Naruto Invoke: Overdrive

chapter 50: Eight Faced 4 (allies arrive)

"Just who is this kid?" wonders Asuma, picking himself up from the kneeling position he was in while reaching up and brushing a finger over the fresh cut on his cheek to clear away the blood.

"It's obvious that he's at least Chunin level, maybe even Jonin level. Orochimaru obviously trained his people well. But still, his ability is unheard of" comments Jiraiya, coming to stand by him.

Truth be told, this kid was proving to be far more trouble than anyone thought possible. Though maybe he could be skilled enough to keep Asuma on his toes; for him to be able to take on both Asuma AND Jiraiya, as well as the other Konoha ninja still alive who were present here was impossible.

And yet, he was doing just that.

"What's wrong, old timer? Am I to much for even you?" asked Sakon before bursting into a laugh. "I guess lord Orochimaru was right about you, lord Jiraiya. You really are a joke of a ninja. You being named a Sanin and having lived as long as you have must have been a serious joke of the fates. Perhaps it was simply a matter of you keeping a hold on Tsunade and lord Orochimaru themselves, forcing them to carry a pathetic nobody like yourself on their backs from the beginning."

"Confident words from a little urchin" throws back Jiraiya.

Sakon grins, then says "Perhaps; but it doesn't change the fact you both are still showing signs of wear and tear, yet I still look as fresh as a daisy."

That was also true, though neither Asuma or Jiraiya even understood how it was so. They had each launched successful attacks on this guy, attacks that had both hit Sakon, and had left him showing physical injury. But then, he would release a smoke bomb to conceal himself for a few seconds, then he would appear again, fully healed and back at full strength and showing no sign of his previous injuries. Was Orochimaru behind this? Had he created some medical means to instantly restore a person to full fighting strength and heal all their injuries? They had to find out or they would be beaten by this kid.

"Any ideas, master Jiraiya?" asked Asuma.

"We need to figure out his secret first and foremost. Until then, we're only wasting our chakra."

"Agreed. So, how do we proceed then?" asked Asuma.

Jiraiya thinks for a moment, then says "Asuma, get in close and distract him for a few moments for me. Once I give you the signal, jump away so I can launch my attack. From there, we'll see what happens."

"Understood" says Asuma as he begins to channel chakra into his special blades, launching himself forward and starts slashing at Sakon, who easily dodges each attack.

"Not this silly dance routine again" complains Sakon. "Don't you have anything more potent that this? After all, I heard you were Konoha's premiere wind style specialist."

"Actually, I'm Konoha's only wind style specialist. It is a rather rare chakra elemental type around here" corrects Asuma.

"My apologies" cracks Sakon, leaping into the air, then using Asuma's own upward sweep to push himself away.

"And to answer your question, I do know various wind style jutsu. But using them before understanding my opponent's own abilities would be a waste of chakra. Besides..." says Asuma as he manages to land a small cut to Sakon's cheek, then delivers a strong kick to his abdomen, one strong enough to break a rib or two. "My physical size and strength make me more adept as a hand to hand fighter anyways."

Sakon groans a little as he places a hand against his broken ribs as he says "Obviously."

Just then, Jiraiya's shadow comes up over them and Asuma, taking that as his sign, quickly jumps clear. "Toad art; Gama Oil River" shouts Jiraiya before upchucking a large quantity of brown goo that comes raining down on Sakon.

"UUUGGGHHH, gross" shouts Sakon. "I'm gonna need a bath after all this."

"Trust me, you won't need to" shouts Jiraiya before making some hand signs. "Fire style; Fire Ball jutsu." He then release a ball of fire at Sakon, who realizes why he had been covered in oil just before.

Sakon screams in pain as he is consumed by the fire. As Jiraiya lands beside Asuma, said ninja ask "Harsh way to end it, don't you think?"

"I wonder..." says Jiraiya before a figure cover in fire jumps into the air. The inflamed figure is suddenly covered in smoke and from the smoke, a blast of water shoots from the smoke, hitting the flames and somehow extinguishes them.

Then Sakon emerges from the smoke, completely unharmed. "What's wrong, surprised your attack failed?" he asked. "Though I must admit, that attack not only nearly did me in. But it actually hurt too."

"This is insane" says a wide eyed Asuma. "No sign of burn marks or even any broken ribs. What is this guy, immortal?"

"No, not immortal" says Jiraiya as he looks at Sakon carefully. "Notice anything unusual?"

Asuma shakes his head. "His hair was covering his right eye before, but its now covering his left. I just realized that after each smoke screen, it changes position. Also, his voice has changed just a bit, becoming lower just a hair. I have a hunch too" says Jiraiya before breaking into a run that sends him circling around Sakon.

