Author's Note: I've made a change to the previous chapter. FMany reviews pointed out that snakes are very good trackers in real life, so I changed the scene in which Anko turns down using snakes to track Roshi into her actually using them alongside Itachi's crows.
Also, check out Shinobi420's story "The Two Twsited Timelines", which is actually set in the Son of the Sannin universe.
Now with that out of the way, enjoy the new chapter:
Chapter 74:
Fire and Earth, Wood and Music
or
Monekys, Foxes, Snakes and Puppets
For several days, the group of ten Konoha ninjas and the single Iwa ninja had been traveling through the forests of the Land of Waterfalls almost nonstop. However, they felt their swiftness rewarded when Itachi opened his mouth to announce something.
"We just crossed the border with the Land of Fire," Itachi stated. He could almost feel the relief washing over the rest of his temporary teammates. The fact that they had returned to their home country in one piece gave them high hopes of completing their mission without incidents.
"Yes! Konoha, here we come!" Naruto cheered.
"I believe we're still a couple days away from the village," Tenzo interjected. "But I think the worst have come to pass."
"Yeah. We weren't attacked by Iwa ninja," Anko added. "And the chances of being ambushed by Akatsuki were higher in the Land of Waterfalls."
"Still, I don't want any of you to lower your guard, understood?" Itachi asked. All of them tensed up again. "I believe we could take a small break. Hanabi, see if you can locate a proper spot to rest."
Hanabi nodded, and expanded her sight, though she focused mostly in the terrain in front of her. She scanned the immense forest before her, and after a few seconds, she found a nice place.
"I think I found something," Hanabi began. "If we deviate a little to the west, there's a clearing with a small lake and a waterfall in about three kilometers."
"That will do. Lead the way, Hanabi," Itachi asked.
…
A few minutes later, they arrived at the waterfall lake. The lake was big enough to both drink and even have a bath if one wanted, and they could even use the waterfall to take a shower. Plus there was enough room for all of them to sit and relax in the grass, and maybe have some food if they felt hungry –which Naruto was–.
"Alright, I believe we can afford to spare an hour resting," Itachi stated. "But if you plan to take a bath, eat, or whatever, do it now. Once the hour is up, we will resume our trip back to Konoha, and whoever is behind, will be left behind."
Itachi's tone was cold and left no room for discussion, but none of them questioned his orders. They all knew that bringing Roshi to Konoha was of vital importance.
…
Not far away from there, two figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds were perched on a high tree branch. One of them had their eyes fixed on the Konoha ninjas.
"They finally stopped. Should we attack now?" the first figure asked.
The second one shook his head. "Not us. Let's send our minions first to soften them a little and measure their capabilities. They're a large group after all."
"That might tip them off of our presence and sneak past us with the jinchuriki," the first figure argued. "We're powerful enough to crush all of them. What are you afraid of?"
"Nothing my dear partner, but let's say that I'm not somebody keen in using brute force to approach a problem," the second figure calmly replied. "Besides, this is your first mission. You shouldn't be so overconfident. Remember what happened to Hidan and Kakuzu."
"Don't compare me with those fools," the other Akatsuki fire back. "Very well then, we'll do it your way."
"Good. Send your troops first. They'll be excellent cannon fodder."
…
As everybody relaxed, Roshi was sitting under a tree. In his hand there was a book, though rather than reading it, he was actually writing on it. He would write something, stop, look around, ponder about something, and write again.
"Hey there, Roshi!" Naruto's voice said. Roshi took his eyes from his book, and noticed Naruto walking towards him, followed by those two white haired children. "We were going to eat now. Are you hungry?"
"Thanks, but I'm not. I'll eat sometime later," Roshi said.
"I made some tea as well," the white haired boy chimed in. "Do you want some?"
"I don't think I'm going to turn that down," Roshi with a smile, as he took the cup of tea the boy gave him. "Thank you, kid. I don't think we've been introduced."
"My name's Hagane. This is my sister Kaida," Hagane said, waving his arm at Kaida, who made a curtsy nod. "And you already know our older sibling, Naruto."
"You're siblings?" Roshi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Adopted siblings," Naruto punctualized, realizing that Roshi noticed their lack of physical resemblances between naruto and the twins. "Well, technically, I'm the one who's adopted, but you get the gist."
"Yes. Those two kids look a lot like Jiraiya and Tsunade, especially the former," Roshi observed. "And you say they adopted you?"
"Yeah. Jiraiya was my godfather, and Tsunade was my last living relative, even if we're only distantly related," Naruto explained.
"I never imagined that there would be people kind enough to adopt a jinchuriki," Roshi noted. "We were created to be living weapons, you know. And people don't want weapons to be close to them or their loved ones."
"Not everybody is like that," Naruto argued, crossing his arms. "And sometimes they're just being ignorant. People who used to fear me because of the Kyubi are no longer afraid of me after they got to know me better, and realize that the Tailed Beast within me can't harm them."
Roshi's reply came in the form of a somewhat sad chuckle. "Then you were born luckier than most, Naruto. From my experiences, almost no jinchuriki has your life. Tell me, do you know how they select a jinchuriki?"
Naruto knew why he was chosen to bear such burden, but he guessed it would be different with the other Tailed Beasts, since no other jinchuriki were Uzumaki.
"First of all, jinchuriki are chosen at a young age," Roshi began, not waiting for Naruto's answer. "So they can carry the Tailed Beast for the longest time possible, and their minds can be more easily molded."
"Guess that makes sense," Naruto mentioned. All the jinchuriki he had met were either teens or young adults. The oldest jinchuriki he had met before Roshi was Killer B, and he appeared to be in his mid thirties.
"Second, jinchuriki almost always tend to be orphans," Roshi continued.
"Because no family would want their child to be subjected to such a fate, right?" Hagane guessed.
"You've a bright mind, boy," Roshi nodded. "But that's not the only part. If a child has no family, they won't have any kind of bond or personal alliegance. And thus, there's a void the village leaders can fill.
