will help however we can, Naruto," Kiba said as the pressure eased up.
"So will Kuromaru and I," Tsume added.
"Whatever you need, Naruto-san," Sakura declared.
Naruto nodded and Kuromaru took to sniffing around the room to hunt down Taisa and the others' scents. Once he had a lead, they followed him outside where Naruto turned and started dishing out orders.
"Guren, Tsume, Tayuya, and I will follow Kuromaru. Kurenai, you take Kiba, Sakura, and Kanagi and focus on trying to keep the civilians safe. Your first priority is protection, some of the gangsters look like Yuga shinobi, so don't trust anybody but each other. Lastly, take these," he handed out a slip of paper with a seal drawn on it to each of them. "These should counteract the effects of that jutsu, and help you keep your cool."
Everyone nodded, and Kurenai leapt away with Kiba and the others while Naruto summoned Ryuda. He, Guren, and Tayuya climbed on his back while Tsume hopped on Kuromaru's.
They followed Kuromaru through the streets of the city, moving as fast as they could while avoiding both gangsters and Yuga shinobi alike. They wound their way out of the pristine tourist districts of the capital and into the more dilapidated slums near the edges, out of sight from any visitors entering via the main gate. Naruto's eyes were narrowed, and he leaned down against Ryuda's back while Tayuya wrapped her arms around his middle.
Not a word was said until they came to a stop before a massive run down warehouse. There was a noticeable lack of gangsters fighting in the streets, and Naruto was set on edge as Kuromaru turned around and raised his head to look up at them. "The scent ends inside that building," he growled. "But there are several others inside as well."
"Thanks," Naruto said as he hopped down from Ryuda's back and addressed Tsume. "You don't have to come in. Kanagi may be an ass, but he was right about this not being your fight."
"Kid, the entire time we've been working together, I've seen you work to respect my clan's loyalty to Konoha," Tsume said, dismounting her own companion. "We're known for our loyalty, and even though Kiba is a good friend of yours, you've never made him choose between you and our village. That being said, my son's choice was made long ago, and today I made mine. Kuromaru and I are going in there with you, and once this is all done, the Inuzuka clan is joining Uzu."
Naruto smiled and held his hand out for Tsume to shake before growing serious and facing the door once more. Activating his Kunshugan, he nodded to Ryuda. Ryuda growled and released his transformation, growing to his full fifteen foot height before throwing his weight into the wall, smashing right through it.
Naruto sprang right into action, releasing his seals and unsheathing Eclipse as he leapt at the multitude of shinobi that charged him from all sides. Slamming his foot on the ground, he froze and focused his senses, moving in a blur a moment later as he cut down a shinobi diving towards his back while Eclipse's wind technique cut down several of the shinobi surrounding him on the ground. He vaguely registered the sound of Tayuya's flute, and the snarl of her summons joining Ryuda in wreaking havoc all around them while Tsume and Kuromaru zipped from one end of the warehouse to the other over and over, their twin cyclones tearing through anything in their way. Focusing his senses on Taisa's nearby chakra signature, Naruto cleared a path with a quick application of earth followed by fire chakra through Eclipse before using its water chakra to cover him as he ran forward.
He burst through a door at the back of the warehouse and was forced to immediately jump to the side as a familiar jet of purple chakra tore through the ground towards him.
"Yomito?" He called. "It's me, Naruto! I'm here to help you guys!"
"Oh, they can't hear you." Naruto looked up and snarled as Imada strolled out of the shadows above him, flanked by Yomito and Taisa, both of whom had some sort of seal on their heads. "You see, my associate is quite proficient with seals. Particularly the kind that allow him complete control over another individual. Those Yume clans sure are surprising."
"What are you talking about?" Naruto demanded.
"Now why would I tell you?" Imada asked with a cruel smirk. Taisa and Yomito both jumped down from the rafters and started approaching Naruto, their eyes blank despite the threatening scowls on both of their faces. "Now, I have an appointment to get to, so I'll leave your friends to deal with you. I will tell you this though, all the clans from Yume are reknowned for their ability to transform, so you might want to be careful."
