Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. La dee da. So I decided to write anyway, despite other more pressing obligations. Happy Holidays! :D
Racing around behind one of the stalactites jutting from the roof of the cavern, Omui knelt silently, if it could be called kneeling. He was upside down after all, hanging solely by the Chakra on his feet. Distantly, from somewhere far deeper inside this deep cavern underneath Kumo's many mountains, a roar reverberated off the walls, causing the very core of Omui's being to tremble.
What if they went too deep? What if they triggered some kind of volcanic triggerspot? If she wasn't careful,they could hit a vein of magma. There could be years - millions of years - of pressurized air pockets. What if they broke the cover of one of these pockets? Kumo was going to be consumed in magma. Historians will note the fall of Kumo as a natural tragedy, a folly of location. They were going to die.
If Yugito didn't tread with care, she could destroy the village. He had to warn her. He had to stop the destruction of the village, even if it meant breaking off this training protocol.
Another roar thundered into the cavern. It was closer. Much closer this time. He only had one chance.
Omui sheathed his sword and started to step out as he raised his hands in the global signal of surrender. A hand clenched his shoulders tightly.
"Omui. What are you doing?"
"We need to stop this training exercise. Yugito's going to hit a magma pocket and cause a volcanic reaction that will destroy our entire village and everyone along with it. We need to surrender now. We're too deep underground."
The man began to pull frantically from his partner's iron grasp, but failed. His next complaint was silenced by another roar. The heavy steps of the massive two-tails echoing louder and louder in their ears. Karui took the chance to grab her partner and pull him deeper into the cave. "This is no time for you to be an idiot! I don't know about you, but I'm not about to lose and be called a coward who couldn't even complete a stupid training exercise!"
"But the volcanoes!"
"There are no stupid volcanoes down here. We don't have volcanoes in Kumo remember?!"
Suddenly, the noise in the cavern vanished. The two-tail's oppressive presence vanished, and all sounds ceased with the exception of the labored breaths of the two Kumo Shinobi who quickly stifled the noise they were making.
Omoi pointed up into a tiny crevice on the ceiling, and Karui nodded. The two crammed themselves together into the closed space. Yugito had erased her presence, but she was still somewhere in the deep underground.
A cold sweat of fear and anticipation filled the man and the woman hiding in their tiny, closed space, swathed in utter darkness. They couldn't risk a light. Yugito had it easy. The flames of her transformation bathed everything around her in the light of the Bijuu's brilliant blue flames. Even though she wasn't using her Chakra-sensing abilities, the Jinchuuriki's senses were still known to be preternaturally sharp.
Omoi's heart chilled. What if they never got out? What if Yugito had left them to navigate the caves alone. Sure they could dig themselves out, but what if they caused a fission that would sink their entire village? "What if-"
Karui slapped a hand over Omoi's mouth, stemming his whisper. However, the clap of her palm into his face rung loudly out of their hole and through the entire cavern complex. Both Shinobi froze in a moment of understanding before looking out of the orifice of their hiding place.
Positioned right over the hole through which they'd crawled in was a single glowing eye surrounded with flaring blue flames. The flames cast a light into the small hole in the cave sealing.
Karui had time to quickly breath the words "Oh fuck." under her breath before a massive claw jammed into the hole, crushing the surrounding rock and widening the entrance. Omoi channeled a consistent stream of Chakra through his blade as Karui stopped the cat's paw with her bare hands. The woman hissed in pain as she barely held against the careless paw of acidic chakra pressed against her palms. Even with her lauded strength, her power was only a fraction of what the Jinchuuriki possessed.
At the same instant that Karui redirected the flaming paw, Omoi blasted out of the enlarged orifice and made straight for the Two-tail's neck.
Yugito snapped back and with her other paw, batted Omoi to the other side of the cave chamber. Just as the Jinchuuriki's paw finished its arc, Karui leapt out, reaching forward for the bell that hung around a small pouch on Yugito's collar.
"Gotcha!" Mere moments from losing the pouch, the Bijuu vaulted in a burst of speed. With the ceiling as a platform, Yugito sent herself flying down, tensed her legs against the cavern floor, and sprung back up, swallowing the surprised Karui - still suspended in the air from her previous maneuver - into her mouth.
