Author's Note: Well, this arc don't seem to be doing that good in terms of reviews, since we're reaching historical lows. I'm really hoping I'm not losing my touch, or that this story is becoming repeptitive or stale. Anyway, let's hope that this chapter fares a little better. Enjoy:
Chapter 63
The Immortal Team, Part I
or
You Can't Kill What's Dead on the Inside
"So... any of you guys have any experience fighting giant monster... thingies with lots of eyes, mouths and tentacles, all in places that shouldn't have any of those?" Naruto asked as he eyed the Wrath of Jashin, whom had recovered from the shock of the landing.
"The answer may surprise you, but no," Haku deadpanned.
The Wrath of Jashin let out a thundering roar from all its mouths at the same time, as it charged at Gamabunta while raising one of its massive arms.
"Fortunately, that thing telegraphs its attacks way in advance," Hinata noticed.
The arm came down, and Gamabunta managed to catch it with his webby hands. However, it packed so much force, the giant toad was pushed backwards, crushing a few trees under him.
"His attacks might be easy to predict, but that doesn't make them any less painful!" Gamabunta loudly wheezed. "Come on, do something!"
"First of all," Naruto said, making his favorite hand seal, as he created two Shadow Clones. "Go collect some nature energy!" Obediently, the clones leaped away, and disappeared between the lush trees below. "So, anybody has an idea of how should we tackle something so big?"
"Let's go for the eyes, I think they may be its weak spots," Hinata suggested, as she readied her chakra bow. Haku did the same.
"Very well then! Let's go!" Naruto agreed, as he and his teammates leaped from Gamabunta towards the Wrath of Jashin. Naruto landed on its right shoulder, Haku on its left forearm, while Hinata stayed floating in front of its chest.
The tentacles that randomly wiggled weren't there for no reason. The moment Naruto and Haku touched the monster, nearby tentacles lunged at them, wrapping around their bodies.
"Oh no, you don't!" Naruto shouted, as he pulled his Wind Blade, and with a well directed swipe, cut the tentacle clean, releasing him at once. More tentacles flew at him, but they ended up sharing the same fate.
Haku, meanwhile, opted to make several hand seals. "Ice Release: Walking Winter!"
The Ice Ninja generated a powerful icy aura that quickly froze the tentacle restraining him. The tentacle frozen, Haku shattered it by slamming his chakra bow against it, breaking free from the appendage.
"Come on, before it has the chance to get us again, attack at once!" Naruto commanded. The others nodded.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Arrow!"
"Ice Release: Freezing Arrow!"
Arrows of lightning an ice impacted against two of the creature's many eyes. Naruto, meanwhile, stabbed his Wind Blade on a large nearby eyeball. The Wrath of Jashin let out a loud, thundering roar, as it trashed wildly, trying to get rid of its comparatively tiny but painful attackers.
"Gamabunta, attack now!" Naruto shouted.
"You got it, brat!" the giant toad shouted, as he leaped into the air, unsheathed his katana, and delivered a vertical swipe. "TAKE THIS!"
Gamabunta's blade vertically bisected the monster from the stump where its head should be, right to the chest, but the blade didn't do down any further. Oddly enough, rather than blood or organs, Sons of Jashin started to pour from the cut, some of the falling to the ground, others trying to crawl back into the wound and repair it, and others remained on the monster's skin, not knowing what to do.
"The creature is gathering chakra! Watch out, it prepares to attack!" Hinata warned.
And just as the Hyuga Clan Head said, the Wrath of Jashin opened all its mouths at once, releasing streams of blue fire. As if it had life on its own, the fire flew in arcs towards the Konoha ninja and the giant Toad, who pulled his giant blade out of the monster.
"Ouch! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Gamabunta shouted, as the flames made him jump back. "My skin is not made to withstand fire!"
Naruto, Hinata and Haku tried to dodge it as best as they could. They noticed that, even if the flames they dodged crashed against the monster, its skin wasn't burnt, and the creature didn't appear to feel any pain.
"Goddamit, is this creature fireproof?" Naruto complained.
"I believe this is not normal fire," Haku conjectured, as he made several hand seals. "Water Release: Water Wall!"
Haku expelled a stream of water from his mouth to an incoming blaze of blue fire, which did nothing to stop it other than slow it down a little. Haku was forced to dodge once again.
"Indeed. The chakra of the flames doesn't look like normal fire chakra should. It is shaped like fire, but it's not fire," Hinata observed.
"But it still burns like fire!" Gamabunta loudly complained.
"Maybe the skin is fire resistant, but maybe the eyes are not! Let's try to direct the flames there!" Naruto suggested.
Haku and Hinata nodded, and the moment the next homing streams of blue fire came, they tricked them into hitting their eyes.
"GRAAAAAAAARGH!"
And Naruto was right, much to his satisfaction. The creature's many mouths let out multiple high pitched growls of pain, as it trashed wildly in order to futilely fight the pain and those who were causing it.
"It worked!" Naruto cheered.
"I can see that. However, even if we destroy all the creature's eyes, I doubt we'll be able to kill it," Hinata pointed out.
"I know, but at least it won't use that attack anymore. Plus I have a plan," Naruto said. "I'll keep this guy distracted. Can you immobilize it?"
"Leave that to me," Haku volunteered, as he started to descend from the monster to the ground level. "Though I believe this may take some time!"
"We'll buy you that time, then!" Hinata exclaimed, as she and Naruto faced the Wrath of Jashin again.
…
Electricity from Kakashi's arm flickered away, as it was replaced by an intense feeling of pain. Blood started to soak the sleeve of his dark blue shirt, pouring from a gash that hadn't been there a second before.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Tamaki screamed.
"Just...what did that guy do?" a confused Kiba asked.
Using his ritual dagger, Hidan had stabbed his right arm, a deranged smile appearing on his face as he did so. He let out a soft, but demented laugh.
"Hahaha...the pain...it feels so good!" Hidan moaned, sounding like somebody who was experiencing the greatest of the pleasures. He pulled the dagger from his bloodied arm. "Shall we do it again?"
