Author's Note: Well, I'm glad to see that putting the spotlight on some of the less loved secondary characters (and Shikamaru) was better received than I initially feared. This chapter, which is way longer than usual, will continue the trend, and have other secondary characters facing the Sound Four.
Anyway, enjoy.
Chapter 37:
Senju Twins Retrieval, Part II
or
Brawl in the Forest
…
While Shikamaru guessed that "ten times as strong I was before" was probably an exaggeration to describe Jirobo's physical capabilities in his second Cursed Seal stage, it was more than enough to beat both of them to a pulp.
Choji had tried to engage Jirobo in hand to hand combat, but the older teen easily overpowered the Akimichi ninja. Choji this time decided to use his trusty clan jutsu.
"Multi Size Jutsu!" Choji swelled up into a human boulder and started to spin towards Jirobo, catching fire at the same time. "Fire Release: Flaming Human Bullet Tank!"
Jirobo, on his part, wasn't impressed.
"Pathetic!" the mutated ninja shouted as he kicked Choji, brutally knocking him backwards, forcing him to revert back to normal.
Jirobo turned around and saw that Shikamaru had caught him with his shadow jutsu, but he didn't look fazed in the slightest. Without making any visible effort, he managed to break through the jutsu.
"WHOA!" Shikamaru said in shock, as the Jirobo's breaking his jutsu made him recoil.
"Why are you surprised?" Jirobo asked as he smiled maliciously. "The first stage of the cursed seal already allowed me to overpower that annoying shadow jutsu of yours. In this stage...well, I don't even need to try. As weak as the both of you are, everything you do is completely useless against me."
"Keep underestimating us. It will make our job easier," Shikamaru countered, but deep down, he knew there was some truth to Jirobo's insults. "Dammit, there's nothing that we can throw at this guy that he doesn't shake off as if it was nothing. Come on Shikamaru, think! There has to be a way to defeat-"
"Shikamaru," Choji snapped the Nara out of his thoughts. "I'm going to use it."
"It? What do you mean...?" Shikamaru trailed off, before realizing what Choji was planning to do. "What!? No! If you do that, you might die!"
"And if I don't, both of us will die," Choji replied. He took out a soldier pill from ninja tool pouch and swallowed it. "My calorie control improved a lot during the training I did with dad for the Chunin Exam Finals, I can do this!"
Choji started to glow with a blue light as he started to gather chakra.
Jirobo remained amused. "I don't know what you plan to do, but whatever it is, it won't work," he then let out a fake yawn. "Let's see if you can entertain me at least. I'm getting bored."
"You've been saying that non-stop, yet you failed to kill any of us so far," Shikamaru fired back.
Jirobo's smile vanished, and his face frowned. "You know what? I think you're right. Playtime's over! You go first!"
The Oto ninja moved unusually fast for somebody his size, and in less than two seconds he was already in melee range, fist raised ready to beat the Nara into a pulp.
"DIE!"
Shikamaru heard a loud crashing noise. However, the noise wasn't made by Jirobo's fist clashing against his body, but something that punched Jirobo with such force that he was sent flying against a tree.
"...Choji?" Shikamaru asked the boy in front of him.
Choji's most defining feature, his heavyset body, was now much thinner, making him pretty much unrecognizable. Two large chakra wings shaped like the wings of a butterfly had grown on his back.
"Alright, you fat ass, ready for the beating of your life?" Choji taunted Jirobo.
The Oto ninja groaned as he pulled himself up. He then flexed his arms to rid them of any numbness.
"Oh, you're in for it, lard ball," Jirobo angrily snarled as he charged at Choji.
"Come on Shikamaru, let's go!" Choji shouted as he charged.
"Alright, then," the lazy genius replied as he followed him making hand seals. "I'll try to create an opening for you! Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
Shikamaru breathed a volley of small fireballs from his mouth at Jirobo, who was also making hand seals.
"Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Jutsu!"
Jirobo dug deep underground, and the barrage of fireballs harmlessly passed above him. However, he was soon going to find out that he wouldn't be safe underground. With the help of his chakra wings, Choji leaped high into the air. He raised his right fist, which started to burn with a blue flame, before inevitably coming down.
"Butterfly Bullet Bombing!"
Shikamaru made sure to be at a safe distance from the epicenter of the earthquake Choji created upon landing, shattering the land below him in a multitude of stones and pebbles, and most importantly, throwing Jirobo out of his underground hiding spot.
"WHAT!?" Jirobo asked incredulously as he was sent flying up.
"Now's my chance!" Shikamaru exclaimed as he grabbed a handful of kunai from his tool pouch and tossed them at the airborne Jirobo. While his toss was far from perfect, half of them embedded on the mutated ninja's skin.
"AAARRGH!" Jirobo screamed in pain. "You...you! I will devour both of you!" He screamed as he, blinded by fury, charged at the Konoha duo, not even bothering to remove the kunai from his body.
"Will you stop with the taunts already? It's getting tiresome," Shikamaru groaned.
"I think you're trying to bite more than you chew!" Choji replied, as he charged as well.
Both ninja met in the middle, greeting each other with a brutal punch to the face. However, Choji's punch packed way more power, and sent Jirobo flying back again, and the resulting shockwave raised a gust of wind in every direction.
"How about that!?" Choji taunted. He raised his fist again, which burned with a blue chakra fire once more.
After getting a taste of Choji's superhuman strength in Butterfly Mode, Jirobo knew that not even with the level two Cursed Seal, he could win this fight.
"How...how these twerps are so strong? Especially the fat one! How did his punches get so strong so suddenly? Is that state of his…is he stronger than Orochimaru-sama's power? No, that can't be possible!" the image of Choji menacingly getting closer made his survival instincts to overcome any rational thought, casting aside the mystery of Choji's power, and was replaced by one thing, to run away. But the moment he tried to run, he found his legs wouldn't move. "What?"
"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere," Shikamaru stated, his hands locked into a hand seal, and his shadow connected with Jirobo's. "While it's true that your previous strength was enough to overpower my jutsu, I'm sure you won't be feeling so hot after that beating."
"No...no!" Jirobo screamed as he futilely tried to break Shikamaru's jutsu, but the Nara's words rang true. Those latest attacks he received did a number on him, and even the cursed seal had its limits.
"Now prepare to experience...the power of the Akimichi Clan!" Choji shouted as he charged at Jirobo with his fist raised.
"No, wait! Can't we just calm down? There's no need to-"
"Butterfly Bullet Bomb!"
Unable to run away, or even try to block the attack, Jirobo saw himself at the receiving end of Choji's strongest punch he ever threw. The force of the impact shot him back like a rocket, crashing against a mighty oak, and the Oto ninja was no more.
Choji heavily panted as his chakra wings faded. Shikamaru walked to him and patted him on the back.
"You did it, Choji. You beat that animal," the Nara congratulated him.
"Well, it was...a team effort..." Choji weakly said before losing consciousness and dropping face first onto the ground.
"Choji!?" CHOJI!"
…
"Congratulations brats, you're now going to play in hardcore difficulty," Kidomaru grinned in a way that accentuated his current inhumanity. "Who wants to die first?"
"How about you?" Tamaki retorted as she dashed towards the six armed mutated ninja, her claws glowing with a blue light. "Cross Flash!"
Kidomaru jumped backwards, even if at a lower speed than Tamaki's. He expelled his golden spider fluid, which took the shape of two long kunai before hardening, and used them to parry the cat kunoichi's attack. He then used his extra arms to hold Tamaki in place, and tried to sink his improvised kunai into her flesh, but the brown haired girl expertly broke the hold with a double kick to the Oto ninja's chest, which also helped to push herself backwards.
As he did before, Shino saw this moment as the perfect chance to make his move. He recalled his kikai beetles around him.
