Author's Note: And today, we reached another milestone with the posting of the 75th chapter. Let's see how much this story has grown since then:
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Chapter 75:
The Light of their Eyes
or
Tense Family Relationships
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Anko breathed another stream of fire at the mutated Oto kunoichi, who jumped to another branch before the flames could claim her. Tayuya then took the flute to her lips, and played a quick melody, no more than a dozen notes.
Suddenly, Anko felt as if somebody smashed a hammer into her head from the inside, and instinctively fell to one knee, as the world around her became blurrier.
"Guh...?" she gurgled, as she tried to understand what was going on. While she knew that Tayuya was a genjutsu specialist, she also knew that the Oto kunoichi had to continuously play her flute in order to keep the genjutsu active. Same went in order to control her three summoned creatures.
Tayuya dashed forward, her flute in one hand with a kunai in another. Warned by killing intent, Anko tried to fight the dizzyness, and jumped away just in time the angry redhead delivered an horizontal slash, leaving a cut in her left arm. The sharp pain, however, shook her out of the genjutsu.
"How did you-"
Anko's question was interrupted by another quick melody, and she was assaulted again by the same sensation of dizzyness. This time, Tayuya decided to deliver a brutal flying kick at Anko's face, which send the Snake Mistress tumbling into the ground.
"Anko-sensei!" Kin screamed, witnessing in horror her sensei getting pummeled.
"This is the end, you bitch!" Tayuya shouted, as she leaped towards her. "This is what happens to those who betray Orochimaru-sama!"
Tayuya landed on top of Anko as she sank her kunai on the purplette's chest. She didn't really know if she had pierced Anko's heart as she wanted, but she was sure a stab like that had to be lethal. Blood trickled from Anko's throat. And much to Tayuya's confusion, she smirked.
"Why are you so happy, you dumb bitch? Did you want to-"
This time, it was Tayuya who was interrupted when "Anko" burst into a mass of snakes that wasted no time and lunged towards her. Tayuya tried to evade them by jumping back, but two of them managed to tightly wrap themselves around her body.
"First of all, it was Orochimaru who betrayed me, not the other way around," the real Anko said, as she landed behind Tayuya. She pulled out a kunai of her own. "Second, not only did Orochimaru betray me, his student, but also betrayed his village, as well as countless others. And third... in case if wasn't clear, you made me angry as fuck, so you have the wonderful fortune of being the target of my venting."
"I'd like to see you try, you bitch!" Tayuya shouted, before disappearing in a puff of smoke, leaving a log behind.
"Sensei! She's between the trees shoutwest of your position!" Dosu managed to shout.
"Good hearing, kid," Anko replied, as she headed towards the position.
As she dashed towards Tayuya, she heard the sound of a flute. Like before, it was very quick, only a few notes.
"Oh no, you aren't going to catch me with that dirty trick again!" Anko said, as she made a hand seal, while sending a burst of chakra through her body. "Release!"
Anko's world became blurry for a fraction of a second, before it returned back to normal. Anko smirked at Tayuya's bright hair flashed before her eyes.
"Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Snakes shot from under Anko's sleeve, and wrapped around Tayuya's neck. The Oto kunoichi barely had any time to gasp before the snakes pulled her towards Anko with incredible force. Anko then hurled her into the air, before slamming her back into the ground. Tayuya bounced against the grassy ground as if she was a rubber ball, before falling back with a thud.
"I see you improved your genjutsu," Anko stated, as she walked towards the downed kunoichi. "From what I heard, you had to play your flute continuously for it to have effect. It was a valid strategy when you were with your teammates and were about to ambush your enemies, but against an enemy who knows about it, not so much, right?
"That's why you developed this version. A genjutsu in short bursts. Only diasables your enemies for a moment, but that moment is enough for you to strike. However, that also has a glaring flaw, and is that if an opponent knows what is coming, they can preemptively dispel the genjutsu before it takes effect."
"You think you're... so fucking clever..." Tayuya groaned, as she struggled to get back on her feet.
"Oh, I know I am," Anko said, with a wide smile. "Now let's- AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Anko screamed as she fell on her knees, her hand instinctively going to the source of the pain, the spot where the Cursed Heal of Heaven was placed. It felt as if she was being branded with a searing iron.
"Sensei!" her three students said at once, as they landed besides her.
"Are you okay?" Dosu asked.
"Orochimaru... he's here..." Anko hissed, as pain coursed through her body. "You have to... warn the others!"
…
As Anko fought Tayuya, Itachi, Naruto and Roshi continued fighting Kimimaro and Jugo. If Kimimaro was proving to be extraordinarily resilent before, he was a force to be reckoned with now that he had backup. Naruto, however, decided that it was time for them to get some backup as well. He bit his thumb, before making several hand seals.
"Itachi, Roshi, get close to me!" Naruto called them, before slamming his hand into the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
After a masisve burst of smoke, an equally massive toad appeared before the two Otogakure ninjas, with Naruto, Itachi and Roshi standing at the top of it. The Toad was smoking from a pipe, and had one of his hands resting over the pommel of a short sword –relatively speaking.
"A Boss Summon?" Roshi asked, sounding impressed, as he looked down at the creature he was standing onto. "You're one interesting kid. I have the feeling this battle will make quite an addition to my journals."
"While I admire your optimism, Roshi-san, this battle is far from over," Itachi told the older man.
"Hey, Naruto," Gamabunta said, as he eyed Kimimaro and Jugo below. "Please tell me you didn't summon me to deal with those little things."
"Don't judge them by their size, boss," Naruto replied. "They've been giving us quite some trouble."
"Hmm... if you say so," Gamabunta finally conceded, as he unsheathed his short sword. "Very well then! I'll take care of them for you! But I'm expecting some compensation after this, you hear me?"
"Don't worry boss, I won't forget it," Naruto replied.
"Let's take advantage of your summon to attack them. They'll be wide open once they try to dodge it," Itachi suggested. The other two nodded.
Gamabunta brought down his short, yet also massive sword at Kimimaro at Jugo. And while the orange haired teen jumped away, Kimimaro didn't move, much to everybody's surprise. The impact created a large fissure in the grounsd, the resulting shockwave blowing a powerful gust of wind and dust in every direction.
"Ha! Overconfident idiot..." Gamabunta said, shaking his head, as he pulled the sword back. Only that, much to his shock, he was unable to. "What the...?"
When the dust dispelled, the giant toad could see that there was a giant claw made of bones kept the sword pinned to the ground. The Toad Boss tried to pull it, to no avail.
"What the hell!?"
"Watch out!" Itachi called.
Naruto and Roshi saw how a black blur clashed against a mostly white one multiple times in a row, each time a metallic CLANG echoing through the area. Eventually, the two figures landed on a tree branch below Gamabunta.
"You're fast, Uchiha, those eyes are hard to fool," Kimimaro praised. "But reading my movements alone won't do you any good. So far, you didn't make a single attempt to attack me."
"Maybe. But what matters in a fight is not how many times you attack, but how many blows do you need in order to take down the opponent," Itachi countered, as he gripped his kanata tighter.
"In my case, you'll need plenty of them. My bones can't be broken," Kimimaro boasted, as bone spikes grew all around his body.