"Just like I expected, using my blood, he used a jutsu to create a link between us. Whenever he suffers an injury, the same happens to me. But since he's immortal, he can wound himself all what he wants without running into any risks. In fact, he looks as if he already did this plenty of times..." Kakashi thought, as he held his arm in pain. "But the question is...what can I do to stop him?"
"You know what, Kakashi? My jutsu allows me to shut down my pain receptors if I wish. But I don't want to," Hidan began. "Do you know why? Because I want to know what my victims feel as I slowly erode their lives away. And the pain...oh, the pain! Is there a more wonderful sensation?"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Kiba shouted, as he an Akamaru rushed to attack Hidan.
"No, stop! Hidan linked our chakra in some way! If you cause him any harm, said harm will go to me as well!" Kakashi warned his student.
"Heh, not bad. Most people only realize what's going on when they're about to die," Hidan praised the Copy Ninja. "Not that it's going to be of any help here either!"
"We'll see about that!" Kakashi shouted. Soldiering through the pain, Kakashi grabbed a kunai with his unwounded arm, and dashed towards the Jashin cultist. "Okay, I think I know how can I incapacitate him without causing lethal harm. I only need to-"
"Nuh-uh!" Hidan said in a chastising manner, as he drove his dagger into his right leg.
The silver haired Jonin felt an intense pain on his right leg, lost, balance, and fell to the ground facefirst.
"You may not know it already, Kakashi, but you're already dead. I'm merely toying with you, milking you for all the delicious pain in your body, until I have no more use for you, and I send your soul to Jashin-sama," Hidan gleefully said.
Kakashi tried to fight desperation and keep a cool head, something that was becoming increasingly difficult to do, due not only knowing that Hidan could kill him whenever he wanted to, but because the increasing number of bleeding wounds was making such task progressively harder.
"No jutsu is perfect, all of them have a weakness and ways to be countered, and this can't be an exception! Come on, Kakashi, think!" the silver haired Jonin desperately thought, as he tried to scan Hidan with his Sharingan. But, unfortunately, from his position, he could only see his legs, and that strange symbol he made with his own blood at the beginning.
A symbol he was standing over...could it be?
"Kiba, Tamaki, that Akatsuki is standing on a symbol he drew with his own blood! Push him away from it! Use shuriken with ninja wire!" the masked man commanded.
Hidan's expression when from sadistic smugness to utter shock in less than a second. And it was all what Kakashi needed to prove his theory right.
"The fuck!? How did you guess that!?" an indignant Hidan exclaimed. "You know what? Fuck it! You might have discovered how my jutsu works, but it was for naught, since I'm going to end this NOW!" Hidan said, as he prepared to stab himself in the heart.
"Not so fast!" Tamaki shouted.
Two shuriken with ninja wire attached flew at Hidan. Using the wire to maneuver it, the shuriken wrapped the wire around Hidan's arms, before Kiba and Tamaki pulled in opposite directions, immobilizing him. Kakashi suppressed a groan as he also felt like an invisible force was trying to rip his arms apart. His students noticed this, and hesitated for a second.
"Don't waver! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! Focus on bringing Hidan out of that circle!" Kakashi insisted.
Kiba and Tamaki nodded, as they continued pulling Hidan back. The Akatsuki, however, despite offering no small amount of resistance, was being pulled back, slowly but surely.
"Goddamit!" Hidan shouted, as he was forced to take a step back, but wasn't fully out of the symbol. "Kakuzu! Lend me a fucking hand, you asshole!"
Meanwhile, at the other side of the clearing, Shino, Fu and Shibuki were fighting Kakuzu. Or more specifically, Fu was engaging Kakuzu in a brutal hand to hand duel while the men fought against the three remaining elemental creatures made of threads. Hidan's screams momentarily interrupted the fight, dragging their attention to the other battlefield.
"It seems that Hidan can't even finish the job himself," Kakuzu grumbled, as he caught a punch from Fu. "Why do I always have to babysit that moron?"
"Kakashi-sensei seems to be grievously wounded. If I don't help him, he might perish," Shino stated.
"Then go! Fu and I will keep Kakuzu busy!" Shibuki told him, as he made several hand seals. "Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
Shibuki expelled a stream of water from his mouth, to counter the turtle masked monster's own water jutsu, giving Shino a chance to escape.
Wordlessly, Kakuzu disengaged Fu, and rushed to intercept Shino, but the green haired girl wouldn't let him.
"I am your opponent!" Fu shouted, as she appeared in front of the rogue Taki ninja, blocking his way. "Don't even dare to ignore me!"
Realizing that he had no way to go past the jinchuriki, Kakuzu commanded his masked monsters to aid Hidan in any way they could. While the help arrived, Hidan continued to struggle against the two Konoha Chunin.
"You fucking brats! You won't interrupt the Jashin's scared sacrifice!" Hidan protested, as he struggled to remain within the symbol of blood.
"Akamaru, now!" Kiba commanded.
With a bark of agreement, the large white dog dashed at Hidan, and bashed him in the chest with his head. Added to the force pulling him back, the immortal Akatsuki fumbled out of the symbol, before he finally fell on his back.
"Alright then, just to be sure, let's check if my theory is correct!" Kakashi said, as he pulled out a single shuriken from his ninja tool pouch, and tossed it at the downed Hidan. The shuriken stabbed on his chest. No such wound appeared on Kakashi's. "Theory confirmed. Now, to make sure you can't continue that ritual..." This time, Kakashi pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it, and tossed it to the blood symbol.
"NO!" Hidan screamed.
Kiba, Tamaki and Akamaru jumped away in time before Kakashi detonated the explosive note, destroying the blood symbol, and leaving a crater in its place.
At that moment, Shino landed besides Kakashi, and started to heal all his wounds.
"I hope the time of my arrival wasn't too late," Shino stated.
