Chapter 26: Everything Went Wrong!
Near the West Base of Otogakure…
"Damn those Konoha bastards," grumbled one of the shinobi. "Even Orochimaru-sama was killed by them. If he's still here…"
"Like you really wanted him to be here," the other snorted. "At least we won't have to fear that he will make us fight those experiments of him for amusement anymore. I really don't want to die like that. Remember that time when Hideki was literally torn to pieces by those things? Ugh."
"Right," the first one shuddered. "I still remember how I couldn't eat anything for a week…"
A loud "pop" suddenly rose behind their back. They turned, and saw something that made their lower jaws fall to the ground, and their eyes pop out of their sockets.
It was a girl. A very beautiful girl, with long, blonde hair pooling on the ground around where she was sitting. Her two bright, sapphire eyes were moist with tears. Her short, kinda-skimpy yukata was torn and half-pulled open, revealing her breasts – bared, without any kind of bra covering them. And considering the smooth, white skin she's showing at her waist…
She wasn't wearing any panties, either.
She looked at the two shinobi, her eyes fluttered, and she stammered.
"Um… Please… don't hurt me…"
The eyes of the Oto shinobi shone like the perverts they were, and they started inching towards her, giggling creepily.
"Oh, just wait, baby," one said while leering at her lecherously, his hands making obvious groping motions. "We will 'take care' of you thoroughly; you won't be able to walk for a while… HURK!"
He couldn't say anything else, because a kunai had slit his throat. Before the other one could realize anything, a pair of arms reached out for his partner's neck, and with a sickening "crack", the Oto shinobi fell down, dead.
"And that's…" the one who killed the Oto shinobi, Kakashi, said, "…how you weaponize the Sexy Jutsu, Naruto."
"I feel so violated," Naruto scowled, turning back into his normal form in a 'poof'. "Why did I have to do it, anyway?"
Kakashi eyesmiled. "Because you're the only one who can use that jutsu. Besides, would you rather let Gai do it?"
Cue shuddering from every other male in the whole Elemental Continent.
"No thanks, sensei," Naruto muttered. His face was a bit green.
"Wonder how the others are doing…" Naruto muttered. They were now standing on a cliff outside the Center Base of Otogakure, preparing for their secret assault.
'Don't worry Naruto, I'm sure they're gonna be alright,' Matatabi said. 'They're all good shinobi; they can handle themselves.'
'I know, but…' Naruto bit his lip. 'It's Orochimaru we're going to face here; if something happens…'
"You're worrying about Sasuke, aren't you Naruto?"
Naruto turned his head towards Kakashi, who had just said those words. He sighed.
"Of course I do… It's Orochimaru after all; he had wanted to mark Sasuke before; what makes you think he won't try to do it again? And now he's going alone…"
For a few seconds, there was nothing but the sound of footsteps on the ground which could be heard. Then, surprisingly, it was Gai who spoke up first, in a really calm, not hammy voice.
"Sasuke-kun has matured quite a lot since the first time I saw him, Naruto-kun. Hokage-sama didn't choose him to be one of the chuunin promoted in that Exam for no reason. Before, it's very easy to manipulate him… but now, I don't believe he's that easy to fall into the grasp of evil people any more."
"But…"
"I think Gai was right, Naruto," Kakashi cut in. "I believe in Sasuke. He is not the kid who's hell bent on revenge anymore. He has the ability, and the right to think for himself, and I believe he will not disappoint us. He's just that strong, that boy."
Then he chuckled. "Besides, he's not alone, you know. Asuma and Kurenai are both veteran jonin; they will not let Sasuke be harmed easily. "
Hearing those words, Naruto's heart calmed down a bit. But even so, he couldn't shake away the feeling that something was going to go wrong, very wrong, in this mission.
Maybe I'm just paranoid… Maybe…
"First time taking part in such a large scale operation, eh Sasuke?"
The Uchiha boy answered curtly to Asuma, who had just asked the question. "Yes. But that doesn't mean I can't do anything."
"He still hasn't changed a bit, huh," Kurenai whispered to her boyfriend. Asuma chuckled.
"I didn't mean it like that. You see, you have skill, but experience, you don't have much. So don't run away by yourself; you should work together with us. Charging ahead alone is not wise; the enemy is Orochimaru after all."
Orochimaru.
Sasuke's stomach lurched up a bit when hearing those words. It's true, that freak was incredibly creepy and dangerous, and the fact that he was dead couldn't do anything but saving people a lot of trouble, but somehow, in some deep place inside Sasuke's heart, he still… wanted to find and confront Orochimaru.
For what? He didn't even know. Maybe because of the man's vast knowledge. Maybe because of the idea of evolving further than even the Mangekyo Sharingan. Or maybe just because he was a powerful enemy he wanted to defeat.
Or was that the Uchiha instinct calling him, pulling him towards Orochimaru in search of power?
Stupid Sasuke… Don't even think about that. Remember what happened to your clan in their thirst for power. You don't have to get power that way…
Oh, but isn't that the truth for you too, Sasuke? A voice inside his head mocked him. Don't deny that you're hungry for power. You need power to surpass Naruto, and defeat the one who did that to your clan; isn't it right?
Shut up, Sasuke snarled to the voice inside his head. I need power, but not like that sicko did! I will never do anything like… like tearing my soul apart to be immortal!
Oh, really? The voice continued to echo inside his head as if mocking him. Then why are you wondering about the way to gain power beyond the Mangekyo Sharingan? Admit it; the truth is you're…
Shut up! And get out of my head!
"So you're the intruders, eh?"
Sasuke looked up when he heard the unfamiliar voice. Next to him, Asuma and Kurenai had already tensed up, their eyes not leaving the new person who had just appeared.
In front of them stood a person Sasuke hadn't ever seen before. He was just about the same age as Sasuke, but his presence before showed obvious danger to the shinobi of Konoha. His body was already very muscular for his age, and his hair was completely white, albeit with a very slight hint of blue. His purple eyes bore into the Konoha shinobi with a bloodthirsty yet calculating gaze. And his teeth were sharp and pointy… just like those of a shark.
The boy, Suigetsu Houzuki, grinned menacingly at the three Konoha shinobi, showing the mouth full of sharp teeth.
"Sorry, but I cannot let you get past this place."
A chuunin of Otogakure was on his way back from his daily patrol around the base. There had been no suspicious individual around in his shift, which meant he could finally go back to his bunker and take a deserving rest…
Just a few more steps and he would reach the entrance to the base…
Then suddenly, his voice was muffled by a giant hand grabbing his head and pulling him into somewhere he couldn't see. He tried to struggle, but suddenly found his body frozen in place, not being able to move even a muscle.
"What…?" he croaked out when his head was finally released by the giant hand. But before he could realize what was going on, another hand grabbed his head.
"Sweet dreams," was the only thing he could hear before everything sank into darkness.
"You knew where the Sound Five member was yet, Inoichi?"
Inoichi nodded. "Yes. It's confirmed that the one in this base is indeed Kimimaro Kaguya, as we already knew in the strategic meeting. That means the intel Jiraiya-sama had given us was indeed right. And now, he is lying in the deepest place of this base, under a lot of protection. However, there is another serious problem we're facing right here."