"Looking for something?" asked Sakon, turning his head a bit before looking back at Asuma.

Once Jiraiya had completed his circle and was back with Asuma, he says "That growth on his back..."

"The one that looks like a second head, only without a face?" asked Asuma.

"Yeah, I noticed it has burn marks on it. Burns that are healing themselves quickly. I think I know what's going on. Asuma, I'll force him to use his smoke screen again. When he does, blast the smoke screen away with a wind jutsu. Then we'll see if my hypothesis is correct" says Jiraiya.

"Understood" says Asuma as Jiraiya moves in and starts attacking Sakon.

Sakon once again goes on the defensive, his long term plan being to wear down his opponent's till that couldn't fight anymore, then finish them off with little trouble. But Jiraiya caught him by surprise when he suddenly leaps upwards, then sent a fierce kick racing down at Sakon, landing hard against his head. Slamming into the ground with destructive force, Sakon was stunned and unable to move as Jiraiya launched a Fire Ball jutsu at him from point blank range.

"You're starting to piss me off" shouts Sakon before dropping another smoke bomb to conceal himself. But Asuma is ready and quickly fires off a wind blast that blows away the smoke, revealing not one but two Sakon.

"What the...?" shouts Asuma as the head of the injured Sakon grew outwards, producing it's own body in the process while the current body shrunk down till it had become the feature less head on the back of the look-a-like.

"I thought so" said Jiraiya coming to stand close to Asuma.

"So, you did notice the little differences. Bravo. Allow me to explain" says Sakon before angling his body to allow them to see his other head. "This here is my twin brother, Ukon. When we were born, we suffered an extremely rare ailment. We each had only had half a chakra network between us. Naturally, it was expected we would die young because of this. And our childhood was spent being both weak and constantly sick. Then lord Orochimaru found us and saved us. Because of him, we learned to meld with each other, getting a full and complete chakra network from the merging. And we learned that when ever we switched places, any injuries we had would quickly heal and we would have our chakra restored to full as well."

"So that explains it" says Asuma.

"Brother, what do you say we step our game up a bit?" asked Ukon mentally.

"Might as well seeing as they know our little secret" agrees Sakon before a small glow is seen coming from his clothes.

Jiraiya and Asuma watch as weird worm like markings begins to appear upon his skin. "What is that?" wonders a nearby ninja.

"Another gift from lord Orochimaru. A form of power up if you will" says Sakon before stomping his foot onto the ground, cracking the earth with the impact. "Now then, it's time I go beyond defending myself and go on the offense. After all, it won't be any fun if this day ends and I haven't split some blood."

(just outside the village)

"Just a little more and we'll be there" says Naruto as the outline of the lake Senhana was located on started to come into view in the distance through the sea of trees. The rising smoke that they could make out as well was enough to tell them the fighting had likely started.

"Guy-sensei, how should we proceed when we arrive?" asked Lee, looking at his mentor.

Naruto also looks back at him as Guy says "Once we arrive, we should all split up. Most likely there are battles occurring all over Senhana and we'll be of better use spreading out to help everyone rather than sticking together. What do you think, Naruto?"

"Works for me" says Naruto, returning his attention to the front. We're here" he shouts as they emerge from the trees and find themselves racing across the water. Taking one last look at each other, the three of them break apart; each heading towards a different section of Senhana.

( with the girls)

Sakura yelled as her fist collided with the larger fist or the Ogre, the impact pushing her back. With all of her strength, she managed to push Ogre's fist off her, then charged in to try another attack, but the larger golem's other fist quickly came in, slamming into the ground before her. The impact caused her to be thrown into the air, where its first fist make contact and sent her slamming into a tree.

"Sakura" shouts Ino as she comes in from behind, throwing several kunai into Ogre's back. Though they embed themselves, they don't appear to do any damage as the creature swings its arm around, nailing Ino. And sends her crashing into the ground.

Picking herself up, coughing up blood as she does so, Sakura looks at Ino and sees that she is also still alive as she tries to pick herself up from the ground. She then looks over and sees Kurenai as well as several other Konoha ninja attempting to deal with Troll; not having any better luck there though.

"It's pointless, you know. My golem's feel no pain, so trying to hurt them is mute. And from what I've seen so far, none of you have what it takes to handle even one of them, to say nothing of both. Just give up. I promise I'll make your deaths quick and painless in you do" gloated Tayuya before continuing playing her flute.

"Damn, this is getting annoying" growls Sakura as she makes her way over to Ino. "Please tell me you have some sort of secret jutsu that will give us an edge here."