"This is going to cost me a lot of chakra, but I don't think I have much choice," Shino thought with some regret, as he made the required hand seals.. "Aburame Secret Art: Giant Beetle Growth!"
The jutsu produced multiple smoke explosions in the swarms of beetles, but when the smoke dispelled, both Kidomaru and Tamaki saw in shock that some of the Aburame's insects suddenly grew to the size of Tamaki's cats. Said kunoichi cringed upon seeing the six legged beasts appear.
"Ew!"
With a mere hand command, Shino directed the squad of ten giant insects towards Kidomaru, who was shocked at first but quickly regained his cool. Jumping backwards, Kidomaru spat once again a rather large spider web to trap Shino's giant insects, but said web was torn apart by several chakra-infused shuriken threw by Tamaki.
"Shit!" the six armed man yelled.
Kidomaru managed to punch and kick back the first few of the insects that came close to him, but did not notice one of them sneaking from below, and sank its pincers into his leg.
"AAAAAAARGGH!" Kidomaru yelled in pain, making his focus waver for a moment, a moment that was more than enough for the rest of the beetles to sink their pincers into his flesh.
Shino jumped in front of the six armed man, overwhelmed by the giant insects.
"It's over. Those beetles will drain your chakra until there's nothing left," Shino calmly announced.
Kidomaru growled in anger, but then his mouth curved into yet another inhuman smirk, one that sent chills to both Konoha ninja. "Oh that's so good, thinking you already defeated me. Well...THINK AGAIN!"
He opened his mouth, releasing more golden spider fluid, shaped like a long spear, taking Shino by surprise. The Aburame Genin tried to move, but he didn't react fast enough and the improvised spear pierced his belly.
"SHINO!" Tamaki yelled upon seeing the scene.
Kidomaru smiled upon seeing Shino's body falling face first to the ground, and at the same time, the beetles loosened his hold on him and stopped sucking his chakra, as if feeling their master's predicament. This allowed Kidomaru to easily get them off of his body. Standing up, he turned back and saw Tamaki shooting him a murderous glare.
"See? This is what happens when you play such a dangerous game like this one. You get hurt. Badly," Kidomaru chuckled. "Don't worry, you're going to join him now."
"Denka, Hina, with me! Let's tear him to shreds!" Tamaki shouted.
Both cats appeared at her mistress' side, and the three of them charged at the Oto ninja. Kidomaru once again expelled more golden spider fluid, this time in the shape of several curved blades, one for each of his hands. The six armed man grinned wildly, and engaged Tamaki and her cats in a brutal melee fight.
Like she usually did, Tamaki was the one openly fighting, while her cats awaited for the chance to attack whenever the enemy showed an opening.
But thanks to his six arms, no such a thing happened. The guy was monster, both in the literal and metaphorical sense, since he could attack and keep a defensive position at the same time, making fighting him incredibly tedious.
"Given your choice of weapons, you're a melee type, aren't you?" Kidomaru asked as he casually blocked all of Tamaki's swipes. "I'm more of a ranged specialist, but as you can see, I'm pretty good at hand to hand combat too."
"Let me guess, three times as good as I am?" Tamaki asked, hinting at the predictable pun.
"Three? Oh boy, you're certainly full of yourself. The number of my arms is irrelevant to the gap between us," Kidomaru retorted. "Now die!"
The six armed ninja opened his mouth, firing multiple spikes made of the hardened golden spider fluid. This time, it was Tamaki's turn to jump back, as she swiped them away with her bladed gauntlets. Kidomaru lunging at her shortly afterwards didn't go unnoticed, and the kunoichi retracted the blades back, and made several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Blistering Fire cat!"
Tamaki exhaled a stream of fire that quickly took the shape of a large and ferocious cat that dashed towards Kidomaru, leaving a trail of fire with each step.. Kidomaru, however, easily dodged it by jumping sideways.
"You'll have to do bet-"
"Drill Claw!"
The next thing he saw, Tamaki had turned into a spinning missile that was flying at him. Caught in mid air, Kidomaru couldn't move again to dodge Tamaki's attack, but unfortunately for her, he was a man of resources, and expelled a spider web thread to a tree branch above him to avoid being torn to shreds.
Kidomaru smirked arrogantly. "That was a close one. But like I said, you'll have to do bet-"
"MEOWWW!""
A pair of cats appeared out of nowhere, with one of them biting one of his arms and the other latched itself to his face and started to viciously slash and bite it.
"AAAARRRGGHHH!" Kidomaru yelled as he forcefully removed Hina from his face, and angrily tossed the female cat against a tree, followed by savagely punching Denka in the head, forcing the male cat to stop biting his arm.
"Denka! Hina!" Tamaki cried from below.
"S-Sorry, Tamaki-chan...but I don't think we can keep going..." Denka weakly said as he and her sister disappeared, leaving a cloud of smoke behind.
"It's okay, you did a great job," Tamaki whispered to herself, before looking at Kidomaru with defiant eyes. "You'll pay for all the people and animals you hurt today!"
Kidomaru chuckled once again. He created two swords out of the golden spider fluid. "I'd like to see you try."
Without uttering any more words, Tamaki quickly climbed the tree Kidomaru was perched on, and engaged him once again in melee combat. However, once again she found that Kidomaru was the superior opponent, and in no time he kicked her back into the ground.
"Now die already! This game is no longer fun!"
Kidomaru opened his mouth, once again releasing a barrage of golden blades at the downed cat ninja in a wide angle.
"Death Steel Ring!"
Tamaki started to spin with her bladed hands extended, successfully deflecting most of the raining projectiles, but she was unable to stop all of them, and some ended up embedded in her body, forcing her to stop.
"And game over for you," Kidomaru laughed as he was jumped down, ready to impale Tamaki with his improvised swords. Tamaki closed her eyes and feared for the worst. "DIE!"
"Aburame Secret Art: Giant Beetle Growth!"
"What?"
Kidomaru didn't have time to react before he was swarmed by a dozen of giant beetles, making him unceremoniously drop into the ground face first as the hungry insects began to prey on his chakra.
"Shino!" Tamaki squealed in joy. "You're okay!"
"For the given value of the word 'okay'," he punctualized. "But yes, I'm no longer close to death anymore."
Kidomaru looked at the Aburame with hate and incredulity in his three eyes."W-What? HOW!? I killed you!"
"You thought you killed me," Shino replied. "The wound you inflicted on me would have been fatal unless treated immediately. Fortunately, I've been trained in the medical arts by the greatest medic-nin the world has ever seen, and Tamaki bought me all the time I needed to recover. Now I can return to the battle, and end it once for all. And trust me, you won't catch me off guard a second time."
"No...no! This...aaarrrgghh!"
"I can't look..." Tamaki whined as he averted her gaze as Kidomaru was slowly devoured by Shino's enlarged bugs.
Shino, on the other hand, wasn't going to make the same mistake his opponent did, and wouldn't take his eyes off the Oto ninja until he was one hundred percent sure he would be dead. And that moment didn't take too long to arrive.
"Tamaki, sit down. I need to treat those wounds on your body before they get worse," Shino instructed his teammate.
"Don't. You've lost a lot of chakra. I think I can go a bit longer until we can find some help," Tamaki replied.
Shino shook his head. "I won't allow that by any means. Don't worry about my chakra reserves, my beetles can give me some of theirs if I need them. Now sit down, don't move, and let me work on your wounds."
Not having any energy left to argue, Tamaki sighed and complied. As Shino removed the makeshift kunai from her body and healed the wound, she wondered if the others would have rescued the Hokage's children by now.
She also thought about Kiba, and prayed that he wouldn't do anything stupid given that neither Shino nor she would be there to cover his back.