"Actually, I only need one hit," Itachi replied. "And before you answer, yes, the hit has already landed. You just don't know it yet."
Suddenly, the world around them started to melt, and was replaced by a red and black hellish landscape. Itachi and Kimimaro lost all color, becoming shadowy beings. Kimimaro looked around in confusion, before realizing what was going on.
"Ah, yes, the Uchiha and their famed genjutsu," Kimimaro replied. "You think I have no means to counter this? Orochimaru-sama has the same eyes you have, and has trained me to withstand their illusionary powers just in case I ran into one of you. Breaking this genjutsu will be easy."
Kimimaro made a hand seal, and send a burst of chakra through his body. But nothing changed.
"What? Release!" he repeated the process, but the result was the same. "What kind of Genjutsu is this?"
"As you're about to learn, Orochimaru doesn't have the same eyes as mine," Itachi corrected, as he started to walk towards him. Barbed wire apperared out of nowhere, and wrapped itself around Kimimaro. The last of the Kaguya was lifted into the air, with two additional wires pulling his arms in opposite directions, leaving him in a crucified pose. "The name of the jutsu is Tsukuyomi," Itachi said, as multiple Itachi clones appeared around him. "Let's see if your mind is as strong as your bones in order to survive seventy two hours of uninterrupted torture."
The seventy two hours in Kimimaro's mind were merely three seconds in the real world. After such intense torture, the last Kaguya Clan member fell to the ground, his mind completely turned into shreds.
Itachi, however, fell to one knee, as he felt how the jutsu had drained his chakra.
"I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use this jutsu so soon," Itachi groaned, heaving a little. "Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's dispose of this guy as well..."
However, before Itachi could do anything, a gigantic snake appeared out of nowhere. The Uchiha's reflexes were good enough to dodge it in time. He was about to prepare a fire jutsu, when his Sharingan caught sight of another snake.
However, this snake didn't attack him. Instead, it slithered towards the uncosncious Kimimaro, and swalloed his body whole before leaving.
"These snakes... Orochimaru must be here..." Itachi concluded.
…
Meanwhile, Team Tenzo was still fighting against the Senju Clones. Though a better way to phrase it would be that Hebiko was trying to shield the injured Hebimaru from the relentless attacks from the three Konoha Chunin.
"Water Release: Water Wave!"
Once again, the water of the lake around them rose in the form of a massive wave. Hebimaru took a step forward, as he made several hand seals. His body glowed with a white aura.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The male ninja exhaled a massive gust of wind, powered by nature energy, that managed to stop the incoming wall of water. However, the effort made his injuries to punish his body even more, and fell to his knees, groaning and clutching his side.
"Brother! I told you to take it easy!" Hebiko chastised him.
"You need me... to deal with these devils... "Hebimaru said with a cough.
"They just got the jump on us. I know I can-"
"Enough," a third voice said, softly but firmly.
Between the two Oto ninja and the Konoha Chunin was another Akatsuki, one with white hair, pale skin, and Tenseigan eyes.
"Toneri..." Hebimaru whispered.
"Orochimaru wants you to help him capture the jinchuriki," Toneri told the adult twins. "I'll take care of these ones."
Wordlessly, Hebiko helped her brother to his feet, and the two of them went to help their master. Toneri then turned around, and locked eyes with Hanabi.
"So, you're Toneri," Hanabi said, placing her hands on her hips. "The creep who wants to marry my sister."
"Sister?" the Otsutsuki replied. "I was going to ask you how you got a Tenseigan, and your relation to Hinata... that might explain part of it. Though there are still some things that I'm not aware of."
"Yeah, and one of them is when somebody tells you 'no'," Hanabi deadpanned, before punching her palm. "So, ready to get your ass kicked?"
"Your overconfidence is charming, kid," Toneri replied, chuckling in a condescending manner. "I know about you three. You might possess powers beyond most humans, but you lack the experience and proper training to handle them. Fighting me means death. I might spare you as not to upset Hinata, and for... other reasons," he then looked at Hagane and Kaida. "But I have no reason to let you live."
The three Chunin quickly slipped into fighting stances, as Toneri raised his hand to cast an attack. However, before he could do anything, multiple brown wooden roots emerged from below and the sides, wrapping themselves around the Akatsuki, immobilizing him.
"I hope you weren't planning to fight this man on your own, were you?" Tenzo's voice said, as he landed besides them. "You might be Chunin, but this enemy is beyond your capabilities."
"Of course not. I knew that you were around. I was stalling for time so you could join us," Hanabi replied.
"While I'm doubtful of the truth of that statement, let's leave that for later," Tenzo said, as he jumped towards the immobilized Toneri. "Now, let's put you to-"
Suddenly, a shockwave exploded from Toneri's body, shattering his wooden bindings –as well as nearby tree branches– into hundreds of splinters, while Tenzo was violently hurled backwards, his body falling with a splash into the water.
"SENSEI!" the three Chunin screamed in unison.
"Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because you caught me off guard before, you can compete with me," Toneri dangerously hissed. "You might have Wood Release, but your execution is so rudimentary, it's barely a threat."
"Let's see how'd you like MY execution then!" Kaida angrily shouted, as she started to make hand seals. "Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
Kaida summoned a serpentine dragon made of wood that lunged at the Akatsuki. Toneri merely made a few hand seals.
"Tenseigan Chakra Cloak!"
Toneri's eyes flashed, and the Otsutsuki started to glow with a teal aura. He raised his hand, generating a green glowing orb of chakra. The glow flew towards the Wood Dragon, which exploded upon contact, shattering the dragon to splinters.
"Is the best you-"
The Otsutsuki was interupted when his Tenseigan caught three more dragons emerging from under him, advancing towards him while leaving enough distance to each other to make sure they couldn't be destroyed all at once. Seeing no way but up, Toneri flew into the air. However, his flight was interrupted when a white blur shot at him like a missile.
"Heavenly Kick of Pain!"
Before he could realize what was going on, Toneri's face was hit by Hagane's foot, the kid managing to put much more power into his kick then his small size would let one guess. As he bounced backwards, Hagane took a sealing scroll, and unsealed a giant Fuma Shuriken. The shuriken started to crackle with electricity.
"Enjoy this!" Hagane said, before tossing the giant electrict shuriken. "Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu!"
Toneri saw how a mass of crackling shuriken flew at him, the loud whirring noise they were making piercing his ears. The Otsutsuki, however, wasn't fazed, and made another set of hand seals.
"Truth Seeking Balls!"
With a flash of green light, Toneri summoned a pair of Truth Seeking Balls. The balls merged into a shapeless mass, which quickly took the form of a shield, covering the Otsutsuki. The shuriken all shattered as if they were made of rotten wood the moment they crashed against the improvised barrier.
"He can use Truth Seeking Balls too?" Hagane asked, as he landed on a branch. "This is bad. As far as I can tell, they can nullify ninjutsu and are an unbreakable defense against physical attacks. But just like a diamond can cut another one, maybe the balls can resist their own power? Hanabi!"
"I know!" Hanabi said, having just summoned other two black orbs as well.
"Your mastery of the Tenseigan is encomiable, girl," Toneri praised. "But you still have a long way to go until you can reach my level."
