Chapter 24: The Wait is Over part 1
Earlier the Sound Four were challenged by their former opponents who killed them, yet they laughed with a grin. Shikamaru and the others tensed with caution, thinking that they planned something. Or they set up a trap.
"I'm afraid that this so-called battle must be forfeit," Sakon uttered, "because I see you, and along with everyone here, are all occupied…with new visitors." Right after he finished his sentence, more giants popped out, circling around the whole alliance. Some cried from shock.
"It is either to save your comrades," he added, "or stay right there to fight us and they all will die. Your choice." Another snake rose out behind the Sound Four, eyeing down at Shikamaru and his friends.
"Shikamaru!" Choji called for his answer while looking up at the snake.
Kiba asked, "What do we do now?" Akamaru was growling with snarl at the reptile ahead.
Neji activated his byakugan and scanned the whole area. He alerted, "They're coming everywhere. This time there're more of them. More than I can count."
Chikuso! Shikamaru thought hard quickly as he glanced sideways, seeing everyone were all parted and surrounded by the reptiles. He saw that Kabuto figured their defenselessness as a weakness.
Temari noticed the inner conflict he was inflicted with. "Shikamaru!" she snapped his senses awake. He nearly gasped from the sudden burst and glanced at her. "We can't stand waiting here! We have to act now!"
He heard her words and wondered his eyes around. The snakes were scattered around by section, separating each group from other group. Reinforcements were breaking apart. The more the separation grows, the lives of all allies will be in danger. It was looking really bad.
Tsk! He bit his lower lip to numb the frustration, This is such a drag! "Let's head out and help the others!" Temari and the others stared at him to see whether he was certain on his decision. "Ike! We'll be losing allies here!"
Without waiting a bit, they all took off. Shikamaru stayed behind for a moment and stole a glance at the Sound Four. He glared at them, which Sakon grinned carelessly, and left to help. We'll be back to you after this. They planned this, but I'm sensing that they are planning something. Though, I can't tell what it is…but I'll find out somehow.
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"Just as we expected from them, Sakon," Ukon said. "They are way too easy." Sakon chuckled with agreement.
"What should we do now?" Jirobo asked while waiting for orders.
"Shall we go after the main targets?" Kidomaru was eagerly itching to throw out arrows at defenseless people. He was excited to see some bloody deaths from his arrows.
"Hmph, I could easily lure her to us." Tayuya scoffed carelessly, but she didn't forget how Sakura outsmarted her music with a soundless trick. "Instead of capturing her, I would rather have my giants to smash her in pieces."
Jirobo called out, "Tayuya, don't go overboard." In return as usual, she snarled angrily, "Urusei, fatso!"
"Not quite yet," Sakon replied. "Kabuto has a new plan in mind. So, our orders for now is to maintain our position until then. Besides, the girl is well guarded by those brothers." He hasn't missed the fact by the power of the Uchiha's Sharingan.
"Let's meet up with Kabuto," he suggested. "The targets will be under our watchful eye for the meantime. Ikuso!" They all teleported to their leader.
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The snakes roared hisses with fangs out and crawled advancing toward the alliance.
One snake crawled fast and opened its jaw to catch a shinobi, but "Ngh!" Sasuke came after shifting his sword leftward, cutting its side head. He proceeded running ahead.
On his right side, Sakura came and leaped up with her swords crossed above behind her head. She killed another snake, coming at her, by roughly slashing its open mouth. Its blood spluttered out in both ways, not one splash on her. She went on sprinting forward.
Itachi also came to her right. He smoothly swirled turning his body rightward, missing another snake trying to catch him with its mouth, and swung his sword around. He impressively cut off its head and kept running.
They went onward running fearlessly with all the allies following them behind.
The allies were feeling afraid with the thoughts of getting caught and eaten by the snakes, and they all wanted to stay following behind the fearless Uchihas. They felt easygoing with them around, but they don't want to be considered cowards or weaklings. With everything they learned from Sakura and Naruto in two separate ways, neither of them wanted it to throw their teachings to waste nor be considered as nothing.
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"Hah!" Yumiko gave a quick slice-up, stabbing one snake underneath its jaw. Next, she swirled her weapon around upward and dropped a down cut on another. She was having no problem with her battles. While she faced more coming at her, she was distracted without realizing one was crawling behind her.
One hissed coming behind her. "Ha!" Suki intervened. She jumped toward it, and she slashed her katana rightward. Its blood spluttered out from the front of its face and dropped dead. She must have given it a deep gash.
Yumiko glanced behind and saw Suki who saved her. Suki glanced back and they gave each other a smile with sharp eye. That was the first start for mother- and daughter-in-law to bond.
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Hanzo and Takahiro teamed together. They could attack the snakes in close range; on the other hand, the samurais were able to attack from far range for their chakra flow. On the other hand, the samurais remained assisting them since they had comparable sword skills as them. Fugaku tagged along to help them.
"Abunai!" Fugaku saw a snake coming behind Hanzo and Takahiro. So, he quickly did handsigns, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He blew a big fireball, which Hanzo and Takahiro jumped away to both directions, and it hit the snake's face. The flames managed to get its eyes which made it cry hissing in pain. It swung its head around, trying to remove the burning heat off its eyes.
"We got this!" Takahiro jumped toward it on the right with his sword. Hanzo went after to assist his father. Together they advanced their swords up and chopped the snake's head off crossway. There it dropped dead. They landed back down, looking out the area.
Fugaku joined with them, watching each other's backs. "That was close," he commented. "My sharingan is still as stable as it has been while I was alive. It hasn't changed since the Third War."
"That's good to know." Hanzo looked outward and commented, "I owe you one, Fugaku. Afterall, you're still a big brother to me." Fugaku was pleased to hear that.
Without looking away, Takahiro began to feel a difference toward Fugaku. For the first time, he foresaw the contrary of an Uchiha than he first thought of them from that day he met Madara. The lineage between Fugaku and Madara was irreconcilable with such distinctions of their traits.
