Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto Franchise that belongs solely to Masashi Kishimoto; I do not own Heaven's lost Property, High School DxD or any other Anime I borrow themes from. The only thing I claim is my OC's and original Story Plot.
Author's Note (A/N): Hey guys I'm back once more with the next chapter and what a chapter it is. A lot is dumped in this chapter as we get the infamous ninja clash in the land of snow battle from the movie with a lot of additional content added in for the typical dramatic effect. A tense atmosphere hangs over the team following the cliffhanger from last chapter and what effects will it show in this chapter and more importantly for the future events of the arc and rest of the story? The team is about to come face to face with the mercenary ninja squad from the Hidden Snow Village and the major question to consider is how will they fair against their opposition? Let's read and find out!
Sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Chapter 86
Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
"Look alive people this is it. This is prime filming land just waiting for us to claim it. Helmsman dock us on this iceberg!" The director yelled out to his crew as the inhabitants of the Dawn Theatre came across a massive glacial iceberg out in the middle of the ocean that was less than 40 miles away from the mainland of the Land of Snow. They've come across dozens of them in the last two weeks once they breached the perimeter of the Land of Snow with the ocean being filled to the brim with frigid cold waters and large glacial landmasses.
This one however was special as it managed to capture the eye of the director who saw a premiere location for action scenes of the movie. This on the fly decision resulted with the Dawn Theatre docking along what could be constituted as the shores of the massive glacial iceberg. The large ramp on the back of the ship unfolded itself allowing the heavy transport vehicles and crates to be unloaded without incident while the crew themselves began the fast but tedious task of setting up their equipment and mobile camp tents to house their headquarters. It was time to shoot some scenes and the star of their show needed to make her big appearance.
"Sakura the director has informed us that we will be spending the next two days here before moving on to the Land of Snow. I'll go scout ahead and meet with the director, go find and inform Naruto and Sasuke about this." Kakashi ordered as he had his ever-favorite book series in hand with a thick orange scarf tied around his neck. A thick cream-colored cloak was draped over his entire body with a detachable hood hanging behind his head. His normal uniform was on underneath this, but he had made sure to switch to a thicker material of the same design. These were the standard issue climate-controlled shinobi uniform that most ninja wear.
A look of uncertainty was placed on Sakura's face at hearing this order as Kakashi took immediate notice of this hesitation. "How are they? It's been three days since the incident." The experienced Jōnin asked as he gave his third student his full attention. The catastrophe that was the training spar between Naruto and Sasuke ended in disaster. After the last Uchiha managed to knock his partner unconscious with his last attack everything went straight to hell as there was nothing holding Eva back from transforming and coming under the influence of the Aqua Stone in her stomach.
The little fairy caused a deadly blizzard to sweep into the area as she then proceeded to brutally overpower Sasuke in his curse mark form using the very ocean water beneath their feet to submerge and attempt to drown the boy who was having a hard time fighting back due to the severe taxation and chakra exhaustion that he was feeling. The curse mark was running its course on him and was leaving his completely drained of his stamina and chakra. He didn't have much left in the tank to take on a fully out of control Evangeline who was far more powerful than Sasuke was with the boost he initially received from the Juinjutsu on his neck.
It took the combined efforts of Iris, Chaos, and Kakashi to separate and detain both parties as Chaos trapped her older sister in a powerful Aegis shield that she then pumped full of her Nightshade attack to drain the winter fairy of her monstrous reserves of Yōki. As for Iris she and Kakashi quickly appeared around Sasuke and with a quick submission take down from Kakashi and his efforts Iris was able to fully suppress the influence of Orochimaru's curse with a simple touch of her finger.
With electrical burns all across his body and several cracked, bruised, and broken ribs Naruto was out for the count for the next three days while his natural healing abilities granted to him by the Nine Tails did its touch. Initially Eva was going to heal him, but Iris told her older sister to back off and let Naruto heal naturally from this.
Tensions were high all around the ship following this incident as Yukie and the director demanded an explanation for what happened as repairs had to be made to the ship as the potential for seawater to breach the hull of the vessel was now a credible threat. The repairs took the rest of the day before the Dawn Theatre could continue its journey which left plenty of time for Kakashi to give the clients a toned-down cover explanation. It was enough to satisfy the director whose name was Makino Ōtsuka. He is an energetic man in his mid-fifties with greyed hair and small wrinkles marring his face along with squinted joyful eyes. He liked to wear a pair of blue tinted aviator glasses as his choice of style along with a brown ivy hat. Due to the harsh climate they were entering Makino wore a faded orange trench coat, brown long pants, and thick gloves along with an orange scarf tied around his neck to keep him warm. The prominent choice of orange got him a deep nod of respect from Naruto and a roll of the eyes from his friends and daughters. His fascination with the color orange was a comical topic amongst his peers.
While Makino was satisfied with the explanation Kakashi gave out as he chose not to dig any further because of his own carefree nature, Yukie on the other hand wasn't so gullible. The cynical woman wasn't convinced that the spar between the two squad members of Team 7 was so civil. It was far to brutal to be anything but an internal conflict between them. She accused Kakashi of the fact that the dissention between the two young shinobi could compromise the integrity of the security they should be providing them. Internally Kakashi wholeheartedly agreed with the young woman's assessment but admitting that would only reflect badly on the image of the Hidden Leaf as a whole. The sly and quick-witted silver tongued Jōnin had to spin his words carefully to keep the actual client of this mission happy while keeping in mind what he should do about his two students.
"Eva is still refusing to let anyone into Naruto's room and Sasuke won't talk to me. They're both completely shut off since it happened, and I'm worried about the fact the curse mark activated in the first-place sensei. Didn't you say you sealed it away for good?" Sakura explained as the pink haired girl pulled at her vibrant locks in stress. Both of her teammates were locking themselves away from the problem at hand and it was causing a deep seeded friction to arise that couldn't possibly be ignored. They were soon to approach the Land of Snow and with the potential for hostilities in the air from Kakashi's standpoint this tension had to be resolved. "It is sealed Sakura, but I explained to you that the seal used responds to Sasuke's willpower. As long as he believes in his own strength and can keep his emotions in check then there should be no problems… however in this instance he willingly gave into its influence. Once this mission is over and we return home I'll request for Lord Jiraiya to take a look at his seal and see what he can do about it. I don't like this situation anymore than you do." Kakashi explained in a tender tone while rubbing the top of his students head. He could see the stress written all over her face and he could empathize with the uncomfortable position she was placed in.
Rubbing her hand against her eyes to rub away any potential tears Sakura let a small grateful smile crack her face into positivity. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei… but what about those two now? What am I supposed to do with them when they won't even speak to me?" The support-oriented member of Team 7 was all for pulling the reins on the team for a while but that would be difficult if her teammates were being stubborn.
"I understand your frustration Sakura… I want you to keep trying with them and I need Naruto back on his feet right now. He's a Chūnin now and as such he is my second in command. He needs to be performing his duties at all times no matter his personal feelings on this matter. That is the price he must pay for his promotion and increased responsibilities; and as far as Sasuke is concerned he cannot be allowed to wallow in his own turmoil while on duty. His curse mark is a subject of concern that will be fully addressed." Kakashi denoted with finality in his voice as he gently pushed Sakura in the direction of the closest door. He needed to go speak with the director on setting up security for their stay.