"Which brings me to my last point: all jinchuriki tend to be related to the Kages in some way," Roshi said. "To ensure their loyalty to the village."
Naruto was the most obvious case. Both his biological and adoptive father were Hokages. Gaara was also the son of the current Kazekage. There was also Killer B, who was the Raikage's brother. And Yagura, who cut the middleman and was Mizukage himself. However, it didn't appear that Utakata was related to any Kage, and Fu hailed from a village that didn't have a Kage to begin with, though she was pretty close to the village leader, Shibuki.
"What about you?" Hagane asked. "Are you related to the Tsuchikage?"
"In a way, yes. Do you know the Second Tsuchikage, Mu the Null Man?" Roshi asked, but upon seeing the youths' look of confusion, shook his head. "Of course you don't, he already persihed at the hands of that despicable Gengetsu. Anyway, I was distantly related to him. My father was his second cousin. After both my parents died in the First Ninja War, I was taken under his wing. Shortly after that, I was made the Jinchuriki of the Four Tails."
Roshi could fell the monkey's anger at being referred once again by such moniker, but decided to ignore him as usual.
"Naruto, if I may ask something," Roshi began. Naruto gave him a nod. "How old you were when you were made a jinchuriki?"
"Uh...about an hour or so," Naruto replied. Roshi raised an eyebrow. "Let's say that the circumstances of my birth were kind of chaotic."
"Were you born the same day the Nine Tails attacked Konoha or what?" Roshi asked. Upon seeing Naruto nodding, the redhead's eyes widened. "Boy, I take back what I said before. Your luck is extraordinarily bad for such a catastrophe to happen the day of your birth."
"Luck had nothing to do with what happened that day. It was part of a deliberate plan," Naruto replied. "I'll tell you the details once we're safe in Konoha, because it's kind of a long story. And not even we have the full version."
"I'll be eager to listen to such tale, it will be an interesting addition to my book," Roshi began.
"You're writing a book?" Kaida chimed in. "About what? Does it has romance? Can I read it?"
"It's not the kind of book you'll enjoy, girl," Roshi replied, chuckling a little. "It's mostly a record of my journeys and experiences across the elemental nations. Towns I visited, people I met, ninjas I fought, and the like."
"So, you're going to write about us then!?" an excited Kaida asked.
"Yes. It was exactly what I was doing before you arrived," Roshi said. "Don't worry, I won't write anything bad about you. As long as you don't give me any reason to."
"Then be sure to include that you met somebody who could use Wood Release!" Kaida said.
"Girl, as much as I'd have loved to meet him, I'm afraid that I was nothing but a young teen when the First Hokage died," Roshi said, laughing a little while shaking his head. "Do I look that old to you?"
"I wasn't talking about great grandpa, but me! Look!" Kaida made a hand seal with both hands, and suddenly vines started to emerge all around them. "Awesome, right?"
Roshi watched with his eyes open wide in fascination as a Bloodlimit he considered a legend manifested before him. "Amazing indeed, girl. You too were born with extraordinaire luck to inherit such a power."
"My little brother also has a Bloodlimit, even if it's not as cool as mine," Kaida boasted. "As does our teammate, Hanabi."
"You have quite the collection of Bloodlimits for such a relatively small group," Roshi noticed. "Not to mention another jinchuriki. You made no expenses in case I wasn't this cooperative, didn't you?"
"Eh, while I'm not going to deny it..." Naruto began, as he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "All this manpower wasn't just because of you, but because of Akatsuki. You know, the guys who want to capture us. They have some crazy strong people among their ranks. Plus I'm not here just to fight."
"We believe that the chances of jinchuriki listening to us will be higher if it's another jinchuriki the one to do the talking," Hagane explained.
"Yeah, and our brother is taking a huge risk leaving the village like that, so show some appreciation!" Kaida added, tapping her foot.
"But I did, right? I'm coming with you peacefully," Roshi replied, holding his hands in defense. "Not that I had much of a choice."
"You could have returned to Iwa," Hagane pointed out.
"Besides, this is just temporary," Naruto reassured. "Once the Akatsuki threat is done with, you'll be free to roam the world again."
"Glad to hear it," Roshi nodded, as he went back to his writing.
His reaction, however, caught Naruto a little by surprise. "Wait, you believe me?"
"Why I shouldn't?" Roshi asked. "You're in no need to promise me such a thing. So if given my predicament you tell me that, it must be true."
"Boy, you're surely a trusting person," Kaida pointed out.
Roshi raised his eyes from his book, and gave the white haired girl a somewhat condescending smile. "Girl, I didn't get to live this old by being trusting. But over time, you learn to know which people you can trust and which you can't."
"In either case, I'm glad we fall into the latter category, hehe," Naruto said, grinning a little. He felt like a change of topic was in order, and now was the chance. "So, how many books did you write so far with your experiences?"
"Quite a lot," Roshi stated. "Would you want to read one?"
"Hell yeah I would!" Naruto happily replied. "I admit I'm not much of a reader myself, but reading about the experiences of another jinchuriki has to be something else."
"I like your enthusiasm, kid," Roshi chuckled a little. "I'll give you a signed copy once we reach your village."
"You know, our father is also a writer too," Kaida chimed in.
"Jiraiya writes books? That's new to me," the redheaded man laughed. "I can't picture him as a writer. Well, except maybe porn writer, since his pervertedness is as legendary as his skill as a ninja."
Hagane sighed. "Sadly, that's exactly what he writes."
"Not that we can tell if they're good or not, since mom banned us from reading them," Kaida said, shaking her head a little. "Poor mom thinks we'll never grow up."
"Listen to your mom, child. I'm sure she knows what she's talking about," Roshi said, chuckling a little, as he continued his writing.
Kaida leaned towards him, tried to get a look at what he was writing, and gave him his best smile. "So...are you writing about me now?"
Roshi just sighed. "I won't be able to write much if you keep talking to me."
