13. Anubis and the Minions of Set
Oh, it's seven o'clock, time for a party – and I know what I wanna see…Chapter 13!
So, chapter 13 is here for everyone to enjoy and before I begin, I want to say thank you to everyone who left me a review for the last chapter. Once again, I broke a personal record with the number of reviews and I can't thank everyone enough for reading my story. It's very uplifting that people enjoy what I write and let me know, because it fuels my desire to keep churning out new chapters.
So as I mentioned at the ending of the last chapter, here we have the battle for Konoha. I know most of you were hoping to hear more about Naruto, Hinata and Hikaru but sorry – that's next chapter so you're going to have to wait a bit. But I promise to make sure it's worth the wait.
And I would once again like to thank my anonymous beta for his help and support, as well as fellow author Titokhan who provided me with some great ideas for this chapter. Your help is very much appreciated!
Without further ado, let's get on with the show! I'll save most of my comments for the author's note at the end of the chapter.
Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto, but I have an idea. We kidnap Masashi Kishimoto and hold him for ransom for the rights to Naruto and the sum of…ONE MILLION DOLLARS!
Number Two – Umm, don't you think we should ask for more than a million dollars? That's not exactly a lot of money these days. I mean, Microsoft alone makes over 14 billion dollars in a year!
Disclaimer – Really? That's a lot of money.
Number Two – Yes, and that's the net profit…not gross.
Disclaimer – Okay, then…We will kidnap Masashi Kishimoto and hold him for ransom for the rights to Naruto and the sum of…ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS! (+1 if you get the reference.)
Chapter 13 – Anubis and the Minions of Set
As the dust began to clear, Naruto looked up from his position behind the remnants of his dining room table. His ears were still ringing, and rubble from the explosion had embedded itself into various points in the surrounding walls. As he tried to stand up, he felt a stinging sensation in his side and noticed that he was seriously bleeding from two pieces of concrete sticking out from his body. He realized that based on the placement of his injuries, if he hadn't protected Hinata like he did, the shards would have ripped through her head and taken out a good portion of her right side.
He rolled off of her and sat on his knees. He shook her and said, "Hinata…I need you to pull these things out of my body and be quick about it. We don't have a lot of time."
She looked up and saw blood leaking around the debris lodged in his body. Her eyes became wide and she stammered, "Nar...Naruto-kun, you're hurt! Are…"
He ground this teeth and spat, "Damn it, Hinata – you can be concerned for me later! Pull these pieces out of my body so I can start healing; we're going to have visitors here in about five seconds!"
Shocked into action, Hinata reached out with trembling hands and yanked the pieces out, causing blood to gush from the wounds for a brief second before they began to close.
"Now when I stand up, stay on your hands and knees and crawl to the back wall. I don't want you getting in the way when I kill whoever is responsible for this. Understand?"
She nodded and got on all fours, ready to move. Naruto stood up and kicked what was left of the table forward, providing a distraction as it shattered and giving Hinata a few moments to get to the back of the room.
As the dust finally settled, three men appeared in the opening that had once been the front wall of their house. All of them were very muscular with bronzed skin, wearing only a simple loincloth and two gauntlets, all colored gold. Their weapon of choice seemed to be a sword in the shape of a sickle, similar to what farmers use to harvest grain.
Naruto sneered. "Well, well, well…What an unpleasant surprise; the Minions of Set have decided to pay me a visit. Where's Anubis, that sadistic piece of shit you call a leader? Does he plan on showing me his face or is he taking the cowards' way out by hiding in the shadows?"
The man in front gave Naruto an impassive stare as he said, "Our leader is no coward, Gabriel – and he would never hide from someone as pitiful as you. Instead, he has given you the opportunity to either run from this conflict or face him directly. If you choose the latter, he awaits you at the center of this village."
"So that's it? He sent you to deliver a message to me like the fawning bootlickers that you are, letting me know where he is when I could have found him in an instant if I wanted to?"
The Minion raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Partially. We are also here to take away that which is most dear to you." He pointed at Hinata. "That woman and her offspring. Lord Anubis has decided that they will make fine additions to our ranks."
The sneer vanished from his face, only to be replaced by one of anger. "Is that right? Well, congratulations – you just made the biggest mistake of your life by threatening my two most precious people. And if you think you're going to make it out of here alive after telling me that, you're delusional."
"It matters not what you think. You know the power we possess, and we are five hundred strong at the moment. With every injury we inflict, our numbers increase and this village will eventually fall. You cannot possibly hope to stop…"
The Minion paused as he watched the chakra cloak form around Naruto, as his eyes turned red and he sprouted three tails in rapid succession. He raised an eyebrow and said, "This is unexpected, Gabriel. I haven't seen you use this power before. When did you acquire it?"
Naruto laughed maniacally as he pushed out a large amount of killing intent. "Just because you haven't seen it before doesn't mean I never had it. Everyone has secrets, and this one's mine." And the three tails lashed out faster than the Minions could follow, wrapping around their necks and lifting them in the air to dangle helplessly before him. They dropped their swords and clawed at them, panicking as they felt the heat begin to rise as it constricted their throats, slowly cutting off their ability to speak and breathe.
"You see, I know the weakness of the forbidden jutsu that Anubis uses to protect you. If I incinerate the lot of you, he won't be able to use your rotting corpses to attack anyone – and that should give me more than enough time to find Anubis and turn him into a bloody smear on my boot."
A grin of pure evil appeared on his face and Naruto said, "You have all been weighed on the scales of justice, and I have found you all wanting of death. Know despair as I pass judgment, and BURN."
His chakra erupted into a fiery blaze, filling their home with the sickening odor of burning flesh and bone as the men thrashed about in a desperate attempt to free themselves. They stopped moving once their eyeballs had boiled in their sockets and their brains liquefied under the intense heat, but Naruto didn't stop until each body had dismembered itself, collapsing into a smoking pile of limbs. With a final surge, he turned what was left of them into piles of hot ash and performed a Reppushou, dispersing them into the air.
Naruto lowered his chakra cloak and turned around to look at Hinata. She was staring at the spot that the men had been occupying only minutes before, her eyes wide from what Naruto assumed was fear over the way he'd just killed them. Even though he was sympathetic to her feelings, right now he needed her to snap out of it because he was going to need her help, along with the rest of his friends against the Minions of Set.
He kneeled down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hinata…I'm sorry you had to see that, but there's a small army attacking the village and I need you to…"
Naruto stopped, noticing that his words weren't getting through to Hinata. She still appeared to be staring off into space, lost in whatever thought was running through her mind. He snapped his fingers in front of her face and said, "C'mon, Hinata…You need to focus right now. I didn't mean to scare you with how I just killed those men, but…"
He was interrupted as Hinata raised her head to look him in the eyes, and she quietly mouthed a single word.
"Hikaru."
"What was that, Hinata?"
"Hikaru. That man said they were after Hikaru." Her eyes grew wide as she shouted, "THEY'RE AFTER HIKARU!" And Hinata shoved him aside and ran for the opening in the wall, intent on protecting her son at all costs. The sensation of overwhelming fear struck at him through the seal, making his body shiver before he quickly shut down the link between them.
Naruto caught her from behind in a bear hug. "Hinata! You need to calm down and listen to me!"
"LET ME GO, NARUTO-KUN! THOSE MEN COULD BE KIDNAPPING HIKARU RIGHT NOW! WE NEED TO STOP THEM!"
He realized that look he'd seen just a few moments ago wasn't fear of what he'd done, but rather from thinking that her son was in grave danger. She was a mother bear protecting her cub, afraid that she wouldn't be there to protect her son when he needed her most.
Naruto spun her around and grabbed her wrists. Tears were flowing from her eyes as she continued to yell at him hysterically.