Imada laughed and Naruto froze time just as he felt Imada's chakra surge. He examined the mixture of wind and lightning chakra flowing through Imada's body as well as the similarity to the shunshin and summoning techniques in its molding and stored that information for later before turning his gaze on the seals adorning Taisa and Yomito's foreheads. It wasn't like a regular loyalty seal that changed a person's perception. Instead it seemed that the chakra of the seal was overwriting their own, robbing them of their rational thought. He hoped that there was some way to separate the connection between the boys and their controller, but found that they weren't being directly controlled. The seal had what looked like command seals integrated into it, forcing Taisa and Yomito to do what they were told withing the parameters of specific commands within the seal. On top of that, it seemed to be fueling itself with their own chakra, and considering Naruto didn't have the time to develop a counter or removal seal like he did for Hinata's Caged Bird, he was going to have to beat both boys if had any hope of freeing them.
Unfreezing time, he sighed and sheathed Eclipse. "I know you can't hear me," he said, "but I'm going to free you two and get Ryuka back. That's a promise." He planted his staff into the ground and lowered into his wind stance.
Yomito snarled and unleashed a flurry of chakra jets which Naruto jumped and danced around before being slammed out of the air by Taisa. He grit his teeth as Taisa's body cloaked itself in lightning chakra and felt his muscles convulse as he was slammed into the wall. Springing to his feet, he created several clones and rushed Taisa and Yugito with a flurry of elements, making sure not to cause any permanent damage. He was happy to see Taisa and Yugito backing up as the clones encircled them and peppered them with hunks of rock and jets of flame until both boys doubled over with a roar and chakra surged out of them destroying all of Naruto's clones.
A loud crash rang through the warehouse as Naruto was sent flying through the wall at the back, skidding to a halt at Guren's feet where she was protecting Tayuya as her Doki tore through their enemies. Guren kneeled down and helped him to his feet as two loud roars shook the walls around them. A thick purple mist seeped out of the hole he had made, and Tayuya froze as they watched two hulking… things… burst through the wall.
The first was a giant armored beetle. It was easily eight feet tall and its black carapace as well as the five horns jutting out around its head were covered in jagged orange and violet markings while its six legs were wrapped in bandages, violet spikes bursting through the coverings. Lightning crackled around its body, and the pungent violet mist they had seen earlier emitted from its body, choking and burning any of the Yuga shinobi unfortunate enough to be nearby and inhale it.
The second monster was unaffected by the toxic fumes and stood menacingly over its companion, easily twelve feet tall. It resembled an oni, or some other similar creature of myth, with dark, leathery skin that stretched over bulging muscles, and vibrant red hair bursting wildly out from behind its menacing mask. Its legs remained crouched as a rumbling sound shook its chest before it roared and threw its hands to the side –slamming into a few Yuga shinobi and splattering them across the walls. The ogre charged towards them, forcing Tayuya and Guren to leap into the rafters above, Naruto dangling between them.
"What the fuck are those things?!" Tayuya shouted.
"Taisa and Yomito," Naruto grunted, standing to his feet. "Imada put a seal on them and is controlling their actions. They both are able to use their clans' transformation techniques to turn into those things in a fight."
"We're going to have a hard time beating them if that bug is leaking poison everywhere it goes," Tsume said as she and Kuromaru joined them.
Naruto grunted and activated his voice seal. "Kurenai, how are things going?"
"Most of the fighting has died down," Kurenai reported. "We managed to stop a lot of the gang members, and Sugita's arrived from Mutsunai with his own shinobi who seem to be on our side."
"Alright. Imada still has Ryuka, and I have a feeling I know where he's going. We just need to wrap things up here, and we'll meet you at the hotel."
He jumped down to the ground as Taisa charged through one of the support beams holding up the rafters. Ryuda was locked in a grappling match against Yomito, and Naruto was determined to keep Taisa's poison gas away from his brother.
"Hey, Taisa! Over here!"
The massive beetle chittered angrily and lightning sparked across its body as it charged him. Naruto already knew from experience that Taisa's shell was all but inpenetrable, deflecting all of his attacks effortlessly. That didn't deter him from planting his feet with his wood release and holding his hands out, catching Taisa by the two largest horns sprouting out from either side of his jaw, and crying out as they slipped through his hands, impaling him through either side of his lower torso, while the ground underneath his feet tore up. They eventually slowed to a stop, and Naruto screamed as he pumped chakra to his muscles, slamming his foot into the ground as he pivoted to create a spike of earth that erupted out of the ground and into Tasia's exposed underbelly, transferring enough momentum for Naruto to spin and launch Taisa over his shoulder and slam his back into the ground. Naturo grunted as Taisa's horns slid out of his body, and jumped away, creating a sphere of air around himself as the lightning surrounding the massive bug faded and toxic mist started rising out of it while it struggled to right itself.