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While Fugaku and the Haruno family were combating in their battles, Mikoto stayed protectively close to her youngest grandson. Ryosuke was still too young to fight in combat with a little taijutsu and barely mastered the fire jutsu. His sharingan has not awakened, yet he could assist to attack with some shurikenjutsu. Between grandmother and grandson, they were devoted protecting each other.
Kushina remained guarding them inside a barrier. She erected a barrier strong enough to prevent any snakes from entering the perimeter, also not letting anyone to leave out of it. The barrier was strong, but it was unclear the stability for withstanding the attacking strength of multiple snakes.
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Furthermore, Daisuke and Shina stood together, along with their teammates. They had their sharingan on and watched every movement of the snakes coming at them. They blew fireball jutsu at one snake, which got syringed a bit, but they both hit its head hard with chakra-enhanced fist. The reptile was thrown back and out cold. Such techniques they learned from their parents.
"The element of surprise with fire and taijutsu," he laughed. "That's nothing new from us. I say that I did better than you."
"Urusei!" she scoffed at her brother's joke, "Besides, this technique is kaasan's favorite. I know otosan and oji-san like it." He grinned with agreement.
Then, he sensed another snake heading behind some allies. "I'm heading out!" he told his sister and took off. He ran so fast and shouted, "Abunai!" The allies heard him and turned around. They screamed when they saw the snake close to them.
Before it could attack them, Daisuke appeared in front of it. "I don't think so!" he threw another punch at it, but he channeled lightning jutsu into his hand. "Chidori!" he hit the snake at the front and electrocuted throughout its whole body. For giving internal damage, it dropped lifelessly.
The allies thanked him for saving them. He nodded, afterward taking off.
On the other hand, Shina dashed to the left and encountered another snake. It snarled and thrusted toward her. With her sharingan, she jumped up, missing its attack. So, it crashed its nose hard on the ground. She next enhanced her chakra in her fists and feet.
After she provoked the snake into attacking her, she took the chance to counter it and, in turn, threw a combo of kicks on its head. As she went for her final blow, she inevitably slammed her fist, slamming it back to the ground. She cracked its skull pretty hard, but she beat it down in a less than two minutes.
She used the same technique her father trained her with taijutsu, using rapid combo attacks.
The twins really trained well by their parents.
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Kai was managing well since he was a taijutsu expert, although he was still training to master more. He ran at full speed, throwing numerous blows at his opponent. The snake hissed and thrusted its mouth open toward; instead it crushed on the ground. Its nose bled, yet it wasn't hurt enough after that hard land. It looked around for Kai, but there was no sign of him.
Suddenly, it got hit on the side of its face. There he appeared in a swift move; he held a satisfied grin. Before the snake could move, he reacted and ran so fast, like he disappeared again. It had a difficult time to follow his movements, yet he continually struck it from multiple directions, pummeling it. It was unable to react fast enough to escape from him.
He lastly created multiple clones, and they all dashed toward the snake. The reptile screeched, going toward them, to find the real one. When it made contact to the clones, each clone reverted to its natural lightning-state, so at the same time the snake became electrocuted. Its whole body was numbly stunned and dropped stiff.
He landed on his ground after a fast but hard land, with his back facing at the down snake. "Hmph!" he smirked, feeling impressed with himself. That was easy. He then looked out and saw more snakes, feeling more ready than ever. He took off to fight more.
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Hana was feeling anxious with the surroundings, but she felt a little at ease with her friends around. Mori was beside her, so she wouldn't fight alone. They fought together, using their specialty.
First, Hana used earth jutsu to bind the snake. It took a lot of her to use her chakra, and she expanded the size of the binding. She was struggling to hold it longer since she was still in training for her chakra control.
Mori hurried to help her, so he jumped up and created handsigns. When he was above the snake, he spit out slime balls at the reptile. It got some slimes on its body, and the slime balls increased sizes like balloons. It struggled to move away, but it was stuck in place.
As the slime completely covered the whole snake, it stopped moving. They thought it suffocated inside. Until it started to move again, it moved harder. "I got it!" they heard Daisuke and saw him with a chidori in his right hand. He electrocuted the slimy cocoon; later it dropped motionlessly.
"Duck!" They next heard Shina. She popped out and blew fireball jutsu above them. They took cover, missing the fire, and a snake cried in pain from the burning. She landed and asked, "Daijoudesuka?"
"Hai, you saved us!" they stood up and thanked them, "Arigatou." Hana was happy to see them.
"Always here to help friends," Shina said, and Daisuke agreed. "Let's hurry up and take care of the rest of them." They agreed and went to fight more.
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Both Kakashi- and Gai-sensei Kakashi- and Gai-sensei both attacked their reptile with Dynamic Entry.
Gai-sensei opened the Eighth Gate, "Here I come, Kakashi!" Kakashi-sensei revealed his sharingan, and they both simultaneously sent out a giant-sized Lightning Hound and Hirudora. Both techniques enveloped, combining form of a wolf tiger, and it bit both snakes, resulting in an explosion (Eternal Rival).
They both landed back and looked at their destruction. Both snakes ended down lifelessly. Kakashi-sensei was relieved that he made it out alive. In contrast, Gai-sensei reacted with a cheer of thrill, "That is truly a combination of our heated friendship, Kakashi!"
Kakashi-sensei sighed with embarrassment, but he felt grateful for having Gai-sensei as a friend. I guess doing all those rivals' contests wasn't such a waste of time after all, Gai. By matching old movements with Gai-sensei's, he was able to see the enemies' without using his sharingan. That was something new he never thought before.
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The Hyuga Clan were managing against the snakes with no problem. With their byakugan, they can easily their movements around their surroundings. When the snakes thrusted toward them, the Hyugas deflected them and used the Gentle Fist, cutting them. They also aimed their Air Palm inside the snakes' mouths down through the throat which the vacuum shell suffocated them from respiratory blockage.
Hiashi and Hanabi watched each other's back with their byakugan activated. They leaped forward and did their clan's secret taijutsu, Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation. They rapidly spun around, repelling their shield attack away. Normally at a short range, Hiashi increased the range of the chakra shield and repelled about four snakes several feet away.