Naruto's Mindscape
Opening his eyes Naruto found himself in a place he didn't think he would be visiting again for a long time. The dull rustic pipes and murky waters of his Jinchūriki seal greeted Naruto once he regained consciousness. The sewer system that represented his seal was a foreboding place that always gave off an unwelcoming aura that warded Naruto off from this place even before he first came here. Now that he was here though it didn't give him much of an opportunity to do much else other than to go speak to his resident Tailed Beast. It's been a long while since he has done so with their last conversation taking place when he was held prisoner on Hōrai Island.
It didn't take Naruto long at all to reach the giant boiler room that housed the powerful Nine Tailed Fox who was shrouded in the darkness of his cage. "Long time no see fox… is there a reason why you summoned me?" Naruto conversed as he would rather distract himself from the situation he just came from. The conflict he just sustained with Sasuke was something completely out of left field for Naruto, he's never had to be on the receiving end of a friend's rampage before. Now he knew what Hinata and the others felt when he lost control back in the Forest of Death and she had to suppress his demonic transformation with the help of their classmates. The shoe was on the other foot now and this has given a new uncomfortable perspective on the issues facing his teammate. Though he would be lying if he said this feeling in his chest didn't remind him of his most horrific and unpleasant memory as a small child growing up... the brief but agonizing conflict he had with Kenichi that eventually lead to his death has plagued Naruto's heart ever since that day, even to this very day and being on the receiving end of a friend's hostility no matter the form or reasoning behind it is a heartbreaking experience for Naruto to bare. It brought back to many unpleasant memories.
A low growl signaled the awakening of the massive beast as his canine like face became visible through the inky darkness that shrouded his cage in a consistent manner. "It has been a long while human… when I expected to speak with you next, I didn't imagine it would be because you were bested by an accursed Uchiha in combat. It was a pathetic and shameful display of your superior talents." Kurama sneered with a shimmering rage in his eyes that caused Naruto's breath to become hitched in his throat. He remembered the last conversation he had with the massive fox. He said some things that managed to get under the beasts skin and it retaliated by unleashing such a potent dosage of killing intent that it actually managed to get Naruto's heart to stop beating. True fear ran through Naruto's veins that felt ice cold that day and it was certainly a very powerful impression that such a creature could leave on him.
This is now the third meeting he's having with his Tailed Beast, he only comes around when its something he's interested in or when Naruto somehow becomes knocked unconscious. With nothing better to do he supposed he could have a civil conversation with his resident. He still didn't know what to say that could define their estranged relationship considering the fact the Fox's mere presence has caused all of the suffering and misery in his life but since the Tailed Beast has proven itself to be not what Naruto expected it to be in the past, he would let his inner animosity subside for as long as it wasn't a subject that wasn't brought up. He considered himself lucky that his Tailed Beast even wanted to talk to him considering the turbulent relationship Gaara shared with his own.
"I'm sorry to keep disappointing you then… it wasn't my intention to lose to Sasuke. I just never expected to face such a scenario in our spar." Naruto countered as he sat down by the bars of the cage holding the great chakra beast at bay. The orange furred fox wore an expression of surprise and curiosity as it stared down at Naruto who was now closer to it than the previous two times. "You are sitting awfully close brat. Are you not afraid that I'll strike you down?" Kurama asked in a wave of indulgence as he raised one of his massive clawed paws and placed them up against Naruto's cheek. The pearl white gloss that was on the fox's giant nail was beautiful to look at in all honesty, but it was also razor sharp and extremely deadly.
"I'm a bit nervous… but I have the strangest feeling that deep down you wouldn't kill me. I believe you are more civil than that." Naruto stated after taking a measured breath. He was very nervous on the inside about having the claw of the great Nine Tailed Fox pressed up against his body, but he chose to believe in his gut instinct that the beast wouldn't outright kill him. If he wasn't mistaken, then if he died then so would the Nine Tails.
A great huff escaped Kurama's snout as he lowered his paw until it rested against the ground. His appendage was resting halfway outside of the gates allowing Naruto to have something to rest his back against and feeling the incredibly soft fur of the fox nearly threw him for a loop. Who would have thought that a being capable of such destruction and power would have fur this magnificent and soft?
"Never assume anything about me human boy… it will be your undoing one day." Kurama warned as his eyes glowed in warning but Naruto's entire mood was more or less apathetic at this point. He couldn't stop thinking about the fight he just had with Sasuke. For him to lose control of his curse mark was a serious situation. His feelings were boiling up beneath the surface to such an extent that he would lash out at his closest friend and teammate? Was the damage Itachi inflicted onto him that great?
"Well… that day isn't today so I'm hoping to at least have a civil conversation with you while this strange peace between us lasts." Naruto murmured back with a sigh as Kurama narrowed his large red eyes at his Jinchūriki. "Your performance against that damnable Uchiha boy was offensive to watch. You are clearly the superior between the two of you. Why would you allow yourself to be beaten in such a humiliating way?" The fox growled as Naruto leaned his head further back into the soft fur of the Tailed Beast's finger. He had a lot on his mind to think about. "I couldn't find it in me to attack him with lethal force and everything was happening so fast that I didn't have time to transform; and calling upon your chakra would have been overkill." Naruto countered with his own opinion as he watched on as the glare on Kurama's face grew more potent.
"You should have called upon my chakra and crushed him like a bug… I already find it revolting that you struck up a friendship with that boy but to lose to him is an entirely different matter." Kurama's animalistic growl added to the aggravation he felt at the poor state and situation Naruto found himself in. He wasn't a big fan of the blond-haired boy's decision-making skills in regard to certain matters in his life and Sasuke Uchiha was definitely towards the top of the list of things he didn't like.
"I'm sensing a lot of animosity towards Sasuke from you, or is it his name that bothers you in particular? Using your chakra would have been completely overkill, yet you clearly seem like you wanted me too. Do you have a problem with the Uchiha Clan?" Naruto asked in morbid curiosity as it was plainly obvious that the great fox held a lot of prejudice against the Uchiha Clan. He hated them for some reason.
Kurama's natural growl turned into a dull roar as he glared down at Naruto with an intensity in his red slit eyes that rooted the blond Uzumaki to his spot. They held such hatred and animosity in them that Naruto felt like he would be swallowed up by those poisonous feelings if he wasn't careful. He was sure that Chaos would work herself into a blissful coma if she absorbed any of the Nine Tails' hatred. "Of course! My hatred for those damnable humans runs deep! They are abominations and deserved to be wiped out… I only wish I could have done so myself!" Kurama roared out his deep seeded anger with a vengeful look in his eyes that deeply troubled Naruto on the inside. What did the Uchiha do to him in the past?
"Did they do something to you in the past? They've been gone for the last few years following the massacre." Naruto noted as this was the first time the Nine Tails was displaying his feelings on a subject. This was a novel experience that he couldn't pass up the opportunity on. "That massacre didn't come soon enough boy… and if you want to know the answer to that first question then you should have paid attention in class instead of daydreaming about that Hyūga girl. You should know your own village's history." Kurama sneered with his shining teeth dripping saliva that would poison a lesser man with the malice contained within it. An indignant sputter and bashful blush crossed Naruto's cheeks at the fox pointing out one of his favorite pastimes back in the academy.
Hinata usually had to keep him motivated and in line to focus during class since Iruka's lectures were usually boring. He also had to maintain an air of ignorance at the insistence of the Third Hokage as they had to ensure that Naruto didn't attract to much unwanted attention onto himself. If he was allowed to display the full weight of his abilities that would have been grounds for him graduating earlier which would draw the attention of unwanted parties, namely the elders such as Homura, Koharu, and especially Danzō. By hiding his abilities, it allowed Naruto to be placed on a team which would be well balanced, and it would also give Kakashi the green light to be his sensei alongside Sasuke who could only be taught by Kakashi seeing as how he was the only one in the entire village with a Sharingan.
