Author's Note: If you missed Naruto and co. in the previous chapter, fear not, dearest reader, for both he and his friends will return in full force during the second half of the arc, which starts right now!
I was so glad how many reviews the previous chapter got. Let's see if this chapter's reception is just as good. See you at the bottom notes, and enjoy the beginning of the end of Part I:
Chapter 36:
The Senju Twins' Retrieval, Part I
or
Kidnapping a child isn't child's play
…
The fifteen Konoha ninja relentlessly pursued the invaders who had kidnapped Naruto's siblings through the forests of the Land of Fire, heading north. It was obvious that they were heading towards the Land of Sound, where Orochimaru had his main base. For one reason or another, everybody was tense. Not only were they going against ninja much stronger them, but unlike any other mission they took before, they wouldn't have their Jonin-sensei to protect them.
"We're getting close," Neji informed. For some reason, their pace seemed oddly...relaxed. Maybe they weren't aware that they were being followed. Better for the Konoha ninja, then.
"Hinata-hime, while Neji keeps track of them, you should watch out for traps," Naruto told her.
"I am. Oddly enough, they didn't leave any," Hinata replied.
"Man, those guys are surely confident nobody is following them," Ino commented.
"Abducting them during the invasion was a really clever move. With all the chaos going, it's the perfect cover. If it wasn't for Naruto-kun finding out..." Haku commented.
"Hmm…" Shikamaru interceded.
"What's up Shikamaru?" Ino asked.
"Something doesn't feel right. While kidnapping Naruto's siblings for their Bloodlines is something Orochimaru would do, some things don't make sense," Shikamaru replied. "For starters, Naruto told us that he fought against Kabuto alongside Hinata. Kabuto shouldn't have any trouble dispatching both of them, but not only he did he not do such a thing, but even told Naruto of the twins' kidnapping. And while Naruto arrived too late, the kidnappers left at least an adult ninja alive so he could tell Naruto about it."
"Are you suggesting we're bring led to a trap?" Choji asked.
Shikamaru nodded. "I'm afraid so. Remember that Naruto is a Jinchuriki, and Orochimaru is part of the Akatsuki. With this move, he's killing two birds with one stone."
"Then they probably know we're after them," Shino stated. "However, if they wanted to lure Naruto out of the village, a better alternative would have been to use the kids as hostages and force Naruto to come with them peacefully."
"Maybe. Or maybe they guessed that we wouldn't buy their bluff. The twins are too important for Orochimaru, he wouldn't risk harming them," Shikamaru replied.
"Trap or not, given that the alternative is to let him get away with my siblings, we're not going back," Naruto firmly stated. "At least, I'm not going back."
"Still, maybe we should have brought an adult with us..." Tamaki mentioned.
"There's no time! Most of the adults are needed in the village," Naruto replied. "However, some of my clones did warn a couple adults. Our Jonin-sensei should come to help us soon."
"I doubt it will be soon enough..." Tamaki whimpered.
"Oh come on, don't be such a wimp! See, that's why you were passed over for promotion!" Kiba told her.
"Shut up! Remember I made it longer than you did, mutt!" Tamaki retorted. "And it's due to that overconfidence of yours that Karin kicked your ass!"
"Enough," Shino calmly, but firmly, interjected. "This isn't the place nor the moment for petty squabble. If you can't stay focused on the matter at hand, then I recommend you to go back to the village, since you will only be a burden to the rest of us."
"Sorry..." Both Tamaki and Kiba said at the same time.
…
"Did you hear that?" Tayuya asked her teammates. "Those shitheads are getting close. Too close if you ask me."
"Come on, we can beat them! Let's kill them and bring the Jinchuriki to the base alongside these two," Sakon suggested.
"No. We have a plan, and we're going to follow it. Improvisation only leads to disaster," Kimimaro stated.
"Well we're going to have to fight them sooner or later. They will catch us at any moment. I think our head start was too short," Kidomaru stated.
"That has a simple solution. Kidomaru, take Jirobo and try to delay them," Kimimaro ordered.
"Wait, just the two of us?" Kidomaru asked, shocked.
"What's wrong, fucker? Afraid of a bunch of Genin?" Tayuya mocked.
"Kidomaru is right. Even if they're just Genin, they greatly outnumber us," Jirobo added.
"They're focused on rescuing these kids, and thus they won't try to fight you, just try and get past you. As long as you manage to make several of them stay and fight, you will make our job much easier," Kimimaro explained.
"What if the Jinchuriki decides to fight us?" Jirobo asked.
"He won't. If his relationship with his siblings is as close as we think, he will be among the last ones wanting to fight an obvious diversion. Now go," Kimimaro ordered.
"Alright then. Guess that games aren't fun if there isn't a little challenge. Let's go, Jirobo! Meet them headfirst, while I cover you from afar," Kidomaru said.
"Alright," Jirobo replied, before both he and his six-armed teammate headed in the opposite direction, ready to meet the Konoha party.
…
"Two of them left the main group and are heading towards us!" Neji warned.
"Everybody get ready!" Tenten told the rest.
"Karin, how strong are these two? Is the guy with Jonin level strength among them?" Sasuke asked the redhead.
The bespectacled girl shook her head. "Actually, they dispatched the two weakest members."
"If that's the case, they will try to delay us in order to give their teammates a chance to get away," Naruto reasoned. "But like hell that's going to happen."
"Still, you guys shouldn't underestimate them. They might be the weakest members, but each of them is way stronger than any of us. Besides, there's something about their chakra..." Karin shivered a bit. "...that I don't like one bit."