…
"Kimimaro!" Jugo shouted, seeing what had happened to his friend. He forgot about Naruto and Roshi and went to his aid.
"Sorry, but no, you arent leaving," Naruto said, as he made a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
An horde of Naruto clones appeared from thin air, already dashing towards Jugo.
"Get out of my way!" Jugo shouted, his voice becoming deeper, as his other arm also mutated, becoming larger and more monstruous looking.
Even if all Jugo did was swing his arms wildly, his swings carried so much power they destroyed a good chunk of the clones coming at him. Jugo let out screams of rage the more clones he destroyed.
"That young man seems to have turned into a wild animal all of sudden," Roshi observed. "We should proceed with caution."
"Whatever is his power, he has little control over it," Naruto added. "Let's take advantage of that."
"I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Jugo bellowed, as he jumped towards the two jinchuriki atop the giant toad. Jugo's cloak was ripped apart as flesh growths emerged from his back, taking multiple shapes, such as claws, wings, and even an additional pair of arms. "NOW DI-"
However, before Jugo could reach his targets, he swatted away by a giant webbed hand. He was so focused on Naruto, he completely forgot that the giant Toad he was standing on wasn't going to just stay there and watch.
"Good one, boss!" Naruto cheered. "We're almost done here, now let's-"
Suddenly, the earth started to shake, and from under Gamabunta's feet, a giant jet black snake emerged, bursting from underground, and wrapping itself around Gamabunta at imperceptible speed.
"ACK!" the Toad croaked, as he tried to break free from the snake's hold.
"Hello there. My name's Kurokiba, and I shall be your executioner," the giant snake hissed. "To think that I'll be the one to put an end to the infamous Gamabunta... Orochimaru-sama is truly a gracious ally."
"Orochimaru!?" Naruto paled upon hearing that name. "Is that him who-"
"The answer should be obvious, Naruto-kun," a soft but chulling voice said. Naruto turned around, and saw the Snake Sannin standing before him. Both him and Roshi quickly slipped into a defensive stance, with Naruto pulling out his Wind Blade. "It has been so long since we last met, isn't it? From your little incursion in the Land of Sound, if I remember correctly. Back then you were a rookie Genin, yet from what I've been told, you raised to Jonin. Times surely flies, doesn't it?"
"Orochimaru of the Sannin..." Roshi mentioned. "This day surely gets more interesting with each passing second."
"Oh, you heard of me? I'm flattered," Orochimaru said, giving the two jinchuriki a chilling grin. His yellow eyes turned red as he activated his Sharingan, while his hands started to fly through hand seals. "This is something you'll find mostly interesting as well. Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Orochimaru opened the fight with the Uchiha's signature jutsu, breathing a massive fireball at the two jinchuriki. Rather than being intimidated by an attack of such scale of an element strong against his afiinity, Naruto merely smirked and made several hand seals as well.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Vortex!"
Naruto cast his arms forward, creating a spiraling vortex of wind, which quickly started to absorb the fireball, storing and compressing the fire inside an invisible orb of wind. Both Orochimaru and Roshi looked at the display in awe.
"A wind jutsu that can counter fire attacks?" Roshi repeated. "Kid, you're indeed sure something."
Naruto smirked at Roshi. "And that's not even the whole thing!"
Waving both arms in a circle before thursting them forward, Naruto released all the fire he had absorbed in the form of a powerful stream. The Snake Sannin was forced to jump away into the trees below to avoid being incinerated.
"Heh, this is one of the jutsu I developed with Asuma-sensei's help!" Naruto proudly thought, while directing his improvised flamethrower. "Fire won't be a trouble anymore!"
"We should go after him," Roshi suggested. "I know Orochimaru is powerful, but I don't think I know the extent of his abilities. I mean, I would remember if he had a Sharingan!"
"Agreed. The less room we leave him to breathe, the better!" Naruto said, before making some clones. "I'll leave some clones here to help the boss."
Both jinchuriki leaped after the Sannin, while Gamabunta continued to struggle against Kurokiba, and the clones prepared to attack the giant snake. They landed on a large tree branch, and saw that Orochimaru was perched onto another one. And just that moment, Itachi landed besides him.
"My my, three versus one, isn't that a bit unfair?" Orochimaru said with a chuckle. As if on cue, Hebimaru and Habiko landed on another branch above Naruto and Roshi. "Now that's much better."
"What are your orders, Orochimaru-sama?" Hebimaru asked.
"Keep the two jinchuriki busy, but try not to harm them much," Orochimaru stated. His glinted with anticipation as they fixed on Itachi. "Itachi Uchiha here is the biggest threat. We'll have to deal with him first if we want our mission to suceed."
"Understood!" the adult twins said in unison as they leaped towards the two jinchuriki, with Hebimaru unsheathing his broadsword. "Finally, some payback for what you did last time!"
Naruto didn't say anything, just shot the twins a look of pity, before he and Roshi prepared to fight them.
"Naruto!" Itachi called, while his eyes were still fixed on the Sannin. "Sage Mode, now!"
"Uh, are you sure?" the blond stammered.
Itachi turned around, looking at the Oto twins, before sending Naruto a determined stare.
"Yes! Now do it!" Itachi ordered.
Naruto nodded, and made his most common hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Two clones popped into existence, and jumped away in different directions. Upon seeing this, Orochimaru merely chuckled.
"You know what to do, kids," the Sannin told them.
Hebimaru and Hebiko nodded, and dashed towards the escaping clones.
"Not so fast!" Hebimaru said, as he sliced the clone from the back, dispelling it instantly.
Hebiko, meanwhile, made several hand seals.
"Earth Release: Rock Bullet!"
Hebiko conjured a large rock in front of her, which shot forward towards the other Naruto clone. Upon impacting, the clone was instantly dispelled.
"You tricked me with that the last time we fought," Hebimaru replied, as he and his sister returned to their original positions. "But rest assured that such thing won't happen twice!" the white haired man hotly stated, as he and Hebiko lunged at Naruto and Roshi.
And while they fought, Orochimaru and Itachi got ready for their own one on one fight. The two of them opened the fight by making the same sequence of hand seals, almost in perfect synchrony.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball jutsu!"
Both Itachi and Orochimaru exhaled a massive fireball each at the other. The two fireballs, equal in power, clashed against the other unable to push the other backwards, resulting in a burst of fire that set the trees around them ablaze.
"Those eyes don't belong you, traitor," Itachi coldy told him. "I must thank fate for this chance to right a wrong that has been haunting me for so long."
"It is fate who favors me, Itachi-kun," Orochimaru said in a jovial tone, as his grin widened. "So far, I've been unable to discover the secrets behind the Mangekyo Sharingan. But if I capture you, or at least take your eyes, that will be one problem less I'll have to worry about."
"The Tsukuyomi I used before took a good portion of my chakra reserves, and Kami knows what kind of modifications Orochimaru grafted into his body. No, I can't win this with brute force, I have to pace myself, wait for an oportunity to strike, and end the fight in a swift blow," Itachi thought, as he pulled a handful of shuriken from his ninja tool pouch, and tossed them forward.
Orochimaru merely pulled out a kunai from under his cloak, and with the aid of his Sharingan, expertly deflected the shuriken thrown at him. However, as he did that, Itachi was charging at him, his right hand firmly holding the handle of his katana. As if he wasn't even surprised, Orochimaru merely blocked the strike, but Itachi's momentum pushed him backwards.