"What is it?" Choza asked. Inoichi answered grimly.
"The process has already been started."
Silence filled the air. Then Shikaku said in a grim tone.
"We have to tell everyone this before it's too late."
"So that's it, huh,"
Kakashi looked at his hand and grimaced. Before they departed, the Hokage had given each team leader a seal which, when a team leader changed the content, would show that content to every other leader, for communication purpose.
"Damn it. Are we too late?" Naruto gritted his teeth. They had gone the fastest they could here, only to know that the soul replacing process had been started before they could arrive.
'I doubt it,' the voice of Gyuuki echoed in Naruto's head. 'Remember, that fragment of soul inside that body, despite being that of Orochimaru, is still only a fragment of soul. Even if the host is completely loyal to that snake, it will still need at least a day for the soul piece to completely take over the body and stay stable inside it. We still have some time, but it won't last. We will need to go fast.'
"Then we have to find the target fast before the process is completed," Gai said. "But the problem is we don't even know where the target is. This base is too big, and we don't have enough manpower to handle all of it."
"A question. Is everyone in this base an enemy? I mean, everyone?"
"I said we should find the way to get to Orochimaru; I didn't say that we should make the whole base imploded together with him."
Temari stared at the gigantic crater which, five minutes ago, had just been one of Orochimaru's base, with a face half amused, half annoyed. Gaara, the one responsible for this, just shrugged nonchalantly.
"You said everyone in this base is an enemy."
Kankuro facepalmed. After having his seal fixed by Konoha, his brother had mellowed out quite a lot, and had stopped killing people for no reason. He had even said sorry to everyone, what no one could have ever expected on him before.
However, somehow he now got a tendency to inflict unnecessarily massive destruction on his enemies. Just like what had just happened to the poor Otogakure base and everyone inside it.
"I swear he got it from that Naruto guy…" the puppeteer muttered.
Ignoring his brother, Gaara descended down the crater on his sand cloud. Sand started to rise up from the gaping hole on the ground, gradually filling it up.
But…
What is the meaning of this?
Gaara's eyes widened.
"This is strange…"
Shikamaru muttered while sneaking around the corner. Genma turned to him, confused.
"What's wrong, Shikamaru?"
"I don't know…" the Nara bit his lip. "Isn't this supposed to be one of the main bases of Otogakure? I thought there would be more guards than this…"
Right now, they were on their way to the last room in Otogakure's East Base. However, all the way through the base, they nearly hadn't encountered any Otogakure shinobi. Sure, they had met some, but almost all of them were grotesque experiments released from the cells of the base. There were guards too, but since they had set foot into the base, they had only met four or five of them. There's no way a main base of a village can be this devoid of human presence.
"Now that you said it…" Genma stopped on his way, pondering, "…this is really strange. This base is quiet… too quiet, indeed."
"Are they going to abandon it or something?" Hayate also wondered. "But… how is it possible? There are many important researchs here… How can they move it from here that fast? Unless…"
"I think that's exactly what happened."
Hayate and Genma turned their heads towards the direction of the voice. Shikamaru was standing in front of an open door, staring into the room with a disturbed face.
"Look," he pointed into the room.
The two looked into the room, and at the same time, let out the same words.
"Oh crap."
The internal of the room looked as if a tornado had just swept through it. This definitely was, or had been, a laboratory, but now, it was completely stripped of everything it used to have: machines, lab equipments, everything. And the most disturbing thing was the corpses of five or six scientists littering around the room, their blood splattered on the walls, and their lab coats were torn to shred.
"You're right," Genma muttered grimly. "They had already abandoned it, even before we arrived here… That bastard Orochimaru has already gone ahead of us several steps…"
Shikamaru grimaced. "But that means…"
"Little brat, you should let us through to Orochimaru, or I'm afraid I have to force our way through."
Suigetsu shrugged. "Just do it if you can, old man, but Orochimaru isn't here anymore."
A beat.
"Wait, what do you mean Orochimaru isn't here anymore?" Kurenai asked, startled.
Suigetsu shrugged again. "Everyone in this base has left since this morning already. They're going to bring that creep Sakon to the Central Base, where they will join up with Kimimaro or something. Considering their speed, it might take until midnight before they can get there."
"Then we have to catch up with them before they can reach Central Base!" Kurenai said urgently, and Asuma and Sasuke nodded in agreement.
"Wait a second."
The three Konoha shinobi turned back to Suigetsu, who had just ejaculated those words to them. On his hand right now was something they hadn't seen him holding before. In a glance, it looked just like a big scroll with a handle, but looking closely, it was a wide single-edged blade with the scroll stretched on a platform at the back of the blade. And with a close inspection, the three felt chills on their spines as they realized that the scroll was made fully of explosive tags.
Suigetsu continued a vicious grin. "Who said anything about letting you outta here?"
"Wait."
Naruto and Gai stopped abruptedly on their way as Kakashi raised his voice. He was now standing still, staring at the seal on his hand.
"What's wrong, sensei?" asked Naruto.
"Look at this. 'Orochimaru's soul fragments are not at the bases. They are on their ways to the Central Base, where they will join up with the last fragment within Kimimaro Kaguya.' Sasuke's team has just sent me that," Kakashi answered grimly.
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in horror. "How can that be?! We have already encountered some Oto shinobi on our way! Wait, let me check…"
He flared up his chakra cloak, and his eyes immediately widened.
"Shit! I really can't sense any emotion in this base! Except… for two… coming right towards us!"
"It seems we've been detected."
From behind a corner stepped out Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.
"Itachi?" Kakashi narrowed his eye. "What are you here for?"
"That's not what you should care about, Captain," the Uchiha answered curtly. "Tsukuyomi."
Immediately, Kakashi collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The rogue Uchiha turned towards Naruto, his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning wildly, his gaze drilled into the blonde's face.
"Now it's time for you to go with us, Naruto-kun."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the sky and frowned. The shinobi he had sent for the mission were all the elite of the village. He doubted there would be anything bad happening to them; even if they were unable to destroy Orochimaru's soul containers, he believed they would still be able to escape unharmed.
So why was he still feeling uneasy?
Suddenly, a scroll was dropped onto his hand. He jerked his head up, only to see a puff of smoke disappearing above his head. But he could swear that he saw something black and feathery inside the smoke.
He opened a scroll, and his eyes widened.
"Oh, son of a bitch."
"What is the meaning of this, Itachi?" Naruto shouted in confusion. "Why do you attack Kakashi-sensei like that?"
"If he's on the way, it will be much harder to capture you," Itachi answered, as if it was obvious.
'Naruto! Be careful!' Kurama warned him from inside his head. 'I can feel killing intent coming from Itachi… Something is going wrong here!'
"You will not take Naruto-kun as long as I'm here!" Gai bellowed, jumping in front of Naruto, blocking him from Itachi's view. The Uchiha glanced back, and from behind him, Kisame walked up, grinning viciously.