It was at this moment that Omoi, who she'd been keeping tabs on since she'd thrown him out of her visual periphery, made the last attempt to reach the bell. With a swipe of her paw, Yugito pinned the man onto the roof of the ceiling. The cat grinned a hellish grin and swallowed the last of the combatants. Moments later, it spat three humans onto the floor in a tumble of sticky fur. The aura of flaming Chakra then vanished along with the entire form of the Bijuu. In its place stood a woman with short blonde hair and a relatively less impressive stature. She elicited a small lantern and filled it with flames, casting a light in the area.
Omoi extricated himself from the furball in which he was tangled. To his side, his team leader - Samui - did the same.
Karui nursed her palm gingerly, ignoring the sticky fluids that surrounded her.
Yugito reached toward her collar and retrieved the pouch attached to it. "You did well. Omoi. Karui. Your teamwork is impressive. If I had been any other target, it's not unlikely that you'd have succeeded. But you did not, and I will be keeping this for another day."
"Yeah yeah. You're super strong and all. But did you have to swallow us?" Karui griped. "It's not like we enjoy being in your mouth."
Omui nodded in agreement, a string of saliva dripping down his arm. "Although it's not that it wouldn't be nice under other circumstances."
Karui turned angrily towards her partner. "What the hell does that mean?!"
Yugito ignored the exchange and turned to Samui who had already extricated herself from her furball. "The ambush would've worked, and it was a courageous move you made. What you should've done was-"
A deep quake stopped the Jinchuuriki mid-speech, and as one, the four Shinobi of kumo turned their attention upward.
It wasn't the trembling caused from the heavy paw of a Jinchuuriki in Bijuu form. This one was much more pervasive and was consistent throughout the entire cavern.
Omoi was the first to speak. "Oh man. I KNEW we would hit one of the volcano pockets. We're doomed!"
Samui shook her head. "There are no pockets under Kumo, at least not at this level. We'd have to go at least another eighty kilometers down before we hit a vein. We don't even get earthquakes."
Yugito looked the woman over stoically. "The village is under attack."
"It appears so."
Wordlessly, Yugito slinked off, leaving Team Samui still recovering from their recent training session.
The team shared a quick look before moving to follow the Jinchuuriki. If the village was under attack, they'd need to be there to protect it.
-Intermission-
Yugito burst through the caverns with as much speed as she could muster, and stopped as she neared the surface. The rumbling of the Earth shook her to her very core. She'd allowed herself to operate with only her five senses during the exercise with Team Samui to hone them, but now she had no such restrictions.
The Jinchuuriki closed her eyes and extended her senses outward, stumbling almost immediately upon the source of the seismic activities. She felt a measure of surprise as her senses also picked up the signatures of a number of villagers - Killer Bee included - suspended in the air. They were all being drawn toward the same direction, disappearing out of the range of her senses.
And the man who was responsible was standing above her. She was pretty sure she knew who he was. The Hidden Leaf had not been remiss in sharing information on the leader of the Hidden Rain. He was using the same technique that she surmised was the one that was said to have been used to destroy the Hidden Mist.
Yugito's eyes snapped open. Two squads had already arrived, and had been swiftly crushed. She had to move quick or more people could die. She also had the advantage of surprise. The man was immune to ninjutsu so the attack would have to be physical. She had one chance to deal a crippling blow.
All these thoughts flashed through her mind instantaneously. It was at this moment that Samui appeared behind her.
"What's happening?"
"It's only one man, but he is powerful." The Jinchuuriki replied.
"The Leader of the Hidden Rain?" Samui guessed, alluding to the meeting with the Hidden Leaf's leaders only a week prior. The existence of this man who single-handedly destroyed an entire Hidden Village weighed on the minds of all those involved in the pact.
Yugito nodded and without further exchange, she drew on the power of the Two-tailed Bijuu, causing her entire body to be enveloped in a flame of intense blue. Her eyes glowed an eerie yellow and suddenly, in her place, stood the full form of the two-tailed Bijuu. The massive cat leapt onto the ceiling and proceeded to dig its way up. Wordlessly, Samui hefted her tanto and followed in the Jinchuuriki's wake. Moments later, Samui and Omui arrived only to see a large gaping hole in the ceiling leading straight out into the open air. The cavern trembled as the sounds of a terrifying battle echoed down from above.
-Intermission-
A fall from the heights of Kumo's mountains could kill normal people. But a God with the powers of the Sage of Six Paths was anything but normal. With little effort, Nagato decreased the weight and the influence of gravity on his body to nothing. His descent through the rain slowed and he landed lightly on his feet. It appears the Eight-tails would not be so easily subdued.
