Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its rights, but that's not even the most pressing thing I don't own. I don't own a copy of Animal Crossing New Horizons and that is demoralizing. I NEED it, especially right now. Especially considering all that's going in the world right now! :(
Author's Note: I wanted to get this chapter out a lot faster, but it's been an absolutely crazy past month! Two things; wedding plans and a fucking worldwide pandemic do not mix. However, even though we had to change a lot of our plans and downsize it, I am officially married and that is something that this frickin virus cannot take away! :) Anyway, I'm going to shut up for now and get back to your story. Enjoy!
"It's been quite some time, Anko-chan." Orochimaru said, licking his lips slightly with his tongue. "Fate works in mysterious ways, it seems. Looks like I get the chance to finally pay you back for your hand in my death!"
"What's wrong, Anko-chan?" Orochimaru continued, chuckling. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Surely I taught you to keep your composure at all times even when frightened, didn't I?"
Anko's grip on her neck tightened. For the first time in years, she felt the curse mark on her neck throb. Her breathing was becoming irregular as her eyes focused on Orochimaru.
'She seems to be regressing. The shock of seeing him again must be damaging her psyche.' Kabuto's grin widened. 'I knew it was the correct decision to summon Orochimaru-sama and not a different summon.'
Naruto looked over at his former jōnin-sensei, frowning: "Anko-sensei, don't let him intimidate you. He's dead. You killed him. Why should he scare you?"
"Actually, Sarutobi-sensei killed me. Anko simply took advantage of the fact that my former teacher had weakened me. We both know that." Orochimaru spoke, his chuckling growing louder-and-louder. "But now, even if I am summoned at a weaker strength, I have more than enough strength to kill you."
"Are you sure about that?" Naruto turned his head to the former Sannin, scowling. "Anko-sensei has gotten stronger herself. She's more than capable of beating you again!"
"Is she, though?" Orochimaru's dead eyes narrowed in on Anko. "She seems rather perturbed by presence here."
Anko did not verbally reply and only continued to visibly shake. Her curse mark started to activate momentarily, causing the markings to slowly travel up her body before they retracted back into her seal.
'Her curse seal is still working fine. My 'essence' is still there. That's my ticket back to the land of the living!' Orochimaru's grin widened. He then turned his attention back to his summoner. "You are very generous to summon me for this fight, 'Kabuto-sama'."
Kabuto's eye twitched slightly: "Don't call me that. Focus on this fight, Orochimaru-sama."
Noticing the tension in both Kabuto's and Orochimaru's bodies, Naruto turned his attention back to Kabuto. His scowl lightened momentarily.
"We know, by the way. About you and ROOT." Naruto said.
Kabuto's eyes widened momentarily. A scowl on his face developed: "What do you know about ROOT?"
"We know that Danzō took you in and abused you." Naruto explained. "Turned you into his 'perfect spy' with identities and roles in all major shinobi villages-"
"'Perfect spy'." Kabuto repeated the phrase, nearly snarling. "Too perfect. He threw me out because I even convinced him and other ROOT agents that I did turn on Konoha. Tried to kill me, and if that didn't work, get me to kill myself!"
Naruto's eyes softened further: "You… didn't deserve that. I'm sorry."
"Sorry? You're… sorry?" Kabuto repeated the word, laughing almost maniacally. "What a farce of a statement! You know, when I was in Konoha spying on behalf of Orochimaru-sama, I initially wrote you off as a minor annoyance rather than an actual threat because I assumed you were a naïve child. Even with the power of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, you were not a 'real shinobi' that needed to be addressed. And years later, even as you grow stronger and stronger, you're still so fucking naïve!"
"It's not naïve to feel sympathy. Cause I do. I can tell you went through hell… a hell even worse than I went through." Naruto admitted. His eyes then narrowed: "But just because I feel sympathy for you doesn't make what you're doing right. Joining with Orochimaru, joining with the Akatsuki, all the lives you've killed and damaged for your grave robbing and research… you have done so much awful things that can never be forgiven!"
"Is that supposed to mean anything to me?" Kabuto asked, still laughing. "I don't give a shit about your forgiveness! The only things that matter to me is my master's will and my research: two things that you stand firmly against!"
"'Master's will'." Orochimaru repeated the phrase, chuckling. "Which master? Has Pain really usurped me in your heart, 'Kabuto-sama'?"
"I said stop calling me that." Kabuto hissed at the 'Edo Tensei' summon.
"Why are you working with Akatsuki, Kabuto?" Naruto asked. "You warned me about them back in Suna. Why are you following them now?"
"I don't owe you any explanation!" Kabuto turned his head back to Naruto, scowling: "I was here on a personal errand, but I suppose I can do much more and take you back for extraction. This is the end!" He then made a sweeping gesture at Naruto with his hands: "Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
"Sage Art: Water Style: Water Bomb Parade!"
As Kabuto launched a barrage of ten bone bullets from his fingers, Naruto breathed out a large orb of water from his mouth that split apart into multiple, smaller orbs of water. The two jutsu collided, causing explosions that covered the grotto in dust clouds. More orbs of water were launched forward at Kabuto and Orochimaru, causing both men to jump away and avoid the blasts.
Seconds passed by and the dust clouds, revealing both Naruto and Anko. Both Konoha shinobi had their appearances modified; Naruto's eyes now had orange markings around him while Anko's eyes were colored yellow. Her skin also had scales visible on it.
"What?" Kabuto's scowl deepened: "That feeling of natural energy all around… you both know Sage Mode?"
"Yup." Naruto nodded his head as a smug grin developed on his face.
Kabuto's eyes widened as a realization: "You brought up my ROOT history to distract me while you two channeled natural energy?"
"I do stand by what I say; I genuinely feel sympathy for everything." Naruto admitted, his grin widening. "But yes. For as naïve as you think I am, I know you Kabuto. And for as smart of a person you make yourself out to be, you are a bit too emotional. Figured getting you to talk about Danzō and ROOT would buy us the last little bit of channeling time needed."
"Hehehehe." Orochimaru nearly snorted: "You still have problems with 'playing with your enemies' it seems. You may have made progress with my research, 'Kabuto-sama', but you haven't changed in the slightest."
Kabuto was silent for a moment. He took in a deep breath before he looked forward at Naruto intently: "You know a personal vice of mine, but that doesn't change anything. Neither Sage Mode nor the Kyūbi's chakra will change anything; this only makes things more annoying is all, but I will still capture you." He then looked over at Anko: "And kill you."
Anko took in another deep breath. Her subconscious was the only thing allowing her to even channel nature energy despite her moment of panic. Now, with Sage Mode activated and senjutsu chakra rushing through her body, Anko's mind calmed down. She quickly unsealed the Shibuki blast-sword and gripped it tightly in her hands, glaring at Kabuto: "No, you're the one who's dying today." Her eyes then turned to Orochimaru: "I already killed you once, Orochimaru. I will beat you again!"
"Ah, there's the Anko-chan I remember teaching. I see that familiar spark in your eye." Orochimaru noted as his body tensed-up, lowering slightly. "I can't wait to finally see it get extinguished once and for all!"
With those words, the 'Edo Tensei' summon charged at her once again while Naruto and Kabuto rushed each other.
"Maggots, you do realize I said you have you a time limit, right?" Atsui reminded, his chuckling turning into full, loud laughter. "Sure you wanna waste precious time arguing with me?"
Kanji took in a deep breath, trying to drown out the sound of the few remaining shouts and complaints. With the noise drowned out, he then began to focus on the cell.
'Okay, think. The cell is completely bare; nothing but the door to the room is present. There is a window that's big enough to stick your head out of and there is no glass. Lock to the room is on the outside, but it's out of reach for us to pick, nor is there any obvious key anywhere. That's all that's visibly here.' Kanji told himself. He then looked around the room and started to feel the walls of the room, making sure his hand touched at least all the surface area. 'Nothing feels loose or anything, so probably not a trap door that opens up. Hmm.'