"We should make wise use of our numerical superiority. The least amount of people should stay and deal with them while the rest continue the pursuit," Shikamaru suggested.
"Agreed, but first we should see their abilities first and see which ones are the most appropriate for the task," Hinata added, before tensing up. "Here comes the first one!"
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
A huge wall emerged from the ground, forcing the Konoha ninja to abruptly stop. A man landed on top of the wall. The enemy in question was a tall and bulky man with brown eyes and his orange hair styled in a mohawk, wearing a sleeveless light brown tunic, black pants, and a rope-like purple belt. The hem of the tunic was adorned by an all white Yin-Yang symbol –which technically would make it a Yang-Yang symbol.
"It seems that we have a few rats following us, and we can't have that, can we?" the man asked, shaking his head. "My name is Jirobo, and I shall be your executioner. Pleased to meet you."
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Naruto roared as he leaped at the man, chakra blade in hand.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted as she tackled her boyfriend mid air.
"What the-?"
Naruto could hear two loud whistles as two golden projectiles passed near him at high speed, almost piercing the blond, before landing on the ground, instinctively making the others stand back.
"Sorry for being so rough, Naruto-kun, but the second one stayed behind and is acting a sniper and I had to act fast," Hinata quickly said.
"I know what's at a stake, but please calm down Naruto-kun, or else you'll end up dead," Haku added as well.
"You'll end up dead nevertheless!" Jirobo stated as he landed on the ground with a loud thud, and started making hand seals before slamming both hands into the ground. "Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison Dome of Magnificent Nothingness!"
Before anybody had time to react, a huge dome made of rocks formed around the Konoha ninja, trapping them inside.
"There, that's it," Jirobo said in satisfaction. "End of the problem. Now I'll drain their chakra dry, and leave the Jinchruiki within an inch of his life. Although...wonder if I should spare the ones with the Bloodline Limits, like the Uchiha or the Hyuga?"
…
"Okay, stand back, I have this!" Tenten warned as she unfurled a scroll, facing the dome. The weapon mistress unsealed several kunai with explosive tags attached to them, which flew at the dome, making several explosions.
But much to the brown haired Chunin's shock, the walls began to reform, negating the damage her explosions had made.
"The hell? This thing has a healing factor?" Kiba asked in shock.
"So it seems," Shikamaru replied, as he came close to the still reforming wall, in order to get a better look.
"This dome is draining our chakra, and using it to repair itself," Neji mentioned. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible, or else this man will kill us by depleting our chakra pools."
"But if the dome repairs itself..." Ino stated.
"Then we'll need to damage it faster than it repairs itself, YOSH!" Lee replied.
"I believe Lee-san is right," Sakura stated. Like Shikamaru, the pinkette walked close to the walls and began to study them. "Okay, this is an Earth jutsu, right? So a powerful Lightning jutsu should do the trick. Sasuke-kun?"
"Hinata-hime?" Naruto asked as well.
Both the Uchiha and the Hyuga nodded.
"I believe a Thunderbolt should suffice," Sasuke suggested. "Let's aim at the same spot."
Hinata nodded, and both she and Sasuke started to make the same hand seals, albeit Sasuke was a bit faster.
"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"
Hinata and Sasuke thrust their hands forward, releasing multiple lightning bolts from their fingertips that quickly started to obliterate the earth dome faster than it could repair itself. In no time, they created a hole large enough for everybody else to get out.
"The hell?" Jirobo asked in shock as the Konoha ninja escaped his dome. "Guess that hoping that there were no Lightning Release users among such a large group was too much to ask."
"Guys, we can't waste any more time! We need to reach Hagane and Kaida NOW!" Naruto urged.
"Indeed. This guy uses Earth Release jutsu, so either Sasuke-san or myself should stay and face him, while everybody else leaves" Hinata suggested.
"Like hell I'm going to let you leave!" Jirobo angrily shouted.
Then, much to everybody's shock, Jirobo lifted a massive, almost building sized chunk of rock from the ground, and chucked it at the Konoha 15.
"Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling!"
"Everybody, scatter! Sasuke, let's do it together!" Naruto commanded while he started to prepare a Rasengan.
"I'm way ahead of you," Sasuke replied as he made several hand seals and unsheathed his katana.
The Uzumaki and the Uchiha leaped at the gigantic boulder coming at them and slammed it with their jutsu the moment they met.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!"
"Rasengan!"
Like it did before, Sasuke's lightning jutsu started to obliterate the large rock, and combined with the Rasengan shattering it as well, the massive boulder was quickly reduced to a multitude of much smaller rocks and dust.
"Impressive," Jirobo conceded. "But you're going to need something more than...than...what the-?"
Jirobo suddenly found himself paralyzed. He looked down and saw that his shadow looked unnaturally dark. And more distressing, a dark tendril connected his shadow with one of the Konoha brats which, judging by his hairstyle, appeared to be a Nara.
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu, success," Shikamaru smugly stated, but his expression suddenly grew serious. "Everybody, keep going! I'll deal with this guy!"
"What? Shikamaru, stop playing hero! There's no way you can deal with that guy alone!" Ino protested.
"Yeah, he's too much for you!" Choji agreed.
"Listen, according to Karin, this guy is the weakest, and let's face it, I'm far from being the strongest here. You'd need both numbers and our strongest members to deal with them. I'll make sure he doesn't get in the way. Now go!" Shikamaru said before running away in the opposite direction, forcing Jirobo to follow him.
