You ever just kind of realize at around 10 o'clock at night on a Wednesday that you forgot to put up a chapter?

I did. I did that thing.

Without further ado... a bit late, but it counts I think...


Chapter 74: And He Doth Appear


"The entire Akatsuki's here!?"

The man across from him let out an aching sight, which was a poorly conceived code for 'yeah, probably', Kakashi couldn't help but think.

He and the rest of the unit, minus Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, and Haku, were present in one of the communications rooms just off of the main section. They'd asked the leader of the guard unit for as much information as he could cough up, hoping to get some good news.

They'd so far received none.

"There're 14 figures in the tree and the surrounding areas in the village." The man explained. "The flyer is the one creating the most disaster, pretty easily. Luckily, he's been engaged by a few of your people already. I assume they have that handled?"

He wasn't sure exactly what the man was talking about, until he realized that it must've been Naruto and the group he'd taken to rescue the civilians who'd survived the bombing runs. His heart leapt with some small degree of nervousness, but no, he could not afford to worry for Naruto, not when there were fourteen other Akatsuki agents to deal with, and that matched scarily well with their own numbers.

They'd already sent four into the village below. They couldn't afford to send another.

"They do." He answered, turning in his position at the center of the room curiously. "Do you have monitors set up watching the tree?"

"We do." The man directed Kakashi's attention to an open door by the end of the room, and he nodded. "If you want to check them out, get a better idea of where you're going, you can try there first."

He nodded, and broke off from the man then, taking his team with him and into the darker space. It was illuminated only by the light of the ten or so screens within, and on them, he saw what the man had talked about.

Multiple cloaked figures appeared in the screens before him. Some were unmasked, like Kisame, Itachi, and…

Kabuto?

He knew the man had been made a member of the organization, he'd been spying on them for close to three months; he'd learned almost everything there was to know on the surface, but Kabuto being a ring-bearer was...

Well, he supposed he could afford to worry about the Akatsuki's newest recruits later. The rest wore hoods to conceal their faces, though it wasn't exactly the most effective measure against people who knew the group.

It would allow them to surprise the Waterfall ninja, who likely wouldn't be able to differentiate them all based purely on style of fighting and would need a facial description to decipher just who they were fighting and devise a counterstrategy.

"Alright… unfortunately, until the Sand gets here, we're outnumbered."

The rest of the group, Guy, Anko, Tenzo, and a smattering of other ninja who he knew by face if not by name, all paid rapt attention to his words. They knew the drill here; listen to your superiors.

Kakashi had been on the other side more than enough times to understand that.

"That being said, we can pick out targets for the time being." He noted, pointing firstly towards Kisame, Itachi, and Kabuto. "We know these three well enough, which means we can devise a plan for dealing with them first and foremost. Guy, Tenzo, Anko. We'll take them on."

The three all nod.

"Half of you, split off and work with the sealing corps around here and get to trapping the tree." He explained. "See if they need any assistance, and guard them while they work. I've assumed from the way they haven't tried climbing the outside that the Waterfall's already trapped that, but best check while you're there."

They acknowledged.

"Alright. Lastly, the rest of you will act as a deterrent force, hit and run tactics. You'll slow down the Akatsuki ascending the tree as much as you can, buy as much time for Anko and the sealing corps as possible."

They yell out a roar of approval.

"Alright…" He shakes his head, a small, tired smile already setting in. "Here's to a long day, I suppose."

/-/

Naruto was still staring blankly at the pile-up of rubble by the time the civilians figured out what was going on.

He pounded his fist into the material a single time as he heard a few begin to sob, including the mother and child duo that'd been doing most of the interaction with them so far.

His mind was working at a mile a minute to try and find any alternative to what he knew they'd have to do. Could they clear the blockage? Well, not without using a paper bomb, an explosive in an already destabilized cavern. Could they remove it? Sure, if they had fifteen ninja instead of four and eleven civilians.

No… as things stood, the rocks weren't moving.

Which means they weren't moving.

Their only way out of there was back up the hatch, back out onto the street… and back into Deidara's line of fire.

The roof above them shook as an explosion presumably rattled the streets above, and he couldn't quite bite down on the curse that poured out of him before it did. He wasn't sure if it was the explosion itself, his own panic at it, or the combination of the two that made the overall sobbing worse, but he honestly wasn't sure it mattered.

Right now, they needed to do something.

Anything.

"Alright everyone." He spoke as confidently as he ever had, purposefully removing any and all nerves from his voice as much as he was able. "We're going back up."