"WHY ARE YOU STOPPING ME? I HAVE TO GET TO MY SON! I NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT…"
He had to snap her back to reality. At the top of his lungs he shouted into her face, "HINATA!"
His voice silenced her instantly. She continued to look at Naruto, tears falling from her eyes as she begged for him to release her.
"Please Naruto-kun, I'm…I'm supposed to keep him safe. He's my son and I'm supposed to protect him and keep him safe. Please let me go…Please…"
Naruto sighed. If this were any other time, he would be more understanding but right now he couldn't afford it. He looked at her and said, "Hinata. You need to remember that Hikaru is with Neji and Tenten, and as far as I'm concerned he couldn't be in better hands. They'll defend him with their lives if need be, so I'm asking you have faith in them and their skills to protect him."
She stared at him while her mind and heart struggled against his words. Even though what he'd just said made perfect sense, it didn't change the fact that she wanted to run to Hikaru and protect him at the cost of her life.
"The village is under attack and innocent lives hang in the balance, so I'm asking you to trust me on this. One of the Mienai Segi is out there, and I'm the only one who can defeat him but I'm going to need your help to do it. Do you understand?"
She bit her bottom lip and hesitated a brief moment, before realizing that he was right and reluctantly nodding yes.
He nodded back, dragging her up the stairs and into the study. He walked over and pushed aside one of the bookcases, revealing a hidden room behind it where he kept his weapons and jutsu scrolls, along with everything he'd collected from his time with the Mienai Segi. Under normal circumstances, the village would catalog these and lock them up for safe keeping, but Naruto decided months ago that there was no way he was going to willingly give up anything that might help him protect his precious people.
Naruto pointed at the far wall and said, "Hinata, in that cabinet you'll find a specialized kunoichi outfit that I had made for you just in case something like this happened. Put it on and grab one of the holsters filled with exploding kunai, along with the second katana from the top shelf to your right."
As Hinata stripped to comply with his instructions, she saw Naruto open another cabinet and take out a strange sword. It appeared to be shaped very similar to the weapons held earlier by the Minions of Set; a simple handle with a small crossguard and a curved blade. However, where the blade of the other weapons appeared black this one shimmered in the light of the room.
She couldn't help but be curious and asked, "Naruto-kun, that weapon seems very similar to what those men were carrying. What is it?"
He held the weapon up and said, "It's called a Khopesh sword, Hinata. It's used in a country in the west called Egypt, and the reason it's shaped like this is because it serves a dual purpose. Farmers there use it to harvest their crops in addition to defending their land. This way, they always have a weapon in their hand if the enemy attacks." He stared at it for a second before he continued, "This one is special, though – it allows me to channel wind chakra through the blade, making it much more deadly than a normal weapon. And I thought it might be fitting to use this, since Anubis – the Mienai Segi member we're up against – is named after the Egyptian God of the dead."
Hinata suddenly remembered her conversation with Tenten a few days ago when she heard that name mentioned. "How…How did you know that Anubis was the one attacking us?"
"Because those men I just killed were part of his personal army, and they call themselves the Minions of Set. They're basically a fanatical cult that would follow him to the gates of hell if he asked them to. He makes sure the number of followers always stays around five hundred, and as their ranks grow and members are recruited – willingly or not – he makes sure to keep only the strongest fighters while the rest are…discarded. And since he only keeps the strongest members, they become that much harder to kill with each successive battle. Also, Anubis knows a forbidden jutsu that infects his followers with his chakra, allowing them to not only cheat death, but recruit others to his cause as well." He tilted his head in thought and said, "What's puzzling me is why Saladin sanctioned this attack in the first place. Konoha hasn't done anything to warrant an attack on the scale that Anubis provides. Something's going on behind the scenes and I don't know what it is."
Hinata gave him a puzzled look and said, "Saladin? Who's that?"
"He's the leader of the Mienai Segi. He actually founded the organization and he knows more forbidden jutsu than anyone. He's also the one who teaches the principles of strength and discipline that you saw tattooed on my arms, and only believes in the use of violence if the cause is just or warranted. And that's why I'm confused, because sending in Anubis under the 'eye for an eye' philosophy would mean that Konoha is guilty of something on a grand scale, like genocide." He strapped the Khopesh sword to his back and attached a holster of exploding kunai to his leg before turning to look at Hinata. "Are you ready?"
She grabbed the katana from the rack and nodded. "What do we do now?"
"We need to find Ino, and then get over to the Nara compound and talk to Shikamaru so that he can coordinate our counterattack. We HAVE to eliminate the Minions of Set as fast as possible before Anubis gets a chance to corrupt anyone else in the village with his chakra." His arm encircled her waist and he said, "Now hold on. I'm going to use the Hiraishin no Jutsu to jump halfway across Konoha to the hospital, and then we'll continue on foot from there."
Shikamaru Nara was generally perceived by his friends as a lazy person, preferring to stare at clouds rather than do any type of menial labor. However, in this case perception and reality couldn't be farther apart. Nobody knew, but the real reason he stared at clouds all day was due to the fact that as a man with an IQ of over 200, his brain was constantly moving – flitting from idea to idea and thought to thought, occasionally fixating on a single item that he couldn't banish from his mind no matter how hard he tried. Staring at clouds brought his pace of thinking down to that of a normal person, allowing him sporadic moments of lucid peace from his own hectic world.
And then there were times when his curse became a gift, to be used to save the lives of his friends and the village he called home. The fourth shinobi war was proof of this.
He knew that Konoha was under attack from the time he heard the first explosion, and surmised that a small army was responsible due to the chain reaction that followed. The strikes were well coordinated and timed, working in perfect harmony with each other but there seemed to be no goal or purpose behind it, which confused him. No matter how many battles he'd fought, there was always a reason to explain why the fight was taking place – it might be money, power, control…it didn't matter, but there was always something. In this case, there didn't seem to be one and until he knew why, formulating a strategy would be most troublesome.
It was at this point in his line of thinking that Naruto, Hinata and Ino landed in front of his house. And it was apparent by the look on his face that Naruto had information about what was happening that no one else did.
"Shikamaru, I need you to use Ino and her Shindenshin no Jutsu to coordinate the defense of the village with the Hokage and the rest of the Jōnin commanders. We have a level five security threat with the potential for moderate loss of life."
"Understood, Naruto. Do you have any idea who's behind the attack, and what we're up against?"
"The guy in charge is named Anubis. He's…someone I used to work with while I was away from the village. And since I know you're going to ask, the answer is no – I don't know why he's attacking Konoha. There's no logical explanation for what he's doing."
Naruto pulled a map of Konoha out of his vest and spread it out on the ground in front of everyone. "Now, the forces that Anubis commands are called the Minions of Set. They number around five hundred, and most of them are about chūnin level with a few jōnin mixed in. They'll be divided up into ten groups of fifty, more than likely attacking central or important sectors of Konoha. I'm guessing these nine points here…" He stabbed the map at various locations with his finger and continued, "With the strongest group protecting Anubis in the central part of the village near the Hospital in sector four."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and said, "That's…actually very impressive, Naruto. But what makes you think the attacking squads would be so evenly spaced out, with the strongest force remaining in the middle? Frankly, it seems overly basic and even a genin fresh from the academy could think up a better plan of attack."
Naruto smirked and said, "Anubis is a symmetry freak. Everything he does has to be even and perfect, even if it means sacrificing the lives of his followers in the end."