Naruto made a hand seal, and four clones popped into existence. "You don't have to do this alone, Shikamaru. I'll provide you with all the help I can muster," Naruto said before ordering the clones to trail Shikamaru. "Everybody else, let's go!"
Without wasting a single second, the rest of the Konoha ninja followed Naruto's lead. As they started to advance, golden arrows started to fly towards them.
'Dammit, I forgot about the sniper!' Naruto cursed inwardly as he saw a whistling arrow passing over his shoulder. "Hinata-hime, Neji, can either of you track him?"
"I already got him in my sights, Naruto-kun," Hinata replied.
"Well done. Guess that somebody needs to stay and makes sure that guy doesn't delay us anymore."
They continued pushing forward, with both Hyuga keeping their eyes focused on the six armed man firing arrows at them. However, they were so preoccupied of him that they didn't notice other traps he had laid for them.
"Watch out! There are-!" Neji tried to warn, but a bit too late
"What the hell!?" Sakura asked in shock. Everybody saw that she just run into a massive spider web, getting half her body stuck on it.
Like her, many others accidentally got stuck into other spider webs. Everybody tried to struggle.
"The path ahead is full of those spider webs," Neji informed. "Sorry for not seeing them earlier."
Sakura used a free hand to pull out a kunai and tried to cut the spider web, to no avail.
"How hard is this web?" Sakura complained as she continued trying to cut it.
"The webs are infused with chakra, hence why they are so hard," Hinata said.
Tenten, who was also stuck, got an idea. She pulled a kunai, but infused it with her own chakra as well. This time, the spider web was cut as if it was a thread of silk.
"Guys, channel your chakra through your weapons! It works that way!" Tenten told the others, who proceeded to do as she said –those who had mastered chakra flow, at the very least–.
"My chakra blade works just as fine," Naruto stated as he sliced several spider webs.
"And so does the Gentle Fist," Hinata added, doing the same.
"Okay, who gets to fight this guy?" Naruto asked.
"He's a long ranged fighter who attacks us from afar, presumably hidden. I can pinpoint his location with my Byakugan, and I can break his spider webs with the Gentle Fist. I have the best chances against him out of us," Neji stated.
Tamaki shook her head. "No, you can't stay here. You're one of our strongest fighters, and thus you'll be needed to fight the other guys. I should fight this guy. I can break his spider webs too, and I can use my cats to track and blindside him. I'm not among the strongest either, you can afford going on without me."
"Hey, don't say that!" Kiba protested. "Even if what you said is true, that doesn't mean you should throw your life away going alone against this guy!"
"Aw, do you care about me after all," Tamaki purred. "But don't worry. Remember, cats have nine lives, and I'll doubt this guy will be able to kill me that many times."
"I believe I could assist you as well," Shino stated. "I'm also a long ranged fighter, and thus I can cover you, and my beetles can help you track him."
"Okay then, Tamaki and Shino will face the sniper. Good luck you two!" Naruto said.
"Now, everybody, ready to go? I'll distract him," Shino said before spreading his arms, and two massive swarms of kikai beetles emerged from under his sleeves, creating a living wall that covered Naruto and the rest of the Konoha's ninja.
"The sniper is at two o'clock," Karin stated, while pointing with her finger in that direction.
"Be careful you two! If you don't come back alive, I'll bring you back and kill you myself!" Kiba angrily shouted. Tamaki merely giggled, while Shino simply nodded.
While they felt bad for leaving their friends behind to face enemies much stronger than them, they had to in order to maintain their numbers advantage over the remaining, much stronger, enemies. All what they could do is pray to whatever deity above for their friends to return home safe.
"Hinata-hime, can you see them?" Naruto impatiently asked.
Hinata shook her head. "Not yet. But then again, my range of Byakugan is a bit limited, since I never trained it for long distance searches."
"I can't see them either, but they can't be that far away," Neji added.
"They aren't" Karin chimed in. "I can still sense their foul chakra. While they did increase the distance gap a bit, they don't seem to be moving too fast. If we keep this pace, we will reach them in a few minutes."
"You heard nee-chan! Everybody, don't lag behind!" Naruto told the rest of the group.
"You hear that, Choji? This is why Asuma-sensei was so adamant about building your stamina!" Ino told her rotund teammate, only to realize that he was nowhere to be seen. "Choji? Where the hell did you go?"
"He...he isn't among us..." Hinata stated after briefly scanning the whole group.
"What the hell did he...?" Ino asked, before a realization dawned upon her. "Oh crap. I think I have an idea of where he might be..."
…
Not far away from there, Shikamaru was still forcing Jirobo to follow him away from the others. He reached a clearing in the forest at where he found himself out of breath, and had to stop to rest a bit.
"You must think yourself you're so heroic, don't you string bean?" Jirobo mockingly asked. "Sacrificing yourself so the others don't have to deal with me. But all what you will manage to accomplish is dying pointlessly."
The Shadow Jutsu started to waver and a few seconds later, receded completely, releasing Jirobo.
"Ah, much better," the man with the mohawk said as he began to stretch his arms. "So, ready to fight, dead man walking?"
"You look like the kind of guy of who's all strength and no brain, if you underestimate your opponent like that," Shikamaru retorted. But deep inside, he knew that this enemy was way superior to him, and his brain was already working nonstop to figure out an strategy to beat him.
The four Naruto clones landed behind Jirobo. The large man turned his head to see them, but he didn't appear to consider them a threat.
"And look at that, my reinforcements are here," Shikamaru replied.