Even his own fellows looked towards him like he was going a bit fast, and he couldn't exactly fault them for that, least of all Suigetsu, who certainly hadn't signed up for this.

"B-but… that man up there…" Emi choked out past the tears on her face. "He'll…"

"He won't lay a hand on any of you." Naruto assured them, turning, and facing each and every one of the civilians, individually making eye-contact. "I promise you that."

None seemed to believe him. He bit down on the inside of his mouth, but otherwise betrayed nothing of how he was feeling.

Or, well, he tried not to, until Emi's child shook the woman's shirt.

"Mom…" Emi's child shook her shirt. "Are… are we going to die?"

His heart panged horrendously, and even more so as the woman who'd looked so lost and broken a second ago suddenly had to put on a brave face.

"N-no, of course not, honey. These brave ninja are going to protect us."

The little girl met his gaze hesitantly, her green irises dim, without hope.

"You… will…?"

He couldn't falter, not now.

"Me and my friends definitely will!" He answered, bending his legs at the knee and squatting down to meet the girl at eye-level. "What's your name?"

The girl's lip trembled as the ceiling above them quaked once more, but he got in the way of her eyes, forcing her to look only at him.

"My name's… Hinata…" The girl answered cautiously.

He laughed. That would be easy enough to work with.

"That's funny." He scratched his chin. "I have a friend named Hinata. She's one of the strongest kunoichi's I know!"

The girl's face turned up, as if she was only now listening to him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." He smiled widely. "She uses her secret techniques to beat up bad ninja all over the world, and she even has a powerful ability in her eyes that lets her see through walls!"

He could see the way the awe hit the girl's expression, as if she hung off his every word. He could also make out, out of the corner of his eye, how Emi's expression softened, the woman herself calming down immensely.

"Funnily enough, she's actually here in the Waterfall right now, protecting the people here from those guys up there." He pointed with his thumb. "So how about when we finish up here, and get you guys to safety, we go and meet her?"

The girl smiled, nodding her head incessantly as she gave a quiet laugh. He spotted Emi mouthing 'thank you' to him, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He didn't feel he'd done anything worth being thanked for, but he'd take the praise he supposed.

When he turned back around to the rest of his allies, they were all shooting him rather wholesome looks.

"I know Sasuke got chosen for it already," Tenten laughed. "But have you considered teaching as a Jonin Sensei yourself, Naruto? I think you work rather well with kids."

Shino nodded.

"I've thought about it once or twice myself, but I can see what Tenten means. Your natural exuberance lends itself well to speaking with children."

Suigetsu just shrugged.

"What they said."

He laughed awkwardly.

"Well… I appreciate it, but for the moment, I think I'll be sticking to ninja-ing." They gave a small spattering of snickers at his bad joke. "Now… We need to get to planning. We don't exactly have a ton of time."

He gestured with his head to the roof above them, and they all got the general idea.

The roof would cave in if they waited too long, which meant they'd need to be quick about this.

"Alright…" He began.

"I actually have an idea."

/-/

The lid leading out onto the streets of the Waterfall burst open, flying high in the air as a single figure dashed out of it and onto the battered roads.

That figure brought his hands together, forming the seal of the Shadow Clone Jutsu and rapidly bringing ten or so copies of himself into existence. They each scattered as the man above them, riding high atop a white owl, spotted them for the first time.

He shouted something, presumably about art 'being an explosion' as he fired off another set of clay creatures, each of which grew in size and scope mid-air. One, a centipede, and another, a ball that quickly formed into a large set of what looked like mosquitoes. The latter flew towards him as the former skittered across the ground, looking to lock his legs.

He wouldn't allow them. He drew a multitude of weapons from off of his back, as did his clones. Sai's, sickles, knives, and swords, along with kunai, shuriken, and paper bombs were drawn and subsequently used on the oncoming clay insects, causing them to go up in smoke long before they reached him.

He heard Deidara curse, standing up atop his owl and brandishing something from out of his coat. In that moment, Naruto caught the barest glint of Deidara's clay pouch. From the open zipper, he could just make out the content inside. It was, as he'd suspected, nearly empty, for he couldn't see anything inside of it despite having a decent angle.

In the next moment, however, he was forced to forget all about that, and instead focus back in on the fact that a kunai was whizzing directly at his face.

He dodged that easily enough, though the actual problem was that Deidara knew which of his clones was the real him.