He pointed at the map again. "Okay, I need you to have the following people engage the enemy squads. Sector one should be Kakashi-sensei and an elite group of ANBU. Sectors two and three can be handled by the Hyūga clan, since they have two houses and can cover more territory. Sector five goes to Choji and the Akimichi clan, and I'll need Kiba and the Inuzuka clan to cover sectors six and eleven. Sasuke gets sector seven, while Lee and Hinata take sector eight. Shino and the Aburame clan get sector nine, and make sure Tsunade stays at the hospital to defend it and take care of the incoming wounded. Since the strongest fighters will be concentrated in sector four, I need Guy-sensei and Kurenai-sensei there, and I'm going to take care of sector ten on my own. Each group will be supported by as many chūnin as we can spare."
Shikamaru noticed that Naruto had called Tsunade by her name and not baa-chan, which meant he was upset with her for some reason. He filed that bit of information away to think about later and said, "What about Neji and Tenten?"
The look on his face became hard and Naruto said, "They stay where they are in the Hyūga compound and defend Hikaru. End of discussion. I'll pick up the slack on the battlefield because of their absence."
Shikamaru immediately understood the message Naruto was conveying with the tone of his voice – Hikaru will be protected at all costs, and Kami help anyone who fails to do so.
"Now, it's very important that you tell our security forces to avoid being injured by the weapons the Minions of Set are wielding. It will only make things more difficult and the consequences could be dire for everyone if that happens."
"Any particular reason for that?"
Naruto rubbed his temples and said, "The reason Anubis is so feared is because he knows a…special jutsu that he uses on his followers. The long and short is that unless you burn the bodies, he can reanimate them at any time to attack you. And it's not an Edo Tensei, but more like they're marionettes and he's the one pulling the strings. Strength is increased but they know nothing beyond the desire to rip the enemy to shreds. You can cut off the head, and the body still comes at you. If you take out the legs, it will crawl across the ground to inflict damage on anything it can reach."
Shikimaru said, "It sounds a lot like the Puppet Technique that Lady Chiyo and Kankuro could do, but there doesn't have to be a direct line of sight to control them. He can do it simply from the presence of his chakra in their bodies alone. Am I right?"
Naruto nodded. "Essentially, they're an army of the dead. Even more frightening is that the sword each follower carries is infused with his chakra, and if they cut you it will slowly corrupt you and overpower your free will. It infects you like a virus, and you basically turn into a mindless drone with no concept of right or wrong, friend or foe, existing only to do his bidding. I'm not sure how he does it, but one thing I do know that the only way to stop it before it completely takes over is to eliminate Anubis himself."
Ino blanched. "So what you're saying is that unless we reduce them to ashes, we're going up against an enemy that can't be defeated? How the hell are we going to fight against something like this?"
"We kill without reproach, Ino. The most important part is burning the bodies – every piece – because if we don't, Anubis can use them to continually attack our forces. Injury by sword will only increase his ranks, so in the off chance that does happen I won't have very long to take out Anubis – the amount of time will vary depending on the severity of the wound. After that, the chakra corruption will be complete and we run the risk of the damage from it becoming permanent."
Wide eyed, Hinata looked at him and said, "Naruto-kun, this man sounds very dangerous. Are you certain that you can defeat him if you have to?"
He smirked and said, "I'm sure he's not going to make it easy for me, but yes I can. Besides, according to what you told Hikaru I'm the greatest ninja that ever lived – isn't that right?"
Hinata paled and looked away, nodding at the subtle hint he was giving her.
He looked back at Shikamaru and said, "Make sure every sector has someone that can use fire jutsu to burn the bodies. If you need to, have Sasuke hop between sectors two, three, seven and eight while Kakashi-sensei handles sectors one and five. I'll be available to help with the rest since I can travel the fastest. Once that's done I need everyone, especially Kakashi-sensei to get to sector four and take out the remaining force there, but make sure that no one – I repeat, NO ONE – engages Anubis unless they have a death wish. I'm the only one who knows how to take him down permanently. Understand?"
They all nodded, impressed with his leadership abilities but none more so than Shikamaru. He mentally revised his assessment of his friend and classmate, realizing that he wasn't the dim-witted baka from when they were kids. Maybe after this was over, he could challenge Naruto to a game of Shogi.
Naruto turned and said, "I have to go, Hinata. Good luck and please be careful." He tapped the back of his hand. "If you get into trouble, let me know and I'll be there to protect you."
She smiled and briefly kissed him. "You be careful as well, Naruto-kun. And I…I meant what I said earlier. I love you very much."
He returned her smile and said, "I love you too, Hinata-hime. But don't think that because of what's happening you're off the hook. I still have questions I want answered when we're done here, and you and your…accomplices are going to tell me what I want to know."
She pressed her lips together and nodded in understanding. The important thing was that she finally knew he loved her, and that's all she ever wanted. As long as she had that, she could endure anything he might say or do – at least she hoped that was the case.
Naruto leaped off towards the south end of Konoha, while Hinata turned to head west. Shikamaru watched them go, suddenly thinking about Temari and their relationship. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and sighed before saying, "Okay, Ino. I don't know how much time we have, but we've already wasted too much of it. I need you to contact everyone using your Mind Body Transmission technique and don't break contact until I say so."
She nodded and placed her hand on his forehead, closing her eyes in concentration. After a moment he felt his consciousness expand, informing him that the connection was active.
"This message is for the Hokage, ANBU and any other jōnin level ninja within range of this transmission. As you may have surmised, the village is under attack and based on information recently brought to my attention, I've determined the threat to be level five at minimum with possible moderate loss of civilian life. However, casualties can be minimized if you listen carefully to my instructions…"
***SECTOR 1***
Kakashi and a squad of elite ANBU had just finished listening to the assessment of the situation from Shikamaru and silently agreed with his counterattack strategy. He turned around to look at the masks of the men surrounding him and said, "You heard him. Right now, Shikamaru is in charge and we're responsible for defeating the group in this sector. Let's move."
One of the ANBU stopped him and said, "Hokage-sama, I must object to this. As leader of Konoha, you should be the one in charge of this operation. Also, please remember that our sworn duty is to protect you, even at the cost of our lives. I would ask that you remain here in the tower and allow us to handle this threat personally."
He looked at the one responsible for the statement. "You seem to be new here. What's your name?"
"It's Sparrow, Hokage-sama."
"Okay Sparrow, let me ask you a question. Did you fight in the fourth shinobi war?"
She shook her head no.
"Then let me remind you of a few things. First of all, Shikamaru is far smarter than I am and because of that, he saved thousands of lives during the war. He's much more qualified than me to lead the counterattack and I'm leaving him in charge. Second of all, I'm well aware that I'm the Hokage, but it's my job to protect Konoha in times like this and as a former ANBU captain myself, I'm certainly not above getting my hands dirty in defense of the village. Third, I haven't had a good fight in years and this is the perfect opportunity to blow off some steam against an opponent that's attacking my home. And fourth…" His voice took on a menacing tone, and the air around him dropped several degrees as he finished, "…do you really think you could stop me if I was determined to go?"
She swallowed hard and said, "N..No, Hokage-sama."
"That's what I thought." He looked at the rest of the ANBU and said, "The next person who utters something that stupid will be put on permanent duty catching Tora for the Daimyo's wife. Are we clear?"
They all quickly nodded in agreement.
Kakashi eye smiled and said, "Good. Now, let's get going. There are enemies to kill and bodies to burn, and we don't have much time left to accomplish this before Naruto needs me at the center of the village."
***SECTOR 7***
With an emotionless look on his face, Sasuke charged the remaining eighteen Minions. As the first three stepped forward to intercept him, he slowly unsheathed Kusanagi and channeled some lightning chakra through the blade. He swung downward, cutting the first man in half diagonally from his shoulder to his chest before reversing the blade and slashing the next one in half at the waist. Both men paused for a moment, their faces still in shock before the pieces slowly slid apart, spilling blood and entrails over the ground.