As Kanji started to contemplate what to do, more loud noises could be heard. He walked over to the window to look outside and saw many completely sturdy doors that appeared to be unphased. Many genin were trying to knock down their doors with brute force – either through physical attacks or through jutsu – to no avail.
'It's not going to work, but I might as well try.' Kanji shrugged his shoulders as he made six hand signs and held out his hands: "Lightning Style: Thunderbolt!"
Lightning developed in his palms before getting released in a massive discharge towards the door. By the time the lightning subsided, the door remained perfectly still, no sign of damage whatsoever.
'Yeah, that Atsui guy was right. Door is sturdy, so let's skip the brute force approach.' Kanji rubbed his chin in thought.
As Kanji began to analyze his room more, he felt himself starting to sweat. As seconds continued to pass by, he started to sweat even more-and-more.
'Why is it so hot?' He wondered as he began to rub as his forehead.
"Wh-What the hell?"
Kanji looked outside the door to see two new shinobi rushing through the hallway outside of the cells. One was a dark-skinned young man with spiky white hair and dark brown eyes, wearing an oversized black shirt with a hoodie attached over his Kumogakure flak jacket and black pants. He had a sword attached to a holster on his back and was sucking on a sucker. The second was a dark-skinned young lady who appeared to be the same age with long, spiky red hair and amber-colored eyes. She wore a long, short-sleeve grey dress with the Kumogakure flak jacket over it, yellow earrings, and fishnet stockings. She also had a sword attached to the holster on her back and she wore her Kumogakure forehead protector around her head, like a bandana.
'They must be the other 'extra proctors' that Atsui mentioned.' Kanji's eyes narrowed as they moved to the left, to the corner of vision that the window permitted him to. 'But what are they looking at?'
Kanji could see a genin walking out of a cell, somehow. He was a boy with pale white skin, short and light brown hair. He wore a dark blue skin-tight shirt and white shorts that went down three inches above his knees. The boy had a Kirigakure forehead protector tied around his neck and had on a pair of his goggles over his green eyes.
"How the fuck did you manage to break down the door like that?" The red-haired woman nearly demanded.
"Not 'break'; how did you destroy the door?" The white-haired guy corrected. "That goes beyond chūnin level!"
"Destroyed?" Kanji repeated the word, frowning. 'Now I'm really curious. Damn blind spots hiding the cool shit from me.'
"'Beyond chūnin level'? I appreciate the flattery, but it's unwarranted. This type of exam isn't designed with someone with my skillsets in mind. Because while I am sure these cells were built to handle extreme heats and other forms of abuse, even still, everything does have a boiling point, which is a weakness my kekkei genkai allows me to exploit." The boy explained, chuckling.
'Kekkei genkai, huh? He must be talking about Boil Release.' Kanji realized, frowning. 'Did that guy really just melt one of these doors? Shit. We got a capable team from Kirigakure too, huh? I bet he's a student of that blind Kiri shinobi Naruto-sensei and Anko-san knew.'
As the Kiri genin walked slowly to the stairs to move his way upstairs, many of the remaining genin continued to try and bust down their doors; again, to no success. Kanji's eyes moved from the genin to the two 'extra proctors', who were still seemingly studying the melted door.
An idea immediately entered the Yamanaka's head. He held out his hands: "Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Within a second, Kanji's body fell to his knees, hitting the door slightly. The white-haired boy immediately stiffened as Kanji's mind took control of his body.
'Perfect! Now to-' Kanji's thoughts died down as he felt the Kumogakure chūnin's subconscious try and fight back.
"Hey, dibs on not explaining this to Samui that one of the genin melted a door. I know how expensive this shit is and she's gonna be pissed." The red-haired woman said, chuckling slightly. She then turned to her partner, who was just standing still. A scowl developed on her face: "Oi, why are you just zoning out?"
"Hmmm…" The 'Kumo chūnin' hummed, seemingly not paying attention.
The woman's scowl deepened as she punched him in the shoulder, hard, causing him to yelp.
"Hey! Earth to Omoi! It's Karui!" The woman, Karui, hissed. "Pay attention, dammit!"
"Ah." He shook his head in response.
'Kanji' took in a deep breath. For right now, he appeared to have beat back the proctor, Omoi's, subconscious enough and now he was in charge of his body. His hands then went to his side and his pockets, feeling for a key.
'Okay, no key on him. Guess I'll just have to probe his mind. He's got to know how to get here.' Kanji rationalized. 'Just gotta start searching through his recent memories and-'
"OMOI! Stop ignoring your partner, dammit!" Karui shouted as she punched his shoulder again.
'Omoi' yelped in pain, taking a step back: "S-S-Sorry!"
'Damn, I'm gonna feel that when I get back to my original body…' Kanji lamented. 'Sorry Omoi…'
The Yamanaka could almost feel the Kumo Chūnin's subconscious responding. For some reason, he got the vibe that 'Omoi' could keep fighting back and even reclaim his own consciousness, but that the Kumo chūnin was completely content with Kanji momentarily taking over his body if it meant less interaction with his fellow exam proctor.
'… This is going to be interesting.' Kanji sighed as he began to look through his memories.
"Mass-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Hundreds of Naruto clones filled the grotto. One clone rushed towards the exit of the cave; meanwhile, all of the clones started to charge forward at Kabuto and Orochimaru. Kabuto clapped his hands together, channeling his chakra into his hands.
"Scorch Style: Incinerating Flare Jutsu!"
Kabuto launched a large flame orb forward that proceeded to expand, covering the grotto in a firestorm. The clones all dissipated on impact while Naruto and Anko jumped to the corners of the cave, barely avoiding the attack. Kabuto's eyes focused as the fire started to crack the pictures of the three Raikage buried. A frown developed on his face.
'I can't let this fight mess with the bodies before I get my samples.' Kabuto bent down to the ground and touched the surface of the cave floor: "Mud Style!"
The cave floor shined for a moment. The ground of the burial sites hardened, turning into solid mud. A relieved sigh escaped his lips: 'Okay, I can focus on this fight without worrying about the bodies being disturbed-'
Kabuto's thoughts were interrupted as an adamantine sealing chain rushed out of Naruto's right hand, completely encircling his body. As Naruto gripped tightly onto Kabuto's body with the chain, red chakra developed around his body and an image of nine tails developed behind his back. Naruto had now mixed Sage Mode with version one of the Kyūbi's chakra.
'I can't break free!' Kabuto bit down on his lip. 'Despite having Uzumaki blood in my body, his chains are stronger. Tayuya's weren't as strong as this…'
Naruto pulled on his right hand, forcing the chains to retract and dragging Kabuto over towards him. Anko jumped by his side and gripped Shibuki tightly, preparing to strike.
Before she could swing down her sword, Orochimaru jumped forward at her, snakes rushing from his sleeve. Anko turned her body, avoiding the strikes, and breathed out a massive stream of fire at Orochimaru. The 'Edo Tensei' summon slithered forward, dodging the stream, and rushed right to her.
"You should let your student handle Kabuto-sama; your focus should be on only me." Orochimaru stated.
Seeing Anko distracted with Orochimaru, Naruto focused on the approaching Kabuto, creating a Rasengan in his left hand. Just as he is about to slam it into Kabuto's face, Kabuto opened his mouth.
"Explosion Style: Area Explosion!"
Kabuto's shout caused a detonation directly in front of Naruto's face, forcing the blond backwards and breaking his concentration with his chains, causing them to dissipate and freeing Kabuto. The explosion also forced Anko and Orochimaru apart. Dust clouds were kicked up as Naruto and Anko joined up together again, looking around the grotto.