Reacting to an impulse, Naruto raised his left hand and felt his staff soar through the air into his open palm, before slamming the butt of it into the crack in Taisa's exoskeleton on his stomach. The staff smashed through the armored exterior and Naruto immediately felt his staff absorbing Taisa's chakra at an incredible rate. The transformation faded with a burst of smoke, and Naruto raised his staff, watching the seal on Taisa's forehead fall off and erupt in a small flame before turning to face Yomito who was pinned to the ground by Ryuda, his dagger-like teeth poised directly over the ogre's neck while Kuromaru and Tayuya's Doki watched in case he tried anything.
Walking over, Naruto tapped his staff against the centre of Yomito's forehead and absorbed his chakra until he too was freed from his seal. Removing his staff, Naruto helped Yomito to his feet while Tsume did the same for Taisa.
"Naruto-san, the voices of the dead informed me that you are the one who saved me and Taisa," Yomito mumbled. "Thank you."
"Don't worry about it," Naruto replied as he helped them both onto Ryuda's back. They rushed back through the streets, and Naruto was unsurprised to find the tourist section of the capital practically intact, while much of the rest looked like it had taken the brunt of the damage from the battles.
They arrived at the hotel and met with Kurenai and the others as well as Sugita, who was waiting with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.
"Are you okay?" Kurenai asked the second he was within earshot. Naruto chuckled as she checked him over, a cute frown on her face when she saw the bloody holes in his robes, the skin beneath already healed over.
"We're fine," Naruto reassured her. "But we need to get moving. Imada is headed for Yume."
"Then let's get moving," Kiba announced only to frown when Naruto shook his head.
You guys have done enough, Naruto signed. Your mom has agreed to my offer and I need you both back in Konoha so you can make preparations to get your clan out as soon as possible. Ero-Sennin is already in Yume so we'll have plenty of back up.
Kiba sighed and his shoulders dropped. "Alright, I guess that's an okay reason."
Naruto smiled and embraced his friend before turning to Tsume and bowing. "Thank you for your help. I hope you have a safe journey back to Konoha."
Tsume, having caught on to the interaction between Naruto and Kiba nodded and returned the sentiment. "I hope we can work together sometime soon, Uzumaki-san," she said with a significant look before turning back into the hotel, followed by Kanagi and a hesitant Sakura.
"What makes you think Imada is headed to Yume?" Sugita asked.
A brief scan of his intentions courtesy of his dad revealed Sugita's intentions to be sincere, so Naruto simply reactivated his restriction seals and turned towards the road out of the capital.
"I'll explain on the way."
*(OoO)*
Naruto exuded a dangerous aura around his person as he led the sprint towards Yume. He quickly explained everything that had happened to Sugita since he had left Mutsunai, and didn't say a word more until they were making camp for the night. The breakneck pace they were moving at insured they would arrive in Yume the next day, and Kurenai was feeling a burn in her muscles from a full day's running at near her top speed. Jiraiya had responded over the voice seals, and explained that Ryuka's father, the leader of Yume, had told him that the only reason someone would want to kidnap her would be to release a creature known as the Three-Headed Beast.
"Tell me everything you know about the Three-Headed Beast," Naruto demanded once they had set up camp.
Taisa and Yomito exchanged a look before Taisa started speaking. "Yume was founded by my clan, the Amagiri. For a long time we were the ruling power in the village. Then, the Three-Heads appeared. It was said that the Three-Heads is a monster made up entirely of chakra that brought about cataclysm. According to legends, the first cry of the beast will scorch mountains and plains, the second will shake the earth, and the third will return everything to nothingness. The Tenro clan were the ones who finally sealed the Three-Heads away, and for that they were made the leaders of the village, while the Amagiri fought to hold on to their power. When that fake Nine-Tails attacked, my father was one of the ones lost in the destruction. He was working to mend the divide between our clan and the rest of the village. If anyone is responsible for all of this, it's an Amagiri."
Naruto heaved a deep breath and stood up. "Thank you for telling me that. We leave at dawn, and we're going to get Ryuka back."
Kurenai watched him walk out of the firelight, into the darkness surrounding them, and exchanged a look with Guren and Tayuya.
"You two go," Guren said. "I'll keep watch first with Ryuda."
Kurenai smiled gratefully and she and Tayuya stood up to follow Naruto into the bamboo forest. They found him sitting cross-legged in front of a small stream, his open hands resting on his knees while his staff lay across his lap. Kurenai watched as Naruto's breathing increased, beads of sweat pouring down his face and chest as two little balls of flame appeared in his hands, one red and the other blue. They could feel the emotions rolling off of him as his chakra flared, blanketing the air with his presence.
