Hey, guys. I just want to greet you a very, very, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hopefully, this is a good fresh new start of 2020 and write more stories.
Anyways, please read & review!
"All we gotta do is trust them, so we don't need to add more problems," KillerBee stated smoothly.
"Uhmm... We got to help them. Running away or hiding won't solve this," Naruto insisted and went on further. "Come on, this is our chance."
The rapper ninja nodded with a grunt. "Sure."
"Great. Let's get the hell out of here," the blonde-haired ninja exclaimed with hype and stood up quickly on his feet.
As soon as they both got up from their spots, one of the leaf joining cane in and approach them with a full expression on his face.
"There's no point in stopping you two, isn't it?" Yamato thinned his lips curving into a relaxing smile.
Naruto shook his head and replied. "Nope."
"Go," Yamato gestured his left hand towards the exit door and they followed the direction.
The two jinchurikis leave him in his own mind, thinking about what could possibly go wrong.
"I really hope Lady Tsunade doesn't get mad at me for letting them go," Yamato thought in concern.
During that time, Sakura and the others had been traveling around the forest near the mountains to search for the enemy's hideout.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of the white Zetsus until they stopped by at the tree branches to rest.
"This is getting ridiculous. We've been going on and on in circles," Tenten complained in frustration.
"Yeah! This is not going anywhere," Sakura murmured with her eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Don't worry, I made sure that all of our scents and presence does not linger in the corners. I used a powder that covers ourselves," Lee explained briefly.
"You mean, us being invisible?" Tenten questioned in confusion.
"Pretty much," the green leaf ninja nodded.
"Guys... He's coming," Neji said quietly.
Sakura, Lee, and Tenten were standing still on their own spots without moving a single inch or taking a breath. They were listening intently on the heavy sounds that was ringing inside the trees.
Suddenly, a loud screeching noise echoed throughout the area in which they quickly covered all their ears. The white Zetsu began to appear himself out of the tree as he slowly emerged upon the surface with his sharp teeth grinning sadistically.
"No way... Is that his form?" Sakura asked in disbelief.
"Most likely," Neji responded while they continue to stare at the half-human and creature, who was glancing around to find victims to prey on.
"Where are you, kiddos?! I'm here!" The white Zetsu sang gleefully.
"Jeez. Took him long enough to come out. We wouldn't have to be wandering like this," Tenten rolled her eyes.
"Apparently, he's saving a lot of energy and chakra to boost up his powers," Neji stated firmly.
"What are they?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Hm. That is something that I'm unable to answer," Neji chuckled slightly.
"Shit... What if he knows that we're here? My invisible powder may not last that long," Lee cursed, panicking.
"How many minutes?" Tenten questioned hastily.
The green leaf ninja started to laugh nervously as he rubbed the back of his head, saying. "I don't know..."
"What?! Then, how are we going to attack him if we don't know what state we're in?!" Tenten hissed.
The white Zetsu quickly sniffed their scents as his nostrils flared and looked at their direction. His eyes beamed hungrily and wickedly, then disappeared out of their sight, which they became puzzled for a moment.
"Crap! Where did he go-?" Lee got interrupted as soon as he tripped don on the branch and grunted in pain. "Ahh!"
"Lee!" Tenten exclaimed.
Sakura's eyes widened in shock when the white Zetsu quickly flashed behind her back and started absorbing the chakra between her arms and legs.
"Ughh!" The pink-haired kunoichi elbowed and kicked her foot towards his body, but he was immune to her physical attacks. She stepped away from him and stood on the other side of the tree branch, ready to fight.
"My turn!" Tenten flew up in the air and started spinning her huge metal spike ball, hurling down across the white Zetsu's scratches on his defense shield.
"Arrrghh!" He roared out.
Neji closed his eyes as he began to perform one of his common techniques with his hands and feet. The Yin and Yang symbol showed around him, then made slow gestures to attack the White Zetsu. He used 64 palms with more combos that he hit onto the enemy's body, damaging the defense shield to the extent.
Unfortunately, the white Zetsu had rejuvenated it back to normal, stunning the others in dismay.
"What?" The pink-haired kunoichi's eyes widened in wonder.
"How can this be?" Tenten protested. "That's not fair!"
"Ahh. You kiddos have done a great performance. Well done. Sadly, it was not fantastic at all. You are all too weak for me. I'm certain that everything is always fair, my dear," the white Zetsu stated maliciously when he continued to laugh out loud.
Tenten growled and fumed in anger, remarking. "I'll show you, you big creep!"
Lee got up and warned her. "Don't. Don't let him provoke you. We must not underestimate him that easily."
"He's right. We just need to figure out a strategy," Neji said.
