A soft chime from the comm interface alerted them to an incoming call, and realising they needed to get up now anyway, the crew got out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom for a shower, sweaty from the frenzied lovemaking of the last couple hours. Naruto sat up in bed, and accepted the incoming call, and was surprised to see that Karin wasn't wearing a helmet and seemed to be contacting him from a different location aboard her ship.
"We're nearly th-" she said curtly, before stopping abruptly, her eyes widening when she saw his muscular torso.
Naruto smiled at her brazenly and said, "Apologies for my state of undress, you caught me having a lie-in. We're just getting up now, but we'll be ready in good time for when we arrive at the Beta Capricornus system."
Karin nodded and re-established her haughty persona. "My Cruiser will stay in orbit, but I'll head to the surface in a dropship. Follow me down to the landing zone, and I'll lead you into the Zetsu nest," she said imperiously.
"Just how dangerous are these 'Zetsu'?" Naruto asked her, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Her answering smile was cunning as she replied, "Nothing you won't be able to handle, I'm sure. I'll be accompanying you in any case, and you can rest assured that I wouldn't expose myself to unnecessary danger."
Naruto conceded that was a good point. He fixed her with a steely gaze and said in a voice as quiet as the grave, "It goes without saying that if this is some kind of trap intended to hurt me or my crew, there will be unpleasant consequences."
She smiled at him wickedly and asked, "Is that a threat, Naruto?"
He smiled back at her grimly, and replied, "No, it's a promise. You know exactly what I am, and what I can do."
Karin's bravado was shaken at that, and she shivered involuntarily and averted her gaze. "Be ready in an hour," she said, and abruptly closed the comm channel.
He sat back and let out a sigh, as the holographic image of the blue-skinned Oto woman blinked out in an instant. He glanced to his left, and saw eight beautiful faces watching him curiously from the bathroom, where the crew had been listening in on the conversation between him and Karin.
"What is it about her that gets you going? It can't just be because she's hot," Hinata asked, strolling over to lay on the bed beside him.
Naruto shrugged. "Maybe it's the fact she's a member of an Uzu slave race and she's talking back to me. I can't take her seriously. I just want to bend her over and give her a good spanking to put her in her place."
Sasuke stuck his head out from where he'd gone into the closet. "That's a dangerous attitude to have, even with how much more dangerous we are than she is."
"I know. I'll work on it," Naruto promised his Matriarch and Patriarch and his crew in general.
The crew all separated to their respective rooms to put on sensible clothing to wear under armor or into combat. Then the nine of them went up to the Command Deck, the six who were going into the Zetsu nest getting suited up.
Naruto went to the weapon racks and stared at the firearm that had replaced the Laser Railgun. It had the same glittering white color as Invictium, and yet was somehow… purer, like comparing a cubic zirconium to a diamond. It was sleek and angular, and was the size of his outstretched arm with an extra-long barrel. There was an ammo slot in bullpup design, and when Naruto took a clip, he saw the same white of Unobtanium in the bullets.
"Why do the bullets have to be Unobtanium?" Naruto asked.
"Because only Unobtanium can handle the strain of being lifted to an exotic state of matter without exploding like a miniature nuke. I already had Gaara order a second shipment of Uzu elements to be sent to Geniya for when we head back towards Konoha space. We each only get about 300 rounds apiece so try not to miss," Tenten said, loading a clip into her own Quantum Rifle.
Naruto heaved his weapon off the rack and found himself almost over balancing, the Quantum Rifle proving light as a feather.
"Did I forget to mention there's an anti-grav generator built into the stock next to the Power Core? No need to flex, Mr Muscles," Tenten teased.
Naruto glared playfully at his Chief Engineer and loaded up five extra clips of Unobtainium bullets, and he noted that there was still a knob like there'd been on the Laser Railguns. "What're the settings?" Naruto asked.
"There's three. The first is standard half-power, which with a miniature Uzu Power Core is still halfway between Railgun Light and Railgun Heavy on the old Laser Railguns. The second is about 40% stronger than Tankbuster was, and will take down everything but a Mizu shield in one shot. Setting three is Anti-Spacecraft and is about as strong as your average K-Fed Laser Cannon. That will obliterate anything it touches, so save it for if the Zetsu have the equivalent of a Broodmother, okay?" Tenten said with real anticipation of firing off these bad boys.