…
By the time Jiraiya and Anko returned to Konoha, they saw that much to their surprise, the battle had died down considerably, and most of the efforts were focused on capturing or driving away the remaining Oto ninja still attacking.
"You know, I had the feeling that we missed a lot when we were out," Jiraiya mentioned as he looked around.
"Actually, I think it's everybody else who missed on what we did," Anko replied, before her impatience kicked in. "Alright, where is Orochimaru? There's no way he can escape from us now!"
"Hokage-sama!" a new voice said. A small group of ANBU, lead by a cat-masked purple haired woman –whom Jiraiya knew was Yugao Uzuki– landed in front of the white haired man. "Thank Kami you've returned!"
"What is the situation here?" Jiraiya asked her.
"Two of the reanimations have been dealt with," Yugao informed, and Jiraiya visibly sighed upon hearing the news.
"If that's the case, then all of Orochimaru's reanimations have been neutralized, since Anko and myself just dealt with Minato and Kushina," Jiraiya explained. The ANBU remained impassible, but on the inside, they were just as relieved. "Any news on Orochimaru?"
"We've got reports that Sarutobi-sama, helped by Tsunade-sama and Shisui Uchiha managed to defeat the traitor," Yugao explained, eliciting a smile on Jiraiya and a frown on Anko, being deprived of her chance of revenge once again. "Unfortunately, Orochimaru evaded capture. We don't know his location, but it's safe to assume that he's no longer in the village."
Jiraiya's smile disappeared, and let out a heavy sigh. "Despite his ego, Orochimaru was always a sneaky bastard, and wouldn't come here without a escape plan. Undoubtedly, it won't be long until he shows his visage again. What about the rest of his forces?"
"Most of them are withdrawing, albeit a few holdouts in the core of the village remains," Yugao informed him.
"Good to hear. Well, let's help our forces take out the trash, alright?" Jiraiya suggested.
Everybody nodded.
"Lead the way, Hokage-sama."
Jiraiya leapt towards downtown Konoha, followed by Anko and the small squad of ANBU.
…
Meanwhile, further to the north, Naruto and the rest of his friends continued the pursuit of his little siblings' kidnapping.
"Two of them left the group!" Karin warned everybody.
"Which ones?" Sasuke asked.
"The weakest ones. The strongest guy –and presumable the leader– is still carrying Hagane and Kaida. Guess that he wants to personally make sure that they arrive to wherever Orochimaru has his lair."
"Alright, everybody, stay alert! These two are surely even stronger than the other two, who were already way stronger than any of us individually!" Naruto told the others.
Everybody mentally prepared to fight, and some of them, such as Naruto, Tenten and Haku, got some weapons ready. However, they were met by something none of them were expecting.
"Hey are you...hearing that?" Kiba asked. Akamaru barked in agreement.
"I believe so," Sakura replied. "It sounds like...a flute?"
Suddenly, all of them lost all sense of balance, tripping when tried to find a footing on a tree branch, and fell to the grassy ground below. They tried to stand up, and suddenly felt very dizzy.
"Wha...what's going on?" Lee slurred as he tried to get up.
Suddenly, ropes appeared out of nowhere, wrapping around their limbs and pulling them in different directions, leaving them completely immobilized.
"What the hell is this?" Tenten asked, and much to her horror, she saw how her arms started to melt off. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH! MY ARMS!"
"It's...it's a genjutsu!" Sakura told the others. "Quickly, try to break it!"
The knowledge that they have been trapped in a genjutsu was of little help, given that they were pretty much unable to break it.
"Dammit...this genjutsu are almost like those from Kurenai-sensei!" Haku thought as he tried to break the morbid illusion. "Come on, you can do it, Kurenai-sensei taught you how..."
Meanwhile, close to them, perched on a tree branch, Sakon was stalking the helpless Konoha ninja from afar, smiling deviously.
"Look at them, unable to resist Tayuya's music," Sakon chuckled to himself. "We should have gone ourselves from the get go instead of sending the other two idiots first. Anyway," Sakon then pulled a pair of kunai. "Let the culling begin!"
The blue haired teen leaped from his hiding place, and locked onto his first target, Sasuke Uchiha, whom he had deemed the biggest threat. He couldn't help but widely smile in anticipation at the thought of his first kill of the day...
"SHANNARO!"
Suddenly, a pink haired girl appeared in his field of vision, and the next second he found himself at the receiving end of an incredibly powerful punch that sent him flying backwards, forcing him to drop his kunai, until a tree painfully stopped him.
"The...the hell?" Sakon asked in pain, as he got up. "How were you able to break Tayuya's genjutsu, you brat?"
"Turns out, I'm a very proficient in genjutsu myself," Sakura replied as she shook her hand she used to punch him. "Including how to dispel them."
"Oh well, big deal. You won't be able to release the others if you're busy fighting me. And if you fight me, it won't take long until your pitiful life comes to an end," Sakon stated. "Get ready!"
Sakura didn't expect the blue haired teen to be so fast, but nonetheless she was able to react in time and block an incoming punch. However, she had a much harder time blocking the next barrage of rapid fire punches.
"Dammit, this guy's taijutsu is as good as Lee's!" Sakura distressingly thought as she tried to block the barrage of hits. "Even if I can surpass his physical strength with Tsunade-sama's chakra enhanced strength, it won't be of any help if I can't land a single hit! Wait a minute… I got it!"
Sakon continued his onslaught, while Sakura keep parrying and blocking them as well as she could, not making any attempts at attacking.
"See how hopelessly outclassed you're against me?" Sakon taunted. "Now DIE!"
Pouring as much strength as he could into his next punch, he sank his fist into Sakura's stomach. The pinkette bent over forwards as her mouth and eyes opened wide...before exploding into a burst of cherry blossoms.
"What the hell!?" Sakon asked in shock, before he realized. "Dammit, she used a genjutsu!"
Fortunately, the Oto ninja was able to snap out of it pretty easily, however, the seconds he spent entranced gave Sakura more than enough time to counterattack, and after breaking the genjutsu, the first thing he saw was a very angry Sakura charging at him, her first raised and ready to turn him into a bloody pulp.
"Shit!"
Sakon managed to jump in time, and Sakura's fist ended up hitting the ground, instantly creating a rather large crater, and making the ground around a kilometer shake as if there was an earthquake.
"Shit, that bitch is way stronger than I am? How? She doesn't have any muscle!" Sakon thought in anger upon seeing the power of the pinkette's fists. "I can't let her-"
"Passing Fang!"
Sakon's thoughts were interrupted by a living tornado flying at him. Once again, the Oto ninja's agility and speed saved him from a nasty injury by gracefully dodging the sneak attack. The tornado then turned into a Konoha ninja wearing a gray hooded coat.
"Kiba!" Sakura called, happy to have some reinforcements.
"The hell? You're a genjutsu master too or what?" Sakon asked.
Sakura also wanted to know. Kiba wasn't exactly proficient with genjutsu, not even at breaking them.
"If you fall under a genjutsu, you need a partner to disrupt your chakra network in order to snap out of it," he then pulled his hood back revealing a happy looking white furred dog. "Meet my partner, Akamaru!"
"Arf!" Akamaru happily barked.
"Your goddamn dog was able to resist Tayuya's genjutsu!?" Sakon asked in shock.
"Dogs have different chakra networks from humans, and given that most genjutsu are meant for humans, dogs are immune to most of them," Kiba stated. He started to smell the air. "Now, if my nose doesn't fool me –and it never does– she's about one hundred meters to the northwest, am I right?"
"Release!"
Another of the Konoha ninja was also awake.
"Finally. It took me some effort, but Kurenai-sensei's training paid off!" Haku happily said as he regained the control of his body.