Ino gives her a fake smile, saying "Wish I did, but my family solely specializes in jutsu that allow us to read minds and even possess others on a mental level. Neither of which are of any use here as these things have no actual minds of their own for me to possess. What about you?"

"Same here. All I have is medical ninjutsu and chakra enhanced taijutsu taught to me by Tsunade-sensei. What about miss Kurenai?" asked Sakura.

"She's a pure genjutsu master. As far as I know, she doesn't have any ninjutsu at her disposal. And given the way this girls flute is working, I doubt Kurenai-sensei can put her under a genjutsu" says Ino before they are both forced to break apart as Ogre smashes his fist down where they had been standing.

Kurenai looks over and sees her student and Sakura struggling to keep themselves alive against their golem, but finds herself having to use all her skills just to keep from being killed by the Troll. Especially when her back up was next to nothing as she now found herself on her own as the last one fell.

"Can you get its knee?" asked Sakura as she rolls under and attack.

"Let's find out" replied Ino as she comes running up and stabbing a kunai into the Ogre's left knee, causing it to buckling just a bit, leading Sakura to power punch its face and sending it falling onto its back.

Sakura then leaps into the air and channels of her chakra into her fist, aiming to decimate the Ogre's chest with one blow, and hoping it would be enough to take it out. "NOW DIE" she screams as she sends her fist slamming down.

"Nice try, but..." says Tayuya before blowing a specific melody through her foot, making Ogre send a fist shooting up to meet Sakura's, both producing a shock wave from the force of the impact. The Ogre's fist, going all the way to its upper arm, explodes, while Sakura's attack arm is broken as well.

Sakura cries out in pain do to her broken arm as she hits the ground. Ogre quickly gets to its feet and picks Sakura up with its remaining arm and begins to squeeze her to death. "Sakura" shouts Ino as she goes to shove an explosive tag to the golem's face, but Ogre uses a leg to kick Ino hard enough to break a rib or two, making her slam and bounce along the ground.

"Girls" shouts Kurenai, already moving to help them when a shadow comes over her. Troll's fist comes down; Kurenai barely bringing both hands up in time to defend herself but finds the creature keeping her pinned down as it exerts more and more pressure; trying to crush her beneath it.

"It looks like I win" says Tayuya as she looks to Kurenai, then over to Ino, who's struggling in vain to get up, and Sakura, who's crying out in pain as Ogre slowly crushes her to death. "As much as I would like to make you three suffer, I'll be merciful and end it quickly. Starting with you, pinky."

As Tayuya begins playing a new melody, Sakura feels her body begins crushed even more. If she could use both arms, maybe she could fight back and free herself. But due to one arm being broken, all she could do was struggle in vain to stay alive.

'Sasuke' she thinks, wishing she could see him again, one more time.

"Leaf Hurricane" comes a voice from out of nowhere, followed by Troll being hit along the side of its face and being sent flying and saving Kurenai. Then, the new arrival shoots over and lands another power kick into Ogre's face sending it flying back while freeing Sakura and taking her into his arms.

"W...who are you?" asked an astonishes Sakura, looking at the guy who had a hair cut like a bowl, large bushy eyebrows, and was around her age. 'Lee?' thinks Ino, recognizing the newly arrived person.

"I am the handsome, young beast of the fist; a junior battle monk in training; I am Rock Lee" said the new arrival before taking a good look at Sakura and blushing. 'Oh wow, she has got to be the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.'

"Well Lee, thanks for saving us" says Sakura before finding the way he was looking at her was making her nervous. "Um...could you put me down, now?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. Sorry" says Lee as he lets her down. Sakura grimaces a bit from the sudden pain from her broken arm when Lee's arm bumps it ever so slightly.

"Sakura, you OK?" asked Kurenai as she approached them.

"Yeah, just a broken arm and some busing from when that thing was squeezing me" replied Sakura.

"Ino?" shouts Kurenai as she runs over to her student.

"I think I have a few broken ribs" says Ino as Kurenai leans down next to her.

"Hey, did you forget about me?" shouts Tayuya as Ogre and Troll come at them.

"I'll handle this" says Lee before kneeling down, then launching himself at blurring speed. He easily dodges around their attacks, then grabs onto Ogre's remaining arm, flipping him over onto its back. He then flips up into the air, delivering a devastating downward kick onto Troll, crushing most of its head from the impact, then going low and taking out both of its legs.

By then, Ogre has gotten back to its feet and was already coming at Lee, who releases the locks on the small chains wrapped around his lower arms. He then sends chakra into the chains; getting behind Ogre while doing so and wrapping the chains around it. He then pushes them both into the air. "This will finish it" shouts Lee as he flips them upside down, then starts spinning them around. "Primary Lotus."

