Author's Note: Boy, I'm so happy with the response to the previous chapter. I was a bit afraid that people wouldn't like how the Naruto vs Sasuke fight ended up happening, but once again the reception has been mostly positive, much to my relief, and not only in terms of the reviews themselves, but its number as well. Thanks a lot!
I'm also hoping that this chapter will have a similar reception. Enjoy the last chapter of 2017:
Chapter 40:
Return of an Old Friend
or
Stop trying to be mysterious by wearing a mask
…
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed a wide volley of fireballs at Naruto. The fireballs had shuriken hidden within them, so even if Naruto doused the flames with another of those annoying water seals, there was still something left to hit.
However, being the unpredictable ninja he was, Naruto opted for another strategy.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Like the name stated, a mass of green and orange clad clones appeared in a front of Naruto, clustering together in a barrier, successfully blocking the attack, shuriken included, even if most of them had to "die".
Without issuing any order, the surviving clones formed a Rasengan each and charged at Sasuke. The Uchiha tensed up. A Rasengan was bad. Half a dozen were way worse.
"They won't be able to defend themselves from ranged attacks if they have to keep the Rasengan active," Sasuke thought as his hands flew through hand seals as they started to crackle with electricity. "Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"
Lightning bolts flew out of Sasuke's fingertips, striking the three foremost Naruto clones, poofing into cloud of smoke. However, the smoke also acted as a cover for the two clones of the back, who avoided Sasuke's lightning attack, and spread out and attacked in a pincer formation. Seeing no other way out, Sasuke decided to tackle one of them head on, and take care of the other next.
"Rasengan!"
The clone tried to slam the sphere of destruction into Sasuke's chest, but the Uchiha was faster, and grabbed the clone by the wrist before he could do so. Knowing the other clone was behind him, he slammed the first clone's Rasengan against the second, resulting in a massive chakra explosion that destroyed them, while hurling Sasuke against a stone column.
"Well, that looks like it hurt," Naruto observed, as he let out a taunting chuckle.
Sasuke just grumbled something unintelligible as he tried to shake off the pain of the impact.
"Not as much as this," he said as he made more hand seals, before pulling out his katana. "Fire Release: Burning Blade!"
Sasuke's sword was wreathed in flames. Holding it in a reverse grip, he charged at Naruto. The blond pulled out his chakra blade, and activated the moment he raised it to parry Sasuke's attack. Fire and steel fought against pure chakra, with neither of them gaining the upper hand. Sasuke then jumped back, allowing Naruto to attack. But the moment Naruto made a swing, Sasuke quickly dodged it by sidestepping, and slid behind Naruto. He placed a hand on his shoulders, and sent a chakra pulse through the blonde's body.
"I hope this can break the mind control," Sasuke thought.
Naruto's elbow violently connecting with the Uchiha's mouth signaled that no, the chakra disturbance wasn't enough.
"Godamn it Naruto, snap out of it already!" Sasuke angrily shouted as he held his mouth in pain.
"Snap of it? I was shown the truth, Sasuke. I can't just 'snap' out it," Naruto replied.
"What about your parents? What about Hinata? Are you willing to help the people who want to destroy everything they fight for?" the Uchiha asked.
"In time, they will understand that Akatsuki is a force of good, and that big changes always require sacrifices," Naruto retorted. "Such as how so I can fulfill my destiny, you need to die so you will stop getting in the way."
Sasuke snarled, as he prepared to continue the fight. He thought in summoning a hawk, but hawks fought poorly in caves and caverns, even in one such as big as this one. At least Naruto wasn't thinking in summoning a toad either. Probably because deep down he knew they wouldn't help him in his current state.
"Well, if the chakra pulse didn't work, then I'll have to use something more...potent," the youngest Uchiha thought as he got ready to resume the fight. He stabbed his sword on the ground, and made several hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Blade! Fire Release: Burning Edge!"
Sasuke pulled out a kunai the moment he retrieved his sword. The former was covered in flames, while the latter started to crackle with blue electricity.
"That thing again?" Naruto asked, before grinning evilly. "Thank Kami I'm prepared now."
The Jinchuriki pulled out a second chakra sword from his ninja tool pouch and activated it, projecting another blue blade of pure chakra.
Naruto and Sasuke charged towards each other, meeting in the middle as they clashed in a storm of sword swipes and swings. While Naruto was indeed skilled with the swords, Sasuke's skill was greater, plus he had also been training in sword fighting much longer than Naruto. After a few strikes, Sasuke managed to swipe one of Naruto's chakra blades from his hand.
"Give up, loser. There's no way you can defeat me in sword fighting!" Sasuke boasted.
"You sound awfully sure," Naruto cockily retorted. "You see, my chakra blade still has a couple more tricks you haven't seen yet. Behold!"
Naruto held his weapon in front of him as he focused, and the projected chakra blade started to ripple, as if it was growing unstable. The chakra blade then expanded and turned white, almost looking like white fire.
"See this? My chakra blade is now a Wind Blade," Naruto told him. "One of the wind element's most known characteristics is its cutting power. Wanna help me test how deep this sword can cut now?"