That or he'd chosen one at random and gotten lucky, but Naruto wasn't one to bet on a contingency like that.

He had his clones take to the nearby architecture, climbing the crumbling walls and cracked buildings that surrounded him in an effort to force Deidara back. The man acquiesced easily enough, flying higher into the air, though for Naruto, that wasn't actually going to be of much help.

He'd need the man to back away, not ascend.

He signaled subtly with his hand for those behind him, Suigetsu, Tenten, and Shino, to wait on bringing up the civilians. If they did so now…

Well, Deidara would have a fairly easy shot.

He moved forward, looking towards the tallest building within reach; a tall spire that looked to have once been a church of some kind. He charged up it, climbing it with chakra at the bottoms of his feet. He heard more than he saw a creature pop into existence behind him, and sped up his pace, narrowly avoiding it eviscerating him with its explosion.

He felt the building begin to give under the stress and swore under his breath as he climbed even harder. He turned his head and looked behind him, to where Deidara was hovering just out of reach, having effectively read Naruto's maximum range.

The man was good, there was no denying that.

It wouldn't matter, though, for he had a trump card. It wasn't something he could break out all the time… but he'd been given one thing above the rest by hiding out in the sewers below...

He'd been given time to get ready.

He sent a mental signal to the clone waiting below in the sewers, and felt as it began to dissipate. He prepared his body for the oncoming rush of energy, and as it flowed into him, he felt the new power immediately go to his head.

He felt good. He felt… strong.

And when he opened his eyes, they were surrounded in a bright orange hue.

/-/

"You're going to use your Sage Mode!?"

"Yeah." Naruto smirked. "It's not exactly to the state where I can use it for long periods of time… but I can break it out in tiny bursts. Normally, I'd need to be sitting still to activate it… but Shadow clones are some tricky things, y'know."

Suigetsu rubbed his chin, seemingly putting the plan together.

"So, wait… do the shadow clones gather the energy for you, and then send it to you?"

"Yeah, how'd you figure that out?"

"Actually, just a lucky guess, if I'm being honest."

/-/

He dashed off the wall, going far faster, and, perhaps more importantly, much farther than Deidara had likely expected him to be coming.

He could read the man's movements as well, watching as he tried to swerve to the right, and Naruto did the same, using some Frog Kumite to propel him ever so slightly eastward by punching out with his left hand.

His right fist impacted against the man's torso.

The hit knocked the wind from Deidara's lungs in what he could only describe as one of the most satisfying noises he'd ever heard. The Akatsuki member gasped further as he was launched off of his owl, sent spiraling towards the stone below him and sending up a massive cloud of dust as he impacted against it.

/-/

"Alright. I'm going to make Deidara set my speed in his head; make him think I can't go beyond a certain range and distance, and then use Sage Mode to trump those numbers. If I hit him, I go into the second step of my plan."

"Gotcha'" Tenten answered, her face pensive. "But then… what about us?"

"You start evacuating the citizens the moment I knock him off that owl. You should be good for at least thirty seconds that way."

"Me?" Tenten pointed to herself.

"Yeah, you. Suigetsu and Shino will give you the cover you need, but it'll be up to you to get the civilians beyond Deidara's range." He smiled to her. "Can you do it?"

Tenten nodded.

"Of course, I can!"

/-/

He rolled to a stop as he hit the ground, his Sage Mode timing out as he tried to draw a demon-windmill shuriken from off of his back and hurl it at the downed Deidara. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite fast enough, for the man was able to rise, dodge away from the metal weapon, place his hand in his pouch…

And hiss annoyedly.

Naruto smirked.

/-/

"He should be nearly out of clay as well." Shino commented. "It's not as if he can afford to make another one of those large flyers, I'd assume, at least. He'll be stuck with the one you knocked him off of."

"And that'll be my advantage."

/-/

In the background, he watched as Tenten helped Hinata and Emi out of the hole first, and ordered them to run behind a nearby building. The train of civilians was quickly guarded by Suigetsu and Shino, the latter of whom did Naruto a favor by releasing a good thousand or so beetles in his direction, likely primed to suck what little remained of Deidara's chakra away.

Deidara seemed to see it before it could happen, though, for he brought a small ball of clay out of his pouch, likely one of the last little bits. It wouldn't be enough to craft an owl, but he didn't need an owl.

He needed enough to kill a few bugs.