Hinata lifted her own Quantum Rifle while Naruto got his Invictium sword and swung into its magnetic scabbard. "We look just like the women from the cave paintings, now," Hinata said, posing with Tenten and Sakura."
"But in white, which while still as much a color of death as black in some cultures, is much easier on the eyes," Gaara argued, looking down at his Quantum Rifle as if he were holding a piece of history in his hands.
Sasuke admired his Beta Armor, even doing a cartwheel to feel how the Armor moved with him like a second skin. "I'd hardly believe this stuff is shielded and immune to laser fire if I didn't trust you completely, Tenten."
"Well, believe it, hunk. Now, are we all ready?" Tenten asked, looking the six of them over.
They filed into the Bridge, sitting down at their stations, Naruto having to remove his sword and lay it beside him on the ground so he didn't pierce his Command Chair. They passed the next 45 minutes in tense conversation, the anticipation starting to get to them. They then finally arrived at the Beta Capricornus system, the Oto Cruiser taking them on a path for the planet on the fourth orbital path from the star. Soon they were in geostationary orbit over where Naruto presumed was the Zetsu nest.
Naruto looked up at the holographic view of the small planet that hovered above them in the Bridge. The tag next to the lush, verdant world read "Quanthos", and the single continent was covered in a swathe of sprawling forests. The one major exception was a ridge of mountains directly below them, where they currently orbited the planet.
"Okay, Hana, you stay on guard in case House Guren plans to ambush us. Fu, you okay with your role as just a pilot?"
"Part of me wishes I was going in there with you, but I understand the need to be on-hand. Shikamaru has a five-second delay piloting the Raptor, and depending how long it takes to exit the blast radius, five seconds could be life or death. I'll be following along the Pack mind and I'll be ready the instant you're all aboard," the Nymph promised.
"Okay. Let's all go down to the Raptor. Hana, Shikamaru, I'm trusting you with our home. Make me proud," Naruto ordered with a smile.
"Yes, Naruto," they answered promptly.
They all took the anti-grav tube down to the Docking Bay, where the Raptor was waiting for them already warmed up and the outer doors had already opened.
"Thanks, Shikamaru!" Naruto called out for the cameras to pick up.
"No problem," the AI said into his helmet.
They sat in the chairs at the back of the Cockpit, and watched quietly as Fu quickly and efficiently went through the last of her safety checks. Nodding with satisfaction, she took hold of the flightstick and then smoothly lifted them off the deck and then out of the yawning portal in the side of the Invictus. As she pivoted the Raptor, they saw the bright golden flash of the Oto dropship, which was waiting patiently for them.
A chime on the Pilot's console alerted them that they were being hailed, and when Fu accepted the call, the viewscreen in the cockpit flickered to life. Karin's golden armored helmet filled the image and she said curtly, "Follow me down to the surface. The entrance to the Zetsu nest is not easy to find."
She cut off the call before any of them had a chance to respond, and the golden Oto ship rotated gracefully before it began to descend to the planet below. Karin's ship was about half the size of their own, and it looked sleek, nimble and very agile, which proved to be the case, considering the effortless ease of its maneuvers. Judging by the numerous weapon barrels jutting from the wings and hull, it seemed to be some kind of Heavy Fighter, but without an active scan, it was difficult to know more.
The flight down to the surface only took a couple of minutes, and Karin's ship flew over the rocky mesa of the mountain range, before dipping down towards the edge of a rocky outcropping. At this altitude, they could see that the rocky shelf overhung a broad cavern entrance that disappeared into murky gloom. There was a small flat meadow area outside the entrance, before the edge of the mountainous area met the solid wall of green forests beyond. The Oto ship swooped in and touched down lightly, its landing cushioned by the skilful use of retro-thrusters.
Fu brought them down beside the smaller ship, and when they landed, Naruto and the crew rose to their feet.
"We'll be in touch as soon as we're ready to leave," Naruto said to the Nymph, who stood and watched them anxiously. "Take off as soon as we're clear."
They left the cockpit as Fu returned to her seat, dropping down in the anti-grav tube, and striding through to the front loading area. Tenten hit the button to lower the ramp, and they walked out onto the surface of Quanthos a few moments later. Hinata let Fu know they were all out, and she raised the ramp while idling the engines, not bothering to power down when expecting a quick getaway or potential ambush.