Neji joined in and tagged with Hinata. With two Gentle Fists, they sent a powerful wave of compressed chakra from their palms simultaneously. Their new technique they both trained together (during their chuunin and jounin times) was called Eight Trigrams Air Palm Wall which a great force hit one group of snakes. Therefore, the chakra released from their palms targeted the snakes' vitals, also knocking them back with concussive force.
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Hizashi and Hikari stood behind each other's backs. They activated their byakugan, and they fought together against three snakes. They used Gentle Fist to hit their pressure points so that the snakes would inflict internal damage.
Once, they threw a quick, precise thrust of their palm to the snake's body which sent chakra into the struck area to either stun them (Palm Bottom). For using sufficient chakra, Hizashi cause severe internal damage to the snake's internal organs.
"I'm going ahead! You take the other side!" He looked through the snake's chakra network, "Eight Trigrams: Style Three Hundred Sixty-One!" He struck all 361 chakra points of the snake's whole body, paralyzing them at each blow, and it instantly killed it after the final hit.
She scoffed at her brother's showoff with no impression; however, she wanted to show him back with her skills. I'm gonna show him, she pulled her unsealing jutsu scroll.When she turned away, she already had a snake in front of her. She reacted quickly before it could attack.
She threw five spiked iron balls at the snake, so the spikes bruised it really much with bleeding cuts. She next jumped and unrolled her giant scroll around the air. She summoned a giant spiked iron ball, connected by wire strings to her hand, and then she threw it down, slamming on the reptile.
"Heh!" she smirked. "That was my good jutsu." She twirled around, opening the scroll and releasing out exploding sphere. The blasting bombs exploded after making contact to other snakes, sending kunai and fragments of the sphere flying out as shrapnel. She saved more comrades for not noticing other snakes coming behind them.
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Haru stayed protectively beside with China. He longed for a battle to fight a tough challenge, so he has found it. "Here I go!" he first created three shadow clones to assist him. They kicked under one snake's chin, throwing its head up, while yelling, "U-ZU-MA-KI!" Then, one thousand Harus threw punches from every direction with their, combined, two thousand fists, "HA-RU!"
Hence the name, "Haru Uzumaki 2K" the punches were so numerous that targets have no chance to escape. Finally, two Harus joined to deliver the final blow: a simultaneous punch from the left and right, "Barrage!" Therefore, the snake was knocked out cold. He overdid it with such hard force.
On the other hand, China wasn't doing pretty well…emotionally that was. She was feeling afraid to fight something big. Yet she was feeling safe with her brother close by, she feared that he will have to leave her. She quivered under her breath, "I can't…I…I'm…scared…." She was starting to cry.
"China!" she heard her bother call her. When she looked up, there was a snake in front of her. She screamed and fell back; its eyes paralyzed her. She couldn't move or blink. It snarled its fangs out and dived to eat her. "Rasengan!" she saw her brother save her and hit the snake away with wind jutsu.
"Haru!" she cried, and he helped her up. He turned back around and saw more snakes coming at them. Before he could leave her, he encouraged her to fight and to never hold back. "You can do it, China. You're stronger than you think. Remember what you trained!" Right after that, he sprinted to fight another.
"Matte!" she was left alone now, without her brother. She slowly stood up and wandered herself in a daze. She saw her family and friends fighting in combat fearlessly. She was the opposite out of all of them. I'm useless. She started to cry.
"You can do it!" she heard her brother and glanced at him. He was fighting another but a pair of snakes. "You got this!" he shouted encouragement without looking away from his battles. "You can fight!" She slowly gasped and glanced away. She looked ahead and closed her eyes, breathing heavily and slowly.
She visualized herself while she was training with her mother and brother. She remembered how calm she was, practicing the Hyuga techniques from her mother and taijutsu with her brother. She then slowly toughened herself and opened her eyes with fierce, I won't let my mother's training go to waste. I won't let all my training be for nothing! Five snakes came mowing at her.
She focused her chakra and activated her byakugan, "Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" She emitted a constant stream of chakra from her palms, which were formed into extremely thin, sharp, flexible blades, allowing her to offensively hit the snakes with extreme precision. For effect, she even gave them quick cuts; if they stayed longer, they would have been cut in pieces.
In defense, she created much larger, stronger, more flexible, arc-shaped chakra blades that spread out across her entire attack range, effectively forming a barricade between herself and other snakes. I did it. I can do it!
Haru saw his sister fighting back. She wasn't holding back anymore. China, he smiled proudly, I knew you had it in you. He has always believed in her, never doubted her once.
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Tsunade-sama was having no problems in her battle; therefore, she easily defeated them all. With her tremendous strength, she enhanced her chakra into her fists and gave every snake coming at her a bone-cracking punch which knocked them cold. To lessen the tracking of the underground snakes, she hit the earth with her Heaven Kick to pop them out of hiding. That gave the alliance a fair advantage.
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A and Killerbee crossed their arms, infusing with lightning jutsu, and rammed their snake, "Cross Lariat!" The snake was thrown back by the strong force. A successful strike did blow off some skin, like a second-degree burn, but it did not kill them right away.
They next grabbed ahold of the reptile. Killerbee held the tail as A grabbed a choke hold around the neck with his legs. A lifted himself up, "Sync with me, Bee!" His back touched with Killerbee as they clung their one arm and the other held onto the snake on both sides.
They lifted the snake high up into the air. Then, using with extreme strength, "Liger Two Platoons Bomb!" they they then slammed onto the ground in a lightning bomb. More like a powerbomb manoeuvre devastating enough to shatter a large area of the ground itself on impact. Furthermore, the snake was electrocuted burn dead.
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Darui easily slit several snakes that aimed to hit him with his Cleaver Sword. Later, he spat a stream of water from his mouth at the ground, which circulated around them and rose upward, and created a wall. The water wall defended him and other comrades within the perimeter from the snakes' attacks. With the wall's strength, it was being determined by how much of chakra he put into it. He mixed lightning into it, instantly electrocuting the snakes caught in it.