"Amazing how slippery they are, huh?" Anko nearly snorted.
Naruto nodded his head. Using Sage Mode, he could sense their presence in the area. He felt Kabuto's body was underneath the ground somehow while Orochimaru was still in the dust cloud, preparing to strike.
"Anko-sensei, to your right!" Naruto called out.
"Already sensed it!" Anko called out as she gripped her blast-sword.
Her blade intercepted Orochimaru's, which created enough force that the dust clouds were dissipated. The Sannin was gripping his own sword tightly, trying to overpower Anko's. A scowl developed on her face as she looked at his weapon.
"So, you still had Kusanagi in death, huh?" She noted.
"Of course I do. It is mine, after all." Orochimaru reminded her. His eyes then focused on Anko's weapon. "And I see you have acquired an interesting blade yourself. The Shibuki blast-sword of Kirigakure, hmm?"
Anko's response was to make a hand sign, causing the blast-sword's scroll to unwind, releasing exploding tags towards Orochimaru. He jumped back, narrowly avoiding the mass detonations.
'We have to find a way to beat the Edo Tensei. Sealing away his body might be the way to go about it-' Naruto's words stopped as he felt the ground underneath him beginning to crystalize. "What?"
"Crystal Style: Crystal Prison!"
Naruto's body became encased in a pink crystal. Kabuto emerged from the mud of the ground, grinning. He then held out his right hand, causing an adamantine sealing chain of his own to surround the crystal, holding it tightly.
"There. Now I can transport you back for extraction." Kabuto stated. He noticed Naruto glare from his position within the crystal, which earned him a chuckle. "Now, Naruto, you already know how durable and strong the adamantine sealing chains are, as well as the sealing properties. Combined with Crystal Release, you won't-"
Naruto seemed to breathe out from his mouth, causing a massive blade of wind to release from his mouth. The wind cut through the crustal, causing it to fall apart from the outside, freeing Naruto. The wind blade cut into Kabuto's right arm, causing him to hiss.
'Both Crystal Release and the sealing chains should have prevented his chakra-' Kabuto's eyes widened as a realization occurred to him: 'Senjutsu. That's how he easily broke out of the crystal prison.'
"You got so many different kekkei genkai, Kabuto, but you know, there's a saying for people like you." Naruto stated as he struggled against Kabuto's chains. "Jack of all trades; master of none."
Kabuto gritted his teeth: "Over confident, are you?"
"I'm just saying." Naruto replied, gritting his own teeth as he continued to struggle. "But answer me this, Kabuto; why are you helping out Akatsuki? I thought you warned me about them back in Suna? Said you'd rather me not die to them."
"Motivations change with perspective and new knowledge, Naruto." Kabuto replied as he made a hand sign with his left hand: "Lava Style: Volcanic Stream!"
Kabuto pushed his hand forward, causing a stream of lava to rush from his hand directly at Naruto. The Uzumaki continued to struggle until he finally pulled himself out, causing Kabuto's chains to fall to the ground. He then side-stepped just in time, avoiding the lava.
"Motivations change? What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked, before shaking his head. "Guess it doesn't matter, though. You were already someone we needed to kill anyway."
As Naruto and Kabuto focused on one another, Orochimaru charged at Anko, gripping Kusanagi. Anko's blast-sword unraveled, launching more explosive tags around her that exploded just as the Sannin got too close. The 'Edo Tensei' summon jumped back once again, avoiding the explosions.
"Are you afraid to let me close to you, Anko-chan?" Orochimaru chuckled. "Where was all that bravado from all those years ago?"
"It's all still there." Anko hissed as she made a hand sign: "Sage Art: Flare Aura!"
Anko's body was completely encased in fire. Unlike her standard 'Flare Aura' jutsu, however, the flames surrounding her body were colored blue. Anko took in a deep breath and exhaled, which caused the flames around her to expand even further around her.
"I remember this technique of yours." Orochimaru noted, scowling. "But it will do nothing. I already paid the price for my ignorance against this technique; I will not make it a second time! Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"
Channeling the fire into her hands, Anko began to form large balls of blue fire in her palms: "Sage Art: Fire Style: Hellfire Rain!"
As Orochimaru created a massive blast of water, using the water from the grotto, Anko threw multiple fireballs directly forward at the Sannin. The fire and water connected and after being hit by two of Anko's fireballs, Orochimaru's water blast evaporated into steam. His eyes widened.
'Her fire release is that strong that it overpowered a water jutsu as powerful as Giant Vortex? How? From senjutsu alone?' Orochimaru's scowl deepened as he moved quickly to his left, avoiding more fireballs, which promptly created fires on the rocky surface. Anko continued to follow Orochimaru's movements, throwing more fireballs and creating more fire. 'All this is doing right now is creating more fire she can use to trap me. I can't allow me that; I need to stop her.'
With three hand signs, Orochimaru clapped his hands together, integrating his chakra into the ground. The surface under Anko's feet immediately turned into a muddy swamp, swallowing her feed and throwing her off balance.
"Swamp of the Underworld? One of my former students knows this jutsu; I'm not intimidated." She snorted as she channeled chakra into her feet.
Anko forced herself out of the swamp's grasp, but she was distracted just long enough for Orochimaru to close the distance between himself and her. Jumping directly towards her, Orochimaru swung Kusanagi. Anko immediately swung Shibuki, coated with the fire of her flare aura, and blocked with enough force that the sword was sent flying out of Orochimaru's hands and into the wall of the cave.
Still next to one another, Orochimaru opened his mouth, causing his tongue to elongate and expand. The tongue encircled Anko's neck multiple times before she could react. The 'Snake Mistress' gasped for air as she struggled to breathe. The fires around her body began to burn at Orochimaru's tongue, but the 'Edo Tensei' did not seem to notice. He pulled her closer to him as he lifted his right hand.
'Time to be reborn-'
Before Orochimaru could start his jutsu, the fires around the grotto rushed forward, converging on a singular spot: Orochimaru's body. The 'Edo Tensei' hissed as he was forced to drop Anko. She gasped for air as she jumped backwards, placing distance between herself and the flames.
'In this state, he won't die. So that won't stop him.' Anko's eyes narrowed. 'So what's your next plan-'
Her words died on her lips as she was impaled in the stomach by Kusanagi. She immediately choked out blood.
Orochimaru finally pulled himself out of the flames. His skin was now heavily burned, giving off a more 'undead' appearance fitting to his current existence, but a grin developed on his face as he rushed over to Anko. Making a hand sign, the Kusanagi sword dug itself deeper into Anko's stomach. She choked out more blood as her hand went to its hilt, trying to prevent it from moving any further and killing her.
Anko finally managed to pull out the blade, but Orochimaru had once again closed the distance between the two of them. The Sannin jumped on top of her, knocking to the ground and positioning his body directly on top of hers. He then reached for her hands,
"What?" Her eyes widened in horror. As she struggled against him, Kusanagi moved on its own once again, impaling her right wrist. She bit her lip down hard: "Urgh!"
"This has been fun, Anko-chan, but it's time to end this. Kabuto-sama needs you dead and, personally speaking, I have something I would like to do that would be easier to pull off if you aren't struggling." Orochimaru taunted as he made a hand sign that he forced Anko's right hand to mimic.
Anko bit down her lip harder as she began to channel as much senjutsu chakra as possible. 'Come on Anko, you can take this!'
"Ninja Art: Twin Snake Sacrifice Jutsu!"
"Sage Art: Fire Style!"
Two large snakes materialized into existence and began to coil, spiraling all around their bodies. Within an instant, both Anko and Orochimaru were surrounded by the two snakes. The blue flames Anko had created from the battlefield rushed over to her side, encasing both her body and Orochimaru's in the flames just as the snakes then bit down on each other's neck, sealing off everything inside their body.