"You'll have to do better than that, Itachi-kun," Orochimaru taunted with a grin.
"I plan to," Itachi said, as his other hand dropped something.
Much to his surprise, Orochimaru saw it was a flash grenade, but he realized of that too late. The grenade exploded, filling the area with a bright white light. Even if he closed his eyes in time, there were another pair of eyes that he was using and took the brunt of the attack.
"AAARGH!" Orochimaru yelled, as he took a hand to his head, while keeping the other one up in a defensive stance.
"According to our reports, you have four snakes attached to your back. One of those snakes has a Byakugan, which I presume you were using, right?" Itachi told him. Orochimaru's grin of smugness had turn into a grimace of pain and anger. "Well, not for much longer."
"Very well! I don't need the Byakugan to defeat you, Uchiha!" Orochimaru said, before a snake emerged from his mouth. Said snake opened its own mouth, vomiting a sword, which Orochimaru took no time to grab. "Do you know what's this?"
"The Sword of Kusanagi, if I must guess," Itachi said, readying his own katana as well. "Don't worry, I'm prepared for that."
"I find that doubtful," Orochimaru said.
Suddenly, several snakes burst from underground, and wrapped aroud Itachi, pinning his arms against his body, just as Orochimaru lunged at him, stabbing the Sword of Kusanagi into his chest. Itachi then turned into a black mass, before bursting into a murder of crows, which started to fly in circles around Orochimaru.
"Of course, it would never be this easy," Orochimaru mentioned in mild resignation. "And why didn't the protective seals carved in my skull work? Is his genjutsu level so good he can bypass them?" The Sannin thought in mild frustration.
While Orochimaru's skull seals offered him some protection against genjutsu, they were mostly designed to keep people like Yamanaka to use mind probing or mind controlling jutsu on him. They couldn't just stop the brain from being fed wrong information. Not to mention that against a genjutsu user of Itachi's caliber, those seals were of little use.
"It's amazing that, despite having the same eyes as yours, you still manage to trap me into one of your genjutsu," Orochimaru said.
"Your eyes are not the same as mine," Itachi answered, his voice coming from every direction at once.
Orochimaru made a hand seal, releasing a burst of chakra through his body, undoing the genjutsu. He watched in satisfaction how the crows started to dissolve into nothingness, but much to his confusion, only half of them disappeared.
"What?"
Among a cacophony of screeching caws, the crows all dived at Orochimaru, more precisely his face, and tried to peck his eyes out.
"I see. He mixed some real crows with illusionary ones. Crafty, really crafty, Uchiha," Orochimaru said, making several hand seals. "Lightning Release: Flash Burst!"
Orochimaru's body crackled with electricity as lightning coursed through his skin, shocking the crows away before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sensing danger, the Sannin spun on his feet and raised his Sword of Kusanagi in order to parry the blow from a large sword made of golden flames. Said sword was being held by Itachi's Susanoo, which was just a ribcage with a skeletal arm attached to it.
"It seems I'm not the only one with a legendary blade in their possession," Orochimaru commented. "The Sword of Totsuka. Given that you were in Konoha when I unleashed my reanimated Kages... that's how you defeated them, right?"
"Yes. I defeated Tobirama Senju with this blade," Itachi answered. "Now, you will share his fate when I seal you as well."
Itachi's Susanoo grew another arm and a head, before muscles and skin covered its body. It raised its arm, and tried to slam Orochimaru with it. The Sannin, however, easily avoided the blow by jumping it backwards, and the sword only ended up cutting some –admittedly large– tree branches.
"Susanoo already? I'm really flattered," Orochimaru said, grinning mischeviously.
"While I'm not keen on using my Mangekyo Sharingan, I can't afford to hold back against an opponent of your caliber," Itachi declared. "Akatsuki can't be allowed to capture any more Tailed Beasts."
"And you think you can stop us?" Orochimaru taunted, as his hands flew through hand seals. "Lightning Release: Snake Thunder!"
Orochimaru raised his arm at Itachi, which was crackling with electricity. A snake made of lightning shot forward, quickly wrapping itself against the Susanoo, before biting its neck. The whole snake blew up, as if a lightning bolt fell from the sky onto Itachi. However, when the light and dust disappeared, Itachi and his Susanoo were still there, even if they were now standing on a crater.
"Your defense is impressive, I'll give you that," Orochimaru complimented. "Or did you put me under another genjutsu while I was casting the jutsu? Are you going to attack me from behind while I'm busy striking down an illusion?"
Itachi smiled a little. "That's the beauty of fighting a genjutsu user. Eventually, you start to doubt reality itself. But to answer your question, why don't you attack and find it?"
"I intend to," Orochimaru said.
But rather than Orochimaru, it was one of the giant snakes that he had summoned before who lunged at Itachi. The Uchiha, however, reacted in time and slashed it with the blade of Totsuka, unsummoning it instantly. It was then when Itachi felt something bitting his neck.
"Ow! What the...?" Itachi's hand flew to his neck, and grabbed a little snake, who wriggled within his grasp.
"You were so preoccupied with me and my giant snakes, you failed to notice the little ones," Orochimaru cackled. "And while its size is rather puny, I can assure you that the poison that it injected in your system is quite potent."
"When did you...?" Itachi slurred, the posion already taking effect. The world started to look blurry, and Orochimaru's words sounded distorted.
"Right when we first clashed. I'm aware of the power of the Sharingan, but your eyes can be fooled if I can focus them on something else. I wanted to see if I could defeat you myself, but I admit that the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan is too much for me," Orochimaru replied. He twirled the Kusanagi in his hand. "Now ready to die, Itachi? I can't wait to make your power my own."
Not waiting for the Uchiha's reply, Orochimaru dived into the grass, digging underground. The next instant, a giant snake emerged from under Itachi, catapulting the Uchiha into the air. The giant snake opened its mouth, revealing the Sannin between its jaws, ready to skewer his opponent.
"DIE!"
"Amaterasu!"
Both Orochimaru and his giant snake were engulfed by a mass of black flames, breaking their momentum. Curiously, the giant snake broke into a multitude of smaller snakes, while Orochimaru fell to the ground, screaming. Itachi, however managed to regain his balance, and landed on his feet.
"I need to find Anko. Only she can heal me from this poison," Itachi said to no one in particular, and went to look for the snake mistress, hoping she wouldn't be too busy.
As Itachi left, Orochimaru, as he was being consumed by the black flames, opened his mouth, and regurgitated a new body, shortly before the old one was burned to ashes.
"That was a close one," Orochimaru said, pnating heaveily. Even if he was able to escape the attack, so much damage and pain wasn't easy to brush off, not to mention the huge amount of chakra his Shed Skin Replacement consumed. "But at least I got rid of the Uchiha for some time. With him out of the picture, I can finish the mission."
…
Not far away from there, Gamabunta was still struggling against Kurokiba, the giant snake proving himself to be extraordinarily strong.
"Stop resisting, toad. Let death claim you, and your suffering will end," Kurokiba hissed.