The back of the Oto ship had rotated upwards and Karin stood nearby pressing buttons on some kind of device that was built into the vambrace of her armor. A six-foot-long hovering platform floated silently out of the back of the ship, with a large and complicated looking device securely attached to the top. It consisted of four cylindrical objects, each around two feet tall, with a larger column in the center.
Tenten walked over to join the Oto woman as she carefully maneuvered the hover-sled out of the back of the ship. "Wow! Where'd you get your hands on Bakuton? I thought that only grew in the Iwa Republic," she asked eagerly.
Karin's head snapped up. "How did you know the components?" she demanded.
"Psychic powers, duh," Tenten said while wiggling her fingers.
Karin seemed to gulp before ignoring Tenten. Karin walked over to join Naruto and the others, with the hover-sled floating obediently behind her. As she cleared the Oto ship, it lifted straight up, the landing struts folding smoothly back into the gleaming golden hull. It raced away, and they watched it for a moment as it soared up into the heavens.
"We may proceed inside," Karin said, un-shouldering a laser rifle that looked identical to the ones used by the Oto guards back on Geniya Space Station.
*Alright, let's move in,* Naruto said to the Pack. *Hinata and I take point, Tenten and Sakura can cover our flanks, Gaara and Sasuke cover the rear.*
They began to walk cautiously into the darkened cavern entrance, and to Naruto's surprise, it started to get a little brighter the further they went inside, when he had been expecting the exact opposite. There seemed to be some kind of luminescent fungus lining the base of the walls where they met the floor, which started to appear with more frequency the deeper they went. There was a slight incline to the broad tunnel, and once they had walked for a couple of hundred meters, the gradient of the slope began to increase.
"What do Zetsu look like?" Naruto asked their guide.
"You'll see soon enough. Like living toadstools, if you must know," she said irritably.
They continued onwards, and according to the atmospheric readings displayed in the helmet GUI, the moisture level in the air was increasing. A layer of mist covered the ground, growing thicker as they descended, and the unseen floor began to squelch with every footfall. Eventually the mist was up to calf height, which was high enough to obscure the luminous mushrooms, giving the mist an eerie glow.
*You take me to the most delightful places,* Hinata said to him with amusement.
Naruto smiled in his helmet, but kept a sharp eye ahead in case any threatening targets should appear. The tunnel began to curve gently to the left, and then passages began to appear on both sides, leading off into impenetrable darkness.
"Keep following the main tunnel," Karin said, pre-empting his next question.
They followed the broad passageway down, the tunnel at least thirty meters wide and the ceiling a good twenty meters above them. Naruto began to hear damp, squelching sounds coming from further ahead, and he warned the crew of potential danger. They instantly began to move more warily, as they scanned their rear and flanks, looking for threats.
The tunnel levelled out and then opened up into a huge, high-ceilinged cavern. They were high up on a ledge that arced around both sides, before gently sloping down to the base of the cavern, and below them they could see huge fungi growing up from the cavern floor. The colossal fungi were at least thirty meters high, and provided a moist orange canopy that obscured the floor of the cavern from sight. The sounds of creatures moving below them intensified, and their group paused, and peered over the ledge trying to find out what was making all the noise.
Suddenly there was a loud thump, of something big colliding with some other equally solid object. Naruto spotted movement on the fungi below, and one of them in the middle seemed to be trembling. There was another heavy thump, and the huge orange capped fungus shook violently from the impact. With a third bass rumble, the mighty fungus toppled over before crashing to the ground with a surprisingly quiet impact. The enormous mushroom bounced with a wet thump a couple of times, before coming to a rest. Naruto jogged quickly up the ledge ahead of them to get a look at whatever had knocked down the fungus, but by the time he had drawn level with the gap, whatever it was had disappeared under the impenetrable canopy of fungus caps.
The rest of the crew and Karin walked briskly to catch up with him, the grav-sled following faithfully in their wake. Now that they had reached the break in the mushroom canopy, they could see bizarre, eight-feet-tall Fungoid creatures moving around below them. There were dozens down there, moving surprisingly rapidly on three stumpy legs. They had a spongy looking torso, which contained four beady eyes, a gaping fanged mouth, and two long arms that ended in sharp looking hooks. Their bodies were a pale white, but their heads were topped in bright red mushroom caps, covered in sickly yellow spots.