Orochimaru's grin widened: 'Too little, too late Anko-chan! NOW LET'S DIE TOGETHER!'
The snakes bodies began to rotate rapidly in their coil for a moment before they exploded, releasing purple flames from inside their bodies that swallowed Anko's and Orochimaru's bodies whole.
"Anko-sensei!" Naruto called out.
Panic filled the Uzumaki's head for a moment as he watched the two snakes form around his sensei's and Orochimaru's body and subsequently explode, creating a massive amount of smoke throughout the grotto.
Without a second thought, he jumped over to the origin point, hoping to see if Anko was alright. In the process, he created distance between himself and Kabuto.
'Ah. Twin Snake Sacrifice. I suppose since Orochimaru-sama is an Edo Tensei, the 'cost' of that jutsu has no effect on him. How interesting. In his current state, he has infinite access to a dual suicide technique.' Kabuto grinned as he watched Naruto rush to his former sensei's aid. 'In the meantime, you distracted Naruto a bit. I should make the most of it.'
With that in mind, Kabuto closed his eyes, channeling energy.
As smoke began to clear-up, 'dust particles' began to come together once again, reforming a body. Within a few seconds, Orochimaru was reborn. His skin had returned to its previous state, without any burn markings. He stretched his limbs, feeling around.
'Perfect.' Orochimaru grinned as he took a step forward. 'Now, that jutsu should have left her body somewhat intact. Time to acquire it and-'
Before he could take another step forward, chains quickly surrounded his body. Orochimaru's grin was replaced with a scowl as he struggled against it. He turned his head momentarily to see Naruto approaching him, holding onto him tightly.
"What did you-" Naruto's words died on his lips as he noticed the smoke clouds from Orochimaru's jutsu approaching him. He could feel the poison dripping from the clouds, which caused him to scowl as he breathed out a gust of wind from his mouth, forcing the poison clouds to dispel.
"'What did I do'?" Orochimaru finished Naruto's incomplete question, his grin returning. "I simply used a suicide technique against Anko-chan; a technique that bathes that encases its user and victim between the bodies of two snakes, who proceed to drown the two in fire and poisonous smoke. There is no survival for either party." A chuckle escaped his lips. "But I guess I'm already dead, so I can ignore that little weakness."
"You…" Naruto grit his teeth hard as he began to channel more of the Kyūbi's chakra. "Anko-sensei is not dead!"
Orochimaru continued to chuckle: "Having faith in your former jōnin-sensei is admirable, but illogical, Naruto-kun."
"No, it's not illogical." Naruto's words grew darker in tone as his body became encased in Kurama's chakra, entering Version Two. "I know she's still alive."
"Damn right I am!"
Orochimaru's eyes widened. He slowly turned his head to see Anko approaching. His struggling against Naruto's adamantine chains grew as he began to grit his teeth: "H-How…"
As Orochimaru's eyes focused on Anko, he noticed that she was breathing rather heavily. Her jacket appeared to still have remnants of the purple flames on it and there were visible portions of her skin that looked burned. She also walked a little slower than he felt she normally would. Despite that, she was able to remain standing and the blue flames around her body from her 'flare aura' were still present.
"That technique is a suicide technique! If the flames did not kill you, the poison imbued in them would have killed you! How are you still breathing and standing, let alone using chakra? Orochimaru hissed.
"Because I'm stronger than you." Anko said sharply. She took in a deep breath as the blue flames of her 'flare aura' magnified, doubling in size once again and extinguishing the purple flames. Creating a snake from her sleeve that grabbed onto the Shibuki blast-sword, Anko pulled her blade back to her and gripped it tightly. "I will always be stronger than you, Orochimaru!"
"Hell yeah you are!" Naruto grinned.
'No. She's weakened. She's downplaying. I can tell that. But still; how did she survive-' Orochimaru's eyes focused on the blue flames for a moment before they moved to Anko's yellow eyes. 'It must be Sage Mode. Those blue flames she called forward weren't meant to attack me; it was to protect herself.' He bit down on his lip hard. 'I know that Twin Snake Sacrifice should pierce through all defensive ninjutsu. I guess senjutsu gave her the edge to survive. How… infuriating.'
Still maintaining the adamantine sealing chains, Naruto reached into his pocket of his jacket and pulled out a sealing scroll.
'Need to try getting rid of this guy now while we have the chance.'Naruto told himself. 'Ero-sennin had me practice how to seal Edo Tensei zombies before we left. While I got him constricted like this, hopefully I can pull this off-"
"Sage Art: White Rage Technique!"
Before Naruto or Anko could react, a giant red dragon-like creature of chakra entered the area and coiled around itself, which created both a blinding light and a massive shrieking noise that filled the entire grotto.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Anko, Naruto, and Orochimaru all hissed in response.
The noise and the light were overwhelming. The vibrations were causing the cave floor and walls to start to shake heavily and the spring was starting to stir heavily. The light had completely blinded both Naruto and Orochimaru, who were forced to close their eyes. Naruto was forced to stop channeling his adamantine sealing chains and dropped his sealing scroll, but Orochimaru was so lost in the stimulus that he could not even react properly. The combination of the light and sound was too much.
Anko, despite being overwhelmed by the noise, was able to see; her Sage Mode-infused eyes were able to completely close off the cornea and finally shield herself from the blinding light. With that, she was able to see the approaching figure of Yakushi Kabuto rushing towards Naruto while creating a sword made from bone in his right hand.
Biting down on her lip and drawing blood slightly, Anko forced her body to move past the overwhelming sound stimulus and jump behind Naruto. She then blocked Kabuto's bone sword with Shibuki, creating a massive explosion that forced dirt and dust to cover the entire grotto.
The resulting collision finally stopped the light-and-sound stimulus. Both Naruto and Orochimaru recovered. Naruto then created more adamantine sealing chains to grab Orochimaru once again, but the Sannin was able to jump away this time, avoiding capture a second time.
"Dammit, I would have had you-" Naruto's words died on his lips as he began to truly sense a new presence in the room.
Anko jumped to his side as Orochimaru joined side-by-side with Kabuto.
Kabuto, like Naruto and Anko, was now emitting natural energy from his body. Behind his glasses were yellow eyes that narrowed into slits and scales had developed on his body. A grin developed on his face, revealing teeth that almost resembled fangs.
"You know Sage Mode too, Kabuto?" Orochimaru questioned, his eyes narrowing on his summoner.
Kabuto chuckled in response to his former master's question. His eyes focused on Naruto: "Gotta say Naruto, while I may have my own vices, you have your own; thanks for getting distracted by Orochimaru-sama threatening Anko's life. That gave me all the time I needed to channel my own Sage Mode."
"You're not the only Snake Sage, Kabuto." Anko said, scowling. "I was able to see what you were doing. I'm not going to let you pull that shit off!"
"That's a single trick up my arsenal. You're only a student of Sage Senjutsu; not a master." Kabuto replied. A grin developed on his face: "What did you all call me again? A 'jack of all trades; master of none'? Let's see if that assertion still holds up now!"
'Think Hanabi. Think clearly!' Hanabi told herself, trying to think of the most efficient way to break out of the room.
Using her Byakugan, Hanabi could see that there was a floor underneath the prison cells. Directly underneath was a large room that must have been reserved as a breakroom or a kitchen – with tables, counters, pantries filled with food, and a stovetop – that had stairs at one end that led to their target location. She could also see that, behind the wall of the prison cell opposite of the cell door, was a cave that connected to outside the building. If Hanabi could get either downstairs or into that cave, she would pass the exam easily. Figuring out how to do either thing was trickier than expected, however.
She was ahead of most of the other genin attempting the exam; after the Kirigakure genin managed to melt his door and walk out simply, she noticed many more genin still attempting to somehow break down their own cell door. Amongst those genin, she noticed Katsumi was trying to break down her door using earth style ninjutsu.