Tayuya frowned at the feeling of guilt and anger rolling off Naruto and reached into her shirt to pull out her flute. Slowly, she started playing a soft melody, watching as Naruto's frenzied emotions started to calm and an aura of serenity filled the air. Naruto opened his eyes and smiled at them both, beckoning them over while he stood and started to run through some stances. Tayuya kept playing as she and Kurenai watched Naruto swirl his arms around to the beat of her song, amazed when the two flames in his hands vanished and lightning started forming on the tips of his outstretched fingers. He continued to move with her song, and the lightning moved with him, its sparking and cracking adding an almost ethereal energy to the tune.
Tayuya smirked and increased the tempo to her melody, watching as Naruto sped up with it until the song reached its climax and he thrusted his arms skyward, the lightning arcing up in a beautiful display of power. The air smelled of copper as Naruto lowered his arms and strode over to sit back down between Tayuya and Kurenai, a gentle smile on his face.
"Thank you," he whispered, pulling them close. "Both of you."
Kurenai leaned closer, basking in the unique smell sweat and something that was undeniably Naruto. It must have been his constant usage of the different elements, but Kurenai could have sworn he smelled like nature itself.
"We're here for you, Naruto," Tayuya said, leaning against his other side. "No one blames you for what happened."
"I know," Naruto sighed, leaning back so that they were all laying on the ground watching the stars. "It still hurts. Ryuka and the others were under my watch, and I let them get kidnapped."
"That's part of being a shinobi," Kurenai said, stroking her hand along his chest. "Sometimes things go wrong, and people get hurt. The only thing you can do is keep moving forward."
"You're right. Doesn't stop me from worrying though, especially when I think about what Imada is planning on doing when he unseals a monster as strong as a Tailed-Beast."
"Well then, maybe we can distract you for a while," Tayuya replied slyly before capturing Naruto's lips in a searing kiss. Kurenai watched them for a moment before smirking and deciding to get in on the fun, laying kisses along Naruto's whiskered cheeks and neck. Eventually, she and Tayuya switched places, and Naruto let out a rumpbling growl as he pulled them both closer, surprising Kurenai. She had definitely not been expecting him to keep up with the both of them so naturally. In fact, even when she and Naruto had shared their first kiss, there was a strange lack of hesitance for someone as young and inexperienced as Naruto. Shoving those thoughts aside, she whimpered quietly when Tayuya switched from kissing Naruto to peppering kisses up and down her neck. The feeling of Naruto's chakra permeated the air, filling both women with a feeling of comfort and security, heat rising in both of them as their passion grew.
Tayuya lost track of time when Naruto started slowing the kisses down, gently bringing them back from a line she herself didn't even feel ready to cross, let alone with another woman present. Naruto curled his arms around her and Kurenai and pulled them both close as he closed his eyes, sighing in content as he placed a kiss on the top of their heads before his breathing evened out, comfortably asleep with both their heads resting on his chest.
The next morning, they all awoke to find a smirking Guren standing over them, a hint of jealousy in her eyes. They rose and quickly packed their things before Taisa and Yomito, still suffering slightly from chakra exhaustion after their fight with Naruto, were placed on Ryuda's back and they continued on their way to Yume.
They arrived a few hours after noon and were greeted by Jiraiya and Anko as well as a large and bulky man with grey spiky hair. His attire consisted of a grey sleeveless kimono shirt with a collar lining of dark blue fur and brown pants with leg warmers in matching fur. His forehead protector was shaped like a face-guard, and he wore a red scarf around his neck with round stone ornaments attached.
"You're the shinobi my daughter was with when she was taken?" The man said once they approached.
Naruto nodded and scanned the remains of the village from the hill they were standing on. It was no wonder they thought he and Kurama had been the one to attack. Almost the entire village was devastated, and only a few buildings were still standing, everything else was no more than rubble.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, you said that Ryuka is most likely going to be used to unseal the Three-Heads, right?"
"So you are the one who made us the offer of refuge in Uzu," the man remarked. "I am Enzo, leader of this village and head of the Tenro clan. I wish we could have met under better circumstances. Yes, Ryuka is the current holder of the key to unseal the Three-Headed Guardian Beast. It remains sealed just outside the village, within a nearby volcano."
Naruto nodded and considered his options. "Enzo-san, I swore I would get your daughter back. But I can't do that if I have to worry about your village being caught in the crossfire. Is there a safe place you can take them while my friends and I deal with Imada?"