Despite the gruesome scene before him, the third man jumped over the pieces of his former comrades and raised his sword high, planning to attack Sasuke with a simple overhead strike. Snorting in disappointment, he easily caught the man's wrist and threw him over his shoulder, slamming him on his back into the ground before driving Kusanagi through his heart.
Sasuke turned around to look at the remaining men and said, "You and your leader couldn't have come to the village at a better time. You see, I have a pregnant wife at home who's loud and rather irritating at the moment, and every day for the past couple of months she's gotten a little more irritating and a whole lot louder. I'm sympathetic to her plight, since she is carrying my child but due to her condition I have no one to take my daily frustrations out on."
"And that's where you guys come in. I'm not sure where you learned how to fight, but your skills are abysmal and honestly not worth my time. If it weren't for the fact that I knew you would kill innocent people, I wouldn't even bother fighting you. But regardless of her current attitude I do have the safety of my wife to consider, along with all of my friends and the villagers."
He activated the Mangekyo Sharingan and formed Susanoo around him. The remaining Minions of Set looked at the apparition and their faces showed the slightest hint of fear as he said, "Blaze Release: Susanoo Kagutsuchi."
A blade of black fire formed in the right hand of Susanoo and he swung it down into the group of men, engulfing them in unquenchable black flames as he burned them alive, until they were nothing but charred piles of soot. Sasuke dispersed his Susanoo and watched the ashes blow away before contacting Shikamaru.
Sector seven will be clear in a minute. I have six bodies to burn and then I can move on. Where do you need me next?
He heard Shikamaru respond in his mind. Head to sector eight. The enemy presence there has almost been dealt with by Hinata and Lee, and we need you to incinerate the bodies. After that, you and Hinata get to sectors two and three and assist the Hyūga clan with the disposal. Make it quick, because we need you in sector four within fifteen minutes.
Understood. He swiftly piled the remaining corpses in a barren area and lit them on fire. He watched them burn for a few moments before moving on, satisfied with his handiwork – as well as feeling a little bit better, since he was able to take his wrath out on something other than a tree for a change.
***SECTOR 8***
Lee ducked under the man's blade, letting it sail over him before rising back up and catching him in a vicious uppercut. As the man sailed upwards, he jumped to meet him with his leg lifted high and hit him with a devastating overhead kick, launching the Minion back into the ground before landing beside him. Lee grabbed the top and bottom of his head, twisting it violently and snapping the man's neck, killing him instantly.
He looked around and surveyed the battlefield, noticing that there were only a handful of men left to defeat. Six of the men were being engaged by their chūnin support squad, and they were fortunate to have the advantage of numbers and surrounded them, quickly wearing them down. Nodding in approval to himself, he decided to turn his attention elsewhere since they appeared to have the situation well in hand.
Unfortunately, this group had a large amount that seemed to be above chūnin level – more like tokubetsu jōnin instead – which made them much more difficult to kill. According to the information Shikamaru continued to relay to them via Ino and her Mind Body Transmission technique, the strongest groups belonged to them and Kiba, whereas the weakest groups had attacked Sasuke and Shino. While Lee normally would have relished fighting against such strong opponents, he also realized what was on the line if someone got injured by their weapons and he vowed not to let that happen.
Hinata had killed at least a dozen men with well-placed jyuuken strikes to their hearts, but she was running low on chakra and had switched to using her katana. However, Hinata was struggling with it, since it wasn't her weapon of choice and she hadn't trained extensively for using it in battle, while the men they were facing seemed very skilled in the use of theirs.
As Lee watched, Hinata began to bear down on the man she was fighting, finally gaining the upper hand. She was focused so much on defeating him that she failed to notice a second man appear behind her, ready to strike her down with an overhead slash and Lee remembered Shikamaru specifically saying bad things would happen if anyone received an injury from the oddly shaped swords.
Without thought, he quickly opened the first gate and launched himself at Hinata, tackling her so that when the sword came down, the man hit nothing but empty air. They landed several yards away before Lee set Hinata back down on her feet.
"Thank you for saving my life, Lee. I didn't even notice that man behind me, and I'm glad that…"
Her eyes became wide as she stopped mid-sentence. He followed her gaze and noticed a small cut on his arm, no more than two inches in length with very shallow bleeding.
"Lee! You…You've been hurt! They injured you with one of their swords – we need to get you to the hospital right away!"
Lee smiled, knowing exactly what the wound meant and what would eventually happen to him unless Anubis was defeated. "It's okay, Hinata…I shall fight against our enemy with every breath I have left, and I will leave this life the same way I have lived it – with my flames of youth shining brightly! Yosh!"
As Hinata and Lee prepared to meet the remaining men head on, a voice came forth from the surrounding forest and said, "Amaterasu."
The last handful of men were instantly engulfed in black flames, and they screamed as the flesh charred and slowly melted from their bodies. The remaining chūnin took a step back as Sasuke walked out into the clearing, his eyes showing the Mangekyo Sharingan with Kusanagi held in front of him.
"I heard what you just said, Hinata. Get Lee to the hospital immediately, and I'll let Shikamaru know what happened so he can relay the information to Naruto. The chūnin can finish up here while I move on to sector three to assist the Hyūga clan with the body disposal. You don't have much time, so move it."
As Hinata and Lee leapt off in the direction of the hospital, Sasuke contacted Shikimaru once again. Just arrived in sector eight, the enemy presence here is burning as we speak. I have sent Hinata and Lee to the hospital; Lee received a small cut on his left forearm so we have to speed up the timetable for defeating Anubis. I'm leaving this sector in the hands of the chūnin on site and moving on to sector three as planned.
Under normal circumstances I'd agree Sasuke, but I just received word that Sakura is experiencing severe pain in her lower abdomen and needs medical assistance. Head back home and get her to the hospital, while I send Kakashi over to sector three to assist the Hyūga clan.
Okay. Tell Sakura I'm on my way and let Naruto know about Lee. Hopefully he doesn't turn Anubis and the center of the village into a smoking crater when he learns about what happened.
He heard Shikamaru laughing in his head at that last statement. Sasuke looked at the pile of bodies that the men were piling in the center of the clearing and remarked, "You know, you guys may possibly be the stupidest fucking people I've ever met. Because even though the death I had planned for you would make a normal man cringe, I shudder to think about how Naruto is going to kill Anubis when he finds that Lee was injured saving the life of Hinata."
***SECTOR 6***
"Piercing Fang!"
Kiba hit the Minion full force in his chest, his claws ripping the man apart while Akamaru ripped the throat out of the man next to him with his jaws. They turned around and saw six more men slowly advancing on them, swords held low as they eyed him warily.
Kiba immediately surveyed the situation, noticing that several other clan members were busy with their groups. These men seemed highly skilled; definitely jōnin level and all of them were highly skilled with theirs. It was a miracle that none of them had been cut yet, and hopefully that luck wouldn't run out soon.
Kiba looked at the men around him and said, "You guys are really a pain in my ass, you know that? If you think you're gonna take me and Akamaru down that easily, you're crazy. I'll rip your fucking nuts off and feed them to you first."
The men smirked at his comments before one of them spoke. "Your words are hollow, insolent worm. Our leader cannot be stopped, and once this village is under his control he will reward us for our loyal service."
"So you're nothing more than a flock of sheep, following the shepherd around aimlessly wherever he leads you? You don't have an individual thought in those tiny brains of yours? He doesn't give a shit about any of you, I guarantee it. And besides, he's got no chance of making it out of here alive. He pissed off my friend and threatened his family, and that's never a good idea."
The men didn't bother to answer, but instead charged him en masse. Realizing that he needed an attack that greatly increased his speed and power, Kiba performed some hand signs and shouted, "Inuzuka Style: Man Beast Transformation Combo!"