"You couldn't have arrived in a better moment," a thankful Kakashi said. Then, his eyes grew wide upon seeing what was coming. "Guys, watch out! The other Akatsuki sent reinforcements!"
Kiba and Tamaki saw the three remaining masked monsters flying at them. While the two Chunin could deal with them without troubles, Kakashi and Shino would be like sitting ducks for them.
"Kiba, we need to protect Kakashi-sensei and Shino from those things, as well as the Akatsuki!" Tamaki urged, as she adopted a fighting stance.
"Agreed. I think that this is a good moment to use the new jutsu I've been working on for the past weeks. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Kiba said, and a clone appeared besides him.
Tamaki was unimpressed. "A shadow clone? That's your new jutsu?"
"That's just the first part! Akamaru!" Kiba called his dog, who rushed to his side. Both Kiba and his clone rode on Akamaru's back –the additional weight was apparent on the dog's struggling expression–, before making the Tiger Seal. "Inuzuka Secret Art: Human Beast Mixture Transformation Three-Headed Wolf!"
Kiba, his clone and Akamaru disappeared in a cloud of smoke, revealing a large, white furried, three-headed wolf in its place. The three heads let out each a bark in unison.
Tamaki was still unimpressed. "So, your giant wolf transformation has three heads instead of two. Eh, guess that's an improvement," she said, shrugging a little.
The three heads shot her an annoyed stare.
"Okay, here they come!" Tamaki said, as the masked monsters hovered over them, readying their attacks.
…
Meanwhile, back to the forests surrounding Takigakure, the battle against the Wrath of Jashin continued. Haku had descended all the way down to the ground, and from his point of view, he could now truly appreciate how massive the colossal aberration was.
The Ice Ninja rummaged through his ninja tool pouch, until he found a soldier pill, and popped it into his mouth.
"Even with the pill, I might not have enough chakra to completely immobilize it...but I have to try it nevertheless..." Haku wondered aloud, as his hands flew through hand seals. "Here goes nothing...Ice Release: Encompassing Mantle of the Yuki-Onne!"
The temperature abruptly dropped to subzero levels, as the green grass and brown soil of the ground started to crystalize, soon becoming white and light blue ice. The ice quickly spread all around Haku, the trees, the rocks, and most importantly, the Wrath of Jashin's legs. Though Haku was directing all his chakra towards the latter point.
The giant monster seemingly realized what was going on, and tried to move one of its legs to crush Haku. However, he was too late, and both legs were frozen solid. But the monster didn't give up, and using his massive strength, tried to free its lower limbs. The ice started to crack.
"Oh no, you don't!" Haku said, making a hand seal, intensifying the cold of his jutsu, which repaired the cracks in the ice.
"Naruto-kun! Hinata-san! I'll try to hold it down as much as possible, but whatever you plan to do it, do it already!" Haku yelled from below.
Many meters above, Naruto was already in position, firmly on the handle of Gamabunta's weapon. His eyes were now yellow with orange eyeshadow, signaling that Sage Mode was now active.
"Okay Bunta, now, before it attacks! Hack it to pieces!" Naruto said. "Haku, get out of the way!"
"You got it!" Gamabunta replied, as he began to wind his sword back.
"The monster is gathering chakra again! Watch out!" Hinata warned.
Pieces of flesh from the Wrath of Jashin's chest started to slip back, revealing a massive orange eye below. The eye started to glow with a crimson light for a few seconds, before it fired a chakra blast of the same color at Naruto and Gamabunta.
"Oh shit!" Naruto cursed.
However, Hinata got in the way between the crimson missile and its target, and using her telekinetic powers. It held it in place, slowing it down as much as she could.
"Naruto-kun...I'm trying to..." Hinata said, as she poured every ounce of her power into stopping that attack.
"Got it, no time to waste! Gamabunta, let's do it now!" Naruto called.
"Alright!" Gamabunta agreed, as he jumped in the air, and readied his sword for a downwards slice.
"Here it goes!" Naruto said, as he started channeling all his chakra into the giant toad's katana. The blade started to glow with a blue and white fire that swirled around it. "Sage Art: Majestic Destroyer Sword!"
This time, Gamabunta's katana sliced through the monster as easily as if it was made of butter. With two precise blows, the monster was split into three parts, which fell apart instantly, while at the same time releasing multiple Sons of Jashin, that tried to reform again.
"Naruto-kun, the monster will reform in a few minutes! Please tell me that your plan didn't end there!" Hinata pleaded.
"Of course it didn't!" Naruto shouted, as he jumped from Gamabunta's sword, and landed on the toad's head, and started making hand seals.. "I'm gonna need some oil!"
"Alright!" Gamabunta replied, as his dewlap swelled up, before releasing a stream of oil, covering the reforming monster under the sticky substance.
"Fire Release: Flame Toad Bullet!"
Naruto breathed a single fireball into the oil, igniting it, which instantly produced a massive blaze that consumed not only the Wrath of Jashin and all the smaller demons that formed it, but many trees around the area as well.
"Its chakra it's receding. I think that attack destroyed it completely," Hinata informed, as he scanned the creature with her Tenseigan.
"Alright then. Tell me when it's completely dead, and Gamabunta will put that fire out before it goes out of control," Naruto stated. "While Fu and the others might need our help, we can't leave this place with a forest fire waiting to happen."
Hinata nodded in agreement.
…
"These wounds are very deep," Shino noticed, as he healed Kakashi's gash on his right arm.
"Meaning that you will take some time to mend them, I know," Kakashi replied.
"No, I mean you're lucky to be alive. If the Akatsuki decided to forego toying with you and went for a vital spot...there would be nothing neither me not any medic could have done to save you," Shino pointed out.
"Guess we must be thankful Hidan is so unhinged. His partner doesn't seem to be the kind of fooling around," Kakashi commented, before his eyes opened wide. "SHINO GET OUT OF HERE!"
