Journey of the Maelstrom Rider
Chapter 2: Sandy Bouts and Misty Duels
Amongst the sand dunes of the desert, one might hear over the howling winds the sound of a roaring engine of which he or she would catch the sight of what appears to be spiky blonde ninja riding on a two-wheeled vehicle which was none other than Naruto riding the Machine Decader as he slowed to a stop to look ahead and saw the Hidden Sand village a bit further ahead.
"There's the Hidden Sand village, looks like I was able to reach here in less than half the time it took me and the others when we went to save Gaara from the Akatsuki," he got of the bike and saw it then drive away into a dimensional veil "And I don't have to worry about anyone trying to steal it too,"
Naruto ensured that he was all geared up before facing the village "Better find out if Gaara's the real deal or an imposter, I really hope for the former cause we could use some help to find Tsunade-baachan,"
He began his approach towards his objective but had to watch out for large scorpions hidden underneath the sand as well as quicksand, he nearly sunk into one had he not created Shadow Clones to form a makeshift rope to pull him out in time. He drew closer to the gateway when several figures appeared in his path and saw them to be the shinobi of the Hidden Sand village.
"Why are you here?" asked one of the shinobi.
"I'm here to speak with Gaara about an important matter," Naruto replied.
"Well your journey was a wasted one Leaf ninja, return to your village for you're not welcome,"
"Please, this is very important for not only me but for everyone else here!"
"This is your last warning, leave now or you will be eliminated,"
Naruto remained firm "I can't do that, there's too much at stake here!"
"All units, attack!" the Sand Shinobi armed themselves and moved in to engage the blonde ninja who sighed in resignation.
"I apologize in advance,"
Naruto timed for counterattack as a Sand Shinobi swung a kunai and intercepted by grabbing his wrist and spun to toss him into the air, he created a shadow clone behind him to launch off his shoulder to execute an axe kick on the airborne target to slam him to the ground. Two more came at him in a pincer formation which forced him to the defense by using the armguards to repeatedly deflect the incoming kunai strikes before seizing the right moment to activate the seals on them and triggering a chakra burst upon clash which staggered the duo. Naruto took out a pair of paralysis tags and threw to attach before activating to arrest their movements.
"I'm really sorry about this!" Naruto ran past them and through the gateway into the village, but he didn't get and heard the alarm bells ringing and quickly went to hide himself within a nearby alleyway with a small frown "It's gonna be tough making my way through here, should I get spotted, everyone will be breathing down my neck," he took out one of the scrolls from the holsters on his hip with slight hesitance "It's still a prototype, but it will have to do for now,"
Naruto unraveled the scroll and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood then smeared a trail of it across the seals, he proceeded to twirling it above his head before rolling it back up and holding it while forming a tiger seal. His body was then enshrouded in a clear aura before returning the scroll back into the holster with a nod of approval.
"Looks like the Incognito Seal works," Naruto muttered to himself, he customized the seal with the purpose of concealing his scent, nullifying any sound he would generate, and randomizing the footprints left behind but only for a certain amount of time before needing to be recharged with chakra "Better get moving,"
The blonde ninja proceeded to make his way through the village, he had to recall the times he came to the village in order to plan a route of which he would be less likely to encounter any of the Sand shinobi looking out for him, he snuck through the alleyways and partially destroyed buildings whilst avoiding the rooftops in the meantime but there were several close calls so he had to knock them out stealthily. Soon enough, the effects of the Incognito Seal wore off the moment he made his way into a partially ruined building.
"Still need to work out the kinks on it," Naruto muttered to himself, he ventured through the hallways and had to watch out for giant spiders and scorpions hiding in the ceilings and beneath the sands respectively. He entered a large room with the roofs collapsed and the sun shining through, he was barely across when someone appeared before him with a Shunshin and recognized who it is.
"Hey Temari, it's been a while since we met at the Kage summit," Naruto greeted with hopes that she doesn't respond violently.
"This is the Hidden Sand Village's territory, why are you here?" asked Temari stoically.
Naruto frowned at this but responded nonetheless "I came to see Gaara for an important matter, could you tell me where he is?"
"We were very grateful to be allied with the Hidden Leaf Village, but that's over now and this makes you an enemy," Temari took a stance and a hand placed on the large fan holstered to her back "By the order of Gaara-I mean the Kazekage, I will have your head!"
"I don't want to fight you Temari, there's no point in this!" Naruto protested strongly against this.
"Then you can simply stand there and be killed!" Temari rushed towards Naruto and swung her fan like a club.
Music Start: Muramasa The Demon Blade OST; Magnificent Palace B
Naruto evaded with a sidestep and lashed out with a roundhouse kick, Temari saw the incoming attack and ducked below it to counter with a low sweep kick. The blonde ninja performed a short hop with his other foot to dodge and land on his hands then spinning to attack with a flare kick. Temari sharply unfolded her fan to serve as a shield, blocking the attack getting into position with it reared back.