No matter. Nagato closed his eyes in concentration and released another ball - the center of gravity for the Chibaku Tensei - into the air. This time, he would make sure that the Eight-tails was caught in the technique.
Off a little over a kilometer away, a group of Kumo-nin approached, the rain registering their every step.
They arrived, and wordlessly began their assault. Nagato turned and with a flick of his wrists, he deflected the first of the wave of projectiles shot at him.
One of the attacking Shinobi sped faster than the rest through the rain and managed to get within enough distance to release a devastating lightning-release technique.
Nagato caught the words 'Daburu Pansa" muttered from under the man's lips. The Chakra Lightning lanced toward his body and disappeared. Ninjutsu - the main weapon of many shinobi - was utterly useless against his Preta path, which absorbed any and all forms of Chakra.
Before the man had time to be properly surprised by the failure of his attack, Nagato channeled a portion of the Chibaku Tensei's power onto the body of one of the more powerful of his assailants, turning him into the center of gravity. The man was assaulted with a barrage of rocks crumbling off the ground, and was instantly crushed to death.
At the same time, a few other Shinobi had managed to approach his vicinity. With a clap of his palms, Nagato gave a small cry of effort and the would-be attackers were launched toward the center of the Chibaku Tensei's core at a velocity that was guaranteed to kill them when they landed.
The rest of the squad weren't faring much better. With no way of resisting the pull of the Chibaku Tensei, Nagato's assailants began floating up in the air.
Some of the more quick-thinking made futile attempts at anchoring themselves into the earth. It did not help them. The earth simply rose with them. Some sent projectiles which flew short distances before being pulled upward. Some even tried more Ninjutsu.
Ignoring the many cries of panic around him, Nagato turned his sense upwards. His earlier opponent was also caught in the technique. That was good. The Eight-tails' Jinchuuriki was the biggest obstacle to this assault.
Nagato sensed the man take on the full form of the Bijuu and begin to prepare a Bijuudama. While powerful, the projectile was easily susceptible to early detonation via premature impact on other physical objects, at least this was the impression that his experience in capturing the three-tailed, four-tailed, five-tailed, six-tailed Bijuu had left him. He wasn't worried. As long as his technique held, the entire landscape and surrounding mountains were at his beck and call to be used in whatever way he wished. He wondered briefly how a Bijuu would fare against its own projectile. The Hidden Leaf had become much more of a problem than he'd anticipated. The moment his spies had gotten wind of this war alliance was the moment that he knew he'd have to strike.
Preempt the enemy and kill them before they could kill you.
Nagato spread his arms toward the sky, willing the very Earth to be drawn toward the center of gravity that he'd created. The ground trembled as it bent to his will. It was the trembling caused by his technique that masked his awareness of the trembling beneath his feet. A massive paw of blue flames shot out of the earth and enveloped the Rinnegan-user in its grip.
Yugito stomped into the open rain and blew a searing ball of Chakra-filled flames into her paws. The heat caused the surrounding raindrops to evaporate in the vicinity. Several kilometers above, the massive ball of condensed earth began falling apart.
A cold chill shot through Yugito's heart as the flames continued enveloping her paws and the man within it. He was still alive, and he was fighting her grip. The pressure on her paws mounted, and Yugito quickly slammed the man into the mud. Before she could do it again, her paw was shot back by an invisible force. The tiny man below gave a roar of effort and brought his palm whistling downward. Immediately, Yugito felt an insane mountain of pressure being pressed against her.
Nagato resisted the urge to ground his teeth in annoyance. He wasn't going to be able to perform the technique again.. at least not for several days. It was no matter. They were still far from capable of matching the power of God.
It was at this same moment that Samui leapt out of the hole that the two-tails' Jinchuuriki had dug from underground. She was immediately caught in the gravitational technique and was driven into the mud.
The woman screamed in pain as she felt her bones begin to crack and break under the pressure. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! WE HOLD NO ENMITY WITH YOU!"
Nagato relented for a brief moment to gather his next pulse. Even with the incredible healing factor endowed upon her by her Jinchuuriki status, Yugito barely had time to heal before she felt several black rods stab into her paws. She immediately lost control of her Chakra. Nearby, Samui suffered from egregious internal injuries. At that moment, the Jinchuuriki began to feel a creeping fear. Where was the Raikage?! Where are the rest of the Kumo Shinobi? They should've gotten here by now. Above, she sensed Killer B flying down the mountainside. At least he was still alive.