Shino turned around, and saw one of the masked monsters looming above them. It opened its maws, and started to charge a fireball. However, before it could fire and turn Kakashi and Shino to ashes, the three headed wolf Kiba and Akamaru fused into blasted it with a sonic roar, making it to shoot the fireball in another direction where, thankfully, nobody was standing. The wolf them placed himself in front of Shino and Kakashi as if to protect them from further attacks, and gnarled menacingly.
The fire monster got back on its feet, and insisted on its attack. Opening its maws, it released a massive wave of fire at the same spot. The wolf took a deep breath, and countered it with a continuous sonic roar. The soundwaves and the fire pushed back and forth, with none of them gaining ground over the other.
Not far away from there, Tamaki was engaging Hidan, while Shibuki dealt with the Lightning and Water monsters. Though in Tamaki's case, she was mostly trying to dodge Hidan's scythe swings.
"Stop moving, you dumb bitch!" Hidan shouted, as he tried to skewer Tamaki.
"Fat chance. I know what happens if you manage to get a drop of my blood," Tamaki replied.
"It's going to happen sooner or later! I'm immortal, you're not! I can fight for as long as I want, while you will get tired, and when you do, you'll become my sacrifice! And then that silver haired bastard of a sensei of yours will go next!" Hidan screamed, before delivering a vertical slash.
Tamaki nimbly dodged it with a backflip, and the three blades stuck themselves into the ground. Hidan pulled, but the scythe didn't come out.
"Come on, this has to be a fucking joke!" Hidan loudly complained, as he struggled to pull the scythe from the ground.
"This is my chance!" Tamaki jumped backwards, retracted her claws, and made several hand seals. "Fire Release: Blistering Firecat!"
The cat kunoichi breathed a massive wave of fire, which took the shape of a large cat, and dashed towards the Akatsuki.
"Eh?" Hidan said, noticing the incoming fire cat, before chuckling. "You really have a hard time understanding what 'immortal' means, don't you?" Hidan laughed, before letting go of the scythe, and spreading his arms. "Your jutsu won't have any effect!"
The fire cat clashed against Hidan, exploding into a torrent of flames. And while such jutsu would have cooked any normal being alive, once the flames receded, Hidan could see that he didn't have a single burn in his body.
"Ha! What did I told you?" Hidan gloated, before realizing that Tamaki was nowhere to be seen. "Huh? Where did you go, you cat bitch?"
Meanwhile, Kiba and Akamaru were still trying to hold the fire monster off, but his continued sonic roar was starting to strain the three headed wolf, and the fire was slowly pushing the soundwaves back.
"Shino, leave me. I don't think Kiba will be able to hold that thing for much longer," Kakashi warned his student.
"Not until I'm able to heal you," Shino insisted.
"Shino, this is no time for-"
"DRILL CLAW"
Suddenly, a human tornado appeared out of nowhere, descending from above towards the masked monster still breathing a wave of fire. Noticing the threat too late, the fire monster was unable to move away, and the human tornado shredded the strange creature to black thread strings, and, oddly enough, blood and gore. And in the middle of all that mess, Tamaki stood, covered in some thread and blood. She smiled confidently.
"Another one down," she said with a satisfied grin. "And you guys are welcome."
The three headed wolf grinned in return as well. Kakashi sighed in relief. Shino didn't say anything, and continued healing the copy ninja.
Of course, the destruction of a second masked monster didn't go unnoticed to Kakuzu, who was still engaging Fu.
"What? Another one of my hearts down? Just how some brats offer such an incredible resistance?" the old Akatsuki thought, as he gave his two remaining monsters a mental command.
The creatures, who were targeting Shibuki, immediately left him, and dashed towards Fu, as they charged an elemental attack each.
"Fu, watch out!" Shibuki warned her.
Thankfully, Fu heard the warning, and her hatred of Kakuzu didn't trump her common sense. She disengaged the masked ninja, deployed her wings, and flew high into the air – albeit not too high, since the chakra dome didn't allow her to – before the elemental barrage of water and lightning could hit her.
The monsters placed themselves at Kakuzu's flanks, as if they were his bodyguards. Hidan, noticing what Kakuzu was doing, also fell back and jumped towards him in order to regroup. The Konoha and Taki ninjas did the same.
"Kakashi-san, are you okay?" Shibuki asked, as he went to check the silver haired Jonin, whom, Shino had finished healing.
"Yes, I'm fine. Not at one hundred percent, but I still can carry my part of the weight," the copy ninja said, as he was helped by Shino and Tamaki back on his feet. "Plus the Akatsuki didn't come out unscathed either. Good job destroying two of those things."
"But even if by doing so we've weakened the enemy, I'm sure they'd now fight with more caution, if not fiercity," Shino noted. "A cornered animal is at its most dangerous."
"Don't worry Shino. I will put those rabid beasts out of their misery," Fu stated, as she punched the palm of her hand.
At the same time, the Akatsuki were discussing the course of the battle, and what would be their next move.
"Just what the hell, man? How are you letting a bunch of kids kick your ass?" Hidan asked Kakuzu.
"The same could be said about you. You had the Jonin's life in your hands, yet you botched it instead of finishing the job," Kakuzu fired back.
"Hey, you fucker, what does-"
"There's no time to argue who's more at fault. The fact is, this fight is not going our way, and we must do something about it," Kakuzu stated.
"Okay then. What's your brilliant idea?" Hidan asked. Wordlessly, Kakuzu pulled out something from his ninja tool pouch. It was a small vial with a blue liquid inside. "You're so fucking weak. Are we going to resort to that already?"
"If you have a better solution, I'm all ears," Kakuzu replied in cold anger. "If not, shut up and drink your part."
"Fine. Whatever," Hidan lazily conceded, as he pulled out an identical vial from a hidden pocket within his cloak, as both he and Kakuzu downed their contents in one go.
Shibuki and Fu immediately recognized the liquid the Akatsuki had ingested.
…
Thankfully, it didn't take long for Hinata to confirm that the Wrath of Jashin had been completely destroyed. After that, Gamabunta put out the fires with a powerful water jutsu, before bidding Naruto farewell. After that, the members of the Assault Squad headed towards the chakra dome as fast as they could.