"Wind style: Wind Scythe jutsu!" she swung her fan to launch a powerful current of wind to send Naruto flying while cutting up parts of his clothes, Naruto somersaulted in midair to land on the wall he was driven to on his too feet and latched on before speeding through a set of handsigns "Wind style: Whirlwind Spin!" he left off the wall and performed a 360 spin to create an enormous wind sphere, easily deflecting the sharpened wind until it dissipated. Naruto triggered the seals on his shin guards which enabled him to close the distance between himself and Temari to land a punch to the gut before backing away from a swing of her fan.
"So you possess an affinity with the element, quite rare for the people of your village," Temari, recovering from the attack.
"I heard of that from Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto.
"But it won't make that much of a difference here! Wind Style: Wind Cutter jutsu!" Temari swung her fan to launching crescent blades of wind towards Naruto who reached behind his back to pull out a blade horizontally strapped, revealing its appearance to be that of an elongated kunai with Konoha symbol on it (The blade from The Lost Tower movie). "Faithful Wind Blade!" he channeled wind energy into the katana to form a giant 10 foot condensed blade of wind formed along it. Naruto proceeded to deflect the incoming projectiles then reduced the length of the wind blade to through it like a boomerang.
Temari knocked it out of the way with her fan to send it embedding itself into a wall and swung it once more to launch a gust of wind towards her opponent, Naruto rushed forward whilst throwing a small metal disc imprinted with seals on the ground ahead of him for a seal matrix to spread from it, the moment he was standing within the matrix, large kanjis appeared in midair and defended him against the attack before dissipating after its purpose had been fulfilled. Naruto sped through a set of handsigns for his next move "Wind style: Gale Wolf!" he held an open palm out for a spiraling sphere of wind to take form, four wolves made out of the wind emerged from the sphere before charging towards Temari upon a mental command from Naruto.
"Wind style: Gale Raging Wall!" Temari created a wall made out of the wind which pushed the gale wolves away each time they lunged at her, Naruto frowned at this and deactivated his jutsu then switched to his signature jutsu "Shadow Clone jutsu!" in a puff of smoke, several copies dashed towards Temari with the Kunoichi scoffing at the use of the jutsu but remained on guard "Wind style: Sandstorm jutsu!" she generated a gust which kicked up the sands around her into the air, causing Naruto and the clones to be blinded for the moment which costed them as they looked to see that she was gone from their sight without a sound.
"Where'd she go?" asked one of the clones, looking around in confusion.
"I don't know yet," said another.
Naruto recalled something and immediately alerted the others "Guys heads-up, she's gliding above us!" they all looked up and sure enough, there was Temari riding silently atop her fan with a smirk before jumping off and grabbing it.
"It's too late for you, Wind style: Cyclone Scythe jutsu!" she launched many currents of wind which constantly collide with each other, creating vacuum pockets as it slammed into Naruto and the clones with a cloud of dust forming upon impact.
Temari landed on the ground with her head bowed slightly "A pity it had to come down to this,"
"I agree," not expecting to hear a response, Temari spun round to see Naruto standing right in front of her with a palm shrouded in chakra as he slammed it into her gut before "Paralysis Seal!" a seal formula appeared on the blonde and glowed before Temari felt her body freeze up.
"Dammit!"
Music End
"Did Gaara really order you to take me down?" asked Naruto, stretching a hand out towards the chakra blade which shook slightly before removing itself from the wall and flying into Naruto's hands before he sheathed it.
Temari frowned in response "I told you already, if you're not an ally then you're an intruder,"
"That's bullshit and you know it, Gaara wouldn't say something like that!"
"…,"
"And I want to tell you before you attacked me that Tsunade wasn't the one who broke the alliance, it was an imposter,"
The statement caught Temari's full attention "Oh, what do you mean by that?"
"We don't know when exactly, but someone captured her and an imposter took her place then started making all these kinds of crazy orders with reasons that don't make any sense." Naruto explained.
"…,"
"After discovering this, I came here to check on Gaara to see if he's the real one or an impostor took his place too. Has he been acting strange in any way for some time now?"
"Actually, it would be hard not to notice how strange he's been," Temari admitted to her fellow blonde.
"I was hoping that wasn't the case," Naruto formed a handsign for the seal to fade away, enabling Temari to regain movement.
"Do you really think he could be an impostor?"
"The only way to find out is when I speak with him,"
"Very well then, you'll find Gaara at a rooftop west of here,"
"Thanks Temari, I hope to resolve this soon," Naruto ran past her into a passage at the other side of the room.
Naruto continued his venture through the building whilst avoiding or silently taking out any Sand shinobi along the way, no doubt his fight had attracted several to come and investigate. The blonde Konoha ninja also had to watch out for more scorpions and tarantulas in addition to collapsing ceilings and weakened floors, h soon emerged at the top of the building where he sensed the chakra of someone familiar and immediately headed towards the source
He soon arrived at the rooftop where he caught sight if the person whom he was the reason why he came to the village, standing with his back to him before calling out "Hey Gaara!"