"It will be handled," Enzo said resolutely. "Just please get my daughter back for me. We've lost enough people over the last few months, I don't want to add her to the list."
"We're coming too," Taisa said. Naruto turned to refuse, but one look into his and Yomito's eyes told him they weren't going to take no for an answer where there friend was concerned.
Naruto nodded. "Alright. Ero-Sennin, you, Hebi-hana, and Kessho-hime are with me. Tenshi-chan, Ongaku-chan you two help Enzo-sama with the evacuation and keeping people safe. I have a feeling an attack is coming."
Kurenai and Tayuya looked like they wanted to protest, but nodded anyway, resigned to the fact that their genjutsu would not be as helpful as Anko, and Guren's more offensive techniques in the coming fight. The group split up, and Naruto turned towards the nearby volcano looming over the village. It took them less than an hour to arrive, and Naruto slammed his foot into the ground, focusing his senses on the vibrations in the ground to locate a nearby cave.
They immediately ran into resistance as shinobi from both Yuga and Yume appeared from behind the dark stalagmites and stalagtites, some with seals on their foreheads, some without. Sweat poured down Naruto's face as he jumped between pools of lava that littered the caves and manipulated the molten rock towards his enemies, wincing internally at their gruesome screams before the heat and toxic gases ended their suffering. Guren, Jiraiya, and Anko were all making short work of the other shinobi, so he, Ryuda, Taisa, and Yomito pushed forward, deeper into the system of caves.
The others eventually caught up with them, and they all fought their way further into the volcano until they came upon a massive cave filled with pools of lava where the molten rock erupted out of the ground like gysers. At the back of the cave were Ryuka with a seal placed on her forehead, Imada, and an unknown third figure standing in front of a massive blue sphere the size of the new Hokage Tower in Uzu.
"Good to see you, Uzumaki!" Imada yelled across the cavern. "I see you brought back up with you! Lucky for me, I did too!"
Even more shinobi dropped down in the space between the two groups and Naruto turned to look at his companions.
"Go," Jiraiya said. "We can take these guys easy, you handle that mustachioed jackass."
Naruto grinned and released his seals as he leapt off the ledge they were standing on and ran across the room. Imada smirked and hefted a massive steel club covered in spikes over his shoulder and jumped down to meet him. The ground cracked under his bulk, and lava shot up out of the ground behind him as Imada rose to his full height, well over six feet while the muscles of his arms bulged under the weight of the four foot club. Naruto activated his Kunshugan just in time to see the mixture of wind and lightning chakra course through Imada's body before he vanished, reappearing right in front of Naruto and swinging his club down to crush him. Naruto dodged and Imada's club crashed through the fragile igneus rock, creating a spurt of lava underneath it.
"Surprised?" Imada asked as he vanished and appeared behind Naruto, swinging his club. Naruto ducked and drew Eclipse, slashing at Imada's exposed middle only to strike thin air. "Most people don't think a guy like me can move very fast. Gives me a decent opening when I use my Swift Release." Lightning cloaked his club as he reappeared over Naruto sticking to the wall. He swung his club and a bright bolt of blue lightning burst forwards arcing through the air.
Naruto leapt out of the way and took a deep breath, only for it to be smashed out of his lungs as Imada appeared in front of him, batting him back the way he came and slamming him into the wall. Naruto groaned and tore himself out of the wall of the cave, he closed his eyes and froze time to give himself a moment to think. He could feel Kurama channeling some of his own chakra to mend his fractured ribs and the hole in his side one of the spikes left and sent a wave of gratitude to his father.
So, instantaneous movement, he thought. How do I deal with that?
He opened his eyes to look at Imada, unfreezing time for less than a second, and examined the chakra inside his opponent's body. The technique he was using was similar to the Shunshin in that he was channeling the mixture of wind and lightning chakra to his limbs to dramatically increase his speed, but despite being able to cross large distances in a moment, Imada still suffered from his attacks being slow and easy to dodge if you saw them coming. That meant that his bulk still slowed him down, and the technique didn't make as fast as he would like Naruto to believe. On top of that, Naruto saw some core similarities between Imada's Jutsu and the Hiraishin. He could feel Imada's chakra being projected to the spot right behind him, and guessed that the technique moved the user at high enough speeds to effectively teleport them. Imada projected his chakra to where he wanted to be and allowed himself to be pulled at ridiculous speeds towards that location. The chakra in his limbs was to reinforce himself upon landing.
