Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or One Piece. If I did then my hiatuses would probably even more sporadic than they already are.
L: Hard to believe they could be any more sporadic.
Greed: Seriously Skillet, what the shit?! You haven't updated anything in months!
Skillet: You know I'll explain everything in the author's note. By the time this chapter is actually updated the issues plaguing me at this time should be in the rearview mirror.
Cedric: Guessing that makes you feel real damn old eh Skillet?
Greed: Maybe Ikō will actually have a girlfriend by the time he posts this.
L: I don't see that happening.
Ikō: I'm sorry, I have no chance of getting a girlfriend L? How many yaoi stories have people written about you on this site?
L: …
Ikō: That's what I thought!
Arc 2: Siege of the Akatsuki
Chapter 34: The Great Puppet War
"So from what I understand, Hinata Hyuuga is engaging Former Division 12 Captain Shou Tucker in Konoha, while Neji Hyuuga is engaging Sasori Akasuna in Suna?" A asked his assistant concerning the information given to the Kumogakure Capitol Building by the scouts still stationed there.
"That is correct Raikage-sama. I suspect that Hinata-san will make quick work of Tucker, but Neji-san may have a bit more trouble with Akasuna."
"And how is that? According to our records from the last Chunin Exams, Neji is most certainly stronger than the heiress." Onoki wondered concerning the woman's prediction.
"That was months ago you old fool. Hinata's bound to have gotten stronger in that time." Mei said irritably as she twirled her long red hair around her finger.
"Don't insult me like that Mizukage-sama! I'm just using the evidence given to us to come up with a conclusion!"
"ARE YOU CALLING ME AN OLD MAID?!"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Letting out a sigh from his fellow Kage's burst of immaturity, Sarutobi turned his attentions to Gaara "Kazekage-sama, you and Scorpion are from the village. Surely you must have some useful information regarding his abilities."
Gaara took a deep breath through his nose, as if in thought, before answering his elder Kage "Sasori Akasuna is, or rather was one of the greatest shinobi to have ever come from the ranks of Sunagakure. Unfortunately his parent's deaths by the hands of Sakumo Hatake sent him into a mental spiral downward, resulting in his chakra turning into youkai and his human body turning into that of an Ochichite. He specialized in ninja puppetry, and the development of deadly toxins."
"And how exactly does this put the Hyuuga gaki in danger again?" A asked while watching the continuing argument between Onoki and Mei out the corner of his eye.
"Simple; The Akatsuki recorded both mine and Naruto's data from our entire lives, including the Chunin Exams. So Naruto exposing the Byakugan's blindspot should be in their files some place or another."
'I see… So if Scorpion aims his poisoned weapons carefully enough…' Sarutobi inwardly theorized before coming to the realization 'It could be an instant death sentence for Neji.'
While Sarutobi was still deep in his thoughts, Danzō walked back into the chamber with the help of his cane, as if nothing had just happened. Noticing the bandaged councilor, Oniki paid him attention.
"Have you summoned Jiraiya-san yet Danzō-san?"
"Unfortunately no; Kōsuke is passed out drunk from all the sake, so he couldn't summon the Toad Sennin properly." Danzō lied straight through his teeth once again.
"WHAT?! You mean to tell me that little toad drank from my private sake cellar?" A yelled in anger at Danzō's lies while the Hokage had suspicions against his old rival's words.
'So that's your reasoning Danzō? Knowing your history of corruption, I somehow doubt that's the case. Now what are you playing at.' It was at this moment Hiruzen noticed someone was out of place in the war room 'Come to think of it, where's Ebisu? He's exactly the type to just disappear without telling someone.'
"Hokage-sama, I've got some bad news." Inoichi alerted them from the mental chakra device hooked up to his head "Our casualties have gone up to the thousands mark, and Cell's shown no signs of slowing down his assault."
"How troublesome, at this rate Yahiko will have all the Jinchuriki in the palm of his hand before nightfall." Shikaku groaned.
However Danzō had radically different feelings towards the situation, as he saw an opportunity "There's one obvious solution to this. I have a personal subordinate with a massive level of power who can wipe out the battlefield in a blast of lightning, along with Yahiko and Cell."
"And what of the shinobi who are on the battlefield?" Shikaku asked with a deathly cold tone.
"They'll have made the ultimate sacrifice for this continent." Danzō said so laxly that it chilled everyone in the room to their cores.
Being completely unable to contain his fury, A jumped up from his chair and screamed "ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY INSANE?! MILLIONS OF LOYAL SHINOBI ARE DOWN THERE AND YOU JUST EXPECT US TO KILL THEM ALL LIKE THAT?"
"In war, one million deaths is only simple statistic." Danzō defended his plans "It's all for the good of my village. You should know that the protection of a man's home is the most important thing to them."
"We'd be killing our own men. Considering all of our corps have invested a majority of our ninja in this operation, it would leave us severely understaffed." Mei pointed out, not that it really mattered to Danzō.
But judging from the glares and killing intent he was getting from around the room, the Santatsu decided it would be best to bide his time on the plan for the time being.
'What is with the Kage of this generation always holding such foolish sentimentality instead of thinking with their heads? I'll just have to wait till Soramaru comes back to give the order.'
Despite his sudden retraction, the entire room still released their killing intent towards the old man. Only Homura, Koharu, and Sarutobi didn't seem to have any. Though Hiruzen had vastly different reasons for this than the former two.
'Damnit Hiruzen! Your foolishness will get the entire world wiped out by Yahiko. This Santatsu plan is the best way to go.'
'As despicable as Danzō's plan is, it certainly has more benefits than our idiot teammate's. The Akatsuki will fall, and as an added bonus we'll get rid of all the demon Jinchuriki in one fell swoop.'
As he was unknowingly surrounded by agents of the Santatsu, the Sandaime Hokage only glared at Danzō from his chair 'How could you have fallen so far old friend? I suppose it doesn't matter by this point. Just like your pawn Sasuke, you can only do so much before blowing yourself right open.'
"I know where you are Scorpion man! Show yourself!" Neji cried out to the Akatsuki chairman.
"That's a shame; I was hoping I could kill you quickly and move on with the plan." Sasori said as he crawled out of the shadows "But I've been to good lately. Might as well have a little fun for once."
"I guarantee you that this won't be any fun for you Scorpion."
"Heh, well then bring it you girly haired pussy."
Neji just glared at Sasori for his insults and prepared to strike him down, only for the hunched man to use his tail to pull himself out of the way. This resulted in Neji's attack hitting the wall of a nearby sand hut, and blowing a hole through it.
"Hope you've got some liability insurance for that gaki. Though I suppose you'd need life insurance more in this situation." Sasori continued with his insults before shooting a barrage of senbon needles from his mouth.