"You must be even more naive than I thought if you really believe that a bunch of Shadow Clones is going to make any difference," Jirobo told him.
Shikamaru shrugged. "Well, they aren't going to make the fight any harder for me."
"I think I had enough of your blabbering," Jirobo said darkly as he menacingly advanced towards the young Nara. "It shouldn't take me more than a minute to squash you and go back to the others."
"Okay, first of all, I should let him attack to see the extent of his abilities, so I can think a counter-strategy," Shikamaru thought. "The Clones might be good distractions, or human shields if necessary."
"I'm really hungry. I wonder what your chakra tastes like?" Jirobo asked as he licked his lips. "But then again, such a scrawny kid like you can't have that much."
"He can absorb chakra. Just my luck," Shikamaru inwardly groaned as he took a step back. If he wanted to stay in one piece, he better keep his distance from that man with monstrous physical strength. He made a hand seal. "Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"
Once again, Shikamaru's shadow stretched into a thread and dashed towards Jirobo. The orange haired ninja was forced to jump back and try to avoid the shadow tendril, which started to branch out into multiple shadows.
"Naruto, now!" Shikamaru called.
The four Naruto clones rushed at the unsuspecting Jirobo and unleashed a barrage of shuriken on him. The shuriken embedded on his back, making him to cry in pain...before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving a large boulder behind.
"Shit, Body Replacement!" A Naruto Clone cursed.
"Quick, look for the real one!" Another stated.
However, before they could even do anything, Jirobo burst from underground, and in a couple of swift punches, two clones were destroyed. The other two managed to jump back in time, landing besides Shikamaru. Jirobo looked at his enemies and smirked.
"See? I already told you that the clones wouldn't change anything," Jirobo then cracked his knuckles.
Still, the burly man had no time to attack as Shikamaru continued to harass him with his clan jutsu. Meanwhile, the Naruto clones decided to take the opportunity to attack once more.
"Hold on, Shikamaru!" one of the clones said as he began to form a Rasengan, while the other started to infuse it with wind chakra. Once they were done, both clones charged at Jirobo, still dodging the shadow attack.
"What the...?" Jirobo asked upon seeing the clones charging again. "That sphere of chakra looks dangerous. While I doubt it can hurt me in any way, better not to take any chances." He thought.
Jirobo made the hand seals of a jutsu he had used once a few hours earlier, before slamming both hands in the ground.
"Earth Release: Rising Pillar!"
A rock pillar emerged from under Jirobo's feet, rising him high into the air. Shikamaru's shadow followed suit, but it stopped midway the stone column.
"Damn! Did I reach the jutsu's limit?" Shikamaru wondered. Due the time of the day, the pillar cast a very small shadow, which would be of little use.
"You won't escape from us!" the Naruto clones shouted as they began to climb the pillar.
Unfortunately for them, that's what Jirobo was expecting, and he jumped back into the ground the moment the clones were halfway there. He then used his incredible strength to lift the pillar from the ground and shake it, sending the two remaining clones back into the ground, before slamming them with the pillar itself.
"And no more clones!" Jirobo stated as he started to lift the pillar as well. "Now you go next, shrimp! Any last words?"
"How about I trapped you again with jutsu'?" Shikamaru retorted. "Albeit then again, I don't think they will be my last."
"What? What do you-" But much to Jirobo's shock, he realized he couldn't move anymore.
"In case you didn't notice," Shikamaru spread his arms, forcing Jirobo to the same, dropping the stone pillar. "When you held that pillar horizontally, it casted a shadow just as long on the ground, which I could use to trap you."
"You asshole!" Jirobo snarled as he struggled from Shikamaru's shadow.
"Now, I know that my jutsu won't keep you in line for long, so let's finish this already," Shikamaru started to make hand seals, which Jirobo was forced to imitate. "Fire Release: Shadow Fire Thread!"
A stream of fire moved through Shikamaru's shadow towards Jirobo, as if it was a trail of oil. However, before the flames were able to engulf the Oto ninja, he was able to break Shikamaru's hold and jump aside.
"What!?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief. The lazy genius then noticed that Jirobo's body was covered in marks shaped like a chain of small triangles.
"I can't believe that a shrimp like you forced me to use the Cursed Seal," Jirobo snarled as he menacingly advanced towards him. "In case you didn't figure it out, I'm much more powerful now, so forget about your ridiculous shadow jutsu having any lasting effect on me now."
"I see," Shikamaru replied as he took a step back. "If that's the case, then I'll have to just crush you with brute force."
Jirobo stopped in his tracks by such outrageous statement. "Brute force? Crush me? YOU!? Bwahahahaha!"
Shikamaru simply smirked. "Who said it was me who was going to crush you?"
"Huh?"
And before Jirobo had any time to react, he was crushed by a gigantic, bandaged hand, producing multiple cracks on the ground, as well as raising a lot of dust.
"Sorry for not coming sooner," Choji stated, panting a bit. "I ran as fast as I could."
Shikamaru felt like chiding Choji for not heeding his advice and returning to help him, but now he was too happy to have one of his teammates back. Jirobo clearly was too much for Shikamaru alone, but between the two of them, maybe they'd have a chance.
"Glad to see you, Choji. Now get ready, this guy is so strong it's not even funny," Shikamaru stated.
Choji's eyebrow arched in confusion. "What do you mean? I just crushed-WHOA!"
Much to Choji's shock, Jirobo managed to lift the Akimichi's enlarged palm with his incredible strength, albeit with some effort, before pushing his hand back, which promptly returned to its normal size.