"I don't know about my suffering, but yours is about to BEGIN!" the giant toad said, as his dewlap swolled. He then shot a stream of oil, not at the snake, but upwards. The oil naturally rained down, splashing both toad and snake.
"Just...what are you doing?" the giant snake asked, as he felt his grip on Gamabunta slipping.
"Oil is awfully slippery, isn't it?" Gamabunta said, as hepushed the snake away from him. "Let's see how can you deal with an enemy you can't wrap around!"
…
Meanwhile, not far away from there, the two jinchuriki were fighting against the two white haired Oto ninjas, who were proving to be formidable opponents.
"Wind Release: Breath of God!"
Hebimaru blew a massive tornado at the two jinchuriki. As Naruto and Roshi held onto the nearby trees in order to not be sucked away, Hebiko made several hand seals.
"Wood Release: Ironwood Armor!"
Several vines quickly wrapped around her, piling onto each other until they formed something akin to a chrysalis or a cocoon, which instantly disappeared in a poof of smoke, revealing the Oto kunoichi now wearing an armor made of wood, which only left her eyes visible.
"I'm going in!" Hebiko said.
The white haired woman jumped into the tornado. Vines shot from the armor, and wrapped themselves around nearby trees or rocks in the ground, acting as anchors. When she was near the two targets, several vines shot at them.
"You're mine!" she yelled.
"Fire Release: Fiery Cataclysm!"
Roshi breathed a massive stream of fire, which was quickly amplified by the giant tornado, engulfing Hebiko completely. Roshi then smirked.
"You youngesters think you're so strong, don't you?" Roshi taunted. "But youth and power means little if you keep making such mistakes! Don't you know what happens when wind clashes against fire?"
However, much to his and Naruto's surprise, Hebiko emerged from the flames. Half of her armor was burned, but it quickly rebuilt itself, almost looking as wounds rapidly closing.
"And you old men think you know everything because you lived for long," Hebiko angrily seethed, as she wounded her arm back. A large, curved blade of extremely sharp wood formed from her bracers. "All Cutting Forest Blade!"
Roshi jumped backwards just as Naruto got between the two of them, his Wind Sword activated. The sharpened wood blade clashed against the sword of wind, neither of them being able to cut each other, as they struggled to push the other back.
"Naruto, duck!" Roshi said from behind.
Naruto disengaged Hebiko and did as Roshi told. The white haired woman saw how the redheaded man lunged at her, his fist wounded back and coated in small rocks, forming a compact gauntlet of stone.
"Earth Release: Fist Rock Jutsu!"
Hebiko instinctively reared back, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid the incoming punch. While the wooden faceplate softened the blow, it carried so much power it send her flying backwards, drops of blood falling from her mouth.
"Sister!" Hebimaru cried, as he rushed to assist her.
"Now's my time to strike!" Naruto said, leaping from the tree branch while making severeal hand seals. "Wind Release: Bounce!"
When Naruto touched the ground, a burst of wind from beneath his feet catapulted him upwards, almost as if he had bounced off, heading towards Hebimaru. The white haired man, however, saw Naruto coming, and with a powerful roundhouse kick, the blond was send crashing against a tree.
"Not so though without your Sage Mode, are you?" Hebimaru said in a taunting manner.
However, much to his surprise, rather than slam against it, Naruto once again bounced against the tree's surface, flying towards the Oto ninja. Hebimaru had no time to protect himself from the incoming attack, and soon he found his face at the wrong end of Naruto's fist. Like his sister before, done by a powerful punch to his lower jaw.
Naruto landed on the grassy ground beneath him –no bouncing this time–, with Roshi soon joining him.
"Nice jutsu you got there," Roshi complimented. "I don't think I've ever seen something like that before."
"Thanks! I spent the last few weeks trying to come up with more creative wind jutsu," Naruto explained. "I had an idea for a jutsu that would allow me to fly. Wind Release: Bounce is based upon that idea."
"You certainly caught that hothead by surprise," Roshi said, pointing at Hebimaru, sprawled on the ground.
"It's not that hard. They may be strong and possess rare Bloodline Limits, but I think their own power blind them," Naruto said, shaking his head.
"Those kids are indeed powerful, but their tactics and teamwork could use a lot of improving," the red haired man commented. "The way they fight remind me of some Genin out of the Academy. Whoever trained them did an overall poor job."
"These kids are actually clones grown in a lab, whose age was accelerated by unknown means," Naruto explained the older man. "They are as powerful as my siblings, maybe even more. But they don't have not even a tenth of their experience."
"Let's finish them off," Roshi said, taking a step forward, but he was stopped by Naruto.
"Wait!" the blond said, as he grabbed Roshi by the shoulder. "Could we... avoid killing them? They're kind of important to me and my family."
Roshi looked at Naruto in the eyes, shooting him a pleading look. While sparing your enemy in the heat of the battle would be considered a foolhardy decision, he could see that Naruto's request wasn't a foolish or selfish one.
"Very well them. Let's knock them out," Roshi suggested. "Then I can use an Earth Release jutsu to immobilize them."
Naruto nodded. "Thank you."
The two of them walked towards the downed white haired twins, trying to get back on their feet as badly as they could. However, before they could get any closer, a massive snake tail slammed down, forcing the two jinchuriki to jump backwards. Orochimaru landed between them and the two Oto ninjas.
"Just when I got rid of Itachi, my children fall before you two," Orochimaru said, sounding disappointed. "Guess luck won't favor me without taking something else in return."
"You got rid of Itachi? What did you do to him?" Naruto asked, between panicked and angry. If Orochimaru had grown strong enough to defeat Itachi, then they were in serious problems.
"You should worry more about what's going to happen to you and your jinchuriki friend, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said, as his long tongue licked his lips, while his eyes glinted with a red light. A large brown snake slithered its way around Orochimaru, while at the same time acting as a barrier for the twin Oto ninjas.
"If anything, this is proving to be an interesting day. You don't get to fight a Sannin on a regular basis," Roshi commented. "My next journals are going to be quite the read."
"I'm afraid the only thing anybody will write about you in the near future will be your epitaph," Orochimaru hissed, before lunging at them "Now fall to your knees!"
…
"Fire Release: Crimson Snake Fang!"
Anko breathed a large stream of fire, which split into smaller ones as it moved forward. The smaller streams then took the shape of snakes, and wrapped themselves around its target, the last of Tayuya's Doki demons. All the snakes bit the giant greature, while detonating at the same time. When the ash and dust dispelled, the creature was sprawled on the ground, defeated, before it disappeared leaving a poof of smoke behind.
"Is that the best you have?" Anko said in a taunting manner.
"Not in the slightest, you fucking hag!" Tayuya angrily snarled. "Now prepare to-"
Tayuya was interrupted when she saw Itachi Uchiha landing behind Anko. The redhead's eyes grew wide, and color started to vanish from her face.
"Oh shit! No, just no!" Tayuya said, taking several steps backward. "Orochimaru-sama didn't say anything about fighting fucking Itachi Uchiha!"
And the redhead turned around, and leaped into the trees, disappearing behind them.
Anko turned around, and smikred at Itachi. "Hey, good job scaring her away. That's one less problem to be worried about. I take you took care of Orochimaru?"