'Our village history?' Naruto had to think hard on this one as he gave a questioning look to the great beast that huffed in his face. He couldn't come up with an answer now, so he decided to shelve it for later, especially after he tried to pester the fox for a hint which only ended up with the great beast threatening to impale him with his claw.
"Nine Tails… now that we have a chance to talk, I wish to ask you an important question." Naruto requested in a civil manner which managed to pique Kurama's interest as Naruto's tone took on a different inflection to it. "What is it boy?" Gathering his thoughts carefully and concisely Naruto looked up into Kurama's giant red eyes with his own blue ones. "You called Hōrai Island sacred grounds and obviously alluded to my heritage as an Uzumaki. But how do you know all of that… and it seemed to me like you've been there before?" Naruto inquired as he saw for a brief second a flicker of emotions play out across the great fox's face.
'This boy is sharp Kushina… obviously he got it from your damn husband.' Kurama growled in his mind as he appraised the young Shī-ō with his critical eye. He was contemplating on whether or not he should reveal this information to Naruto or naught but the look in Naruto's eyes was admittedly to strong. "Hōrai Island was a sanctuary for me in the past years. It was a safe haven and the Uzumaki clan treated me as one of their own." Kurama revealed to a shell-shocked Naruto who would have never thought such a thing was possible.
"That place was your home…" Naruto mumbled in shock as Kurama narrowed his eyes down at the human by his claw. 'Hōrai Island could house such an entity like the Nine Tails? He's freaking massive. Then again if something as big as Gōra can find his place on the island to call his own then I guess it's possible. But to know that the citizens and members of my clan treated a Tailed Beast of all things so nicely is mind blowing. Then the question becomes what happened between then and the night I was born? Why did the Nine Tails attack the Hidden Leaf? We were supposed to be allies.' Naruto seriously contemplated to himself as this was a great mystery that he wanted solved. What happened in the pass to influence the tragedy that happened in his time?
"Yes, for a few hundred years in fact I've called that island my home and its inhabitants were about the only humans that I could stand to be around without wanting to go on a rampage." The Nine Tailed Fox elaborated in a softer tone before it hardened when he saw Naruto about to ask it more questions. "I know that you wish to ask me more about the night I attacked your village, but I have nothing to say about it at this time… you've asked me more than enough questions as it is and if you don't wish for me to take over your body and kill that damn Uchiha boy myself then you will remain quiet!"
He was getting far too into his sentiments and bringing up the past was not something Kurama has done in a long time. He missed the old Hidden Whirlpool Village and watching it and the Uzumaki Clan flourish. It was a paradise island where he didn't have to worry about the hatred, sins, and flaws of the rest of the human population. It was naturally drawn to the malice of the world and the wars and bloodshed that was committed on the mainland was like a beacon to Kurama. In order to shut himself off from such impulses he would always travel back to Hōrai Island for refuge. He missed the inhabitants of the island and he cursed the other villages everyday for their involvement with the downfall of the country and more importantly of all he missed Kushina and the Uzumaki clan.
"I have an inquiry of my own brat so listen up?" Kurama pegged after a few minutes of silence between the two. This was something that gained Naruto's attention immediately as he didn't want to argue with the fox over it withholding its own information from him. He didn't want to talk any further about Hōrai Island and he already guessed his future questions about the night he was born so Naruto didn't want to push his luck. This was the most civil conversation he ever thought he'd ever have with the Nine Tailed Fox. There was no need to destroy the progress he's made because he was being pushy. He suspected he might be able to worm that knowledge out of him in the future if he tried hard enough.
"I sense a presence attached to us coming from the Land of Snow… do you know what it might be?" Kurama asked with a certain glint in his eye that Naruto completely missed, he watched as the gears began turning in the young boy's head as the answer to the question was something he hasn't thought of in a very long time.
"I don't know… I've been sensing it ever since we got pass the peninsula of the Land of Lightning. It's a strange feeling that I get from its sensation. I don't think I've felt anything like it before." Naruto admitted as Kurama blew out a hot breath of air. "It carries the same energy signature as us… you should be careful with how you waste your energy." The fox replied in a flippant manner as Naruto gave a look of skepticism to the orange beast. "My energy…? I've never been to the Land of Snow before and unfortunately being your Jinchūriki means that I've always wasted excess amounts of chakra." Naruto mused with a role of his eyes that matched the apathetic look on the beast's face.
"I sensed it spike up after falling unconscious... it's the strongest I've felt it up until this point. I'm not sure what to think of it actually." Naruto contemplated after further deliberation within his own mind. Whatever was out there spiked its energy seconds after he fell unconscious. It was like a giant beacon or a message it was trying to send him. Naruto wasn't sure what was going on or how he should respond to it, but one thing was for sure... it felt like his own energy out there.
"You could always let me out of this cage, and we can discover this anomaly together…?" Kurama purred as his eyes filled itself with malice and mischief that caused a deadpan expression to form on Naruto's face. "Yeeeaaaaahhhh… no!" Naruto bluntly stated while stretching out the word yeah. He wasn't stupid enough to even fall for that pathetic and transparent manipulation. He wasn't letting the fox responsible for the destruction of his home village out of his cage, especially out here in the middle of the ocean 2000 miles away from the leaf where none of their allies could do anything to stop it. This didn't even take into account the fact that they were so close to the territory of the Land of Lightning. He was sure the Hidden Cloud would love nothing more than to snatch up the Nine Tails and make a new Jinchūriki for their village. The shift in the delicate balance of the Five Great Nations would be utterly destroyed in such an event and it would most definitely lead to the next great war.
"You aren't getting out of this cage fox and I'm not dumb enough to fall for one of your transparent taunts. The only freedom you have is through me." Naruto declared in resolution as he got up from his seated position against Kurama's claw and began walking away. This was the most civil conversation he could have ever envisioned having with his Tailed Beast, but he didn't want to overstay his welcome. If he stayed any longer, he was sure the crafty fox would try to tempt him some more and he was in no mood to get into an argument with the giant fox over this. They were on somewhat civil terms right now and he had access to his Initial Release Form thanks to this mutual understanding, there was no need to ruin that by being hot headed. Besides… he had to figure out what he was going to do with Sasuke and the very pressing issues concerning their friendship and his curse mark.
A dark and mischievous grin broke out onto Kurama's face once Naruto's back was turned to him. It screamed of irony and the fact that Kurama knew something that Naruto didn't. "I have more freedom then you think Naruto… and it's all thanks to you." Kurama taunted with his deep baritone voice letting out a dark laugh just as Naruto's spectral avatar disappeared from the sewers. If he only knew the irony.
3 Days Later/ Present Time
Knock! Knock! Knock!
A groan escaped Naruto's lips as he pulled his pillow over his head in sheer annoyance. He knew who was on the other side of the door right now even without the use of his latent sensory abilities and he was in no mood to speak to his teammate right now. He just finished healing all of his injuries that he suffered at the hands of Sasuke, Eva herself was adamant about not letting anyone enter his room during that time, although with that being said Henrietta and the others from Section 2 were allowed in for a short period of time each day.