Right now, it was only a matter of destroying the only barrier that prevented them from helping their friends.
"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"
Hinata released a myriad of lightning bolts from her fingers, and crashed against the bright purple barrier. Multiple small blasts were produced when the electric attack clashed against the barrier. But when the smoke dispelled, the barrier was still there.
"No damage," Hinata pointed out.
"Maybe we can dig a tunnel that goes under the barrier?" Naruto suggested.
Hinata shook her head. "The barrier goes all the way underground, forming a perfect sphere. This is no normal chakra barrier. Whoever did this, they made a very good job."
"I could generate a Demonic Ice Mirror to the other side of the forcefield, but I'm afraid I have no way or letting you pass," Haku pointed out. The Ice Ninja then looked at Naruto. "Naruto-kun, do you think you could use a seal to dispel the barrier?"
"Hmmm..." Naruto grunted, placing a hand under his chin, as he started to think of all the seals he knew, which one could be of help. "Sadly, I don't think there is a seal specifically created to destroy a barrier, but..." the blond then pulled out a small book –that according to its cover, was about fuinjutsu– and started to furiously flip through the pages, as if looking for something.
"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
"This!" Naruto replied, showing a certain page of the book to both his teammates.
"A...chakra dampening seal?" Haku asked, reading the headline of the page.
"Yes. The seal is used to reduce, or even suppress completely, the amount of chakra a ninja can mold and release. It's normally used on cuffs to stop criminals from using chakra," Naruto explained.
"And how is that going to help?" Haku asked.
"I'll create a sealing tag with this seal, and use it on the barrier. The amount of chakra will consume it immediately, but it will significantly weaken the area I place the seal on, which would make said area vulnerable to our attacks. Though it will only last a few seconds before the barrier reforms, so we must be quick," Naruto told them.
"That won't be a problem. How long do you think you'll take in making that sealing tag?" Haku asked.
"Five minutes, give or take," Naruto said, as he pulled out from a sealing scroll a brush, ink, and a blank sealing tag. He then made a hand seal, and created other two clones, as well as replicas of his sealing tools. "I'll make other two at the same time, in case the first one fails."
"Very well then. Be quick, Naruto-kun. Our friends are counting on us," Hinata told her boyfriend.
…
"Shibuki, is that...?" Fu asked.
"The Hero Water, yes. Of course, I should have expected that Kakuzu would get his hands on it, with the village under his control," Shibuki replied..
"Hero water? Is the same elixir Fu drank during the fight with Gaara, right?" Kakashi asked, vaguely remembering said event.
"Yes. It provides a temporary power boost. Due the backlash it causes to the body once the effects wear off, we usually drink it in small doses, and only in dire situations," Shibuki explained.
"But since one Akatsuki is immortal and the other has multiple hearts and a modified anatomy, they don't have to worry about such effects," Shino said, being more a statement rather than a question.
"I'm afraid so," Shibuki uneasily replied.
Once they drank their contents, they lazily tossed the vials to the ground, the soft glass shattering in pieces. The effect was immediate, and Hidan and Kakuzu were surrounded by a fiery blue aura.
"Oh yes! This is some good shit!" Hidan hollered, as he gripped his scythe with both hands. "Let's go!"
Suddenly, Hidan vanished and reappeared in front of a stunned Tamaki, ready to slice her in two with his scythe. The cat kunoichi was unable to react in time when the weapon came down, but thankfully, Kakashi, just as quick, parried the blow with a kunai. However, the blow packed so much strength, the silver haired Jonin was hurled backwards.
"The Hero Water made him really fast. If it wasn't for my Sharingan, I don't think I could have seen him move at such speed," Kakashi thought, as he managed to land on his feet on a large tree branch. "And the swipe was so powerful, the force pushed me back."
Then, in an instant, Hidan was leaping towards Kakashi, his scythe winded back. The Akatsuki had a demented grin on his face.
"Don't think I forgot about you! Your soul belongs to Jashin-sama!" Hidan screamed, as he delivered a horizontal chop.
Despite slashing thin air, the blow projected a crescent-shaped chakra blast at Kakashi, which bisected him horizontally, before slashing the canopies of several trees in its path. Hidan smirked upon seeing Kakashi's body sliced in two...
POOF!
...and his smile disappeared when, after a cloud of smoke, Kakashi was replaced by two halves of a sliced log.
"Godammit!" Hidan hollered, as he childishly stomped on the ground. "You won't be able to evade death forever, you fucking heathen!"
Turning around, he saw the real Kakashi regrouped with his students.
"Kakashi-sensei, are you okay?" Tamaki asked.
"Yes. Thank goodness I got that Body Replacement prepared in advance," Kakashi replied. "The Hero Water has increased Hidan's power exponentially. With his newfound speed and strength, I believe he won't even need that ritual to kill any of us. Don't face him, only I can match him now."
"Are you confident you'll be able to beat him in your current state? Even if I healed your wounds, you lost a lot of blood," Shino pointed out.
"Truth be told no, I'm not sure. But I'm our best bet. You did a good job destroying Kakuzu's monsters, try to get rid of the remaining two," Kakashi instructed.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Tamaki said, as he watched her sensei facing the incoming Hidan. "Kiba, Shino, Akamaru, you ready?"
"I believe I am," Shino replied.
"WOOF!" the three headed wolf barked in agreement.
Meanwhile, Fu continued her one on one duel with Kakuzu. However, the effect of the Hero Water in the Akatsuki soon became evident, since the old Takigakure missing-nin moved much faster, and even if Fu was able to block his punches, they left her sore due the additional strength. Soon, her exposed skin was covered in bruises. And on top of that, Fu was barely attacking, and her fighting was limited to just blocking or dodging Kakuzu's attacks.
"I need to put some distance!" the jinchuriki said, as she deployed her wings, and flew high into the air.