"What strategy? I would pretty much blow up this guy's head off right now. He's so annoying. Pissing us off like that," Tenten clenched her teeth.
"That's not the best idea. If you attack with anger, you'll end up losing. If you lose, you get hurt," Neji advised logically.
Sakura nodded in agreement and said. "Yeah. That's true. Wait. Can you see his weaknesses because if we know them, we will get a better chance at defeating him."
The white Zetsu asked monotonously. "What's the matter? Too afraid to fight me?"
Neji glanced at his friends, saying. "I got it. But you guys have to follow every detail that I'm about to tell you and which one of us will be attacking the parts of his. Weakening his condition will give us the opportunity to use our techniques at a good rate. Are you with me?"
Sakura and Lee nodded in understanding.
Neji peeked over at Tenten and asked reassuringly. "Are you?"
The brunette girl looked at him and gave a curt nod. "Yeah..."
"Good. Now, listen..." Neji said as he turned his attention back on the white Zetsu sternly.
At this point in time, the four of them were set into their positions and were waiting for the right time to start attacking.
Neji was the first one to go and started circling the white Zetsu as fast as he can when he was running. He quickly made hand signs to perform his jutsu called the Eight Trigrams Revolving Heave, which deflects all the attacks from any direction. The next step he made was using the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm attacking targets against the enemy's body. Thus, the white Zetsu's head started to become dizzy as he attempts to grab onto his arms and legs but failed to do so when Neji pummeled him harshly with his palms.
Tenten hopped onto the air and threw various weapons, striking heavily across the shield, whilst cracking into bits of pieces.
Sakura stepped on forward as she immediately uses the Earth Shock Wave jutsu and gave a huge punch through his stomach deeply, resulting in a cry out of pain and damage. She smirked proudly and stepped onto the other tree branch.
Finally, Lee decided to unwrap a few of his bandages off of his wrists and unleashes his Primary Lotus technique. He grabbed the enemy's body as he spun him around up in the air and smashed him through the tree. Lee jumped back when he took a look at his attack. He panted a long breath in relief until he noticed that the body was melting away, much to their shock and puzzlement.
"What?!" Tenten muttered in disbelief.
"No..." Sakura groaned as she sighed disappointedly.
"A substitution? No doubt," Neji stated while he was gazing upon the white gooey liquid spilling onto the wood with heat.
Then, deep mischievous laughter rang through their ears behind them and was clapping slowly.
"Who would've known that you youngsters would be going this far to battle the Akatsuki? I must say, you have the most guts of all. It seems that you have broken the rules of your Ninja Alliance. Very bad delinquents, eh..." he remarked with an amused smirk.
Sakura and the others quickly turned around and became astonished after seeing a long time former acquaintance, standing right before their eyes.
"Kabuto..." the pink-haired kunoichi stammered.
"It's you!?" Lee was perplexed at this.
"My, my. How times have changed. Just when the first moment I met you, Naruto, and the rest during the chunin exams, you were all acknowledgeable towards me," he said, recalling back at those memories dramatically.
"Not anymore. In fact, we mostly despise you to the bottom of the earth's core," Sakura gritted her teeth as she glared daggers at him.
"Aww... That's so sweet of you, my dear. Oh, by the way, I heard that Sasuke will be joining the party later. Tough luck. You won't be able to convince him to come back. Pity," Kabuto mocked sarcastically.
"Sasuke is going to be fighting for sure..." Lee mumbled, frowning to himself.
"Unbelievable. But there's no other choice, is there?" Sakura thought hopelessly.
"No... However, I'm ready to confront him," Her inner self answered determinedly and asks. "Are you?"
Sakura smiled and said confidently. "I'm more than ready."
"You don't know if he is one of our sides," Neji replied directly to Kabuto, who raised an eyebrow at him quizzically.
"No matter. After all, that boy has certainly developed his own mind as if he only raised himself and only values his perception towards what he holds," the dark-hooded ninja explained and continued on bluntly. "I assume you have all protected someone or should I say, the two precious jinchurikis; Naruto and KillerBee. Am I correct?"
Sakura kept her glare at him, retorting back angrily. "What is it to you, anyway? It is none of your business and never should you ever interfere... If you do something to them, I swear I won't stop myself from killing you."
Kabuto chuckled menacingly and reassured her slyly. "Oh. Don't you worry, I already have my eyes on the others. Capturing the tailed beasts is the last thing I would do. The Akatsuki will take care of that."
"Why, you...?!" Sakura clenched her fist tightly, ready to pound him.
Though, a black teleportal reveals a mysterious masked man appearing beside Kabuto silently, much to the others' skepticism.
"Huh?!" Tenten's expression went blank, whereas Neji was carefully examining the vital signs and the type of chakra he has within him.
