Naruto Uchiha

Chapter 41

So I'm sure a lot of you will point out how in canon, the Chakra of a Tailed Beast cloak is caustic and would injure Naruto through prolonged usage, but we've seen with Killer B that that is not the case if the Bijuu and its Jailer are working in tandem, as B was able to even go as far as entering Version 2 without any noticeable injuries. Since Naruto and Kurama are working together here, then that is the case here as well.

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei owns Naruto.

Kabuto wasn't given much time to react as Naruto shot at him in a blur, the only keeping the blond's fist from caving in his ribcage being a quickly executed Kawarimi that replaced him with a log that was promptly reduced to splinters. Kabuto reappeared behind the blond with a kunai in his hand, throwing it at the blond with a quick movement, Naruto didn't let up the assault despite this, and moved to strike at Kabuto again, closing the distance between them in an orange blur, dodging the weapon and smashing another log to bits as Kabuto was forced to use another Kawarimi to avoid getting a fractured skull from Naruto's Chakra coated fist. Forming a Kage Bunshin to distract the Jinchuriki, Kabuto used Shunshin to get behind the blond, forming Chakra Scalpels on his hands and attempted to slice through the Chakra Cloak and sever the blond's spinal cord, but the Cloak of Bijuu Chakra protected its user, leaving Naruto with only a flesh wound, while burning the skin on the medic's hands as well due to the Chakra Cloak's caustic nature, forcing him to fall back.

"So," said Kabuto as he healed his hands with his medical Ninjutsu, a green glow covering the burned skin as the wounds mended themselves, "I see you're resorting to using the Fox's power. Too bad it won't help. Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!"

The Oto-nin gathered Chakra in his stomach and spat out a torrent of water that streaked across the ground, tearing a trench into the dirt as it shot towards his opponent, but as the attack got close, Naruto blurred out of the way, showing great speed as he appeared next to the silver-haired medic. Kabuto then had to leap back to avoid a spinning back kick the Jinchuriki snapped out in retaliation before throwing several Kunai with Explosive Tags tied to them at him, force the blond back, but Naruto simply pointed his hand at the silver-haired Oto-nin with a smirk forming on his face and the Rinnegan on full display in his eyes.

"Shinra Tensei!" growled the Jinchuriki, sending a wave of force out from his hands that seemed to ripple through the air as it deflected the Kunai before slamming into Kabuto, sending him flying across the ground before coming to a stop when he hit a boulder that stuck up out of the ground.

'He's actually giving me trouble!' Kabuto growled mentally as he channeled Chakra to the injured parts of his body to speed healing while making several more hand-seals, "Suiton: Mizudeppō!"

The Oto-nin spat out a high-pressure stream of water that streaked toward Naruto, but the Jinchuriki created a quick Rasengan in his right hand using his Chakra Cloak to contain the spiraling Chakra sphere, slamming it into the oncoming stream of water, causing an explosion that shrouded the blond in a thick mist. A beat passed, and a Fuma Shuriken flew out at Kabuto, the mist being blown away by its velocity, forcing the Oto medic to twist his body and dodge the spinning blade.

"Banshō Ten'in!" said Naruto as he extended a clawed hand toward the Shuriken, causing it to curve around in its flight path and fly back at Kabuto from behind, slicing through his shoulder before transforming into a Kage Bunshin with a poof of smoke, said Bunshin slamming a punch into the surprised Kabuto's face, breaking his nose, while unfortunately taking a strike from the medic's Chakra Scalpel at the same time, dispelling the Bunshin.

Kabuto quickly stemmed the bleeding wound on his arm with a quick application of the Shōsen Jutsu before applying a quick fix to his bleeding nose, but that brief pause was what Naruto needed to weave several more hand-seals and spit out several water blasts that flew at Kabuto, "Suiton Teppōdama!"

"Doton: Doryūheki!" Kabuto yelled in response as he slammed his hands onto the ground, causing a thick wall of stone to rise up and block the water blasts. The wall held firm, as the blasts exploded against it, but that wasn't all the blond had to throw at him.

"Rasengan!" yelled Naruto as he smashed through the wall with another spiraling sphere of Chakra, surprising Kabuto at the suddenness, but not enough to keep the medic from impaling the blond with a Chakra Scalpel that caused him to vanish in a poof of smoke, revealing that Naruto had swapped with a Kage Bunshin. Suddenly, Naruto burst out of the ground behind Kabuto and slammed a kick in to him that sent him crashing through the remains of the wall he had erected.