Ogre impacts the ground with such force, its body is partially crushed as Lee pushes off and takes a battle stance while looking at Tayuya. "So, anything else you got for me to crush?"

"That fighting style, that technique? Lee, do you know a man by the name of Might Guy Maito by any chance?" asked Kurenai.

"Yes, he is my master in the ways of being a battle monk" replies Lee.

"Do you know his master, Kurenai-sensei? I seem to recall master Guy mentioning being from Konoha when we met him and Lee after the Shadow Test." asked Ino as Sakura was treating her as best she could with one arm.

"Guy was once a ninja in training here in Konoha. But he wasn't one to be a shadow warrior like all ninja are expected to be, so he left to find a new calling. And I guess the life of a Battle Monk was that calling. Sounds like a good fit in my opinion. Is Guy here as well?" asked Kurenai.

"Yes; we split up after Naruto led us here. We ran into Naruto as he was returning and upon learning what was going on, decided to come and help" explained Lee.

"While bringing outsiders to the village without permission is a punishable offense, I'm sure lord Hokage will let Naruto's actions slide" says Kurenai to Ino and Sakura, figuring they might be thinking about the rule about outsiders being brought to Konoha without permission first.

"Don't think this is over yet" says Tayuya as she stands up and gets their attentions. Weird markings begins to appear upon her exposed flesh as she adds "This fight is far from over. Now, it's time for you all to see what I can really do." She then plows into her flute, causing the remains of Ogre and Troll to begin shaking. They then lift into the air, then fly into each other; colliding and merging.

"Thanks to the power of the curse mark given by lord Orochimaru to his most loyal lieutenants, I can merge my golem's together to make something even more fierce" says Tayuya as a new three armed golem appears before them, bigger then the first two, and showing characteristics of both.

"Meet Titan, my fused golem. Normally, he has four arms, but pinky destroyed one of Ogre's. But never the less, it is still more than strong enough to kill you off" gloats Tayuya.

"Guys, stay back. I'll handle this one" says Lee as he prepares to fight the Titan golem.

(with Naruto)

The sound of battle rang all around Naruto as he tried to decide which way to head; which battle was nearest to him as he came to a stop upon a tree branch. Closing his eyes, he focused as best he could to discern which direction would lead to the closest battle.

"Looks like another fly has entered my web" comes a voice, causing Naruto's eyes to shoot open. Before he can look around to locate the source of the voice, he feels something latch onto his leg; quickly followed by a strong pull then sends him falling to the ground.

Looking at his leg, Naruto sees the source of the tug. 'A spider web?' he thinks while grabbing a kunai and cutting the web from his leg before righting himself so he can land on his feet.

Naruto's eyes quickly fall onto the one who had pulled him down; a black haired figure who had six arms. "Boy, you must be one handy guy to have around" joked Naruto, not that he was feeling comedic right now.

The six arm figure smiles, though not humored by the comment as he says "Funny guy, much like your fellow ninja here." The six armed figure then points with each hand and Naruto sees seven unmoving bodies long upon the ground. "Sadly, they didn't seem to take to my brand of humor."

"You..." growls Naruto before charging in.

The figure makes a hand sign, then leans his head back while his cheeks puff out. He then spits out a web at Naruto, who just barely is able to dodge out of the way. "I'm impressed. It's very rare to see some one skilled enough to avoid my web attack from under twenty feet away. You're good."

"What are you? Some sort of spider man or something?" asked Naruto, now being more cautious.

"I am amazing, huh? I am one of lord Orochimaru's top warriors and my specialty is in capturing enemies. Of course, killing my prey is easy as well. As you can see with my previous work. And I guess I should give you my name. You may call me Kidomaru."

"Didn't ask, nor care" shouts Naruto before back flipping onto a tree, then leaping into the air. "Shadow Clone jutsu." Now, twenty Naruto's are coming down fast at Kidomaru.

"Sorry, kid. That won't work here. Secret art; Rapid Web Shots" before unleashing a folly of webs, catching Naruto and five clones in them. Five more clones break off to free them while the remaining clones charge their opponent.

Using spider like quickness, Kidomaru dodges and takes out the clones attacking him, then looks to see the clones unable to free Naruto and the captured clones and says "Don't bother trying to cut yourselves free. My webs can be quite strong when I need them to be. And since you survived longer than your fellow Konoha friends, I'll finish you off with something special."

He then makes several hand signs, then produces a weird colored object from his mouth; one that is rather long till he frees its, revealing a spear like weapon. "Behold, my Spider Spear. Formed by a lot of webbing bound together with a little something special. But you'll get my point in a moment."