He threw out the single dragonfly, and laughed as it blew apart Shino's entire swarm, killing all of the insects instantly. He put distance in between himself and both Naruto and Shino, and, now that the civilians had been lifted out of the sewers, between Suigetsu as well.

The bastard smirked as his owl flew from just in front of him, and he narrowly managed to snag his way back onto it before Naruto or Suigetsu could cut into him with their melee weapons. He seemed to think his victory was assured now that he'd mounted the bird again.

But Deidara did have a weakness. One Naruto, Shino, and even Tenten had picked up on. It wasn't obvious, but it was apparent when one paid close attention to his actions.

Deidara refused to throw out raw clay.

His art, or whatever the bastard wanted to call it, Naruto found he didn't much care, meant that he always molded each and every one of his creations into some shape or form. He wasn't ever willing to simply chuck clay at someone and blow them up that way, no, it had to be a grasshopper, or a moth, or an owl, or a dragon that did them in.

His explosions weren't weapons, they were art.

/-/

"He'll be overconfident after retaking the high ground, right?" Suigetsu offered. "Is that your plan?"

"Partially." Naruto admitted. "But not entirely. Theoretically, if all is going well at that point, I've already managed to sneak in the last thing I'd need for this plan, right under his nose."

"Oh… what's that?"

"Give me a second, I'll get to that."

/-/

Naruto felt his Sage Mode transformation overtake him once more as the second of the two clones he'd left in the sewer disappeared, and he once more dashed at the wall of the church. It wasn't as tall as it'd been before, and he could hear Deidara laugh, likely about that, as he rose into the air, taking no chances.

Naruto also watched as he stuck a hand into his pouch, and began to mold another creation, and it was then that he struck.

/-/

"His weakness is his art?" Suigetsu's face crinkled. "Really?"

"Well, not really." Naruto shrugged. "But I meant more in that his art, his greatest strength, does carry a weakness. He's attached to it; he won't ever do it any other way… and that means he has a flaw."

"How so?" Shino asked.

Naruto gave a confident grin as he addressed them all.

"Because it takes him 5 seconds to mold anything with his hands."

/-/

5…

Naruto counted in his head as he began to climb the wall of the church, taking steps that shot him up it like a firework.

/-/

"And in that time… I'm going to reveal the other part of my plan."

/-/

4…

He forced himself to go faster, and then faster again, and saw as Deidara was clearly certain of his victory, certain that Naruto could not catch him.

/-/

"Before, when I shot myself at him at my top speed?"

/-/

3…

He suddenly accelerated, going far faster than he had been going even the last time he'd fired himself at Deidara with his Sage Mode, and rocketed off of the side of the church wall, directly towards Deidara.

/-/

"I was still holding back."

/-/

2…

Deidara's eyes widened to comical proportions, but Naruto could see the way his left hand still didn't move from the pouch on his waist. He refused to interrupt his art, refused to simply chuck the incomplete bomb at him, even if it'd be more than enough to kill him right then and there, or, more likely, force out the Nine-Tails.

1…

…Because he wouldn't compromise on art.

And it would be the death of him.

"Zero." Naruto uttered.

His fist slammed into Deidara's face with all the momentum of a freight train. It bulldozed through the man's jaw, and he could hear the exact moment Deidara's teeth were shattered by the impact.

A second later, there was only a trail where Deidara had been sent plummeting to the earth, flying at a speed that would've certainly killed anyone who wasn't a ninja. Even still, this time, he couldn't imagine the man getting back up from his wounds.

He tried to control his fall from above as best he could, though, really, he felt he couldn't exactly be blamed for failing in that regard. He landed in a heap after falling some fifty feet, immediately pushing himself back up and drawing a kunai into his left hand, ignoring the horrible pain in his entire body from the stunt he'd just pulled.

He made for the fallen form of Deidara as quickly as his exhausted form would allow him to, which was at a middling speed, carefully trudging along. He made sure there would be no attack, no sudden surprise bombs waiting for him.

Instead, what surprised him was that Deidara somehow rose from the dirt hole he'd found himself in, and had placed a hand over his heart, looking towards Naruto with an exhausted smile, but an assuredness to his expression.

He felt he'd won.

"Surrender." Naruto called. "You'll be brought back to the Leaf Village, and-"

"Heh, no, I'm okay." Deidara laughed, even as pain flashed over his face at trying to move his obviously brutalized jaw. His voice was slurred horrendously from the injury as he continued, but nevertheless, he never lost the victorious look in his eye. "Instead, how about you let me go, hn?"

He squinted at that.