Then without any warning, he rushed towards the two Konoha shinobi. Samehada was brought down mercilessly on Gai's head like a hammer in a very wild and fast swing, with the obvious intention of murdering him with one slash. But Gai was clearly not an amateur; with an incredibly quick movement, he pulled out his nunchaku from inside his ninja pouch and blocked the sword descending down his head. The two weapons collided, making an eerie echoing "clang".
"You…" Gai gritted his teeth. Kisame also bared his own fangs in another menacing grin.
"Sorry, but Itachi here has his own business against the Nine-Tails; you don't have the right to interrupt them."
Then he kicked Gai violently in the stomach. Being too close to his opponent, plus the giant sword holding both of his hands down, the taijutsu master couldn't defend himself against the kick, and was sent flying away from Naruto. Not letting his opponent recover a bit, the sharkman plunged towards the taijutsu master and continued to assault him relentlessly, pushing him even further and further away from the jinchuriki. Soon, the two shinobi disappeared around a corner, and the only thing allowing people to know they were there was the sound of their battle, which was now harder and harder to hear as the battle moved further and further away from where Itachi and Naruto were standing.
"Get out of the way, Itachi!" Naruto snarled. "Orochimaru's soul fragment is already on its way; if we don't stop it, Orochimaru will revive!"
"Orochimaru can be dealt with later, Naruto-kun," Itachi answered calmly. "You'd better worry about yourself, because… you're going back with me to the Akatsuki."
Then with a surprisingly fast Body Flicker, he appeared right in front of Naruto with a kunai on his hand, stabbing mercilessly at the boy's stomach. Only Naruto's reflex, which was enhanced greatly by the chakra cloak, helped him dodge the attack in time.
"This means you're not going to go quietly, huh," the Uchiha said quietly.
Naruto jumped back a few steps, then faced Itachi with a glare. In his face, there was a mixture of hurt, rage and disbelief.
"What is… that?" Sasuke blinked, staring at the strange object which had just appeared on Suigetsu's hands.
"Where did you get that thing, brat?" Asuma barked out, his eyes also focused on the object their enemy had just pulled out with a wary expression. "That is Shibuki, the 'Blastsword' of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist! It has been lost for nearly half a decade with the swordsman Jinpachi Munashi! How did you find it?"
"Who knows?" Suigetsu shrugged. "It's Orochimaru who found it, not me. But since I already had a hold of it…"
He dashed forward, aiming at Sasuke, and the Uchiha tensed his muscles, ready to intercept the attack with his own sword. But a mere split second before the attack connected, his instinct suddenly screamed at him to dodge, as far as possible, if he still wanted to live, and trusting his mind, he shot chakra out of his feet, blasting himself back a few steps. And fortunately for him that he did, because right upon contact with the ground where he had been standing just a second ago, the exploding tags on the sword detonated with a loud "bang" as they left the sliding platform on the blade, shaking the walls of the base and sent Sasuke, even from a noticeable distance, stumbling to the ground.
"An… exploding sword?" the Uchiha sputtered, rolling on the ground a few times before finally managed to stand up properly. Suigetsu laughed gleefully.
"Exactly! And that's not even close to what this sword can really do! Blastsword Jutsu: Explosion Bind!"
Then he slashed into the air with the explosive tag platform. The scroll unfolded, and a large length of the explosive tag roll flew out like a dragon and wrapped itself around Sasuke, who was too shocked and surprised to do anything.
"And boom," he finished with a crazy smile.
The stripe of explosive tags detonated with another deafening boom, drowning the hall in smoke and fire.
"Heh," Suigetsu chuckled.
But then, his eyes widened when the smoke cleared, and 'Sasuke' turned out to be a substitution log. The real Uchiha was now being grabbed by the collar by Asuma, who had just jumped in to save him and pull him out of obvious death.
"And that's why you shouldn't charge in recklessly alone like that, Sasuke. You still have a lot to learn," the Sarutobi man glanced at Sasuke with a smile.
"You…" Suigetsu gritted his teeth, and lowered his stance, ready to charge again…
"Wait."
Suigetsu stopped dead on his way as Asuma raised his hand. "What?"
"From the way you move and fight, I dare guess you have some relations with Kirigakure and the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," Asuma chuckled, drawing a puff on his cigarette. "Are you, by any chance, related to Mangetsu Houzuki?"
Suigetsu's eyes narrowed. "How did you know…?"
"Your purple eyes and white hair were a dead giveaway," Asuma shrugged. "Besides, only one look at that sword and you can see it's definitely not an easy weapon to wield without blowing yourself up. In recent days, there were only two known shinobi with the ability to wield it properly, which were Jinpachi Munashi, the one that this sword was lost with, and Mangetsu Houzuki, the member of the Seven Swordsmen who managed to master every of the seven swords."
"He is indeed my brother," Suigetsu scoffed. "But who cares about him? He's just a dead man who perished together with the Seven Swordsmen! Now I already have this sword with me, I will start my journey to bring the Seven Swordsmen back to their glory…"
"I see," Sasuke cut in. "But do you know that The Seven Swordsmen have already been brought back in Kirigakure by the Mizukage?"
Obviously Suigetsu didn't expect those words. "What did you say?"
"Indeed," Asuma nodded. "The Seven Swordsmen has been reestablished by the new Mizukage, Mei Terumi-sama, with Zabuza Momochi as the leader. So it means Orochimaru has kept that from you to ensure your loyalty to him?"
To the Konoha shinobi's surprise, Suigetsu shrugged.
"Nah. I just stayed in this base because I feared that snake would hunt me down if I tried to escape. Now that he's dead, and I already knew that information, what should I stay here for? I was planning to run away after killing you, anyway."
Kurenai blinked. "So that means…"
"Yeah," Suigetsu resealed Shibuki and scratched his head. "Though that old man Zabuza is somewhat annoying, he's still a great swordmaster; working under someone like him might not be that bad…"
Then he walked out of the hallway, across the Konoha shinobi to the exit of the base. Sasuke raised his katana, but Asuma stopped him.
"Don't, Sasuke. If he's going to join Kirigakure, he will soon be our ally. We wouldn't want to damage our political relationship, would we?"
Hearing those words, Suigetsu turned back. "Allies, huh? Then I'll tell you this. The escort force left from a secret exit at the other side of this base. But if you go this way," he pointed at another hallway branching from the main hallway, "you can get out of this base faster and can even catch up with them in a few hours if you run full speed. But…" he showed his toothy grin again, "…that's all I can do to help you. See ya! And make sure that snake bastard stay dead for me!"
Then he disappeared in a swirl of water (is that even possible?), leaving three baffled Konoha shinobi behind his back.
For a few seconds, no one could say anything. Then, Kurenai was the first one who managed to raise her voice.
"That boy was weird."
"He's just about my age, and yet he's already so strong…" Sasuke grimaced.
"Kirigakure shinobi are always trained intensively from when they're just children, Sasuke," Asuma chuckled, "especially ones chosen to be in the Seven Swordsmen. Besides, I wouldn't expect less from someone related to the Second Mizukage."