"So, the shrimp has some fatty reinforcements," Jirobo mentioned as he stared at Choji, who frowned in anger, then back at Shikamaru. "You're only succeeding in delaying the inevitable. And making me mad."
"You aren't exactly the most appropriate to talk about other people's weight, you know," Shikamaru fired back. "Come on Choji, let's go!"
"Right!"
Both Konoha ninja prepared to attack their enemy from two different sides, Shikamaru from afar and Choji in close combat. Of course, Jirobo wasn't going to make things so easy for them. He started to make hand seals, before slamming his hand into the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth Prison Golem!"
A large golem emerged from the ground, making both Choji and Shikamaru to take a step back. Being almost six meters tall, the golem towered menacingly over them. It had long, thick arms that reached all the way to the floor, with its forearms being even larger and thicker. The Oto ninja jumped on the golem's shoulder.
"Let's see what you can do against THIS! You're the first one to be crushed, shrimp!" Jirobo taunted as he commanded his golem to advance.
Shikamaru knew better than to try to use his shadow jutsu on such a massive creature, but thankfully he still had other options. Reaching his ninja tool pouch, Shikamaru grabbed a couple kunai and attached explosive tags on them before tossing them at the golem, embedding themselves into its right arm and right side of the chest. Two explosions shook the ground, almost completely blowing up the golem's right side. Jirobo, however, didn't look any fazed.
"Nice try, but useless," Jirobo stated.
Shikamaru then watched in shock how small pieces of rock and dirt started to fly towards the golem, quickly rebuilding its blown off part until it was completely repaired.
"Good as new! Your pathetic attacks won't do any lasting damage to my golem. Now don't make this any harder than it needs to be, and give up already!" Jirobo angrily snarled.
"There's nothing I'd love more than leave this fight and go home to nap, but sadly, that's not an option," Shikamaru replied.
The stone giant was now upon Shikamaru, and raised one of its arms in order to smash the lazy Nara into pulp. Fortunately, its big size also made it quite slow, and Shikamaru managed to dodge the incoming slam and escape between the golem's legs, running towards Choji.
"I think we'll do better if we stay together instead of attacking from different sides," Shikamaru stated upon reaching his rotund friend, as if to justify that it just wasn't cowardice.
"Do you have a plan?" Choji uneasily asked as he saw the golem stomping its way at them.
"Yeah. Remember what you did against that Kumo girl?" Shikamaru asked. Choji nodded. "It's time for an aerial attack."
Once again, Choji nodded and clapped his hands together. "Reverse Multi-Size Jutsu!"
The world around Choji started to grow as he shrank to the size of a little mouse. Shikamaru carefully picked his friend, and after taking a couple seconds to aim, he tossed Choji in an arc above the golem.
"Whatever you're planning it won't work!" a mildly confused Jirobo stated.
"I wouldn't be so quick to talk down our abilities, you know," Shikamaru stated.
When he was about to pass over Jirobo, he canceled the jutsu, returning to his normal size, and slowed his speed to a halt, falling down like a rock. Of course, Choji wasn't finished yet, and clapped his hands again.
"Multi Size Jutsu!" using his signature jutsu, Choji turned into a giant human sphere. "Human Bullet Tank!"
"Shit!" Jirobo cursed, as he saw the spinning human boulder falling upon him. His golem reacted in time and raised its arms in order to grab the falling Konoha ninja before he could do more damage, but the spinning speed made difficult to keep it contained.
"Get out of the way, you fat ass!" Jirobo was about to punch Choji while he was on his golem's arms, but soon somebody reminded him that there was another opponent there.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Jutsu!"
Jirobo saw how an expanding stream of fire flew at him. He barely jumped out of his golem's shoulder before he was roasted by Shikamaru's jutsu. The fire attack however, did hit the golem in the head, knocking it a little, which on its own wouldn't have done any lasting damage, but it made its grip on Choji's to falter for a second, and that second was enough for the Akimichi heir to break free and demolish the giant rock construct with his jutsu.
And much to Jirobo's shock, Choji's momentum didn't slow down either, and the human rolling ball continued his attack unimpeded. The Oto ninja wasn't fast enough to dodge Choji's onslaught, and was forced to tackle him head on. Using his own bare hands, he tried to stop the living rolling sphere of destruction as his golem unsuccessfully tried before. Unfortunately, there was also the matter of the other Konoha ninja.
Speaking of which, Shikamaru was running towards Choji and Jirobo as well as his brain determined which jutsu would be the best to use. Jirobo had shown his ability to break through any shadow binding jutsu Shikamaru had by sheer brute force, so that wasn't an option. A fire jutsu it would be, then.
"Choji, keep him there! I'll finish this right now!" Shikamaru shouted as he began to form seals.
However, before the lazy genius was done, Jirobo let out an inhuman roar and punched Choji with such strength that it sent him flying backwards, until he crashed against a tree. The impact made the Akimichi heir return back to normal.
"CHOJI!" Shikamaru shouted in shock. Turning his head at Jirobo, he saw the Oto ninja had changed again, this time in a more drastic manner: his mohawk had grown into a long spiky mane that reached his shoulders, his skin turned into brownish-reddish color, his eyes turned yellow with a black sclera, and he had grown warts all over his body. "What the hell are you...?"
"I can't believe you forced me into the second form of the Cursed Seal," Jirobo angrily groaned. "You know how embarrassing it is to use my trump card against such pathetic foes like yourselves!?"