"Kaiten"
The Hyuuga prodigy was easily able to deflect the attack with his own signature jutsu and counter with a set of shuriken and kunai knives. While Sasori deflected most of them with his wooden tail, a small few made it past and cut into his cloak.
'He didn't even flinch! What is this man?'
"Impressive Hyuuga-san, that's the first time in years someone's managed to make a scratch on my armor. I'm looking forward to adding you to my collection." Sasori crouched down and removed his tattered Akatsuki uniform to reveal a large red mask with his signature tail sticking out from the mouth.
"What in hell's name are you?"
"I am an artist dear boy. This body you see here is nothing more than a puppet I've called Hiruko. It's one of my personal favorites out of the 298 in my collection."
"I see…You hail from Sunagakure so it make sense that puppetry is your specialty. Now where is the man pulling your strings?" Neji used his 360º vision look around his environment for his opponent's real body. But to his surprise, he found nothing that would indicate another's presence.
Taking advantage of Neji's preoccupation, Sasori shot his tail forward in an attempt to kill him. However, Neji sensed the attack in time and was able to dodge.
"I know what you're thinking. You used your Byakugan to look around but you didn't see anyone that could be pulling Hiruko's strings. That's because this puppet holds a dual function of armor."
'What?! You mean to tell me that he's wearing that thing. That means the puppeteer is in there somewhere. So the only way I can possibly beat Scorpion in time to stop that lacrimal bomb from detonating is to force him out.'
"If you're done staring off into space can we fight already. All these villagers are hiding in their homes like chickens, and I'd like to kill someone today before that bomb blows this dusty old village sky high."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not going to be killing anyone today!" Neji said before attempting to make another attack on the chairman. Sasori responded by tearing off the cloth covering his mouth and shooting more senbon at the incoming Hyuuga.
"Senbon Gattling"
With his Byakugan turned on Neji was able to see the dangerous needles coming at him from all sides and was able to dodge most of them. However, several still managed to hit him around his shoulders and lower back.
"Impressive, that move has killed most people. But I suppose it doesn't matter how many have hit you as long as the side effects will still kick in." As Sasori said this Neji began to feel an itching sensation in the areas he'd been hit, which began to feel painful after a few minutes.
"What on earth was in those senbon?" Neji asked with clear discomfort in his voice.
"A special mixture poison ivy and poison oak spores. By far the least lethal of my weapons but it should give you a painful idea of what's in store."
After saying this Sasori released a missile which began firing even more venomous senbon. Neji was more prepared this time and deflected, either jamming the weapons into nearby buildings or scattering them on the ground.
"Kaiten"
"You deflected every single one?!"
"Don't underestimate the power of the Hyuuga clan, Akatsuki scum!" Neji cried as he sprinted forward.
When he close enough, Sasori attempted to strike Neji down with his poisonous stinger. However Neji barely ducked under it, allowing him to place Sasori into his field of divination.
"Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms"
Using the Gentle Fist style, Neji struck the vital joints of the puppet, causing it fall apart and tumble to the ground. From the wreckage of Hiruko, another figure sped away to safer ground.
"Is that his really body?" Neji wondered aloud, only for the head of Hiruko to rise up and start shooting senbon at him. In order to avoid the attack, Neji deflected all of them with another rotation.
"Kaiten"
After that attack failed, the figure began chuckling and spoke in a much smoother and less gruff voice than he'd used previously "I'm impressed Hyuuga gaki. This is the first time in twenty years someone's ever broken one of my puppets. I really should congratulate you. But it would be more fun to kill you." Sasori then threw off his hood to reveal his true appearance: A young man with fair skin, messy red hair, and spaced-out brown eyes. He wore another Akatsuki cloak like all the other chairman did.
'So this is the real Sasori Akasuna.'
"Since you've done well so far, you deserve something special. I'll kill you with my favorite piece: The Sandaime Kazekage." Sasori revealed a sealing scroll from which he released a larger puppet with a mane of dark blue hair, narrow yellow eyes, and decayed looking woodwork.
"The Sandaime Kazekage; Due to his leadership skills and powerful jutsu he is often hailed as the greatest Kazekage in the history of Suna. It's rather heartwarming in a twisted way that you'd make a puppet in his likeness."
In response to his words, Sasori let out a small chuckle "You misunderstand. This is no copy, but the genuine Sandaime Kazekage. Or what's left of him I suppose. This type of model is called a Human Puppet."
"WHAT?!" Neji screamed in horror at the realization of what Sasori was holding.
"I killed him about 20 years ago so I could make him into this beautiful work of art you see here. All you have to do is remove the internal organs and fluids before you mummify it and install the weapons. Wouldn't want it decaying after all, since true art is supposed to be long-lasting. A majority of the pieces in my collection were made this way, including the one you just destroyed."
'This man is just as twisted as his partner! He has to be stopped here and now!' Neji got into stance and prepared to resume their fight.
"I hope you don't think I'm like that weakling from the Chunin Exams. You can't beat me in your pathetic condition. You couldn't even beat the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, and you said it yourself that he's a failure of the highest caliber."
Now Neji was angry. After taking in a deep breath, he leered at his opponent with his Byakugan flaring like the flames of Hell "I lost because of my own failure and I can tolerate that. But what I cannot tolerate is you calling Naruto-sama a failure!"
Sasori merely scoffed as he prepared for a battle to death "I'm going to enjoy putting you into my collection Hyuuga."
About five or six years ago, a pair of young men were wandering around the West Blue Island of Toroa looking for a place to stay and for food to eat.
These men were a 13 year old Naruto Uzumaki, and a 16 year old Roronoa Zoro. And at the moment, both of them were completely broke.
"All right, you know the drill gaki. You go find a river to work on your Santoryu in, while I go look for some bounties." Zoro told his student, who nodded at the request.
In the past few weeks Naruto had been continuously struggling with the final phase of his Santoryu training; that being actually performing Santoryu correctly.
Once his physical training had been taken care, Naruto had developed a more toned physique compared to the scrawny build he had all his life. And after working day and night he had completed both his Ichitoryu and Nitoryu within two months.
However Santoryu was much more difficult for him to get a proper hold on. Making things worse was Zoro restricting his access to ramen till he could perform the sword style. This only served to make the missing-nin more determined to get it right then he already was.
"This time I'll get it right Zoro-sensei! You'll see!" Naruto proclaimed before running into the nearby wooded area to look for a river he could practice in. He'd been using rivers to practice his balance, attempting to keep from falling.
His time had improved since he'd begun performing the exercise, but he was still incapable of staying dry for more than half of his goal. Despite this constant failure, Naruto kept going till both his legs gave out.