"What?" Sasuke asked, startled. "He's related to the Second Mizukage?!"
"You don't know?" Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "Gengetsu Houzuki, the Second Mizukage, was said to be the most powerful Mizukage in Kirigakure's history. I thought that was covered in the history class in the Academy?"
Sasuke grumbled. The truth is, he didn't hate history classes, but even he had to admit that it's the most boring class in the whole Academy curriculum.
Then again, who in this world could have liked learning history, anyway?
"Alright, you can think of catching up with him later," the voice of Kurenai brought him out of his stupor. "We have an Orochimaru to catch here, you know."
"Ah, right…"
"Found 'em."
Gaara removed his fingers from his eye and said. The truth is, the team didn't even need the notice from Sasuke's team. Right upon destroying the base, Gaara had realized there was something wrong when there had been almost no blood mixed into the sand. And they had departed to chase after the escort team before Sasuke's team knew that fact.
"They're about three miles from here to the south, and were moving with moderate speed," Gaara continued. "Considering the speed they're moving, we will need about an hour of running full speed to catch up with them."
It's worth mentioning that the meeting with Naruto had pushed some kind of button within Gaara. Since that day, the Sand jinchuriki had been training as hard as he could, and his abilities had all advanced in an unbelievable pace, which even his teacher and siblings, who had always thought of him as a genius, had to be utterly surprised.
That didn't make him any less threatening and dangerous in everyone's eyes, though, even when he's much nicer than ever before.
"Then let's go before they manage to go further!" Kankuro pumped his fist.
"Are you nuts?!" Temari complained. "We have been running like mad for almost two hours! And you expect me to run like that for another hour?!"
"But if we don't move fast, Orochimaru will get away!"
Surprisingly, this time, Gaara was the one who raised his voice. "Temari is right. Even if we managed to catch up with Orochimaru, if you two don't have enough strength to fight, you will just be a nuisance."
With Temari, Kankuro could argue, but with Gaara, there was no way he dared to. He slumped down in defeat.
"Ugh, fine! But if we fail this mission, it will be your responsibility!"
Gaara didn't retort. Instead, to the confused stares of his siblings, he reached into his tool pouch and pulled out… a calculator.
"What are you going to do with that?" Kankuro stared at the weird object in his brother's hand. And naturally, Gaara didn't answer him. He turned it on and started to tap the keys furiously.
"Three miles… this direction… the maximum time should only be about five seconds… and the shooting angle… it should be… about this speed… and this force… All right. Kankuro, Temari, stand back!"
"Wait," Temari's eyes widened. "What are you trying to… Aaaaaaahh!"
She and Kankuro were swept off their feet by the sudden gust of chakra exploding from Gaara's body.
"What… what the…" she stammered in fear. "Is Shukaku trying to escape? Gaara, you can't…"
'Shukaku? Wanna help? After all, this is time for you to stretch your arms and legs a bit, right?'
'Hmph! Now you ask me for help? Very well, but know that I don't help you because I like you or anything, human!'
From around Gaara, red chakra started gathering together with sand. It built up around his body, gradually forming the shape of Shukaku's head, which he stood within the mouth of. He stretched both his arms to the sides, then brought them together in front of him with a very fast and sudden movement.
And the mouth of the Shukaku's head snapped open. It fixed the angle and direction, and started inhaling.
No, saying "inhaling" was not enough to describe it. It was like all the air around the area was sucked in at once and gathered at a point in front of the artificial maw. In less than five seconds, a ball made fully of air was formed in between the maw, in front of Gaara's cupping hands.
And it started glowing and heating up intensely.
Gaara and the Shukaku head started rising to the sky. The ball of air in front of the mouth was glowing even more brightly, and was now starting to smoke dangerously, as if it was going to explode.
'Shukaku, ready?'
'Way ahead of you!' He could hear his Tailed Beast snort inside his head.
Alright, then… let's do it!
And, the voice of Gaara, mixed with a hint of Shukaku's tone, echoed through the air.
"WIND STYLE: AEROBLAST!"
And the sky split in half.
"Faster! Faster! If we don't speed up, we won't make it to the base before midnight! We have to arrive at the base before that, or else Kabuto-sama will flay us alive!"
"Geez, it's easy for you to say, capt', but even if you say so, we can't go any faster than thi— What the hell is that?!"
The captain looked back, and saw something which made everything in his body feel empty all at once.
A red beam of extremely compressed air, to the point it had already been plasmarized, surrounded by a violent vortex of wind was tearing across the sky towards them with a deafening sound, as if a sheet of paper the size of the South Base was being torn in half forcefully.
Everyone in the escort team of Otogakure couldn't help sharing the same thought.
Fuck.
And things exploded.
"There, that will slow them down a bit."
Kankuro's eyes twitched. "A bit? A bit? You just nuked down nearly half of the forest! I doubt anyone could even be in one piece after that… that thing!"
He looked at Temari, and was startled when he saw her eyes shone brightly as if she had just seen an incredibly, impossibly cute puppy.
"Such a cool jutsu…" she murmured dreamily.
"Ugh…" the puppeteer facepalmed.
"Now that they're incapacitated, catching up with them is only a matter of time," Gaara cut in. "Let's go!"
"Why should we go over there anyway?" Temari asked. "I doubt anyone can survive that blast anyway."
"If we can't see the corpses, we can't be sure," Gaara answered curtly. "Now let's go; we don't have time to lose!"
A nod coming from Kankuro, and Temari knew she couldn't say anything else.
When the Sand shinobi arrived at the destruction scene, they saw something that stunned them.
"Of course…" Gaara muttered. "There is no way Orochimaru is that easy to kill…"
Otogakure shinobi's corpses littered the site of destruction. They were all eradicated within the explosion Gaara's jutsu had caused. However, at the center of the crater lay something that looked like a coffin protected by some kind of purple energy barrier. Protected by the barrier, the coffin was completely unharmed, even by such a powerful and destructive jutsu like Gaara's Aeroblast.
The barrier started fading away, and at the same time, the coffin exploded with a loud "bang", throwing the lid into the sky with a very thick cloud of smoke.
And from inside the coffin emerged a human figure.
"Damn it. So the soul merging process has completed already?" Temari gritted her teeth, and from inside the smoke cloud, a cruel, cold laughter echoed.
"You have come back, Lord Kidomaru."
The figure emerged from the coffin let out a cruel laugh.
"I'm not Kidomaru anymore. Right now, we…"
"…are…"
"…Oro…"
"…chimaru."
"Wow, that's creepy," Kankuro said in disgust when the body of Tayuya, no, Orochimaru now, stuck out its tongue and licking its lips like a snake.
"The jinchuriki of the Sand…" Orochimaru in the girl's body sneered at the Sand siblings with a leer. "I see… Konoha doesn't have any intention to let me go quietly, hmm?"
"Of course they don't," Gaara answered calmly, his eyes met the slitted irises of Orochimaru with a determined gaze. "And not only Konoha…" he unwrapped the gourd on his back, which fell to the ground with a 'thud'. Upon touching the surface, it melted back into sand, "…even Sunagakure has a lot of things to say with you. For Sunagakure, for Konohagakure, for our alliance…" his hands curled into fists, "…I will send you back to hell, where you should stay and rot in."