"Yeah, I would have been pretty mad if I had to become so ugly in order to get stronger," Shikamaru couldn't resist to snark at his opponent.
Jirobo chuckled. "Let's see if you are in the mood for comedy once I'm done with you. In this form, I'm ten times as strong as I was before. You two are already dead."
"...troublesome," Shikamaru managed to say.
…
Meanwhile, not far away from there, Shino and Tamaki jumped from one tree branch to another, avoiding the deadly projectiles of the six armed ninja known as Kidomaro. They were following the general direction Karin had told them, and so far the projectiles were coming from there, but the angle changed a little every few seconds, which suggested that he was constantly moving around.
"Tamaki, keep going. We're almost there," Shino told his teammate in his usual calm voice, albeit with a hint of encouragement.
"How can you know? Did you see him?" the brown haired girl asked.
"No, but one of my kikai beetles managed to find and latch onto him. As long as the beetle stays in position, my hive will be able to track him," Shino explained. Then, he pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it. "And this will make sure he comes out in the open."
Shino then threw a kunai with an explosive tag attached to a seemingly random area. Before the explosion occurred, both Konoha Genin heard a loud "SHIT!" and saw somebody coming out from behind a lush tree branch.
"Got him!" Tamaki shouted as she increased her pace. "I'm charging forward, cover me!"
"I'll be right behind you."
Kidomaru looked in expectation as the two Konoha Genin charged at him, like prey walking directly into their predator's lair. The six armed ninja then expelled a spider web net that increased in width as it was being released. Tamaki, however, was unfazed.
"Useless!" she said as her chakra enhanced metal claws easily cut the spider web before trying to slash Kidomaro, who managed to jump back before the girl's blades could ever touch him.
"Hmm, interesting. So you're the one who destroyed all the spider webs I put before..." Kidomaru wondered aloud. "This game might not be as dull as I had originally feared. Alright let's step up the difficulty!"
Kidomaru started to spit more spider webs in rapid succession, with Tamaki frenetically slashing them all as they were coming, taking a step back to give herself more room to breathe. Shino saw this as the perfect chance to attack and spread his hands, releasing a swarm of insects from under each of his sleeves. The angry swarm flew at Kidomaru, letting out a terrifying buzz.
"The hell? Where did those bugs come from?" the six armed man asked in shock as he interrupted his attack on Tamaki and jumped back. Rearing his head back, Kidomaru expelled a much larger spider web that managed to trap most of Shino's insects. "HA! That's what happens when the prey decides to attack their natural predators!"
Then, much to his shock, Shino appeared besides him, a kunai on each hand, and delivered a swing with his right hand, something the six armed man barely managed to dodge. He wasn't as lucky when Shino swung his left arm in flowing motion, leaving an ugly gash on the Oto ninja's shoulder, before jumping back on a higher tree branch.
"The hell? How did he..." Kidomaro thought as he quickly looked at the place where Shino was, and saw the first Shino dissolving into a swarm of bugs. "So, a clone made of insects. Smart, very smart."
The real Shino continued his attack, and threw a salve of shuriken at the Oto ninja, who dodged them. Upon reaching close quarter combat distance, Kidomaru opened his mouth, spitting a spear-shaped stream of his golden fluid at Shino, who moved in time for not to be impaled, but ended up slashing his side.
"Shino!" Tamaki cried as she dashed at the six armed ninja. Her metal claws started to glow with a blue light before bursting into flames. "Burning Cat Claw Dash!"
Kidomaru used a spider web thread to swing to a nearby branch before Tamaki's attack destroyed the one he was in –and himself as well–. The cat kunoichi then grabbed Shino, and both of them jumped down to the floor.
"Shino, are you okay?" a concerned Tamaki asked.
"I will be shortly," Shino replied. His hand, glowing with a green light, covered his wound. "I'm a medic, remember?"
Tamaki sighed in relief. "Yeah, I know. And all the more reason to make sure he doesn't get you. I can't heal you."
She looked up and saw Kidomaru, carefully studying them.
"Coming up with an strategy to deal with these two might not be that easy. Better power up a little," Kidomaro thought as black marks started to spread through his skin.
"The hell is that?" Tamaki wondered aloud. "Whatever it is, it can't be good for us. Better call some reinforcements," the cat kunoichi decided before biting her thumb and making five hand seals and slamming her palm into the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
From a cloud of smoke, Tamaki's two cats, Denka and Hina, emerged, ready to aid the young cat kunoichi.
"Denka, Hina, I need your help once more," Tamaki told the ninja cats. "I never faced such a strong enemy in my life, and I can't do it alone."
Hina started to sniff the air. "I smell a foul chakra," the female cat said before locking her eyes onto Kidomaru. "Is he your enemy?"
Tamaki nodded.
"What do you want us to do?" Denka asked.
"Shino and I will take the brunt of the attack. I need you to act as our support. Try to distract him, or attack him when he's busy fighting us," Tamaki told them.
"You can count on us!" both cats said in unison before vanishing.
Tamaki's summoning didn't go unnoticed by Kidomaru, who bit his thumb as well.
"This is a game between the three of us! Calling outside help is cheating! If that's the case then, I'll do the same! Summoning jutsu!" Kidomaru stated before slamming his hand into the tree branch he was standing on.
From a cloud of smoke, a massive spider appeared, with Kidomaru standing on top of it, grinning evilly. Shino involuntarily took a step back.
"If you think you can beat me with numbers, you'll have another thing coming!" Kidomaru stated as his giant spider generated a massive egg sac. The sac then broke, and dozens of spiders the size of small dogs rained upon them.