As Hagane and Kaida bothered Roshi alongside Naruto, their last member of their team, Hanabi, took the pause to relax and meditate. Meditation has been an constant exercise in her endeavor of mastering her Six Paths chakra, since the usually energetic Hyuga needed a calm mind to use her new power. It was something that made her advance at a slower pace than her calmer older sister.
However, as she meditated, she felt a presence. Very faint, almost like a distant star. And Hanabi wouldn't have given this a thought if it wasn't for the fact that, when she decided to focus on this presence, she noticed something unsettling.
The presence had a very similar chakra to her. And other than her older sister, there was only one person with this kind of chakra.
Opening her eyes, Hanabi expanded her eyesight, scanning the area in the direction of the presence. The young Hyuga gasped.
"Hanabi?" Tenzo asked, noticing his student's reaction. "Something's wrong?"
"A large group of ninjas is heading towards us!" Hanabi warned.
Naturally, this drew everybody's attention, as they stopped what they were doing, and quickly gathered around the brown haired girl, with Itachi getting the closest.
"How many of them? From what village? How long until they arrive?" the Uchiha asked.
Hanabi focused her eyesight on the potential group of enemies as she tried to find the answers her captain demanded her. "About eighteen. At their current pace, they will be here in less than five minutes. As for the village..." Hanabi began, as he focused on their forehead protectors. "I don't recognize that symbol!"
Suddenly, Naruto had a very bad feeling about this. "Hanabi, is the symbol a crescent moon overlaped with a sun?"
"Yes, it looks like that!" Hanabi nodded. "Wait, how did you know that?"
"Because Naruto had already fought against such ninjas, isn't that right?" Itachi asked the blond.
"Yeah, they aren't actually ninjas, but very advanced puppets. If those puppets are here, then Toneri Otsutsuki can't be too far," Naruto warned the others.
"Toneri Otsutsuki... so that's the presence I felt..." Hanabi realized. "Well, if he's here expecting my sister, he's in for a disappointment. Though I hope he doesn't decides to take me as his bride instead. EWWW!"
"Even if the last time Toneri attacked us he was aiming for Hinata, we have a reason to believe that he's working for Akatsuki as well," Naruto told the others. "So even if he came here mistaking Hanabi for Hinata, Roshi is still in danger."
"Very well then. Roshi, Naruto, stay close to me. Anko, Tenzo, have your teams cover our flanks," Itachi ordered.
"Very well then," Tenzo nodded.
"You got it!" Anko replied.
"Finally some action!" Zaku said with an excited grin. "I was starting to get bored of all this inactivity."
"Don't underestimate Akatsuki, brat," Anko told Zaku. "Or else you'll end up dead."
"That habit of yours is going to be the death of us, Zaku," Dosu chastised his teammate, shaking his head.
"You can discuss that later! Here they come!" Kin pointed out, as she heard the trees surrounding them rustling.
And true to her words, a trio of Moon Puppets leaped from the trees above them, their hands cupped. A golden chakra ball formed between them, before thrusting their hands forwards, firing the yellow projectile.
"Leave that to me!" Zaku said, taking a couple steps forward, while raising his arms at the incoming projectiles. "Decapitating Airwaves!"
Zaku released two powerful cones of pressurized air and sound that sucessfully repelled the incoming projectiles, and lacked enough power to reach the ninjas, who just touched ground and rushed towards them.
Anko made five hand seals, before bitting her thumb, and slamming her palm into the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
After the initial burst of smoke, a large, green snake appeared around both Anko and her students, coiled around them in a protective manner.
"Did you call, Anko-san?" the snake asked, in an oddly soft and feminine voice.
"Indeed, Tagitsuhime. We could use your help against these enemies," Anko replied. "Try to make sure none of them catches us off guard!"
"You can count on me," the snake said, as she slammed with her tail an incoming puppet with such force, it was snapped in two.
"Alright then! Dosu, Kin, if these guys are puppets, then your usual fighting style won't be of much use here! Switch to taijutsu and conventional ninjutsu!" Anko told her other two students.
"Yes, sensei!" the two of them replied in unison.
Meanwhile, Tenzo prepared his team for another group of puppets that were coming from their direction.
"Kaida, with me! Let's create a wood barricade!" Tenzo ordered, as his hands flew through hand seals. "Hanabi, Hagane, cover us!"
"Yes sir!" the three Chunin chorused in unison, as Kaida 's hands also formed hand seals.
"Wood Release: World of Trees Wall!"
Tenzo and Kaida slammed their hands into the ground, and in front of them dozens of wooden roots grew from the ground, interlocking among themselves, catching some of them puppets that were heading towards them. The puppets struggled to get free, but the roots' hold became harder with every second, to the point they were unable to move.
Upon seeing this, some of the puppets generated golden swords made of chakra that they used to cut through the wall of wood –but trying to help the trapped puppets didn't cross their possibly nonexistent mind– and charged forward.
However, Hanabi and Hagane were already expecting them, both of them forming hand seals of their own.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Spear!"
Hagane raised his right arm, which started to crackle with electricity, before firing a lightning bolt at the incoming enemies, hitting one of the puppets square in the chest.
"Fire Release: Burning Palm!"
Flames coated Hanabi's palms as she rushed to met the attackers head on, and started trade blows with three of them, one using a golden sword, the other two resorting to unarmed combat. Despite being puppets, the young Hyuga found them far more skilled than she imagined. Their movements were fast and precise, blocking her strikes with acute expertise.
"It's as if these guys know about the Gentle Fist..." Hanabi wondered aloud, before a revelation hit her. "...because they do! We Hyugas descend from Otsutsuki!"
Her revelation proved to be correct when the trio of puppets pushed her into the defensive in a frigtheningly effective display of Gentle Fist. Unfortunately for them, Gentle Fist wasn't the only thing Hanabi could rely on. The Hyuga jumped backwards, with the puppets following suit. Just as she expected.
"Very well then, how about this?"
Hanabi spread her arms wide with the palms forward, releasing a powerful kinetic wave that hurled the puppets backwards. Then, with another hand movement, she broke the momentum of one of them and pulled it back to her. The moment it was in range, Hanabi slammed her burning palm into the puppet's chest, blowing a hole into its body. The puppet fell down, and didn't get up.