Sasuke didn't answer Naruto's taunts and resumed the fight. While he wouldn't know if Naruto's weapon could slice any better, his blows now carried far more power. He immediately realized what was happening.
"The wind chakra is blowing gusts with each strike, increasing their power of his swings. Plus that wind sword can easily repel my lightning attacks," Sasuke quickly deduced. "Better stick to fire alone."
Sasuke dispelled the electricity coursing through his blade, and replaced it with fire. Naruto, however, looked undeterred.
"You're going to need something more than elemental advantage if you can hope to defeat me, dumbass," Naruto pointed out.
"We'll see about that," was Sasuke's response.
Naruto gripped his weapon tightly, and the white flames that formed its blade started to glow with an intense white light. Making a swinging motion, Naruto cast a crescent-shaped wave of chakra at Sasuke. The black haired boy managed to jump over it in time, and saw how the chakra wave cleanly slashed a column before it crashed against a wall, shattering a large area.
"See this, Sasuke? The culmination of my work and my training," Naruto boasted. "This is what you're up against."
Sasuke frowned. Naruto was boastful, but never sounded so...mean. The mind control altered his mind in more subtle ways than just buying the lies of Akatsuki. Sasuke then sheathed his sword and returned his kunai to his ninja tool pouch. He then made several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed a massive fireball at Naruto, so hot it left a trail of scorched, blackened floor underneath as it flied towards the Uzumaki. Naruto merely smirked as he raised his sword above his head, and grinned.
"Is all the best you have?" Naruto taunted, as he lowered his sword in a vertical chopping motion.
The resulting action produced a gust of razor wing that literally split the incoming mass of fire in two, with both halves slowly disintegrating into smoldering embers. However, Naruto's smile was short lived upon noticed that Sasuke wasn't in his initial position anymore.
"Where did he go...!?" Naruto asked as he frantically looked around, until he saw the last Uchiha high into the air.
While he was into the air, Sasuke pulled out and unfolded two Fuma Shuriken.
"Take this!" Sasuke cried as he tossed the giant steel stars, one after the other.
Naruto smirked again and raised his wind blade in a defensive stance. He quickly sliced the first flying star in two as if it was made of butter, then in a quick swing, he repeated the action with the second one before it could get too close to him.
"Haha, look at that! You can't-"
Naruto was interrupted by a whirring sound, and much to his shock and anger, realized that Sasuke had tossed normal shuriken at him while he was falling to the ground. Shuriken that he didn't see because he was too focused on the Fuma Shuriken Sasuke tossed first.
However, Sasuke had fumbled the toss, and the steel stars were flying way too separated from each other, leaving large laps between them that could be used to dodge them. Something Naruto naturally did.
"Your aim's getting worse, Sasuke. Guess that the Sharingan isn't all that cracked up as you make it out to be," Naruto taunted, as the shuriken flew past him.
However, Sasuke was smiling. "Trust me, I aimed exactly where I wanted," he replied, before making a pulling motion.
While confused at first, Naruto quickly realized that Sasuke was handling ninja wire. Ninja wire connected to the shuriken that he just tossed. No wonder they were flying in such a spread formation. Sasuke moved the shuriken in a circular motion, tying Naruto up before the steel stars embedded into his skin.
"I don't know if it was beating me at the Chunin Exams, or the mind control, but you certainly grew overconfident," Sasuke stated, then he started making hand seals while keeping hold on the wires. "This will hurt a lot, but I promise you'll much better afterwards."
Sasuke sent electricity through the metallic cords that bound Naruto, electrocuting the blond. He let out a loud cry of heart wrenching pain. Such action had the side effect of heating the cords until they snapped, releasing the blond and cutting the connection for the electricity to travel, but it had already did his job. Or at least, that's what Sasuke was hoping.
"Ugghh..." Naruto groaned as he fell to his knees. Smoke was coming out of his body, which had multiple small burns.
"Naruto...are you okay?" Sasuke tentatively asked.
"You were right when you said it would hurt a lot," Naruto weakly stated. He then raised his head, fixing a hateful glare on the Uchiha. "But it didn't hurt as much as what I plan to do with you! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
About thirty clones popped into existence, every single one of them sharing the original's anger, each of them holding a wind blade as well. Without any order from the original, the army of Naruto clones charged forward.
Sasuke prepared for the incoming onslaught by making several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Burning Man!"
A cloak of flames surrounded Sasuke, as the youngest Uchiha unsheathed his katana once again, which was also set on fire. Not waiting for the blond army to arrive, Sasuke dashed forward, taking advantage of his superior speed to plow through the clones, as he started to cut them down.
Sasuke took advantage of the fact that the clones were clustered and thus were getting in each other's way to attack, giving him an easier time at dodging and counterattacking. But the moment the number of clones were cut in half, the clones also had more space to attack and no longer got in each other's way, forcing Sasuke into the defensive.
Sasuke jumped out of the fray, hoping to buy a couple seconds to regain his breath, but the clones –with the original among them– were relentless in their chase. Sasuke expertly parried most of the blows aimed at him, but he still got some pretty ugly cuts from the ones he was unable to block.