"Go away Sakura!" Eva yelled out before Naruto could open his mouth to say his piece. The little Winter Fairy was not happy in the slightest about the way things went down the other day. She completely lost control of herself right after Naruto passed out due to Sasuke's vicious assault. It took the combined efforts of their family and friends to take both her and Sasuke down but luckily with Iris and Chaos being much more powerful than her especially considering their species and power it allowed them to stop her quickly before she either killed Sasuke by accident or destroy the Dawn Theatre which was rocking back and forth haphazardly with the rough waves Eva's powers were creating.
"I can't do that this time Eva. Kakashi-sensei wants Naruto to get up and report to him. We have a mission to do." Sakura's voice persisted on the other side of the door to their little cabin like room. The rooms weren't that big on the ship as most of the space was allocated to the larger production set rooms and other important facilities, but the accommodations were of an adequate size for a single person or two per room. Considering the fact that Iris and Chaos can't and won't go far from Naruto due to their condition also were sleeping in this room and it caused the already small bed and space to become cramped. Luckily for the Uzumaki family they were already used to such conditions.
Sighing Naruto sat up in bed while looking himself over. Around his stomach was a tender spot of red skin that marked the location of where Sasuke blasted him with his final electrical attack. His bruised and broken ribs and bones along with the majority of his sore muscles were finished healing by now. Sasuke did a real number on him but it only made Naruto fascinated on the dramatic improvements of the Uchiha's skills as a shinobi. In no way was Naruto ever going to downplay Sasuke's skills as a ninja as there was a reason that he graduated top of the class and was hailed as a budding prodigy, but in realistic terms between the two of them Naruto was ahead of Sasuke when it came to the shinobi arts. Ever since he was four years old and he gained access to his chakra thanks to bonding with Eva it has been a constant never-ending struggle just to survive for Naruto. He had absolutely no choice but to hone what little scraps of skills and streets smarts he had at his disposal at the time. After surviving his near fatal assassination attempt from his fellow orphanage sibling and friend in Kenichi, Naruto vowed to grow stronger so that he would never allow himself to be placed in such a situation ever again. He had no choice but to never stop improving as the threat and pressure of raising Iris and Chaos two years later was a weight on his shoulders that he could never shake off. It nearly broke him several times, but he always picked himself back up and with the training and lessons provide to him by Kakashi and the rest of his ANBU guard as well as the small lessons provide to him by the late Third Hokage it gave Naruto a legitimate and solid base to start his foundation on.
That foundation would only continue to grow when he finally met Shoko and she would take him under her wing and begin his real ninja training. He was fighting off the likes of demons such as Toiret the Ogre Demon that harassed and kidnapped Hitomi at the age of eight. He was nearly Chūnin Level at the start of the Genin Exams and his defeat of Mizuki with the assistance of Iruka only validated that clause as Mizuki wasn't the average Chūnin and he was hiding his true strength from many along with the drug enhancers from Orochimaru. He was closer to a Special Jōnin than he was as a regular Chūnin.
The massive leap in skills that Sasuke demonstrated the other day was very impressive… he increased his skills during his debut entrance at the finals against Gaara to what everyone could easily declare to be Chūnin level and his participation in the ensuing invasion was documented and noted. But to go from that level in which Naruto was still very much sure he could still beat him to this in which he was clearly Naruto's equal was astounding, especially after their crushing defeat at the hands of Itachi back in Firebend Town.
Sasuke's improvements were alarming and at the same time intriguing to Naruto. Clearly his Taijutsu and physical health was something he worked on with a lot of sweat, blood, and tears in this long hiatus of their team. But his massive leap in Jutsu library was the thing to take notice of. He was clearly abusing the natural ability of the Sharingan to copy any normal Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Taijutsu that it could see. Clearly Kakashi allowed Sasuke to view many of his ninjutsu from his personal massive library of over 1000 Jutsu that he then helped Sasuke master by increasing the boy's chakra reserves.
This dramatic improvement was alarming considering the fact Naruto didn't gain his strength overnight. He had an 8-year head start on his entire generation with six of them spent under Shoko's tutelage and four of those spent with intense training. He had to work incredibly hard to gain the library of techniques that he has in his repertoire. He's continuously been placed in high level and high stress situations that have forced him to learn or evolve his skills and techniques and improve. Of course, he was willing to admit that he had a natural talent for Ninjutsu and he had a very high learning curve that he was adaptive too. He was a genius of hard work as Guy-sensei likes to say as he had to still train and work hard to overcome the natural disadvantage that he had with his hybrid Chakra network even with his use of Shadow Clones to speed up his training.
Even though he used Shadow Clones to help speed up the training time he worked through the fact remained that he as well as his clones still had to "work" on the actual technique they were trying to learn, and a lot of time still elapsed using this method. For a Sharingan user as long as the technique they were copying was a low intensive Jutsu that didn't require a lot of chakra then they could go skip over the entire training process of mastering the technique after acquiring it. This of course doesn't apply to Taijutsu in which you would have to train your body to use said technique or else you would probably rip your muscles apart. Another factor included your Chakra Nature Affinity since if the technique you were copying was from an opposing Nature that you weren't naturally aligned to it would cause you to burn far more chakra when replicating it and you would have to at least practice a bit with the technique to make it battle ready in the future.
It left a bad taste in Naruto's mouth to know that Sasuke pound for pound didn't have to do as much "work" as him to achieve the same level where now he is roughly Naruto's equal without taking into account either his Nine Tails Chakra or Demonic Transformation. He would have had no problem if Sasuke worked harder for this strength but that was clearly not the case.
"I'm coming Sakura…" Naruto sighed as he quickly got himself ready for the day. He had a serious talk with Iris and Chaos yesterday when he finally woke up from his unconsciousness. He wanted to know why they didn't interfere when it clearly became apparent that Sasuke was losing control of himself. It went without saying that Naruto didn't like the explanation he was given… which was basically not a lot. The two girls couldn't elaborate too much on why they didn't step in which only confirmed in not so many words that this was a fixed event in time that he couldn't change.
This notion didn't make Naruto feel any better about the situation… in fact… it only made him feel worse as Henrietta and the others took trips coming in and out of his room checking in on him during that time. Eva herself was in a foul mood and she wasn't keen on interacting with anyone despite the fact that she really wanted to get another shot at Sasuke.
It took him a few minutes, but he eventually got himself ready for the day as he left the room to see Sakura standing there with a concerned expression on her face. Naruto took this moment to take in Sakura's altered appearance for this mission. She wisely chose to go with thicker clothing for their trip which was keeping her very warm in this cold climate. To begin with Sakura kept her normal clothes on her but in addition to this she had on a salmon pink crop top that matched the theme and aesthetic of her normal Chinese style dress. The crop top was made of a far thicker material that offered a lot warmth and along with that the pink haired girl also decided to go along with wearing magenta colored leg warmer and fingerless gloves that extended pass her elbows in the same color.
Over that was their typical climate control cloak that was standard issue for them as shinobi. "How are you feeling…?" This question was asked with a tentative cadence from Sakura who had a look of uncertainty on her face. She was concerned for her teammate who took serious injuries at the hands of their fellow comrade. It was a tense time for Team 7 and the glare Eva was currently giving Sakura wasn't helping matters much at all. "I'm fine Sakura… to be honest I would appreciate it if you don't bring up what happened the other day. I still need time to think." Naruto requested through a forced neutral smile as he wasn't in the mood to have the pink haired girl hovering over him. She was a curious girl by nature and she would hover over him and pester him to no end about his condition. That was not the kind of attention that he wanted right now… he would much prefer to be left alone.
