Short update because I'm sick. :(
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"Wait—" Naruto cried out, but Kakashi had already vanished in a blur of silver. "Don't hurt him!"
He struggled to his feet, trying to speed up the circulation of his chakra so his injuries would heal faster. Kakashi and Kama had already clashed thrice during that time, and it was painfully obvious that Kama was quite outmatched.
It didn't stop Hiruko from continuing to force him to attack, however, and Naruto knew he had to do something soon. But first, he had to keep still and focus…
Hiruko had to know by now that Kakashi had broken into the place and freed his prisoner. If he was just using Kama as a distraction while trying to regain control over the situation, then he couldn't be too far off…
Naruto couldn't hold Sage Mode for long in his current condition, but it was enough to find what he was looking for.
"Kakashi-sensei! I'll deal with the other one!" Naruto called out. He channelled chakra to his hand, ready to blast through the wall Hiruko was hiding behind, but then a haze of red fell over his vision and he found himself abruptly pulled into his mindscape.
"Kurama, what…"
But this was not the part of his mindscape which housed Kurama, and the bijuu had not been the one to bring him there. Naruto stared at the sigil floating in the air before him, which was shaped like a giant eye and glowing bright scarlet.
Kurama, are you seeing this?
I see it, Kurama's voice resounded within his mind, and Naruto let out a small sigh of relief. That pathetic worm must have placed his seal on you while you were unconscious.
"How did I not notice this earlier?" Naruto wondered, reaching out a chakra arm towards the mark to break it. The attempt failed, however, as the sigil only shimmered and turned translucent while the extended hand passed right through.
Naruto's eyes widened.
"So that's why Kakashi-sensei never realised he'd been marked with the Puppet Curse for so many years…" he said slowly. "Seems like we've underestimated Hiruko."
The rogue ninja had tied his seal to a different dimension, connecting it back to this realm with just the tiniest thread of chakra, so that it could almost completely phase out from existence while it lay dormant.
Tch, hardly, Kurama snorted, unimpressed. A worm is still a worm, even if it does know a few extra tricks.
Naruto grinned. "In any case, dealing with this now will be helpful for later."
The question of how to free Kama from Hiruko's control had been on his mind since he first laid eyes on the boy, though he hadn't really had much of a plan other than killing Hiruko to end the jutsu before Kama could get hurt.
Hiruko's space-time ninjutsu, while crafty in its application, was ultimately rather pathetic compared to all the reality-warping madness that had gone on during the Fourth War. Finding and breaking the chakra thread was the only tricky part, and breaking the seal was almost laughably easy with Naruto's Six Paths Chakra Mode.
Everything will be alright. I'm coming to save you now.
Their fight should've ended in one move.
Kama knew he was no match for Kakashi, who not only had the advantages of strength, speed, and experience, but was also unhindered by old injuries. It would've been only too easy for Kakashi to slip in a fatal blow from Kama's blind spot, and yet…
The other version of himself was still looking to incapacitate rather than kill.
It didn't make sense. Kama was incapable of winning this fight, that much was certain, but he was still an effective diversion to keep them from attacking Hiruko directly. That was the only reason the rogue ninja had kept Kama around, instead of assimilating him like he'd done with so many others.
Naruto had been unwilling to attack him back then, even going so far as to let Hiruko take him captive as well. It had seemed like such a weakness to Kama, for someone as powerful as that to be held back by mere sentimentality.
And yet, Naruto had not been afraid. He had sought to reassure Kama, even when they were both rendered powerless.
But even if Naruto was a fool with more sentiment than sense, Kama knew that Kakashi was different. He knew himself well enough to be sure that, had his and Kakashi's positions been switched, he would not have hesitated to cut down his own imposter.
Kakashi was well aware that the opponent he faced was nothing more than a false copy, created along with the rest of the illusion world for the sole purpose of keeping him prisoner. Kama had not been spared for his own sake, but for Naruto's.
But how much longer could they continue like this?
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Hiruko had stopped hiding his presence after Naruto's yell, malevolent chakra flaring outwards and exerting an invisible pressure upon everything in the vicinity. Naruto halted in his tracks and Kakashi stopped as well, whirling around to see what had happened.
The sight of Hiruko's sigil glowing upon Naruto's forehead made his blood turn to ice in his veins.
No. No, no, it couldn't be, Hiruko couldn't possibly…
It was only instinct which saved him when Kama darted at him behind, Chidori crackling in his hand. Kakashi dodged at the last moment and landed a palm strike against Kama's back, causing him to fall heavily onto the ground.
Kakashi tried to get back to Naruto while his counterpart was temporarily incapacitated, but Hiruko's chakra-empowered bandages darted out at him and forced a retreat.
The initial panic had made him sloppy, but he couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. Kama's last attack had been clumsy, and he had completely failed to sidestep a fairly predictable counterattack from Kakashi.
It seemed that Hiruko's control over his Puppet Curse victims was weaker when his attention was divided. Kakashi had not been able to break the other Hiruko's mind control back then, and it was only due to Hiruko's arrogance that Kakashi had been spared from suffering Kama's fate.
If Kakashi could keep diverting this Hiruko's attention, it would help make things easier for Naruto. That was the least he could do – but it wasn't good enough.
He had let things drag on for long enough. It was time to end this, before Kama could re-engage their battle, and before Hiruko could pull out any more nasty surprises. This was his only window of opportunity, to finish it all in one move.
Kakashi pulled upon all the chakra he had left, and dashed forward in a blur of white and silver.
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Hiruko yanked on the Puppet Curse seal and Kama's body jolted, stumbling unsteadily to its feet. He felt himself being pulled towards his captor, and even through the haze of pain and exhaustion he could sense that something was very wrong.
Hiruko had his left hand raised to absorb Kakashi's jutsu, but Kama could see that the rest of his body had momentarily transformed to steel – committing entirely to defence, even though he could easily continue striking with his bandages to keep Kakashi at range.
Realisation hit Kama as lightning flared to life in his hand.
Hiruko was making himself the bait, so he could hold Kakashi in place while Kama landed the killing blow.
Fuck that, Kama thought fiercely, and threw himself forward.
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head hurts can't continue