"Damnit," swore Kabuto as he climbed to his feet and, 'He's fast, and with his stamina I won't be able to outlast him. I can heal from any damage he deals to me, but even that has limits and the Fox's Chakra is protecting him. I need to think up a strategy.'

Naruto didn't seem to be willing to let him though as he lunged forward, expanding his Chakra Cloak to create large claws around his hands which he used to attack the silver haired Oto-nin. Kabuto was forced to call upon every bit of his agility and expertise to avoid being vivisected by the blond's furious attacks, only escaping the onslaught by using a quick substitution with a Kage Bunshin to give him the time to shoot a Fireball from his mouth at the blond's back., the explosion knocking Naruto across the ground.

Kabuto quickly put some plans together in his head before reaching into his weapon pouch to pull out some Shuriken. Whipping his hand forward, he threw the Shuriken forward before making a hand-seal, causing the dozen stars to become a hundred, "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Seeing the large amount of Shuriken flying at him, Naruto pointed his hand at the weapons as his Rinnegan blazed on his eyes and repeated the defense he had used before, "Shinra Tensei!"

Naruto released another blast of force that slammed into the Shuriken, knocking them out of the air, but Kabuto had planned for this and braced himself while sticking to the ground with Chakra as he shielded his face. Once the wave passed, he weaved several more hand-seals while kneading Chakra in his stomach, "Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!"

Naruto tried to cast his Jutsu again, but was surprised when nothing happened, leaving him open as the blast of water slammed into him, sending him skidding across the ground with several tears on his outfit and cuts that closed up quickly thanks to the Kyuubi's influence.

"Ha!" laughed Kabuto as he made more hand-seals, "I thought so! You're still wet behind the ears brat. You're out of your league."

Naruto growled, but the Kyuubi's voice in his mindscape kept him grounded, "Don't let him get to you. Focus on the battle and keep a level head."

"Right," said Naruto as he made a familiar hand-seal, "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Several dozen copies of the blond appeared, all of them sporting Chakra Cloaks, and charged the Oto-nin, forcing him to create Chakra Scalpels as he fought off the small army with well-placed kicks and slashes dispelling several, before breathing out a compressed air blade that whipped across the area, dispelling the rest of the Kage Bunshin.

"Nice try," said Kabuto, but the smirk on the blond's face halted the rest of his remark.

"Konbijutsu," said Naruto as he pointed to the ground under Kabuto's feet, "Dai Funka!"

"What?!" exclaimed Kabuto before trying to leap away as the ground beneath his feet exploded and fire shot upwards. His reflexes had saved his life, but he had several severe burns. As he glanced at where he had stood, he saw the smoke from several Kage Bunshin drifting away and he knew what the blond had done.

'He had several Kage Bunshin tunnel into the earth when I was distracted with the initial swarm!' thought Kabuto in shock, 'The brat probably had them use a Gōkakyū no Jutsu to cause that eruption once they were in place.'

"How the hell did you get so smart?" growled Kabuto, "All the records said you were the Dead Last of your year, barely scraping by with a graduating score!"

"I'm a Shinobi dumbass," scoffed Naruto, "underhanded tactics and misdirection is our life. Why wouldn't I be able to hide my true potential all these years?"

Kabuto scowled, but before he could respond, he felt a buildup of Chakra coming from that battle between his master and the Toad Sage indicative of a Summoning Technique, prompting him to use a quick Shunshin to rush to Orochimaru's side, quickly swiping some of his blood across a seal tattoo on both Orochimaru's arm before making a hand seal.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" yelled the combatants, with Kabuto performing the Jutsu in place of his master.

The battlefield was then engulfed in a large explosion of smoke and when it cleared, it was apparent to all involved that things had been taken to a whole new level. Facing off across each other, the two Sannin were standing upon their signature Battle Summon, with Jiraiya standing atop the Chief Toad, Gamabunta's head, and Orochimaru atop the massive Snake Lord, Manda's head.

"Jiraiya," growled Gamabunta, "you sure picked a hell of a mess to summon me in to."

"Sorry Bunta," said Jiraiya as he kept his glare focused on Orochimaru, "but I need your help to put my former teammate in his place."

"Hmph," said the Boss Summon as he breathed out a cloud of smoke and took his pipe from his mouth, "it's about time we dealt with him, though I'm surprised Katsuyu-san isn't here as well."

"Unfortunately, Tsunade has been otherwise incapacitated by our treacherous teammate," said the Toad Sage with a frown, "we're on our own for this one."

"Hmph," grunted Gamabunta as he reached for his sword, "this is gonna be a tough one, but I'll be glad to get a new snakeskin wallet."