As the smoke cleared, a large two-headed wolf stood where Kiba and Akamaru had been. It bared its teeth and leapt at the nearest man, slashing through his stomach and spilling his entrails over the ground. Faster than the men could think, the wolf wheeled and ripped out the throat of another before disemboweling a third.
The remaining three men acted out of sheer preservation instinct, swinging their swords wildly in an effort to inflict even a small wound upon the insane duo. Dodging expertly, the wolf avoided the initial strikes and hamstrung another man, causing him to collapse on the ground before pinning him with his front paw and tearing out the back of his neck, paralyzing him instantly.
However, it was the extra time spent immobilizing the man that was ultimately the wolf's undoing.
As he felt the sword slicing through the air behind him, the wolf jumped to the side but not before he received a tiny cut from one of the swords. Despite the fact that the wound was so small, he yelped in pain and the transformation was dispersed, showing Kiba lying next to Akamaru who bore the cut that had just happened on his left hind leg.
Smirking, the two men began to advance on him – and managed to get all of three steps before being mauled to death by his Inuzuka packmates.
Sighing in relief, Kiba contacted Shikamaru. We just finished with sector six. Akamaru got cut so I'm getting him to Hana for treatment. You need to get someone over here to burn up what we've got because the chūnin we had that could do fire jutsu has been killed.
Shikamaru responded back. Roger that. I just received a communication from Sasuke that Lee was injured, and is heading for the hospital as well. Based on this, we need every able body to meet Naruto in sector four to fight Anubis and the remaining Minions of Set. Get Akamaru to Hana as fast as you can, and then head to the center of the village. I'll let Naruto know what happened and he'll meet you there. Remember, you have free reign to take down the Minions but do NOT engage Anubis under any circumstances.
Kiba snorted. You couldn't drag me away from that fight. They hurt Akamaru and someone needs to pay. Big time. And with that, he scooped up his companion and took off running, hoping that Naruto could defeat Anubis before Akamaru was lost to him forever.
***SECTOR 10***
Naruto wore a savage grin on his face as he pushed out a massive amount of killing intent, laughing with glee while he decapitated three more Minions with his Khopesh sword. He was still enveloped within his chakra cloak, and three tails swayed behind him as he reached out to touch the body parts that littered the dirt around him, incinerating them instantly and turning them to dust.
He knew that he was drowning in bloodlust, but right now he didn't care. After everything that had happened to him over the past week, he felt that he was entitled to some anger relief – and it was nice to sink his teeth into something more substantial than the diversion Ami no Shirokusa had provided.
The minions scurried around the clearing, trying to hide from his wrath but Naruto was too fast for them. Everywhere they turned he was there, and the look on his face would have made the Raikage cringe as he lopped of head after head, like someone harvesting stalks of wheat.
Just as he wrapped his tails around the last man and reduced him to a pile of ash, he heard Shikamaru in his head.
Naruto, the current body count stands as ninety percent of all enemy forces NOT in the center of the village have been eliminated. However, we have a serious problem – there are reports of several people who have been injured by the Minions of Set, and among them are Lee and Akamaru. You need to get to the center of the village right now and fight Anubis.
Naruto felt a sudden tightening in his chest. Lee was injured? Is he okay? What about Hinata, she was with him…is she alright?
There was a pause before he answered. Other than the injury, Lee is fine. He was…hurt protecting Hinata. If he hadn't pushed her out of the way, she might be dead right now.
Upon hearing those words, Naruto felt something click in his head and Kurama's chakra cloak flared anew. He ground his teeth at the thought of Hinata getting injured, and only one thought came to mind.
He will suffer.
Somehow, Shikamaru could feel the massive amount of killing intent that Naruto was pushing out. Naruto, you need to…
I don't need to do anything, Shikamaru. He almost killed Hinata, and she's my most precious person. So I'm going to make sure he suffers the most painful death I know how to dish out, and with his last breath he'll wish he never showed up in Konoha to threaten my friends and family. Tell Kakashi-sensei that if he's not at the center of the village in five minutes, I'll find him and kick his ass so bad, he won't be able to read his Icha-Icha novels for six months.
Another pause. Okay, Naruto – I'll tell him. Just get there as soon as you can.
Don't worry, Shikamaru. I have a Hiraishin seal at the hospital, so I'll be there in a flash.
Naruto looked around at what remained of the Minions of Set that littered sector ten and thought about what he'd said to the men who attacked him earlier that day…
'…and that should give me more than enough time to find Anubis and turn him into a bloody smear on my boot.'
Anubis had just upped the ante, so now he thought it was time to match his threat and make good on his promise from before.
After all, his nindō was that he never goes back on his word. Ever.
***SECTOR 4***
Naruto landed at the center of the village, and to his surprise the group of Minions had already been dealt with. Might Guy and Kurenai had already left, presumably to assist with defeating the rest of the invading forces. Shikamaru and Ino were waiting for him, while Kiba was sitting on the ground holding his side. Shino was standing in front of him, either trying to protect Kiba or keep him from doing something stupid – he couldn't tell which.
He walked up and asked, "Okay, I'm guessing Guy-sensei and Kurenai-sensei defeated the Minions and are now helping to eliminate any that might be left throughout the village, but what I'd like to know is why you're sitting on the ground looking like that Kiba?"
Kiba bared his teeth and gave Naruto an angry look. "Because that asshole and his freakshow army hurt Akamaru! You think I'm just gonna sit here and wait, and not take a chunk out of his hide for what he to my dog?"
Naruto gave him a hard look. "Damn it, Kiba – you've got a hard head sometimes. Did you ever stop to think that there's a reason why I told everyone not to attack him? It wasn't because I feel like hogging all the glory by taking down myself, it's because I knew you wouldn't be able to injure him and if you tried, you'd be weaker because of it. Am I right?"
The angry expression on Kiba's face vanished and he looked away, before Shino decided to answer for him. "You are correct, Naruto. And after witnessing Anubis brush off the attack from Kiba, the rest of us thought it would be wise to keep our distance and wait for you. Do you happen to know what technique he uses to accomplish this?"
"It's actually an S-rank jutsu called Blood Release. It was originally a Kekkei Genkai of the Sanguis Clan, but Anubis somehow found a way to copy it. Simply put, it allows him to absorb chakra from an opponent by touch and if the person is very low on chakra, it can actually draw out your life force as well and kill you. And once he has your chakra, he can use it for a variety of purposes – such as enhanced strength, speed or even healing – kind of like the Hyakugou that Tsunade and Sakura use. He can suck anyone he catches with it dry and turn them into a lifeless husk within a minute. That's what makes him so dangerous, and it's the reason why I told everyone to wait."
Kiba snorted and said, "Fine, you were right and I was wrong. So what are you gonna do about it? In addition to hurting Akamaru, those pricks also got Lee and almost killed Hinata. How are you gonna beat him if he can't be hurt?"
Naruto displayed a wicked grin, and his eyes turned the darkest blue they'd ever seen as he said, "Don't worry, Kiba…Not only do I know a jutsu that can take him down, but when I use it I promise he'll suffer worse than you can possibly imagine."
His friends could only stare at him with wide eyes and nod, slightly taken aback by the look on his face and his tone of voice. None of them had seen this side of Naruto before, and it sent a collective shiver down their spines.
"And where the fuck is Kakashi-sensei? I told him to meet me here."
Kakashi landed about ten feet away from him. "I'm right here, Naruto. No need to worry."
"Nice of you to join the party. Did you get lost on the road of life getting here?"
"Very funny. I got here as fast as I could." He walked over to stand next to him and asked, "Naruto, I need to know something…Are you okay?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Because yesterday I saw that our copy of the file wasn't redacted anymore, and the contents were…enlightening, to say the least. I just want to make sure that you're still in control, and not planning on destroying various parts of Konoha because of it."
