Chapter 23: Lost in the Darkness

After several days of traveling, the rescue squad finally made its way to the Land of Waterfalls border where they came face to face with the dual 36 Layer barrier. Naruto said, "Everyone, stand back! Katsumi and I can handle the barrier. You just get ready to mop the floor with those merc ninja!" Naruto activated his Nine Tails Chakra mode and then went into Biju mode.

A golden version of Kurama appeared with Naruto inside it. The fox reared its head and made a massive Biju bomb. Katsumi transformed into her jinchuuriki form and waited for the signal. Naruto fired the Biju bomb at the barrier and Katsumi gave it a strong kick. Naruto had told Katsumi how Bee and he broke through this same barrier on Turtle Island. They repeated this process until the entire barrier was broken. The merc ninja operating the barrier were easy to dispatch- all of their chakra had gone into maintaining it. The rescue team continued on towards its destination: the merc ninja hideout.

Everyone arrived and saw a wide valley with a lone mountain in the background. In the distance, there stood 200 merc ninja led by a mysterious figure in red armor with a helmet. Might Guy urged the 500 Konoha ninja forward, convinced that their superior numbers would give them the advantage. Kakashi shouted, "Guy, are you blind? Call them back! Have you forgotten what these merc ninja are capable of-"

At that moment, the red armored leader ordered the merc ninja to attack and then joined the fight as well. Team 1 and Team 2 observed the fight on a nearby hilltop along with Kazuki and Katsumi. Kazuki activated his Shakugan to get a closer look at the action. He could see that the merc ninja were winning the fight, killing the Leaf shinobi left and right. He also saw that half of the mercs were using the Gentle fist technique. The red armored leader was also using the same technique, meaning that it could only be one person: Takeshi Matsuda.

Kazuki reported this information to everyone else. Kakashi and Naruto heard the high pitched chirp amplified that could only mean one thing: chidori. Kakashi said, "The other 100 mercs are using chidori! We have to save the others!" Team 1 and Team 2 charge into the fray.

Choji defeats twenty mercs by simply pounding them into the ground in his super-sized mode. Tenten activates Heavenly Chain of Destruction and reigns hundreds of kunai and other ninja weapons. She alone kills thirty mercs. Sai uses his aerial bird drawing to send numerous ink birds with explosive tags and kills twenty mercs. Kiba and Akamaru kill thirty mercs with Super Fang over Fang. Katsumi dismembers fifteen mercs in her wolf jinchuuriki form with her long sharp claws.

Shino takes care of fifteen mercs with his chakra eating insects. Might Guy and Rock Lee take out twenty mercs together using taijutsu. Sakura takes out twenty five mercs with her cherry blossom attack that leaves a huge crater. Kakashi takes on 10 mercs all using chidori and proves that the original technique is better than a copy. Ino assists Kakashi using taijutsu and her mind control jutsu. Naruto is still in the Nine Tails Chakra mode and defeats the remaining merc ninja using his chakra arms and rasengans. He finds himself face to face with the leader in red armor. Meanwhile, Kazuki sees that everything is under control and sneaks into the mountain hideout to confront his brother.

Naruto assumes that it is Takeshi and says, "Give Hinata back!" He grabs the leader with two chakra arms and uses one to take off the helmet. Naruto's eyes widen in shock as he sees long dark blue hair emerge from the metal helmet. He said, "Hinata… what are you doing? I thought I lost you and…" Naruto's sentence is cut short when Hinata looks up at him. Green lines run across her beautiful face and her eyes have turned red.

Hinata delivers a savage kick to Naruto that knocks him backward and then she moves away. All of the others look on with shock and horror. Naruto recovers and shouts, "Who did this to you, Hinata!?" Naruto got no response except Hinata rushing towards him using the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists.

(cue Wake me up Inside by Evanescence)