He thrusted his hand forward, and sand surged up from the ground, rushing at Orochimaru like a tsunami.
"So that's Orochimaru huh."
Shikamaru whispered when a creepy creature with six arms emerged from the coffin.
Luckily for the young Nara's group, the Otogakure team escorting the soul fragment of Orochimaru hadn't left their base too far. Therefore, the Konoha shinobi could catch up with them in no time.
However, they were not fast enough to stop Orochimaru from reviving.
"What do we do now?" Hayate also whispered. "Our force isn't strong enough to take down this many shinobi, not to mention Orochimaru himself too!"
Then he turned to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, you're the brain of our team, can you think of some strategy?"
Shikamaru bit his lips. "There are many usable strategies… but they all take some time to prepare. And who knows if they can do anything to Orochimaru himself?"
"Yeah, but before that, you two should look at this first."
Shikamaru and Hayate looked at the communication seal on Genma's hand. Their eyes widened.
"What…?"
Within the seal formula, there were only four words.
Itachi. Ambush. Naruto. Danger.
"Itachi ambushed Naruto?! How can it be possible?"
Sasuke exclaimed in horror upon receiving the news.
The team was now rushing on their way toward the escorting team. Thanks to the shortcut Suigetsu showed them, they had caught up with the team in no time. Only a few minutes more and they would catch up.
But that's before the sudden bad news from Kakashi showed up.
Yeah, Kakashi was just that badass. Even before succumbing to the effect of Tsukuyomi, he had been fast and conscious enough to send the alerting message to every other team.
"We have to go assist Naruto immediately!" the Uchiha insisted, his feet had already stopped on their ways, ready to turn back to where his friend was fighting at.
"No!" Asuma said sharply. "Our mission is to go and kill the soul fragment of Orochimaru; if we stop now there will be no other chance to do it!"
"And let Naruto die on Itachi's hand?!" Sasuke shot back just as sharply. "Even Naruto cannot handle Itachi alone; if we don't go for him…"
"Kakashi and Gai will take care of him," Asuma met the angry gaze of Sasuke calmly. "They are all veteran shinobi; they will not be down that easily. Besides, if we don't take care of Orochimaru now, he will come back, and if he does, there will be many other innocent people dying, not only Naruto! Will you be able to hold responsibility if that happens, huh?"
"Grk…!"
Sasuke couldn't find any word to retort. It's not like he didn't know those facts, but… somehow, when he heard the name Itachi, even after he had known the truth about his brother, he just couldn't shake off a weird feeling inside his stomach.
What was it? Even Sasuke himself didn't know. Maybe some part of him still hadn't known what to think about his brother. And with Kakashi's word "ambush", he could sense danger inside it. Why ambushing Naruto, if not to do harm to him?
Or maybe some part of him just wanted to confront Itachi, his brother, to show him what he could do now, what he had become…
"Sasuke, if we want to go help Naruto, we have to finish our task fast first," the voice of Kurenai rose. "Orochimaru is right in front of us, if we attack immediately, they will be caught surprised and our chance to win will be much higher."
"And how are you planning to do that?" Sasuke said exasperatedly. "They outnumbered us like, twelve to one! And there's Orochimaru too!"
Kurenai only gave him a smile. "Oh, don't underestimate the power of genjutsu."
Orochimaru in Sakon and Ukon's body stretched his arms and said in a satisfied tone. "Finally, I'm back in a body…"
"W-welcome back, L-lord Orochimaru…" One of the escorters stammered. "W-we're really h-honored…"
Orochimaru sneered. "Oh, are you really?"
Snakes suddenly lashed out from under his sleeves, aiming at the shinobi's neck. Too surprised from the sudden attack, he could only scream out a gurgled noise when the snakes bit hard on his exposed neck before collapsing to the ground, dead.
Orochimaru retracted his hand and frowned. "Hmm, this is strange… Oh well, there's always time for me to get used to it…"
"GWAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Orochimaru's head snapped back towards where the scream emerged. And he saw his shinobi, one by one, collapsing to the ground, foaming at the mouth with spit and blood, definitely dead from something seemingly unseen. His body might not be the same, but his mind was definitely that of a veteran shinobi with the Legendary Sannin title. He immediately formed hand signs and dispelled the deadly genjutsu before it had any effect on him.
"Such a dangerous genjutsu of that scale…" he glared at something afar with a sneer. "Just what everyone can expect from the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha, eh?"
"I'm flattered," Kurenai walked out from behind the tree with a smirk, flanked by Sasuke and Asuma. "But flattering won't save you from going back to hell today, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru licked his lips. "Oh, you even have Sasuke-kun with you, eh? This will be fun…"
"Get your head out of your ass, bastard!" Sasuke snapped angrily. "There is no way I let a molester like you get your hands on me!"
"Enough with that stupid accusation!" Orochimaru stomped his feet on the ground angrily. "You have ruined my reputation since you started that slandering campaign against me!"
"Wait, since when have you had reputation?" Asuma asked curiously.
"Is this really the time to talk about this…?" Kurenai groaned and facepalmed.
"Now what's the plan, Shikaku?"
Shikaku nodded. "We have confirmed that Orochimaru's soul transferring process has completed. And in that room right now, there are five Oto shinobi, all of whom about chuunin level or higher. Plus, there is also Kabuto Yakushi in there with him."
"But that room is not very large," Inoichi glanced at the room they're hiding outside with a worried look. "If we use too much force there, it will alert the whole base. And we cannot deal with that many shinobi at the same time. Not to mention Orochimaru and Kabuto."
"That might be true," agreed Shikaku. "But first, as far as I know, I don't think Orochimaru can move well enough in that new body to even think of fighting. And because that room is small, the force in there is pretty thin. If we launch a sudden attack, our chance to win will be very high."
He looked up onto the roof. "The problem is, we will have to launch the attack with utmost precision and synchronization. Can we be sure we will do it?"
Choza grinned. "Since when has the Ino-Shika-Cho trio not acted with perfect precision and synchronization?"
Shikaku also smiled, and threw a kunai onto a block of stone on the roof. It lodged into a crack.
"Welcome back, Orochimaru-sama."
The Otogakure force inside the room turned back towards the newcomer all at once.
"Who are you?" Kabuto narrowed his eyes. "I didn't remember calling for you."
The new shinobi who had just come into the room bowed. "I'm sorry, sir. I shouldn't have barged in without any call from you first. After all…" he lifted his head up, his eyes gleamed, "…it won't be a surprise attack if you already knew about it, right?"
Then suddenly from under the shinobi's feet, tendrils of shadows lashed out and rushed toward the Oto shinobi like arrows. Only Orochimaru and Kabuto could notice them and jump away to dodge, but all the other shinobi were caught in the jutsu and were immediately impaled by multiple spikes of darkness spreading from the shadow tendrils. They collapsed to the ground, dead from hundreds of holes on their bodies.