In the meantime Zoro collected their income through bounty hunting in any slums they happened to come across. Since the end of his physical training, Naruto was able to give trouble to several of their bounties. However Naruto usually wanted to focus on his own training, which he did 24/7.
Outside the nearby bar, The Poisoned Leprechaun, several boorish looking thugs stood around waiting for someone they could mug. They watched Naruto and Zoro's conversation with interest, but backed off as they both men carried three swords.
Stories of a traveling young bounty hunter had spread across the four minor seas like wild fire, along with the descriptions of his monstrous strength and three swords. Since both carried three swords, the men decided to play it safe and avoid mugging them.
That is, until both of them were separated and the green haired one went into the bar. It was that point the man who appeared to be the leader spoke up "Let's go see how much the older gaki's got."
"But Armando-senpai, what if he's Roronoa Zoro?" One of the other thugs pointed out this probability.
"It's a win-win situation then. If he's not then we can mug him no problem. If he is then he's still just a kid compared to us; then we'll become famous for taking him out." Armando said with an excited grin.
This changed when he heard an angry voice from behind "So that's your plan eh? Pretty bad if you ask me." The group of thugs turned around and noticed Zoro was right behind them, and clearly wasn't happy "You're the Black Eel Gang. If I'm right then you punks have a collective bounty of about 1,000,000 beris."
"So you heard us. I assume you're Roronoa Zoro. That means you're ours gaki!" Armando yelled as he pulled out his cutlass and charged the bounty hunter.
The ensuing battle only lasted about 16 seconds.
In the present, six years later, Naruto was engaged in a much more difficult battle. As those of you reading the story are aware of Naruto mastered Santoryu to a great extent.
But despite his increased strength since the beginning of his journey, there were still those that would give him an infinite amount of trouble to beat.
At the moment, he was fighting one of these opponents. A being once known as Zetsu, but was recently mutated and fused into the Jubi Jinchuriki known as Cell.
And it was unfortunate circumstance that Cell was looking to absorb the remaining five Jinchuriki by any means necessary. Despite the efforts of the Allied Forces, this being was laying waste them.
Casualties in the hundreds were ensuing as a result of this battle, with Cell tearing through the army like rice paper. Only the jinchuriki the Bio-Android sought after and high ranking Shinobi could get close enough to do damage to Cell.
"Fire Release: Flaming Senbon Hurricane"
Genma was currently taking his shots at the creature in the form of flaming senbon being fired from his mouth. Despite the attack piercing several holes, Cell simply regenerated and countered.
"Rapid Fire"
Using Haki, Genma predicted the movements of the blasts and avoided them midair before landing on the ground and throwing an assortment of kunai at Cell.
"Nice try, but playing ninja won't work on me Genma-chan!" Cell taunted as he ascended the air to avoid the weapons. This almost immediately backfired when Yugito pulled him back down.
"You're not getting back up there!" Yugito cried as Cell fell to the ground in a blaze.
"Ring of Fire"
"Why you little-"
"Hyakuhachi Pound Ho"
Before Cell could curse out the Nibi Jinchuriki, Naruto hit him with his own attack. Cell's attention's were quickly diverted from the blonde swordsman when Tokuhei sent several rounds through his head and chest area.
"Wind Release: Bullet Cyclone"
Despite the enhanced speed and excellent aim of the bullets, Cell simply regenerated from the attacks again "Damnit, how can we stop him from regenerating so fast."
"The answer is simple Toku-chan; you can't." Cell said before noticing a massive sphere shaped shadow above him.
"Human Boulder"
Cell saw Chouji's attack a mile away and blocked it with the palm of his hand "Did you really think that would work Fatso-chan?"
"Nope." Chouji said with a smile as he transformed back into his normal form before sprouting massive wings of chakra and his expression changed to that of rage "AND DON'T CALL ME FAT!"
"Butterfly Bullet Bombing"
Chouji then proceeded to give the Akatsuki chairman a hard right across the face which sent him flying. Despite the crushing blow Cell got back up immediately with the typical smug grin.
"You defeated Heartless-chan with that move right? You've improved to be able to use that move without taking a colored pill. But you're still not good enough to-" Cell continued to mock him before realizing he was paralyzed.
"Mind Disturbance Jutsu"
"Chouji's not the only one who can fight you bastard. And he's not the only who can use those techniques!"
"Human Boulder"
Cell tried to catch the oncoming attack from Chouza, but unlike Chouji he was caused under the weight of the attack. Things only got worse when he noticed the swarm of kikachu beetles flying towards him.
"Swarm"
Despite the energy that was syphoned as they flew past him, Cell stood up with an irritated scowl and glared at Shibi Aburame "I don't have a Devil Fruit power like my son; but I don't need one to fight you."
"I see. You became the Captain of Division 12 once Genius-chan was exposed and defected to us correct Shibi-chan. It doesn't matter if your clan has a seat on Gotei 13, you're still just a glorified bee keeper!"
"AND YOU'RE A GLORIFIED DUNG BEETLE! DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK OF THE MAN WHO KILLED MY BROTHER!"
"Garōga"
Cell caught Hana's attack before she could make impact, but his arm was slowly ground up by the sharp projectile. While he was distracted by the Division 8 Lieutenant, their Captain came from behind.
"Gatenga"
Hana knew this was coming and avoided the attack, while Cell was less fortunate and bisected. While he lie there on the ground, Cell pondered to himself "The shinobi pawns and even the lieutenants were so easy to fight. How are these Captains on such a different level?"
"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death"
Before Cell could ponder what his next move would be, an ominous mist blew over him before he was suddenly constricted by a massive tree. Things only got worse for him when a massive blue snake swallowed him whole.
"Summoning Jutsu: Dracaena"
"That's because we captains are just one step away from becoming Kage. We're not going to let you take our Jinchuriki so easily." Anko proclaimed to the strange being, only for him to tear right through Dracaena with the same smirk.
"Well, I have to admit you Captains give me more of a challenge than I expected, but my regenerative capabilities will still take care of anything you fools throw at me."
"You act as if Konoha is the only one that's here fool" Karui said as she and her teammates charged Cell
"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder"
"Cloud-Style Crescent Moon Beheading"
"Cloud Style Front Beheading"
Cell saw all of their attacks coming with his Kenbunshoku Haki and avoided all of them "Is that really the best you can do Kumo-chan?"
"It's not us you should be worried out you green shitstain. It's him." Omoi pointed behind Cell who noticed that Darui was preparing an attack of his own.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus"
While the team of Kumo shinobi had time to dodge the burst of lightning towards them, Cell didn't see it coming and had to defend with an energy burst of his own.