"Another one!? You're supposed to be Genin! No Genin should be able to break a genjutsu this complex!" Sakon protested, letting out his frustration.
"Correction, we're Konoha Genin. We're far tougher than the average," Kiba cockily proclaimed.
"Kiba, if you found where the genjutsu caster is, you should go and try to stop her," Sakura told him. Kiba nodded, and leapt away. "Haku, release the others! I'll keep this guy busy while you do it!"
"Understood!" Haku stated as he began to disrupt Tenten's chakra network.
Sakura then started to make hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Gun!"
Sakura's cheeks puffed, and then exhaled a stream of water at the shocked blue haired Oto ninja, who managed to dodge it by jumping to a nearby tree.
"These brats are way stronger than they look. No wonder why Jirobo and Kidomaru only managed to delay four between the two of them. Then again, if they used the cursed seal they should be able to kill them easily, and thus come back to help us. Why the hell aren't they here yet?" Sakon thought.
"Get over here, you coward!" Sakura shouted, shaking her fist. "Where was that bravado from a few minutes ago?"
In no time, all of the Konoha Genin were already released from the musical genjutsu. In fact, the music had stopped altogether, meaning that Kiba managed to interrupt it.
"Is everybody okay?" Naruto asked.
"Define, 'okay'," Karin groaned as she rubbed her temples.
"I'm good to continue," Sasuke stated.
"The same goes for me," Lee added, followed by everybody else stating the same intention.
"Two more of those guys are here. Sakura is engaging one, while Kiba is fighting the other. Two of us should stay here to help them, while the rest go and face their leader," Naruto stated.
"I think I'll stay and make sure forehead girl doesn't get killed," Ino stated. "Besides...is no secret that I'm not among the strongest of us present. Besides, you still have two medic-nin in the group."
"I'm going to stay as well. Kiba has none of his teammates, and he'll need somebody to cover his back," Neji stated.
Karin walked towards Neji and grabbed his hand. "Be careful, Neji-kun. If you don't come back, I will break up with you!."
Neji gave her a hint of a smile. "Don't worry, I will be fine."
"Very well then. Good luck and stay alive. The rest of us...go!" Naruto called.
Everybody nodded, and they resumed the pursuit, lead by the blond Chunin.
"No!" Sakon screamed as he noticed Naruto and the others slipping away. He disengaged Sakura and tried to stop them, but a rain of shuriken forced him to cut his chase short.
"Sorry, but you aren't leaving so soon, not before playing with us first," Ino stated in a rather smug tone as she adopted a fighting stance. "Ready, billboard brow?"
Sakura smiled. "Whenever you are, Ino-pig."
…
The sound of the flute became much clearer as Kiba advanced towards the genjutsu caster. Akamaru was resting on his head, constantly biting his ear in order to create a source of pain that would prevent the Inuzuka runt from relapsing into the genjutsu.
"I think you're enjoying this too much," Kiba told Akamaru. The dog merely growled as he intensified the pressure of his bite.
A few seconds later, he saw a flicker of red hair, and could see a red haired girl, maybe a couple years older than him, playing the flute. Kiba reached for his tool pouch and pulled a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it.
"Concert's over!" Kiba stated as he tossed the kunai at Tayuya's feet.
The redhead kunoichi was forced to stop playing the flute and jump as far away as possible in order to avoid the incoming explosion.
"Beast Mimicry Art: Four Legs Jutsu!"
Kiba emerged from the cloud of smoke and dust raised by the explosion, running on all fours at an insane speed, and lunged at Tayuya. The Oto kunoichi once again jumped back, but she wasn't fast enough, and Kiba managed to scratch her in the face.
"You son of a bitch!" Tayuya cursed as she covered her wounded cheek with one of her hands.
Kiba ignored her insults, and smirked at her confidently. "Just like I expected. Since you're a genjutsu specialist, you aren't that good in hand to hand combat."
"Why don't you come here and test your theory, you piece of shit!" Tayuya angrily retorted.
"Oh, I plan to," Kiba stated as he took a four legged stance once more.
"How the hell did you brat managed to break my genjutsu?!" Tayuya asked before she noticed Kiba's bloodied ear. "You must think you're so clever, don't you?"
"I'm going to admit that this is the first time somebody called me clever," Kiba replied. "Yeah, I admit that I'm not that bright. But guess what? I don't need brains to be very good at what I do!"
Kiba lunged forwards, ready to tear Tayuya to shreds with his wild and feral taijutsu style. This time, rather than trying to dodge, the Oto kunoichi decided to fight him. She replaced her flute with a couple of kunai and engaged the Inuzuka in melee combat.
Despite her valiant efforts, Kiba was right. Tayuya was a ranged specialist, and hand to hand combat wasn't her forte –in her base form, at least, but her pride didn't allow her to activate her cursed seal so soon against an enemy she deemed unworthy–, and Kiba soon became the superior fighter. And to add salt to the wound, Kiba had still one more asset Tayuya wasn't taking into account.
"Arf!"
Akamaru jumped from Kiba's head, and sank his small but sharp teeth in Tayuya's arm.
"GET THE HELL OFF ME, YOU FUCKING BITCH!"
"Passing Fang!"
Thanks to that moment of distraction, Kiba was able to nail the redhead with his signature jutsu, knocking her from the tree branch she was perched in, and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Looking down, he saw Tayuya getting up.
"By the way, Akamaru is male!" Kiba shouted down, with his dog barking in agreement.
"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT WHAT YOUR FUCKING PEST OF A PET HAS BETWEEN THE LEGS!" the redhead shouted back.
Then, much to Tayuya's anger, another Konoha ninja appeared, landing besides Kiba. He had long brown hair and clear, light gray eyes. He appeared to be a Hyuga.
"Kiba," the Hyuga stated in his usual calm demeanor. "I came here to help you defeat this foe."
Kiba smirked at the Hyuga prodigy. "Thanks, but I'm almost done here. This chick can barely fight against somebody able to resist genjutsu. Then again, you can watch me how I defeat this very unworthy opponent."
Kiba's words made Tayuya froth with rage. Not only was he tossing her around like a ragdoll, but he even boasted about it for further humiliation. Black marks started to spread around her body, as her desire to make Kiba eat his words burned her from the inside.
"You think you saw the best of me, you piece of shit?" Tayuya angrily shouted. "Well, let me tell you you've seen nothing yet!"
She bit her thumb and made five hand seals before slamming her hand into the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
From a cloud of smoke, three large ogre like creatures appeared. One had long hair that covered its face, was fully clothed, and was carrying a threatening looking steel club. The second was much bulkier, wore no shirt, and had its eyes and wrists bandaged. Under the wrist bandages there were a pair of claw-like blades. The last one was completely bandaged from head to toe, leaving only its mouth visible, and strangely enough, had no arms. The three of them had the same rope-like purple belt around their waists.
"She may not be much of a fighter, but apparently she can summon somebody who can do the fighting for her," Neji observed.
"… Shit," Kiba cursed, realizing that the tables were about to be turned.
"Stay calm. They're just summons. If we can get past them, beating the woman won't be that hard," Neji reminded him.
"Yeah. I was saving this for later, but better not go half-assed on her," Kiba then pulled out something out of his ninja tool pouch, which appeared to be a soldier pill. "Akamaru!"
Kiba tossed the pill at the little dog, who ate it in one bite. The effect was instant, and the dog's normally white fur started to dye red. While impassible on the outside, Neji was rather surprised.
"I had no idea your dog could do that," Neji commented, as his Byakugan allowed him to see all the changes Akamaru was going through, besides the visible one.
Kiba smiled in pride. "Of course. Inuzuka dogs aren't just pets. They're our partners for a reason."
Meanwhile, back on the ground, black marks started to spread around Tayuya as she pulled out her flute once again.