He also had his bodyguard, watching his back. C sensed many snakes rotating around, but he figured a quick way on how to take them all down. Since there were other Kumo-nins close by, he called out for their assistance to create a diversion. They heard and agreed to help, so they waited for his order. He instructed handsigns and created an illusion. They discharged electricity through their entire body in the form of an extremely bright light to disorientate the snakes' vision. Therefore, images appeared in the snakes' mind which made them to stop moving and cry out, like the Gedo Statue moved and grabbed them. He gave an order of direct attack, so the allies fired with Lightning Style.
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Omoi and Karui teamed up since they were old teammates, and they do lightning style. Although they have proficient skills in kenjutsu, they don't have their swords since the day Sakura and Madara fought. Without their swords, they can use Lightning Style in taijutsu. They lastly were able to collaborate effectively together in battle, using fluent attack patterns without communication.
Omoi extended both his arms and released a high discharge through both his palms. He targeted multiple snakes simultaneously and electrocuted them all. They all were seriously burned and died on the spot. Furthermore, he assisted Water Style allies; they fired Water Gun Jutsu so that water conducted the electricity. As a result, he saved more lives.
Karui capably fought through with no problem; she threw hard fist punches at every snake coming at her, funneling with lightning. She was somewhat a negative and angry-looking woman, but she had learned to soften while with her family. She was still combative and impulsive when it comes to fighting.
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Mei stood out, flicking her long hair, and looked around. She smirked, "My, poor creatures, but they must…" and caressed her lower lip. She blew Solid Fog Jutsu and the snakes cried in agony. Their skins melted, more throughout the whole body.
Chojuro wielded his Hiramekarei sword, watching Mei's and defending other allies. He created a large amount of light-blue chakra needles from his blade and sent them out flying ahead toward about three snakes. Once they got impaled, the needles disrupted their chakra pathway system which then lead them all slowly dying (Bone Mutilation).
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Kurotsuchi performed Falling Earth Spears, aiming stones from the ground and shaping them into spikes in order to skewer the snakes. Most snakes managed to avoid them due to their flexible body, but they have received some scrapes. Without stopping, she used another earth jutsu she learned some time ago. She quickly spewed out a thick cloud of ash from her mouth, wrapping around and restraining them. She lastly focused maintaining her chakra in binding so that the snakes won't slip through.
Akatsuchi earlier summoned a stone golem, which possessed an ample amount of brute strength, so it would be able to bite and tear through a snake. It also served as additional support or as a shield. He even did a new jutsu (Reverse Antlion) that condensed nearby earth around a snake, shifting it around their middle bodies, to immobilize and trap them. He gave a helping hand to other allies.
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Shikamaru possessed the shadows on each snake he encountered around him. He changed the shape of their shadows into several sharp needles and controlled each separately. He used the shadow to attack simultaneously, and at the same time he snatched away their mobility by sewing them. He lastly stuck with the shadow threads.
Akira was helping the Nara Clan in combat against the snakes. They used shadow jutsu to restrain the snakes' movements, so she used her wind chakra into her blade (Flying Swallow) and ran throwing flying slashes. She was still in training to master the Shadow Possession Jutsu under her father, so she was not quite there yet. It will take her time to learn it.
Temari teamed with three other tessenjutsu users as a leader, so she gave order to do the Cyclone Scythe Jutsu. They waved their Giant Fan and created many wind currents to collide with each other, creating vacuum pockets. As the winds moved outward, they cut up when the snakes came in contact in their range and deflected attacks coming towards themselves and other allies. When one snake came quick and very close, she gave a quick attack; she used Wind Blade Jutsu, giving it a deep bloody cut at its face.
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After gathering a large amount of sand in his gourd, Gaara formed a replica of Shukaku's arms to grab each snake and crush them. He rapidly fired sand bullets at the others snakes in one swift motion to save allies from getting bitten or eaten. He also manipulated the sand flat on the earth, underneath where people stepping on ground, and cracked the earth open. He next used his sand to pull the snakes up to two hundred metres underground. While they were dragged down so quickly, they could not escape. He even added pressure with the sand, crushing them to death. He did it all too well.
Kankuro replaced his Sasori puppet to summon his two other puppets—Karasu and Kuroari. He spun them both at high speed around one snake going past him. He first sent Karasu ahead and launched poison gas bombs in front of the snake, surrounding him in the dark cloud. Then he moved both puppets and fired a barrage of senbon from their arms at the blinded reptile. The senbon hit several vital points and cried dying.
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Sai drew a flying bird he rode on, so he could send out ink animals. To help allies, he drew ink birds and tagged with a chain of explosion to bombard the snakes. He managed to prevent some comrades getting jabbed or killed, except the reptiles got injured with exploded burns. He also created his two humanoids, possessing great strength, and sent them off to fight.
In addition, he had his son, assisting with him. Shin also drew himself a flying ink bird; although the bird wasn't nearly the same as his father's. He was still in training to master art jutsu under his father's guidance.
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Ino was on a close range beside where Sai and Shin were fighting. She skated with chakra in her feet toward one snake in front, and purple flower petals were surrounding her. She then leaped into the air, jumps at the reptile and twirled gracefully. The petals confused to the snake, as if it saw the leaves as flying bees. At that moment, she delivered a chakra-enhanced kick across its face.
The snake roared from the kick and received a red bruise. She landed back on ground, and it growled in anger. However, she didn't react scared or wanted to run away. If she was young as a genin, she would run for her life.
"I still have it in me," she smirked and pulled out two purple flower bouquets, "but I am not done yet." She then twirled elegantly around in the air and threw a barrage of poisonous purple flowers at the snake. The flowers exploded upon impact, releasing a shower of poisonous mist and purple petals.
"Heh!" she watched the snake suffocated from her deadly flower mist. She landed back with her back turned at the dead snake. I made it on my own, she fought her own battle without any help. She glanced back for a while, feeling it differently.
Like Sakura, she can fight by herself. Ino wondered how she overcome it or how long she has been doing it. Did she learn it after Sasuke left the village, or was it after her parents died? She had no idea; she would admit that Sakura was much more matured than she was before.