"Those are the Zetsu," Karin informed them. "Hideous, aren't they?" she added with disgust.
*Those hooks look nasty. We don't want them getting too close,* Naruto thought to Hinata, and she nodded when he glanced her way.
Ripping and tearing sounds began to drift up to them, drawing their attention back to the floor of the cavern. The Zetsu were hacking the felled Fungus to pieces, carving it into smaller chunks with hefty blows from their robust arms. The sickle shaped claws seemed to be having no problems chopping up the sturdy trunk of the fungus, and they moved up the stalk, slicing it to ribbons. Some smaller, squat-looking four armed Fungoid creatures came stomping along to join them, and they stooped over to gather up the fungus chunks that were strewn over the floor.
"What the heck are they doing?" Tenten asked curiously.
Sakura leaned over, straining to get a better look, and sounded fascinated as she said, "Maybe the big fungus is some kind of food? They look like they could be harvesting them. Those bigger Zetsu are probably some kind of warrior caste, and the smaller ones might be a worker drone perhaps?"
Karin had crossed her arms, and began to tap her fingers against her golden armor impatiently. "We've wasted enough time in this dreadful place, let's get a move on," she said in annoyance.
"Which way from here?" Naruto asked her curtly, growing tired of her surly tone.
She pointed ahead of them to the ramp that dropped down below the fungus caps, and said, "We need to go down there to the cavern, work our way along for another hundred meters or so, and take another tunnel down to a bigger cavern below."
Naruto walked over to the ramp and began to cautiously descend, with Hinata striding briskly to catch up with him. Karin came along next with the grav-sled, leaving the other four to bring up the rear. Their group made steady progress downwards, drawing level with the giant orange mushroom caps, and then eventually moving below, so that they could finally clearly see the ground level of the cavern.
The fifteen Zetsu warriors had hacked apart the stalk of the enormous mushroom, and were now merrily carving their way through the huge, umbrella-like cap. They seemed to be completely engrossed in their task, and had either not noticed Naruto, Karin and the crew, or couldn't care less about their presence in the cavern. The smaller squat Fungoids that Sakura had guessed might be Zetsu drones, scurried along with their odd, rolling gait. The stumpy creatures ignored the humanoids, and made a detour around them as they carried armfuls of mushroom chunks deeper into the cavern.
Naruto led them cautiously across the cavern, sticking to the right hand wall, and the strange illumination from the glowing fungus. His acute hearing could detect the tinkling sound of running water from up ahead on his right, and he waved the others to a halt as he warily approached a broad tunnel on the side of the cavern, just as Karin had described. After stepping inside and nearly slipping on the glistening floor, he listened intently for any worrying sounds. Not hearing anything alarming, he backed out, and then beckoned the rest of the group forward.
"The floor is wet, probably some kind of runoff for all the moisture in here. Watch your footing when we walk down there, it's very slippery," he said, warning them to caution.
Hinata moved to his side, and they began to walk further down the tunnel, the occasional scuffing sounds and muffled curses announcing when someone had nearly slipped on the slick tunnel floor. It took nearly five painful minutes of carefully placed steps to safely reach the cavern below, and they all heaved sighs of relief when they arrived on firmer footing. As they took in their surroundings, there were gasps of surprise when they looked around at the astonishing sight in front of them.
This cavern area was huge, with long stone ridges rising up, and crisscrossing the vast underground cave. It was even damper in here, and water dripped from the ceiling in long rivulets, before pooling on the ground and running over the edge into trickling waterfalls down bottomless sinkholes. The entire area was shrouded in mist, with dense fog at knee height across the floor. Above them, long silvery veins of some kind of metal ran the entire length of the cavern ceiling, while long stalactites reached down like the multi-fanged maw of some terrifying predator. Dozens of the stalactites had grown so long, they had joined with stalagmites from the ground, forming broad, mighty pillars that gave the illusion that they were struggling to hold up the colossal weight of the rock above them.
There were a lot of Zetsu in this area; they seemed to be mostly drones, but the taller and more menacing warriors could also be seen wandering around in groups. They were walking with a shambling but rapid shuffle of their three stumpy legs, as they hurried onward with whatever tasks Fungoids deemed important.
"We need to get over those rock bridges to the far side of the cavern," Karin informed them in a hushed voice. "We have to set up the device over there."