"She's not going to break out like that…" Hanabi frowned. She then turned her attention to Hebihiro. "Hey, can you please let her know? Slither through the window and find her cell and let her know about the exits below and outside."
The snake nodded his head as he slithered through the small window opening.
'Hopefully she'll find her own way out.' Hanabi thought to herself. Her eyes then focused on Kanji, who she noticed was slouched over at the door, his hands held outward slightly from his body. 'Kanji-san must have landed Mind Transfer jutsu on someone. Hopefully he's making progress somewhat.'
Turning her attention back to her own prison cell, Hanabi bent down to the ground and started to feel the individual blue tiles of the floor. The tiles felt smooth to her, but none of them felt loose. She bit down on her lip hard.
"There has got to be a trick to this. I know it." She grumbled. An idea then entered her head: 'Perhaps I could try channeling chakra?'
Taking in a deep breath, Hanabi began to coat her hands with her chakra as she ran them, once again, over each floor tile. She inched her way through the entire room until she reached one tile to the center-left of the room. Upon being touched with her chakra-laden hand, the tile lit up with a lighter blue light. Hanabi's eyes widened.
'Is this it?' She asked as she tried to pull the tile up. She struggled, but found she was unable to lift it. 'Maybe if I try and break it?'
After struggling for another minute and realizing she could not lift it up, Hanabi then tried to palm strike the tile. The tile did not break, causing her to sigh. 'Ugh. Okay, so that's not going to work. Maybe I can-'
"Hanabi, I'm back." Hebihiro called out to her as he slithered back into the room. "Katsumi said-"
"Eep!" Having only been focused on the floor, Hanabi was startled by the snake and fell backwards.
"Hanabi? Are you okay?" Hebihiro asked.
"I-" Before Hanabi could reply, she noticed that her chakra-laden hand had touched another tile on the floor. The original tile that was lit stopped shining light. Hanabi's eyes widened in realization.
"That's it. There's a pattern." She said.
"Hmm? Hanabi?" Hebihiro tilted his head slightly.
Hanabi shook her head, turning back to the snake: "Hebihiro, sorry to send you back out again, but can you communicate that with Katsumi again? And maybe Kanji if he's back in his own body again? Tell her to try and channel chakra into the floor tiles and search for a pattern."
The snake nodded his head before slithering back out once again. Hanabi then went back to the original tile and, after touching it again, the tile lit up. She then moved to the tile right next to it, which caused the light to become extinguished once again.
'This is probably going to take a lot of trial-and-error, but I think this will work. This has to work!' She told herself, grinning. 'Hopefully Kanji and Katsumi will be able to understand as well!'
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!"
After taking a deep breath in, Kabuto breathed out a white powder directly into the ground of the cave.
'What's he doing?' Naruto's eyes narrowed as he and Anko tensed up. 'It almost feels like he's channeling nature energy into the ground itself. What is-'
Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as the ground underneath his feet started to open. He and Anko jumped away just in time as a sinkhole developed.
As they moved through the air, rocks from the ground floor flew upwards at them, moving hard. Naruto and Anko were both unable to get away and were pelted by the rocks.
'This isn't normal earth ninjutsu. The ground is moving entirely on its own.' Naruto hissed as he looked over at Kabuto, who was charging at him with a bone sword in his right hand.
Kabuto swung his bone directly at Naruto, but the Uzumaki jumped back. The blond then side-stepped, avoiding another barrage of rocks. Kabuto snapped his finger and a hole in the cave's ceiling collapsed, causing more large rocks to fall directly at Naruto.
"Sage Art: Fire Style: Widespread Ruin!"
Before the rocks could connect, blue fire rushed throughout the entire grotto, covering all inches of cave floor with fire. The blue fire connected with the falling rocks, causing them to fall apart into smaller rocks.
"I know the technique you used, Kabuto. The White Snake Sage informed me about it; said it's something she wants me to learn one day." Anko spoke-up, creating an orb of blue fire in her hands. "And I know that high temperatures can revert any matter back to its harmless, lifeless state."
"You know about one technique. Fascinating." Kabuto rolled his eyes as he held out his right hand and left hand: "Let's see how you two handle this. Crystal Style: Crystal Lance. Dance of the Clematis: Flower!"
Kabuto's right arm was encased in a massive, long, sharp blue crystal while his left arm began to shift shape, turning into a large drill-like structure made of bone.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed on Kabuto's bone weapon: 'Kimimaro needed to enter his Stage Two of his cursed mark to use that jutsu, yet you are able to use both it and one of Guren's most powerful techniques effortlessly at the same time? How? How have you accomplished what I had been spending my whole life researching in the matter of three years?'
"If you have time to gawk, Orochimaru-sama, you have time to fight!" Kabuto spat as he charged forward.
Instantly, without any control of his body, Orochimaru rushed forward, Kusanagi quickly returning to his hand.
Both Naruto and Anko tensed up. Orochimaru swung Kusanagi at Naruto, who side-stepped to avoid. Kabuto jumped at him, preparing to impale him with his bone drill.
"Fūinjutsu: Protective Winds!"
Seals on Naruto's person began to activate, creating a barrage of protective winds around his body that blocked Kabuto's bone drill. The bone, however, continued to move forward almost effortlessly. Naruto's eyes widened in horror.
'He pierced my defense so easily-' Naruto was impaled by the bone drill in his right shoulder. "AHHHHHHHHH!"
Kabuto smirked as Naruto began to choke up blood. He lifted his left hand, which lifted Naruto up effortlessly.
"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Kabuto glanced over towards Anko, who breathed out a massive dragon-shaped blue fire bullet towards him. He chuckled as he held out his crystal lance forward, intercepting the dragon completely and extinguishing it.
"Heh, nice thinking Anko. I know historically, Crystal Release is countered by fire elemental ninjutsu. The benefits of infusing natural energy into it and giving my crystals more stability." Kabuto taunted.
Anko grit her teeth in response as she charged forward at Kabuto. Before she could reach him, Orochimaru jumped in between and blocked with his Kusanagi.
"Well, Orochimaru-sama can keep her busy for a moment. Now, where was I?" Kabuto's grin widened as he turned back to Naruto and touched the edge of his crystal lance against his left foot. "Ah, yes."
Immediately, Naruto's body began to crystalize slowly, starting with his foot and traveling up his leg to his other foot.
'Come on Naruto. Stop this. Think, there's gotta be a technique you can do. One that should stop all this.' Naruto grit his teeth. In idea entered his head; one he remembered the ROOT researcher Tsumiki Kido used against him. He took in a deep breath: "Tailed Beast Shockwave!"
Naruto roared, creating a massive shockwave directly into the crystal lance and at Kabuto. The force of Naruto's empowered roar caused the crystals to explode, freeing Naruto from them. The shockwave then barreled its way into Kabuto. The impact was enough that Kabuto was sent flying, pulling out his bone drill from Naruto's shoulder, and was sent flying into the cave's wall hard. He choked out blood as he fell to the ground and rocks began to fall down onto his body.
"Ugh." Having the bone drill forced out of his shoulder, Naruto hissed in pain as more blood began to pour out of his wound. He slowly composed himself just as Orochimaru jumped to him, gripping Kusanagi.
"Stay down-" Before Orochimaru's blade could connect, Anko jumped in, parrying with Shibuki with enough force that Kusanagi was sent flying into the cave's ceiling once again.
"You alright, Naruto?" Anko asked.
"Doing… fine…" Naruto took in a deep breath, feeling Kurama's chakra tending to his wound.
Naruto held out his right hand, causing adamantine sealing chains to rush out of his hand at Orochimaru. The Sannin jumped back, avoiding them, and moved back to Kabuto, who was pulling himself up from the ground.