Wordlessly, Kakuzu raised his arm, and shoot his forearm like a missile at Fu, which remained attached to the rest of the arm through multiple threads. Fu felt how a hand caught her leg in a strong grip, before being brutally yanked downwards. But not happy with that, Kakuzu raised and slammed her against the ground multiple times, before tossing her against a tree with such force, the tree was toppled.
"Did you have enough, jinchuriki?" Kakuzu asked, as he walked towards the downed green haired girl. "You're lucky I need you alive, or else you should would been dead already."
Groaning, Fu pushed the tree branches away, as she tried to shook off the pain and got back on her feet.
"Dammit...this doesn't look so good..." Fu lamented.
"Hey Fu, I think it's time to use my power, don't you think?" the Nanabi asked.
"I think there's no other choice. But I don't want you to try anything funny, okay? The situation is serious!" Fu chastised her Tailed Beast.
"You have my word I won't try anything," the Seven Tails agreed. Fu suddenly felt a rush of power flooding her body. "Now go and kick his ass!"
A reddish-orange aura enveloped Fu's body. She slowly felt the pain being washed away, as the bruises on her skin started to heal. Her muscles swelled up a bit, as the sheer energy she was releasing produced gusts of wind. A single tail of chakra formed behind her. Fu smirked. With this kind of power under her control, she could tip the balance back into her favor.
Wordlessly, the jinchuriki charged at Kakuzu, who resumed the fistfight. The strength of both combatants was so great, every punch produced a loud booming noise accompanied by a shockwave, and the two of them moved so fast, it was almost impossible to follow their movements. An expectator would only see a pair of blurs moving across the clearing, followed by booming shockwaves.
As they traded blows, their fists slammed into each other, producing a deafening boom, and a shockwave so powerful, it created a crater big enough to encompass the two fighters, before said shockwave pushed them backwards.
"According to our intelligence, you weren't supposed to be able to use your Tailed Beast power," Kakuzu pointed out.
"Your intelligence isn't very intelligent then," Fu mockingly replied. "So, you didn't plan for this, do you?"
"I admit I don't. But in the world of ninjas, plans rarely unfold as intended, and thus you need to develop a sharp mind in order to rethink your strategies as you go by. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lived as long as I did," Kakuzu calmly replied. "Trust me, girl, your power may match mine, but your experience is a drop of water while mine is an ocean, and that will end the battle in my favor."
"We'll see then!" Fu yelled before vanishing.
Kakuzu vanished as well, and their brutal duel continued.
Meanwhile, not far away from there, Kakashi continued his clash against Hidan, who pushed the copy ninja into the defensive, barely avoiding the onslaught of lightning fast attacks the Hidan cultist was putting the copy ninja through.
"Ha, you think that you can beat me being only on the defensive?" Hidan taunted as he delivered a flurry of slashes.
The silver haired jonin dodged them with an aerial backflip, landing on top of a large tree branch. Undeterred, Hidan leaped at him.
"He's right, I can't just defend. Even if he's immortal, I'm sure I can incapacitate him in some way," Kakashi said as he made several hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Through his mask, Kakashi breathed a massive fireball, flying in the same direction Hidan was coming. The cultist didn't even bother to dodge the Uchiha Clan's signature jutsu, and plowed through the fiery projectile.
"Weak!" Hidan laughed, as he prepared to cleave Kakashi. "...uh?"
The sound of a thousand birds filled the air as the Akatsuki saw Kakashi lunging at him, his right hand coated in electricity, ready to impale him. Even if he knew the attack wouldn't kill him, it would be the first step to incapacitate him.
"From this distance, and with such momentum, dodging is impossible," Kakashi confidently stated. "Lightning Blade!"
Or it would have been, if it wasn't for what Hidan did next. In the blink of an eye, Hidan stabbed his scythe in the ground, and used it to stop his momentum and spin around, safely dodging Kakashi, and leaving him wide open. Hidan quickly retrieved his scythe, and prepared to cut him in two.
"Nobody escapes Jashin's judgement, infidel, nobody!" Hidan screamed, as the scythe came down. "NOW DIE!"
"Vacuum Palm!"
A vacuum shell appeared out of nowhere, and blasted Hidan's scythe out of his hands. The scythe was send flying into the air, before it fell to the ground, a few meters behind the Akatsuki. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Kakashi turned around, and tried to thrust his Lightning Blade at him once again, but Hidan proved to be too fast, and jumped backwards, avoiding the attack, and landing besides his weapon.
"The fuck!? What the hell happened?" Hidan angrily hollered.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Much to his immense relief, the copy ninja saw the teen members of Kurenai's Assault Squad landing besides him. The copy ninja allowed himself to relax, and the tension and stress of the recent fight all washed over him.
"Thank goodness you arrived. I don't know about the others, but I don't think I would have lasted much longer against this guy," Kakashi said, panting a little.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Hidan screamed. "How the hell did you dipshits bypassed the barrier? It's still standing, I can feel it!"
"Your barrier was impressive, yes. But no barrier is impenetrable, keep that in mind," Naruto boasted, without giving any more details. Naruto then turned to the silver haired Jonin. "What about Fu and the others?"
"They're fighting Kakuzu to the west, not far away from here," Kakashi replied.
Hinata focused her Tenseigan on the direction Kakashi mentioned, and she quickly found the other members of the Animal Squad, Fu, and a man she didn't recognize, fighting against Kakuzu and two weird creatures.
"Found them! All of them seem to be okay, but they're struggling against the other Akatsuki," Hinata explained.
"Kakashi-sensei, what can you tell us about the Akatsuki?" Haku asked.
"This one is called Hidan, and his main power is immortality," Kakashi noticed the dubious looks the three teens were shooting at him. "Yeah, I thought the same, but he repeatedly survived multiple fatal hits without any kind of consequence. Don't let him draw your blood. If he drinks it, he can use it to create a link with you making you suffer all the wounds he does. He almost killed me that way."
"Don't let him get our blood, got it," Naruto nodded.