The other two puppets weren't deterred by seeing their "partner" dead, and dashed towards Hanabi. The Hyuga smirked confidently, as she adopted a defensive fighting stance.
"Come on, I'm not afraid of-"
Suddenly, something fell from the sky, slamming the two puppets into the ground. Said something turned out to be Hagane, who used one leg to stop each puppet, stopping them and there in their tracks.
"Oh come on, those were mine!" Hanabi whined.
"This isn't a competition," Hagane chastised, as his eyes scanned the are for more enemies. "Just focus on the mission, we're Chunin, for crying out loud!"
"Ugh, he always have to rub how mature he pretends to be," Hanabi grumbled, shaking her head in annoyance.
Naruto, Roshi and Itachi were fighting against a much larger number of puppets that the othwe two squads did, either because they were the strongest ninjas of the group, because it had not one but two jinchuriki, or maybe both. Probably both.
"Fire Release: Burning Edge!"
Itachi's katana was coated in flames just in time to parry the blow from one of the puppets wielding a golden chakra sword. The swordfighting puppet delivered a series of vicious but precise blows that forced Itachi onto the defensive. His Sharingan flaring to life, Itachi had tried to put these beings under a genjutsu, but unsurprisingly they were immune, given their lack of a brain. His Sharingan also failed to predict their movements, since they didn't have muscles.
"Naruto, you fought against these creatures," Itachi began, as he pushed back the puppet's sword after parrying a blow. "Any idea on how they can be beaten? Weak points, anything like that?"
"Not really! These guys are stong, fast, and don't feel pain! The last time we fought we just overwhelmed them with brute force!" Naruto said, as he was fighting other two puppets, Wind Blade in hand.
"Watch out!" Roshi warned, pointing upwards.
Laping above them, there were two other puppets, holding a large sphere of golden chakra between their hands, which they threw at the two jinchuriki and the Uchiha. Roshi, however, was already preparing a counterattack.
"Lava Release: Scorching Rocks Jutsu!"
Roshi expelled multiple bursts of lava from his mouth, that quickly soldified into projectiles of molten rock. The lava missiles crashed against the golden chakra speheres, resulting in a large explosion. As this happened, Itachi's hands also ran through hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Itachi breathed a massive fireball into the cloud of dirt and smoke produced by the previous clash of attacks, much to Naruto and Roshi's confusion. But the jinchuriki's confusion didn't last long when they saw the two puppets leaping out the cloud of ash and smoke, heading directly into the fireball. They realized of their mistake too late, and they were burn to ashes by the Uchiha's hot flames.
"Just because my Sharingan can't predict their movements, it doesn't mean that I don't have other ways to anticipate their actions," Itachi stated in his usual stoic tone, though Naruto could detect some hints of pride in there.
"Everybody, watch out!" Hanabi shouted. "More enemies incoming!"
"More puppets?" Naruto asked.
"No, these ones are alive!" Hanabi replied. "They're Oto Ninjas!"
"Oto ninjas. Then that means that Orochimaru must be close then," Anko deduced.
Her three students immediately paled. Well, Zaku and Kin did, Dosu was better at hiding his reaction, in no small part thanks to the bandages covering his face.
"O-Orochimaru is here!?" Zaku almost screaming. "Of course, it's not like things can go our way just once!"
"No no no no no no NO! He can't be here! He can't see us!" Kin shouted, taking her hands to her head. "If Orochimaru knows that we defected to Konoha..."
"Snap out of it, brats! Orochimaru won't lay a hand on you as long as I'm here to keep you safe!" Anko energically replied. "And even if I can't do it alone, we have more people to cover our backs!"
Kaida, who overheard the conversation, decided to chime in. "Yeah! We Konoha ninjas take care of our own! So as long as we stick together, there's nothing to fear!"
"Besides, if Orochimaru was close, I'd sense him," Anko told them, as her hand instinctively touched the spot on her neck where the cursed seal was. "This thing burns like crazy when he's close."
"Naruto, watch out! An Oto ninja is heading towards you!" Hanabi warned. "His chakra levels are downright ridiculous!"
Itachi and Roshi tensed up, while Naruto made a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A dozen of clones popped into existence, and formed a circle around the original, Roshi and Itachi, eagerly awaiting for the ninja to show up. Itachi's eyes widened when his Sharingan caught something.
"Naruto, Roshi, move!" Itachi shouted, as he pushed Roshi to the side.
"Ten Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Tiny white projectiles flew at them at an imperceptible speed, dispelling several of the clones, which, along the original, scrambled in an attempt to avoid such an attack. That moment, a white haired ninja Naruto hadn't seen in a long time landed in front of them.
"YOU!"
"Yes, me," Kimimaro replied, his face as stoic as usual. "I remember you, kid. Naruto Uzumaki. I was expecting to see you here."
"What are you doing here? Are you working with Akatsuki? Or did you come here for my siblings!?" Naruto angrily asked, as he and his clones gathered again in front of him, as if forming a barrier to stop him from continuing forward.
"While my failure of such mission will haunt me forever, that's not why I'm here," Kimimaro replied. "We have orders to capture the jinchuriki of the Four Tails for Orochimaru-sama. And you as well, but you aren't the priority right now."
"Well, get this that on that bonehead of yours! You failed back then, and you'll fail again! Just like we rescued our siblings, neither you nor your boss will get your dirty hands on anymore jinchuriki!"
"Kimimaro Kaguya, last member of the Kaguya Clan. Last time I heard of you, Zabuza claimed to have defeated you," Itachi said, narrowing his eyes at him. "Naruto, do you know this man?"
"Yeah. He was part of the group that kidnapped my siblings three years ago," Naruto replied, not taking his eyes from the white haired ninja. "Before you say anything, yes, I know he's dangerous."
"In that case, you won't complain if I say that you should let me handle him," Itachi told him. "Make sure Roshi stays safe."