Any retort that was forming in Sakura's mouth died in her throat as a downtrodden expression marred her usually upbeat face. She just wanted to help in anyway she could. "I'll go meet with Kakashi-sensei. If Sasuke's not there already, please go get him." Naruto mumbled as he passed by the civilian born kunoichi without a second thought. It was going to take him some time to figure out his feelings on this matter, he's never been attacked by his own friend before.
2 Hours Later
The machinations of filming scene after scene was a tedious process that everyone had to endure. If Naruto was in a far better mood, then he would be more than willing to turn his feelings into positivity at the notion of watching the best of the film industry work their magic. Even though Yukie was a bit difficult to deal with in the breaks between scenes it would have done nothing to detract from Naruto's sense of enjoyment; but unfortunately, this wasn't the case now as things were uncomfortably tense between the members of Team 7.
The second Naruto and Sasuke came face to face an immediate aura of tension was felt. The first thing to happen was Naruto having to restrain Eva from lashing out at Sasuke who did to the shock of the young Shī-ō show signs of remorse and regret in his eyes as he was the first one to speak but for the peace of mind of everyone involved Naruto openly stated that he didn't want the last Uchiha speaking to him. A mixed range of emotions played out across Sasuke's face that contained hurt, regret, anger, and so much more but Naruto didn't stick around to see all of them as he walked away from his teammates to keep Eva calm.
"She's very talented, isn't she?" Rico probed while skittishly wading around Naruto who sighed with a look of sadness on his face. "Don't walk on eggshells around me Rico… just know that I don't want to talk about it and leave it at that. I'm fine now and I'm back on my feet so that should be enough for now." Naruto calmly stated as he felt the arms of the affectionate girl wrap themselves around his waist from behind. "I'm just glad you are ok. You were so hurt back there, and I couldn't do a single thing to help you. I felt useless." The bubbly girl sniffled as she tried her best to not let any of her insecurities show but it was futile as Naruto turned around and wrapped the shorter girl in his embrace.
"Henrietta said the exact same thing and I'm sure Triela feels the same. I just want all of you to know that I'm fine and that I'll deal with my issues with Sasuke on my own time." Naruto patiently conversed as he fiddled with his cloak which he decided to put on to hide the obvious signs that he was injured still from showing. Despite being healed his body was still a little tender and he didn't have a replacement for his Flak Jacket that took some damage in his fight. The electrical burns that he suffered reflected in the fabric of his protective vest that had damage marks all over it.
Wrapping Rico up in the large cloak Naruto planted a soft kiss down on the shorter girls forehead who couldn't possibly hide the blush that adorned her cheeks in response. Naruto was always affectionate and tender with all of the girls from his division including Triela who was a year older than him. He showed all of them the same treatment in making them feel loved and appreciated at every chance he got. With the broken lives that they came from he could easily sympathize with their struggles and hardships that they had to endure. He felt a kinship with them and that was the only motivation that he needed to treat them with the tender amount of affection and respect that he was known to shower them with. This form of interacting with the girls also unfortunately came with the side effect of all of them harboring crushes on him with Henrietta going so far as to fall in love with him in the same manner that Hinata has.
Blushing as she usually does Rico snuggled deeper into Naruto's embrace who rubbed the top of her head just as a faint signal in the back of his head went off. "Sensei!" Naruto was quick to call out as Kakashi whirled around to face his student who had a serious and cautious look on his face.
"Someone tripped the barriers I put in place around the island. They have Jōnin and Chūnin level chakra in them!" Naruto called out as this grabbed everyone's attention shinobi and civilian alike as Kakashi looked to where Naruto had pointed and saw that there was a disturbance happening at the top of the large mountain like structure overlooking the flat area of the glacier they were on. After linking up with Kakashi hours earlier Naruto was instructed by his silver haired teacher to set up a detection barrier around the island to add to their security. It was a simple Four Point Detection Barrier that Naruto has known for a long while, he's just rarely had a reason or the provide forethought to use it up until now.
"Girls get the crew and start heading back to the ship! Iris and Chaos, you hang back in case I need you! GO!" Naruto ordered as he immediately felt Rico let go from the hug that he was giving her to link up with Henrietta and Triela who were gathering up the crew and actors with the help of their handlers. Things could get very bad if one of the civilians were hurt in this attack.
It didn't take Sasuke or Sakura long to link up with Naruto and Kakashi who were staring up at the hill overlooking their film location and before them stood three interesting yet distinctive foreign ninja that none of the young ninja have ever seen before, but recognition was in one persons lone eye and that was Kakashi who glared up at the clearly hostile ninja with contempt.
"It's you three…!"
The leader of the trio wore a grin on his face as he looked down towards Kakashi with arrogance shining in his eyes. "It's been a very long time Kakashi… ten years in fact." The tall man spoke with a condescending tone as his two teammates grinned at their opposition. "Nadare Rōga…" Kakashi spat the name out of the squad leader before him as the now named Nadare grinned at being remembered by his adversary.
Nadare by appearance was a tall man with a similar height to Kakashi. He had long amethyst colored hair tied into a high ponytail at the back of his head while the rest of his hair fell down his back. He had teal colored eyes in a similar shade to Gaara's and they were just as soulless as the redheaded Jinchūriki of the Hidden Sand had been before Naruto was able to change him for the better. His eyebrows were cut into the shape of dots that in the ancient traditions of some royal bloodlines denoted royalty. Below his eyes he had makeup that formed two purple lines similar to the red lines underneath Jiraiya's eyes. On his face he wore a mask style headband that held the metal plate of his village on it. The symbol displayed on the plate was that of five dots arranged in an "x" formation with one dot in the center and four dots in each diagonal direction. This was the symbol of The Village Hidden in the Snow of the isolated Land of Snow.
For clothing he had on a powder blue colored kimono style bodysuit that had its right sleeve completely missing with dark blue accented conductive wired lines running in diagonal directions across his clothing with a dark faded purple colored body glove suit worn underneath that was visible on his right arm which the blue overshirt did not cover. On his exposed right forearm, he had a grey mechanical device strapped to his arm that had a visible launcher barrel at the end of it and a centralized rounded gear matrix located right were his elbow would be. A tube extended from this compartment that extended around Nadare's back and hooked up to a power generator device that was shaped like a shoulder mounted gauntlet. In the central power unit, a circular mechanical device could be seen, and the Yin/Yang symbol painted in white and teal could be seen in the form of a metal covering. Ports all along the device opened up to allow the dark blue colored wired cables to enter which fed power to the entire accessory this enemy Jōnin was wearing.
His two teammates were similarly dressed in this style with the other male of the squad being a large burly man of a respectable weight and size. His name was Mizore Fuyukuma and he was the stereotypical muscle of the group. Mizore had short cropped messy purple hair and similar shaped eyebrows to Nadare. His eyes were very large with his black irises taking up much of the space of his visible eye leaving not much to the imagination on his sclera. Like his teammates Mizore also work a head mask style headband that displayed the symbol of the Hidden Snow Village on it. His clothing was just like his teammates but with some notable changes. Mizore had two large double layered shoulder pauldrons guards with the left one having a small pointed prod sticking up into the air. Around his left arm was a massive bulky gauntlet that extended down to his hand that had a large metal encasing wrapped around it. On the center of his chest was his suits power generator with the same Yin/Yang symbol displayed in the center of the device with all of the power cables extending out of it to all parts of his clothing.