Orochimaru smirked, noticing the blood on Kabuto's lips and the cuts on his body: "What's your next plan of attack, Kabuto-sama?"
Kabuto shook his head, not verbally replying to the Edo Tensei. Instead, he made five hand signs before clapping his hands together: "Sage Art: Lava Style: Meteor Crash!"
A large spiraling orb of lava developed in between Kabuto's hands. The Akatsuki member chucked it into the ceiling of the cave, cementing itself into the rocks. A second passed by and the lava orb started to grow and glow before it released hundreds of tinier lava rocks that fell to the ground at Naruto and Anko.
"Shit! Dodge, Naruto!" Anko called out.
Both Naruto and Anko proceeded to jump around the cave, trying to avoid the oncoming 'meteors' from hitting them. As they continued to jump around, both Kabuto and Orochimaru lifted their right hands.
"Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Both the summoner and Edo Tensei released hundreds of snakes that flew directly at Naruto and Anko. The two Konoha shinobi continued to jump around, trying to dodge both them and the 'meteors'. One of the shadow snake hands from Kabuto managed to bite down on Naruto's leg, causing him to hiss in pain and fall to his knees.
"Hmm. That bite was laden with poison. A lot. Nothing my chakra can't heal, though." Kurama's voice sounded in Naruto's head. "Now focus back on the fight!"
'I'm trying-' Naruto's thoughts ended as one of the meteors crashed into his head. He screamed as he was knocked down to the ground hard; it felt like his whole head was on fire.
"Naruto-" Anko was bit down by one of Orochimaru's snakes. She hissed in pain, but quickly pulled through and managed to grab onto the snake's neck. "Orochimaru, I'm a Snake Sage now; do you actually think this pitiful amount of poison is going to kill me?"
With as much strength as she could muster, Anko pulled hard and swung upward, forcing Orochimaru off his feet and flinging him into the large 'lava' orb in the ceiling. Before he could connect with it, however, Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword flew through the sky, cutting the snake's head off and disconnecting it from Orochimaru's body. Orochimaru now freefell directly on top of Anko, digging his knee into her stomach. She choked up blood in pain as he held her down in the ground.
As she struggled to pull herself up off the ground, the 'meteors' from Kabuto's jutsu began to rain down solely on her exposed body. She shouted loudly as the blue flames of her 'flare aura' began to fade slightly.
"Kehehehehe. Let's see how much more it takes before your fire finally goes out." Orochimaru said, licking his lips as he touched his right hand onto the curse mark on her neck.
Before he could start his jutsu, Anko managed to adjust her legs and kick upwards. Orochimaru's eyes widened as she knocked him upwards into the sky. As he was about to begin his descent, adamantine sealing chains quickly surrounded his body.
"Urk!" He hissed as he turned his attention to Naruto, who had pulled himself off the ground.
"Stay dead already, asshole!" He growled as he, with his sealing chains, swung Orochimaru upward.
This time, Orochimaru's body connected with the 'lava orb' in the ceiling, causing it to explode. Immediately, the barrage of 'meteors' ended.
"Alright, that's done." Naruto said. He then turned his head and side-stepped, avoiding another barrage of shadow snake hands.
Naruto and Anko got back up into position, both heavily breathing and with visible burn marks on their skins. Kabuto began to slowly approach them just as Orochimaru's body reformed next to him.
"No matter how many tricks you got, Kabuto, you're not going to change anything. You're still going to die." Naruto said sharply.
"You sure about that?" Kabuto asked with a chuckle as he adjusted his glasses. "I got plenty more 'tricks' and you two look like you've been doing better."
"You'll see-" Naruto's words died on his lips as a memory entered his head.
He had sent a shadow clone out at the beginning of the fight to report to the Yondaime Raikage about Kabuto's appearance in the grotto. He just received a detailed memory from the clone, about how it had been trying to avoid being destroyed by an assailant before dissipating, having been caught before it could deliver his message. A scowl developed on his face.
'Someone destroyed my clone. Great. So that means we aren't getting backup from the Raikage.' Naruto shook his head. 'Whatever. We'll manage.'
"Whatever you're going to do, you'll want to hurry this up. This guy is going to get more deadly the longer this fight goes." Kurama spoke-up. "You need to finish him and finish him decisively."
'I know. I just need to-' Naruto's eyes widened as an idea entered his head. 'Wait, that's it! That should finish him off!'
'Ugh! Finally!' Kanji shook his head after returning to his consciousness. 'Note to self; never invade that guy's mind again!'
When Kanji took over the chūnin proctor Omoi's mind, he was not expecting to deal with the unforeseen consequence of having to interact with his partner, Karui. She had to have them doing their jobs diligently and with focus, meaning he was not afforded even the slightest of seconds to 'space out'.
Nevertheless, after thirty minutes, Kanji managed to finally find the requisite memories and promptly left Omoi's body.
"That guy can deal with her." He shivered. "Anyway, back to work."
There were actually a couple of ways to break out of the prison cell it seemed, based on whatever information the genin were able to gleam. There was also supposed to be hints outside if the genin looked out the prison door's window to find them normally, but Kanji opted to memorize the fastest way for him.
Kneeling to the ground, Kanji covered his hand in his chakra and touched a particular floor tile to the center-left of the room. The tile promptly lit up. He then walked to the top right corner of the room and touched the tile there with his hand, illuminating it as well. He then moved to the floor tile directly at the door before moving six tiles backwards and touching that one. Kanji then finally went to the back-left corner and touched the tile directly above it.
After touching those five tiles in that specific order, the final tile opened up, creating a hole in the cell. Kanji immediately jumped down the hole and landed in what Omoi's memories told him was a break room.
He began to look around the room for stairs. To his surprise, he found a couple of the shinobi in the room. He saw two shinobi from Kusagakure, a shinobi from Suna, one from Iwa, and a couple of Kumo shinobi sitting down. He also recognized Konohamaru, Moegi, and Kazuo all waiting around.
"Well, about time you managed to get here!"
Kanji looked around the room towards the source of his voice and found both Hanabi and Katsumi sitting down in chairs. Hanabi was waving at him while Katsumi grinned, having her arms crossed. Kanji walked over to them, chuckling.
"You all were waiting on me, huh? I'm sorry." He said.
"It's fine." Hanabi shook her head. "There's still an hour of the time. And we aren't going to the next stage without you."
Kanji smiled back at his teammate.
No other words were necessary; now that Team Nine had been reunited, they ran towards the stairs and started up them together. They made their way up towards the prison floor, the entrance floor, and then finally arrived at the second floor of the building.
The second floor of the building was laid out like an academy classroom, with seats that faced forward to a center stage. There were seven people currently in the room. Three of them were from Kirigakure – one of which included the boy with the Boil Release kekkei genkai – and were all sitting together. In a few chairs next to them were two of the Kumogakure genin, Urusai and Tarinai. Both were sitting with another Kumogakure genin – a boy with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a dark blue bodysuit with a cloud pattern that seemingly covered his entire body and only partially showing his ivory-colored skin – and the three were all glaring at the Konoha shinobi as they walked in.
Standing at the front of the room, behind on a podium on the center stage, was Samui. The Kumogakure jōnin looked at Katsumi, Kanji, and Hanabi and nodded her head in approval."
"Team Nine of Konoha – passed." She said, making a note on a scroll on the podium. "If you three, please, can have a seat in the room. I will update you on the next stage of the Chūnin Exams when the time limit is over?"
"Whoo!" Katsumi cheered as she took a seat down at the table. "We passed-"
"Please, keep quiet." Samui spoke-up sharply, crossing her arms. "Stay cool."
The brown-haired shinobi's mouth shut slightly, but she nodded her head in understanding. Both Kanji and Hanabi took a seat next to her. All three exchanged a pleased, content look with one another, knowing that they were moving on.