"Get ready, you pieces of trash, you have no idea what's coming for you!" Tayuya yelled as she started to play the flute once again.
At the sound of the flute, the three summoned giants leaped at the two Konoha Genin.
"Here they come! Get ready!" Kiba shouted as he and Neji prepared for the incoming fight.
…
"Earth Release: Crushing Avalanche!"
Large rocks started rise from the ground around Sakura before being chucked at the Oto ninja, who quickly dodged them, before reaching the pinkette in hand to hand combat.
"Multiple Connected Fists!"
Sakura was about to block the incoming fist, but she swore she saw several afterimages of other fists around it, and indeed, she felt several strong hits despite successfully blocking the attack, which knocked her backwards a few meters.
"What the hell?" Sakon asked, shaking his hand in pain. "It's like your skin is made of metal."
Sakura got up and smiled confidently at the blue haired ninja. Her skin then turned grayish brown, while her pink hair turned metallic silver.
"You're not that far off," Sakura replied. "You're mostly a physical fighter, right? Then you won't be able to cause me much harm."
"The Iron Skin jutsu. Good work, forehead," Ino mentally praised her fellow Konoha kunoichi.
"Even with the Iron Skin jutsu, those punches hurt. This guy is way stronger than he looks. I'll have to keep him fighting me, or else he'll snap Ino in two," Sakura thought, as she carefully eyed her opponent. "Let's go!"
With her skin-tight armor active, Sakura dashed at Sakon, who welcomed her with a sadistic smile. This time, the Oto ninja played defensively, blocking Sakura's attacks, maybe waiting for an opening to counterattack or even waiting for her to get tired.
"That would have been a valid tactic back then, but after training with Gai-sensei, there's no way this punk can hope to exhaust me," Sakura thought in mild satisfaction.
After pushing Sakura back a bit, Sakon started to rapidly spin.
"Multiple Connected Whirlwind!"
Sakon's spinning created a tornado around himself that hurled Sakura backwards, albeit it didn't cause too much damage.
"Weird. I swear I saw him sprouting multiple legs," Sakura thought as she pulled herself back.
Meanwhile, Ino had sneaked behind the blue haired ninja and was ready to make her move. She made a single hand seal.
"Mental Scourge Jutsu!"
"AAAAAGGGHH!" Sakon yelled, as he instinctively grabbed his head with his hands, finding himself victim of a brief but powerful migraine. "You bitch!"
"Liked that?" Ino smugly asked. "That jutsu will cause you a huge headache if you try to gather and mold chakra. Even if you're a melee type, I prefer for you not to have a ranged option."
"I see. You're the ranged specialist, while your little friend here is the frontline fighter, am I right?" Sakon asked, looking back and forth between the two girls. "So that means that I should get rid of you first!"
Sakon dashed at Ino, evading Sakura's attempt to block him. On her part, Ino reached on her ninja tool pouch, and pulled something Sakon was unable to see, before tossing it at the ground, creating a cloud of smoke.
"Dammit!" Sakon cursed. ""Multiple Connected Whirlwind!"
The tornado the Oto ninja generated managed to easily dispel the smoke created by the smoke bomb, but much to his chagrin, Ino used that time to keep some distance from him, as well to make several hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Gun!"
Ino shot a stream of water from her mouth at the blue haired ninja, who managed to dodge it. However, in doing so, he was left wide open for Sakura to attack from behind.
"Gotcha!" the pinkette though, ready to reduce the Oto ninja to pulp.
However, much to her surprise and confusion, a leg protruded from his back, kicking Sakura back with considerable force.
"The hell was that?" Ino asked, just as shocked.
"Good to see that I wasn't the only one who saw that," Sakura added, as she stood up.
"Trying to attack from behind, huh? Smart, but useless against somebody like me, you can say that I have..." Sakon began as, much to Sakura and Ino's horror, a second head grew besides the first one.
"...eyes on my back," the other head finished.
"Girls, meet my twin brother, Ukon," Sakon stated. "As you can see, we're pretty close, hehe."
"EWWWWW!" Both Sakura and Ino squirmed in disgust.
"You're not the first one who react in such a way," Sakon laughed. "Sorry brother, I think they find you too repulsive."
"No double date for us, it seems. Oh well, that's life. Anyway, let's not play around," Ukon stated as black marks started to spread around his body. The marks began to glow as well, spreading through the rest of his body, turning his skin red, his eyes yellow with black sclera, and growing a horn on his forehead.
"Level two already? I wanted to have some fun before finishing them off," Sakon whined.
"We're on an important mission, and I want to go back to sleep. Besides, I doubt we'll get a good fight out of these two bimbos," Ukon replied.
"Who the hell are you calling a bimbo!?" Ino angrily asked.
Ignoring Ino, Sakon did as his brother asked, and activated his cursed seal to its level two stage, undergoing an identical transformation, before finally separating into different bodies.
"Now you won't be able to blindside us," Sakon stated, smiling evilly at the two Konoha Genin, who looked at his newly sharp and inhuman teeth with a mixture of disgust and horror.
"Two versus two. Now this is what you'd call a fair fight, don't you think?" Ukon added
"They may be two, but now that they're separated, they won't be able to use multiple limbs at the same time again," Sakura warned Ino. "Alright, I'll try to have the two of them focused on me. Stay behind and cover me."
"Who died and made you leader?" Ino replied. Upon seeing Sakura's glare, she relented. "Alright, I'll do what you say."
Sakura made a hand seal. "Earth Release: Earth Clone Jutsu!"
Three masses of dirt and rock emerged from the ground and took the shape and color of Sakura Haruno.
"Okay, between me and my clones, we should be able to fight them on even grounds. Earth Clones take more than a single hit to destroy, and with all this earth, they don't take much chakra to form. Still, I better not expend much or else I won't be able to keep the Iron Skin active," Sakura thought, as she prepared to fight.
Sakon and Ukon shot like rockets against two of the Sakura clones, which were immediately shattered by two deceptively strong punches. The third clone reacted in time, and delivered a flying kick to Ukon before he could recover, while the original Sakura dashed towards Sakon, fist raised and glowing with Chakra.
"Cherry Blossom Strike!"
Sakon managed to vanish the last second before Sakura's fist hit the ground, creating another crater, and sending multiple rocks and pebbles up into the air. Upon missing, she looked around to see where did he go.
"Where is he?" Sakura impatiently asked.
Ino let out a scream. When Sakura looked at her, the blonde looked absolutely horrified at her, as if she had seen a nightmarish monster.
"Ino? What's wrong? Are you...?" the pinkette asked.
"Oh, that reaction is pretty normal the first time somebody sees this," Sakon stated besides her.
Turning her head, Sakura understood Ino's horror, and saw that Sakon had fused his body to hers. Sakura let out another scream of horror as well.
"Thanks to Orochimaru-sama's cursed seal, Ukon and I can use our Bloodline Limit to fuse with another person, almost in an instant. Now," Sakon proceeded to immobilize Sakura by forcing her to hold one of her arms with the other one. "Ukon, this one's done with, take care of the blonde!"
"Got it!" the other brother replied, having just destroyed Sakura's remaining clone.
Ino managed to snap to her senses and prepared for the incoming attack, slipping into a fighting stance. Ukon pulled out a kunai and dashed at her with a crazed smile.
"NOW DIE!"
Everything happened way too fast for Ino to see, and before she realized, Ukon had already slashed her torso...
"INO!" Sakura screamed in horror...
...as the blonde disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a log behind, which snapped in two a second after appearing.
"The hell?" Ukon asked.
Sakon started to laugh. "Oh boy, I can't believe she got you with such a basic trick, brother..."
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Sakon was suddenly silenced, as a thud was heard from behind the merged ninja. Turning around, Sakura saw Ino's unconscious body in the ground. She then looked at the Oto ninja merged with her.