"Even if it's chakra cost will make me regret doing it, I need to use a jutsu with a wide area of effect," Sasuke thought as he stabbed his katana into the floor and made several hand seals. "Fire Release: Annihilation Nova!"
Naruto cursed upon hearing the name of the jutsu as he jumped back and tried to put some distance but knew he was too close to Sasuke to outrun it. The youngest Uchiha turned into a giant fireball that instantly destroyed all the clones, successfully catching the original in the blast. Naruto was badly burned and hurled against a wall before falling to the ground.
"Did that get him?" Sasuke wondered, before he was forced down on one knee once the effects of spending so much chakra at once kicked in. "Damn! I should have listened to Itachi when he told me to try to create a jutsu less chakra heavy, even if it wasn't as powerful..."
"You're really getting on my nerves, Sasuke," Naruto groaned as he got back on his feet.
"...how can you still stand after taking the brunt of that blast?" the incredulous Uchiha asked.
"I'm tough and heal fast. And with that move, you sealed your defeat," Naruto said in satisfaction. "Using that jutsu after all this fighting must have left your chakra reserves almost depleted, while I still have plenty to spare."
"Not entirely," Sasuke mentioned as he grabbed his katana once again, and gripped its handle with both hands. "I still have enough chakra for this!"
The blade of Sasuke's katana burst into flames, followed shortly by numerous electric sparks. Naruto let out a loud, mocking laugh.
"Are you serious? Do you plan to do that again?" Naruto asked, incredulous, but also amused. He made a single Shadow Clone. "Okay then. If it's a repeat of the Chunin Exam Finals what you want, I'm more than happy to oblige."
However, Naruto wasn't planning to use a normal Rasengan, but one infused with wind chakra. That would reduce Sasuke's victory chances to less than zero. Sasuke moved first, charging towards Naruto while trying to keep his complex jutsu under control. And once Naruto completed his jutsu, he had the clone push him towards Sasuke for additional momentum.
"Double Elemental Release: Plasma Blade!"
"Wind Release: Rasengan!"
Both attacks clashed against each other. The Rasengan suddenly expanding, and releasing powerful gust of winds everywhere, while blazes and lightning bolts came from Sasuke's sword.
"Come on...come on!" Sasuke cried as he struggled to keep both elements active.
"Die already!"· Naruto hatefully shouted as he pushed the Rasengan towards Sasuke with all his remaining might.
Despite being able to keep the jutsu stable this time around, even with two elements it wasn't enough to counter Naruto's elemental Rasengan. Like it happened before, the force of the attack blew Sasuke's sword out of his hands, before he was trapped in a twister of wind and chakra that violently slammed Sasuke against a wall with such force, it shattered a good chunk of it.
Sasuke wasn't moving. Naruto, panting heavily, started to laugh. Even if he wasn't sure if the attack killed Sasuke, the fight was already over. His laugh grew in mirth and volume as seconds passed by.
"Hahahaha, yes! I defeated you again, Sasuke! The moment we graduated from the Academy marked the last time you would ever be better than me!"
However, Naruto's victory boast was interrupted when Sasuke's body poofed, stunning the blond into silence.
"What the...?" the Jinchuriki said as he proceeded to look around.
But before he could do anything, a sword pierced his back and burst through his gut, impaling him. A thread of blood fell from his mouth. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuke behind him.
"How...?"
"You're not the only one who knows how to do Shadow Clones," Sasuke replied. "And you ARE rather confident now. But enough words. If this doesn't break the mind control...then I'm out of ideas. Lighting Release: Thunder Blade!"
Electricity once again coursed through Sasuke's katana, electrocuting Naruto again, this time from the inside out. Once he was done, he pulled the sword in a clean motion, and the blond fell to the ground, unconscious. He should be okay, given that the Uchiha carefully avoided every possible vital spot. But he would need medical attention soon.
And following his own advice, Sasuke made sure that Naruto hadn't tricked him, and prepared for any possible attack.
The attack came, in the form of a sudden kick to the face, but it did not come from Naruto, but from the Akatsuki who had been watching the whole fight, and Sasuke pretty much forgot his presence until now.
"What did you do?" Tobi asked as he knelt before Naruto's body. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?"
"What...?" a confused Sasuke asked upon getting up.
"You idiot! You killed him! You killed him!" Tobi angrily repeated.
Those words hit Sasuke like a sledgehammer. There's no way that could have been true. He made sure none of the attacks he used on Naruto were lethal. Besides, Jinchuriki were said to be far more resilient than normal humans due the creatures they hosted inside them.
"No, that can be..." Sasuke said, almost in a whisper. "I avoided all his vital spots!"
"You impaled him, then electrocuted him from the inside out!" Tobi loudly pointed out. "What the hell did you think was going to happen!?"
Sasuke stood there, in shock, looking at Naruto's immobile body. He did look dead. He had killed him. The very first person he ever killed, and it was Naruto. While Sasuke has mentally prepared himself for his first kill, he would never imagine it would be one of the very few people he would call themselves their friend.
"No...no..." Sasuke weakly said as he stepped back. "This can't...AAAAARRRGGHH!"