"Anko-sensei, I'm going to need some help keeping them distracted, okay?" Naruto asked. "If you can do that, then I'll be able to kill him once and for all."
"I'll do what I can." Anko nodded her head.
Nodding back to her, Naruto's body slowly sank underground, using the Headhunter Jutsu.
Kabuto's eyes narrowed as he slammed his hand on the ground: "I'm not letting you pull anything off, Naruto. Mud Style: Thick Mud!"
The ground of the cave shined for a moment before the rocks on the ground changed shape entirely, turning into a thick layer of mud. As he looked upward, he saw Anko rush over to him, gripping Shibuki, which began to unravel. Kabuto then punched forward with his fist: "Explosion Style: Landmine Fist!"
Both Kabuto's fist and the blast-sword generated a simultaneous explosion that knocked both Kabuto and Anko backwards. As Anko tried to gather her bearings, Orochimaru's tongue shot from his mouth. Anko jumped into the air, narrowly avoiding it.
"I've seen all you are capable of doing. Got anything different to try this time, Orochimaru?" Anko asked, grinning. "Or, after dying, have you simply just accepted your place as a mediocre ninja?"
"My, what a boring taunt. Surely, you could try and goad me better than that, Anko-chan." Orochimaru snickered as he made a hand sign.
Immediately, Kusanagi flew into the sky directly at Anko's position. The jōnin dodged mid-air, causing the blade to lodge itself into the ceiling once again.
"I'm not trying to goad you, Orochimaru. I'm just reminding you of your place." Anko noted, grinning. "As nothing more than a dead puppet to your former servant."
Orochimaru's snickering stopped and a scowl developed on his lips: "Dead, you say? We'll see about that!"
Orochimaru vanished, using the shunshin to appear behind Anko. He attempted to kick her down to the ground, but she turned and caught his foot. Orochimaru's neck then extended, allowing him to bite down on her neck, right where her curse mark was. She screamed in pain as the curse mark started to glow an orange light slightly as he brought her back to the ground.
'You were saying something, Anko-chan?' Orochimaru grinned. 'Now, welcome me back to the land of the living-'
"Sage Art: Flare Aura!"
Immediately, Anko's waning flare aura reignited and magnified, encasing her entire body in blue fires. Orochimaru screamed in pain as the fire burned with such an intensity that it separated his neck from his body, causing him to fall apart once again.
"You're dead. Accept it already and stay fucking dead!" Anko spat out before turning her attention back to Kabuto. She clapped her hands. "And you; go join him already and fucking die!"
The magnified blue flames raced off her body directly at Kabuto. The Akatsuki member proceeded to side-step and maneuver his way through the ground directly towards her, narrowly avoiding the flames. He continued until he directly reached her and he formed a bone drill in his hands. With a snap of her fingers, she changed shape of the remaining blue flames, completely encasing her hands with the fire.
"Dance of the Clematis: Flower!"
"Sage Art: Erupting Burning Finger!"
Both Anko's and Kabuto's techniques connected with each other. Anko screamed in pain as the bone drill connected with her side, causing her to start choking out more-and-more blood. Anko's burning hand, however, managed to hit Kabuto in his chest. The flames burned off a layer of iron that was around his chest and hit his skin, piercing it, drawing blood, and causing internal bleeding. Kabuto hissed in pain as he stepped backwards from her, pulling out the drill.
"Hmmmph. That… impressive. That hurt like… hell." He hissed.
"Good…" Anko said, taking in a deep breath.
She tried to take a step forward but she fell to the ground, cursing. The flare aura around her body faded away and she lost connection with Sage Mode, the natural energy in her body having been completely exhausted. She choked up more blood upon impact as she struggled to try and pull herself off the ground. Kabuto shook his head as he gripped his bone drill.
"As fun as that was, I have jobs to do. I need my DNA samples and I need to take Naruto back with me." He said sharply.
"You could get on with your work if you need, Kabuto-sama." Kabuto glanced back momentarily, noticing that Orochimaru had reformed himself. "I can end my precious Anko-chan while you do all that busy work you need to do-"
"No need. I'd like to kill her." Kabuto said as he extended his hand backwards.
Just as he was about to plunge his bone drill into her one last time, the ground underneath him opened. An adamantine chain rushed out and grabbed onto Kabuto's chest, holding him in place.
"What?" Kabuto hissed. 'He shouldn't be able to break out of the underground! Even with the Kyūbi's power and Sage Mode, my senjutsu-enhanced Mud Release shouldn't be able to be broken so easily!'
As Kabuto struggled to break himself free, Naruto jumped out of the ground, completely covered in mud. In his right hand was a spiraling vortex that resembled the Rasengan with an outer layer of wind blades, making it resemble a shuriken.
As Kabuto continued to struggle, Naruto used the chain to pull him closer to him. Kabuto's body began to harden, forming a layer of iron, a layer of mud, and a thick exoskeleton layer around his body.
"Sage Art: Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
Naruto slammed his Rasenshuriken into Kabuto's body, which promptly sent Kabuto flying away into the cave's wall before detonating, creating a massive vortex of microscopic wind blades that tore into Kabuto's body.
Kabuto's eyes widened in horror: 'Wh-What the hell is this?'
Bit by bit, the wind blades tore into each layer of Kabuto's protections. The Rasenshuriken effortlessly tore apart the Shikotsumyaku exoskeleton and caused the thick mud layer to fall apart. Kabuto's iron skin then started to crack until it too was reduced to shreds. Within seconds, Kabuto's bare skin was revealed and was cut into by the Rasenshuriken.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kabuto's scream echoed throughout the grotto.
The wind blades tore into his clothes and skin, drawing so much blood. He tried his best to shield his body and heal his wounds with his medical ninjutsu, but he was not healing fast enough to keep up with the shear amount of cuts.
'Damn, Naruto. This is your completed Rasengan.' Anko's eyes widened as she continued to try and pull herself off the ground.
'That jutsu…' Orochimaru's eyes focused on the Rasenshuriken with a mixture of amazement and jealousy. 'How beautiful… I must learn it!'
Naruto was quiet, breathing heavily as he watched his jutsu ravage Kabuto's body. His body had officially exhausted its remaining natural energy and he lost his Sage Mode, but he remained in his version two Bijū Form as he observed.
Time continued to move by until the jutsu finally ended. Kabuto collapsed to the ground in a pool of blood. His outfit had been ripped to shreds and his body was filled with so many freshly bleeding cuts that he appeared red in skin tone. His glasses had been completely shattered and his eyes returned to normal, his body falling out of Sage Mode as well.
"You… You… will…" He breathed out heavily before falling to the ground. 'Dammit!'
"It's over Kabuto." Naruto declared as he took in a deep breath: "Die! Tailed Beast Shockwave!"
As Naruto roared, creating a massive shockwave from his mouth that flew directly at Kabuto, Orochimaru jumped forward, moving out of his own volition and grabbed Kabuto's body. He then jumped away, saving him from the blast.
"Need a tactical retreat, it seems." Orochimaru noted, chuckling.
"Just… get me out of here…" Kabuto hissed. "I'll use… what chakra I can use… to make this easier."
"You're not getting away that easily!" Naruto hissed as he opened his mouth.
As the jinchūriki roared one more time, creating another shockwave, Kabuto's and Orochimaru's bodies turned into mud and sank into the ground, vanishing. The tailed beast shockwave collided with the earth, creating another massive crater.
"Dammit, where the hell did he go?" Naruto hissed as he made a hand sign and created multiple shadow clones. "One of you; get Anko to a medical unit. The rest, come help me find this asshole!"
With those words, Naruto and his clones were off, rushing off to their assigned objectives.
Two hours had officially passed. Samui stood at the center podium alongside Atsui, Karui, and Omoi, looking out at all the genin sitting in front of them.