"Galick Gun"
The attack from the Akatsuki chairman proved to be stronger than Darui's, as it overrode the latter's and came straight for him. Luckily for him, he used Busoshoku Haki to shield himself from the brunt of the attack and countered with his sword.
However Cell once again used his own Haki to predict the blows and dodge the cleaver "That was close Darui-chan! A couple more blows like that and you might just hit me before the sun becomes a black dwarf!"
"Wind Sword"
Baki came from behind to slice Cell in half with his technique, only for him to regenerate almost instantly and hit the Suna jounin with a powerful spinning kick, sending him flying.
"This isn't good; if only one of the Sand Siblings were here." Matsuri groaned, still aching in pain from her own attempt on Cell.
"As much as I trust them, I seriously doubt they'd be capable of doing any better than us right now." Naruto carefully observed Cell for any weak point while he brought any shinobi brave enough to confront him. That is until he recognized the girl next to him "Wait a minute, your name's Matsuri right? Aren't you Gaara's girl?"
"Yes, Cinderface-senpai; he's told me a lot about you." Matsuri said cheerfully before Akatsuchi and his golem crashed near them, with Kurotsuchi and Han landing shortly after.
"This isn't looking good Cinderface. You got any ideas?" Kurotsuchi asked as she coughed up more blood.
"Nothing much; You and the other high ranking shinobi from the other villages are the only ones who could even put a dent in this bastard so far. No matter what we do he keeps regenerating."
"And then there's Pein. Even if we do manage to beat Cell somehow, odds are that smug little bastard's got something up his sleeve." Han glared at Yahiko, who watched from his throne.
"Heh,?I can handle him no problem. What do you think I spent 14 weeks training in that chamber for?" Naruto said with a grin on his whiskered face.
"Now who the hell says you're fighting Pein? I want a crack at that egotistical bastard." Kurotsuchi objected.
"You think we're letting you take the helm just because he's your brother Cinderface? Fat chance!" Han supported his superior in her points against Naruto.
This managed to piss of the blond swordsman, who angrily grabbed Han by the metal collar of his armor "That man is not my brother. I refuse to acknowledge that after what he did to Kaasan's body."
"Hey if you're done with your catfight, we've got an idea for how we can take down this knock-off Jinchuriki out!"
The small crowd of ninja and kunoichi turned around to see B and Yugito heading their way discreetly while Cell was preoccupied with Ao and Chojūrō.
"This coming from the woman with a giant cat sealed inside of them." Han poked fun at the Nibi Jinchuriki.
Wait a minute Han
Stop, stand, and listen
This ain't no time for monkey business
"Take your own advice B-san" Yugito held in all anger so as to not to irritably smack the rapper "From what I've seen our high ranking jounin seem to be giving Cell the hardest time, and their around the level of a Vice Admiral in the Marines. But the Kage are around the level of the Fleet Admiral. I don't care how good he thinks he is, he's no match for someone on their level.
"So what you're saying is…?" Naruto asked curiously.
"I use my contact with Raikage-sama to signal them over here. While we wait, we'll have to go up to our higher forms if we want to stand a chance."
"Well, my youkai that I lost against Itachi is back up to speed." Naruto explained before turning to B "How about you B? I know from experience that fighting Kisame isn't very easy."
"I'm all good bro!"
"That's just what I wanted to hea-"
"Black Needle"
Before Naruto could even finish his sentence, Pein suddenly created multiple sharp receivers from his hand and sent them raining down onto the battlefield. Almost every shinobi on the battlefield was hit by the projectiles, some less lucky than others.
One of these unfortunate ninja ended up being Yugito, who found there was a needle impaling her through the chest and staking her through the ground.
"Impressive plan Otouto. But next time, make sure I'm not listening in on it." Pein mocked his younger sibling as he dug the black substance out of his arms.
To make matters worse, Cell was know focused on them. After regenerating from another by Ao and sending him to his knees with a sharp kick to the solar plexus, Cell fired onto them with a massive beam from his fingertips.
"Big Bang Attack"
Cell's attack was too fast to dodge, causing a massive explosion. Matsuri, Akatsuchi, Kurotschui, and Naruto got blown back several feet, but otherwise remained unharmed. B, Yugito, and Han were less lucky and took a direct hit from the blast.
Through his obliterated armor and intense pain he felt around his body, Han used Kokuō to stand up "How did you know we were planning to contact the Kage?"
"We had someone on the inside." Deva Path pointed behind them to show Human Path had been spying on them from underground. Naruto took the opportunity to attack one of Yahiko's bodies with an airborne slash from Azuma.
"Ittoryu: Sanjuroku Pound Ho"
While the blow made a massive scratch across Human Path, he didn't really seem to mind all that much and walked straight for Yugito. He grabbed the rod and focused his own chakra through it.
This allowed them to get important information concerning a certain location "I see…So both Sarutobi-me and Danzō-me are hiding from my revenge in Kumo. Cell, seal the Nibi and await further instruction."
"Yes sir, Pein-chan." Cell said as he slowly approached the struggling Yugito.
"Yugito! Matatabi! Don't just stand there gaki! Do something!"
In response to Kurama's pleads, Naruto charged at Cell with all three swords in hand, only to be blocked by Human Path, who was using a black needle as a weapon.
"Damn you!"
"No! Stay away from me!" Yugito cried in fear before Cell pulled out the object sticking her to the ground, and sucking her up his tail. Within seconds, both the Nibi and its Jinchuriki had vanished.
Both Cell and the fossilized Jubi both had a sudden surge of chakra run through them, signifying the growth in power as another Jinchuriki fell. Once their business was finished, Human Path shushined away from Naruto and joined the other paths atop Shinju.
This left behind a frustrated Naruto "Damnit!" Little did he know the worst was yet to come.
"So what now boss? I'm dying to have more fun before my next meal." Cell asked, to which Pein responded by pointing towards Kumo.
"The Kage are meeting in Kumogakure's capitol building. Destroy it with a Biju Ball."
"WHAT?" Naruto cried out in horror, a sentiment shared by those in earshot of Pein's words.
After giving a smirk to the blonde swordsman, Cell aimed at Kumo and gathered his youkai up to his mouth. This didn't go over well with anybody who heard what the Akatsuki was planning, as several of them such an Naruto, Chouji,Ao, Kurotsuchi, Chojūrō, and Baki. However Cell saw this coming and distracted them with his own attack.
"Solar Flare"
The flash of light that shined across the battlefield momentarily blinded everyone within the vicinity with horrible pain. In response to the burning sensation in his eyes, Naruto cried in pain, "Holy hell, it's like seeing Big Mom naked."