Now it's just a matter of figuring out his pattern.
Unfreezing time, Naruto ducked and spun as Imada appeared behind him, his club wreathed in electricity as it passed harmlessly overhead, causing Imada to over extend. Naruto struck out with Eclipse, and managed to graze his side before Imada vanished and appeared on the other side of the room. Raising his staff, Naruto intercepted the bolt of lightning being shot at him, absorbing the chakra in the technique, and using his own to safely divert the energy in the technique out of his body and into the ground.
Planting his staff into the ground (a part of Naruto thought that he really had to figure out what to do with his staff while in a fight), Naruto ducked into his own lighning stance, and channeled his chakra through Eclipse. His reflexes went into over drive as everything seemed to slow down, and he felt Imada's chakra once again appear behind him. Spinning in place, he raised his left hand and caught the edge of the club, a crater forming under his feet from the displacement of the forces, and used his other hand to channel the electricity down his arm, holding Eclipse perpendicular until he reached his chest where he rotated it to be parallel to his arm as he directed the electricity down around his stomach, and spinning the blade up and out as he guided it along his other arm towards his sword.
Eclipse glowed and he folloed his instincts as he thrusted the blade forward into Imada's gut, the lightning chakra acting in a similar manner to when he used his wind chakra as it created multiple stabbing blades of black energy in the air around it, while the energy cloaking the blade extended its length. Imada vanished in time to avoid any lethal blows, but Naruto could see various cuts littering his torso once he reappeared.
"You might be fast, Imada," Naruto called. He felt Imada throw his chakra to another wall above and behind himself and channeled his chakra into his unrestrained limbs as he leapt into the air, briefly impressed by how much his speed had improved through the use of his resistance seals, Eclipse a blur of black, piercing strikes as he intercepted Imada and peppered him with cuts before he vanished again. "But you're terribly predictable."
"I'll show you predictable," Imada growled as he reappeared near his original position in front of the giant blue sphere, which was now pulsing with a dark violet glow. "Gensui, put the seal on me!"
The third figure standing in front of a forcibly complacent Ryuka, turned and Naruto heard Taisa and Yomito gasp.
"Dad?!" Taisa shouted. "What are you doing here? We thought you died when that fake Nine-Tails attacked!"
The man stepped forward revealing himself to be an older man with long white hair that pointed up at his temples while the rest was straight and tied into two loose, think ponytails behind his back. He wore a pointed black hat, and yellow robes and bore face paint similar to what Taisa wore. He scowled as he regarded his son with distaste.
"You always were a disappointment, Taisa," Gensui said calmly. "Running around with those brats from the other clans, you completely disregarded the shame they had brought upon your own people."
"What are you talking about?" Taisa shouted. "You and Enzo-sama were best friends! You helped him lead the village and bridge the divide between our clans."
Gensui scoffed. "Please, that man was nothing more than a puppet to get me closer to my true goal. Making him believe I was on his side was child's play."
"I take it you were the one who framed Naruto, then?" Jiraiya asked as he broke the neck of the man he was fighting.
Gensui smirked. "Indeed I was, and as Imada here has so graciously volunteered, allow me to show you how I turn my puppets into some of the most fearsome creatures known to man!" Imada's eyes widened at the mention of puppets and he opened his mouth to protest, but Gensui beat him to the punch and slapped a seal on his forehead. Immediately a massive amount of chakra started pouring out of Imada as he disappeared in an explosion of smoke. In his place stood the massive form of Shukaku, crouched down to accommodate the tight space inside of the cavern before rising to its full height and crashing through the roof of the cave, sunlight streaming in through the hole in the side of the volcano. "Of course, mimicking the chakra of a Tailed-Beast is rather exhausting, so poor Imada here will likely expire once the transformation is done, but it wasn't like I was going to continue to help him after teaching how to adjust that little genjutsu the Hot Water Daimiyo uses, anyway, so it all works out in the end."
Shukaku roared and launched a massive ball of chakra at them, blowing another hole in the side of the volcano as Naruto and the others only just avoided being caught in the blast.
"There's no way we can fight a Tailed-Beast on our own," Jiraiya yelled as Shukaku roared. "Especially not if Gensui manages to summon the Three-Heads."
As if on cue, there was a scream from the other room as a bright bolt of light shot out of Ryuka and she dropped to the ground, unconscious. The blue sphere pulsed more violently before an ear-splitting screech pierced the air. Naruto closed his eyes as a foul wind blew over them all, and when he opened them, he saw a second gargantuan creature standing behind Shukaku. The volcano shook with the amount of damage it was taking, and Naruto saw a large plume of smoke rising into the sky above them.