"And why should I do that?"

Deidara gave a quiet laugh.

"Let me phrase it another way then, hn." He moved the coat covering where his hand was on his body, and Naruto's eyes widened.

"Let me go." Deidara spoke as the maw over his heart hung open ominously. "Let me go, or I blow myself, the Waterfall, and everyone in it, to high heaven."

Naruto instinctively took a step back, and cursed as he did, showing weakness in a way he certainly didn't want to be doing. From the sidelines, he could make out both Suigetsu and Shino shooting him unsure expressions, evidently thinking that he should probably let Deidara have this one, instead of risking all of their lives.

…but… but…

It just felt so… terrible to let the man responsible for everything that'd happened here… for the destruction of the Waterfall Village, to the death's of thousands, to just run free because of a measly threat.

…Though it wasn't like he could do anything about it.

He let out an aching sigh as he waved the man off, and Deidara let out another laugh as he hobbled away, behind a building nearby, and disappeared from sight.

He wanted nothing more than to give chase, and bury the man into the stone beneath their feet, but could he honestly risk the lives of everyone here, himself included, to justify his own ego?

He didn't think he could, even if that fact left him pained.

Naruto turned instead back to Suigetsu and Shino and walked over to them. Tenten would be escorting the civilians to a nearby safe zone, and they'd be set to follow in a moment. For now, he wasn't really sure. He wanted them to tell him he'd done the right thing, if he was being honest, because he wasn't quite sure of that himself, and he wanted the validation.

"If it means anything, Naruto… I think you took the only option you had." Shino patted him on the back, apparently able to read his mind, or, more accurately, the downtrodden look on his face. "That's because any other option… would've placed the civilians we're escorting in danger, and that wouldn't be fair to them."

He nodded, agreed, even past the aching of his heart.

"Yeah, what glasses said." Suigetsu walked ahead of him. "Now, c'mon, little miss Tenten could probably use our-"

A woman's scream cut through their lighter mood like a knife. He recognized the voice as belonging to Emi, and swore under his breath as he, Suigetsu, and Shino all rushed towards it.

It didn't take them that long to close in on the sound, as fast as they were travelling, and the sounds of combat became apparent pretty quickly. By the time they busted into the building that Tenten seemed to have chosen to hide out in, they were armed to the teeth, anger in their gazes and fire in their breasts.

But…

Three civilians lay dead around the floor, and the rest were behind Tenten, whose weapon shook in her hands as she blocked the blow of what looked to be a soldier clad entirely in white armor. spines protruded from it, and he let out a laugh as he flew back, and landed just in front of Naruto.

He'd yet to see them, though, with his back turned to them, and Naruto was more than willing to abuse that fact.

A Rasengan made quick work of him, slicing through his shoulder blade and into his chest cavity like a hot knife through butter, killing the man instantly. He fell to the floor below them, a shocked look forever chiseled into his features.

"Tenten!" He shouted, running over to her and the horrified crowd. "What happened!?"

"I-I don't know!" The girl screeched back, and Naruto could tell from the way tears clung to the edges of her eyes that she wasn't handling whatever had happened very well at all. "We were entering into this building, because… because I thought it looked s-safe, and…" The girl cut off; her eyes horrendously wide as she stared at the three dead civilians laid around them. "It's my… f-"

Before she could speak another word, Naruto's instincts flared, and he turned just in time to defend himself from the arm of another white-clad soldier. One who looked suspiciously like the last one.

In fact, they had the exact same appearance.

He cursed at realizing the man had somehow survived his Rasengan, and called out to the others, who were already on their way,

Suigetsu and Shino cleaned the man up for him, the former more so than the latter, quite easily slashing the man's body apart with his katana. The two pieces of flesh fell to the ground below, and Naruto hoped that would be the end of this one.

At least, until he looked back at the entrance to this building, and saw that the man he'd Rasengan'd through the back was still there… dead on the ground.

His eyes widened, and he looked down at the man on the floor. They both had a greenish-gray hair and yellow eyes, and both had what looked like globules of fat instead of a right side to their bodies.

Before he could think too hard about that, he forced himself to instead turn back around, towards Tenten and the remaining eight civilians. Luckily, and he felt guilty for admitting that he felt it was a lucky thing, Emi and Hinata had not been among those killed in whatever ambush Tenten had found herself in. Even so, two men and one woman had lost their lives.

He walked forward, attempting to comfort Tenten, who was still staring blankly at the three on the floor below her. Before he could take more than a few steps, however, Suigetsu's voice rang out, and he dodged on instinct.