"Imagine how the audience feels Naruto-chan. They get to see a photoshopped horror image of what you just described. Or they would if this were in video format instead of text." Cell stretched out his arms as he prepared to fire "But that's far from the worst thing happening today."
"Biju Ball"
About half an hour after these events as the battle with the remainder of the Akatsuki reached its climax, Hinata and other Konoha shinobi were headed towards the fight and were nearing the edge of the Land of Fire.
The shinobi had informed of her of everything that happened and the results of all the battles that had ended between the chairman and the Allied Forces. But one of the men was currently focused on more important things at the moment; namely hitting on Hinata.
"Come on baby, a hot little piece of ass like can't just go untouched. Let's get together tonight and I'll show you how to party."
"Baka, you keep that up it's a good way to get your balls caved in by a Jyuuken strike. The kunoichi of the Konoha 10 may be smoking hot, but they're also dangerous."
"Them dangerous? Over half that class got beaten out by those losers from Suna."
"Hey, Suna is pretty tough. It's not smart to knock them."
"Forget about the sand brains. Let's just focus on the more important things like hacking up some Akatsuki."
"Why'd we let him on our squad again?"
"We needed one more member to fill in a border squad."
"And yet we get called in for reinforcements anyway."
Hinata was in a bad mood due to everything happening around her and tried to tune out the noise of the vulgar chunin with her own thoughts 'Please let Naruto-kun be alive. Please let them all still be alive after this mess.' Hinata got too lost in thought after a while and accidentally slipped from the branches and onto the ground below.
"Hyuuga-sama, are you all right down there?"
"I'm fine, just go on ahead!" Hinata cried to them as she made sure nothing was broken, before realizing something was odd about the ground she was kneeling on.
Namely the toe bone that appeared to be sticking out from the dirt. Upon closer examination, Hinata realized it was definitely a bone "w-wWhat's going on? What is this?" She then turned on her
byakugan and saw a human skeleton in the uniform of a Konoha Tobetsku Jounin. What stuck out to Hinata most about the peculiar scar around the nose that was reminiscent of Division 6 Lieutenant, Raidō Namiashi.
'Is that Raidō-senpai? But this body looks like it's been dead for years…and he's fighting Cell right now!' Before Hinata could ponder what this meant any further, she heard the screams from the reinforcements from farther away.
Once again using her Byakugan to get a closer look, she saw the bodies of the entire squad surrounding two sinister figures: Santatsu, Orochimaru and Nitatsu, Kabuto Yakushi.
"I have to say Kabuto-kun, your skills have improved. This is much better than your pathetic failure during the Chunin Exams."
"I don't intend on getting arrested again Orochimaru-sama. So it only follows logic that I don't plan on losing, especially not to these worms in Konoha!" Kabuto angrily focused both his chakra and Devil Fruit power through his hands at the memory of his arrest three months ago.
"Just keep your temper under control, we need to make sure our old Nitatsu is still on our side; especially with Naruto-kun and Kakashi-kun digging into our organization. We've already lost a Santatsu and three Nitatsu thanks to them." Orochimaru remembered the results the Tazuna Delivery Mission, along with the resulting conflicts six years later.
"Kakashi I understand, but that dobe Naruto-kun? It doesn't matter what a wanted poster says, a dobe is still a dobe."
"Of course Kabuto-kun; but it banks the question of who is more foolish. The fool or the fools who make him a warlord." Orochimaru continued to insult the swordsman, as Hinata got more and more irritated. That is until the sannin spoke up "Kukuku, and one more thing Kabuto-kun. While I'm meeting with Danzō, do take care of our little Hyuuga spy."
"Yes Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto obeyed as Orochimaru vanished in a swirl of leaves. He then activated his Devil Fruit and began tearing at the land around them with razor sharp blasts of wind.
"Razor Tempest"
"Kaiten"
Hinata used her clan's signature attack to avoid being cut by the wind, only to have to deflect one of his chakra scalpels "So you're the Hyuuga heir, Hinata Hyuuga. The only name more prestigious in your village is that of the Uchiha. Or it was before the Kyuubi dobe framed for trying to kill the Kazekage."
"That wasn't Naruto! Sasuke was the one who tried to kill Gaara-sama; Shikamaru-san and Temari-san proved in court."
"Yes, yes I know, and now Sasuke's rotting in Neo Impel Down. Well, at least for now; but we have to take care of the Akatsuki and the construction of the Asura Tower first."
"Asura Tower? What's that supposed to be?" Hinata asked as she continued to force back his attacks.
"I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you!" Kabuto yelled before breathing a river of water at Hinata, forcing her back onto another branch "Actually, I'm probably just going to end up killing you either way so I might as well tell you something."
"And what would that be?" Hinata asked nervously, afraid of what Kabuto would reveal.
The bespectacled man merely chuckled before answering "Itachi Uchiha wasn't responsible for Uchiha Clan Massacre."
"I'm going to enjoy putting you into my collection Hyuuga." Sasori scoffed at Neji's words and sent the Sandaime Kazekage puppet flying towards him.
The Hyuuga prodigy saw this coming and dodged the oncoming human puppet. However what he didn't see coming was the iron sand that leaked out of its mouth and launched itself toward Neji. As a result, Neji barely had any time to deflect the sand with a rotation.
"Iron Sand: Scattered Shower"
"Kaiten"
Upon slowing down his spin, Neji looked around in horror to see the grains he had deflected had caused massive lacerations to the environment around him "What on earth? No normal puppet could possibly have machinations this powerful!" He exclaimed in disbelief.
"Weren't you listening to a single thing I said Hyuuga? These are human puppets, so as you can imagine they'd still have traces of their old chakra and jutsu. That's what makes this one my favorite, considering it has the chakra reserves of a kage and all."
"Be that as it may, your puppets have a glaring weakness against my fighting style. All I have to do is sever its strings with my gentle fist!"
"Good luck, you'll have to do a lot more than just block its sand if you want to beat it." Sasori said before mocking dropping down his sealing scroll and revealing a glowing green orb "And just to make things a bit more interesting let's start a time limit shall we? Either you beat me by the time this lacrima explodes, or you'll be growing a lot more fur in the meantime."
"Damn, I forgot about that monstrosity."
"Don't feel to bad, you'll probably be dead by the time it goes off anyway." Sasori said as he started converting the environment around him into iron sand, which molded into midair daggers "Your ballerina act won't help you now."
"Iron Sand: Shower of Blades"
"Kaiten"
Neji guarded against the attack when he saw the blades form and followed with another rotation. As a result of this he was surprised to feel several sharp pains in his back, and looked around to see pieces of iron sand jutting out from it.
"What the hell did you do?"