"Jiraiya, get everyone back to Yume and make sure they're safe, then grab anyone who can use water techniques and wait for me."
"There's no way I'm letting you face these things on your own, Naruto," Jiraiya countered.
"I'm not," Naruto replied. "I've got Dad and Ryuda with me. Plus I'm the only one who has summons that could possibly take these things on."
Jiraiya looked like he wanted to argue, but one look into the spinning form of Naruto's eyes told him it wasn't an argument he could win. He nodded and dashed over with Naruto to grab Ryuka while Naruto threw a kick to the side of Gensui's head.
Gensui grunted and was sent flying, landing at the feet of the Three-Heads, and Naruto dodged a blast of sand as he finally took the time to examine the second beast. Its body was similar to that of a lion's, a beige piece of spiked armor rested above its main head while the other two sprouted from it just above the beast's shoulders. The heads were smooth and white, like most of its body, without any features except for a pair of beady eyes. The underside of its body was a dark purple and seemed harder than the rest of it. It stood still, its gale-like breathing the only indication it was even alive.
The fake Shukaku roared and both Naruto and the Three-Heads turned their attention to it. Thinking quickly, Naruto sprinted forward and kicked Gensui once more in the head, knocking him out. He tossed his unconscious body towards Jiriaya, figuring the people of Yume would want to deal with him themselves, and began channeling as much of both his and Kurama's chakra as he could. Biting his thumb, he reached out and summoned his staff to add to the reserve of chakra he was channeling, before slamming it into the ground.
The top of the volcano exploded and two massive figures appeared amongst the raining fire. One was easily taller than Shukaku, and vaguely humanoid in shape. As the flames covering its body died down, they unveiled a large bipedal dragon, covered in red spiky scales arranged like armor. Its head was crested by three curved, black horns, while another three curled around and behind its neck. Its long silver claws sprouted out of hands that were covered in a gauntlet of spiked scales that tapered off just below the elbow, exposing its massive biceps and shoulders, while the assortment of scales around its waist looked almost like an armored skirt, while its taloned feet were covered similarly to its hands. Its back had two vents just below the spikes curling around its neck where fire billowed out in the shape of great, plumed wings.
"So, it looks like we finally both get summoned, eh, Ryukoho?" The massive fire dragon asked its companion.
The second dragon looked like it had spent the last few millennia buried under ground. It was covered in moss and dirt, as well as various outcroppings of crystal all over its body. The exposed parts of its body revealed a quadrupedal behemoth that overshadowed the Three-Heads with ease. Its black and red armor covered its legs, back, and head while braided vines fell from its sides, giving it an ancient, tribal look. The horns sprouting from its helmet were a cross between a rhino's horn as they curved forward over each brow and antlers where they curverd back and out to the sides. Its legs were thicker around than the thickest tree Naruto had ever seen, and the claws at the end of its house-sized feet looked like they could tear up in entire street each.
Ryukoho rumbled with a chuckle as he responded. "I would have preferred being summoned on my own, but I guess there's worse company than you, Ryuhima."
"Oy!" Naruto shouted, drawing both dragon's attention. "I know you guys are supposed to test me and everything, but that's gonna need to wait until after we stand up to these two and stop a volcano from destroying the villagers down below!"
"Standing up against insurmountable odds?" Ryukoho pondered.
"And passionately defending others?" Ryuhima added. Both dragons looked to each other before feral grins showed of their rows of powerful teeth.
"We can work with that," they said simultaneously. The fake Shukaku and the Three-Heads finally seemed to move into action and Naruto let the four titans slammed into each other while he and Ryuda hurried back to Yume, outrunning a stream of lava making its way down the volcano. Leaping into the air, Ryuda unfurled his wings, the appendages having grown to be more proportional over the course of the last few weeks, and they flew back towards where Jiraiya, Anko, Guren, Kurenai, Tayuya, and several shinobi from Yume stood waiting for them.
"I'm gonna slow down and split the lava into several streams!" Naruto called, channeling his chakra into his voice to project it. "Use earth jutsu to protect the village and divert the lava while water techniques are used to cool it! Today is not the day Yume falls!"