"The other...well, it's a bit hard to explain. His body is like nothing I've seen before. He seems to be made of threads that move on their own and keep his whole body together. He also commands four creatures that can use an element each. Though my students managed to kill two of them," Kakashi told him.
"This Akatsuki's chakra flares with such intensity, it's almost like looking directly into the sun," Hinata noticed after directing her eyes at Hidan.
"That's because both him and his partner drank vials of Takigakure's Hero Water. Said water can give your body and chakra a massive boost, but the backlash it causes after the effect disappears can be crippling, even fatal," Kakashi explained.
"But since one of them is immortal and the other has a bizarre anatomy, they can bypass that backlash," Naruto concluded. "Smart bastards."
"Alright then, what are we going to do?" Hinata asked.
"I believe Naruto and Haku should stay here and help me deal with his man," Kakashi suggested. "Naruto can safely fight him without the risk of drawing blood, while Haku has the necessary skills to put him down permanently, even if we won't be able to kill him. Your skills will do more good against the other Akatsuki."
"Understood. I better not waste anymore time. Good luck!" Hinata said, as she flew away towards the other battlefield.
"Alright, Kakashi-sensei, I guess you're in charge now. What do we do?" Naruto asked.
"Listen to me closely, because I don't think we'll have more than one chance to pull this off," Kakashi looked at Haku. "Haku, you will be key to ensure our victory."
The Ice Ninja nodded.
"Hey, stop whispering among yourselves! Whatever clever plan you might come up with, it won't work!" Hidan said, as he adopted a fighting stance. "Hey, the blond shit, aren't you a jinchuriki?"
"So what if I am?" Naruto defiantly replied.
"That means that I won't be able to kill you. Just my fucking luck. Oh well, guess that torturing you to the point of begging me to kill you will have to do then!" Hidan happily said, as he charged towards the trio.
…
Thanks to her ability to fly, it didn't take Hinata long to reach the other battlefield. A quick scan over the are, and she saw Fu fighting against Kakuzu, the two of them moving at an almost imperceptible speed, while Shino, Tamaki, Kiba and Akamaru (fused into a giant, three headed wolf) and a young Taki ninja she was unable to identify, were holding against two of Kakuzu's monsters.
Hinata focused her sight on the masked creatures. They were mostly made of some kind of weird thread, but they also had organs and blood vessels, even if arranged in a way that had nothing to do with the human body. And of course, they had chakra. Though she didn't need the Tenseigan to realize of that when one of the creatures opened its mouth, and released a torrent of water towards the Konoha and Taki ninjas, which were forced to jump backwards in order to dodge.
"Should I help Fu-san, or Kakashi-sensei's students?" Hinata internally wondered. "Those monsters seem to be connected to him in some way. Meaning that if the Akatsuki is defeated, they'll go down with him."
After all, it was a similar situation that the battle against Sasori. Kill the mastermind, and the minions won't be a threat. Even if pained her not to be able to help her fellow Konoha comrades, the Hyuga Clan Head flew straight for the brawl between Fu and Kakuzu. Her hands flew through several hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"
The moment Kakuzu showed an opening, Hinata shoot several lightning bolts at him from her fingertips. However, the Akatsuki's reflexes and movements were far greater than the Hyuga had anticipated, and quickly jumped backwards before her jutsu could hit him.
"He's fast! I thought I had a clear shot," Hinata thought.
"Uh? Oh, it's you! One of my Sky Sisters!" Fu cheered upon seeing Hinata.
"Hello, Fu-san. I hope you don't mind if I join you in your fight against this horrible man," Hinata said, as she hovered near her.
"Not in the slightest! But I should warn you, this guy drank the Hero Water, a treasure from my village, and now he's much stronger than usual, so be careful. I can take his hits fine, but I'm not sure about you," Fu explained, sounding a bit apologetic.
"That explains why his chakra burns with such potency," Hinata replied, then she smiled at Fu, before taking a fighting stance. "And don't worry. I won't be able to take hits as well as you do, but I'm very good at dodging them."
Fu grinned in return, and mimicked the Hyuga.
"Those eyes...so, you must be the new Hyuga Clan Head. The one who evolved the Byakugan to a higher level. The...Tenseigan, I think it's called, am I right?" Kakuzu guessed.
Hinata was taken aback by the Akatsuki's words. "How...how do you know that?"
"I have my sources. I knew those eyes were special the moment I saw them," Kakuzu guessed. "So far, you don't have much of a reputation to have a bounty on your head yet, but I'm positive I can get quite an obscene amount of money from those eyes in the black market."
"Many were those seduced by greed or power who wanted to get their hands on my eyes. And as you can tell, none of them were successful. You won't be any different," Hinata stated.
"I bet none of them had my vast experience. While I admit that the two of you are powerful, deep down you're nothing but children that only play to be ninja, and have no idea what life is like," Kakuzu said as his hands rushed to form hand seals.
"Earth Release: Crushing Avalanche!"
Several shadows loomed over the two kunoichi. Looking up, they saw in horror massive boulders falling towards them, prompting them to jump out of the way. But while they were doing so, Kakuzu fired his hands, which latched onto the girls' throats. The hands' skin blackened as they hardened into a stone-like substance, before the Akatsuki pulled his hands back, slowly dragging them through the ground.
However, before Kakuzu could bring them closer, Hinata's body crackled with electricity, before her body released a powerful electric discharge, shocking both Kakuzu and Fu, but forcing the former to release both of them.
"Sorry for that, Fu-san," Hinata said, coughing a bit, as she started healing her neck.
Fu said nothing, but gave her a thumbs up to indicate that it was okay, as she rubbed her sore throat.
"A lightning release user. Without my other hearts, that gives you something of an advantage over me," Kakuzu noted, but didn't sound overly worried. "Oh well, guess I'll have to fight a bit more carefully. This should be enough."
Suddenly, a multitude of threads started to burst from the scars of Kakuzu's body, wiggling as if they had life on their own. Kakuzu's hands once again flew through hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Clone Jutsu!"