The five free clones break away and each charge at Kidomaru, two of which secretly begins to form Rasengan behind the lead free, but all five are quickly taken out as Kidomaru moves swiftly and takes each one out. He then walks up, standing over the four captured clones and Naruto and says "Now, which should I kill first? Which will be the lucky number real?"

He then begins pointing his Spider Spear at each one, humming something till he suddenly stabs forward; receiving a puff of smoke as a reward. He does this again and again, leaving only the real Naruto and one clone left. "Just two left, huh? Well, that means a fifty fifty chance for me. Man, the anticipation is tense huh?" He then bounces the tip back and forth, then aims it at the real Naruto and pulls back. "I have a good feeling about you" shouts Kidomaru as he thrust the spear forward.

'Crap' thinks Naruto, unable to move so to defend himself. In that moment, it happened again. A sudden rush of demonic chakra, Kyubi's chakra, comes bursting out of him without being called, melting the net and blasting Kidomaru back.

"What was that?" shouts Kidomaru as he picks himself up.

"Wouldn't you like to know" was Naruto's reply as he picks himself up. For once since this issue had begun shortly after the Shadow Test, a sudden release of Kyubi's chakra had actually been helpful. "Now, It's my turn" shouts Naruto as he starts to run forward. But then, he collapses to his knees as he feels his chakra suddenly draining away. It would seem the sudden release of demonic chakra hadn't been as helpful as he had first believed.

'Damn it, not now' thinks Naruto as he feels Kyubi's chakra now trying to force its way into control; just like when he had been fighting Lee during their first meeting.

"What the...?" wonders Kidomaru, noticing Naruto's right eye beginning to flash between its usual cobalt blue color to a deep crimson red, then back and forth again. "I don't get what's going on, but I'll just kill you anyways and be done with it." He then rears back, then thrust the spear like a projectile weapon at Naruto; choosing to keep a distance between them for safety.

"Move...move, damn it, move" growls Naruto as he tries to get his body to respond.

"Fire style; Fire Ball jutsu" comes a voice, before a ball of fire collides with the Spider Spear, knocking it off its trajectory and making it land short of Naruto.

A figure then lands between Naruto and Kidomaru; a figure Naruto recognizes immediately. "Sasuke Uchiha."

The dark haired boy looks back just enough to see Naruto and ask "Are you OK, Naruto?"

"I'll need a moment" replied Naruto, starting to feel Kyubi's chakra calming down and fading. "But why are you here? How did you even know to come here?"

"That town you ran into Guy and Lee at. I had just finished my business with them and was gathering supplies for my continuing search when I overheard you and them talking right outside about the situation here. So, I followed so I could lend what ever aid I could" said Sasuke.

"But why?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke looks back at Kidomaru and says "Because I am Uchiha. Long ago, a pact was made between the Uchiha and Konoha. Should one ever fall into need, the other will come to the aid of that need. And it is both my duty as an Uchiha and as the next lord of my clan to come to Konoha's aid. And...because I wanted to."

"You want to tangle with us, little fly? You don't look like much" says Kidomaru before making a new Spider Spear.

"You say I'm a fly? But does a fly have a sting like this?" asked Sasuke before making several hand signs, then grabs his left wrist with his right hand while lightning forms around his left hand. "Wait, that jutsu...its..." says an astonished Naruto, recognizing the jutsu immediately.

Sasuke closes his eyes, then reopens them with his Sharingan activated as he burst forward. Before Kidomaru can even blink, Sasuke is on him; stabbing him with his lightning covered hand. "Chidori: One Thousand Birds."

Kidomaru screams in pain is he is sent flying back from the blow, slamming into a tree, then collapsing onto his stomach upon the ground. "Don't forget, a spider can be easily squashed with minimal force" says Sasuke as he turns back to Naruto.

"Sasuke, where did you learn that jutsu from?" asked Naruto as he was finally able to move again.

"From a Jonin of this village named Kakashi Hatake" said Kakashi.

"Sorry if this is none of my business; but why did he teach it to you? And when? It's...not common for a ninja to teach a jutsu to someone outside the village, even if they are an ally" says Naruto.

"Kakashi owed a debt to my clan. Years before, he received the Sharingan in his left eye from my uncle Obito just before he died. Afterwords, Kakashi met with my grandfather who agreed to allow Kakashi to keep the Sharingan under two conditions. One, he would teach the Chidori to a future leader of the clan who would come to him when the time came. The other was his Sharingan would be returned to our clan upon his death. I approached Kakashi a little over a month ago and called on him to fulfill the first agreement" explained Sasuke.