"Ino?" the pinkette tentatively asked.
As if to answer her question, Sakon slowly began to separate from Sakura, much to the latter's relief.
"Thank you. I owe you one," Sakura told the blond, now possessing the Oto ninja.
"Sakon, what the hell are you doing?" Ukon asked, upon seeing his brother standing side by side with the enemy. He then realized what was going on. "Oh, I see, you're from that clan of psychics and body snatchers, right?"
"Body snatchers? Oh, that's rich, coming from you!" Ino-as-Sakon retorted. "Sakura, pull out a few smoke bombs!"
"Huh? What do you plan to...?" Sakura asked.
"Just do as I say, dammit!" Ino snapped.
Sakon's deep voice made Ino sound way scarier than she thought, which made Sakura to comply her request all the faster.
"I don't know what you plan to do, but you're releasing my brother, NOW!" Ukon shouted as the dashed at the Konoha duo.
"Sakura, now!" Ino shouted.
Sakura nodded and tossed the smoke bombs, creating a huge cloud of smoke in an instant, forcing Ukon to stop in his tracks and giving the two girls enough cover to sneak out, and take cover behind a large tree.
"Sakura, I'm going to undo the jutsu. The instant I return to my original body, punch this creep with all your might. I'll try to help you against the other," Ino whispered to her as she pulled out a kunai from Sakon's pouch.
Sakura was having a bad feeling about that. "What do you mean, 'try'?"
The answer came in the form of Ino stabbing the kunai into Sakon's gut, much to Sakura's shock and horror.
"Ino, what are you doing!? Your body takes the same wounds as the body you possess!" Sakura shouted, visibly shaken.
"I know! That's why I have to return to my own body and heal myself as best as I can! Now give this asshole the whooping he deserves!" Ino weakly protested as she made a hand seal.
"Ino..." Sakura whispered in awe. Her expression became more determined as her fingers curled into a fist. "You can count on me!"
Ino smiled. She meant it to be a genuine smile, but her current body made her look unbelievably creepy. "Release!"
Sakon had no time to process what had happened before a fist smashed against his face, hurling him backwards several meters, until he crashed against a tree, knocking him unconscious. Sakura guessed that given how much blood he was going to lose thanks to the wound inflicted by Ino, the blue haired Oto ninja would never wake up again.
…
Ino woke up within her body. Despite only a few seconds having passed before making that wound and her returning to her body, she had lost quite more blood than she had expected. Still, she wasn't going to let herself being carried away by panic, that wouldn't help. She was trained by one of the Legendary Sannin, and she was going to make her proud. She placed both hands on the wound.
"Mystical Palm Jutsu."
Her hands glowed with a green light as some of the blood returned back to her body, the wound started to slowly close. She wanted to finish it as soon as possible so she could go back and help Sakura, but rushing things wouldn't be of any help.
"I have to trust Sakura is strong enough to keep that creep at bay until I can rejoin her," Ino told herself as she carefully healed her wound. "And even then...in my current state, don't think I'm going to be of much help. Oh well, at least I took one of those guys out. Come on forehead, I'm sure you can match me."
…
Following Sakura's previous shouts, Ukon managed to find where his possessed brother and Sakura had gone. And he managed to find them just when Sakura shattered Sakon's skull with a brutal and well placed punch to the face.
"SAKON!"
Sakura turned around to see the other Oto ninja's face, contorted by rage and hatred.
"YOU! YOU KILLED SAKON!" Ukon screamed at her.
Sakura had the urge to mention that technically Sakon was still alive, but will die of blood loss in a few minutes if he wasn't properly treated, which wasn't going to happen. However, she knew that pointing that out wouldn't be of any help, so she merely slipped into a battle stance yet again.
"Yeah, he's dead. That's what happens when you mess with Konoha. Do you want me to send you to the place he is now?" Sakura asked, trying to sound intimidating, but knew she failed in doing so. In fact, she only succeeded in making her enemy's anger even greater.
"You think you're so clever, right bitch!?" Ukon turned into a blue and red blur as he dashed towards Sakura. "I'LL CUT YOUR TONGUE AND FORCE YOU TO EAT IT!"
The moment Ukon's fist connected with Sakura's face, the pinkette vanished, leaving a trail of cherry petals behind. Despite his anger, Ukon was still sane enough to recognize and dispel the genjutsu, and with a quick burst of chakra, the illusion was broken.
Perched on a tree above him, Sakura pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag attached and tossed it at Ukon. The Oto ninja noticed and managed to jump in time not only avoiding the explosion, but using it to catapult himself upwards and leap against Sakura.
"DIE ALREADY!" he yelled as he fell upon her.
"Crap!"
Sakura raised her arms in the form of an X to protect herself from the incoming hit. Ukon's punch had so much force behind it that it not only knocked Sakura back into the ground, but it managed to shatter the skin-tight metal layer protecting her body.
"Oh dammit! I thought that my Iron Skin jutsu was impenetrable!" Sakura thought in horror. Seeing that it wasn't going to be of much help, she deactivated the jutsu in order to avoid needlessly consuming chakra.
Ukon didn't give Sakura any time to breathe, as he was over her in less than two seconds. Sakura hurried to stand up and block the incoming storm of strong and painful kicks and punches, until her defense failed, and Ukon covered her body in nasty bruises before giving her a painful kick to the stomach that knocked her on her back.
"On second thought...I'm not going to kill you just yet, no," Ukon said as he slowly advanced towards Sakura's fallen form. "Sakon's killer deserves more than a quick death. I don't care about the mission anymore. I'll take all the time necessary to drive you mad with pain!"
Ukon angrily pulled Sakura up by her long mane of pink hair, forcing her to meet him eye to eye. He snarled angrily at her. "Something else to say?"
As quickly as she could, Sakura made a hand seal.
"Poison Mist!"
Being so close to her, Ukon couldn't react in time and was enveloped by a purple cloud of toxic fumes, which he naturally inhaled. He stepped out of the cloud, coughing, and fell on his knees.
"You...you bitch!" Ukon cursed between coughs.
"Be happy. With the amount of gas you inhaled, you'll be seeing your brother in a few minutes," Sakura then started to walk towards him, her fist glowing with a blue fire. "But you know what? I'm going to speed things up just to be safe."
Sakura's chakra-enhance fist struck the defenseless Ukon in the torso, shattering multiple bones and reducing many of his internal organs to chunky salsa, ending his life in an instant.
"I...I did it..." Sakura tiredly said to herself, as she fell on her knees.
…
After completely healing herself, Ino went to find Sakura, something that wasn't hard to do thanks to her sensory abilities. Even if they weren't as strong as Karin's, they were quite acute. In no time she pinpointed Sakura's chakra signature, but for some reason, it was the only human chakra she could perceive.
"Can those guys mask their presence from sensors?" Ino asked aloud.
The answer came when she found the pinkette lying near the ravaged body of the ninja once known as Ukon.
"Sakura!" Ino shouted in panic.
She ran to her and quickly began to apply her medical ninjutsu on her former friend. She could tell that besides all those ugly bruises and bloodied wounds, she had a couple broken bones that would need more specialized treatment.
Much to the blonde's relief, Sakura's eyes started to blink.
"Uh...Ino?" Sakura weakly groaned.
"Don't move, forehead. I'm trying to heal you," Ino replied in a cold, neutral tone.
"Are you okay...?" the pinkette asked.
"I'm the one who should ask that, not you!" Ino retorted. "Now stay still while I heal you."
"Ino..."
"What did I just tell you!?" the blonde angrily asked.
"Thank you...if you didn't take that other guy out...I don't think I could have...defeated this one..." Sakura told her, before coughing a bit.