Naruto nodded, then led them carefully into the room, being extremely wary about placing a foot in the wrong place, and potentially tumbling down one of the holes in the floor. The Zetsu seemed to be ignoring the rocky bridges, so he led them over to one of the wider ones, measuring three meters across in most places. The footing seemed reasonable, so he cautiously proceeded up the ten meter long slope until it levelled off. He studied the hundred meter long ridgeline, and it seemed to be consistently wide and flat enough across the entire length, for them to safely proceed.
"This looks good, come on up," he called down to them, and Hinata followed after him immediately, with Karin and the crew moving close behind.
Naruto waited for them to reach the top, and they began to walk steadily along the rocky bridge, darting cautious glances to the left and right at the strange alien inhabitants of this underground ecosystem. The Zetsu seemed to be ignoring them completely, paying them no attention whatsoever.
"It seems odd the Zetsu attacked the Oto colonists," Sasuke mused out loud. "They seem to be completely ignoring us."
Karin snorted dismissively and said, "Don't be fooled by their seeming aloofness. They are dangerous and unstable creatures, prone to random acts of violence."
Sasuke nodded in reply, and then walked silently, making good time as they crossed the bridge. Until that is, they were nearly three-quarters of the way across and Naruto cursed in alarm.
"Shit! There's a group of Zetsu drones coming across the bridge the other way!" he exclaimed to the rest of them.
"Shall we go back, and wait for them to pass?" Gaara asked him hurriedly.
He shook his head and replied, "They're moving faster than us. They'd catch up before we made it all the way back. We'll have to stick to the side, breathe in, and hope they just walk past us like the others did."
Karin repositioned the grav-sled to the side of the ramp, leaving a two meter path for the dozen drones to pass. Naruto and the crew held their rifles warily, ready for action at a moment's notice, and they waited for the Zetsu to walk past them. The squat fungoids moved into single file, and made a detour around them stomping past with their peculiar rolling gait. There were actually sixteen of them in the group, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as the last one walked past him. All seemed to be going perfectly, until the last one stopped when it reached the grav-sled, and turned to look at it curiously with its four beady eyes. It stared at the incendiary device with interest and reached out to the central core with its four multi-suckered hands.
"Bzap!" Karin's laser rifle sounded shockingly loud in the tranquil calm of the underground cavern, and a single bright blue laser bolt burned a fist sized hole straight through the Zetsu drone's face.
Astonishingly it was still alive, and it's arms flailed around wildly, as it let out a long keening wail. Karin stepped forward and kicked the stricken creature, sending it sailing over the edge of the bridge and into the mists below. Its death scream echoed around the cavern as it plunged to its doom, until it was abruptly and fatally silenced.
Karin chortled in amusement, as Naruto and the crew turned to look at her in shock. "What?" she asked them, when she realised they were all staring at her. "I couldn't risk it damaging the incendiary device."
Screeching cries could now be heard coming from all over the cavern, and Naruto spun to look back along the bridge. "Well the Zetsu aren't ignoring us any more. We've got incoming warriors at this end," he warned them.
"There's a shitload coming this way too!" Tenten cried out in alarm.
Naruto and Hinata crouched down at one end, sighting down the bridge as the Fungoid warriors surged up the rocky ramp, sickle shaped claws waving frenziedly.
*Their brains are an enlarged nerve ganglion, probably because of the hive-mind. Aim above and to the left of their top-right eye,* Sakura informed the Pack, using X-Ray Vision.
"Light 'em up!" Naruto ordered before taking aim and firing his Quantum Rifle for the first time.
There was a quiet little hum, a slight jump of the barrel, and then there was a bolt of purple light and holes the size of his fist appeared in the warrior Zetsu's head he'd been aiming at… and the two behind it. They one and all fell down dead and lifeless, their nerve ganglion destroyed. Naruto gaped at the power of the lowest setting, but the oncoming surge made it so he couldn't stop to congratulate Tenten on her phenomenal work. He and Hinata kept shooting, taking down the warriors and drones that surged towards them from their end of the bridge.
"Watch to your right!" Karin cried out, and Naruto glanced that way, then ducked, just in time to avoid a large rock thrown at his head.