Itachi shook his head. "Not in the slightest," his hand darted towards a spot in his neck. "He managed to slip a small snake into my body. It bit me. I can't even..."
"Say no more," Anko said, as she started to look for something in the hidden pockets inside her coat, until she pulled out a small vial. "Yeah, I know those snakes. They're called Marble Needles. Real pain in the butt. Here, take a shot of this, and after a few minutes of rest you should be good to keep fighting."
"Thank you," Itachi said, as he did what Anko instructed.
"But be careful, I don't have many more antidotes on me," the purplette warned him.
"Don't worry. Orochimaru won't trick me again," Itachi assured her. "Unfrotunately, I left both Naruto and Roshi alone against him. You should go and help them."
Anko's mouth formed a wide grin. "You don't have to tell me twice."
…
Meanwhile, not far away from there, Toneri continued their fight against Team Tenzo. As the Otsutsuki floated above them, Tenzo's hands flew through hand seals.
"Wood Release: Great Forest Jutsu!"
Brown wooden roots grew from below, lunging at Toneri. The Otsutsuki merely smirked, and made a hand motion. His two Truth Seeking Balls shot at the incoming attack, and the moment they touched the wood, it instantly rotted and turned into ash.
"Nothing. That defense is impenetrable..." Tenzo said in frustration.
"And you just realized of that now?" Toneri mocked. "And the best part, it can be also used as offense."
With another hand motion, the black orbs stretched and expanded, as they took the shape of large nail-like spears, before shooting themselves at Tenzo. Fortunately for the Wood Release user, two other black orbs appeared in front of him, merged, and took the shape of a dome. The spears bounced against the dome, quickly recovering their original form.
"Thank you, Hanabi," Tenzo earnestly said. "That was a close one."
"This man is powerful, but I noticed that his number of jutsu is pretty limited. If all he can do is using telekinetic blasts and Truth Seeking Balls, we might be able to build a tactic around that," Hagane suggested.
"Still, don't underestimayte him, Hagane. A ninja of ancient times once said 'Don't fear the man who practiced ten thousand jutsu once, but the man who practiced a single jutsu ten thousand times'," Tenzo quoted. "His number of abilities might be low, but if he's skilled, that's all what he needs."
"Not to mention that he can nullify all our ninjutsu," Hanabi added.
"Come on, those balls must have a weak point," Hagane insisted. "No jutsu is perfect! All of them have vulnerabilities!"
"Not this one, I can assure you of it," Toneri said, with a mocking smirk. "Also, do you want to see something new from me? I wasn't going to use this, given that you're just children, but if you insist..."
"Way to go, Hagane," Kaida deadpanned.
Toneri cast his hand at Tenzo and his students, and the two Truth Seeking Balls started to spin in a circle in front of it while they glowed with a golden light.
"Quickly, behind me!" Hanabi said, as she put herself between Toneri and the rest of her teammates, as she molded her own black orbs into another protective dome.
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
The two golden balls merged into a sphere of pure energy, energy which was released in the form of a golden beam of chakra, carving a path towards Team Tenzo hidden behind the shield. After a second of delay, the area the golden beam touched was engulfed in a massive linear explosion, digging a large trench in the ground. Hanabi undid the shield, and everybody looked around at the destruction caused by such a jutsu.
"Incredible... if it wasn't for Hanabi..." Kaida stuttered, still processing the power the last Otsuttsuki possessed.
"You'd be dead were you stand," Toneri finished the sentence. His eyes then drifted towards her brother. "So, what do you think, young man? Do you still think you can stand against this power?"
However, Hagane's answer was something Toneri didn't expect in the slightest.
"Come on, attack now! All at once! Before he can summon the black orbs again!" Hagane shouted.
"Well observed, Hagane!" Tenzo praised. "Kaida, you and me will cover your brother's flanks! Hanabi, cover us from above!"
"Yes sir!" the three Chunin chorused back.
Toneri was taken aback. Hagane's words made him realize that no, he no longer had Truth Seeking Balls to protect himself with, and found that he was unable to create more, at least for the time being.
"This kid... how did he...?" Toneri was unable to gather his thoughts as he saw how the members of Team Tenzo went after him, Hanabi through the air while the others jumping from one tree branch to another, while all of them started to make hand seals. Kaida and Tenzo were the first ones to attack.
"Water Release: Water Gun!"
"Earth Release: Crushing Avalanche!"
Kaida expelled a stream of water at Toneri, while several rocks were conjured out of thin air above him, falling down after coming into existence.
"I don't need Truth Seeking Balls in order to avoid these infantile attacks," Toneri said, as he raised each of his arms against the incoming elemental blasts, and repelling them with a kinetic blast. "Watever you do, I can counter!"
"Counter this then!" Hagane replied, as he furiously weaved hand seals. "Lightning Release: Lightning Flash!"
Hagane's body started to glow with a white light, as lightning sparks crackled around it. His teammates and sensei quickly covered their eyes. Unfortunately for Toneri, he found what the jutsu did too late, when his Tensiegan was overwhelemed by a searing white light, threatening to burn his retinas.
"MY EYES!"" Toneri screamed, as he instinctively covered his eyes with his hands, in a vain attempt to nurse the pain. "MY EYES! HOW DARE-"
"Hanabi, now!" Tenzo shouted.
In an instant, Hanabi appeared in front of the now blinded Otsutsuki, her palms covered in fire.
"Fire Release: Eight Trigrams, Sixty Four Burning Palms!" Hanabi started to deliver a flurry of palm strikes at Toneri. However, much to her shock, while she got some few good hits, the Otstsuki managed to stop her by grabbing her wrists.
"I've been blind most of my life," Toneri seethed, his eyes still closed. "You think a little trick like that is enough to beat me?"
Displaying a deceptive amount of force, Toneri hurled Hanabi against the ground. Tenzo quickly moved to catch her, but due the sheer force she was launched, both of them ended up slamming against a tree. As this happened, However, Hagane had leaped towards Toneri, and prepared for the kill.
"Okay, I managed to gather as much nature energy as I could for this attack. It should be enough to end him," the white haired boy thought. "Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan!"
However, just as the large chakra spehere was about to hit the seemingly unsuspecting Otsutsuki, two new Truth Seeking Balls formed out of nowhere, merged and formed a protective barrier around him.
"NO!" Hagane cried, as his jutsu hit against the improvised shield.
"Look at that, I recovered my Truth Seeking Balls just in time," Toneri said, sporting a confident smirk. "Now, let's put you in your-"
Crack!
"What... what was that?" the Otsutsuki asked, not liking the sound of that.
More cracking sounds were heard, as cracks started to form around the black barrier, much to both Toneri and Hagane's amazement.
"What? No! How could you-" Toneri said in shock and frustration, before the Rasengan exploded and overpowered the barrier, shattering it in a million pieces. Even if Toneri didn't took the brunt of the attack, the resuling shockwave was enough to submit him to the same thing he had done to Hanabi just a few seconds ago, only ten times stronger. In less than a second, Toneri was hurled into the ground with such force into the forest, it blasted several trees away, and created a large crater.
"Wow..." Kaida said in awe. "You... you nailed him!"
"I.. I think I did..." Hagane said, panting.
"HOW!?" his sister inquired. "Truth Seeking Balls are supposed to nullify ninjutsu! All of it!"