"Remember, we've tracked all the Jinchuriki since our goal was formed; and as such we saw your fight with #9. I know all about that blindspot behind your back. If the blow is precise enough, it will slip right through your techniques and hit you where it hurts."
"Hidden Buzzsaw"
Neji was caught off guard by another attack by the Sandaime Kazekage puppet while Sasori explained himself. The buzzsaw hidden up the puppet's sleeves struck around the byakugan's blindspot, causing it to slice right through Neji's headband. However he was able to deflect the attack before it did further damage.
"Jyuuken"
The strike managed to snap the buzzsaw from the puppet and left it right open to an attack by Neji. Or it would if a compartment in its left arm hadn't opened to reveal a summoning scroll, which released thousands of different arms.
"Thousand Hands Manipulation Force"
"Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms"
In an instant, hundreds of poisoned blades and kunai shot out from the hands of the puppet, forcing Neji to deflect at his top possible speed. Once he was sure that all that ammo had been used up, Neji let a smirk across his face, only to realize his body had been trapped in a web of ninja wire.
"I did forget to mention that some of its kunai have several meters of ninja wire tied to them? Well, then you'll love this." Sasori continued mocking the Hyuuga, before pulling the strings of the Sandaime Kazekage and revealing another one of its functions.
It was at that point that it released a cloud of poisonous gas at Neji, forcing him to use up more chakra in a rotation.
"Kaiten"
Due to the wire entangling Neji still being connected to the puppet, this caused it to go flying with a trail of poison gas behind it. Shortly afterward, Neji began to cough up a small amount of blood.
"What is this? Could I not get rid of that puppet quick enough?" Neji pondered as he felt a pain in his chest.
"That's right; the particular poison I used on you was concocted by Chiyo-baasan. Now you'll be lucky to live long enough to see the lacrima go off." Sasori revealed; to make matters worse he saw that Sandaime Kazekage was still intact and making a web of iron between the damaged buildings of Sunagakure with a hidden apparatus in its chest.
"What the hell?"
"You'll be dead in a few days anyway. Might as well finish you off now." Sasori droned before activating the true nature of the attack.
"Satetsu Kaihō"
Suddenly several sharp pillars came down onto the battlefield from the sphere above, forcing Neji to dodge all of them at a rapid pace 'This puppet master has to be the strongest opponent I've ever fought. I haven't even gotten close to damaging him yet, and he's taken active steps to target my blindspot.'
"What's the matter Hyuuga, you getting tired out?" Sasori continued to mock him while rapidly moving around the threads of his puppets "That's a damn shame, because I'm just getting warmed up."
'No matter what happens, I have to get close enough to him to finish this. Even with this poison going through my blood, even with my body giving in, I will not lose! I shall not lose! I cannot lose!' Neji repeated in his mind, right up until the point where a pillar of sand entered his blindspot and hit him through the chest. This proved to be the end as hundreds of other pillars rained down onto him.
"DAAAAAAAAAAMNIIIIIIIIITTTT!"
Within seconds of the attacks landing, Neji was bloodied and impaled through hundreds of spots on his body. His upper clothing was ripped to shreds and his hair was let down from its ordinary tied position.
Despite this, he continued to live as no vital points were hit by pure luck. Sasori noticed this and prepared for a final attack "With that much poison in your body you'd be lucky to last half an hour. Might as well end this crap now." Sasori sent his favorite puppet flying towards its captured prey with a poisoned blade armed on its right side.
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm"
To the scorpion's surprise, Neji had the strength to break free from the rods of iron sand and used that strength to smash the Sandaime Kazekage puppet to pieces.
"Kaiten"
He then used another rotation to break free from the rest of his binds and made a final charge towards the Akatsuki chairman "I will not lose to the like of you!"
"Well then, hit me with your best shot Hyuuga." Sasori said while preparing for the blow with open arms.
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Wall Palm"
Neji used the last of his chakra to hit Sasori square in the gut and send him flying several kilometers away. With his Byakugan out of commission, Neji had to use his normal vision to look at what remained of his opponent, but was shocked to see an ordinary puppet lying there.
"Wait a minute, where did he-?" Before Neji had to comprehend what was going on, he felt several blades impaling him through the stomach.
After they were pulled, Neji collapsed from both pain and exhaustion. Using peripheral vision, Neji saw someone moving in front of him "I have to give you credit, this is the first time I've had to solve a problem this way since I joined the Akatsuki. You probably could have beaten any one of us besides me. I guess you could call my body the Hyuuga's natural enemy."
Neji could only look in horror as he saw that Sasori had a puppet for a body. And where his heart should be was small black and white container "What the hell are you?"
"Questions, questions Hyuuga. If you really want to know I'm an Ochichite. My powers allow me to transplant my mind, heart, and soul into this one essence. It fits perfectly when it comes to making puppets. I'm the only puppet master capable of being a living puppet." Sasori revealed as he unraveled a wire from his chest, which he mechanically controlled to stand on.
'He's even more twisted than Deidera!'
"Seeing you fight makes me understand how you defeated so many of us. Maybe if you didn't allow yourself to get poisoned so much this would have ended differently." Sasori revealed flamethrowers attached to his pals which he pointed straight at Neji.
"NOW BURN IN THE FLAMES OF MY ART!"
Danzō carefully observed the computers of his own personal sector of the war room. While no one else really noticed, a large majority of the computers observing the area around the capital were hacked. Only Danzō's functioned properly.
When he saw that Cell had fired a massive Biju Ball towards Kumogakure, Danzō decided to keep the information away from the others 'If I play my cards right, I could be ruling Konoha by the time this battle is finished.'
Making sure that no one else was watching, Danzō pulled out a mini-transponder snail from his sleeve and began talking into it "There's been a change in plans. Bonsai, Soramaru, I need the two of you to engage in Operation: Hokage War; report to me after you've completed your duties."
"So why did Hokage-sama bring the old war hawks here again. Their troublesome behavior is bound to get everyone killed except for Cell."
"Did you forget about the hold Danzō has on the village? Between his vote and the rest of the Civilian Council, Hokage-sama is constantly getting outvoted. He's just lucky they can't control the shinobi side nearly as well."
"That's true; otherwise Naruto's trial would have been so much more troublesome than it actually was." Shikaku said with a yawn before noticing Danzō was whispering discreetly into his sleeve "He's up to something."
While Danzō schemed with his subordinates and Shikaku and Inoichi discussed his suspicious behavior, A couldn't help but feel his nose was having an irritating twitch. All he could tell was that it was being caused by his Kenbunshoku Haki, which bothered him even more.
Gaara noticed this and spoke up "Is something wrong Raikage-sama? Something's been bothering you for some time now."
"My Haki has been activating for sometime now, but I'm not even fighting. I've got a very bad feeling about this."