Sasuke's eyes started to burn as if somebody dropped a hot coal on them. His palms instinctively slapped against his pained eyes, as he bent over his knees. Tobi, meanwhile, watched intently.
"IT WAS YOU!" Sasuke roared. "YOU MADE ME DO IT!"
Sasuke had his Sharingan active again, but it acquired a different pattern: three red intersecting ellipses against a black background.
"Ah, there it is," Tobi casually said, now oddly calmed.
Sasuke let out an cry of rage, and too angry to think any kind of sensible strategy, or even use ninjutsu, the youngest Uchiha merely leaped at the masked Akatsuki, as if he were a wild animal pouncing on its prey.
Tobi merely chuckled, and easily kicked Sasuke in the chest, knocking him on his back. However, before he could get back on his feet, the masked man made a few hand seals, and plant vines emerged from the ground and wrapped around Sasuke's limbs, neck and body, pinning him against the floor.
"And there it is, the Mangekyo Sharingan," Tobi mentioned, then he turned back at Naruto. "But just in case..."
Tobi knelt once again before Naruto's body, and thoroughly check his vitals. An audible sigh of relief escaped his lips.
"Just as I imagined, he's still alive," Tobi said, now even more calm and relaxed. "I knew that your attacks wouldn't be enough to end his life, but I wanted to make sure."
"...what?" Sasuke asked, his anger dispelling, being replaced by confusion. "Then why did you trick me into thinking that I killed him?"
"It isn't obvious? Because I wanted you to awake the Mangekyo Sharingan," Tobi explained. Sasuke's visible confusion made Tobi realize that the youngest Uchiha wasn't familiar with the term. He let out a mocking laugh. "Oh, this is too good. You don't know what I'm talking about, do you? It seems that your dearest brother and cousin kept you in the dark about one of our clan's secrets.
"Anyway, allow me to enlighten you then. The Sharingan has a higher form, named Mangekyo Sharingan, that grants the user a whole new set of very powerful abilities. Your brother, your cousin, and I myself have it. The problem, though, is to awaken it. In order to do so, an Uchiha must experience a sense of overwhelming guilt and/or despair. And what better way to make you experience such emotions than making you believe you killed one of the few kids that didn't treat you as trash when everybody else did?"
"But...but why? Why did you went to such lengths to help me?" Sasuke asked.
A scalpel appeared on Tobi's hand. Sasuke's normally pale face turned even whiter when the realization instantly dawned upon him.
"What do you think?" Tobi was grinning maliciously behind his mask. "I could have dispatched you and take the Jinchuriki the moment you set your foot on this lair. But then I realized how could I use Naruto to make you awake the Mangekyo Sharingan...and truth be told, it was too good to pass. Especially since we Uchiha now are an endangered species."
As his self preservation instincts kicked it, Sasuke tried to use his remaining strength to break free of his bindings and run away from there.
"Don't bother, even if you were at your full strength, you wouldn't be able to break those vines," Tobi stated as he walked closer to Sasuke. "Now stay still while I begin the extraction...actually, now that I think about it.. I don't even need you to be alive anymore so...die."
Tobi made a hand seal, and the vines started to strangle Sasuke as they greatly tightened their hold over him.
"What a pity. Even by Uchiha standards, you had a lot of potential. You could have been an useful ally. But don't worry, the power of your eyes won't go to waste. I can assure you that," Tobi said as he watched Sasuke die.
The youngest Uchiha struggled with all his strength against the tightening vines, but the effect if lack of oxygen soon became noticeable. His movements become slower and jerkier, as his vision started to blur and darken.
Then, at that moment, a green, blue and silver blur crossed the instance in less than a second, as a sound of a thousand birds chirping filled the air.
"Lightning Blade!"
Kakashi's signature move impaled Tobi's heart. Or at least, that was the intention, as the Copy Ninja noticed that, even if his hand was buried inside the Akatsuki's chest, he felt as if he hit thin air. Tobi jumped back, and Kakashi realized that he had used his ability to turn intangible Tsunade has talked about.
"Whew, that was a close call, wasn't it?" Tobi casually mentioned.
Asuma and Kurenai entered the room as well, followed by Hinata, Haku, Tenten and Karin. Asuma walked towards Sasuke, and with a few accurate swipes, cut all the vines holding him down, releasing the Uchiha Chunin, who started to violently cough, as he held his pained throat.
"Breathe slowly. Don't try to take too much air at once," Asuma instructed Sasuke.
Karin walked towards Sasuke and used the Mystical Palm Jutsu to heal him.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried in shock upon seeing Naruto laying motionless in the ground. Thankfully, she could see he was still alive since his chakra network was still active. She rushed to him and started to heal him.
"We need to take Naruto and Sasuke out of here, right now!" Kurenai urged.
"As well as find the Hokage's children," Asuma added.
"And you think I'm going to let you do that?" Tobi asked as he unsheathed his katana. "While I sadly won't be able to get Sasuke's eyes, I won't let you people stop me from claiming the Jinchuriki a third time!"
"Okay then. Asuma, Kurenai, let's deal with this guy," Kakashi suggested. "Remember what Tsunade-sama said about his abilities. Between the three of them should be able to put him down."