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Choji used Super Expansion Jutsu, taller and bigger than the size of the snakes. He funneled chakra into his hands which special markings appeared in his palms. The weight and power of the hands were greatly increased because of the larger size, the muscles were activated with concentrated chakra, and the thickness was also increased. So, he slammed both his palms like iron hammers, causing extensive crushing damage on three snakes he hit.
Chocho wrestled with two snakes by using Partial Expansion Jutsu. She enlarged her arms and threw punches at them. They would crawl back to avoid more damages, but she wouldn't let them escape. So, she smashed the ground with her right fist, causing debris to fly up into the air. She then jumped into the air and swung her fist into the debris, sending them flying towards the snakes.
Both father and daughter make quite the unbeatable duo.
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Tenten assisted in the battle, next to Shizune. She jumped and tossed her large scroll across the air above. "Doke!" she shouted so that the allies would hear her. They all heard and looked up, seeing her and the scroll. Without asking, they all knew what she specialized in and realized what she was going to do. Therefore, they jumped out of range from the scroll.
She then summoned dozens of different weapons, raining down, and impaled them in an immediate vicinity. All the weapons moved so fast that they appeared like white streaks. Since the attack hit a large area, the snakes did manage to move quick enough to evade some. They have gotten stabbed by some knives on the skin, but it didn't kill them right away. It indeed hurt them and slowed their movements.
Shizune converted chakra in her body into a special chemical, and she then exhaled from the mouth. When the chemical encountered the air, it turned into a dark poisonous cloud. The dark cloud covered around the snakes which they were curious what the purple mist was. When they breathed in a small amount of, they died in an immediate death.
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"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba and Akamaru rotated together, delivering rapid blows to every snake they pass through. They made it back to save some comrades before the snakes snapped fangs and wagged their tails on killing lives.
When they finished for a moment, "Hah, this feels like the old times, right, Akamaru?" Kiba was feeling energetic with such pride in his battle. Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Let's make our new move, Akamaru!" Kiba summoned a clone and Akamaru agreed again. They joined with the clone and fused into a gigantic, three-headed wolf. They curled into a ball and rolled at a ferocious speed, "Tail Chasing Rotating Fang!" They raced toward the snakes and rent them apart with ease.
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The Aburame Clan calmly fought the reptiles with Beetle Sphere. They sent their kikaichū beetles to spread over a wide range, like a shadow blanket. The moment they scattered around the snakes, the insects gathered at once, forming a sphere around them. They then attached themselves to the snakes' body and began eating away their chakra. Some snakes managed to slip away, but the beetles followed them.
Shino jumped up, avoiding a violent lunge, and threw a light punch on its front head. Just one punch seemed weird, ineffective. However, he had beetle crawling down his fist, and it entered the skin of the snake. He made a small grin, "Parasitic Gigantic Beetle Infestation!"
The insect immediately burrowed into the snake's body, which it screeched in cry, and began to devour its flesh and chakra. As a result, the insect multiply while inside and grew rapidly in size. The snake's body was completely eaten away from the inside out, so it stayed stiff as a dead statue.
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Rock Lee unleashed the Inner Gates and ran in his running speed. One snake thrusted toward him, but he easily avoided it. He jumped high into the air and moved his upper body downward. He started spinning himself in good speed. "One-Man Primary Lotus!" He created strong winds around him and dived down toward the snake. He struck its body deeply down with hard force, and it instantly died.
Jai also unleased the Inner Gates and cried with cheer, "WHOO! I can finally move!" He sped out, continually striking as many snakes as he can hit from multiple directions. He pummeled them so hard into the air, which the snakes had their fangs fell out, and some of their skins were cut bruised.
"Jai!" Rock Lee called out his loyal partner, "Sync with me, son!" He developed a teamwork idea that he could do together with his son. Like an effort of father and son, he ideally had with himself and Gai-sensei.
"Hai, tou-chan!" Jai Lee answered. This time! This time for sure, I will protect Shina-chan with my powerful speed! (Like his father in every way.) He also was fueled with itchiness to throw combo attacks. He even wanted to impress his love crush with his 'cool' taijutsu. (What a sweat-drop.)
"Leaf's Combo Attack!" they leaped and struck the snakes rapidly with triple leaf kicks (Leaf Gale, Leaf Whirlwind, and Leaf Rising Wind). Afterwards, they sprinted across and threw more attacks with taijutsu.
(~~~~~~)
Karin sprayed a massive amount of pink perfume, which gave a low to medium damage, while poisoning an enemy in the process. Besides poisoning the snake, it also lowered the reptile's speed and defense. The chemical gave sensitive fragrance to the snake's nasal and itching stings in the eyes.
While the snake wobbled around, Suigetsu liquefied his right arm and gave the struggling snake a hard punch at its side head. With superhuman strength, he really knocked the reptile out cold. Maybe he cracked its skull broken? Another snake came behind him, he sighed annoyingly and swung his blade rightward, too fast to see. It bled out from the deep gash and dropped lifelessly.
"Heh, too easy," he did not only have human strength. His water transformation also gave him speed; thus, he used the element of surprise. Something differently, he came up from a basic idea of the Mist's Silent Killing without using mist. He was thinking like Sakura who trains and performs new techniques.
Karin, in sensory mode at every second, sensed all around her and snakes were everywhere. It was making her hard to locate and close to disorient. Aimi was close defending her mother. Like one of her father's water jutsu, she made two finger guns with both her hands and (through the Water Transformation Jutsu) compressed a drop of water in the index fingers. She fired two water shots with tremendous force and speed. It was powerful enough to pierce through a snake's skull.
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Jugo transformed in his Sage Transformation; his entire skin turned dark and his sclera turned black. He also gained a black stripe running from the middle of his forehead and down the bridge of his nose. He grew six jet-booster on his back (three on both sides), fuming with natural energy.
This transformation gave him fair advantage to fight against enemies. Against the snakes, he was able to react and take a hit from them. He can sustain the injury he received, but he managed to retaliate almost immediately with ease. He used his arms to shield himself from hard attacks.