The gathered shinobi watched as the boy sitting atop his dragon flew back towards the battle between monsters the likes of which none of them could stand a chance, all to save them from the impending magma, and were inspired. Trenches were quickly dug around the village towards the river running through it while earthen and crystal walls rose up all along them. Naruto and Ryuda flew up the volcano, diving just in time to avoid a stray blast of energy from the Three-Heads as it careened through the air and exploded above the village. Ryukoho roared and countered by charging into it before opening his mouth and unleashing his own blast of pure earth-natured chakra right into the center head. Meanwhile, Ryuhima held his ground against the fake Shukaku easily. Incinerating and melting the sand thrown at him just as fast as it was made before jumping high into the air and unleashing a pillar of flame from his mouth that engulfed the imitation Tailed-Beast and burned through everything in the vicinity with an ocean of hellfire.
Ryuda came to a stop over the flowing lava, and Naruto huffed as the heat and fumes rising up choked him.
"If you die, I'm gonna kill you!" Ryuda shouted before Naruto leapt off his back and slammed his staff into the lava as he fell. The molten rock all around him splashed into the air before collapsing back into itself, granting Naruto enough time to create a pillar of earth beneath his feet and rise up above the endless flow.
Freezing time, Naruto surveyed his surroundings. The amount of lava flowing towards the village would be too much for the river to handle, even with the help of the shinobi, so he needed a safe place to divert the majority of the flow. Unfortunately, Yume was surrounded by forest, and Naruto wasn't about to start a wildfire. Looking back towards the village, he settled for slowing the flow for now, and raised his arms in front of him, walls of crystal rising up out of the ground and bottlenecking the lava into several streams. This caused the flow to speed up, but the amount flowing towards the village was now lessened as the lava piled on top of itself, hardening and hindering the rest of the flow. He watched as the lava streamed towards Yume and the shinobi diverted and extinguished it with ease and allowed himself a breath of relief, exhaustion starting to creep into his muscles.
Cheering could be heard from the village as the crystal pathways backed up with solidified rock, and the lava flow slowed, until an earth shaking explosion obliterated the top of the volcano and even more lava erupted into the air before falling down towards the village in a veritable tsunami. Ryuhima and Ryukoho rose out of the magma, rumbling growls giving way to thunderous roars as they both rammed into their opponents before spinning and hurling them at the top of what was left of the volcano before opening their jaws and unleashing a staggering amount of their respective natured chakra. The beams of raw energy combined and slammed into the two monsters, wiping them from the face of the earth as the bright light of the explosion faded. With what remained of the volcano, they stemmed the flow of lava with a stomp on the ground creating a new mountain out of the first while fire melted the pillar to cap over the erupting volcano. Their jobs done, they both nodded to Naruto without a word before vanishing in twin flashes of light, leaving Naruto to deal with the tidal wave of molten rock still barreling towards him and the people below.
With a shout, he channeled Kurama's chakra, forming a cloak around him with two fox-like tails of energy bursting out near the base of his spine, and slammed his staff into the ground just as the lava bore down on him. His pillar of stone slammed back into the earth and the shock wave caused the lava to leap into the air in an actual wave that was quickly coming down upon his head. Forcing his chakra to take hold of the energy around him, Naruto threw his fists forwards stopping the fifty foot wave in its tracks before shifting his feet and slamming his hands down, causing the wave of rock to recede and curl the other way in a curved wall stretching around him and blocking access to Yume. He then opened and closed his hands slowly, focusing on drawing the heat and fire out of the lava, grunting as it fought him for control while the bright orange wall slowly darkened to a burnt black.
His chakra cloak faded as he released the technique and he just barely managed to hold himself up by his staff as he stumbled down the hill towards the cheering crowds of Yume.
Idly, he wondered if all of his missions were going to end with him falling unconscious, before the exhaustion set in and he collapsed.
A/N: And now we're finally done with this arc and I can go back to having a more manageable amount of characters at any one time. I know the dragon appearances are starting to get predictable as the end of each arc, but there's only one dragon left to summon, and I want them all out of the way so they can all start teaching Naruto. Also, I know the action for the dragons was lacking, but I had an idea of Naruto's reputation building not just from his ability to summon dragons, but for wilder wackier rumors to spring up about him after he was seen literally fighting a volcano. Lastly, we now have another advanced element for Naruto to master, one that he'll like more than the Hiraishin, as far as combat abilities go. His usage of the Hiraishin is primarily going to be for travel. Anyways, next we'll be headed to the Land of Water, Naruto's first foray into another of the Great Nations and will be his first look at the real cruelties of war, as opposed to the brief flashes he's seen so far. Thanks for reading and reviewing as always, and I'll see you next time.