A group of Zetsu drones were hurling heavy rocks at them from the bridge to their right hand side, and they were obviously a lot stronger than they looked, because the rocks were sailing their way with deadly speed and accuracy. Naruto opened up on one of the drones, slamming a round into its face and knocking it backwards. He then fired another single round into one of its legs, which exploded in a burst of thick fibrous white tissue, and sent it sailing over the edge of the rocky bridge. He used the same technique on the second one, and was about to move on to the third, when Karin opened up with her laser rifle.
The stream of blue laser fire lit the cavern up brightly, and the bolts of laser energy seared straight through her unfortunate target. She was firing on automatic, and literally cut three of the angry Zetsu drones in half. The disturbingly resilient creatures were still alive, thrashing angrily on the ground, but without any way of putting momentum in their throws, they had been effectively neutralized.
Naruto and the crew finished off the last of this group of warriors, the rear flank having no problem with four Quantum Rifles beating the oncoming waves. There were more though, surging around the outskirts of the cavern, maneuvering towards them.
"Let's move on," Naruto said to the Pack and Karin. "We've stopped them for now."
Picking their way over Zetsu corpses, they cautiously descended down the ramp on the other side of the bridge, and began to make their way across the vast cavern floor. Weaving a way across proved to be a painstaking process, as the floor was slippery and treacherous, and they had to be ever-vigilant in case of sinkholes. Fortunately they weren't attacked again, although they could hear the sound of ever increasing numbers of Zetsu moving around in the distance.
After five minutes of careful progress, they could see the far wall ahead of them. Many stalactites and stalagmites had merged here, forming a gallery that led through to another vast chamber. They walked through the gallery, and out onto a ledge that overlooked the next room, and looked on in awe at the sight below them.
The cave they were overlooking was colossal, and much more brightly lit. The illumination was coming from glowing fungus, which was sprouting in abundance over a huge white hill that dominated the floor of the next cavern, perhaps fifty metres below them. Silvery streaks lined the ceiling, glinting in the bright glow from all the luminescent fungus. The ledge wrapped right around the room, providing a wide natural balcony that overlooked the fungus covered hill, and dozens of unlit tunnels led into this room at regular points.
"This is the place," Karin said with grim satisfaction, and she turned to the incendiary device on the grav-sled and began to check it over.
The wet, squelching noises coming from the darkened, mist shrouded cavern behind them were getting louder, and the crew began to glance at each other in alarm.
"Get ready," Naruto warned them. "We're going to be attacked very soon."
Hinata, Sasuke, Tenten, Gaara, and Sakura, moved back to the main cavern, kneeling in firing positions behind the grav-sled, looking out warily into the gloom. Naruto walked over to Karin and stood by her side, but she was so engrossed in her work, she didn't seem to be aware of him. He was about to reach out, and place his hand gently on her shoulder, but thought better of it.
"Karin," he said firmly, jolting her from her absorption. "I need you to light up the area behind us. I think the Zetsu are readying a charge."
She paused for a moment, then nodded as she unslung her laser rifle from her shoulder, and stood between Sasuke and Hinata.
"On three," she warned them, and began counting down. When she reached one, she fired a quick burst, spraying the shots in a wide arc.
"Oh fuck!" Tenten said in alarm, as hundreds of Zetsu warriors were suddenly brightly illuminated by the staccato flash of laser fire.
A cacophonous shriek sounded out through the cavern, and the assembled mass of Fungoid soldiers surged forward, their sharply barbed claws raised, and ready to strike. The Pack began to open fire with the quiet purr of their Quantum Rifles, sending high energy rounds slamming into the enraged Zetsu.
By concentrating their one round shots to hit the creatures in the right part of the head, their firepower was proving lethal once more. Scores of the creatures went down, as the sensitive nerve ganglia were blasted to bits. Karin's laser rifle was proving even more devastating, as she was able to send searing laser bolts straight through the creatures, making every hit to the right side of their head fatal.
Naruto snapped off a round at any that were getting too close, while keeping a wary eye on the overall tactical situation. Despite how quickly the crew were gunning the Zetsu down, more and more were surging out behind them.
"Up the setting!" Naruto commanded of his crew, drawing a confused look from Karin. The Pack members faithfully turned the knobs on the sides of their Quantum Rifles and began shooting again. The purple bolts of energy-matter began to shoot holes that the crew could crawl through into the Zetsu, and continued until they hit the back wall of the cavern 200 meters away, hitting every Zetsu in their path along the way.