"You really overestimate your abilities, Kakashi," Tobi sourly said.
"Karin, can you look where the children are?" Kurenai asked.
Karin nodded, made a hand seal, and focused. As her senses expanded, she managed to identify the chakra signature of the twins.
"Got them!" she said.
"Alright then. Tenten, Haku, go with her and rescue them. Hinata, stay here and take care of Naruto and Sasuke. Once everybody is safe, we'll cover your escape," Kurenai commanded.
"Now go!" Asuma added as he engaged Tobi in a duel of blades.
Taking advantage of the Akatsuki's predicament, Tenten, Haku and Karin rushed past him, and headed into the deepest part of the lair, where the twins were presumably held, while the three Jonin charged against the masked Akatsuki.
…
"Now to the left!" Karin stated, as the three of them reached a fork.
"How much until we get to them?" Tenten asked.
"Shouldn't be far. I think one more turn and then-WHOA!" Karin suddenly said, as she stopped in her tracks.
"What's wrong, Karin?" Haku asked.
"We're not alone!" Karin warned the others.
Tenten looked around, a bit puzzled. "I don't see anybody. And this empty hallway doesn't have any spots to hide and...wait, what's that?"
Suddenly, what appeared to be some kind of white, semi-gelatinous mass started to grow all around the hallway at a rather fast pace.
"What the hell is that?" Tenten loudly asked, as she unsealed a naginata from one of her remaining scrolls. Haku and Karin also adopted fighting stances.
"I don't know. But it's alive, and it has chakra!" Karin distressingly informed.
The mass then began to morph into something humanoid. An actual human, with green hair, yellow eyes, and no genitalia.
"You can't be here!" one of the artificial men stated.
"All intruders must die!" said another, as he charged towards the Konoha ninja.
Tenten was fast, and placing the naginata in the way of the attacker, the creature ended up impaling himself. This spurned the few others to attack as well. Haku quickly formed several hand seals.
"Ice Release: Breath of Winter!"
Haku exhaled an incredibly cold wind that completely left two of the attackers frozen. Tenten unsealed a barrage of shuriken from one of her scrolls, shattering them to pieces. Meanwhile, Karin reduced another of those strange beings to white chunky salsa with a well placed chakra-enhanced punch.
"What the hell are these things? Their chakra is so...weird!" Karin mentioned.
"What do you mean by 'weird'?" Haku asked.
"I don't know how to say it with words. It's like...their chakra is human, but at the same time is not. Does that make any sense?" Karin tried to explain.
"It's probably an experiment of Orochimaru," Tenten decided, before she knelt down and grabbed a chunk of white mass. She then pulled out an unused sealing scroll., "Maybe Tsunade-sama can analyze this properly. Whatever it is, it can't be good. Let's seal as much as we can."
"Alright."
After sealing the remains of the strange humanoid creatures, they continued their trek. More of those beings appeared to stop their mission, but the results were the same. After a few minutes and a couple hallway fights, they reached the room where Hagane and Kaida were held.
"Allow me," Karin said, before she kicked the door down.
The room only held two beds, with each twin laying on one of them.
"They don't seem to be gravely injured, just some bruises," Karin said as she started to heal them with the Mystical Palm Jutsu. "They should be fine in no time."
And true to the redhead's word, the twins woke up once they were treated, groaning and rubbing their eyes.
"Huh...where I am?" Hagane groggily asked.
"What is this place? Who are you?" Kaida asked, looking at the trio of Konoha ninja, before her eyes rested on Karin. "Hey; I remember you? You're Naruto-niisan's cousin, right?"
"Your memory seems to be fine. That's good," Karin noted, as she let out a small sigh.
"To make a long story short, Orochimaru's lackeys kidnapped you. We're here to bring you back home," Haku quickly explained. "Can you walk?"
The two of them replied by jumping out of their beds.
"Okay then, if that's the case, then let's go. Try not to lag too much," Tenten instructed, as she and the now group of five ran back to the lair's entrance.
However, just like the way in, Karin suddenly stopped.
"Karin? What's wrong? More enemies?" Haku asked.
"Come on, we can't afford to lose any second!" Tenten protested.
"Well, it's that...when we passed this hallway, I felt a hidden presence, I couldn't pinpoint exactly where...but now I felt it again, even stronger," Karin pointed to a nearby door. "There's somebody behind this door."
Tenten tried to opened the door, but it was locked. "Whatever they keep here, it's valuable if they locked it. Still, we can't risk the Hokage's children anymore. Maybe we can send-"
"Hey! Is somebody there?" a female voice asked from the other side. "Please, help me! Get me out of here!"
While the possibility of being a trap crossed their minds, Karin's sensing ability could tell her she wasn't lying.
"Move aside, I'm going to bring the door down," Karin stated, shortly before making good on that statement with a powerful kick.
"Whoa! You're so strong!" the prisoner observed.
Inside the room, which was just as bare and laconic as the one holding the twins, was a girl the same age as them, with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes and purple facial markings. She was wearing a plain grey short sleeved t-shirt, and knee length pants of the same color.
"You're Konoha ninja, oh thank Kami!" the girl said, as she exited the room. "Thanks. You know, this room has anti-sensor seals, as well as other protections. How did you know I was here?"