'Around the time of the Shadow Test' thinks Naruto before saying aloud to himself. "So that's why Kakashi-sensei has been acting weird lately. (sigh) Sensei, you should have told me and explained the reason. I would have understood. But I guess how I was in the past when we first became master and student would make you worry about my reaction."

'I see. So Naruto is Kakashi's student. Now things are making sense' thinks Sasuke.

"Damn, you Uchiha really are as good as I heard" comes the voice of Kidomaru, making Naruto and Sasuke quickly look to where he had fallen. Kidomaru was standing, a big hole in his side that had blood colored skin showing beneath. "I got to admit. That little jutsu of yours really hurts."

"How are you still alive?" asked Sasuke, surprised to see how little damage had actually been done.

"You can thank my blood limit for that one. It's called the Kumonenkin. I can use to to harden my skin to become like steel and I can even combine it with my web jutsu, covering myself in it so its like I'm wearing armor. All your attack managed to do was pierce my armor and nick my skin" explains Kidomaru.

"Man, this guys tougher than I thought" says Naruto, taking a battle stance. "But I'm sure we can take him together."

"Naruto..." says Sasuke, looking back at him. "I want you to leave this guy to me. Go and see if anyone else in the village needs help."

"Are you sure? This guys gonna be tough with just you alone" says Naruto.

Sasuke smiles and says "Yeah, I know. That's why I want to fight him alone. This will be a good chance to see if all my training up till this moment has been worth it or not."

Though he still didn't like it, Naruto nods and says "Alright, just don't do anything crazy. And don't die either, Sasuke." Naruto then turns and heads off to find other battles going on.

"Boy, you sure are confident in yourself" says Kidomaru. "I have heard that the Uchiha are quite the skilled warriors. But the fact they were all killed by one man makes me doubt that little claim."

"You think the Uchiha are weak?" asked Sasuke.

"If the shoe fits?" was Kidomaru's reply.

"Perhaps, but keep this in mind. That one man was also an Uchiha. So the destruction of my clan can be seen as a sign of weakness for the clan as a whole and/or a sign of just how powerful just one Uchiha alone can be" points out Sasuke.

"I guess. So tell me, Uchiha. How do you plan on getting around my Kumonenkin?" asked Kidomaru.

"I'll just hit you hard enough to bust through it. And I'll do it using this" says Sasuke before making several hand signs. "Fire style; Phoenix Armor jutsu."

Immediately, flames appeared upon Sasuke, covering his legs from his feet to his knees; his arms from the tips of his fingers to just above his wrist; and his chest from the bottom of his neck to the top of his torso. It wasn't complete yet as Okai Haruno had told him would be the case. Like many jutsu, it would grow stronger in time the more he used and experienced it. Furthermore, once he had truly mastered the armor, not only would it provide full coverage of his body, but the flames itself would take on a distinct shape. For Okai, his flame armor had taken on a wolf like form. And Sasuke was curious as to what his would look like once it was mastered.

"Phoenix Armor? Shouldn't it be covering all of you?" asked Kidomaru.

"I admit its still a work in progress. But this much will be more than enough to take you down" shouts Sasuke before shooting forward in a burst of flames, forcing Kidomaru to go on the defensive as Sasuke's fiery attacks being impacting against his body.

(with Sarutobi and the eight Orochimaru)

The air was tense as Sarutobi and Enma faced the eight Orochimaru, who were begins to slink apart with the intention of surrounding them before attacking. "Despite the odds, I will remain with you until the end, Sarutobi. I'll fight by your side just like the old days."

"I appreciate the offer, Enma, but I want to do this alone. You can return home if you wish" says Sarutobi.

Enma looks at him, shocked, and says "You can't be serious. Against eight of him is more than even you can handle. You're gonna need me..."

"Maybe, but this is my mess to clean up. You were right; I should have ended this years ago when I learned of Orochimaru's secret research. But I let him go...because I wanted to believe he could still be saved."

"I understand that, but still..." says Enma.

"Please old friend, let me do this. I need to do this" ask Sarutobi.

Enma sighs, then says "Fine, I won't interfere. But I am not going back either. I'll remain on the sidelines and watch for now. But I will jump in and aid you if the need for that is great enough. Agreed?"

Sarutobi nods, saying "Agreed."

With that, Enma backs off to the side. The eight Orochimaru watch him till he was standing by a nearby tree, then they each look back at Sarutobi and Orochimaru says "You'll regret not having him with you from the get go, Sarutobi-sensei."