Karin said something in Oto which Kakashi helpfully informed Naruto translated roughly as "Fuck me running!"
Suddenly a rhythmic thumping sounded from behind them, along with the sound of a multitude of squelching footfalls. He spun, staring out across the huge room as a huge horde of Zetsu began to pour out of the tunnels that fed out onto the broad ledge around the chamber. He felt a rising surge of panic, but fought it down immediately as he ran through the pillars into the other chamber.
Flipping open the pouch carrying the explosive grenades that Tenten had made for them in her spare time (naturally stronger and lighter than K-Fed equivalents), he shouldered his rifle, and grabbed a grenade in each hand. Pressing down the activation button, he lobbed one grenade to his left and one to the right, sending them bouncing and rolling around the curved walls of the cavern thirty meters in either direction.
There were a couple of thunderous explosions, as the grenades reached the front wave of the mass of charging Zetsu. The first several creatures on both sides were blown to bits, sending white fibrous chunks in all directions, and large pieces of the ledge broke off, tumbling down into the cavern below. He quickly readied two more grenades, sending them flying in each direction, and aiming for the exact same spot, even though the lead elements of the Zetsu were already there.
He heard explosions behind him, as the girls used their own grenades, but he didn't have time to react as several Zetsu were on top of him. He let go of his rifle, and grabbed his sword, swinging it down in a broad arc, and neatly cutting through the reaching clawed arms of the first warrior. It tried to charge straight into him, so he was forced to sidestep, cutting away one of its legs as he did so, and sending it tumbling to the floor.
There were two more huge explosions from his own grenades, but he was far too busy frantically dodging razor sharp claws to be able to check on the results of the detonations. He just had to pray that the grenades were successful, or they were all doomed. Despite his skilful dodging, one of the Zetsu managed to lash him with its clawed arms, cutting a mild scratch in his dodeca-shaped Invictium armor, and knocking him sideways. It took him a moment to recover his balance, during which time the second warrior slashed its powerful claws across his leg, gouging another scratch in the armor.
Cursing that Shields only applied to high-velocity projectiles, Naruto planted his feet to avoid being knocked over, and performed a quick darting slash, that cleanly cut one of the clawed arms in half. The other two warriors were moving to surround him, so he darted forward, chopping down and cutting away the front leg of the Zetsu in front of him, making it topple forward. As it fell to the ground at his side, a plunging stab to the back of the head speared the nerve cluster and it collapsed lifelessly.
The remaining two charged forward at him relentlessly, trying to knock him off the ledge, which would mean a long and deadly drop to the floor below. He dived to the side, leaping with all his strength, and they both rushed past him, flinging themselves to their doom. One of them lashed out with both arms however, aiming them into his leg, but the armor proved impervious and it slid past him into the darkness.
He leapt to his feet in alarm, readying his sword in case there were more Zetsu charging at him, and glanced either way around the ledge. He sighed with relief when he saw the ledges, and the five meter gaps that had been blown out on either side. His grenades had done their work, and the teeming horde of Zetsu warriors could only flail their arms at him in anger, rendered impotent by the broad chasm he had blasted on the only routes to him.
Naruto returned to his crew to see that they had cut down about three-quarters of the charging horde with the second setting and the help of Karin's laser rifle. Naruto was about to join them when the ever-present thumping sound got louder, but now he could feel the trembling vibration through his feet. He whirled to look behind him, just as a huge Zetsu monstrosity burst out of the biggest passage leading from the chamber. It stood nearly fifty-feet tall, looking much the same as a Zetsu warrior, but much, much larger. It's long arms were thicker than tree trunks, and ended in several wickedly sharp claws. It let out a thunderous, spine chilling roar, and then began to stomp around the ledge, as the rest of the Zetsu scrambled to get out of its way.
Naruto didn't even think. He just whipped out his Quantum Rifle, cranked it to the highest setting, and aimed for where the nerve ganglion was on a warrior. With a shot that almost knocked him off his feet if he hadn't braced himself, a ten-meter wide hole was blown in the monstrosity's face and out the back of it's head. The colossal fungoid collapsed to its back, dead as disco. The Zetsu warriors took one look at Naruto and began to flee back into their tunnels.