Nagato sneered with disgust. He'd been tracking the eight-tails' movements from the start and knew what was coming. "The Shinobi world is a world of deceit. Your words are no different. Even now you conspire a war against us. From all your Shinobi wars to the present, you've made us suffer over and over and over and over. You've learned NOTHING!"
The man turned and gave a roar. "Shinra Tensei!"
Without any traction or ground to hold onto, Killer B was sent flying into a mountain side. Nagato grit his teeth and ground the Jinchuuriki, who was in Bijuu-form, up against the rocks. He released the Bijuu, letting it slide for a few seconds before raising his hands again. The creature plummeted into the floor, and the earth quaked for miles around. Even in Bijuu form, Killer B was forced to cough up a string of blood from several internal injuries which were, fortunately for him, healed almost instantaneously. After the liberal use of his Deva Path, Nagato's access to it was temporarily disabled.
The Eight-tails spoke. "Bee. You have at most 10 seconds. GO!"
Despite his pain, Bee put his hands on the hilt of his weapons and dashed forward. Samui was out of the fight. Bee hoped that her injuries were treatable. Yugito would need a few minutes to recover. Both had done their part and had managed to stop the village's destruction from whatever technique that the singular invader had been using.
The Jinchuuriki's sword came out in a flash, arcing directly toward his enemy's neck with all the power and speed that could be produced with the Chakra that the eight-tails could give him.
To his surprise, the weapon hit its target with a loud clang, but did not manage to cut through.
The Rinnegan-user burst forward and plunged a black metal rod into the center of the Jinchuuriki's central Chakra coil. Bee lurched back with a grunt, the failed beheading baffling him. The Eight-tails' quickly transmitted the cause to its partner. "It's the Path of Asura. We've underestimated him."
The enemy, not wasting any time to allow Bee a chance for recovery, chased forward.
In response, the Eight-tails funneled a large quantity of the more toxic variant of its Chakra into the rod. He knew what it was. It was a Chakra receiver. Unless this man had truly achieved the mastery over Chakra that the original Sage of Six Paths had, he should be unable to fully cope with the acidic red material.
The Eight-tails was right. Nagato stopped in his tracks and crumbled to his knees, gritting his teeth in pain as the Chakra burned into his system and overloaded his senses.
Bee used this opening to recover. It took all his effort to tear out the rod in his midriff and drop it into the mud. The wound healed instantly as Bee's body was enveloped in red Chakra.
Bee dashed forward to make a second attempt at the intruder's life. His entire body burned with pain from the Bijuu's powerful Chakra, but he was used to it. It was one of the pitfalls in using this form while remaining fully in control of his anatomy.
Nagato was pounded into the mud with a blow that sent visible tremors through the air, and he survived if just barely. He'd moved enough to avoid a fatal blow, and his Asura Path mitigated the damage dealt. The hard metal casing that had become his dominant arm had shattered.
Ignoring his pain, Nagato reached up just as his body ground into the rain-soaked earth. With his remaining arm, he held the Eight-tails in place by increasing the effect of gravity on it to an ungodly rate. Nagato grimaced. The technique was consuming his Chakra fast. Already, the first signs of Chakra exhaustion were beginning to appear. He felt light-headed and almost weak. The lake of Chakra that he'd had when he'd started the assault feeling hollow and empty.
Bee tried to make a second blow, but could barely move. His limbs, even in his current form, couldn't help but conform to the crushing force, and he was promptly flattened into the ground, his legs unable to hold him up. The pressure was so tight it was suffocating. An entire segment of Earth in the surrounding area sunk, forming a deep crevice. The techniques area of influence spanned over a kilometer in area.
Moving as quick as possible, a small piece of paper flashed into Nagato's hand. With a light touch, he placed the paper on Killer Bee's head and quickly released his technique. He'd used enough Chakra to destroy an entire village, drawing upon the Gedou Mazo to make up for the deficit. His lifespan had undoubtedly decreased, but it was worth it. Being the central focus of the gravitational technique, even if the Eight-tail's internal organs hadn't been turned to mush, the seal that was now infused onto it should have neutralized its movements.