"I'm still trying to figure it out," Hagane said, as he started to think. "Could it be... the nature energy of the attack?"
"We can worry about that later," Tenzo said, as he hobbled towards them, with a limp Hanabi on his arms. "I know you must be exhausted, but I need you to heal Hanabi. She sustained some serious injuries from that last impact."
"Sure thing," Hagane nodded. Tenzo gently placed Hanabi on the ground, and the white haired kid started to heal his injuries, starting from the most grievous, to the less ones.
Meanwhile, Toneri laid on his back against the crater his body had formed upon impact. His eyes still hurt. His whole body hurt. He was having trouble understanding what was going on. How could he be beaten by mere children? Even if one of them had the same eyes he had, she shouldn't even be able to touch him.
But what puzzled him the most was how the Truth Seeking Balls had failed to protect him. How could that be possible? The Truth Seeking Balls were the ultimate elemental combination. Their Yin-Yang release should nullify any ninjutsu, no matter how big or powerful.
"My Byakugan Princess.." Toneri softly cried, an image of Hinata shooting him a pitiful look appeared before him. "How can I pretend to be worthy of you, if I allow a bunch of children to..."
Suddenly, besides Hinata, an image of Naruto appeared. The blond was looking at him with a mocking expression, almost stiffling a laugh.
That vision filled Toneri with rage. How dare that blond hick, mock him on top of stealing what was rightfully his? He would make him pay. Both him, and everybody who submitted him to such humiliation.
Something insider Toneri broke, and the body of the Otsutsuki was overflowed with power. He could feel his head throbbing in pain, but he didn't care. The aura of the Tensiegan Chakra Cloak returned, only this time it shone brighter, almost forming flames around him. His body elevated into the air, the new power coursing through his veins restoring his energy and slightly healing his wounds. Four Truth Seeking Balls appeared around him.
"So much power..." Toneri said in awe, as he looked at his own hands. "Did my emotions awake this power? I knew other stages existed, but experiencing them myself... I don't feel like I'm going to lose."
Naturally, Toneri's comeback wasn't unnoticed by Team Tenzo, who were still covering Hagane as he healed Hanabi.
"The hell? How is that guy back again?" Kaida whined. "I thought you nailed him for good!"
"I thought so as well!" Hagane said, panic seeping through his voice.
"What do we do?" Kaida asked.
Toneri aimed his hand at the group, the four black orbs orbiting around it as they started to glow with a golden light. Everybody paled. They knew what was coming, except this time they didn't have Hanabi to protect them. Without letting Hagane finish, Tenzo scooped the youngest Hyuga between his arms, and ran away.
"Everybody, flee!" Tenzo ordered. "Run in different directions, he won't be able to hit all of us at once!"
Regardless of Tenzo's tactic, Toneri had already decided on his target. The boy who had bypassed his defenses and humiliated him.
"Perish, you accursed child," Toneri hissed, as he moved his hand towards him. "Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
Toneri fired another golden beam, this one being thicker, and glowing with a brighter light. As it progressed, the beam carved a thin line towards its target, and after a second delay, it produced a line of massive explosions.
"BROTHER!" Kaida screamed, upon seeing her twin being engulfed by the chains of explosions.
"Now let's see if-ARGH!" Toneri gargled, as the pain coursing through his body increased tenfold, forcing him to land. "Dammit! My body was too injured to withstand the backlash from such a heavy jutsu. Sorry, Orochimaru, but I can't provide you anymore assistance..."
And Toneri quietly flew away from the battle.
…
While Toneri was fighting Team Tenzo, Orochimaru was facing the two jinchuriki, who were now assisted by Anko.
"Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
A multitude of snakes emerged from under Anko's sleeve, all of them lunged at Orochimaru while hissing furiously. Orochimaru merely smirked, and bransdishing the Sword of Kusanagi, beheaded all of them with a series of quick and extert swings.
"Really, Anko-chan? Do you expect to defeat me by using my own tools?" Orochimaru mocked, as he grinned at her.
"I expect to defeat you using every tool I can get my hands on," Anko replied, as she started to make hand seals. "Blondie, support me here with some wind jutsu! Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Naruto nodded, and weaved the signs of one of his most used wind jutsu.
"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
Anko expelled a stream of fire at Orochimaru, which was magnified by Naruto's wind attack, resulting in a massive tornado of flames, dnagerously advancing towards Orochimaru, bruning to ash everything they touched. Orochimaru, however, wasn't fazed. Two white snakes emerged from the cloak's neck, while Orochimaru made several hand seals.
"For a regular ninja, that combination might be impressive. But for me, not so much," Orochimaru confidently said. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough! Water Release: Tearing Torrent! Typhoon Water Vortex Jutsu!"
Orochimaru's snakes expelled two streams of water that coiled around each other, while Orochimaru blew a powerful gust of wind from his mouth, creating a massive, raginng torrent that clashed against Anko and Naruto's combination attack. The Sannin waited expectantly for his attack to overpower theirs, but such thing didn't happen. His smirk slowly disappeared as the wall of flames devoured the torrent, while continuing its advance towards him.
"What!? How can this be?" the shocked Orochimaru said, as he jumped to the ground. There was no time to ponder what was going on, and no place to hide but down. "Earth Release. Hiding like a Mole Jutsu!"
Orochimaru dug deep underground, and the firestorm safely passed him, leaving a field of scorched earth before. Of course, he wouldn't be safe for too long.
"He's underground!" Naruto said. "Let's dig him out before he can abush us!"
"Leave that to me, boy!" Roshi replied, as he started to make hand seals, before slamming his hand into the ground. "Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation!"
The earth started to shake, as multiple earth pillars shot from the ground, one of them launching the surprised Orochimaru into the air. As the Sannin pondered what could have happened, a loud, whirring sound filled the air.
"That sound...no, it can't be!" Orochimaru said in horror. But it was
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Orochimaru's Sharingan saw how Naruto, in Sage Mode, tossed his most powerful jutsu at the Sannin. Even with his modified body, there was no way he could survive the attack. There was only one thing he could do, and he didn't have much time before the attack struck. The Sanin opened his mouth wide, regurgitating a white snake, which tried to move as far from the Rasenshuriken as possible. Seconds later, the attack struck, exploding into a sphere of razord winds which teared the Sannin's body to shreds.
"He's trying to use his Shed Skin Replacement Jutsu to avoid your attack!" Anko pointed out. "Target that snake before he can generate a new body!"
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
A huge wall of stone rose between the Konoha and Iwa ninjas, and the spot where the snake landed. Hebiko landed on top of the wall, while Hebimaru landed behind Naruto, Anko and Roshi. Once Orochimaru climbed out of the snake's mouth in his new body, he joined his surrogate daughter.
"You entered Sage Mode," Orochimaru observed, after noticing Naruto's golden eyes. "How?"
"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" Naruto taunted in return, giving the Sannin a foxy grin. "You often boast how much of a genius you are, why don't you figure it out yourself?"
"I can tell that bothersome Uchiha and his genjutsu had something to do with it," a displeased Orochimaru said.