Kimimaro started to make hand seals. "You think you can handle me, Uchiha? Your Sharingan doesn't impress me. Besides, I'm way stronger than the last time the Uzumaki fought against me. Dance of the Orchid!"
Kimimaro slammed his hands into the grass, and the ground started to shake. Suddenly, an skeletal serpentine dragon emerged from below Naruto and Roshi were standing, who barely jumped in time to avoid it.
"Whoa, that's new!" Naruto pointed out.
"Didn't you hear what I just say?" Kimimaro replied.
The earth continued to shake, and more bone serpents emerged, the three bone constructs focusing on one ninja each. That's when Kimimaro took advantage of the situation and dived for Roshi, while he activated the first stage of his cursed seal.
"Itachi, I'll distract these things!" Naruto said as he made a hand seal. "Protect Roshi! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Itachi nodded as he went to intercept Kimimaro. A hundred of Naruto clones popped unto existence, and they began to charge at the skeletal serpents. While they failed to inflict any significant damage, they did keep the bone constructs distracted enough.
Meanwhile, Anko's team continued to fend off the horde of autonomous puppets. As she saw a couple of puppets coming at her, Kin made several hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Needles!"
Kin grabbed a handful of senbon as her hands started to crackle with electricity, and tossed the electrified needles at the incoming enemies. One of them raised its hand forward, casting a golden chakra blast at the neddles, producing an explosion. However, when they crossed the ensuing cloud of smoke, Dosu was already waiting for them.
"Resonating Echo Burst!"
Given their momentum, the puppets were unable to stop in time nor dodge Dosu's invisible attack, which violently hurled them backwards.
"Good one!" Kin cheered.
"No time to celebrate! More coming from the east!" Dosu warned, as the bandaged ninja sensed their steps resonating through the ground.
"Leave those to us!" Anko said, as she and Zaku rejoined them. "Zaku, time to use our combo!"
A smirk appeared on the black haired teen. "Hell yes! I thought we'd never do it!"
"Just wait for the right moment!" Anko told him, as she started making hand seals.
As a trio of puppets rushed towards them, they jumped into the air while cupping their hands, porducing a golden chakra sphere between them. Anko tensed up.
"Now!"
Zaku raised his palms upward. "Decapitating Airwaves!"
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Zaku released wide cones of pressurized air through the holes of his palms, while Anko exhaled a stream from fire from her mouth. Both attacks merged into a massive wall of fire that engulfed both the incoming chakra blasts, as well as burned the puppets to ashes.
"Yeah, how do you like that one, huh!?" Zaku boasted.
"Hey, do you hear that?" Dosu asked.
"Hear what? I can't hear anything with all this ruckus," Zaku complained.
"Yeah, what are you talking about, Dosu?" Anko asked.
"It sounds like a flute. Don't you hear it?" Dosu insisted.
Upon hearing that, Kin went pale. "Wait, a flute you say? Oh man, I wasn't expecting her to be here!"
"Who-"
"Tayuya!" Kin interrupted Anko. "She's a member of the Sound Five! And uses the melody of her flute to put everybody who hear it under a powerful genjutsu!"
"I see. And we can't allow that, can we?" Anko said, nodding. "Dosu, you're the one with the best sound ninjutsu. And Kin, you're the genjutsu specialist, so you two take care of her."
"W-Wait! You can ask us to deal with one of Orochimaru's elite guards! We're not that strong!" Kin whimpered.
"Yes you are!" Anko snapped, getting in her face. "And you know why? Because I trained you myself all these years! Under Orochimaru, you were disposable tools, but under me, you're fucking ninjas! So now go there, beat her into the ground, don't dare to fucking die, and make me proud!"
"Yes, sensei. We won't disappoint you," Dosu said, bowing his head. "Come on Kin."
Reluctantly, Kin nodded and followed his teammate into the thickness of the forest that surrounded the lake.
It didn't took long for Dosu to find Tayuya. The redheaded kunoichi barely made an effort to hide herself. The marks around her skin showed that she was using the first stage of her cursed seal from the get go.
"Let's make sure she doesn't play that flute anymore!" Dosu suggested, as he jumped from one tree branch to the next heading towards Tayuya. "Resonating Echo Soundwave!"
Dosu slammed both melody gauntlets together, producing a sound blast that expanded forward. Tayuya jumped in time before the branch she was standing upon was shattered into splinters. However, she didn't stop playing her music.
"Now's my chance!" Kin said, making a hand seal.
As Tayuya was about to land on another branch, she lost her balance for a second. But that second was enough to made her trip, and fall to the grass below.
"What the fuck!?" the redhead cursed, as she incidentally dropped the flute.
"Good one, Kin!" Dosu praised, as she dashed towards the falling redhead. "Time to finish her!"
However, Kin's genjutsu only lasted a couple seconds, and while she was in mid air, Tayuya was able to regan her balance and land on her feet. She then sprung towards Dosu, and interrupted his attack with a vicious punch to the face.
"Finish this, you shithead mummy!" Tayuya shouted. "You're going to need way more bandages than those once I'm done with you!"
"Kin! The flute! Make sure she doesn't get it back!" Dosu warned, raising his voice.
Kin nodded, and rushed towards the flute, laying on the ground. Tayuya, being so focused on Dosu, didn't notice that until it was late.
"Fuck no! Don't you dare-"
"Mine!" Kin said as she was about to grab the flute.
"KIN, WATCH OUT!"
But before she could do that, a new cloaked figure appeared from behind a tree, and punched Kin in the face with such force, the black haired kunoichi was sent flying against a nearby tree. The figure then grabbed the flute, and tossed it to Tayuya.
"Be more careful next time," the cloaked figure said. Tayuya grunted something unintelligible in return. "And a 'thank you' would be nice."
"I didn't ask for your help, so go fuck yourself!" Tayuya angrily snapped.
"Very well then. I'll go help Kimimaro instead," the figure said, as he rushed towards the battlefield behind them.