"Let's say that I'm way more powerful than the average sensor," Karin proudly boasted.
"Who are you, by the way?" Tenten asked.
"My name is Rin Nohara, I'm a ninja of Konoha too. Now, we need to get out of here as soon as possible!"
…
While the three Jonin fought Tobi, Hinata was still taking care of Naruto, under Sasuke's distressed sight.
"How did you enter? The door was sealed by several stone slabs behind us," Sasuke asked.
"We opened the entrance by force," was Hinata's response, not taking her eyes from the unconscious Naruto. "It wasn't as solid as it looked."
That's something Sasuke would have done as well.
"How is he?" the youngest Uchiha asked.
"His injuries were grave, but he will survive," Hinata's sight shifted from Naruto to Tobi, and frowned. "That evil man impaled Naruto and submitted him to multiple lightning jutsu. A weaker person wouldn't have survived."
Sasuke shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Actually...it was I who did that"
Hinata suddenly turned at Sasuke, and looked at him with surprised eyes. However, she didn't look angry or outraged. "You did such a thing? Why?"
"Naruto was under mind control," Sasuke began. "But it wasn't a normal genjutsu; it was the most powerful mind control genjutsu to ever exist. Not only is the ability exclusive to the Sharingan, but only one person in the whole world can cast it: my cousin Shisui Uchiha."
"Shisui Uchiha...?" Hinata wondered, as she remembered who she was talking about, until she slowly remembered. "Oh, the proctor of the first part of the Chunin Exams, right? He only had one eye."
"Yes. He lost his right eye shortly before the Uchiha Insurrection. He claimed Danzo did it. Danzo claimed it was a lie. Regardless of that, the eye never appeared," Sasuke then glared at Tobi. "I think it's obvious where the eye is."
"So you were forced to fight Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Sasuke nodded. "But...if Naruto-kun was under his thumb the whole time, why didn't he take him away? Why did he jeopardize his plan like that with such a meaningless plot?"
Sasuke grew even more uncomfortable. "He said he wanted to show me how easily friendships can break and become enemies. As well as for his own amusement. Honestly, that man is very mentally unstable. It's not that surprising for him to make such an irrational decision."
Hinata narrowed her eyes a little. Sasuke was clearly hiding something from her. But she decided this wasn't the best time for an interrogation. It was obvious for anybody with functional eyes that the Uchiha had gone through a lot during the past couple hours.
"I tried to break the genjutsu by every way I knew, and none of them worked. Causing extreme pain and corporal damage was the only option I had, while making sure Naruto would survive it," Sasuke continued.
"It's okay, I'm not mad at you. You were cornered into a situation in which the choices available were few and hard," Hinata emphatically replied.
Still, Sasuke remained stiff.
Meanwhile, the three Konoha Jonin battled the masked Akatsuki, though they were barely able to land a hit on him.
"You know, this is actually much harder than Tsunade-sama made it look," Asuma protested as his swipe failed to hit anything but thin air for the umpteenth time.
"What, you thought that just because somebody figured out how my powers work, beating me would be piece of cake?" Tobi mocked as he tossed a barrage of shuriken at his opponents. "Besides, after my encounter with that blonde cow, I made sure to get better at using them."
"Still, as long as we're here, you can forget about abducting Naruto! Get that inside your head!" Kurenai stated as she kicked him in the head, but sadly her foot phased through him.
"And you think you three can stop me? HA!" Tobi retorted. "Your presence is a mere setback! These events are part of a plan that was conceived and started decades ago! Nothing you can do can stop it! Nothing you can do can stop ME!"
"OBITO, STOP!"
As those two words echoed though the cavernous chamber, all the adults froze in place. Looking to the place where the cry came from, they saw that Tenten, Haku and Karin had returned with the Hokage's children. However, the white haired kids weren't the only ones they brought along. Among them, there was a brown haired girl with purple facial markings.
"Is that...?" Kurenai began, completely caught by surprise.
"It can't be..." Asuma said, just as shocked. Then, he looked back at the masked Akatsuki. "And he called him Obito?"
If Kurenai and Asuma were surprised, Kakashi was so shocked, he couldn't even articulate a single word.
"You let her out!?" the masked man roared. "NO! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"
"Obito, please...end this madness already..." Rin pleaded.
"No...Rin can't be alive..." Kakashi muttered, as he slowly became more and more agitated. "And you can't be Obito either! I saw both of them die! This has to be a trick!"
Tobi slowly turned at Kakashi, lowered his hood, and just as slowly, removed his mask, before casually tossing it away. The surprise of the three Konoha Jonin grew even more. That man was Obito, even if he clearly looked much older now. Still, he had the same facial features –ignoring his scarred left side of the face– and the same spiky hair. He also had two Sharingan.
"Surprise," Obito stated unenthusiastically.
"It's really you?" Kurenai asked in shock. "But...we all thought you were dead!"
Obito chuckled. "In a way, I was. Obito Uchiha, the loud, clumsy and dumb kid that boasted that one day would become Hokage died that day during the last Ninja War. Now I'm somebody else. Something else."