He attacked back by growing out his jet boosters. They extended like appendages, pointing out, so he then gathered natural energy. He finally released a powerful chakra blast at a wider range. He hit multiple snakes which that the blast was too fast for them to avoid.
No one had to worry about this bloodthirsty killing of his Curse Mark since he was distracted by all the snakes. Therefore, he will eventually regain his senses after using the power of Curse Mark to its limit. He will be alright, hopefully both physically and mentally.
.
.
(~~~~~~)
While the comrades were hard-pressed in their battles, Naruto caught up with his three friends ahead. Still in Chakra Mode, he used a chakra arm to form six rasengan above him. He then added more arms to hold all the rasengans and extended the arms up forward, hitting multiple snakes simultaneously. It gave such explosions where the snakes died, carving a huge crater on ground.
"Nice!" Sakura smirked, "I could use a clear path, Naruto." He gave a quick laugh, and they went off running ahead. Sasuke and Itachi followed close by, behind.
As they were running, from both sides popped out two big snakes from the earth. The allies screamed by surprise and were thrown back from the burst impact. Sakura and Naruto were hit by both sides, which they collided with a bump, but they got separated from Sasuke and Itachi.
"Sakura!" Sasuke cried out for her. She heard him calling and turned to him. They were far apart after they were close together. Two snakes only popped out on both sides, only to separate them.
Chikusho! She pondered, thinking what Kabuto was plotting now. She glanced around the extent and noticed the instance of the whole snake attacks. He was trying to separate every group by group, each ally from another, away from her and Naruto. So, it would easier for him to capture his targets. So, that was it.
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Before she could run to Sasuke, Naruto alerted her, "They're coming at us!" She quickly paused to look up and saw the snake with their jaws open, coming at them. She had no choice but to fight those snakes.
They both jumped toward them, which made the snakes to open their mouths to catch them, but they both twirled around, giving the two snakes hard kick on the side.
Naruto, while on Chakra Mode, delivered a fast combo of punches and kicks at the snake's face (Tailed Beast Flare). He flew backwards as he created a rasengan with chakra arms.
In comparison, Sakura, fuming her fists and feet with chakra, threw a couple of hard punches at the snake's face. Then she gave one stomp kick on its head, and rising kicks repeatedly at its face. As she flew back, she created tokkan.
As they were read to throw their jutsu, they waved their arm backward so that both jutsu would encounter each other, sharing power. They then thrusted toward own snake and hit them. Both snakes were beaten hard. Afterwards, Sakura and Naruto pushed themselves away and landed back on ground, not done yet.
"Rasengan!" he formed another wind jutsu as she formed tokkan down her hand. Therefore, the wind jutsu created a windy twister which the red lightning circulated within. Some snakes tried to get to them, but they only get stunned by electric sparks. That made them move back.
She raised her left hand up with red lightning jolting on, "How about I give you a little powerup?"
He grinned, "Heh! I like what you're thinking!" They both combined their jutsu into the sphere which increased power level with spiral rapids inside. It also created a powerful, exploding hurricane.
'Wind and Lightning Style: Hurricane Lightning!' they grinned with their new nature transformation. 'A new jutsu with our power.' They were ready to aim.
"Ikuso, Naruto!" She exclaimed. "Let's do it, Sakura-chan!" he said as they engaged running toward a snake group. They cried roar as they hit one, and the lightning ball expanded size into an explosive black dome. Therefore, more snakes got contact by the jutsu and died.
They have decreased a small number of them, yet more were still coming.
She quickly first thought of a plan. "Allow me!" Turning around, she pulled out and waved her handfans, sending a large gust and picking up all the snakes from the allies. She controlled the wind currents and trapped them inside a twisting dome. She lifted the dome into the air and turned back around, colliding them with another.
Nice, Sakura-chan! He thought and assisted along. "Hmph!" she smirked and flapped her handfans closed before strapping them on her belt. Before for their final attack, everyone was amazed how Sakura saved them all again and watched to see what they will do next.
"Sync with me!" he said. She replied, "Always!" They joined hands, and he transferred his chakra into her. Along with her power, they both felt their strength grow. It was flowing.
They took off into the air into the form of a fire-flaming tailed bird where he made a rasengan and she held the wind jutsu within the jaw. The flaming bird screeched as it flew toward the snakes. They hit the snakes and detonated in a giant red dome explosion. Lastly, he retreated away from the blast with her and deactivated his Chakra Mode.
They both were safely back a few meters away from the blast. For now, they were safe. They let go and glanced back with a grin, Rasen Fire Flaming Phoenix! They turned to each other and bumped fists, like brother-in-arms would do in the battlefield.
(~~~~~~)
Hanzo watched the whole teamwork both Sakura and Naruto fought out together. It took them back from the time when they fought in the last shinobi war. He recalled how he and Minato fought enemies together like real blood brothers with great unity. He thought about his old memory with the feeling of sadness, Minato, both our children are just like us in every way. Just like our old times.
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In comparison, Kakashi-sensei watched his old students did the fist-bump made him to see the real souls of his old sensei and senpai. It sent him back to the last shinobi war when he was a young jounin. He remembered seeing his sensei and senpai appeared in the battlefield, wielding their weapons, and fought off many enemies with great abilities. Then, after his sensei ended the war with Hanzo's aid, he saw them with no minor injuries but were smiling with reassurance of no more endangerment. He lastly watched them did a fist-bump.
From that memory to this made him grow happy tears. They're both a lot like you, Minato-sensei, Hanzo-senpai, he glanced to the left (Minato) and the right (Hanzo). He smiled under his mask and pulled his headband down, covering his sharingan.
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Yamato-taichou was also impressed with his students. The very part he recalled back on the first day Team Yamato met. He had seen many times Naruto and Sakura always watch each other's back in every battle they encountered an enemy. They even protected all their friends from any harm. They have such an amiable teamwork.
They never changed their Ninja Way, he couldn't have been prouder than he already was.