Six moulds of earth formed around Kakuzu, growing and eventually taking the shape of perfect replicas of the Akatsuki. Without any word from the original, the clones charged forward.
"You'll need something better than that to defeat us!" Fu shouted, as she launched herself against the incoming attackers.
"Fu-san, wait! Don't rush in!" Hinata called her. "This is not good. It seems like the Tailed Beast's chakra is affecting her mind, albeit in a subtle way that doesn't make her realize of it. I better stick close to her."
Something that would become hard to do since half of the clones chose her as their target, and surrounded her, ready to attack. Hinata frowned, and after quickly making two hand seals, her hands started to crackle with electricity.
"None of these clones should withstand an lightning-enhanced palm strike," Hinata mused aloud, as one of the clones lunged at her. Moving aside to dodge the incoming punch, Hinata delivered a palm strike to the clone's chest, opening a hole in it, causing it to crumble into small rocks. "Just as I expected!"
The other two clones launched themselves at Hinata since she was now wide open, but the Hyuga proved to be faster than they anticipated, and with a backflip she dodged them as well. However, while she was doing so, she noticed something she hadn't seen before: chakra lines traveling underground towards both Fu and her. Following those lines, he realized they came from Kakuzu. Much to her horror, she realized the clones were nothing but a distraction. And Fu wasn't aware of this, as she happily fought against the clones.
"FU-SAN, WATCH OUT!" Hinata screamed.
"Huh?" Fu dumbly asked.
But it was too late. While Hinata was able to jump in time to avoid the mass of threads that came from underground, Fu wasn't so fast, and they tightly wrapped against her limbs. Kakuzu pulled the arm those threads came from upwards, tossing the green haired girl into the air. He then motioned down, violently slamming Fu against the ground.
"Fu-san!" Hinata shouted, as she dashed to help her friend. However, the clones that were fighting Fu, plus those Hinata didn't destroy got in her way. "Get out of my way!"
Pushing even more chakra into her hands, Hinata delivered a palm strike to a Kakuzu earth clone that not only shattered it on impact, but created a shockwave imbued with lightning that also destroyed a clone that was behind it. The Hyuga repeated the process with a nearby clone, but the others didn't fall to the trap this time around, and dodged the ensuing shockwave. They kept the distance, but made no move to attack.
"They want to keep me busy so I don't help Fu-san...I have to get rid of them as fast as possible!" Hinata thought, as panic started to crawl her spine. "Fortunately, I don't need to fight you!"
Hinata started to elevate into the air, as she flew above the Kakuzu clones. However, much to her shock, one of the clones pushed the other into the air, and dived at her feet first, ready to deliver a flying kick. With a quick hand motion, Hinata stopped the clone on his tracks with a telekinetic blast. However, while she was doing so, the other clone leaped from the ground, and rounhoused her in the face, making her fall to the ground.
As she stood up, she glanced at Fu for an instant. Much to her horror, she saw Kakuzu now lunging Fu against a tree with such a tremendous force, the tree was toppled down. He then slowly pulled the threads, dragging Fu closer to him. The Tailed beast aura had already vanished.
"Jinchuriki are prey hard to capture, but eventually all of them fall to Akatsuki," Kakuzu said to one in particular, as he was about to grab Fu.
"No! You won't get your hands on her!" Hinata said as she got up, but the clone's incoming punch forced her to jump backwards. Her hand crackling with electricity once more, she thrust her palm forward. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
The vacuum wave combined with electricity shattered the last clone into dust, as Hinata rushed past him in order to reach Kakuzu and Fu before it was too late.
However, something unexpected happened. The ground beneath Kakuzu's feet started to shake, and before he had any time to react, a black mass of beetles emerged from below, engulfing the Akatsuki completely.
"What the hell is this!?" Kakuzu shouted, as he futilely tried to swat the insects away.
And from within the swarm, Shino emerged, carrying Fu in his arms – and struggling with her upon realizing that her height and muscle mass mean she weighted quite more than he expected –rushing towards Hinata.
"Nice save, Shino-kun," Hinata praised he bug user.
"How is she?" Shino asked, as he placed the half conscious jinchuriki in the ground.
"Despite the beating she got, her wounds aren't that grave," Hinata stated, as she scanned her. "The Tailed Beast chakra is already starting to heal her."
"I'll speed up the process then. Try to cover us," Shino asked, as he started to heal the green haired girl.
Hinata nodded, as she placed herself between the two and Kakuzu, adopting a fighting stance.
"You won't get your hands on her again," Hinata firmly stated.
"I fought against ninja way stronger and more experienced than the likes of you," Kakuzu boasted. "While I admit that you're far stronger than I had anticipated, you're still below my level. This time, I'm going to fight without holding back."
Suddenly, the masked creatures fighting the rest of Shino's teammates and Shibuki disengaged them, and leaped towards Kakuzu. The monsters were re-absorbed into his body, but rather than keep them hidden like he did before, the Akatsuki merged with them, turning into a monstrous mass of thick black threads that appeared to be wearing a human body. Two masses of threads sprouted from Kakuzu's back, as if they were grotesque wings. The two masks appeared on each one of the 'wings'.
"Let's see how well you do against THIS!" Kakuzu said.
Author's Note: As many of you guessed, Kakashi didn't die, at least not until I solve the ongoing subplot with Obito and Rin. After that...well, anything is possible.
With the Wrath of Jashin and the battle of Takigakure mostly over (there are no named characters fighting in Taki, so I don't think it¡s that vital to show what's going on there) we can now fully focus on the fight against the Immortal Team. Naruto, Hinata and Haku were able to penetrate the chakra barrier, but again, like many of you guessed, Akatsuki revealed their hidden trumo card, the stolen Hero Water.
Thanks to grimlock987 for betareading this chapter.
Next time, the conclusion of the Fu/Hidan and Kakuzu arc! Will Fu join the ranks of Yagura and Han, or will she survive? In the meantime, leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!