Four more of those white soldiers fell to the floor all around them, including once dropping down on where he'd been stood seconds prior, and Naruto grit his teeth as another ten or so joined their ranks. They kept coming from out of the woodworks, and before he knew it, they were entirely surrounded.

None of the assailants spoke, though they did let out confident little laughs, suggesting to Naruto that they at least knew what they were doing. They tightened their formation, closing in around Naruto and the rest of the civilians.

He brought his hands up, into the telltale formation of the Shadow Clone Jutsu…

And silently prepared for yet another fight.

/-/

"The situation as it stands is complicated. Suffice it to say that they haven't broken through our defenses yet, but… well, even our most optimistic seal-masters believe it to be a matter of time."

Sakura nodded as Kegon told them the odds, the fact that what they were facing down could, at present, only be contained. She hoped that fact had been changed by their arrival… but that certainly wasn't an assured thing.

They were sat in a fairly large, open space, very near the exact top of the tree that sat in the middle of the Waterfall. Their presence had been a welcome relief to almost every ninja they'd passed so far, who seemed to redouble their efforts as they realized help had come.

It was a nice feeling; Sakura couldn't help thinking.

Even so, things were bleak.

"It's pretty much all on you guys now to hold them off, most of our elite have already been culled by that 'No-Tailed Beast' down there."

He would have been referring to Kisame Hoshigaki, who seemed to be on a war path, carving his way to the entrance to the tree far below them, and was about halfway up by now. He would be answered by Kakashi and his unit, but even still, he had those cloaked ones as well.

And Sakura had an iffy feeling regarding them.

"So… those guys are here for me… right?"

Sakura turned to where Fu was sat on the floor, leaning on Hinata's shoulder. The older girl rubbed her back with one hand, evidently trying to keep her as calm as she could.

"We can't say for sure." Yoro tried to reassure her, sat on her other side, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's… likely."

Fu nodded, even as a shaky breath poured out of her nostrils.

Sakura's eyebrows drew down, and she could admit that she felt a pang of sadness in her chest at seeing the usually optimistic and cheerful girl looking so terrified.

"So… what's our role, here?" Sasuke asked, and both herself and Haku turned to the two Jonin as well, silently asking the same question. "I'm not saying we shouldn't be here, but wouldn't it be a better idea for us to be helping eliminate the Akatsuki?"

"That's what we thought as well, if we're being honest." Yoro hummed. "Still, the Copycat ninja isn't someone I'd distrust with something like this. If he thought it was best for you four to come with us… then I'll put my faith in him."

Sakura could agree with that, at least, though she could see both Haku and Sasuke didn't quite agree. Their nemeses were down below, facing off against Kakashi, and they were stuck here, essentially babysitting.

She could empathize with them there, her mentor was also down below, likely fighting on her lonesome, or close to it, against multiple opponents. They were outnumbered… and Sakura wasn't there to help her.

What mission could be important enough to justify that? What could their role possibly be? There was no member of the Akatsuki who could just suddenly appear at the top of a tree, after a–

Sakura's eyes widened as she put the pieces of why they were here together.

"I figured it out!" She turned to the others. "I know why Kakashi sent us here!"

"Why?" Haku asked calmly.

"We're here to prevent those two, Zetsu and Tobi, from managing to steal Fu away from under our noses!"

"Hmm." A new voice, one which sounded icily calm, echoed out from just behind her. "Not a bad theory."

They all jumped up and back, Hinata herself had done so while holding Fu in her arms, effectively carrying the girl, before realizing what she'd done and letting her down for Kegon and Yoro to guard her.

"Well…" Sasuke murmured. "Speak of the devil…"

"But you did make one little error." The new arrival spoke as he emerged from out of the wall just in front of them, the mask on his face as imposing as ever as he looked up at them.

"I have no need of Zetsu…" Tobi's voice echoed out.

"To take the Jinchuuriki myself."

End Chapter 74


Hey so, once again, sorry for how late this is coming out! This is quite literally going from editing to being posted in approximately five minutes. Awkward.

If there're a few more mistakes than usual... well, that's why.

Anyways, we'll be returning to weekly chapters soon, and I'm happy to say that I actually have a plan for the remainder of this story FINALLY mapped out and finished. So we'll be heading towards that. Hopefully, this fic will be done by around June/July next year? Maybe sooner/later? Who knows.

Anyways, see you all next week!