"Unusual..." the Byakugan user informed quietly.
"What? What do you mean?" Tenten queered in.
"This man is hard to identify," Neji said, fixated on him.
"Kabuto, what did I tell you to stop playing games with them?" Tobi scolded lightly.
"Hmph. Haven't you completed the tasks already?" He scoffed.
"A couple of hours ago. All is settled," Tobi said monotonously.
"Wow. That's impressive. Well, I just stopped by here to have a little nice chat with the leaf squad," Kabuto grinned maliciously.
"Now is not the time. There is something that you need to take care of. One of the divisions had succeeded the first rounds," Tobi clarified the news and continued on. "We must head back. You'll get a chance to talk with these lifeless bodies."
Lee narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "What...?!"
Inside his mind, he began to repeat what he said about them. "Lifeless bodies... He's more than crazy..."
"Alright. Might as well, save the fun for later," Kabuto smirked amusingly.
As soon as Tobi opened the black portal using his eye, they both entered inside and close the gateway that was shrinking into the small size until they slowly vanished.
Sakura and the others breathe out in relief after witnessing the unexpected person to pop in.
"What was that?" Tenten asked weirdly.
"I don't know... But that man is on a different level. He is far beyond Kabuto, who is only a mere pawn. I must say, we should not let our guard down, neither we should underestimate," Neji informed intently.
"Right. What do we do now? They already got away, especially the white Zetsu," Lee mentioned.
"We need to head back and help our friends," Tenten said.
"Good choice," Neji agreed.
On the other hand, the pink-haired kunoichi's vision was starting to become a little blur and her head ached on the side. She dropped to her knees, trying to keep herself together. Sweat was beginning to form droplets on her forehead in which she had realized that she cannot withstand the substitution any longer since there is only a limit.
Lee, Tenten, and Neji glanced at her in worry. "Sakura!"
"Hey! You alright?" The green leaf ninja placed his right hand upon the right shoulder.
"Yeah. I feel slightly dizzy... I don't think I'm able to keep my clone up soon," Sakura said softly.
"Absolutely, I'm afraid that every group will know that we bailed out and replaced ourselves with our clones," Neji pointed out calmly.
"Arghh... I think I'm also draining out slowly," Lee groaned nervously.
"Me too," Tenten sighed in exasperation.
"Once we see them again, this time we fight. Hesitating is not a good option," Neji stated.
From that moment on, the four of them went to go find the others and told them what happened where they've encountered Kabuto and Tobi. They were disappointed in themselves of not being able to defeat the white Zetsu, who escaped lately. The leaf squad decided to dismiss their clones off on their positions since they have succeeded in their battles with their divisions.
Each of their substitutions disappeared in a puff of smoke from other places, which some of the shinobi took notice of this in astonishment, including the Sand siblings, who got startled at the sudden ebb of their friends' clones.
In Kankuro's group, he became more alarmed at what he just saw.
"Shit! I've been talking to the duplicates the whole time?!" The purple-faced ninja asked shockingly while he was standing and looking around to see that they've faded.
In Gaara's group, Temari and Shikamaru felt the same way as well.
"Where could they be?" The blonde-haired kunoichi murmured thoughtfully.
"This looks like trouble," Shikamaru pointed out dully and continued on. "Even Choji's not here. What a drag."
"I'm surprised that they would keep up their chakra longer than the usual limit we have," Temari said impressively.
"They did train a lot harder," Shikamaru stated and sighed with his eyes closed fearfully before he called out. "Gaara!"
The red-haired Kazekage glanced a little over his right shoulder and looked down at him and the others. "What is it?"
"You see... Uh... There's been a little problem," Shikamaru gritted his teeth and smiled awkwardly.
Temari laughed timidly and stepped in, saying. "The rest of the leaf squad decamped out and used their clones to take their positions."
"Where are they?" Gaara asked strictly.
"I have no idea," the blonde-haired kunoichi answered faintly.
Shikamaru gave a whistle and instructed quickly. "Guys, if anyone of you can search their whereabouts, please do so. We would appreciate it if you find them. That is all."
The shinobi nodded at this with each other as they began to whisper among themselves, whereas Temari shrugged.
"There's no need to worry, Gaara. They will come back," she said out loud with reassurance.
However, the red-haired Kazekage responded back when he continued to stare at the far view in front of him. He gazed thoughtfully and wonder to himself as to why the leaf squad would go out and make an impetuous course of action.
"Sakura... What did you do? Where are you guys?" He asked worriedly in mind.
He never expected that things would go this far. At this moment, he was contemplating, whether or not, he should contact the other Kages back at the hidden cloud village.
TO BE CONTINUED...