The last member of the three-man squad was a young woman named Fubuki Kakuyoki. She had an arrogant and smug look on her face that detracted from her overall attractive looks. She had Fuchsia pink hair and sea green eyes that were similar in color to Sakura's own. She like many kunoichi in the world had a voluptuous figure with D cup breasts and wide hips that otherwise made her quite attractive. She also wore the same uniform as her teammates and had her eyebrows shaved down into dots along with the face mask headband. The only notable differences for Fubuki was the fact she had on green colored shorts underneath her kimono style dress that split at the sides just like Sakura's.
These were the three enemy ninja sent to oppose them… or so they thought. Further up on the hill was a contingent of 8 similarly dressed ninja who were all around the levels of the average Chūnin with barely any of them spiking to the level of a full Jōnin.
'This is bad… it feels just like the time during the false invasion of the Hidden Stone. So many enemy ninja.' Naruto reflected in his mind as he began to have flashbacks to that strenuous time fighting off the likes of those imposter ninja. Even though they were convicted criminals they still retained some talent as shinobi, especially the three Jōnin he personally fended off. Jotaro Koetsu, Tomohiro Ishii, and Tsuchimikado Fusa were no ordinary opponents and the makeup of this three-man Jōnin team standing before them was giving Naruto serious flashbacks to his previous adversaries.
'This isn't going to end well… now that they are here why do I have this foreboding feeling in my stomach. There's something going on here and there's this distinct feeling in the air that I can' quite wrap my mind around. It feels familiar and it's faint but nigh untraceable. What is going on here?' Naruto seethed within his mind… his instincts were warning him that something wasn't quite right and taking a closer look at their opponents finally put most of Naruto's anxiety into perspective.
"That can't be…!? That's chakra armor!" Naruto blurted out as his mind immediately flashed back to long ago when Dino commissioned him to draw up blueprints for a prototype chakra armor that was designed to absorb and negate the usage of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu around the users body. While the science department were ultimately the ones to create the armor, Naruto was the one who created their blueprints on Dino's orders while working with his colleagues in the mafia. He told him it was for a client up north in a distant country. Back then he didn't think on it too much but now he knew better now that he was sent here with the new prototype model to give to their liaison and member of the mafia here in the Land of Snow.
But this revelation changes everything. He recognized the model these three Snow Ninja were wearing. These were the latest prototype models that the mafia shipped off last year as per the agreement with their client. This changed everything about the current situation if their enemy had technology belonging to the mafia. This raised hundreds of questions about the origin of these ninja and their intentions.
'What is going on? These guys have our products that we were supposed to be delivering to our client… unless… unless these were the clients in the first place?' Naruto's mind was fractured in several different places over this situation. What did this mean for the business relationship between the Jasmine Dragon Mafia and the Land of Snow? How was he supposed to move forward in this moment now that this was a factor? It put the young Uzumaki in an impossible situation.
"Oh? It would seem we have an outsider knowledgeable of our tech. You seem well informed for a boy your age." Nadare mused with a raised brow as he wasn't expecting anyone to recognize the new armor his benefactor and boss recently acquired for them. They themselves only had it for a few months at most and the vast majority of that time was spent with them training and growing accustomed to its newer design. The old outdated ones that they previously wore broke down into disrepair from wear and tear.
"Naruto how do you know about these guys?" Sakura questioned quizzically as she bore witnessed to the harsh glare on her teammates face while Sasuke himself chose to remain quiet instead. He didn't know what to say to his best friend let alone approach him. But one thing was for certain… he recognized that look on Naruto's face. It was a look of anger and self-loathing as well as caution. These men were to be taken seriously.
Kakashi too had a side glance of curiosity aimed at his blond-haired student and he would soon get his answer. "I'm the one who designed those armors." Naruto frowned with a harsh glare on his face directed at the enemy Jōnin who were finally thrown from their comfort zone as Nadare stepped forward with a puzzled searching look on his face. "Preposterous! Do not make me laugh boy. You couldn't have possibly designed these armors!" Nadare sneered with a contemptuous tone of voice as he refused to believe that such a young boy could have had a hand in the creation of these technologically advanced suits of armor. He was just an ordinary shinobi… nothing special.
'I wouldn't be so sure about that. Lady Hokage pulled me off to the side to brief me on the health condition of those agents from the Mafia. She told me that Naruto was trained on how to render them medical aid and assistance due to the recent surgeries they underwent. Apparently, he was the brain behind their upgrades. If that is the case, then I'm more than incline to believe my student had a hand in all of this.' Kakashi rebutted in his mind as he was no fool when it came to the enigmatic Uzumaki. He was his father's son after all, and he knew that Naruto was far smarter and intuitive then what he may lead others to believe. He had a shrewd and calculative mindset to him that mimicked that of his father.
"You designed them? How? When?" Sakura sputtered in surprise while Sasuke casted his teammate a look of surprise. He knew Naruto was capable of a lot of things but this? This was out there as far as his expectations went for the blond haired Chūnin. "How and when aren't important right now Sakura… what matters now is getting that armor off of them. Everything else is secondary." Kakashi ordered as his three charges tightened up in response to this while Nadare and his battalion of Snow Ninja prepared themselves in retaliation.
"I have to give you guys a heads up right now. This new armor is the first successful iteration that can absorb Ninjutsu and negate Genjutsu used directly against the user wearing it. Only Taijutsu can destroy or circumvent its defenses. It also absorbs the chakra used against it to power up the users own reserves and techniques in response so be very careful in how you engage them." Naruto warned as he held his hand out and created a Chokutō sword made out of Yōki enhanced ice before passing it off to Sasuke who wasn't expecting such a gesture.
"Naruto… we haven't done this since…" Sasuke pointed out as he felt the familiar feeling of the sword in his hand. With how comfortable he felt wielding it he was heavily considering purchasing an actual one in the future, it was just simply an endeavor he never got around too. The last time the two of them did this was when they decided to take on Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. It was the scariest thing they ever did back then, but the bond of comradery that Sasuke felt in that moment for Naruto while facing off against such an overwhelming force was ingrained within his brain from that day on. It's always been at the back of his mind ever since and it actually resurfaced once more when he and Naruto skirmished with Itachi back in Firebend Town.
That bond and synchronization that they shared was something that he silently cherished above almost everything else in his solitary life. There wasn't another feeling like it that he could remember feeling that filled it with any kind of happiness since before the tragic Uchiha Clan Massacre. 'The curse mark… I let it control me the other day. I feel so jealous and angry at Naruto for always being ahead of me in everything. For the first time since being on the same team as him I was able to beat him, but I had to tap into this power to do it and I really hurt him. Do I deserve this act of kindness that I would only accept from him…? Those feelings are still swimming around in my heart right now but the feeling of this sword in my hand… I want to feel that feeling again of what we used to have after finally becoming friends.' Sasuke admitted to himself as he looked up at Naruto with a thousand words ready to pour out of him in that exact moment, but they were all trapped in his throat as Naruto was refusing to even look at him.
Whatever Sasuke wanted to say would be thrown to the wayside as Nadare and his forces made their move with Mizore taking off down the sheer cliff with his snowboard providing him with a mobility and mode of transportation that has never been seen before in the shinobi world. He was fast and mobile as he charged down the mountain while Fubuki took off into the sky where a pair of foldable metallic wings sprouted from the main core of her armor suit. With the cold air constantly blowing she had more than enough wind to allow her to glide down from her high perch with blistering amounts of speed.