He chuckled and said, "No, I'm not going to do anything like that. But I know a few people who have a lot to answer for."
Kakashi nodded, satisfied with the answer. "So how about you tell me exactly why you needed me here?"
"Your Chidori attack – just how powerful can you make it?"
A little shocked by the question, Kakashi paused before he answered. "Well, I do have a stronger version of it called Raikiri. Why?"
"If you push it to the maximum, can you maintain it for at least five seconds?"
"It'll drain a good portion of my chakra but yes, I can."
"Good." He crossed his fingers and said, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Four shadow clones appeared in front of everyone, and three of them sat down to begin gathering natural energy while the fourth remained standing for a moment.
"I want you to hover on the outskirts of the fight. At some point I'm going to hit Anubis in your direction, and when I do I want you to use Raikiri on him with your fingers like this…" He demonstrated on the back of the clone and continued, "…on either side of the base of his spine."
"What exactly will that do?"
"It'll paralyze him for as long as you keep the jutsu going. It's actually a pretty handy technique, so you might want to remember it for the future in case you ever have someone that needs to be incapacitated and brought back to the village alive."
"And you want me to do this at my maximum power? Are you sure that won't kill him?"
Naruto smirked and said, "Not a chance. He's way too tough to be taken down by something like that, and your maximum power will probably be just enough to paralyze him so don't hold back. I only need him immobilized for about five seconds, since I have twenty hand signs that I need to go through for the jutsu I'm going to use."
Kakashi raised his eyebrow and asked, "And what exactly would that be?"
Naruto smiled and said, "Well, you asked me several months ago to show you one of my forbidden techniques so here's your chance. You can use your sharingan to copy this if you like, but I'm positive you don't have the chakra capacity to perform it. No offense."
"None taken, I guess."
"Now this is very important. Once I have Anubis within my jutsu, you need to immediately take your hands off of him and get the hell away from us both. If you're still touching him for longer than a couple of seconds when I hit him full force, you're going to get caught up in it and trust me when I say that you DON'T want that to happen."
Kakashi understood what Naruto was trying to tell him about how dangerous this jutsu was. He nodded and said, "Okay…I'll get to the opposite side of the clearing and wait for you to send him my way. Just be careful, Naruto. You've come a long way in the last few months in repairing the damage done to your personal life, and I think Hikaru needs know the truth of what happened just as much as you did."
His expression became hard and Naruto wore a determined look on his face. "I know, Kakashi-sensei. And before I forget, I just wanted to say thanks for keeping your promise and sending me to Nadeshiko village. It may not look like it, but I'm actually very grateful for what you did."
Kakashi met his gaze and thought he had never seen someone look so happy, and yet so sad at the same time.
As he walked past, Naruto turned his thoughts inward. Kurama, I'm not going to use your chakra for this fight. If Anubis happens to get his hands on some of it, it'll only make things worse.
I agree, so I'll remain hidden deep within you. Although you've made me curious – how are you going to keep him from using the Blood Release jutsu at all?
Simple. I'll use sage mode, and if he absorbs even a fraction of natural energy he'll turn into a stone frog. I'll tell him what to expect and it's up to him whether he believes me or not, but at the very least it will keep him honest about the fight.
Very clever, Naruto. Would you care to tell me how you plan on taking Anubis down?
Sure. Remember that forbidden sound jutsu I learned about four years ago?
Naruto could feel Kurama shudder inside his mind. Yes, I do. Even I find that technique to be rather vicious, but his followers did almost kill your mate so I guess the use of it is warranted.
As far as I'm concerned it is. Besides, I'd rather not run the risk of him surviving the fight and this way, I know he's never coming back.
Naruto reached the center of the clearing and said, "Hello, Anubis. Care to tell me what the hell you're doing in Konoha?"
Anubis nodded and said, "Hello, Gabriel. It's been some time since we've seen each other – almost three years, if I remember correctly. And to answer your question, I'm here for retribution."
"Retribution against who, exactly? This village hasn't done anything that would warrant an attack on a scale like yours, and I'm quite surprised that Saladin approved of it in the first place."
"Saladin is no longer my leader, as I now follow another. And the village isn't my target for justice. You are."
"Me? What exactly am I guilty of?"
"You're guilty of killing my husband and our unborn child."
Naruto turned in the direction of the voice, and saw a woman emerge from the shadows. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Lady Kamira? In what way are you involved with this?"
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at him with unfathomable hatred. "I'm the one who hired Anubis and that cult of his to attack Konoha. You, along with everyone you've ever known or loved are going to die, except for the two most important things in your life – your wife and son. Anubis wants to keep her as his personal plaything and your son will be his disciple."
"If you honestly think I'm going to allow that to happen, you're just as delusional and insane as your husband was."
She screamed her answer at him, practically frothing at the mouth as she spat the words. "Don't you DARE talk about him like that! My husband was a great man!"
Naruto snorted. "Your husband was a sadomasochistic pig who enjoyed torturing innocent men, women and children to satisfy his twisted sexual fantasies. The world is better off without him in it, and the fact that you fail to realize how sick an individual he was makes me regret my decision to let you live in the first place. And while we're on the subject, when you say 'unborn child' does that mean you were pregnant with that sadistic fuck's offspring at some point?"
She pointed at him and yelled, "Yes! I was pregnant with our first child when you chose to attack and kill my husband. The stress of losing him caused me to miscarry the one person who could carry on his legacy – AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
Naruto sarcastically said, "Gee…how unfortunate. I'm all broken up about that. Why don't you tell me where they buried what was left of him and I'll send over a bouquet of dead flowers to show how much I don't care."
Before Kamira had a chance to answer, Anubis cut her off with a gesture. "You need to be silent, female. I will speak from here on out." He looked at Naruto and said, "Well, Gabriel – am I to assume that you and your friends have been systematically eliminating my Minions since the initial attack on your dwelling?"
"That's right, Anubis. And if I had to guess, I'd say that ninety-five percent of them have been turned to dust and scattered across the wind by now." The corner of his mouth turned up and he asked, "You didn't think I'd leave them around to be controlled by you, did you?"
Anubis scowled. "That was an unwise decision, Gabriel. It will take some time to…recruit new followers. Perhaps after I kill you, I'll just use the shinobi of this village to replenish my personal guard."
"Since you're so confident about killing me, how about we raise the stakes?"
"Very well, I'm listening."
"We keep things simple and have a fight to the death." Naruto removed the Khopesh sword from his back and threw it away. "I won't use any weapons to attack you, and you won't use your Blood Release jutsu. Either you kill me and claim all of Konoha as your prize, or I kill you and turn you into a smear on the bottom of my boot."
"And what makes you think I'll agree not to use the Blood Release jutsu?"
"Because of this." He dispelled one of his clones and entered sage mode. "This is a form you've never seen before, where I've basically mastered using nature energy. Don't be fooled, though - it's hard stuff to control, and if you don't know how to do it you'll just turn into a stone statue."
"You're bluffing."
"You really think so? Then you're welcome to take some and try to control it, if you want." He held out his hand and continued, "I won't even put up a fight if you do, because it will only make my job easier, and honestly I'll enjoy watching you petrify in the space of about one minute."
Anubis narrowed his eyes and thought about that for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of the situation. It could be an elaborate lie, however if he took him up on his offer and it turned out to be true, he'll have chosen his own demise. He decided the risk was far too great to chance it.
"Fine, I accept your terms. We will fight to the death, and the winner takes all. Neither of us will use elemental jutsu or weapons to attack the other, and I agree to forgo my use of the Blood Release jutsu. Do we have a deal?"