"Hogwash Raikage-sama; you're probably just worried for your younger brother, though I can't imagine why considering his demonhood and all."
"WHAT?" A reacted angrily to Danzō's case of foot and mouth. Before the incensed Raikage could do anything else, Sarutobi intervened by giving his old rival a dirty look.
"Danzō, hold your tongue!" Sarutobi scolded the councilor before facing his fellow Kage "A, do you know where the location of the disturbance is?"
"I think its coming southwest from the center of the island." A said before Mei realized something from his statement.
"But isn't that where our men are fighting Cell and Yahiko?" Mei said with horror evident in her voice "Why haven't we picked up anything on our radars?"
Shikaku checked out the nearest computer only to find a clear disturbance "There's something blocking our signals. But what's causing it?"
'If they figure out I'm causing the disturbance before Soramaru and Bonsai, my goose would be cooked! How could this get any worse!'
Danzō quickly got his answer when Ebisu burst back into the war room, looking severely burned by Soramaru's lighting but otherwise alive "We all need to escape right now!"
'Shit, he's still alive! And there's a functioning monitor down there!'
"Ebisu-san what happened to you?" Inoichi moved down and examined his injuries after the uptight instructor collapsed.
"It was Danzō; he had one of his bodyguards attack with some sort of Devil Fruit power! But that's not important right now! Cell's fired a Biju Ball and it's heading right for us!"
While Danzō looked panicked for a moment, that faded into smug
satisfaction when he sawn Soramaru and Bonsai enter the room "So you got caught after all our hard work frying those servers?That's just a disappointment."
"Who are these men?"
"We're Nitatsu babe!" Bonsai walked across the room with swagger in his step over to Mei "I'm Bonsai Kodama, but I wanna hear more about you."
"Stop flirting Bonsai, we've got more pressing matters to deal with." Soramaru scolded his younger brother before turning to those in the war room "You might want to get out of here while you still have a chance. You've only got about ten minutes before this building gets blown sky high."
In response to this, almost every one in the room ran away in pure terror at the cataclysm headed there way, including Koharu and Homura. The only ones remaining were the Kage, The Santatsu Foundation members: Danzō, Bonsai, and Soramaru, and Ebisu, who was incapable of walking, along with Shikaku and Inoichi.
"Is this the part where I tell them I blocked all the exits with my Trunk-Trunk Fruit power or not?" Bonsai said with a smarmy grin.
"How could you do this Danzō?"
"How could I not, your foolish philosophy has led this village to ruin. Yahiko and the demon gaki are proof enough of that." Danzō mocked the Hokage "But I could change all that. Give me power of the shinobi side by naming me the Godaime Hokage! Then I'll have Bonsai undo the effects of the Trunk-Trunk Fruit and everyone can escape. Or will you let your pride get in the way of your people's safety."
With shame evident in his eyes, Sarutobi slowly reached for his Hokage hat, only for Gaara to stop him with a tendril of sand "Hokage-sama don't! You know this traitorous prune will just go back on his promise the moment he gets your title!"
"Well, if you're going to turn down my generous offer, then you can rot with the others suna-demon." Danzō said as Soramaru grabbed onto him and Bonsai, causing them to fade away into clouds "Goodbye Hiruzen. It's been fun."
The room was now dead silent with only breathing noticeable. Finally Onoki broke the silence "So I guess that splinter cell you were always talking about was real after all Sarutobi."
"I guess there's no way around it, we're going to die here." Ebisu said somberly as he straightened out his glasses "My one regret is that I didn't see my team become chunin."
"Looks like we'll never see our grandkids again Sarutobi."
"And I'm going to die without ever have gotten married."
"I'll never really have made up for my sins."
Sarutobi stood up and said with the same melancholy tone as the others "I have only one regret; that I couldn't bring back my village to its former glory."
"Would you snap out of it already!" Shikaku brought their attention to him and Inoichi "I've got a plan on how we can make it out of here to live and fight another day. Kazekage-sama, you could make a shield of sand to protect us from the blast."
"That's a great idea in theory Shikaku-san, but my sand won't be strong enough to take a biju ball head on." Gaara said.
However Shikaku wasn't about to give up yet "What if we reinforced it with my shadows?"
"A shadow wouldn't exist inside a ball of sand! There wouldn't be any light in there to cast a shadow you gaki!" Onoki yelled in frustration.
"I know, I'll cast it from the outside."
"Are you complete insane Shikaku-san? You would get caught in the blast if you tried something like that. Think of your family!" Mei scolded him for the idea.
"Your lives are more important than mine; the Kage are the only ones capable of defeating Cell. As much as I want to see my family again, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
"I understand." Gaara said, before beginning to set the sand barrier with a heavy heart "We'll never forget your sacrifice Shikaku Nara."
Shikaku nodded before turning his attention to Inoichi and Ebisu "Are you guys getting in there or what."
"No Shikaku, I'm staying with you. I'm going to stay with you in death."
"In my state, I'd be little more than dead weight."
"Troublesome." Shikaku gave a sad chuckle before sealing off the partially open sphere of sand, ignoring Sarutobi's protest "Hey Inoichi, think you've got time to send out any dying messages?"
About seven minutes later, the blast tore through Kumogakure killing several of the villages inhabitants, before striking the capital building. Out of the 600 shinobi that entered the building that day, only five made it out alive.
"Flamethrower"
Sasori fired on Neji with intent to burn him to death with the engines on his hands, only for something to get in the way at the last moment and block off the flames.
When he saw who was responsible before saving his defeated opponent, Sasori broke out into a smirk "Looks like puppet masters think alike eh Chiyo-baasan."
"I would normally be surprised that you haven't aged since the day you left, but judging by your puppet body it makes perfect sense." Chiyo said to her grandson as she put up the shield in her arm before turning to Neji "Young man, what did Sasori do to you?"
"P-Poison blades."
"Of course, poison is the specialty of the Akasuna clan." Chiyo said before throwing an orange senbon into his chest "That should keep the poison from spreading any further until we can treat you properly."
"Well, this just isn't my day is it Chiyo-baasan? First I lose two of my favorite puppets and I lose my chance at making another one. But I can easily replace them with you and the Hyuuga."
"My darling grandson did you really think I came here alone?"
Before Sasori had time to question her statement, a large blast of wind came and knocked him into the air. After using his cable to grab onto a lightning rod and pull himself to safety, he quickly found himself on the receiving end of a storm of weapons.
"Rising Twin Dragons"
The human puppet used the cable from his stomach again to deflect the weapons before noticing the source, Tenten "Nice try weakling!" Sasori then used the stinger to attempt to impale Tenten, only for something else to get in the way.