And with that, the Wrath is the first to shoot forward, his blade raised high overhead as he comes upon Sarutobi, then sends it swinging down with enough force to leave a deep gash in the earth. Sarutobi counters by holding the Nyoi staff upwards, knocking Wrath's attack back upwards as well. Then, before Wrath can make another move, Sarutobi quickly plants his hand against his chest, sending Wrath blasting back hard with a Air Palm attack.

Lust spins around to avoid impacting with Wrath with the grace of a dancer. She then does a spinning leap into the air, slashing her faux Kusanagi outwards in an attempt to slice the Hokage's head clean off. Sarutobi leans back hard to avoid the attack, then quickly throws himself back forward while releasing an intense ball of fire that collides with Lust. Sarutobi then spins around and hammers Lust with the Nyoi staff while she was still locked in the smoke with perfect accuracy. Her burnt body is sent flying off to the side.

Immediately, Avarice and Envy come at Sarutobi from both sides; Avarice slicing his blade at neck level while Envy swings his at Sarutobi's knees. Thinking fast, Sarutobi jumps into the air, shifting his body into a horizontal position while going into a spin; narrowly avoiding both attacks. In that same instance, he adjust the position of the Nyoi staff so that both ends are facing towards the Orochimaru clones, or what ever he wants to call them, then mentally commands the staff to extend outwards, nailing them both, and sending them flying back.

"Marvelous, Sarutobi-sensei. Show me more" shouts Orochimaru as he comes bursting from the ground, then starts delivering quick precise slashes at Sarutobi, who finds himself stepping back and using the Nyoi staff to block and push away his moves. Thinking quickly, Sarutobi slams a foot down hard upon the ground, causing a sudden mound of earth to erupt beneath Orochimaru, knocking him off balance. Sarutobi then channels lightning chakra into a free left hand as he prepares to use his own version of Kakashi's Lightning Blade to strike Orochimaru in his heart.

A glint of sunlight reflecting off the metal of a kunai at the corner of his eye catches Sarutobi's attention, making him take a step back, then look to his right, seeing Pride who immediately makes an unknown motion with his hands, then claps them together to create an intense flash of light. Sarutobi immediately shields his eyes with his arm to keep from being blinded. Orochimaru, having regained his footing, quickly unleashes a swarm of white/gray snakes from the sleeves of his tunic that slam into the Hokage, sending him flying back.

Sarutobi flips in mid air, managing to land on his feet. He then tries to look around the battlefield to discern the location of the eight Orochimaru, but finds his vision blurred and spotty from the sudden flash of light from the unknown technique. "Sarutobi, above you" comes Enma's voice, making Sarutobi react on instinct and release another fire ball above him.

"Impressive, sensei" comes Orochimaru's voice from directly behind him, making Sarutobi jump forward while spinning around.

"Like I said before, my other halves have been traveling around, learning many new things. That technique used by Pride originated from a land far to the east; a place called Eirna, But enough chit chat, time to die."

Orochimaru rushes at Sarutobi, who's vision had cleared up enough to allow him to sort-of see the approach. Sarutobi's response is to slam an open palm into the ground, causing glop's of dirt to shoot into the air, which then reshape into a shuriken shape that then launch themselves at Orochimaru, who dodges around them. But just as he finish's moving around the last of them, he feels the painful piercing of his stomach as Sarutobi plunges a Lightning Blade into his opponent.

Orochimaru coughs up blood as Sarutobi pulls his hand free. Then, he goes to use one more that is aimed at Orochimaru's head; intending to finish him with this final blow. But his finds a metal cord suddenly coming into his line of sight, wrapping around his arms. Looking, he sees Lust as the source of the metal chains and only slightly singed as she pulls hard enough to send him off his feet, flying at her. Managing to plant his feet upon the ground, Sarutobi uses sends a bolt of lightning coursing through the chains, electrifying Lust, then fires a long range wind jutsu to push her off her feet.

A shadow then comes over Sarutobi, who looks up and sees the fat Orochimaru clone, Gluttony, coming down upon him. Gluttony's body grows bigger as it descends, not due to it being closer, but by way of expansion; growing bigger with the intent on crushing him flat. Aiming the Nyoi staff at an angle, Sarutobi is just barely able to push himself away before Gluttony can smoosh him. As he looks at Gluttony, something becomes appearent to Sarutobi.

The one who both calls himself and looks exactly like Orochimaru was also the most like Orochimaru in his actions and battle style. Wrath was obviously the most aggressive, taking the initiative and likely not one for thinking. Both Avarice and Envy seemed like average fighters thus far. Lust, though not as strong, had a few tricks up her sleeve. Pride seemed to prefer keeping his distance as a long range fighter. Gluttony was slow but likely sturdy with that thick set body. And Sloth...? Sarutobi looked around, realizing that he was the only one to have yet make a move against him. He then sees Sloth, standing still were he had last been when Wrath attacked; a giant snot bubble growing and shrinking from his nose that indicated he was asleep.