"THE HELL IS THAT?" Tamaki asked in shock. Still, she wasn't shocked enough to not react. The claws of her gauntlet retracted in order to allow her to do hand seals, which she did as fast as she could. "Fire Release: Blistering Fire cat!"
Pouring as much chakra as she could into the jutsu, Tamaki breathed a massive wave of fire that took the shape of a cat, even letting out a meowing cry, which burned to ashes most of the incoming spiders, with Shino dealing with the few that escaped her fiery attack.
"Good job, Tamaki-san," Shino praised her in his usual cold tone.
"Don't thank me yet, " Tamaki replied, panting. That attacked cost her a lot of chakra, and wasn't sure if she could be able to do it again if another rain of spiders came.
Something Kidomaru had the intention to do.
"Not bad, girl, not bad. You're making this game interesting. But let's see how long can you keep doing th-" Kidomaru said before being interrupted by a red blur who slashed his face. "AAAARGH! GET OFF OF MY FACE, YOU PEST!"
At the same time, another blur, this one blue, attacked the spider's vulnerable spot, its face. The large arachnid cried in pain.
"Your cats bought us some precious time. We should attack now that he's distracted," Shino suggested.
Tamaki nodded. "I'll get the spider, you get the guy."
Making a display of cat-like agility and speed, Tamaki climbed a tree until she was higher than the giant spider, and leaped at it, metal claws forward.
"Drill Claw!"
Tamaki started to spin, turning herself into a living drill that pierced the ten legged –oddly enough– giant beast through its head. The arachnid let out a wail of pain, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke before the cat kunoichi could inflict more damage.
On his part, Shino had managed to reach Kidomaru –still fighting with Hina–, and once again released his swarm of kikai beetles.
"Aburame Secret Art: Insect Tornado!"
As the name suggested, the swarm of insects formed a tornado around the unsuspecting Kidomaru while Hina jumped out of danger in the nick of time, as the beetles started to drain the Oto ninja of his chakra. The fight was over.
Or that's what Shino thought, as he couldn't feel the chakra being drained. Apparently, there was something that was blocking his swarm of insects. Ordering them to retreat, he saw that the six armed ninja was covered in what appeared to be a brownish golden armor.
"I see. Your skin can also secrete that quick-hardening fluid, and you used it to create an improvised armor, didn't you?" Shino guessed.
Kidomaru chuckled. "Your deductive skills are almost as good as mine," the six armed man stated, as his armor started to fall off. "My clan's abilities were truly something, but I didn't become as strong as I am until Orochimaru-sama improved me in every way. And given how you little pests are making this game longer than it should be, you're going to see another one of my enhancements."
The black markings on Kidomaru's body started to glow as they spread and covered his whole skin, which turned grayish red. His hair grew longer, a pair of horns grew on his forehead, and his eyes turned yellow with a black sclera. But the biggest change was a third eye that appeared on his forehead.
"Do you know what this means, brats?" Kidomaru asked with a sadistic glee. "This means it's game over for the both of you!"
…
Meanwhile, further to the north, Naruto and his group were still chasing the Oto ninja who had kidnapped Hagane and Kaida. The mood was a bit gloomier since four of their members were forced to leave in order to fight enemies much stronger than them, and naturally, everybody was worried for them.
But worry for others was soon replaced by worry for themselves when they remembered that the three remaining enemies were also the strongest, including the one who was Jonin level. The thought of having to face such a powerful opponent sent chills down their spines. Well, not in Naruto's case. He was determined to save his little siblings, and nobody, not even Orochimaru himself, would stop him from doing so.
"We're closing the gap," Karin informed. "Soon we- oh?"
"What's wrong, Karin?" Sakura asked, worried. When her bespectacled teammate did that, it was never good.
"I felt a presence close to us, but it disappeared. It was very sudden," the redhead stated.
"Yes, there was something. I caught a small burst of smoke through the corner of my Byakugan," Hinata added.
Worry started to spread among the group.
"A trap?" Haku guessed.
Naruto shook his head. "A Shadow Clone. Upon dispelling, Shadow Clones send the information and knowledge they gathered to the original. They probably left one to watch us. Now they know we're close to them, and they will prepare a trap."
"If that's the case, then everybody, stay alert!" Sasuke warned the others as his Sharingan flared to life. "Hinata, Neji we will need your eyes to make sure we're not blindsided."
"Don't worry, Sasuke-san, I've already been watching for potential traps on the way," Hinata reassured him –as well as the whole group–.
…
A little further to the north of the Konoha group, the rest of the Sound Five, with the unconscious Hagane and Kaida carried by Kimimaro, continued their journey. As Kimimaro's shadow clone dispelled upon seeing the Jinchuriki and his allies, new information flooded the Kaguya clan member's brain.
"The Jinchuriki is close once again," Kimimaro told his teammates.
"How many of his friends are still with him?" Sakon asked.
"If my clone is correct, he counted ten of them," Kimimaro calmly replied.
"Ten of them? Still?" Tayuya indignantly asked. "Why the fuck did those pieces of shit let so many pass?"
"Yeah, you'd think Jirobo and Kidomaru would have an easier time dealing with a bunch of weak Genin," Sakon agreed.
"Maybe those Genin aren't as weak as we thought," Kimimaro stated. "However, that doesn't erase the fact that Jirobo and Kidomaru only managed to get four out of our backs. Sakon, Tayuya, you need to thin them out."
"Fuck yeah, time to crack some skulls," the only female of the Sound Five said in glee as she dashed in the opposite direction, followed by her blue haired teammate.