"Salamander"
Before Sasori could land his blow on the kunoichi, Kankuro's shield puppet blocked the cable "Thanks for the save Kankuro-san!"
"Don't sweat it."
Seeing Kankuro surprised Sasori for a brief moment "Wait a minute, you're still alive? Didn't I kill you?"
"Nope, but I have to say it was a damn good try." Kankuro quickly retracted his own puppet before Sasori could damage it again, allowing Tenten to pull off a counter attack.
She leapt into the air and used ninja wire to pull up the weapons she'd unsealed to slice Sasori's body to pieces. However he remained alive with his Ochichite power and transplanted himself to another blank puppet which he had resting in the ground in front of Chiyo.
"This is just like you Sasori. Always prepared down to the letter." Chiyo said as she pulled out a purple scroll "We only have a limited amount of time before your lacrima detonates. You leave me no choice but to use this jutsu Sasori. Let's finish this here and now."
"White Collection: Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets"
"No way, that old bag can use all those puppets at once?" Temari said with shock at her skill.
"Yep, you probably don't know all this since puppets aren't your forte, but legend has it she took out an entire Konoha fortress with those ten puppets before."
"Quite the exquisite collect Chiyo-baasan. However, they still won't be enough to beat me!" Sasori grabbed one of the scrolls attached to his back and released one hundred puppets from the seal, and hundreds of chakra threads from a compartment in his chest."
"Red Collection: Performance of One-Hundred Puppets"
"Have you ever wondered how me and Artist took down the Sanbi Jinchuriki? Well, this is how!"
'He's held this much power all this time?' Neji thought in horror as he lied on the sandy ground.
"Your just lucky the Hyuuga wasted so much of my time earlier, otherwise I wouldn't need to use these on an old bag, a rank amateur, and two little girls."
"Well put your money where your mouth is douchebag!" Temari cried as she and the others readied for battle as the wave of puppets headed towards them.
"Wind Release: Great Cast Net"
"Killer Crow"
"Killer Ant"
Sasori was fully prepared to see his army of puppets run down and completely slaughter the. However this proved to be the opposite, as Chiyo's expert puppetry allowed her ten to tear into his hundred.
"Three Treasures Suction Crush"
To make matters even worse, Kankuro had clearly improved since their last fight and was using his more offensive puppets to make quick work of his collection, and that's not even mentioning Temari's powerful bursts of wind.
But what was causing the most damage to his puppets was Tenten and her use of fast paced taijutsu and masterfully aimed weaponry to dispatch his tools.
"No, you should be dead by now! How can you possibly keep up with my art?" Sasori visibly began to panic.
"I guess you just had a bad matchup with us! Without your poisoned puppets you can't do a thing to us." Tenten through his insults back at him.
"WHO THE HELL SAID I WASN'T USING POISON YOU STUPID BITCH!" Sasori cried in fury as his own puppets slowly began to wear down Chiyo's and they released another toxin.
"Summoning Jutsu: Sickle Weasel"
Temari responded to the usage of the poisonous gas by smearing her blood on the fan and releasing her signature summon, which blew all the gas away and took out even more of Sasori's puppets.
"Damn you!" Sasori yelled in fury before remembering something very important and proceeding the laugh his ass off "You're too late now! That lacrima is going to be detonating any second now!"
The mentally descending puppet master focused on his bomb, only to realize in horror that he'd been so distracted with his current opponents, that he'd forgotten Neji was still there.
"Hey Scorpion! YOU'RE A FAILURE!" With any possible strength left in his body, Neji tore off the timer and defused the bomb.
"Eight Trigrams: 128 Palms"
When he saw that the chakra in the lacrima had faded back into an ordinary blue color, Neji collapsed with relief. That was until he saw Sasori charging at him with several tons of killing intent.
"Don't get too comfortable Hyuuga!" Sasori screeched as he prepared to strike down Neji, only him to be snared by one of Tenten's ninja wire and pulled back.
"Black Secret Technique: Machine One Shot"
Sasori was quickly pulled into the Killer Ant by Kankuro where he was sealed. Despite this, he immediately attempted to escape by slicing the puppet open "Let me out damn it! Let me out right now!"
"I don't think so Akatsuki scum!" Temari yelled as she prepared her own finishing move.
"Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu"
In one final scream of anger, Sasori's puppet body was blown apart along with Crow. Before he could regenerate into another body, Tenten grabbed the container holding his heart and quickly sealed it into a scroll.
"What do you think of our artwork Scorpion? It's called: Don't Mess With My Teammate!"
As he watched Tenten taunt the defeated Akatsuki member, Neji only had one thought "I think I'm in love."
"Dude, you totally said that out loud." Kankuro made fun of his accidental reveal.
"Shut the hell up Kankuro!"
As the fights with Tucker and Sasori began in the other far away nations of the continent, Kakashi made landfall in Iwagakure. Using his knowledge of their old rival gained in the Third Shinobi War, Kakashi was easily able to navigate through the village.
He figured there was only one place that the Akatsuki would lay the lacrimal in Iwa: the location of the Stone Monument. In front of the giant pillar lay the dangerous lacrima, but strangely no Akatsuki chairman.
"Well, this is confusing." Karachi pondered to himself before crying out "So if there are any chairman out here, come out right now or I'll find you myself."
It surprised him very little when several black crows swooped down to form Itachi "All right Kakashi you don't have to shout. If it's a fight you're looking for I'd be more than happy to oblige. Let's see which one of our Sharingan is stronger!"
Akatsuki Chairman Remaining:
Yahiko Namikaze
Konan Hirato
Itachi Uchiha
Cell Frankenstein
Tobi Uchiha
(A/N): I LIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Just barely though. Once again I have to apologize for the extraordinary gap between chapters, but as of late it's felt like life has thrown every obstacle in its way to keep from me writing.
For starters I have a new format for writing, which while it helps me check grammar issues easier, it also makes the chapters that much easier to write. Sort of a quality over quantity thing.
Next is the fact I'm a senior in high school and in the final stretch. That's not even counting all the college things I'll have to worry about. I write whenever I get the chance but lately, that hasn't been very often.
And finally the thing that makes me feel like a bucket of horseshit. One of my dogs are sick; like, REALLY sick. At the moment it's looking pretty grim, and it seems like all I can do is hope and pray that things will get better for her. Please send out your best wishes for her.
I really hope you enjoyed the plot of this chapter and that it was worth the extensive wait. I'm not exactly sure when the next one will be released, just be patient will I sort out my personal problems and wish me luck in the new adventure called adulthood.
Cedric: Adulthood? You don't even have a drivers license yet!
Skillet: Please don't remind me T_T
Next Chapter: Four Sharingan