Meanwhile, Orochimaru and Kabuto were having a conversation with their own with the Boss Summon they had themselves summoned.

"Orochimaru," growled Manda, the Boss Summon of the Snakes, "You'd better have a lot of sacrifices prepared to pay for summoning me here."

"Forgive us, Manda-sama," said Kabuto, "but we required your aid to deal with the Toad Sage and his allies."

"Silence whelp!" snarled Manda, "Know your place beneath your betters."

Kabuto winced, knowing that if Manda knew that Orochimaru was not the one who summoned him due to the seal Jiraiya placed on him scrambling his Chakra control, then the Boss Summon would kill them both.

"Manda," said Orochimaru, "if you would aid us in this fight, then I offer Jiraiya and his allies as the first of many sacrifices in your name."

"Very well," said Manda, "I always like an opportunity to eat that toad anyway."

With a hissing snarl Manda lunged forward, mouth wide and fangs bared as he aimed to tear a chunk out of Gamabunta's body, but the Boss Toad leapt up into the air to avoid, while at the same time, gathering oil in his stomach that he shot from his mouth, with Jiraiya releasing a Katon Jutsu that ignited said oil into a burning wave. Seeing the blazing tide bearing down on them, the two Oto-nin made quick several hand-seals and gathered Chakra in their lungs, breathing out a massive gale of wind that impacted the burning oil and deflected it from incinerating them, instead causing the burning liquid to splatter across the grassy field.

Jiraiya cursed as he saw this and called out to Naruto to keep Tsunade safe, prompting the blond to nod and create several Kage Bunshin to help carry the Slug Princess out of harm's way, leaving the two Sannin to their battle. Seeing that his opponent's attention was divided, Orochimaru began to weave several hand-seals and channel Chakra to his lungs, while Kabuto did the same from his spot next to him on Manda's head, as he gathered Chakra in his stomach.

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!"

"Futon: Daitoppa!"

The two attacks merged into a massive twisting torrent that shot at Jiraiya and Gamabunta, but the Boss Toad showed his strength by leaping high into the air to avoid the blast, while gathering Chakra of his own.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" yelled Gamabunta as he spat several large blasts of water at the two Oto-nin and their Summon. Unlike when Naruto used the technique earlier, these blasts were MASSIVE and exploded against the ground upon impact, tearing craters into the earth as Manda used his nimble serpentine body to dodge out of the way, before coiling himself and shooting upward with the intent to swallow Gamabunta whole.

The Chief Toad reacted quickly, drawing his blade and swinging it at the incoming serpent, catching it in the fang and knocking him back to the ground as Gamabunta landed in a crouch as well.

"Damn you you stupid Toad!" snarled Manda as he ran his forked tongue over his now chipped fang, "I will enjoy making you suffer."

"Promises promises," taunted Gamabunta as he sprung into the air again to dodge another collaboration Jutsu from Orochimaru and Kabuto.

Naruto watched all of this as his Kage Bunshin kept Tsunade and her apprentice safe from harm, and he couldn't help but wish he could help out in some way, so that the odds wouldn't be three vs two.

"You can help, you know," said Kurama, "but it will require the rest of the Chakra I've managed to grant you."

Naruto nodded, resolved to help his teacher, and began channeling all the of the remaining Bijuu Chakra that he had as he went through the hand-seals Jiraiya had taught him when he signed the Toad Contract.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" yelled Naruto as he bit his finger to draw blood and slammed his hand into the ground, causing the Summoning Array to form as a massive cloud of smoke erupted around him.

"What?" said Jiraiya in surprise.

"Impossible!" breathed Kabuto.

"Naruto-kun," smirked Orochimaru, "perhaps I should be keeping a closer eye on your progress…considering you survive today that is."

As the smoke cleared, a somewhat winded Naruto was seen standing atop the head of a magenta colored Toad that stood as tall as Gamabunta and held a spiked sasumata in its hand had a shield strapped to its back.

"Hmmm," said the Toad, "this seems like quite the situation I have been summoned into."

"Sorry Toad-sama," said Naruto from his spot, "but we need to back up Chief Toad and Jiraiya-sensei."

"Ah, so you are the student we've been hearing about," said the Toad, "I shall help as much as I can, though I am rather ungraceful."

"Don't worry," said Naruto, "together we can do this."

"Uhm," nodded the Toad as he pulled out his shield, "very well. Gamaken of Mount Myōboku shall fight at your side as best I can."

"Right," said Naruto, "and since you've told me yours, my name's Naruto Uzumaki Uchiha. Let's do this!"