"Shadow jutsu…" Kabuto muttered. "This must be…"
The newly entered Oto shinobi collapsed to the ground, and from behind him, a large shadow rolled out towards the remaining two people in the room with the power of a tank and the speed of a race car. Orochimaru and Kabuto could only avoid being flattened by rolling to the sides, and the spinning object slammed into the opposite wall with a "boom", drilling a very big hole on it.
"Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto yelled, jumping towards Orochimaru, but another shadow suddenly jumped into the way between the two Oto shinobi, sending him back with a kick. At the same time, the giant human boulder, Choza Akimichi, changed its way and slammed into Orochimaru without any remorse. In such a small space, there was no way to dodge the technique… not with a new body he hadn't got a very good grasp at.
"The infamous Ino-Shika-Cho team huh…" Even the normally calm and seemingly cheerful Kabuto had to frown warily.
The person who had just delivered the sudden kick at Kabuto, Inoichi Yamanaka, grinned. "That's right. And by the way, you're captured."
Kabuto looked down, and his stomach twisted when he realized he was caught in the Shadow Possession Jutsu of Shikaku Nara.
When fighting alone, those shinobi, while still very capable, weren't that dangerous to someone like Kabuto or Orochimaru. But when they work together…
"You are too dangerous to let live, Kabuto Yakushi," the voice of Inoichi once again rose. "Mind Destruction Jut… Argh!"
Before Inoichi could finish his jutsu, he was kicked away by something from behind. He rolled on the ground, then managed to backflip onto his feet. And his eyes narrowed.
"Orochimaru… how did you survive that?"
It was Orochimaru who saved Kabuto's life. From under Choza's body, the face of Orochimaru's new body could clearly be seen crushed under half a ton of meat, but his body shedding technique had allowed him to escape the fate.
"Thanks for the assistance, Orochimaru-sama."
"How…" Inoichi gritted his teeth. "How did you move like that…? Your soul has just been transferred; there is no way you can adapt to that body that fast!"
"Kukukuku," Orochimaru's new body chuckled sinisterly. "That might be true, but… how about I let you figure it out for yourself?"
From his sleeves, dozens of snakes shot out, launching themselves at the Konoha ninja. But Choza, recovered from his failed attack attempt, reacted much faster than anyone could imagine from a big man like him. His hand, clad in thick steel gauntlet, inflated into giant size and with a single sweep, every snake was either sent back to Orochimaru and Kabuto, or crushed under the massive weight of the fist.
"Tsk…" Orochimaru clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"It's over, Orochimaru," Shikaku walked into the room. "I don't know how you could adapt to that new body so fast, but I doubt you're in any condition to fight all three of us now. And…"
He flicked a kunai backward, and suddenly the whole base started to rumble. The whole hallway behind him collapsed in a rain of rubble and debris, separating everyone inside the room from other Oto shinobi outside.
"There," he finished. "Now no one can save you anymore."
"So your great plan is to trap me and Kabuto inside this room, eh?" Orochimaru sneered. "You're indeed good, Shikaku Nara. As expect from the greatest strategist of Konohagakure."
"Then why don't you just give up and save us the effort of killing you?" Choza said with a victorious grin. Orochimaru just chuckled.
"Oh, sure, of course I know that; that's why…"
"…I won't waste any time here!"
And with those words, Orochimaru slammed his hand onto the ground. A giant puff of smoke, then a humongous snake appeared from thin air and lashed out at the three Sunagakure ninja. Not even flinching, Gaara thrust his hand forward. The wave of sand he summoned immediately stopped the giant reptile on its way.
No… there is no way this is everything he has.
He immediately squeezed his hand, crushing the head of the snake with his Sand Burial right before his automatic protection, the gift from his mother, sprang up and stopped the Sword of Kusanagi from decapitating him.
"You surely adapted to your new body fast, huh," he said in his usual monotone voice while glaring at Orochimaru, who had just moved under the shadow of the snake through the detection of his sand to cut him down with the legendary sword.
With a very quick movement of his hand, the ground where Orochimaru was standing erupted into a column of sand around the Sannin, and quickly closing around him like a cage. But the Snake Sannin, true to his name, was just as flexible as a snake even in his new body; he whipped his body around, and with a round slash, the Sand Coffin forming around him was cut in half, allowing him a route to get away. He backflipped a few steps, distancing himself from the three Suna shinobi.
"Tsk…"
"So, are you ready to explain how you could move that well with that new body?" Gaara asked sharply. "Explain, or I will squeeze the answer out of you."
True to his words, he squeezed his hand in a threatening gesture.
Orochimaru cackled. "I don't know if you can force me to speak or not, but if you really want to know…"
"It's true; it shouldn't have been possible for me to move and fight so effectively in this new body. Soul doesn't work like that, indeed."
Kurenai's eyes narrowed. "Then how…?"
"Oh, but you forgot that the bodies I use are of my closest servants," Orochimaru chuckled menacingly. "Not only did they willingly give their bodies to me, they also offered to assimilate their souls into mine. Because of that, the soul within this body, and all the other bodies I have, not only is whole and completed, but also…"
The grin on his face spread even more disturbingly, "…everything in their memories, their jutsu, their kekkei genkai… is mine to use!"
The back of the shirt he was wearing suddenly tore itself apart, and from within it, another face poke out. It looked similar to the face of the body he was using, and when it was completely out, it leered at the three Konoha shinobi with a creepy grin. The face of Sakon's brother, Ukon.
In front of the three Konoha shinobi, the new body of Orochimaru started morphing in a grotesque way. The second head at the back of his head started writhing out of the shared neck, sprouting another neck holding it in process and turned to the front, and at the same time, the body started splitting in half at the junction of the two necks. From the split, meat started extruding out, forming two new body halves and two arms.
"Now let's see what you Konoha shinobi can do about this! Double Style: Grand Blazer!"
Sasuke's eyes widened. What?!
Two torrents of fire and wind chakra rushed out from the two mouths of Orochimaru, mixing together and forming a raging blast of scorching flame, aiming at the three Konoha shinobi. Thanks to the fast reaction, the three ninja managed to get out of the way in time, right before the searing flame swept through the place they had been standing just a moment ago and detonated, burning down a large chunk of the forest behind them in an instant.
"You see?" Orochimaru gloated in sadistic pleasure. "I haven't got complete control of this body yet, but the power and skills it possesses already belong to me!"
"That technique is just like the one that Kakuzu of the Akatsuki used," Sasuke muttered. "Although somehow it's much weaker…"
"Right," Asuma grinned, dropping his cigarette to the ground. "It means we still have a chance…"
The size of this force is considerable… Fifteen shinobi, seemingly all chuunin or above, with the duty of scouting only… Following them, fifteen more, in the triangle formation, leading the force and protecting Orochimaru from the front. Left side and right side… nine each, all jonin… The flank, twenty... And there is Orochimaru too… There is no way we can attack without being completely devastated by them.
Shikamaru's eyes snapped open. There is only one way… but…
"What's wrong, Shikamaru? Have you figured out the strategy?"