"Of course, you can't stand being separated from your boyfriend that much, can you?" Tayuya mocked, before turning her attention back to the Konoha ninjas. Dosu was helping Kin back on her feet. "Alright, you fuckers have no idea how mad you made me with that little stunt of yours, so prepare to get the worst beating of your life!"
And Tayuya's cursed seal started to spread even further, as it advanced to its second stage.
"This doesn't look good for us..." Dosu lamented, but he wasn't sure what was more scary: Tayuya as she mutated into a human shaped monster, or Anko if she was pissed. Though deep down, the answer was easy. "Facing Tayuya it is, then."
Back to the fight, Tenzo's team was also fighting the last of the remaining puppets. Several of them had surrounded the Senju twins, and were ready to fire their signature golden chakra blasts.
"Sister, you're on!" Hagane called.
The white haired girl nodded, as she made several hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Dome Jutsu!"
Kaida slammed her hands into the ground, and a dome of dense rock quickly formed around the Senju siblings, just in time when the puppets fired their blasts. The golden projectiles easily shattered the barrier. But much to their surprise, the twins were nowhere to be seen all what remained were several pieces of charred rock.
There was also a hole, but they saw it way too late. Hagane and Kaida then burst from underground behind them, the latter making more hand seals.
"Water Release: All Devouring Maelstrom!"
Water from the nearby lake started to form and gather around the puppets, and quickly spun around them, until it formed a water tornado. The puppets tried to break free from the powerful attack, but it was in vain.
"Good one, sis! Now it's my turn!" Hagane said, as he fell from above, his hands holding a massive spinning sphere of blue chakra. "Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan!"
Upon smashing the sphere of destruction unto the tornado of water, it exploded in a massive blast that not only shattered the puppets, but the land below as well. The water from the lake moved to fill the new empty space.
"Guys, watch out!" Hanabi's voice said from above, as the Hyuga floated down towards them. "More enemies are incoming! These ones are actual ninjas! And their chakra... no, that can't be right!"
"What can't be right?" Kaida wanted to know.
But before Hanabi could reply, the answer presented itself.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Thick green roots emerged from both the land below and the nearby water. Hanabi flew back into the air, while the Senju twins jumped away in order to avoid the sudden attack. A storm of shuriken laced with electricity appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Hagane, however, managed to see it in time.
"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
The ensuing cone of wind managed to either suck or push away the incoming rain of steel stars.
At that moment, two ninjas wearing Otogakure uniforms, including face concelaing balaclavas, landed on top of one of the newly generated trees.
"Another Wood Release user?" Kaida asked in shock.
"That's what I tried to tell you!" Hanabi shouted from above. "These ninjas have an almost identical chakra to you two! In fact, they even look like you two, only older!"
"I see. At first I was surprised, but now I know who they are," Hagane said, as his surprise started to subside. "You're the clones Naruto-niisan told us about, right? Remove those masks, you aren't fooling anybody."
The two ninjas did as Hagane asked, revealing their appearances. Kaida's shock grew even more, as so did Hagane, but he was better as masking it.
"Who are you calling a clone, brat?" Hagane's lookalike angrily asked. "Orochimaru-sama may have used your DNA as a template to create us, but we're way more than simple clones!"
"Don't bother arguing with them, Hebimaru. Words matter little here," the woman told her brother. "Now stand down and let us take the jinchuriki. If you make our jobs easier, we will spare your lives."
"Hanabi, I need fire. Lots and lots of fire," the male Senju asked.
"You got it," Hanabi nodded, as she started to make hand seals.
"Guess you were right, Hebiko. Time to fight then!" Hebimaru said, as he unsheathed the broadsword he was carrying on his back.
"Fire Release: Crimson Phoenix Flare!"
Hanabi breathed a massive stream of fire that quickly took the shape of a bird, which flew towards the duo of Oto ninjas, burning everything in its wake. As this happened, Hagane also prepared his next attack.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Hagane blew a poweful gust of wind towards the phoenix, and just like Anko and Zaku's attacks a moment ago, both jutsu merged into a massive inferno, which carbonized everything that it touched as it advanced.
"Poor kids, you're so out of your league," Hebimaru said, shaking his head. "Come on sister!"
"I'm ahead of you!" Hebiko said, as her hands flew through hand seals. "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Using the water from the ever expanding lake as a source, Habiko raised a wave that crashed against the incoming inferno, but it did little to stop it.
"Even if you use water, that's not enough to stop our combination!" Hanabi boasted.
"We haven't played all our cards, girl," Hebimaru said, as he made several hand seals of his own. "Wind Release: Breath of God!"
An hurricane formed among the water that was trying to stop the incoming fire. The hurricane then shapped the water into a tornado, while also sucking more and more water from the lake, increasing the size of the jutsu. Eventually, the water tornado was large enough to stop Hanabi and Hagane's attack.
"Like we said, you're nothing but kids, while we are-"
However, Hebimaru's taunt was interrupted when he felt a presence around him. They've been there for quite some time, but he was so focused on stopping the fire jutsu that he didn't notice it until now. And soon, the Oto ninja were ambushed by Kaida, who sprung from behind.
"You're mine!" she yelled, as she descended towards them, with a kunai on each hand.
Unfortunately for her, Hebiko did notice her in time, and managed to stop Kaida by grabbing her by the neck, making the younger girl drop her weapons.
"You lowered your guard, brother," Hebiko said, shaking her head. "You almost let this little girl shank you."
"Sister!" Hagane cried, upon seeing her predicament.
"Let her go or else...!" Hanabi threatened, as her eyes flared with a blue and white light.
"Or else what?" Hebiko said, and laughed. "Your little friends' recklesness costed you dearly. Now surrender, or she won't enjoy what I'll do next."
"I'm...I'm like...your sister..." Kaida managed to say, as she tried to pry the older woman's hand from her neck. "Doesn't that...?"
"Sister? Please, don't make me laugh!" Hebiko replied. "We may have a similar DNA, but that does not make us family. Hebimaru and Orochimaru-sama is the only family I have."
"Too bad...then..." Kaida said, before losing consciousness, and going limp.