"I've got Nadare, you guys stay safe and handle his teammates and be careful of their backup." Kakashi ordered as he took off for Nadare who decided to stay put and wait for his nemesis to come to him. "I've got the big one, Sasuke take care of the girl and Sakura I want you to watch his back from a support role. I need you closer to our clients while I handle those grunts at the top of the hill. GO!" Naruto ordered as their senior as he immediately created his short Wakizashi swords in hand and took off before Sasuke could utter a word.
'He can't even look at me and he doesn't even want to work together. Have I damaged our friendship that much…? It should be us teaming up.' Sasuke mulled over in his mind as he took off on his own after Fubuki who was primed to begin her assault against the Leaf shinobi.
"Guys I don't want you to stop what you're doing. I want those cameras rolling. We've got the battle of the century on our hands fellas and I intend to have this in the movie even if it kills us!" Makino roared into his megaphone as his crew became pumped up at the thought of getting such rare footage of ninja actually fighting on their cameras. While they would probably not be able to make out their movements themselves with their naked eye, their cameras would be able to catch the high-speed movements of their protectors and enemies with little difficulties.
"Sir! We need to get you back to the ship. It isn't safe out here near the battle, your safety is our top priority." Jose corralled as he attempted to guide Makino with him, but the old and stubborn man took a rolled-up newspaper and smacked the nicely dressed mafia agent on his arm. "If our safety is your main concern, then you guys had better do a pretty good job at protecting us then because we sure as hell aren't about to miss this golden opportunity sonny boy!" Makino retorted as he jumped into his directors chair that was seconds away from being folded up by a crew member and started barking orders to his colleagues who began to move their cameras and equipment into position.
"You've got to be kidding me… girls set up a defensive perimeter around us and make sure not to get in the film crews way. I can't believe I'm actually giving out an order like this." Jose pondered to himself in exasperation as forcefully moving his clients was not going to end well with so many of them to begin with and it would only cause unnecessary strife later on. He had no choice but to hold the line here and hope that they could protect this very large crew.
'This battle won't be easy… good luck everyone.' Jose prayed as he looked on at his own partner Henrietta who wore an expression of concern on her face, she was worried for the entire team… but more importantly for Naruto for obvious reasons.
"Naru I want to cut loose right now… I don't think I'll be able to hold back." Eva growled into his ear as her tiny little fairy wings were fluttering and buzzing in agitation. As a demon she could give into her emotions far easier than a human and right now she was extremely pissed off at Sasuke for what he intentionally did to her beloved partner. She held no qualms about holding a grudge against him as she didn't have the patience to hear out his excuses. The only way she would eventually move past this would be if Naruto reconciled with the last Uchiha and her own acceptance of the matter would begrudgingly come much later.
Right now, she just wanted to give into her instincts and unleash them upon an enemy. Nothing else mattered and if she couldn't then she was afraid she would probably explode. Containing this much negative energy inside of her wasn't healthy or good for the partners who share a symbiotic relationship. Her darkness was slowly and subtly influencing Naruto's own thoughts and emotions which was why he was doing everything he could to avoid contact with his best friend.
'Eva's going to rampage if I don't let her get this out of her system as soon as possible and I don't want to risk another incident happening on the ship when this is all over. I guess I can let her cut loose here. It will sure make this battle go faster and take a load off my back.' Naruto contemplated within his mind as he could completely empathize with what his other half was going through. She wasn't so easy to forgive people like he could. Eva wasn't like that at all.
"Go ahead. I'm right with you. Don't let any of them get near the ship!" Naruto granted as he began molding his hybrid chakra for the coming battle. Psychedelic images from his memory of his fight with the fake enemy Jōnin of the Hidden Stone Village flashed in his mind as he took each step towards his current opposition. Fear, trepidation, and anxiety were all swirling around in his heart as this was the first true enemy shinobi battle he would be participating in since his first Chūnin assignment which went awry in the ironic typical fashion of his life as their very first C – Rank mission as new Genin turned into a deadly high A – Rank Mission with their encounter of Zabuza and Haku that technically through red tape turned into an S – Rank one with the inclusion of Jūra and Gōra towards the end of their mission.
Things tended to get blown out of proportion whenever he was somehow involved in the situation and this would be no different. With this green light being given to her by her beloved partner and other half Eva immediately surged out her potent Yōki that has had eight full years to mature and evolve under the nurturing effect of being bonded to Naruto as a host. Her demonic energy was far more compressed and potent than any ordinary demon or fairy of her size could naturally have. The fairy species as a whole wasn't that powerful to begin with and their reserves of energy in the fully-grown adult fairies were somewhere between Genin and Chūnin level for the ones who have lived a very long-life span. Eva on the other hand had reserves that were high Jōnin plus and when under the influence of the Aqua Stone in her belly it surpasses Kage level by a fair margin.
'Keep it together Naruto… that spar you had with Tsukuyomaru was peaceful and fun. Think on that to help calm your nerves and give you clarity.' He never actually talked to anyone about it but all of the back to back life and death battles he's participated in and the amount of killing he's had to do in them was starting to take a heavy toll on Naruto's psyche. It was a lot for a 12 now recently 13-year-old to bare all by himself especially when he had a delicate and complex psyche due to the beings that inhabited his soul. The killing has always been an issue he's silently suffered through and not even Eva was fully aware of the full ramifications of the stress encroaching upon Naruto's mind.
Having to endure the torture and stressful time on Hōrai Island under the Four War Gods was enough to give Naruto pause along with all of the emotional revelations and baggage that came with it. Dealing with Oshimo Ringo in Firebend Town within Hinata's presence wasn't easy in the slightest despite the fact he numbed himself and pushed passed it for her sake. Dealing with Itachi Uchiha of all people afterwards and being subjugated to the Tsukuyomi was a mind breaking experience that he still hasn't told anyone about despite the insistence of many people in his life. Even Eva didn't even know half of the story, the senseless and brutal slaughter of innocent civilians and ninja alike from the clan was inhumane at best and barbaric at worst. Moving forward he then had to deal with Orochimaru and Kabuto which was no easy task which only continued to pile up on him with the unintentional stress of his promotion and the dangerous assignment he received afterwards that nearly got him and his new team killed in that massive battle.
Naruto was weary and tired of all of the killing and violence that he has had to endure over the last few months and the stress it was placing down on his mind was slowly building. His feet felt sluggish as it trudged through the snow towards his giant burly opponent who was intent on crushing him with his superior strength. Once more Naruto found himself in the thick of battle with the most recent and profound stress of having hit a very rough patch with Sasuke weighing down on his consciousness as he forced himself to transition over into the mindset of a shinobi… of a killer.
'I can do this… I have to for everyone's sake.' Naruto growled within his mind as he met Mizore's charge head on in an act of defiance and perseverance. "Ice Style: Ice Make Jutsu!" Naruto's very first technique he ever created and mastered was his pride and joy and at its core it forms every other technique he has ever made for his Kekkei Genkai. In its base form it has a utilitarian usage that could fit any situation at any time. A ramp made out of ice formed directly in Mizore's path with little warning causing the much older shinobi to fly off it into the air directly over Naruto's head and right into Naruto's follow up tactic.