"But..." Kakashi stammered. "You were alive all this time? And Rin too? How? And why didn't you come back to the village?"
"As for how I survived...well, let's say that I was lucky a man rescued me. A powerful and wise man," Obito cryptically recounted. "I did plan to return to the village once I was healed of my injuries, but that man...he showed me the truth of this ugly world: that there's nothing but pain and despair awaiting for us."
Obito made a dramatic pause before continuing, as he was going to drop quite a revelation at his former comrades.
"Kakashi...I was there the night Rin died," Obito announced.
Once again, Kakashi paled with shock. How his heart managed to survive all this maddening revelations, it was anybody's guess. But to the adults, the implications of that statement were felt in full force.
"Wait a minute...how is that you're an adult, yet Rin still looks like a child?" Asuma asked.
Obito looked at Rin, before his sight rested once again onto the three Konoha Jonin.
"Let's say that it wasn't until recently that I managed to undo such a tragic mistake," Obito replied, still using ambiguous language. He then looked at her, his eyes reflecting sadness. "That's why I kept you here, Rin, even if it was against your will. I couldn't afford losing you again after finally getting you back."
"Obito, I'm not some sort of china doll you have to put in a locker! And neither I am of your property! What's the point of bringing me back to life, if I'm not allowed to experience what life is?"
"NO! You don't understand! This world is too dangerous! Once Akatsuki changes it for the better, you'll be able to roam it as much as you want!" Obito insisted. He then turned back at Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai. His face was contorted by anger. "You won't take her away from me! Not again! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU BEFORE LETTING SUCH THING HAPPEN!"
Asuma and Kurenai quickly adopted fighting stances. Obito was ready to attack, and he looked extremely unhinged. Kakashi was still frozen with shock, and remained immobile.
Then, at that moment, a strange humanoid creature which appeared to be engulfed by a venus fly trap plant emerged from the ground besides Obito. The Akatsuki cloak made it clear this new being wasn't an ally of Konoha.
"Good, you're here, Zetsu," Obito mentioned, noticing the new arrival. "Secure Rin while I-"
"Sorry boss, but this is for your own good," Zetsu said as he blew a green powder in Obito's face.
"What...are you...?" Obito didn't have the chance to finish that question before he felt asleep. Zetsu managed to grab him before he could completely fall, and carried him over his shoulder, before he started to sink into the ground.
"Don't think this is the end, Konoha scum," Zetsu threatened as he sank. "We will see again sooner than you think."
And thus, Obito and Zetsu disappeared, leaving the Konoha ninja alone. An uncomfortable silence ensued. Finally, Rin began to walk towards the trio of adult ninja, followed by Tenten, Haku, Karin and the twins.
"Kakashi? Is that you?" Rin asked, once he got a better look at the silver haired man. "You're so...grownup..."
Barely breaking out of his stupor, the Copy ninja kneeled down in order to be eye-to-eye level with his thought to be deceased teammate. He put a hand on her shoulder, as if testing if it was really her, and not just some cruel mirage.
"Yes, I'm Kakashi," he replied. "And you...how? How can you be alive?"
Rin smiled, as she grabbed Kakashi's hand with her own. "It's...a very long story."
Asuma cleared his throat. "We should better return to Konoha immediately and treat our wounded, before any other danger appears."
The moment those words left his lips, the entire lair started to violently shake.
"Oh Kami, what now?" Tenten asked.
"Good job Asuma-sensei, you jinxed it!" Karin scolded the bearded man, while she tried not to lose her balance.
A huge hole was blown up in the roof of the chamber, dropping several large rocks inside. Tsunade appeared from that hole, landing with a loud THUD, shattering the ground beneath her feet. Jiraiya landed besides her as well. Visibly shaken, she scanned the area until she found what she came for.
"My children!" the blonde Sannin cried as she rushed towards them.
"MOM! DAD!" the twins replied in unison as they went to hug their parents.
"When they told me that you were kidnapped by Orochimaru's ninja...my entire world shattered," Tsunade said, barely holding her tears back, as she hugged her youngest children. "Thanks goodness you're alright!"
"I don't know what we would have done if we lost either of you," Jiraiya added, just as emotional.
"It was Naruto-niisan and his friends who saved us," Hagane pointed out.
"Naruto!" Tsunade gasped upon seeing her adopted son laying on the ground, motionless. Breaking the embrace, she rushed to him. "Is he...?"
"Don't worry, Tsunade-sama, he's okay," Hinata reassured the Sannin. "But we should better head back to Konoha. I did heal him as best as I could, but it would be better if he was treated at a hospital."
Tsunade nodded at Hinata's more than sensible suggestion.
Relieved to learn that his children were relatively safe, Jiraiya took a moment to study Orochimaru's hideout.
"So, this is where that bastard has been hiding the whole time," Jiraiya mused aloud. He then looked at the slightly damaged snake statues. "The decoration certainly fits him. Anyway, once we reach Konoha, we need to send a team to secure the place, capture any of the remaining underlings still hiding, and search the place to see if we can find something regarding Orochimaru, Akatsuki and their plans."