"Huh?" Hebiko mumbled. "I swear I wasn't putting that much force onto that hold..."
Then, much to her confusion, Kaida quickly started to lose all color, her skin, hair and clothes becoming light brown, almost looking like wood.
"A clone! Sister, this girljust fooled-"
But Hebimaru's scolding was interrupted when lots of presences manifested at once, followed by an horde of more Wood Clones emerging from all around then.
"Now, attack!" the Kaida clones said in unison, as they unleashed a barrage of shuriken and kunai unto the Oto siblings.
"Sister, get close to me!" Hebimaru called, as his hands ran through hand seals as fast as they could. "Wind Release: Wind Wall!"
A tornado engulfed both Hebiko and Hebimaru, sucessfully repelling most of the incoming barrage of weapos, though some managed to get by.
"Hanabi, now!" one of the Kaida clones called.
The Hyuga nodded, and flew towards the two white haired Oto ninjas, while making several hand seals. Hebiko's face lost all color when she realized what was going to happen.
"Brother, stop, they're-"
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Hebiko saw how Hanabi breathed a stream of fire at them. If that fire hit the tornado, the two of them would be trapped inside a flaming vortext that would burn them to ashes.
"Even if Hebimaru cancels the jutsu, he can't move until it ceases completely," Hebiko said,, as she started to form hand seals of her own. "I need to use a water jutsu before-"
Her thoughts were interrupted when something kicked her out of the wind barrier. She saw that, even if Hebimaru couldn't quite move completely, he was still able to move her leg in order to kick her away.
"No!" she screamed.
Hanabi's fire jutsu hit the tornado, and just as everybody expected, the make Oto ninja was engulfed in a twister of flames. Suddenly, Hebimaru, covered in flames jumped out of the fiery twister. He tried to land on a branch, but the fire burning his body and the ensuing pain made it difficult for him to properly land, tripped, anf fell. Though much to his luck, there was water below which instantly put out the flames.
"Brother!" Hebiko shouted, as she dashed towards him, jumping into the water. She managed to bring him to the surface before he could sink. "Come on!"
Hebiko jumped onto a nearby tree branch, and left her brother resting against the tree. There were plenty of burns across his body, While the water had out out the flames, the sudden change of temperature had worsened his wounds.
"It's okay...I'm okay..." Hebimaru groaned, as he coughed. "I need...some time to recuperate..."
"Very well then. I'll buy you that time," Hebiko told him, before a scowl developed on her face. "Don't dare to die, you hear me? Orochimaru-sama is counting on you, and so do I!"
Before Hebimaru could reply, the Chunin of Team Tenzo landed on a nearby branch –though in Hanabi's case, she just floated above it.
"Alright, time to take them out!" Kaida said, as she got ready to attack the now weakened duo.
Meanwhile. Dosu and Kin were still fighting Tayuya, who, brewing with anger– not that it was that hard to get her like that– decided to go into the second stage of her cursed seal.
"Alright you shitheads, if you aren't going to let me play my music, then I'll rip your fucking limbs from your bodies!" the redhead growled as she dashed towards them.
Dosu protectively stood between her and the still injured Kin, arms raised in a defensive stance. He saw Tayuya's left punch coming, and moved his arm to block it. The impact was so great it pushed the former Oto ninja backwards, leaving his arm sore, but he still smirked under his bandages.
"Resonating Echo Burst!"
All the power Tayuya had put into that punch was converted into soundwaves by the Melody Gauntlet, and released them the form of a sound blast that knocked the mutated kunoichi backwards. Taking advantage of the situation, Dosu decided not to let her any room to breathe and dashed forward, ready to attack.
However, much to Dosu's surprise, Tayuya quickly crouched and delivered a low kick, hitting his forelegs, and made him trip and fall on his back. Tayuya then pulled a kunai and tried to stab it on Dosu's chest.
"Now die already!"
Dosu managed to grab Tayuya's wrist and stop her in time, but the Oto kunoichi's strength was much greater while in her current form, and the kunai slowly came closer to his chest.
"Damn...I can't use my sound jutsu if I can't move my arms..." Dosu thought as she struggled against his redheaded opponent.
Suddenly, Tayuya got off Dosu and jumped back as she used her kunai to deflect a pair of senbon. Turning around, Dosu saw Kin back on her feet, pelting Tayuya with her throwing weapon of choice.
"You think you can beat me by throwing fucking toothpicks at me!?" Tayuya angrily growled. "Oh, that's it!"
Tayuya then made several hand seals, and took her flute to her lips.
"She's going to use her genjutsu again! Dosu, stop her!" Kin panicklingly warned.
"On it!" the bandaged ninja replied, as he prepared to blast Tayuya with another sound wave.
However, there was something odd with the way Tayuya was holding the flute. Rather than holding it sideways, she was holding it facing front, as if it was a blowpipe.
And when Dosu felt the pain of a projectile piercing his shoulder, that's exactly what she was doing.
"Dosu!" Kin screamed, as she rushed towards him.
Tayuya keep firing projectiles at Dosu, but this time, the Oto ninja was able to dodge them, if badly. Kin helped him to stand, as the two of them tried to dodge Tayuya's incoming barrage of projectiles, which impacted with such force, they pierced the nearby trees.
"Just what the hell is she shooting at us?" Kin shouted.
"Bullets of concentrated soundwaves!" Dosu replied. "Really clever, she will never run out of ammo, and they can only be avoided, not blocked."
"That may be clever of her, but we're pretty much screwed!" Kin cried.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Suddenly, a blaze of fire came from above, creating a wall of flames between the two former Oto ninjas and Tayuya. A couple seconds later, Anko and Zaku landed besides Dosu and Kin.
"Sounds like you guys are having trouble," Zaku chuckled, before smirking at them.
"Zaku, do you have a first aids kit?" Anko asked, not taking her eyes from Tayuya. Zaku grunted in affirmation. "It seems that that girl was too much for you guys in the end. Okay, stay behind and take care of Dosu. This bitch's mine."