Ino found herself smiling at her former friend. "Somebody had to."
"You could have let me," Sakura replied.
Ino shook her head. "No, it had to be me. I couldn't make you take such a huge risk."
"Don't patronize me...I'm a medic too...and a better one than you are..." Sakura replied.
Ino didn't retort with an acid quip as Sakura expected, and much to her surprise, Ino nodded. "Yes, you're right, but like I told you, I couldn't let you do it. Not after the way I treated you. And I'm very sorry..."
"Ino..."
"No, let me finish," Ino interrupted as a single tear ran through her cheek. "I'm sorry for how harsh I was on you, for still hating Sasuke, as if he was responsible for what happened to my father, as well as being so eager to end our friendship when we had a crush on the same boy. Will you...will you forgive me?"
"Only if you forgive me too," Sakura weakly replied. "I didn't fight for our friendship as much as I should have. But I don't think things can go...the way they were before..."
"Don't say that," Ino replied. "Maybe not now, but in the future...well, this is a start, isn't it? Maybe in due time, we can salvage what we used to have."
"When did you became such an optimist?" Sakura asked.
"People change, Forehead. People change."
…
Meanwhile, not far from there, as Tayuya played the flute once again, Neji, Kiba and Akamaru were fighting Tayuya's summoned ogres, which she called Doki. These new adversaries would prove themselves to be quite stronger than they already looked.
"Passing Fang!"
After turning into a human drill, Kiba flew at the ogre with the metal kanabo, who used it to painfully smack Kiba with it, stopping the attack on his tracks and tossing him into the ground.
"AW!" Kiba shouted. Akamaru whined as he rushed to check his master. "Don't worry buddy, I'm still okay..." the Inuzuka replied as he rubbed his pained skull. His vision was shadowed by another one of the ogres, the one with the wrist places, leaping down at him. "Oh shit!"
"Vacuum Palm!"
A vacuum shell blasted the ogre away, giving the Inuzuka and his dog a chance to get out of harm's way.
"Thanks. I think I owe you one," Kiba told Neji, sounding between thankful and bitter, since he didn't enjoy the idea of having to be saved. Even then, he knew it was no time to indulge into petty pride.
"The girl might not be much of a hand to hand fighter, but these monstrosities more than make up for it," Neji observed. "We should step up our game. Try to distract those things, and I'll see if I can get a good hit on the girl."
Kiba nodded and made a hand seal. "Man Beast Clone!" Akamaru turned into a clone of Kiba. "Come on Akamaru, let's go!"
Human and dog-turned-human charged against the Doki that had smacked Kiba the time before. He guessed that if he was able to disarm him, he wouldn't be such a big threat, before he heard Kakashi's voice in his head reminding him not to underestimate his enemies. Especially now, since this wasn't a controlled competition, but a life or death situation.
"Man, I didn't realize until now how dire the situation is," Kiba bitterly thought as he recalled the mission to Taki that took a turn for the worst. "Wonder what would have happened that time if Kakashi-sensei wasn't there for us...well, he won't save us now, that's pretty much for sure. Still, I think we got strong enough not to need any more saving!"
The Doki also rushed towards Kiba, kanabo raised above his head. He could also smell another one coming at them.
"Passing Fang!"
Once again, Kiba started to spin like a drill as he flew towards the armed giant, who lowered his weapon as he did before. Something Kiba was already counting on.
"Akamaru, now!"
Akamaru used Passing Fang as well, though his was aimed at the giant's hand. The attack connected, and the kanabo smash successfully interrupted just as Kiba's attack hit the ogre in the chest, who let out a roar of pain as he was knocked backwards. Kiba stopped spinning as he landed on a tree branch.
"Akamaru, the other one!" Kiba warned.
Heeding his master's warning, Akamaru joined him and both of them faced the ogre with the blades attached to the wrists. They were about to clash...when the ogre managed to dodge their assault and rush past them.
"What the hell? Oh, crap, Neji!" Kiba cursed as he and Akamaru turned around and chased the monster.
Meanwhile, Neji took the opportunity to dash towards Tayuya, but his Byakugan spotted the third Doki rushing to cut his chase short, and knew he wouldn't be able to reach her in time. However, that would allow him to strike first, and would make sure such hit to be devastating.
"Mountain Crusher!"
The moment the Doki landed in front of Neji, the Hyuga prodigy connected his palm with the monster's chest, and sent a powerful wave of chakra that sent him flying as if Neji just swatted a fly.
"Got you," Neji declared as he moved to attack Tayuya.
But much to the Hyuga's confusion, Tayuya didn't look worried at all. According to his father, if an enemy feels confident, it is for two reasons: they're way over their head, or they know something you don't that gives them a meaningful advantage. Neji had the feeling it was because of the latter reason.
And just as he suspected, his Byakugan caught the remaining two Doki attempting to ambush him from behind, attacking him from different angles. Neji stopped his charge and started to spin on the spot.
"Heavenly Spin!"
The monsters attacked Neji a second after he activated the Hyuga's ultimate defense, which made honor to such name, and violently pushed the Doki backwards. However, while Neji was defending himself from the ambush, Tayuya jumped back several times, placing some distance between her melee-specialized enemies.
"Alright you retards, you're starting to get on my nerves, so get ready for this very special melody of mine!" Tayuya shouted. "Nobody who ever heard it lived to tell the tale!"
Tayuya started to play the flute again, and the Doki's battle stance relaxed. They turned their head upwards, and opened their sewn mouths. And from their mouths, giant spectral worms appeared as if they were beasts leaving their lairs. The spectral worms had multiple mouths full of sharp teeth around their body.
"What the hell is that!?" Kiba asked, rather perplexed.
"I don't know, they seem made of chakra, but it doesn't look like anything I've ever seen," Neji replied as he inspected the spectral worms with his Byakugan. "They appear to be unstable. Either way, we shouldn't let them touch us."
"Very smart, you shithead. Now let's see if you're fast enough not to get caught by them!" Tayuya yelled as she resumed her melody.
The Doki jumped towards the Konoha ninja, and the spectral worms coming from their mouths lunged at them.
"Watch out!" Neji shouted.
Everybody jumped aside, but one of those worms managed to bite Kiba's arm. Kiba could see how part of his chakra was being drained into the monster. Not his whole chakra, just the physical part of it.
"Damn!" Kiba yelled as he instinctively held his arm. It felt numb and tired, as if he used that arm for a long time without rest.
Seeing Neji hiding inside a small cave under a large tree branch, Kiba followed suit, alongside Akamaru, who turned back into a dog. Fortunately, their hiding spot was big enough for the three of them.
"Told you not to let that thing touch you," Neji chided Kiba.
"You don't have to tell me twice," the Inuzuka replied as he nursed his affected arm. "Those things are way more dangerous now than when they used physical attacks. Any plans on what to do?"
"Like I said before, the summoner is the key. If we manage to reach her, her beasts won't be an issue," Neji told Kiba.
Kiba frowned, unconvinced. "Yeah, that sounds so good and all that, but getting to her proved to be nearly impossible before, and now she made it even harder:"
Neji looked pensive, as his brain studied all the facts and possibilities until he found a possible solution. "She uses the music of her flute to control her summons, right?"
"So it seems," Kiba replied.
"So if we manage to nullify the music, those monsters would become inert, and thus no threat to us," Neji continued.
"Yeah, I think that was pretty clear," Kiba agreed, before frowning once again. "What's not clear though, is how are we going to stop that music. Getting near her is pretty much impossible, as we both just saw."
"There's usually more than one way to solve a problem, and I doubt this situation is an exception," Neji cryptically replied. Kiba raised an eyebrow. "If we can't stop her from playing her flute, then maybe we can generate a sound loud enough to counter it."