Said person and Kage of the Hidden Sand village turned round to face him with his arms crossed and a stoic expression on his face "What fool has intruded upon my domain? Is that you Naruto?"
"I came to ask you a question; what is the most important thing yo know?" asked Naruto, waiting for the redhead's response.
The Kazekage scoffed in response "What a stupid question, great power means everything to me,"
Naruto scowled at the response and took a combat stance "That answer proves you're an impostor, the real Gaara puts everything he's got into protecting the village! He doesn't believe in such a thing anymore!"
"Just keep talking nonsense, I am the real Kazekage!"
"Then I'll just have to rip that disguise to reveal your true identity!"
Music Start: Muramasa: The Demon Blade OST - Turbulent State
Naruto weaved through a set of handsigns "Wind Style: Wind Assault!" he dashed forward with an arm reared back as a conical vortex of wind swirled around it then he thrust it forward with Gaara simply standing there before speaking "Desert Wave," a large wall of sand rose from the ground between him and Naruto as it defended against the latter's attack until it dissipated then responded with a counterattack "Desert: Hand," large hands made out of sand shot out of the sand wall towards with intent to grab the blonde ninja who was jumping backwards from left to right rapidly to avoid getting captured, he suddenly felt something wrap around his legs and looked down to see tendrils of sand which were holding in place.
"Darn, he was setting me up for a trap," Naruto muttered to himself.
"You shall now pay for your foolishness with your life," Gaara proclaimed as he formed multiple spears out of sand before launching them towards Naruto.
"Sorry but I ain't gonna die for a long time!" Naruto sped through a set of handsigns as the spear drew closer "Wind Style: Wind Gust!" he raised his hands above his head before bringing them down on the ground to unleash a heavy gust of wind outwardly from his body which blew sand away and regained mobility, he weaved another set of handsigns "Wind Style: Wind Piercing Strike!" he lunged forward and spun at high-speed whilst emitting wind power in a manner similar to Kiba's Tunneling Fang.
Gaara used Desert Wave once more to defend, but this time Naruto was boring his way through the sand wall and closed in on him "Desert Suspension," Gaara quickly jumped to land on a platform of sand which carried him into the air, causing Naruto to miss and cancel his jutsu with a frown "Sand Shuriken!" he quickly unsheathed his Chakra blade in a reverse grip whilst strengthening it with his chakra as he rapidly deflected a barrage of shuriken constructs of sand launched by his opponent.
"Better get up close and personal here," Naruto leapt into the air and creating chakra platforms multiple times to jump off of and ascend towards his opponent and at the same time using them to redirect himself to evade the incoming sand shuriken launched his way "Shadow Clone jutsu!" he created a large group of clones to join in the offense as they attacked from different directions with punches, kicks and slashes from their chakra blades, laying pressure from all sides.
"Enough of this nonsense, Desert Hail!" Gaara gathered his sand into large clumps in the shape massive boulder-like formations and proceeded to drop them from the sky onto his targets, several of the clones got hit and were forcefully dispelled others attempted to use them as footholds but spikes would shoot out of them to destroy those clones as well, leaving Naruto to be the only one left and was forced back down to the ground.
"For a faker, this guy's really pushing it. Guess I better transform before I get crushed," Naruto out of the way of a falling sand boulder and took out the Decadriver from the ninja pouch then positioned it to his waist for a strap to shoot out and wrap around it and attach to the other side to be held securely in place. Naruto then opened the device and then took out a Rider Card "Henshin!" he inserted the card into the Decadriver and closed it as it then announced
[Kamen Ride: Decade!]
Multiple gray figures surrounded Naruto before converging into him as he transformed into Kamen Rider Decade. The blonde ninja/rider dusted his hands before opening the Ride Booker and took out a Rider Card which he then inserted into the Decadriver and closed it
[Attack Ride: Blast!]
Naruto took off the Ride Booker from his belt as it transformed into its Gun Mode then aimed it towards the falling sand boulders and pulled the trigger with pink spectral copies appearing around it and firing rapidly alongside the weapon, the speed and power of the shots obliterated the boulders before they could get any closer. Naruto soon stopped firing and leapt towards Gaara with his jump having been boosted because of his rider form, the fake Gaara send arms of sand to snag him in midair but Naruto took out another Rider Card and inserted it into the Decadriver before closing it up
[Attack Ride: Invisible!]
Naruto disappeared from sight completely with the arms unable to locate their target for capture, Gaara looked around for his opponent and was tense given that he couldn't even sense a trace of his chakra. He suddenly felt a strong blow to the cheek which knocked him off the sand platform to the ground below, Gaara got up from the floor to see Naruto reappear before him.
"I'm gonna end this with style and power!" Naruto took out another Rider Card and this one has a Kamen Rider on it as he inserted it into the Decadriver and closed it with the device making an announcement.
[Kamen Ride: Faiz!]
Glowing veins of red energy appeared to outline along Naruto's body before letting off a bright red flash which dissipated to reveal the blonde now donning a different armor save for his Decadriver as he has now transformed into Kamen Rider Faiz and dusted his hands before taking out a golden Rider Card with the Faiz emblem on it and tapping on it with a finger.