Shikamaru bit his lips and grimaced. "There IS one strategy… and I think it's the only one possible… but… no. It's too inhumane… it will require us to murder all those people… I… I really can't. Killing one or two people was bad enough already… Now if you want me to kill more than fifty people, most I don't even know, at once… No, I can't do it. It's massacre. Even if they're our enemies…"
Silence filled the air in five seconds. And at the sixth, Shikamaru felt Hayate's hand grasping his shoulder.
"I understand what you are saying, Shikamaru. But this is not the time for fear of killing or meaningless honor. If we don't do it now, Orochimaru will get away, gather his force, and more and more people will die under his hand. If that happens, will you be able to handle the responsibility?"
Shikamaru couldn't do anything else but turn away. Then, Genma walked up and said.
"If you are not ready for the killing, then you don't have to take part in it. Just tell us what to do, and we will do it for you."
Shikamaru didn't say anything for a while. Then, he closed his eyes and muttered.
"Fine. But if we want to use that strategy, we will have to run fast to get ahead of them first."
The escort party of Orochimaru continued advancing in silence. After all, now that their boss was back, there was no reason for them to say anything anymore if they didn't want to be killed.
Yes, Orochimaru is just that nasty. He likes to kill his subordinates, no, servants for no reason at all. Such a bastard.
Right now, they were walking in a deep canyon between two big cliffs. If they got past it, the Main Base of Otogakure would just be an hour away.
A chuunin suddenly snapped his head up and frowned.
"Hey, do you smell anything weird?"
"The only thing weird here is you, idiot," one of his fellow chuunin sneered. "Pay attention, damn it! Only a few steps more and we'll get through this damned canyon!"
Then he muttered. "I've never liked going into a canyon, anyway…"
Suddenly the earth rumbled loudly.
"What… what the hell is that?!" Another no-name chuunin yelled in panic.
"Stop panicking!" Orochimaru shouted. "Everyone, stay in place, keep your formation! This is just a minor earthquake…"
Right before Orochimaru could finish his sentences, very large boulders of every shape started rolling down the two cliffs. They bounced off the walls of the cliffs, making deafening crumbling noise and sending the whole Otogakure force into panic.
"So that's how you Konoha want to play, eh?" Orochimaru licked his lips in a grin. "Very well!"
He spat out his Sword of Kusanagi, and with only a flick of his hand, the blade lengthened and with a swing, it cut through all the boulders descending down their heads. The pieces fell to the ground with loud "thud"s, but not causing any harm to the Oto force.
"Ha!" An Oto jonin sneered. "That's all you Konoha fools could do?"
Then suddenly, all of the boulder fragments started to smoke at the same time. And Orochimaru's eyes widened when he saw all the explosive tags stuck onto them, which were starting to glow brightly.
"Son of a bitch! Run for your life!"
Too late. Two giant slabs of rock suddenly popped out from underground, blocking the two exits of the canyon when the first explosive tag detonated.
The whole mountain site shook. The gigantic explosion caused by hundreds of explosive tags, boosted by five years worth of gunpowder which Genma had set in discreet but vital parts of the cliffs, utterly destroyed the two cliffs and every single living thing trapped inside it. The terrified screams which were all stopped abruptly with the deafening "boom" of the explosion wrenched the hearts of everyone standing near there, which only consisted of the three Konoha shinobi.
As if that wasn't enough, the two cliffs collapsed, burying the remains of Orochimaru's new body and his minions into the ground… forever.
"No sign of life down there," Hayate announced after checking out the destroyed canyon with a quick sensing jutsu. "It seems the strategy was a success."
Shikamaru didn't say anything. He just turned away, and if anyone looked at his back right now, they could see it trembling uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, Genma was staring at the collapsed canyon with narrowed eyes.
That's so strange... Is it supposed to be that easy?
"So now Orochimaru has access to the Shikotsumyaku kekkei genkai of Kimimaro Kaguya," Shikaku muttered. "This is gonna be troublesome…"
"Of course it is, Nara," Orochimaru grinned nastily. "Shikotsumyaku is one of the most powerful kekkei genkai in this world, since the age of the Sage of Six Paths! Now let's see… how did he use it… ah, like this!"
He pointed his finger at the Nara patriarch, and a piece of bone shot out from the tip of his finger towards the man with the speed of a bullet. Only the quick reaction of a veteran shinobi could help him avoid being skewered in the head.
"Tsk, missed…" he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He could already use the kekkei genkai… Shikaku thought warily. But wait, there is something wrong here…
Spark flashed through Shikaku's head. If he really got mastery of the kekkei genkai, there is no way he would ask 'how did he use it' like that. And that technique, while dangerous, can no way be the full power of the kekkei genkai… That could only mean…
He glanced around the room. Okay, calm down, Shikaku… what can we use here?
Gaara suppressed the urge to launch a full frontal assault at Orochimaru with his sand as usual, like Shukaku was nagging in his head about. Instead, his eyes stayed firm on Orochimaru, searching for a weak point to deliver a decisive strike. New body or not, his opponent was still one of the Legendary Sannin, the one who murdered his father, the Fourth Kazekage, and if he made any wrong move, he might get himself and his sibling killed by the wicked snake.
After all, it obviously showed how much Gaara had matured since the fated meeting with Naruto. Suffice to say, Gaara wasn't the omnicidal maniac whose mind was just hell bent on slaughtering and murdering mindlessly anymore. Now, he had friends, comrades, teammates with him, and although he still had the power, working together with his team made him stronger than ever.
He felt Temari unsheathing her fan, ready to attack. He raised his hand to stop her.
"Don't do anything. Not yet…"
"Oh?" Orochimaru sneered mockingly. "That's not like you at all, Gaara-kun. I thought you will immediately launch attacks at me in retaliation? I could have taken your head easily earlier; that's not enough for you to want to tear me apart? To feed my blood to Mother?"
Hearing those words almost made Gaara snarl. "I'm not like that anymore."
"Oh, really?" Orochimaru laughed. "Even with only a glance, I could tell that the monster inside you is very eager to take my life. Just look at the sand bubbling at your feet. Admit it; your bloodlust is rising again inside you. Those days without murdering makes you crazy, do they?"
"You…"
All the terrifying memories, the sight of all the bloody murders he had committed flashed across his eyes. Why did that bastard make him remember about them now? He had wanted to forget them, to start a new life, to regain the trust of everyone…
'Don't listen to him, Gaara-kun.'
Gaara's eyes widened. 'Mother?! Is that you?'
'Of course it's me, dear,' the voice of Karura echoed in his head. 'Don't let what that monster said get into your head. Haven't you already made up your mind? What you need to do is not trying to forget what happened, but accepting it and trying to atone for it. You don't have to fear him for those words, because what you have chosen was already the right thing.'
Gaara closed his eyes in silence. And then, when he opened them again, they didn't have the raging, full-of-hatred expression from before, but instead, a calm and accepting serene.
"You're not quite wrong, Orochimaru," he said. "I still remember that time when I murdered people as a proof of my existence. And it's no use trying to deny it. And I also know it's not easy for people to forgive me about what I have done. But that doesn't mean…" he raised his hand, and Orochimaru unconsciously took a step back, "…that I can't do anything within my ability to start making amends for it!"