Kiba pondered the Hyuga prodigy's words, and couldn't find any fault in his reasoning. "Now that's...something that could work. But what can we do to create that much noise?"
Akamaru barked something. Kiba looked at his dog, a bit taken aback.
"That jutsu? Are you sure you're ready?" Kiba asked Akamaru, who barked affirmatively.
"What did he say?" Neji asked.
"Well, we...have something that may work," Kiba began, sounding unsure. "There're three problems. The first one is that we haven't completely mastered that jutsu yet. The second is that we need some time and space to get ready, and lastly, we aren't sure if we'd be able to make enough noise to cancel the music."
Neji took a second to ponder his current partner's words."How much time would you need?"
Kiba had to think the answer for a second. "About five to ten seconds, I'd say."
"Okay. I'll buy you that time," Neji stated as he was about to step out of their hiding place.
"Whoa! Wait a second! What are you going to do?" Kiba asked as he grabbed Neji by his forearm.
"Buy you some time, as I just said right now. You two get ready," Neji stated before shaking Kiba's grip and dashing into the forest.
"Aw man, this nutcase is going to get us killed," Kiba groaned. Akamaru whined something, before the two of them left the relative safety of their hiding spot.
…
Neji didn't shout "over here, bet you can't catch me!", since that would be a dead ringer for their true intentions, but was obvious enough to draw the attention of the monsters, who leaped at him as the spectral worms opened their toothy mouths in anticipation.
"Good, the three of them are following me," Neji thought in satisfaction. But said satisfaction was short lived as the summons started to get dangerously close to him. Neji turned back and leaped backwards while thrusting his open palm at his closet enemy.
"Vacuum Palm!"
The vacuum shell successfully damaged one of the spectral worms, however, it only took a couple seconds to reform.
"Come on, Kiba, I bought you more than ten seconds, you should be ready by now!"
…
Fortunately, Neji's risky actions weren't in vain, as they allowed the Inuzuka Genin and his canine partner to prepare their jutsu. Kiba was hunched over, with Akamaru standing on his back.
"Okay buddy, are you ready?" Kiba asked, and Akamaru barked affirmatively. "Alright then, let's go! Human Beast Combination Transformation: Double Headed Wolf!"
The jutsu produced a cloud of smoke, and when it dispelled, instead of Kiba and Akamaru was a huge, white furred two headed wolf.
"Alright, so far so good. Now, the second part, the Thundering Roar!" Kiba mentally told Akamaru.
The two heads gathered chakra on their respective throats, before releasing a deafening roar each, making birds to fly away and small animals to flee in every direction. And most importantly, during a few seconds, it managed to drown the sound of Tayuya's flute, leaving her Doki immobile and harmless.
…
"Good job, Kiba, you did it," Neji whispered to himself. "Now it's time to finish this!"
Neji jumped at the three immobile ogres and got into the Gentle Fist fighting stance. He only had a few seconds until they started to move again.
"Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty Eight Palms!" Fast as lightning, Neji started to move and hit each of Tayuya's summons before moving onto the next. "Two strikes! Four Strikes! Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thirty Two Strikes! Sixty Four Strikes! ONE HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT STRIKES!"
The attack left Neji exhausted, but it fulfilled its purpose. With little to no chakra left, the Doki were forcefully unsummoned.
"Now that that's out of the way, we should take care of the woman."
…
Tayuya needed to take a moment to understand what just happened. One moment, the forest was shook by an incredibly loud roar, as if coming from a gigantic beast. Then, when the roar died down a few seconds later, her Doki had been unsummoned.
"It's over," Neji said as he landed behind her. Tayuya turned around and growled. "There's no way you can defeat me."
Tayuya's angry mask morphed into a confident smirk. "You think so?"
Then, much to Neji's shock, the black marks on her skin started to glow as if they were on fire and spread all over her body, turning it reddish brown. Her hair grew longer and paler, and her eyes turned yellow with black sclera. But her more prominent change were the twisted horns that grew around her head, giving her a demonic appearance.
Still, the external changes were nothing comparing to how her chakra network changed. Thanks to his Byakugan, Neji could see how a second kind of chakra, which so far remained contained by Tayuya's own, overtook the girl's chakra network.
"Let's see if you're so confident after this, you piece of shit!" Tayuya growled as she lunged at Neji.
It took very few time for the Hyuga to realize that the transformation increased the girl's physical strength quite a lot, and combined with Neji's own exhaustion, made the combat difficult to him. Still, he knew that he could win.
"Eight Trigrams, Thirty Two Palms!" Neji moved to deliver the first two strikes of the Gentle Fist Style's second most basic combo.
"Like hell I'm going to let you do that!" Tayuya exclaimed as she delivered a painful kick at Neji's stomach, knocking him on his back, interrupting the combo. "You think that because you destroyed my summons, you already won? Well, shithead, I have some news for you!"
Tayuya jumped into the air towards Neji, ready to stomp his head into the ground. However, much to her shock, she was attacked by a vicious two headed beast while she was in mid air. With one claw swipe, Tayuya was sent flying backwards.
Neji got back on his feet and took a second to examine the creature that just saved him.
"Kiba?" He asked. The two headed canine just looked at him, but Neji could see that his guess was true.
"Ugh..." Tayuya groaned as she painfully got up. "Where did that fucking monster come from? Well, it's obvious it's on the same side as the pale eyed brat. There's no way I can defeat those two. Even if Orochimaru-sama might punish me, if I stay here any longer, I'll die for sure."
The two headed wolf lunged once again at Tayuya. However, the moment he hit her, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a long behind.
"The enemy is retreating," Neji informed Kiba, who looked at him, as if asking something. "No, we shouldn't chase her. We better go and help our friends."
The two headed wolf split into Kiba and Akamaru.
"Alright then. Let's see if I can catch the scent of any of them," Kiba replied.
Neji nodded, and the two of them moved to regroup with the others.
…
Meanwhile, further to the north, Kimimaro continued his trip to the Land of Sound alone, carrying his two hostages, still unconscious. One of the Shadow Clones that he left behind had dispelled, providing him with updated intel on his pursuers.
Seven Konoha ninja remained, the four Chunin still among them. Kimimaro pondered if he could take on all of them, knock the Jinchuriki out and complete the mission without the need to use the trap they were leading him to.
However, soon the decision would be out of his hands. Carrying those two children was slowing him down, enabling his pursuers to catch him. Oh well. It's not that the idea of a fight displeased him that much. He never had the chance of going all out since Orochimaru had healed him of his disease.
Soon, those kids would realize that they bit way more than they could chew.
Author's Note: Whew, that was a long and action heavey chapter, wasn't it? Hope it didn't prove too exhausting.
Before anyone asks, yes, Tayuya is alive, and she will show up again in the future (I want Orochimaru to have more named lackeys besides Kabuto). I didn't like the other three as much as not to kill them.
I like this chapter in that I finally managed to give some of the Genin a much deserved victory (and before you mention Tamaki, remember that her victory at the Prelims was undeserved, since her opponent pretended to lose). Some characters in canon, such as Hinata or Tenten, went through the whole run of the manga without achieving a single victory. I don't plan to make that mistake here.
I mean, who would have thought of Sakura and Ino fighting AND WINNING against Sakon and Ukon? Hopefully I made it believable, given how much the two of them improved over the course of the story, especially Sakura.
As for Choji, yeah, I removed those three colored pills because, well, I didn't like them because they came out of nowhere, and were never mentioned again after being used that one time.
Anyway, next chapter, Naruto and all six of his remaining friends versus Kimimaro! Will they be enough to defeat Orochimaru's strongest minion at the top of his game? Or are the twins doomed?
Once again, thanks a lot to gio08 for betareading this chapter.
Meanwhile, don't forget to leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!