Gaara scowled at the declaration "Enough with such delusions!"
Naruto frowned behind the helmet "Right back at ya!" he inserted the Rider Card and closed the Decadriver.
[Final Attack Ride: F-F-Faiz!]
Naruto materialized the Faiz Pointer with it attached to his right leg before leaping high into the air, Gaara's senses alerted him of a powerful incoming attack and quickly made a defensive move "Ultimate Defense: Shield of Shukaku!" he created a shield in the form of a miniature Shukaku positioned in front for protection, Naruto aimed the Faiz Pointer on his leg towards the shield to fire a red laser beam which expanded into a large cone of red photon energy then he dove into it with a flying kick which caused the cone to spinning rapidly like a drill. The shield held strong for a few moments before breaking through and striking a shocked Kazekage with the spiraling photon energy fusing with him and Naruto reappearing behind him then an explosion with the Faiz emblem flashing for a moment before disappearing.
Music End
Naruto turned round and watched as the wounded body of Gaara flashed for a moment before revealing a puppet similar to the one he fought impersonating Tsunade. the blonde ninja undid his transformation with the Decadriver warping back to his ninja pouch.
"So this one's a puppet too," said Naruto with a scowl, he took note of Temari arriving along with her other brother Kankurou and Jounin Baki.
"Temari informed us of what you said and it appears that you were right," said Baki, looking at the puppet with a frown.
"How could we not have sensed it being a puppet this whole time?" asked Temari in confusion.
"I've never heard or read of a puppet being capable of such a disguise," said Kankurou, observing the puppet.
"But the question now is where is the real Kazekage?" asked Baki with no small amount of worry.
Suddenly, the puppet rose up from the ground, causing the trio to take combat stance but it made no motion to attack, rather a voice was speaking through it.
"You defeated the Hokage and now the Kazekage? What power you possess…," said the puppet.
"Seems like someone's projecting their voice through the puppet," said Kankurou with a frown.
"Who are you and why are you doing this?" asked Naruto.
"This is for vengeance," the puppet replied.
"Vengeance against who?" asked Temari.
"All the ninja of this world,"
"Then you mean to tell us that the other Kages are impersonated by puppets too?" asked Baki worriedly.
The puppet responded "In that case, you will have to check it out for yourself. Though you better hurry, the world is about to be wrapped in confusion. And war, which you ninja are so fond of, is about to break out," then it crumpled back to the floor.
"This is a crisis, someone was actually able to capture the Kages and use puppets to impersonate them without anyone noticing until now. As if we didn't have enough problems already especially with the Akatsuki," Baki muttered lowly.
"Any of you know where the remaining Kages are? I'll go and check if they're real or impostors as well," asked Naruto.
"We'll get someone to investigate and let you know as soon as we can," said Temari.
"We'll also try to conceal the information of Gaara being missing for as long as we can to prevent panic in the village," Baki said in addition.
"In the meantime, I'll get this puppet to the research team so we can find out what makes it tick and figure out any weakness," said Kankurou.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Alright then, then sooner we find this creep then sooner we can find Granny Tsunade and the other Kages,"
The blonde ninja was now walking through the streets of Konoha at night after giving his report to Kakashi and Yamato, both ninjas being very concerned about the current situation. They checked through the archives to find out more about this rather unique puppet jutsu besides the ones in the Hidden Sand village and the extinct Shirogane clan which they faced down in the past. So far, they aren't coming up with any good leads and that's what's worrying the blonde ninja.
"*Sigh* just who is this puppeteer and why does he hate the Five Great Shinobi Nations so much? I gotta put a stop to this as soon as I can, else innocent lives will be lost," Naruto reached into his ninja pouch and took out the Rider Card depicting Kamen Rider Decade to look at it "The power of a Rider is definitely nothing to scoff at, it's been helping me put a lot recently,"
"Naruto-kun, is that you?" upon hearing a feminine voice, Naruto looked up to see Hinata approach with a shy smile.
"Hi there Hinata-chan, how have you been?" asked Naruto happily.
"I have been doing well, I just returned from training with Shino, Kiba and Akamaru. Did you go on a mission today?"
"Yeah, but I can't tell ya here since the information might cause a panic,"
"O-Okay, so are you going somewhere right now?" asked Hinata curiously.
"Not really, just roaming around a little before heading home to rest for the night. What about you, are you heading home too?" Naruto responded before asking his own question to which the lavender-haired girl nodded meekly in affirmation "Then in that case, how about I escort you home?"
Hinata began waving her hands in a panicking manner with a blush on her "I-I-It's okay, you must be very tired and I don't want to be a bother,"
Naruto simply smiled "I don't mind at all, I'm okay with escorting you home,"
This led to Hinata shyly poking her index fingers together, Naruto smiled at this reaction as now looking at it reminds him of her acting like a bashful bunny. The duo proceeded to walk in direction of the Hyuuga compound, Naruto was throwing glances towards Hinata's hands at her side with hesitation as he wanted to hold hands but just can't seem to bring himself to doing it.