And to everybody's surprise, the ground below them started cracking apart. Sand, grains of dirt, debris, everything within the earth began to rise and flying around Gaara, as if a tornado was spinning madly around him and his siblings.
"No way…" Temari mouthed. "I know Gaara is strong, but… since when has he become this strong?"
"This is Gaara's Magnet Style… at full power!" Kankuro also exclaimed in awe.
"Temari, Kankuro," the commanding voice of Gaara echoed through the air. "Get ready, because we – the Sand Siblings – will work together to send Orochimaru back to where he deserves to be!"
The Sharingan of Sasuke bore into the grotesque form of Sakon and Ukon's body in front of him, not leaving for one second.
Orochimaru licked his lips. "Such a deadly glare, Sasuke-kun… You really are worthy of being my new body…"
"Why do you want me so much?" Sasuke gritted his teeth. "If you want the Sharingan, why not going for Kakashi? He also has the Sharingan…"
To the three Konoha ninja's surprise, Orochimaru burst out laughing.
"Oh, you really think the Sharingan is the only thing I'm after? So naïve. No, I don't simply want the Sharingan; what I'm aiming for is the body of an Uchiha with the Sharingan!"
"What…?"
Then Sasuke remembered. "Does that have anything to do with it? 'The power that surpasses even the Mangekyo Sharingan?' Are you trying to get it by taking my body?"
Orochimaru chuckled. "So you already knew about it? That's right; the Uchiha clan has a secret that even most of the members don't know: the final evolution a Sharingan can achieve is not the Mangekyo Sharingan, but another legendary doujutsu which was even more terrifying: the Rinnegan!"
"Rinne…"
"…gan?!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Kurenai and Asuma's startled exclamation. "Rinnegan? What the hell is a Rinnegan anyway?"
"The Rinnegan is the legendary doujutsu which is rumored to have been wielded by the Sage of Six Paths, the progenitor of shinobi," Asuma explained. "But it's just a rumor; there is no proof about those eyes, or whether the Sage even existed in this world or not."
"Oh, I'm sure the Sage of Six Paths existed in history, Sarutobi, and he was indeed the only wielder of the legendary Rinnegan," Orochimaru cackled madly. "And just so you know, the original founder of the Uchiha clan was the very first son of the Sage, who inherited the powerful doujutsu from him… and that's the beginning of the Uchiha clan, with their infamous Sharingan. And now… I'm the only one with a way to awaken that tremendous power," he pressed at the word "only" with a gleeful smirk.
"What is the way to awaken it?!" Sasuke snarled, pointing his katana at the mutated man in front of him. Orochimaru just chuckled.
"Oh, Sasuke-kun… Why should I tell you about that? If you really want to know…" the two heads licked their lips like a creepy two-headed snake, "…the only way is to force me to tell you. Or even better… join me. Become mine, Sasuke-kun, and you will gain powers no one in Konoha can ever give you."
"I will join you when hell freezes over!" Sasuke screamed, and lowering down his katana in a thrust, he charged at Orochimaru, Sharingan blazing furiously. Orochimaru cackled in glee.
"Good, good! Let's see what the Last Loyal Uchiha has to show me!"
"Why…" Naruto gritted his teeth. "Why do you have to do this, Itachi?! Is the Akatsuki's plan that important to you? You can betray what you always believe in like that?"
"You're not in the position to tell me what I believe in, Naruto-kun," Itachi answered calmly, his Mangekyo Sharingan drilled into Naruto's eyes with such a great pressure that Naruto unconsciously took a step back.
Despite that, Naruto still refused to back down. "Despite what you did, your heart is still with Konoha! That massacre was just because the Uchiha clan decided to betray the village!"
Itachi's eyes narrowed. "How did you know that?"
"We figured it out!" Naruto said impatiently. "But why?! I understand you want to save the honor of your clan, but... this is just wrong! You don't deserve to be banished and hunted like a missing-nin!"
"You're quite smart for someone of your age, Naruto-kun," Finally, after a few seconds of silence, Itachi admitted. "However… there are things in the world a little brat like you can never hope to understand."
Then without warning, Itachi flicked his hand, and a kunai flew out of his sleeve towards Naruto with a speed and force the jinchuriki couldn't even expect from a throwing weapon, aiming at his stomach. And to Naruto's surprise and horror, the throwing knife pierced through the chakra shroud and lodged into his body.
"What…?"
"These weapons are made specially to combat jinchuriki," Itachi explained in his usual monotone voice. "Your chakra armor is indeed very powerful, but against these, it is just a child's toy."
Naruto grunted in pain. He could feel his blood dripping out from the wound on his stomach, rolling down the chakra cloak onto the ground. Never before had he felt so disappointed, so angry, so… betrayed.
He grabbed the handle of the kunai and pulled hard. It came out of his stomach with a "squelch", and the wound immediately healed up by the power of Kurama within him.
"If you really want to capture me that badly…" he snarled, "…then come, but I will never let myself be captured without breaking a few of your bones first!"
Definition
Double Style: Grand Blazer
Classification: Collaboration Ninjutsu
Rank: A
Class: Offensive
Range: Mid-range
A ninjutsu Orochimaru can use after acquiring the body of Sakon and Ukon, utilizing the kekkei genkai of the twin to fire two blasts of wind and fire element from each body, which mix together into a strong, scorching blast. Nothing else is known about this technique, except it lacks power comparing to what Kakuzu of the Akatsuki can do.
Wind Style: Aeroblast
Classification: Ninjutsu
Rank: A++
Class: Offensive
Range: Mid to Long-range
A ninjutsu Gaara developed with the (grudging) help from Shukaku during his months of training after the Konoha Invasion. Utilizing the powerful Wind chakra of the Tailed Beast, the user gathers air from around him into a very compressed ball right in front of him, not unlike Naruto's Rasengan, but completely made of air. When the air is compressed into a certain density, the user will "poke" a hole at the other side of the ball with his chakra, and the compressed air will rush out from the opened hole and damage the enemy. The more compressed the air is, the more power and range the technique will have. Gaara tends to pressurize the air until it turns into a plasma-like form with extreme heat and shoot it out as a beam surrounded by vortexes of air. It is rumored that Gaara created this technique after watching a movie about something called "the Guardian of the Sea".
Okay, I'm really sorry about this chapter being soooo late. It's just, Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is such a good game, and a very great research material too ^^
Orochimaru has proven his genre savvy when leaving his bases right after his "awakening", not sitting there waiting for Konoha to come to kill his asses off when he's not ready. (It didn't stop Konoha from tracking him down to finish the job, though, but at least he still had the time to get ready before they could get to him.)
A new ally has appeared... although he didn't help much. (Then again, he is Suigetsu, so...)
And a sudden twist! I bet no one could expect Itachi suddenly appearing like that, huh?
What will happen when Naruto has to face Itachi all alone, while the other teams battles bodies of Orochimaru? Find out in the next chapter of Once More!