"Hokage-sama, Tsunade-sama," Kurenai said as she walked towards them. "Once we reach Konoha, we need to talk immediately. We've made some...astounding discoveries regarding a certain Akatsuki member."
Both Jiraiya and Tsunade turned at the genjutsu mistress with genuine curiosity. Still, that had to wait. The first priority was to take the kids to Konoha, now that it was safe again.
…
Orochimaru's New Base, Undisclosed Location
Orochimaru and Kabuto were walking through their new base as those who survived the failed invasion attempt arrived in what would be their new home for the foreseeable future.
"Impure World Resurrection has proved too unreliable to use for the time being," Orochimaru began, still sour for the failure of the jutsu that thought it would be his trump card over Konoha.
"Do you think that maybe Jiraiya or somebody at Konoha knows something about that jutsu that we are ignoring?" Kabuto asked.
Orochimaru shook his head. "Such thing is unlikely. Nobody but me would have dared to research a jutsu that tampers with death to such depth. Even if extremely unlikely, there's the chance that Konoha ninjas found a way to bypass the infinite regeneration and permanently kill Tobirama, Minato and Kushina. However, they managed to break my hold over Hashirama, and such thing should have been impossible."
"Our research in the past showed that somebody powerful enough can break the caster's control," Kabuto replied.
"Yes, but that's why I limited their power so they could be easier to control. During all the tests I made, none of the subjects rebelled against me."
"We will have to continue the research, then," Kabuto concluded.
"Indeed. I'm not letting this mistake slip by," Orochimaru declared, undeterred. "To change the topic, what about the secondary mission?"
Kabuto smiled. "The mission was a success."
Without waiting for Orochimaru to issue any order, Kabuto pulled out a small sealing scroll from one his pockets, and unsealed a large, metallic briefcase, which he handed it to his master. Delighted, Orochimaru opened the briefcase, revealing its contents: vials of blood, brain fluid, spinal fluid, hair samples, among other things.
"Finally...enough biological samples of Jiraiya and Tsunade's brats. This will help us in the long run immensely," Orochimaru gushed, as he closed the briefcase.
While Orochimaru knew of the Bloodline Limits of those children, he sought to acquire them at any cost. However, he also knew that, if he kidnapped those children, their parents would never rest until they got them back. And said parents had the might of one of the strongest Great Villages backing them up. Hell, Jiraiya and Tsunade would offer Konoha itself as a bounty for anybody that knew where those children or their captor could be.
Of course, there was a much easier solution that would get Konoha out of his back for a while: harvest enough samples of them, and erase all the evidence of such thing happening. That way, Jiraiya and Tsunade would relax and lower their guard, unaware that Orochimaru got his hands on not one, but two potentially powerful bloodlines.
The plan's only downside was that the samples were limited, so if they were lost or degraded to the point of being unusable, he wouldn't be able to get more. But he liked to see such limitation as a challenge to his limitless genius.
"This victory didn't come without a cost, though," Kabuto continued. "Jirobo, Kidomaru, Sakon and Ukon died while fighting an improvised rescue team that was formed to retrieve the children. Only Tayuya and Kimimaro made out of it alive."
Orochimaru grinned. "Do not fret, Kabuto. While they were some of my strongest minions, only Kimimaro was truly irreplaceable. Besides, the payoff of the mission more than makes up for their sacrifice."
"I see," was Kabuto's reply. "What do you plan to do now, Orochimaru-sama?"
Orochimaru's grin grew even wider, almost like a child who couldn't wait to play with his new, shiny toy. "Make sure the laboratory is up and running as fast as you can. I want to analyze these samples immediately."
"As you wish."
Author's Note: So yeah, Rin is back. Needless to say, this needs to be addressed.
While bringing dead characters back to life is far from being new, most people seem to bring back characters like Minato, Kushina, Fugaku or Mikoto. I can count with one hand the number of fics in which Rin is saved/resurrected, and I would still have a couple fingers left. Though I can see why this happens, given that Rin's death is what kickstarts the whole plot, and undoing it would kill the plot. So I brought her back since I think she deserves a bit better than being just a posthbumous character in order to motivate a character to become a villain.
But fear not! Like I said before, this won't hamper Obito or Akatsuki's plans in the slightest. They will be the same as they were in canon, and they will continue hunting Tailed Beasts. Like I said in previous chapters, their endgame won't be the Infinite Tsukiyomi (because I think it was really dumb), but something else that in my opinion fits better the theme of Love vs Power which was introduced in Part II.
By the way, if you ever think that the Team 7 vs Sasuke "fight" (emphasis on the quotations, since it was barely a fight) from the Sasuke and Sai arc really sucked, go to Youtube and type "Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 Sasuke Boss Fight", and see how that fight SHOULD have been. That fight was my inspiration for both Naruto vs Sasuke fights.
Also, those who were worried about Obito having Shisui's eyes, don't worry either since I'm planning to give that ability a much needed nerf.
So, while there's still one chapter left to wrap everything up, you can say that the Senju Twins Rescue Arc, as well as Part I, is pretty much over plot-wise. I hope you enjoyed the ride so far.
Anyway, see you in 2018, and hope you have a Happy New Year! In the meantime, don't forget to review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!