"Come on Naruto, get a hold of yourself! You know you want to hold her hand so go for it, remember your Nindo!" Naruto suddenly snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing Hinata yelp and looked to see her trip on something and was about to fall. He swiftly moved to grab her hand and pulled her close to him "Hinata-chan, are you okay?
"… y-yes, I'm okay. Thank you for catching me," Hinata was blushing beet red at being held so close to Naruto with the person himself blushing as well
"Um, j-just in case. How about we h-hold hands so you won't trip again," Naruto stammered a bit, though a little irked that he's using this as an excuse to hold hands out of nervousness.
"Oh okay," Hinata held hands with the blonde ninja as they resumed their walk to the Hyuuga compound, unaware that someone's looking at them with eyes of jealously especially towards Hinata. Soon enough, they arrived at the gateway "Thank you very much for escorting me,"
"No problem like I said, I hope we can hang out some more," said Naruto with a foxy grin, Hinata nodded meekly in agreement with a small smile on her lips "Well goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Goodnight Naruto-kun," Hinata bade the blonde farewell before entering the compound with Naruto walking home with a feeling of content which was rather easing considering the situation of the missing Kages.
The unknown watched him leave with gritted teeth "And here I thought that her shyness would keep her away from him, I need to act quickly lest I lose him to her and I can't let that happen!"
Three days later, Naruto stopped the Machine Decader at the edge of a bay before a wooden bridge leading across it before getting off and watching the bike disappear through the dimensional wall before facing forwards.
"So this place is Meditation Hills, according to the info Temari sent to us; this place is near the Hidden Mist village so I better keep a look out for Mist Shinobi around here. Better go look for the Mizukage and find out if she's legit or not," said Naruto before getting a move on.
Naruto traversed through the river by crossing over the wooden bridges though there were several of them broke off since they hadn't been maintained in a long time so he resorted to alternate routes whether by using the water walking to cross or leaping along rock ledges on cliffs. He soon came across several of the Mist shinobi whom he was able to avoid a few via stealth but there're others he was forced to fight and knockout, not to mention the wolves and bears inhabiting the area. He was just running off the next shoreline across the river when he saw someone standing in the middle of the river to block his way and sensed that he was different compared to the other Mist shinobi.
He is a teenage boy with short, tufty blue hair and dark eyes as well as having pointed shark-like teeth similar to that of the Akatsuki member Kisame. He wears a square, black-rimmed glasses connected to ear protector, a blue pin-striped shirt and camouflage pattern pants. He wears his forehead protector on the front holster which is being used to carry a queer looking sword. This sword features a wide flat blade with two curved indentations near its base to create some sort of cross guard which is wrapped up in bandages, two handles are connected to one another by a short length of cord.
"Um excuse me…can I ask you something?" asked the boy timidly.
"Who are you?" asked Naruto with slight tension in case he might be attacked.
"I'm Chojuro, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. It's my job to protect the Mizukage," said the now identified Chojuro.
"Then it's a good thing I bumped into you, my name's Naruto Uzumaki from the Hidden Leaf village and I wish to meet with the Mizukage," said Naruto.
"The Mizukage was right as always! A ninja from the Hidden Leaf village really did come," said Chojuro with admiration.
"Excuse me but could you tell me where she is?" asked Naruto.
Chojuro shook his head in response "That I cannot do, especially for you,"
"What are you talking about?"
"She ordered me to make sure that you didn't get past me,"
Naruto frowned at this, how could the Mizukage have known that he was coming? Unless of course… "That Mizukage might be an impostor,"
Chojuro blinked at the proclamation "…a fake?"
"Yeah, which is why I'm here to make sure of that. Surely you might have noticed any behavior when near her, right?" asked Naruto, then he noticed that the teen was glaring at him angrily.
"Don't be stupid. There's no way that our kind, sweet Mizukage isn't for real!" Chojuro grabbed the sword behind his back and held it before him "Mizukage-sama was right all along about you being an enemy who must be defeated and I will gladly do so!"
Naruto let out a groan before taking a combat stance "Oh boy, here we go again,"
Music Start: Metal Gear Rising OST - A Soul Can't Be Cut (Platinum Mix)
Chojuro rushed at Naruto and attacked with a diagonal slash which the blonde ninja leant to the side to evade then went into a backflip to dodge the follow-up afterwards, Naruto maintained evasive defense for a few more moments before suddenly switching tactics as he took a quick step forward and parried the blade with an armguard whilst unleashing a burst of energy to make his opponent stumble then landing a punch to the jaw and followed with a roundhouse kick, Chojuro recovered in time to duck under the kick and swung at the blonde's leg. Naruto was quick to jump with his other leg and twist his body to land in a handstand then lashing out with a double kick to knock Chojuro back albeit the Mist shinobi used the flat side of the blade as a shield to defend.