He turned to see Karin staring at him. Even without X-Ray Vision, something in the set of her shoulders and body language made it clear she was looking at him with horror. "You killed the sentinel with one shot," she said disbelievingly, despite having witnessed it herself.
Naruto shouldered his Quantum Rifle after turning it back to the lowest setting. "Yes. Like I told you, we have superior technology. Are you finally starting to believe it?"
Karin seemed to waver before collapsing on her back. Naruto rolled his eyes and went to her side, sending a wave of Psychic Healing at her prone body. She twitched and sat up explosively. "What… what just happened?" she demanded.
"You fainted. I woke you with my healing powers," Naruto told her, not mentioning it hadn't been enough to cure her brain tumor, which they didn't know if she was even aware of.
He offered his hand to help her up, and she hesitantly took it. "How long until the bomb is ready?" he asked, turning to his crew. They were just dusting themselves off, the Zetsu charging from the cavern following those from the chamber's example.
*After you knocked out their biggest guy, the hive-mind must have decided to switch from fight to flight,* Hinata informed him. *Remind me to kiss Tenten for making these rifles. They're badass!*
*I'll kiss you back, gorgeous,* Tenten winked from within her helmet.
"Just need to set it. Then we have ten minutes to get out of here," Karin said, recovering her composure by a thread.
Naruto grabbed the device with one hand and gently lifted it from the grav-sled and set it down on the ground balanced up. "There. Just hit the button and we'll be on our way."
Karin stared at him again. "That was five hundred pounds. I was going to leave it on the grav-sled," she said faintly.
Naruto shrugged. "I'm stronger than I look. And again, psychic powers. More than just the Telekinesis your mom terrifies you with. And speaking of, get on one of our backs. We're running out of here, I'm not chancing that thing blowing early."
Karin seemed to just give up and hit a button on the incendiary device. She took the offered piggyback from Sasuke, and then they all used Psychic Speed to retrace their path back out of the Zetsu caves. In less than a minute, they were back outside, the Raptor waiting faithfully.
Sasuke let Karin down, who seemed a little wobbly. "I'll… I'll hail you when I'm back on my ship," she said distractedly as she summoned her dropship with the computer in her vambrace. The Oto ship touched down and she entered, even as the crew got into the Raptor. They flew back to their respective ships, Fu eagerly listening to the tales of what had gone on while she was stuck topside. The crew all took the anti-grav tube to the Command Deck and took their stations after unequipping their Armors.
"The fireworks are about to start," Hana said, having thoughtfully kept a countdown from the moment Karin had pushed the button.
A few seconds later the whole mountain range seemed to tremble, as the incendiary bomb detonated, igniting the magnesium veins that interlaced the once dormant volcano. They watched fascinated as the top of the mountain exploded, blasting out molten hot magma in a thunderous explosion.
"We're being hailed," Gaara alerted.
Karin's armored face appeared on the viewscreen above them. "Congratulations, Uzumaki Naruto, you brought an end to the Zetsu. House Guren and my mother especially will not forget this favor," Karin said formally, as if reading from a script. "Kindly follow us to the Nav Beacon and sync hyperwarp signatures with us again. If your Navigator's path is correct, we will arrive at Epsilon Aquarii in two days' time." With that, she cut the transmission.
"You really freaked her out," Kakashi noted.
"I want her to realize that we're more capable than she is. Then she might do the smart thing and join us rather than stand against us," Naruto explained. "Now, who's up for lunch?"
They waited until Fu had guided them to the Nav Beacon and Hinata had launched them into hyperwarp. Then, feeling whimsical, Naruto made mushroom ravioli with sausage for the crew. The crew all enjoyed their meal, debriefing over the food.
"An utterly successful operation, I say," Naruto said, raising his glass. The others joined him in a toast, and then they separated to work on their own things for the rest of the day.
That night wasn't so much a sex party as a group lovemaking. Unlike the frenzied orgies that normally ensued when they all got together, this night was about making love, and soft sighs of pleasure soon filled the room. They swapped partners after a little while, greeting each new companion with a welcoming smile, before embracing each other tenderly. They lost track of time as they submerged themselves in blissful sensations, and just relished being with the people they loved and trusted unreservedly. It ended with Kakashi being blown up to near bursting with a double dose of Naruto's cum. They all took turns switching from the shower to the bath, and then they collapsed into bed. Shikamaru helpfully turned off the lights, and they fell into sweet slumber.