"Deal. But just so you know, I'll be staying in sage mode during the fight because I don't trust you one bit."
Naruto pushed out a massive amount of killing intent as he dropped into his fighting stance, causing everyone in the vicinity of the upcoming fight to tremble under the pressure of it.
Anubis pushed out his own killing intent and dropped into his own fighting stance, however it was immediately apparent to everyone that Naruto was giving out far more killing intent than his opponent, and they hoped it meant that their friend had the advantage.
The two of them circled each other, waiting for someone to make the first move and begin the fight. After a minute, Naruto decided to goad Anubis into throwing the first punch. He casually sniffed the air and said, "Wow, can you smell that? I believe that odor coming from you is fear. Either that, or you've just pissed your pants – it's hard to tell the difference. Care to enlighten me as to which one it is?"
That did it. Anubis bared his teeth and launched himself at Naruto, quickly striking at his chest. Naruto blocked it and spun, landing a blow to the neck of Anubis and throwing him forward. But even though he was off balance, Anubis lashed out with a backwards kick, catching Naruto in his left knee and making him stagger backward, putting some distance between the two of them.
They faced each other again, once more waiting for someone to make the first move. This time, Naruto struck out and caught Anubis with a right cross to his jaw, before following that up with a left uppercut. At the last moment Anubis dodged to his right and punched Naruto in his right side, launching him back several feet.
Anubis swirled his tongue around in his mouth and spit out a molar. "You're stronger than you look, Gabriel. That punch actually caused me to lose one of my teeth. I'll have to remember to replace that with one of yours."
Naruto winced as he smiled. "You're not so bad yourself, Anubis. You might have broken a rib with that last strike. I always knew you were strong, but it's a shame you don't have the brains to go along with your brawn."
"Who needs brains when you have power? Power gains respect. Power garners the favors of beautiful women. Power means money to do anything I want."
"And where do you think you're going to get it? There's no way you can be that delusional, thinking you sit all alone at the top of the food chain."
Anubis smirked and said, "My leader has promised it to me if I follow him, and I know he will deliver on his promise because he cannot be defeated. It has been foreseen that he will rule all of the elemental nations."
"And yet you haven't told me who this 'leader' of yours is, although you did say that it isn't Saladin. You're kidding yourself if you think someone out there can defeat him, though. He didn't get his name by picking it out of a hat – he's the strongest of us for a reason, and I think you and your leader have forgotten that."
"And YOU forget that no one is unassailable – not even Saladin."
Naruto suddenly disappeared from view, before reappearing behind Anubis and launching an elbow at the back of his head. Anubis ducked and let the blow sail over him while smashing his elbow into the chest of Naruto, striking the same side as before and causing him to wince in pain. Naruto suddenly realized that when he told Kurama to stay deep within him, it would slow down his ability to heal quickly and that this fight might end up causing him more damage than he originally thought.
Naruto ran forward and performed a backwards flip so that he faced in the opposite direction, and noticed that Anubis was running right behind him. He immediately stopped and kicked straight up, catching Anubis in the chin and launching him skyward.
Running out of nature energy, Naruto dispelled his second clone while crossing his fingers in front of him and shouting, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Six shadow clones appeared in the air, each kicking Anubis higher into the air as they chanted,
"U…zu...ma...ki...BARRAGE!"
As he shouted the final word, the last clone delivered a devastating overhead axe kick to the head of Anubis, rocketing him back down to earth and embedding his body a foot deep in the ground.
Even though he could have launched a follow-up attack, Naruto cautiously stayed several yards away and waited for Anubis to make the next move. The man was far too dangerous, and he refused to give Anubis any opening that he could possibly exploit.
As Anubis extracted himself from the ground, he stood up and staggered a bit, still woozy from the impact of the attack. "Very impressive, Gabriel. That actually hurt me a bit, but I'm guessing you haven't gone unscathed during our skirmish either. Feeling a little sore yourself?"
"Even if I was, I wouldn't tell you. That would mean that I actually cared about what you had to say." And he launched himself at Anubis again, quickly trading blows with him and trying to get in one powerful, lucky strike.
Naruto caught Anubis with a right cross to his face, leaving himself wide open to the counterattack of a fist to the stomach from Anubis, launching him up in the air a bit. Anubis grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground, thinking he might have stunned his opponent but Naruto threw a kick backwards and hit Anubis in the face, causing him to back away for a second while Naruto regained his footing and put some distance between them.
While he waited for the next attack, Naruto had a nagging feeling that something was off with this fight. Anubis was never one to keep his distance and evaluate his options during a battle, but rather he charged in blindly to overpower and pummel his opponent with his strength and forbidden jutsu. While Naruto had eliminated the chance of him using the Blood Release technique, his overall strategy should have remained the same, so why the sudden change? What could he possibly hope to gain, unless…
It suddenly dawned on him that Anubis was trying to stretch this fight out, giving his chakra time to corrupt and overpower the mind of everyone his followers had injured, bringing them under his control and hopefully sway the outcome of the attack on the village. He needed to end this soon, or else his friends might not make it through the night.
Naruto bit his thumb and pulled out a scroll, jumping into the air and unfurling it. He swiped some blood across the length of it and caused a couple dozen kunai to rain over the battlefield. None of them actually hit Anubis, but stuck at random points in the ground throughout the clearing.
Anubis snorted and said, "I thought we agreed not to use any weapons, Gabriel. Are you planning to break our agreement and attack me with these?"
"No, I'm not breaking our agreement and I don't plan on attacking you with these kunai. If you take a closer look at them, you'll notice they're actually quite special."
Anubis looked at the one closest to him and noticed that it had three prongs and there was a seal carved into the handle.
"Interesting design. What do you hope to accomplish with these?"
Naruto dispersed his last clone, recharging his sage mode before disappearing in a flash of yellow light. He reappeared on the other side of the battlefield and said, "This is what I hope to accomplish." He ran full speed at Anubis, before disappearing again.
And then he suddenly appeared before Anubis, driving his fist into his stomach. Before Anubis had a chance to react to the blow, Naruto reappeared behind him, slamming his fist into his spine and launching him forward. He continued this method of assault, giving Anubis no time to react or perform a counterstrike as he appeared from all sides around Anubis, hammering him with sage enhanced blows, attempting to soften him up for the final attack.
Anubis could do nothing except defend himself, since the attacks were too fast to follow. With his arms crossed in front of his face, he continued to take a beating from every angle, hoping that his opponent would wear himself out soon and leave an opening for him to exploit.
However, that moment never came as Naruto appeared in front of him suddenly and drove a fist directly into his chest, throwing his former Mienai Segi teammate backwards several yards, almost to the edge of the clearing.
Naruto stopped, bringing his hands together and shouted, "NOW, SENSEI!"
Kakashi emerged from the darkness with a Raikiri in his right hand. He ripped the shirt off of the back of Anubis and placed two fingers on either side of the base of his spine, pushing out the maximum amount of power he could manage, just as Naruto had instructed him to do.
The effect was immediate, as Anubis went rigid, unable to move as the electricity from the attack paralyzed him. Everyone watched as his body twitched uncontrollably, as if he were in the thralls of a seizure.
As soon as Kakashi started his attack, Naruto raised his chakra level to the maximum and began running towards Anubis, quickly flashing through hand signs…
Ram, Dragon, Ox, Dragon, Snake, Tiger, Rat, Bird, Monkey, Bird…
Kakashi was tempted at the moment to use his sharingan and copy the technique, but keeping his Raikiri at the maximum level was using every ounce of concentration and chakra he had left. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he struggled to maintain it while he watched Naruto finish the remaining hand signs...