Chojuro placed the sword onto his back before speeding through a set of handsigns "Water Style: Water Spikes!" Naruto sensed ripples around him and alarms blared loudly in his mind which led to him instinctively leaping high into the air just in time as large spikes of water shot out from the canal, almost impaling him. The blonde ninja landed back on the water and took off with more spikes shooting out in repeated attempts to strike him down, he weaved a set of handsigns while on the move "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" he took in a deep breath whilst concentrating chakra into his lungs before opening his mouth to spew bullets of air rapidly towards Chojuro who quickly leapt out of the way and had to disengage the water jutsu.
Naruto seized the opportunity to trigger the seals on his shinguards for a quick burst of speed as he closed in with his chakra blade drawn then clashed with Chojuro and his blade, both sides pushed back and forth against each other in a bid to gain an edge over the other. Chojuro suddenly channeled chakra into his blade and called out "Hiramekarei Unleashing!" the bandages suddenly unraveled, revealing the blade underneath it which was soon enshrouded in chakra, Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the chakra take on the shape of a hammer and Chojuro swung it towards him.
"Whoa!" Naruto rapidly retreated by channeling chakra to his feet and performed a series of backflips to build some distance between himself and his opponent "Shadow Clone jutsu!" he created a cluster of clones to attack the Mist shinobi as they charged forwards with their chakra blades shrouded in chakra, Chojuro reared his blade before swinging it in an arc as the chakra took on the shape of an elongated longsword which further lengthened to attack all of the clones at once. Most of the clones got hit but Naruto and a clone leapt into the air and worked together to form a blue spiraling sphere before diving towards the Mist Shinobi "Rasengan!" the attack landed but Chojuro suddenly burst into water, alerting him that it was a Water Clone. The blonde ninja suddenly dashed backwards in time to avoid an overhead strike from Chojuro who had shaped the chakra into its hammer form, creating a large wave of water "Wind Style: Wind Cutter!" Naruto reared his blade back before swinging it forwards to launch a crescent wave of sharpened wind which cleaved through the wave and continued onwards and almost hitting its target had he not moved out of the way.
"Tch, I won't let you get past me!" Chojuro charged forward to engage in close combat.
"You have no idea of the crisis that is at hand right now!" Naruto responded in kind.
The duo constantly clashed blades with little to no wasted movement, Chojuro proving how he became a member of the new Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist while Naruto was holding his own despite never having been trained in Kenjutsu though he had lots of experience facing off against past enemies wielding various kinds of blades in addition to his new equipment making him far more unpredictable as he constantly parried with his modded armguards and shinguards. Chojuro broke away from yet another clash before jumping away and weaving through a set of handsigns "Water Style: Water Shuriken!" multiple orbs of water rose from the canal before taking on the shape of spinning shuriken and launched themselves towards their target.
"Right back at ya, "Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu!" he flung the kunai and watched as it multiplied into a thousand copies of the original before clashing against the opposing projectiles, cancelling each other out. Chojuro was about to make another move when he felt something latch onto his ankles and looked down to see a pair of hands grabbing hold of him, next thing he was that he was lifted off into the air by shadow clones of Naruto grabbing each other's legs to formed a makeshift rope and spun round like a lasso before throwing him into the direction of Naruto holding another blue spiraling sphere of energy "Rasengan!" he rammed it into Chojuro flying across the canal and crashing into the cliff wall before tumbling into the river then resurfacing.
Music End
Chojuro was on his hands and knees with his head lowered in depression "I lost, how could this have happened?"
"Look man, you fought well. Now can you tell me where the Mizukage is? She's past here right?" asked Naruto, taking in a deep breath now that the fight is over.
"Mizukage-sama, please forgive me…I couldn't protect you,"
"Dude, she might be an imposter,"
"I can never look her in the face again,"
"Ugh, he's not even listening to a single word I just said," Naruto rolled his eyes at the teen's behavior "Guess I better go look for myself like my initial plan was,"
Naruto went past Chojuro and continued on his route down the canal, he engaged several more Mist Shinobi and wildfire till he reached the end which led to a waterfall. Seeing no alternate route, he took to descending down the waterfall as he made use of the ledges protruding out of the strong curtain but he made to be quick as the ledges weren't able to bear his weight for long before crumbling away. Soon enough, Naruto arrived at the bottom of the waterfall to come across a tunnel leading to some kind of cavern.
"Hmmm, I think I'm on the right track. My gut tells me that the Mizukage might be in here," Naruto proceeded through the caverns which was thankfully lit up because of the sunlight shining through openings overhead which also meant that there are more Mist shinobi about so he had to watch his step. Naruto emerged into a large cavern room and took note that he wasn't the only one in it, looking ahead to identify the person.
She is a tall slender woman with auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other at her bust just below her chin with fuchsia lipstick. She wears a long-sleeved dark blue dress that falls just below the knees and seems to be closed at the front with a zipper, and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. Underneath she wears a mesh armor as well as a skirt in the same color as the dress with mesh leggings reaching down over knees underneath too. Around her waist is a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals, shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue nail polish on her fingers and toes.