"Those brats will have a surprise coming," Sakon chuckled.
And thus, Kimimaro was left alone to guard the valuable hostages. While he wasn't afraid of a bunch of young greenhorns, he didn't want to take the chances and risk his hostages being rescued, harmed or fleeing. Orochimaru tasked him with a mission, and he always carried them out to the best of his abilities. Hopefully, Sakon and Tayuya would be able to cut their numbers to a more manageable quantity, one that wouldn't be a threat to the mission.
…
Back in Konoha
The news of Orochimaru's defeat at the hand of the Third Hokage started to slowly spread around Konoha. Many Oto ninja decided that with their leader gone, the best course of action would be to flee. Others were afraid that, if they left based on an unfounded rumor, Orochimaru would have them begging for a merciful death. And others refused to believe such news and continued fighting, despite the fact that Konoha was successfully pushing back the invaders and retaking all the zones the initial assault had taken over.
One of those groups who still want to fight made the mistake of attacking Zabuza, thinking that he wouldn't be much of a threat with a broken sword.
"Come here and see for yourselves if I'm not as dangerous with my sword damaged," the former Kiri ninja taunted them.
What followed was pretty much a massacre. Broken sword or not, Zabuza was one of the deadliest ninja Kiri had produced. Plus thanks to the Executioner's Blade special ability, it wouldn't stay damaged forever.
After slashing two Oto ninja at the same time, Zabuza watched intently how his blade absorbed the spilled blood, and used its iron to slowly rebuild itself. The masked man grinned under his mask.
"So, who wants to volunteer some blood in order to fix my sword?" Zabuza asked the now not so confident Oto ninja. "How about you?"
In less than a second, Zabuza was behind the "volunteer" and impaled him from behind. His sword kept growing as blood was spilled.
Once half the group was killed, the Executioner's Blade was fully repaired. This was enough to shatter the confidence of the remaining ninja, who found their lives more valuable than their loyalty to Orochimaru, and decided to flee.
Zabuza watched in satisfaction as those poor bastards ran away, not even making an attempt to stop them. Not because of pity, but because he liked to leave some people alive to spread word of his bloodshed. And after that humiliation at the hands of Orochimaru, he needed to do something in order to cushion such a hit towards his reputation.
As the former Demon of the Hidden Mist turned around, two ninja landed in front of him, one with gravity defying silver hair, and the other with a ridiculous bowl haircut.
"Zabuza!" Kakashi called upon landing.
"You're late, copycat. This area is clear of pests," Zabuza stated with an air of superiority. "But then again, your assistance will be welcome when I go to face Orochimaru."
"That won't be necessary. I heard news that the Third Hokage defeated him and sent him packing," Gai intervened, in an unusual serious tone. "The resurrected Kage have been dealt with."
"If that's the case, all what's left is to clean the village from the remaining holdovers of Oto ninja," Kakashi suggested.
"Kakashi!" a female voice called him from above.
The three Jonin looked up and saw Kurenai, followed by Asuma, as they jumped from a nearby roof and landed in front of them.
"Kurenai? Everything okay?" Kakashi asked, noticing the red eyed woman's distress.
"Kakashi, I need you right now!" Kurenai stated.
Zabuza snorted. "I didn't imagine that your boyfriend was doing such a lousy job pleasuring you."
Both Kurenai and Asuma shot the former Kiri ninja murderous glares before the genjutsu mistress turned back at Kakashi.
"Kakashi, we need your tracking dogs. Something terrible has happened," Kurenai urged.
"We ran into a clone of Naruto," Asuma continued, not waiting for the rest to ask what was going on. "Turns out Orochimaru used the chaos of the invasion as a cover to sneak in an elite squad to kidnap the Hokage's children."
"WHAT!?" Kakashi and Gai asked in unison.
"That's not the worst part," Kurenai spoke again, making the others wonder what could be even worse. "The clone told us the original Naruto had gathered his friends and went to pursue the kidnappers themselves. Those kids don't know what they're going against! We need to help them!"
"Fortunately, we won't be as needed now, given that a good chunk of the invaders have already been repelled," Asuma continued.
"If that's the case, then there's no time to waste," Kakashi poked his thumb with a kunai and made several hand seals before slamming his hand into the floor. "Summoning Jutsu!"
From a cloud of smoke, eight dogs of different races and sizes appeared. All of them were wearing Konoha forehead protectors, as well as other pieces of cloth.
"What can we do for you, Kakashi?" one of the dogs, a pug, asked his master.
"We are going to need your help in finding out our Genin students. Time is the of essence," Kakashi urged.
Author's Note: Let's start the arc with Shikamaru, Choji, Shino and Tamaki. While Choji fighting Jirobo was done in canon, here I also wanted to showcase his friendship with Shikamaru a bit more. Still, the fight is a bit different from what it was in canon, given that I gave Jirobo a couple more abilities he didn't have before (albeit the Golem one is based on an anime filler episode).
I also liked that this episode not only allowed me to show more stuff of Shino that wasn't related to Fu (I was afraid he was too much of a Satellite Love Interest back then) but also showcase that he is a medic nin, something I'm sure many readers have forgotten (albeit not without reason, given that he didn't do anything medical related so far).
Well, not much more to say anymore, other than the rescue arc will continue in two weeks, showing the resolution of the fights started here, as well as other two members of the Sound Five fighting the Konoha 15.
Thanks to gio08 for betareading this chapter.
In the meantime, don't forget to review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!