The scrap of paper and Chakra ink was a conduit back to a larger sealing structure that filled up several caverns deep under what used to be the Hidden Mist Village. In short, it was a masterpiece.
Nagato walked up to the Eight-tails' container and prodded the man with a spontaneous metal rod.
Bee stood still as a statue, as if frozen in time. Inside, the Eight-tails was similarly constrained. The seal was designed to stop movement. Nagato wasn't exactly sure how it worked, but the seal had been designed for a creature much greater than the Eight-tails. To see it in action was a confirmation of the genius of the Uzumaki.
"BEE!"
Nagato turned to stare into the face of the two-tailed Jinchuuriki. It was recovering fast after having suffered the technique that had already killed the other blonde woman that lay not far away, but not fast enough. The Two-tails' healing factor was apparently much weaker than that of the Eight-tails. The metal rods tethering her down certainly didn't help.
"Bee! Move⦠please." Yugito wept. "Why? Why is this happening? Why are you doing this?"
Nagato drew some Chakra from the Eight-tails' Jinchuuriki and moved towards his next target. "Why you ask? Always that same question. It appears you are unable to comprehend what has happened to your village and its people. Why." Nagato's voice filled with disgust. "Why was the Hidden Rain pillaged for a war that it had no part in? Why were we slaughtered? Why were our lands appropriated and our people made to be beggars and orphans, thieves and bandits, killers?"
Using his previous opponent's Chakra Nagato pressed the woman down with an invisible force, and knelt before her. "It is the unending cycle of what we know as the Shinobi system. A cycle of hatred and pain that doesn't end."
Yugito struggled to no avail. Her village - her people - destroyed for being part of the Shinobi system. She understood that the Hidden Rain had suffered during the Second Shinobi War, but regardless, her people did not deserve this slaughter. There was no objective reason for them to die like this.
"You goddamned piece of filth." Yugito shook, the pain of being punctured and having several broken bones addling her mind. "You're just slaking your thirst for revenge and coating it with crack philosophy."
"No. I am protecting my village, just as you would protect yours. Your alliance with the Leaf is an act of war against the Hidden Rain." Nagato appeared to soften. He gently fit his hand under the woman's chin, forcing her face upwards. "Do you hate me?"
"I will kill you." Yugito snarled as she battled to stay conscious. against blood loss. "I will tear your flesh from its skin. I will make you suffer as you have made us suffer!"
Nagato calmly detached the rest of his broken left arm. The metal shards splashed into a puddle. "And then what?"
"And then I will have protected what is left of the village. I will have done all those you've killed today the justice they deserve." Yugito resisted a shiver. Rarely had she felt cold in her life. The flames of the Two-tails' Chakra coursed through her veins for as long as she could remember, but now, in this cold wet rain and in what was probably the last moments of her life, Yugito felt cold. Her fingers were numb, and her breathing was becoming difficult.
Inside her, the two-tails - Matatabi - spoke. 'Let me out. I will fix everything. I will destroy your opponent for you.'
Yugito smiled wistfully. 'Even Killer Bee couldn't beat him. I've already fought him with your full power.'
Matatabi laughed. 'Not even going to release me even in the face of death?'
'You wily cat. Don't worry. You'll be free again in two decades. Two decades probably doesn't mean much to you who have lived for thousands of years.'
'Well. I can't really say I'd miss you. You've tortured me for the last 18 years, forcing me to give you Chakra and treating me like a servant. You've been a real bitch. I hate you.'
Outside, the Rinnegan-user had finished whatever monologue he was giving. He reached down and knocked the woman out of consciousness. Originally, he'd intended for the other members of the Akatsuki to help him extract the Bijuu, but now that he was alone, the process took much too long. It'd taken him several weeks just to extract the six-tails. He hadn't even gotten around to taking the three-tails out of its container yet before he'd gotten wind of this 'Shinobi Alliance'. He wondered if Kabuto could help with the extraction. Or perhaps the Uzumaki. She could probably design a seal to streamline the extraction process.
With these thoughts in mind, he made his way back to the Eight-tails. It was at this moment that some of the spectators that he'd sensed from before chose this moment to start moving. Some were escaping while others.. maybe they thought he was weaker now without his one of his arms. Nagato watched as they approached, his rain sensing their every movement. His animal path had been out of use for a while, and he had absorbed enough Chakra from the Eight-tails' Jinchuuriki to make a few summons.
He slapped his palm onto the mud. "'Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"'