(~~~~~~)
"Sakura!" Sasuke and Itachi were coming to them. She smiled that they were safe for now. "Sasuke-kun! Onii-san!" she called back and went to them. Naruto followed her behind.
! Suddenly, she sensed something. "Matte!" she instantly halted her pace and held out her right hand, telling them to stop. They all heard and immediately stopped moving. She stopped Naruto, extending her left arm up in front of him.
"Nande, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. He caught standing still and glanced at her. He noticed her staring blankly, but he caught caution in her eyes. She sensed danger, and she was moving her eyes to pinpoint something.
To help her out, he reactivated his Chakra Mode and started sensing. He caught the feeling, and something was out there. It was different, something really odd. He wasn't so sure, nor could he guess what it was. "What do you think it is?" he asked her.
She shook her head while still looking, "I can't tell." She was also unclear about this feeling. "I can sense it moving, but it's not a snake. "It's something that is not…" she paused but couldn't say.
"It must be Kabuto," he guessed with uncertainty. She answered, "It could be, or maybe…" They were both unsure on what to think.
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Sasuke and Itachi were wondering what was happening now. They noticed how agitated Sakura was, yet they wanted to know what she was sensing or, either, feeling. Without taking a thought, they activated their sharingan and started scanning the areas. Thus, they caught the feeling and had the same question as Sakura.
Like them, everyone took guard with caution on what was coming. They all held out their weapon and looked around. The Hyuga Clan activated their byakugan and searched around underground. Karin and Ino tried to sense the inkling, but it felt so faint and impossible to track.
In contrast, Hanzo and Takahiro both were able to feel it since they and Sakura shared the same ability to sense something deeper than any other sensor can. It was a living black, and it was moving so fluently in seconds. They also believed that it was evil. Possibly?
.
While they were watching with anticipation, the suspense was growing. Suddenly Sakura caught a pinpoint, it was moving sideways, back and forth. Over and over again. Until she sensed coming beneath her, she quickly pushed Naruto hard and jumped away. The earth exploded which startled everyone.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out where he was tossed. He saw her safe and away from the blasted area. "Daijobudesuka?" he was stunned but worried at the same time after that blast.
"Hai! Just keep a lookout!" She told him before pulling out a sai blade in her right hand and stabbed the ground. She next grabbed the left side of the ground with her hand. Touching for contact with the earth she would be able to sense the beneath.
"You heard her!" he sent out word for alert. "Watch out what's beneath all of you!" Everyone followed and went turning and glancing every side of them. With sensors close, they could alert them and escape.
(~~~~~~)
However, Hanzo had a different idea in mind. He called out, "Ino! I'm going to need your help here!" She heard and hurried to him. "Use your transmission jutsu on me and my father. We can track this vague threat, so we can alert the others to avoid its attack."
"Hai!" she immediately established a contact on behind Hanzo's and his father's head. She multiplied the connection to each ally, so they were able to communicate at once. "You can speak to them now!"
"Arigatou!" Hanzo thanked her and started, "Minna, listen up!" Everyone paused in place with surprise.
"Hanzo-senpai!" Kakashi-sensei was stunned to hear him in his thoughts. All the Konoha comrades were, as well.
"My father and I are able to sense this vague presence," Hanzo informed. "While we keep tracking it, I'll inform on the left and my father will do the right. You'll have your chances from us detecting it, so you could attack it without any causality."
Everyone instantly understood him. "Hai!" and "Wakatta!" they answered. They all took guard while they wait for the Haruno leaders to inform their detection.
"Hanzo!" Fugaku came to them. "I'll stay by as backup, just in case this threat attacks you around here." Hanzo accepted his helping hand.
Also, the chuunins came to assist as a third helping hand. "We're still with you, ojii-san!" Daisuke and Shina gathered around. Hanzo really admired his grandchildren standing along with him.
Next, Kushina and Mikoto came with Ryosuke. Kushina used half of her chakra for holding the barrier with the chakra chains; therefore, she can't make another for that her remaining chakra will reach its limit. Instead, they stayed close behind Hanzo and Takahiro as Fugaku stood behind them.
"Hanzo!" Suki lastly arrived with Yumiko. "We'll be in front. And we can move fast enough to assist with the rest." While the chuunins will be guarding him, she will be defending with them.
Hanzo was breathtaking to see his wife and mother fighting together as one. For a long time, he wanted to have that life where his parents get acquainted with Suki when they started dating. Even though it was only for today and will be the last, he would be happy for having the chance before the reanimated jutsu will end.
Returning the reality, he answered, "Wakatta! Just be careful out there!" Suki reassured him that neither she nor his mother will be harmed since they were already dead. He shrugged her usual humor and returned sensing with his father.
They touched the ground with their finger while being connected telepathically. Hanzo had an intense feeling about this strange aura, like it was another coming after his daughter. Sakura… he didn't want to think that it was possible, yet he refused to let his worries cloud his mind. He doesn't doubt in his daughter, for he noticed how stronger she became after so long. For sure, she will survive out there.
(~~~~~~)
Meanwhile, Sakura was tracking the new whereabouts of the strange malice. It was moving again; therefore, it must be changing after laying each attack. It was playing tricks in a way, yet something didn't seem right. What was it doing? So, she focused again and stayed a moment to follow its trail.
Each moment it flowed around, back and forth, and it wasn't hurting anyone yet. It was not targeting anyone, so it was just passing underneath. It was like it was seeking a path of a certain person. Then, she caught the presence coming closer. It was following…her. It was coming toward her. The certain person was her. The main target.
Tsk! Kabuto! As it stopped underneath her, she jumped away in time and the ground exploded. She jumped away and explode again. Her theory confirmed—it was attacking her to drive from her friends. Another tactic of his to capture her solely. He's not giving up...again.
She ran and jumped again. And again. She ran as she finally realized that it was tailing her, I have to keep away! She jumped and jumped. Again. She ran for a moment and jump. Again. She ran and jumped. She ran another moment. She jumped high and twirled herself upside down, facing the ground.