"Who are you calling bitch, you bitch?" Tayuya snapped back at her.
"You hurt one of my students," Anko hissed. "And as his sensei, it's my duty to return that pain multiplied by one thousand! Get ready for the beating of your life"
While Anko and her students fought against Tayuya, Itachi, Naruto and Roshi continued their fight against the leader of the Sound Five. The last member of the Kaguya Clan was proving to be far more resilent than what Itachi had expected, as he was able to keep the three ninja at bay, keeping a solid defense while harrasing with powerful attacks.
"Dance of the Orchid!"
Twp more gigantic bone dragons emerged from below, joining the existing three.
"Godammit!" Naruto cursed, as he was trying to fend off a single one. "These things won't go down!"
"Maybe we can slow them a bit," Roshi mentioned, as he started to make hand seals. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Roshi slammed his hands down, and the ground around them started to turn into a muddy swamp. The heavy bone constructs started to slowly sink. They trashed violently, but other than splashing mud everywhere, they were unable to do anything.
"Nice one, Roshi!" Naruto praised.
"Watch out!" Itachi warned.
Neither Naruto nor Roshi noticed Kimimaro dashing at them at an insane speed, using the sinking bone serpents as stepping stones. Two bone blades appeared on Kimimaro's hands, as he readied to sink them into the redheaded man's chest. However, a black blur got between the Oto ninja and his prey, and the bone broke with a loud clang.
"Itachi!" Naruto shoued as he was about to help the leader of his squad.
However, another figure, completely covered in a dark blue cloak, intercepted Naruto before he could assist the Uchiha. A gigantic brown and inhuman looking fist emerged from one of the sleeves, punching the Uzumaki with incredible force.
"UGH!" Naruto groaned, but he was able to land on his feet. "Another enemy?"
The newcomer pulled his hood back, revealing to be an orange haired boy a few years older than Naruto. His face, which was fair skinned, but with grayish brown slowly spreading around it, had an expression of stone hard stoicism.
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked.
"For the time being, your opponent," the orange haired teen said. "But if you need a name, you can call me Jugo. I'd recommend you not to interfere with Kimimaros fight."
Naruto gritted his teeth in anger, as he prepared to face his new enemy, while Kimimaro and Itachi continued their fight.
"Not bad. You deserve your reputation, Uchiha," Kimimaro said, as he jumped backwards, eyeing the Uchiha, who was now surrounded by an spectral yellowish orange ribcage. "So that's your famed Susanoo?"
"Indeed," Itachi nodded, his eyes forming the shape of the Eternal Magekyo Sharingan. "Consider yourself lucky, few are the enemies I consider strong enough to use them. However, their luck usually don't last much after that."
"We'll see then," Kimimaro said, as more bone blades started to protude from his arms. "You have no idea how much I trained after my defeat at Zabuza's hands. I swore myself I'd never fail Orochimaru-sama again. And nobody, not even the famed Itachi Uchiha, will make me break that oath! Dance of the Dandelion!"
Kimimaro fired several bone spikes at Itachi, which split into smaller spikes, Itachi jumped backwards as he firmly held his katana in one hand, and pulled a kunai with the other. His Sharingan allowed him to analyze which flying spikes were going to hit him, their speed, and how he could deflect them. For Itachi, it was as if the world ran in slow motion, allowing him more time to think and react.
From an outsider's perspective, however, it would look as if Itachi was wildly moving his arms as if he was trying to swat away a bee, even if each move was calculated. After deflecting every bone projectile, Itachi stared intently at Kimimaro, panting.
"Out of breath already?" Kimimaro asked. "If that's what it takes to deplete your stamina, then you aren't going to last long around me. Or it is a trick to make me lower my guard? I admit I can be quite arrogant at times, and such attitude costed me dearly in the past."
"Why don't you come and find out?" Itachi said in a taunting manner.
Kimimaro then pulled his own spinal chord out of his back, and wielded it as if it was a sword.
"Oh, I plan to."
…
Meanwhile, not far away from there, two figures were observing the fight. Well, tehcnically only one had enough visual prowess to appreciate every detail. His face, however, remained impassible for the duration of the battle.
"How is it going, Toneri?" the first figure asked.
"Inconceivable. That little girl also has a Tenseigan. How is that possible?" Toneri asked, seemingly ignoring his partner's question. With his own Tenseigan, he could zoom into the battle and see it with minute detail. "Only Hinata and I should have one."
"I'm sure you are going to put an end to such unforgivable transgression," the other man said, rolling his eyes. "The jinchuriki?"
"He seems unharmed, and still with plenty of energy," Toneri replied. "Should we attack now, Orochimaru?"
A sadistic grin formed on the Sannin's face. "Why, of course we should. We can't let out minions to have all the fun, can we? Besides, I'm sure they already did a good job wearing them down."
And thus, Orochimaru and Toneri decided to join the battle for Roshi's fate.
Author's Notes: Yep, there you have it. Those who guessed that Orochimaru and Toneri were the ones tasked with Roshi's capture were right. I think it was their time, given that neither of them have assisted in any jinchuriki capture yet. Though before they join the fray, the good guys will have to deal with their minions, mostly the new incarnation of the Sound Five.
In a related note, I hope you guys enjoyed seeing Teams Tenzo and Anko in action. Sorry I took this long to showcase them, but like I said many teams, please be patient with me. For the most part I tend to be a long-term planner, and it may seem that I forgot about a character or plot element that I introduced at a certain point, but I can assure you that most of the time it won't be the case (there is the chance that I may forget about something, I'm still human after all).
But guess this is what happens when you juggle as many characters as I do. We love to criticize Kishimoto for wasting so many good characters (and with reason), but balancing such a large cast is no easy feat. Hell, unlike the Yugito and Utakata arcs, I was unable to include any ninjas from Roshi's home village, since as you can see, this arc is getting pretty crowded.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
Next time, this arc comes to an end. Will Akatsuki claim Roshi and the Four Tails, or will Naruto and the Konoha ninjas suceed this time? In the meantime, leave your thoughts in a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!