"So you made it," said the woman with a sultry smile.
Naruto was in awe of the woman's beauty before snapping back into focus "Are you the Mizukage?"
"Yes I am, my name is Mei," said the now revealed Mei.
"Kakashi-sensei told me that the Mizukage was also a woman, I never would have thought she'd be so beautiful,"
Mei giggled in response "How nice of you to say that, you're quite handsome yourself,"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment "Hehehe, I'm not really used to those kinds of complements,"
"So is there a girl you like?" asked Mei curiously.
"There's one, but I realized that it was never going to work out between us so I chose to move on," said Naruto with a sad smile.
"Never going to work out?" Mei's eye twitched at the sentence.
"But then I met another girl who really likes me, so I'm getting to know her better,"
Mei's eye twitched again "Getting to know her better…,"
"I thought she was weird at first, but now I know that she's really nice and kinda cute too," Naruto smiled at the thought of it.
"Is that so…,"
"And so I-" Naruto stopped in midsentence when he felt a chill crawl up his spine and looked to see Mei smiling at him but not the kind one would feel comfortable with.
"Be quiet now or you won't even live that long anyway," said Mei in a cold tone despite the smile on her face.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" the tone brought the blonde ninja back into reality and recall the reason for him being there.
"This will end only with you drawing your last breath," said Mei.
"Is this Mizukage really as kind as that Chojuro guy says she is?" thought Naruto as he got ready for the next fight.
Music Start: BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle OST - Princess Amagi-ya (Yukiko Amagi's Theme)
Naruto made the first move by dashing towards the Mizukage in a zigzag pattern to engage her in close combat but soon came to realize that his opponent is quite agile as she weaved in and out to avoid his strikes then he decided to step things up creating a couple of shadow clones to launch a series of coordinated attacks to gain an edge which began to work as Mei was putting more effort in defense till a clone found an opening and managed to land a punch which sent her skidding backwards but the Kage was already setting up for retaliation "Lava style: Lava Spray!" she opened her mouth to launch a stream of lava towards a shocked Naruto who scrambled out of the way with his clones getting hit instead.
"I thought that she looked like a total hottie, I never imagined that she is one," Naruto sweating nervously and was on guard even more. "Wind style: Gale Wolf!" he held an open palm out for a spiraling sphere of wind to take form, four wolves made out of the wind emerged from the sphere before charging towards the Mizukage responding in kind "Water Style: Water Snakes!" water shot out from a nearby underground lake and swirled around her before taking shape of multiple serpents which then launched at the wolves, cancelling each other out.
Naruto looked Mei weave through a series of handsigns "Water Style: Water Dragon jutsu!" a mass column of water shot up into the air and took on the shape of a serpentine dragon before the Mizukage mentally commanded it to attack as the dragon lunged at him. Naruto took off with the water dragon in pursuit as he rapidly ricocheted off the stalagmites which were being destroyed in the aftermath, Naruto was preparing a jutsu while on the move before leaping towards the cavern ceiling and latching onto a stalactite with a final handsign "Wind Style: Wind Dragon jutsu!" a whirlwind swirled around Naruto before launching towards the water dragon as it took on the shape of a serpentine dragon as well before both dragons collided and canceled each other out. Mei searched for her opponent only to release that he was right behind her and spun round to defend only for him to disappear in a puff of smoke, suddenly she felt something strike from behind and a voice called out "Wind Style: Violent Wind Palm!" there was a powerful blast of wind to send her flying, revealing to be Naruto having launched the gambit maneuver.
The Mizukage somersaulted in midair and landed on the ground with a skid before glaring at the blonde ninja "Women don't like forceful men, it's time I show you the consequences of your actions. Vapor Style: Solid Fog jutsu!" she opened her mouth to expel a cloud of mist which spread throughout the cavern, Naruto had a bad feeling about the mist and dashed towards Mei and lashed out to disrupt the jutsu but she leapt away and disappeared into the mist.
"Tch, where did she go? These guys really like using this kind of jutsu a lot," Naruto muttered while briefly recalling his encounters with Zabuza, Raiga and few others "Hang on, what's with this mist?" he looked down and was alarmed to see parts of his clothes and armor were melting away, then he heard the Mizukage giggle from within the mist.
"I see you've noticed, my Solid Fog jutsu is a mist that is highly acidic in nature and capable of melting of melting bodies and even chakra-based defense. I wonder how long you will last? Fufufufufu,"
Naruto gritted his teeth at hearing this then he smirked, he could use a wind jutsu but like always goes against the norm especially since that's what she would be expecting so he took out the Decadriver and strapped it to his waist and took out his signature Rider Card "Henshin!" he inserted the card into the Decadriver and closed it as it then announced
[Kamen Ride: Decade!]
He transformed into Kamen Rider Decade and dusted his hands before opening the Rider Booker and taking out yet another card and inserted it into the Decadriver and closed it once more.
[Kamen Ride: Agito!]