Ox, Ram, Boar, Bird, Horse, Snake, Dog, Dragon, Tiger, Dragon…
At the completion of the last hand sign, he pushed out a tremendous amount of killing intent that made everyone in the vicinity shudder before slamming his palms into the chest of Anubis and shouting, "FORBIDDEN ART: UNSTABLE RESONANCE!"
Kakashi removed his hand from the back of Anubis as jumped back from them fast as he could. Shino and the others watched Naruto from the far side of the clearing, wondering what he was doing to Anubis until Kiba screamed and slapped his hands over his ears.
They all looked at each other, confused at the action until Shikamaru suddenly went pale and yelled out, "Everyone! Get your hands over your ears right now!"
They all obeyed, wondering why he ordered them to do so until a sound began to leak through their fingers, growing louder with each passing second. It was a horrifying, gut wrenching sound that sent shivers down their spine and out to every corner of their body. It was unlike anything they'd ever heard before, but the best comparison would be the sound of metal grinding against metal, mixed with fingernails being raked across a chalkboard.
They watched as the jutsu continued to ravage Anubis, unable to control his body as it flailed about. Whatever was happening to the man seemed to be on another level of pain – not one that simply strikes at an individual part of your body but rather an all-encompassing, crucifying fatality that slowly permeates every part of your being. Helpless against the technique, Anubis couldn't move or scream, only able to stare straight ahead into the eyes of his opponent.
After several seconds, they all noticed that the outline of Anubis began to blur and shimmer. The sound that had been torturing them grew ever louder, clawing at their eardrums – and then unexpectedly, Anubis screamed in unbearable agony before exploding into a cloud of red mist about twenty feet in diameter.
An eerie silence came over the clearing as the crimson fog slowly fell to the ground. Naruto turned around and began to walk back to where his friends were waiting, making it almost three steps before a voice rang out…
"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"
He peered over his shoulder and saw Lady Kamira with a savage look on her face, frothing at the mouth and screaming at him in rage. "Don't think you've escaped my wrath, Gabriel! You might have beaten that worm I hired to kill you, but this isn't over by any means! I'll find and hire someone else, and then I'll attack this village again! Everyone here will suffer and die because of you, and the life of your wife and son WILL be forfeit…"
That was as far as she got before everyone saw a chidori emerge from her chest. Shocked, she stared wide eyed at it for a moment as she tried to draw a breath, before a fountain of blood erupted from her mouth.
A second later her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell forward, revealing Kakashi standing behind her. He deactivated his chidori and looked at Naruto. "No charge for that. And you're welcome." Then he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto turned back around, intending to join his friends but a thought came to mind and he paused for a moment, dragging his boot across a patch of ground that was still covered with the remains of his former Mienai Segi associate. He lifted the bottom and inspected it, nodding in satisfaction before he resumed his walk across the clearing.
His friends stared at him in horror as he approached; their eyes wide as they noticed his clothes and face were soaked in blood, thinking that if death were to take a human form it would look just like their friend coming towards them right now.
They all remained silent, unsure of what to say until Kiba decided to speak. "Naruto, what…what the fuck did you just do to that guy? That sound was the most horrifying thing I've ever heard. And what the hell was that thing you just did with your boot?"
Naruto wiped some of the blood from his face and said, "Well, I promised Anubis at the beginning of this fight that if I killed him, he'd end up as a smear on the bottom of my boot. And everyone knows that I never go back on my promises. Right?"
Dumbfounded, they all nodded at him in agreement.
"And as far as the jutsu I just used on him, I basically just made every cell in his body vibrate at a different frequency. The sound you heard was a side effect from that."
Everyone paled upon hearing the words and their jaws dropped, except for Kiba who said, "What does that have to do with anything?"
Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Shino, Shikamaru – can you explain it to him for me? I'm going home to clean up before heading to the hospital. I don't think it'll be a good idea for me to show up there looking like this." And with those words, he vanished in a flash of yellow light.
Dumbfounded, he looked at Shino and said, "Okay. You wanna tell me what the hell he just did to that guy?"
"Kiba, let me explain this to you in a way you'll understand. You profess to have a better sense of hearing than any one of us here at the present moment, correct?"
He nodded in agreement.
"Have you ever been around a group of people singing in perfect harmony? To a person with such an enhanced sense of hearing, how does that sound?"
"It actually sounds really good." He gave Shino a confused look and asked, "Where are you going with this?"
Shino held up a finger. "Just follow my line of thinking. So if the sound is really good, would you want to stay and continue to listen to it?"
"Sure. Who wouldn't?"
"Okay, now imagine the opposite was true. You were around a group of people, and every one of them was singing off-key and in complete disharmony. What would you do then?"
Kiba raised his eyebrows and said, "Well, I'd want to get as far away from them as fast as I could. Why?"
"Remember what Naruto just said. The jutsu he just used on Anubis made every cell in his body vibrate at a different frequency – like they were all singing out of tune with each other. So using the same analogy, that means…"
Just like everyone else, Kiba turned pale and said, "That every part of his body…ran away from everything else."
Shikamaru nodded. "Naruto just ripped Anubis apart at a cellular level. That's where the sound came from, and that's why he turned into a gigantic could of vapor. There probably isn't enough of him left to soak up with a sponge, and I'd say that his statement about Anubis suffering worse than we could possibly imagine was spot on. I can't think of a more brutal way to kill someone than that."
They all looked at each other, stunned at what they had just witnessed. While the old Naruto that everyone knew wouldn't hurt a fly if he didn't have to, the Naruto everyone saw tonight had no problems killing those who hurt his precious people in ways that would make Ibiki Morino cringe.
Believe it.
A/N: Okay, so I know that everyone was waiting for some explanation regarding Hikaru, and you didn't see anything in this chapter that moved that part of the story forward – but that's because the entire next chapter will be devoted to clearing up that mystery. I know you guys want to see it and I'll push it out as fast as I can, but just don't expect it within a week or so.
I also plan on explaining the whole Mienai Segi thing next chapter – particularly, the names. I'm almost positive I'll get some reviews or PM's that ask about "Gabriel", "Anubis" and "Saladin". There's a reason for all that and you'll find that out because it will be essential for what I plan on writing in future chapters.
I really had a hard time writing this chapter; I must have redone it about a half dozen times because every time I wrote something it just didn't seem to flow correctly. I also didn't want it to be too long, and it still turned out bigger than any other chapter I did which not only shocked me, but also told me how much time and energy I put into this thing. This exhausted me mentally and hopefully I won't have to do this again for awhile. Writing lemon scenes is far easier than this thing was.
Credit where credit is due: Wanted to make sure that credit is given for the idea about using the Raikiri as a taser to paralyze an opponent. That little idea came from the head of fellow author Third Fang, so kudos to him.
Recommendation time! Okay, I wasn't going to give one this chapter but I neglected to do so last time. But I thought a little bit of opposite fun might be good for a change so I'm going to mention a small story called The Ring That Binds by softwinds. It's only six chapters long, but if you'd like to read a short, romantic NaruHina story then check it out. The author is from Malaysia but once again I'm impressed with how well the story is written so give it a read and leave a review if you like it. Hopefully it will help churn out the next chapter, because it was left on a little bit of a cliffhanger and I'd like to see the next one.
Here's the link; just remove the spaces and you know what to replace the stars with:
www . fanfiction . *** / u / 2363385 / softwinds
So what's coming up? Next chapter will be titled "Tell Me Why", and I'm sure you can all figure out what it will be about. A lot will be revealed when it comes out, there will be surprises all around and future plot twists to boot. So please do me a favor and leave a review – I wasn't kidding when I said they help me write, as I sacrificed quite a bit these last few weeks to get this one done but the words of my followers drove me on when writer's block threatened to take me down. So keep it up let's see more of them!
That's all for now. Take care and stay safe.
Serious Sam