'Seriously?' thinks Sarutobi. He knew it was called Sloth, but this was just sad.

"Eye's open, boy" comes Envy suddenly. Sarutobi's gaze immediately shifts downward, seeing Envy who is looking up at him with a grin as he stabs Sarutobi in the leg, then uses the butt of the hilt to send the Nyoi staff flying from Sarutobi's hand, causing it to impact with a large half buried lump of rock. Envy then gets grabbed by Avarice, who flings him back while shouting "He's mine for the kill." He aims his blade at Sarutobi's chest, but the Hokage manages to clap his hands together to stop the blade just an inch from skewering him. He then jerks hard with the blade, freeing it from Greed's hands, then hammers the back of the hilt into his face the knock him back. Sarutobi then drops the sword onto the ground before slamming his foot down, destroying the blade.

Avarice roars at the loss of his weapon and charges at Sarutobi, who ducks low and catches Avarice off guard as he grabs at his feet, then sends him swinging into Envy, sending them both flying. Sarutobi then goes for the Nyoi staff, making a mental note that Envy is skilled at sneak attacks and Avarice's greed can be used against him. Reaching the staff, he grabs it and tries to free it, but finds the weapon embedded pretty good into the rock. A roar from behind him alerts him to Wrath's approach. So, putting all his strength into it, he pulls both the staff and the rock attached to it free from the ground, revealing the rock was actually a large boulder. Sarutobi then spins around, slamming the boulder into Wrath's face with bone crushing force, making the enraged Orochimaru go spinning into the air with lots of blood spilling into the air. Seeing the other Orochimaru gathering together, Sarutobi spins the Nyoi staff, then makes a motion for them to come at him when they're ready.

'You truly are a master shinobi, Saru. A ninja able to use any and all elemental jutsu at his disposal with out a single hand sign, but by pure thought and will. And, to be able to keep in top form even in your old age and with that deep cut. Now, you are once again showing why you counted as one of the greatest of ninja in this world' thinks Enma as the battle continues.

(with Hinata)

Hinata came to a stop on a tree branch as she looked upon the large lake that surrounded Senhana. The smoke rising into the air and the sound of battles were both enough to alert her that this was indeed the place. She takes a look at her tracer, but finds the compass spinning wildly.

"Interference?" she wondered. Given what must be going on over there, it was probably expected that the tracer would go out of whack here. So, how was she going to locate Naruto in such a big place.

An idea comes to her. "I guess now is as good as time as any" she says aloud before making several hand signs, then she channels chakra into her eyes. "Byakugan" she yells as veins pop up around her eyes and her vision suddenly shifts.

Putting her focus into looking forward alone, she begins to see all of Senhana and everyone in it. She came make out dozens of chakra signatures, both coming from people and Hybrids. But just which one was Naruto's?

Instantly, her eyes auto focus onto one specific chakra signature, one stronger and more unique than any other. In her heart, Hinata knew that it was Naruto's chakra signature she was seeing.

"Hold on, Naruto. I'm coming" says Hinata as she makes sure her mouth was covered and she pulls out her special shades to conceal her eyes. She then leaps onto the water and races towards Senhana.

(and with Naruto again)

'Where's Kakashi-sensei at?' wondered Naruto as he looked around for any other sign of fighting. The sudden sound of screaming catches his ears and he turns to the direction of the screams. Emerging close to the upper southern area of Senhana, Naruto arrives just in time to see the lifeless body of one shinobi falling to the ground.

Naruto rushes in and catches the person, but already knows he's to late. He lays the person gently down on the ground and silently bows to avenge them. "Hard to believe Konoha is considered one of the five great ninja villages."

Naruto looks up, seeing a pale faced figure coming down and landing near to him. "The ninja here are so weak, it's amazing you've survived as long as you have. I guess it must be a result of pity."

Naruto glares at the man as he stands tall. "Don't mock Konoha, and don't think we're weak either. No matter what, we will not back down and we will fight with all we have."

"Even if that only results in death by days end?"

"Not gonna happen pal. We will win this day, or my name isn't Naruto Uzumaki; future Hokage of Konoha."

"So, you aspire yourself to the rank of a Kage, huh? Then perhaps you might be more of a challenge than these weaklings" said the figure before a large bone spike grows from his palm. "My name is Kimimaro, lord Orochimaru's best warrior. Show me what you can do, future Hokage."

Next time: the Shinobi of Konoha...invoking of death