While Naruto wasn't going to confirm it, the Sannin was right. Turn out Naruto hadn't created two clones, but four. Itachi had used a genjutsu to cloak them from others, making sure to keep Orochimaru's attention on him. The clones went to hide in a safe place, and began storing nature energy. Once they had enough, one of them dispelled.
"I have to admit, it was careless of me not to count that you guys would figure out a way around my Sage Mode," Naruto said, causally placing both arms behin his head. "But you guys should have counted that I'd figure out a way around your way!"
"This changes nothing. You aren't the only one among those present that is able to use Senjutsu," Orochimaru countered.
"I already beat Hagane's clone once, and I can do it again," Naruto replied.
"Yes, but can you do it while you fight against me?" Orochimaru asked, and fast as lightning, lunged at Naruto, followed by Hebiko and Hebimaru.
"We're going to need some high ground!" Naruto said, as his hands flew through hand seals. "Earth Release: Moving Core!"
The blond slammed his hand into the ground, raising a large stone pillar, almost looking like a hill or a small mountain. As this happened, Roshi's mind came with a way to use this to his advantage. His hands quickly went through a chain of seals.
"Lava Release: Volcanic Bloom!"
Lava started to erupt from around the two jinchuriki and Konoha kunoichi, flowing down in every direction, forcing the Sannin and his twin minions to back down.
"Very well, Roshi!" Anko praised, patting him on the back, before turning around. "Meanwhile, I'm going to make sure that other fucker doesn't blindside us."
"Hebiko, we need to neutralize that lava! Attack with me!" Orochimaru ordered, as she and the white haired young woman went through the same chain of seals.
"Water Release: Water Wave!"
Both Orochimaru and Hebiko expelled a stream of water from their mouths at the incoming lava, generating a cloud of steam. They intensified both the pressure and cold temperature of the burst of water, until the lava was starting to solidify.
"Lava Release Chakra Mode!"
The curtain of steam split in two, revealing the jinchuriki of the Four Tails enveloped in an armor made of motlen lava, dashing at Orochimaru. The Sannin's Sharingan glinted with a crimson spark, and expertly dodged backwards while pulling the Blade of Kusanagi, and quickly stabbing it into the jinchuriki's shoulder.
"AGH!" Roshi cried, as Orochimaru pushed further, making the old man to fall on his back against the ground.
"You understimate me, Roshi-san," Orochimaru told his prey.
Roshi, however, grinned. "It's you who overestimate yourself!" Roshi said, before it transformed into Naruto, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The earth started to shake, and from below, Roshi, wearing his lava armor, emerged, dropping embers and chunks of molten rock everywhere. Said chunks of molten rock started to gather around Roshi's reared fist, forming a gauntlet of lava around it. Orochimaru parried it with the Kusanagi, but that was what Roshi was expecting. Grinning, the older man gripped the blade of the sword, while holding Orochimaru's arms with his other hand.
"I got him!" Roshi stated. "Naruto, this is your chance!"
"You can count on me!" Naruto said, as he created several clones. One of them helped the original to create a Rasenshuriken, while the others went to make sure Hebiko didn't interfere.
Victory was close.
"Huh?" Naruto said, his sensorial abilities picking up a massive spike of chakra. "What is this-"
The place was shaken by a chain of explosions. But most distressing, was that he had sensed Hagane's chakra massively dropping.
"Hagane!? What the-"
Naruto's distraction also extended to his clones. And unfortunately, it was all Hebiko needed. The white haired woman quickly weaved a chain of sings.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Hebiko's cheeks puffed up, expelling another stream of water, this one taking the shape of a masisve dragon. The dragon opened its jaws, swallowing the Naruto clones –which were instantly poofed– Orochimaru and Roshi. And in the latter's case, the water had the unfortunate effect of turning his lava armor into brittle rock.
Seeing his opportunity, Orochimaru grinned, showing his sharp fangs. His neck stretched in an unnatural manner, and the Sannin sunk his fangs into the jinchuriki's neck, piercing the layer of thin rock that covered him.
"What the...?" was all that Roshi said before he lost consciousness, and fell into Orochimaru's arms.
"Roshi, NO!" Naruto yelled, as he dashed to save his fellow jinchuriki.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
Or he would have, if Hebiko didn't create several wooden dragons to keep him at bay.
"Excellent! It would have been better if we could capture Naruto-kun as well, but for the time being we'll settle for just one," Orochimaru said, nodding. "Everybody, we're done here! Fall back!"
As if on cue, Kurokiba emerged from underground, and opened his jaws. Carrying Roshi above his shoulder, Orochimaru jumped inside his mouth, followed by Hebiko.
"Alright, let's leave," Orochimaru said.
"Wait a minute! Where is brother?" Hebiko asked, sounding distressed, as she scanned around the area, until she found him.
Wrapped in snakes, with Anko holding a kunai to his neck.
"Listen, Orochimaru, I know that you don't give a shit about your subordinates," Anko yelled. "But I know that this one is special to you! So how about an exchange? Let the jinchuriki go, and you can have him back."
Hebiko looked at Orochiumaru with apprehensively. "Master? What are we going to do?"
But Orochimaru didn't aknowledge Hebiko's question. "Kurokiba, get us out of here."
"WHAT!?" Hebiko asked in shock.
The giant, jet black snake snapped his jaws shut, and dug underground.
"ROSHI! ROSHI! NO!" Naruto yelled, as he futilely rushed towards the escaping snake.
And inside the snake's mouth, before darkness claimed him to never be released again, Roshi had one last thought.
"I'm sorry Naruto... I guess I won't be able to write about this day..."
Author's Note: ...yep, Roshi has been captured. I know that this is not what most readers wanted to see, and I'm sorry for that, but he had to be captured for the sake of the plot.
I know maybe I've been giving the bad guys too many victories, but it was either this, or have the jinchuriki be captured offscreen. I originally planned to do the latter as I told you in chapters past, until a certain somebody asked for Naruto authors to give jinchuriki more presence in their stories. That way, I was able to flesh them out a little more beyond being walking McGuffins, plus I could use their arcs to showcase other characters and give them character development (like how I brought Suigetsu and Miyako in the Utakata arc, or how I finally gave teams Tenzo and Anko some much needed time to shine this arc).
I don't regret doing this arcs, even if they made the story far longer than I initially thought, for the reasons above, and because I grew to like the jinchuriki a lot while I was writing them, which made me all the sadder that I couldn't save them (I especially liked Roshi). But yeah, I know that despite all of this, the reception hasn't been that good, not just because of what the reviews said, but because said number of reviews have been steadily decreasing.
And on top of that, Hagane was left in a coma. I originally planned for him to die there, but I felt it would make this arc way too dark, so he was just grevously wounded instead. Plus, I liked him and, unlike Roshi, his death wasn't needed to advance the plot, so I decided to save him. Though, on a brighter side, at least this time Naruto doesn't return home empty handed, and have captured one of the clone twins. I don't think I need to tell you this capture will become important later on.
But hey, you can breathe in relief knowing that it's finally over. From now onwards, the chances of the good guys scoring some victories are all the greater (doesn't mean that they will win all the time, mind you).
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareding this chapter.
In two weeks, we begin the Root Arc! It's another original arc I've been planning since the beginning of this story, and I'm very excited that the story finally reached that part! In the meantime, don't forget to review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!