A total of fifty-seven genin – nineteen teams – all sat down in front of them: eight from Kumogakure, three from Konohagakure, three from Kirigakure, two from Iwagakure, one from Sunagakure, one from Kusagakure, and one from Shimogakure.
"Let me be the first to congratulate all of you on passing the first exam in the Chūnin Exams." Samui said, a small smile on her face. "All of you earned it."
The fifty-seven genin all nodded their heads, smiling back in response. No one shouted or made any noise whatsoever, which caused Samui's smile to grow into a smirk.
"All of you displayed skills that managed to outwit our prison. Many of you were able to, despite the limiting confines of your prison cell, find out the information on how to bust out of your cell. And, if I recall correctly, one of you was able to even bust out of the prison cell through physical force." Her eyes then narrowed on one Kirigakure genin, a boy wearing goggles. "Terumi Kinosaki, yes? While I find your display with Boil Release to be rather impressive, please refrain from damaging any property during the rest of your stay in Kumo."
"Promise, I'll behave." The boy, Kinosaki, said with a chuckle.
"Eh, no need to be too hard on him. That's some pretty hot stuff if I do say so myself." Atsui spoke-up with a grin. The blond-haired boy then looked out to the crowd and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry for being kind an ass, by the way. Just wanted to get into character. But I did mean what I said. You all need to be a little less trusting of what you are told to do. Sure, obey your leaders and orders and all that shit, but you are shinobi; you're expected to think critically."
"That is something you all will hopefully take with you in life, but you all did take the most important lesson from the exam." Samui noted. "Despite Atsui telling you that there was going to be a cut-off, you all waited for your teammates to arrive before coming up to join me in this room. You all displayed that you would be willing to put your own careers second to your teammates and to make sure they passed. And that is something I find to be very cool."
"I know we all come from different villages and shit, but all shinobi villages value their own and you all showed that." Karui said, nodding her head in approval. "Good job."
Katsumi, Kanji, and Hanabi all shared a look, grinning at one another. Katsumi held out her fists, which both Kanji and Hanabi quickly fist bumped. Hebihiro snuffled more against Hanabi's neck affectionately.
"That does conclude the first exam. The second exam will begin two days from now, at eight o'clock sharp." Samui said sharply, her smile dropping. "It will be at Raiun Fields, so be there promptly so you can meet with the next exam proctor."
"Raiun Fields?" A Kumogakure genin spoke-up, sweating. "Y-You mean the Cloud Graveyard? The next exam… is there?"
"Uh, I think that's what she just said." Omoi said, shrugging his shoulders. "So I guess that means that where it's going to be."
"No chūnin should be scared of a place like that." Karui snorted. "If you want to even be considered a chūnin, you will show up. And you will not be late."
"Cloud Graveyard?" Hanabi rubbed her chin in thought. "That sounds a little like The Forest of Death."
"Must be the Kumo equivalent." Katsumi shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever; we'll be there. And we'll manage."
Upon getting dismissed, the genin of Team Nine left the room with excited grins and a feeling of confidence, and an excitement to inform their jōnin-sensei about all that happened in their exam.
'Hope Naruto-sensei kept himself entertained and is awake; can't wait to tell him all about this!' Katsumi thought, her grin widening.
"Kabuto got away?" Ē asked.
Naruto nodded his head, sighing. After searching for over an hour throughout Kumo and the edge of the village, neither he nor his clones could find Kabuto or Orochimaru. As such, he reported back to the Yondaime Raikage.
"I checked the grotto, Raikage-sama. Thankfully, the bodies of the Shodai, Nidaime, and Sandaime were all still preserved." Mabui said, bowing her head. "They were protected by some type of mud-like clay, but they were all in perfectly good condition and it appears as if they were not altered in the slightest."
"Hmph. That's a relief, but still." Ē rubbed his hands against his head, scowling. "We had a chance to catch this rat in our village and we blew it."
"I sent a clone out to report back to you, but it was dispelled." Naruto said, frowning. "I actually think you may have a spy in your midst."
"I figured I did, but it concerns me that they were able to find out about your presence there. Either that, or they were directly responsible for helping Kabuto sneak into this village, which is even more concerning." Ē shook his head. "I'll do a thorough background check on the movement of all my shinobi last night in the village. I'll find them and make sure that they receive a personal execution by my hands!"
After finishing up his report, Naruto left the Raikage's office and started to walk back to his residence, biting his lip. His hands tightened into fists as he looked out towards the edge of the village.
'Kabuto, you may have gotten away again from me, but that won't happen again. The next time I see you, you're dead!' He vowed.
Hidan yawned as he pulled himself up. The sound of footsteps in the cave woke-up. He stretched slightly as he began to look out towards the entrance to the cave, grinning.
"Bout time you got back. Get your previous DNA samples, heretic?" He asked.
He received no reply, which caused Hidan to frown. A few more seconds passed by before he saw Orochimaru enter the cave, carrying Kabuto on his back. Hidan's eyes widened.
"Yo, what the fuck?" The Jashinite asked as he hurried over to the Edo Tensei summon. "Kabuto? You alive?"
"Barely…" Kabuto admitted.
Orochimaru laid down Kabuto's body on the ground. As soon as he did that, a coffin rose from the ground. Orochimaru's body was quickly dragged back inside.
"I'll see you again the next time you require my services, Kabuto-sama." Orochimaru chuckled maliciously before the coffin door closed and he was brought back into the earth.
"What the fuck happened to you?" Hidan asked. "You need medical or some shit? Can you heal yourself?"
"I… I'll heal… I just need to rest…" Kabuto said, sighing. "God… I've never… been hit… by a jutsu like that… before…"
'Rasenshuriken… you're becoming more and more of a problem than I expected, Naruto.' Kabuto realized, scowling. 'No matter, though. You put a set back in my own research, but you're not stalling my overall plans. Akatsuki will win out and you'll be dead, with the Kyūbi forced out of you. And I'll be there to make sure that happens!'
Quick Notes:
1: The first exam of the Chūnin Exams was actually suggested by fellow author Ander Arias. He and I were talking back quite a while ago about this arc in a very broad sense and I mentioned I was still trying to think of what the first exam needed to be. I needed something that would be at least moderately interesting and exciting, but also something that would not be distracting from something that would be happening simultaneously (a.k.a. Naruto/Anko vs. Kabuto/Orochimaru). And he suggested the result we saw today. I just wanted to give him credit for it! Thanks again Ander Arias! :)
2: Terumi Kinotaki... just giving a heads-up about this OC. My headcanon, especially since I already said the origin of the Lava Release being traced back to Iwa, is that the "Terumi Clan" is the origin of the Boil Release. Now, my OC is not inherently a relative to Mei. Sure, they have a shared ancestry going back, but no, I'm not inventing someone that's like a cousin or a long lost younger brother or some shit.
I... probably could have elaborated on that later, since I think Kinotaki is literally just a footnote in this chapter. But eh, still thought I'd include it here XD
Author's Note: WHOA! Hey everyone, chapter 104 is fianally here!
Wow... as I said earlier, this past month has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me. Both from general stress of planning a wedding and then having to get a lot of the reception and fanfare postponed because of the Coronavirus. Seriously, fuck that thing. I hope all of you are healthy and taking care of yourselves.
I'm taking care of myself to the best of my abilities, but thankfully I got my WIFE WITH ME! AHHHHHHHH! Sorry to gush for a bit, but I'm just really excited that i finally get to type that and call her that, that I may take advantage of that and just reference her a lot! I'm so happy :)
... and I know she's waiting on me to post this chapter so I can finally go to sleep XD So I'll cut this note short here. I just wanted to elaborate that I've been busy as hell, but I'm hoping to be in a calmer environment now and will be able to write more. I hope you all are doing well and staying safe. And I'll try and chapter 105 out ASAP! Until then :)