The Decadriver let out a bright flash of white which dissipated to reveal Naruto donning a gold and silver armor, and red eyes. Naruto had transformed into the ancient mystic warrior Agito; he took a stance with a sense of calm akin to when he normally uses Sage Mode. He silently looked around his surroundings then sensed something heading towards him from the left and quickly jumped backwards in time as a spray of lava landed at where he once stood and melted the ground. Naruto immediately rushed to where his target was moving and landed a punch to the gut much to the Mizukage's shock.
"How were you able to find me in the mist and how is it not melting your armor?" asked Mei in disbelief.
"I'd rather we focus on this fight," said Naruto all too calmly before attacking with a jab which was parried but turned it into a onehanded grapple to reel her and land a knee strike to the chest followed by a leaping back-spin kick to the head but missed when Mei ducked below it countered with a side kick to the chest to knock him back before countering "Water Style: Water Bullet!" she spewed a powerful torrent of water to send the ninja/rider flying a fair distance until he dug his feet into the ground and grinded to a halt then held on till the attack dissipated.
Naruto gazed once more and stood silently until he heard the sounds of a heartbeat and swiftly moved towards it and struck out with a jumping punch for Mei to quickly move out of the way for a stalagmite to be shattered upon impact, he raised a forearm to block a high kick aimed for his head and took a step back and lashed out with an elbow from behind, landing a hit on his target. "Water Style: Water Arsenal!" two orbs of water hovered close to Mei who grabbed them and they took on the shape of dual katanas which she swung at the rider. Naruto was calmly parrying the incoming slashes with open palms and moving backwards gradually, he was inwardly amazed at how calm he was reacting to all this since normally and chalked it up as an aspect of the Rider he was currently transformed into.
In a fluid movement, Naruto disarmed Mei of the katanas and knocked her down to the ground, he took out a Rider Card from the Ride Booker and inserted it into the Decadriver before closing it.
[Final Attack Ride: A-A-Agito!]
The Crest Horns atop the helmet opened up to reveal two more horns as Naruto instinctively took a stance, golden energy in the shape of Agito's emblem appeared where he stood before fusing with his feet as took a step back with a slight crouch. Naruto leapt into the air and lunged with a flying side kick, he detected movement and saw Chojuro rushing towards him with his blade enshrouded in its hammer form.
"I won't let you hurt Mizukage-sama!" yelled Chojuro as he swung at the rider.
They clashed in the middle with both sides struggling for dominance but Naruto eventually won the clash as he sent Chojuro flying from the force and continued onwards to strike Mei to send her crashing into a stalagmite, Naruto landed sideways on the ground and turned away from her in a pose right before the explosion and the Crest Horns withdrew back into one.
Music End
Naruto calmly approached the severely injured Mizukage whose body let out a bright flash of light before dissipating to reveal yet another puppet before undoing his transformation with the Decadriver warping back to its usual place in the ninja pouch.
"Yet another fake," said Naruto with a frown.
Chojuro got up and limped over only to be shocked upon seeing the puppet on the ground "Mizukage-sama?! How could she have been a fake all this time?!"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time, but you didn't listen and even attacked me!" said Naruto angrily.
"Well then where's the real Mizukage?" asked Chojuro confusedly.
"I don't know, but I reckon that she's locked up in the same place Tsunade-baachan and Gaara are,"
"She's been captured? This is terrible! We have to search for her!"
"At the rate things are going, I'm worried about the two remaining Kages…do you know how I can get to the Hidden Stone village?" Naruto turned to the Chojuro only to see the Mist shinobi tugging at his hair in a panic.
"This is awful! What should I do? I'm the one responsible for all this! Ao-senpai is going to be very mad at me!"
Naruto deadpanned at this "I doubt I'll get any useful info from this guy when he's like this, better return to Konoha and report to Kakashi-sensei. Maybe he knows how I can to the Hidden Stone village and meet with the Tsuchikage," He turned round and walked away, leaving the panicking Mist shinobi to his own devices.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto arrived at the Hidden Sand village in search of Gaara but soon came to discover that the residents are quite hostile and had to force his way into the village. A reluctant fight against Temari led to him being told Gaara's strange behavior which roused his suspicions which were soon confirmed when he finally met the Kazekage. He soon learnt that the kidnapper was doing all this for vengeance against the ninja world and seeks to destroy it with discord.
Sometime later, he headed over to the Hidden Mist village and received the same reception and even fought a member of the new generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist before meeting with the Mizukage albeit surprised that it was a woman in charge. An exchange of words which stepped on several landmines led to a fight but Naruto managed to pull though and discover that Mizukage was a fake as well which began to worry the blonde ninja about how strong the hidden enemy is to be able to kidnap the Kages so far.
Here are some new additions to the list of worlds which he would be going to:
TMNT: Turtles in Manhattan
Marvel vs. Capcom
Devil May Cry 4
Bayonetta
Red Earth
Iconoclasts
Freezing
Generator Rex
Skullgirls
Tekken 7
Guilty Gear Judgement
Rosario + Vampire
Megaman Zero 2
Be sure to read and review as always
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out