She watched down where the explosions were setting off. She caught where the alliance was been attacked, but they weren't getting hit with her father and grandfather detecting. She saw her mother and grandmother fighting the detonations before they blow. It was like the moving creature was trying to blow them off course.
I got to do something before that thing will hurt somebody, she thought.
(~~~~~~)
Before she could touch the ground, a fast-moving black creature popped out and rammed toward her. She luckily slipped past its attack and tried to hold onto it, but she felt its flesh so smooth. She couldn't grab on, so her fall followed and almost crashed her land. After the black creature disappeared into the ground, five snakes popped out.
Without a second, they all thrusted toward her. She quickly jumped, dodging them, and surfed on one snake down its tail. As she reached to its tip, three jumped to chop their mouths to catch her. Yet, she hopped herself in a sloppy way and jumped downward to a big cracked rock wall. With chakra into her feet, she stood on the rock wall and jumped up right-forward.
Three snakes dashed towards her, and she drew out three sai blades. She threw them out while twirling around and pierced them swiftly. Next, she landed on the fourth snake's back and it went after her. She slid down and jumped back on its head. She slid down again and jumped up into the air. She then spun down like a wheel and hit the snake's head with a Heavenly Kick.
She moved away from the down snake and looked for the last snake to come out. She closed her eyes and waited while sensing. She anticipated for almost a minute, until it came out behind her. Before she could turn, it went for her with its jaws out. She jumped above its head and slid along its back. She skipped to the left when it moved its body sideways.
She slid and ran through cracked craters; she then hopped on each pointed rock toward the reptile. It roared a hiss and tried to follow her in the air. She was stalling it waywardly, so she held hand on its nose and flipped herself facing it. She flew up and lastly punched it hard. It was knocked cold and crashed colliding on rocks.
(~~~~~~)
Later, she landed and caught trace of the Sound Four. "Chikuso!" she growled, "They're here again. They'll go harder this time."
"I had enough of you!" Kidomaru screeched with annoyance and anger. "I'll just kill you instead!" He quickly created his bow and fired arrows. She dodged them all and appeared in a flash in front of him, and she punched him in the abdomen. He was thrown back.
Suddenly, an earth hand popped underneath her feet. It was a golem and she right away knew who it was. It lifted her up, and it was about to close. She jumped away right before it got a hold of her. Before she could make a land, she sensed where the other three were hiding.
Afterwards, she jumped right back up toward the golem and enhanced chakra into her fists and feet. She threw an uppercut under the golem's chin which knocked its head out. Both arms came to wrap her, but she swung her left fist and threw a right kick at both arms. She hurried dismembering the golem's body and threw kicks at the fallen rocks toward the hidden Sound Four. The rocks hit and crashed the grounds which made them to come out.
Coming back, Kidomaru created a ball of thread which he then expanded into a large, wider web using his six arms. It was supposed to catch her off guard; however as quick as she could react, she sensed the web with chakra to restrict victims from escaping. "Cherry Blossom Blizzard!" she twirled herself around and scattered over hundreds of sakura petals. All the petals covered the large web, so she won't get stuck. Fuming chakra into her hands, she cut through the web and bisected Kidomaru.
She sensed the other three coming; instead, she waited for the right space for all of them to come closer. As they got closer, she quickly spun her Maxima Chakra Scalpel like a top. She gave them major cuts on the face, chest, and arms. She teleported behind them as their cuts closed. When they turned to her, she glared darkly into their eyes.
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She created three clones, and they each fought against the Sound members. The four Sakura clones fought with sloppy moves to disorient the Sound from noticing how and where they were moving. The clones had missed the Sound attacks and jumped from one place to another.
Until they rounded the Sound Four in the middle, "CHA!" the three clones punched the three Sound member and the other kicked Sakon. The Sound Four crushed their backs with a hard hit. "Now I've had it with all of you!" the real Sakura spoke, and the clones vanished.
"How do you like this?" she threw four small white bags by swinging her arm to the left. She next twirled rightward, throwing two kunais, and ripped the bags open in midair, so the exploding tags began to fall gently towards them.
In their eyes, the Sound Four looked around and confused, like they were only harmless flower petals. "Kore?" they couldn't tell what they really were.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked them but answered herself. "But you hate it." She moved her right hand from downward right and flicked her middle finger upward forth, firing a tiny fireball. "What a shame!" The fireball sparked and then it detonated into a huge blast, following by the falling tags.
What a light it blew, making hair fly in the wind. The blast was so bright to make everyone to cover their eyes. "Hmph, I bet that hurt a lot," she flicked her side bang with self-impression.
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Everyone was stunned by her deadly attacks; similarly, Naruto was still scared by her usual anger like before. In contrast, Sasuke was growing more entranced with his beloved's surprising destructive jutsu which grew his love for her more. Takahiro and Fugaku were highly impressed by her incredible power; in contrast, Hanzo and Itachi wondered what kind of training she put herself into.
The chuunins were so captivated by her long exhibition of her fighting skills and techniques. They so wanted to learn somethings from her. Ryosuke was widened from his mother's strength and clever plan on how to take down the enemy with no struggle. She never gave up, they all thought of her so cool.
(~~~~~~)
Afterwards, the area was burned and the Sound Four was blown; without a doubt, their ashes were regenerating them. She hasn't forgotten, yet she can continue fighting them more. Before she could, she felt someone else was coming to her. As she reacted, a kunai was thrown at her which it missed her.
"Time's up, Sakura." Kabuto chuckled as he approached her, "I suppose you haven't forgotten." He enhanced chakra into his hands and created chakra scalpel. His snake mowed around behind and stopped beside him, eyeing her with a hiss.
She pretty knew what he was referring. Indeed, it was what they agreed earlier. She glared daggers with a smirk, "Hai, I haven't." she also did the same technique as he did. Increasing it at her maximum level as an expectation for the belly snake. "Let's do this!"
I finally finished the chapter before the holidays. I have been so busy with my life which I get tired a lot. I was also running low on details for the fighting which I love the story so detailed for each plot. It took longer than I thought.
Sorry for the long wait, and I hope for the next chapter won't take longer. So, enjoy reading.