A metal wire attached to the end of a kunai wrapped itself around Mizore's waist where Naruto then proceeded to yank on it just as Eva who had detached from Naruto's hair made her move. "Yōjutsu: Water Celebration!" A massive focused beam of water slammed directly into Mizore's chest sending the robust man sailing through the air with the assistance of Naruto's throw. The large snow ninja slammed directly into the side of the mountain leaving a crater in its place. The four enemy ninja joining Mizore saw what appeared to be their opening in attacking Naruto, but it wasn't to be as a massive glacial sheet of ice rose up from the ground impeding their path thanks to Eva's interference. A deadly demonic fueled glare was on the tiny fairy's face as she felt her blood boiling beneath the surface of her skin. She needed something to take her pent-up aggression out on or else she wasn't sure what she'd do the next time she saw Sasuke or anyone else who may tick her off.
"You aren't getting anywhere near my clients…" Naruto declared as he jumped up after Mizore who regained his footing and caught Naruto's incoming punch with his gauntlet covered fist. "You don't have what it takes boy!" The gruff man retorted as he pushed his much smaller opponent back who created his Bō Staff in hand. It wasn't a weapon he's used in quite some time, but he figured why not now. Using his swords wouldn't due much due to the reinforced fibers used in their armored clothing rendering any piercing or stabbing attacks less effective than what they could be. He needed to immobilize his opponent and cut down his range of mobility and his trusted and iconic staff would give him that edge.
"We'll see about that." Naruto glared as he immediately substituted himself with a nearby rock once Mizore shot out a hydraulic powered kunai from a launcher attached to his gauntlet. The projectile kunai was blisteringly fast, faster than what even experienced shinobi would usually be capable of throwing them at. There was simply no time to block or deflect the incoming attack, only dodge. Reappearing a few yards away Naruto took off from his position in a blistering Body Flicker enhanced dash crossing the distance between him and his opponent in a matter of seconds. Swinging his staff around Naruto nailed Mizore directly in the side of his head that caused the much older man to stagger on his feet.
Touching down onto the ground Naruto twirled his staff around in preparation for a leg sweep that was sure to take the big man off his feet but Mizore wasn't a Jōnin for nothing as he detached his foot from his snowboard which was being magnetized and held down by a small layer of his chakra to lash out with a heavy thrust kick that caught Naruto directly in the chest bruising his already tender and recently healed ribs while the tiny sharp cleat like spikes on the sole of his boots dug into the fabric of Naruto's reinforced fiber Chūnin vest tearing holes into the material. It already had preexisting tears and damage done to it in his fight with Sasuke the other day and he's had no time to sew up the imperfections done to it, so this freshly made wound to his vest was not appreciated in the slightest. If this kept up the structural integrity of his protective vest would be ruined rendering the article of clothing useless. A perfect impression of the large man's boot was now stamped onto Naruto's chest as he could trace the perfect pattern the cleats made in it as he flew back over ten yards.
Rolling with the momentum Naruto skidded to a halt before dodging out of the way of Mizore's follow up assault in the form of several shuriken. "You like to swing people around huh? Well I've got something for you boy!" Taking careful aim at Naruto who was in preparation for a maneuver Mizore surged his chakra into his gauntlet which activated one of its primary functions. "Get over here!" With a hiss of steam, the entire metallic hand shot off with a bang as spring compressors and hydraulics inside of the gauntlet shot the detachable accessory off with a bang of recoil. A thick beige colored cable connected the hand to its base attached to Mizore's arm that flinched back at the recoil force of his own weapon.
In the blink of an eye Naruto was captured by the metal covered hand that gripped his midsection with its clamps. It was a rough impact that knocked the air straight out of Naruto's lungs as the cable attached to the metal claw began to retract back into its resting place pulling Naruto along through the air where Mizore then proceeded to swing Naruto around in the same manner that was done to him. Crashing into a nearby cliff Naruto gritted his teeth as his back slammed roughly into the stone behind him.
"Take this boy!" Pressing a button on the gauntlet a surge of electricity immediately transmitted itself through the conductive wires in the cable. Hundreds if not thousands of volts of electricity flowed into the blond haired Uzumaki's body in an instant causing him to let out painful wails in response. This was now the second time in three days that he was electrocuted in such a way. "Naruto!" Henrietta yelled in concern as she wanted so desperately to run to his aid, but it wasn't to be as the four Chūnin level ninja accompanying Nadare broke off from his side to race ahead towards the film crew who were still out in the open. With Kakashi tied up with their leader it would provide the perfect opportunity for them to strike.
The only problem facing them now was the fact that Sakura was in their immediate path to their goal. If this was several months prior, then the sole kunoichi of Team 7 wouldn't have had much in her arsenal to hold off such numbers but times have changed and after spending so much time working with not only Team 8 but Team 9 on polishing up her skills it left her in the position of being able to defend herself. Her resolve for catching up to her teammates was the motivation that has driven her since the time their team went on hiatus.
Two of these Chūnin broke off from the squad to make a break for the film crew while the other two maneuvered themselves into an intercept position to block Sakura's path in an attempt to prevent her from intruding on their teammates task. It was a simple tactic but an effective one that anyone could use in the heat of battle, but in this case, it wouldn't amount to much as Henrietta, Rico, and Triela all moved into position to face this opposition while Jean, Jose, and Victor all tightened up their defense to defend the crew who were excited about the close up view they were getting to the action.
The two Chūnin facing Sakura each pulled out kunai knives as they got well within striking distance to the kunoichi of Team 7 who wore a look of determination on her face that was far removed from the demeanor she used to have in the face of adversary. Lifting her leg up with lightning quick reflexes the first Chūnin's knife bounced off of Sakura's legwarmers with an audible clang of metal on metal. Pushing off with her dominant leg the pink haired girl sent a rising knee strike directly into the man's hooded face knocking him backwards and giving her room to maneuver as his partner took a swipe at Sakura that she masterfully blocked with an elbow strike that once again rebuffed the metal weapon with a noticeable noise.
Pulling out several shuriken Sakura released them at her downed opponent while deflecting another knife strike from her second adversary with a hastily drawn kunai. Trading a myriad of strikes, blocks, and parries the improved young girl snapped into a lightning quick leg sweep that caught the older man by surprise who yelped as he was taken off his feet and landed roughly on his back. His partner who had managed to dodge the shuriken thrown at him while he was knocked down had more to add to this fight as he went through a quick sequence of hand signs in preparation for his own offensive.
"Ice Style: Snow Bombs Jutsu!" It was a weak C – Rank Jutsu in complexity but it served its purpose well as the man sent several baseball sized snowballs packed to the brim with chakra straight at Sakura's seemingly unprotected back. The snowy projectiles were fast but not faster than Sakura's reflexes who went through a chain of hand signs in defiance. Several of those hand signs were often used in the creation of Earth Nature Chakra and miraculously after slapping her palms together a Jutsu formed right at Sakura's back.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall Jutsu!" A thick one-foot wall of frost and snow-covered earth rose out of the ground at Sakura's back shielding her from the barrage of snowballs that detonated against the surface of her creation giving off explosions the size of a regular paper bomb all the while Sakura herself was rendered completely unharmed by this man's assault.
In the long hiatus since Team 7 was split up Tsunade had assigned Sakura to take Hinata's spot on Team 8 whenever she was off completing Chūnin assignments. It was an easy transition to make but during that time Kurenai Yūhi worked the underdeveloped kunoichi to the bone. She drilled into her several exercises all meant to help her improve while also helping her discover her own Chakra Nature which turned out to be Earth Style. Currently Sakura has four ninjutsu under her belt pertaining to her chakra nature and the Genjutsu specialist of Team 8 made sure to teach the young girl one of the most basic but useful Earth Style techniques in the world, the defensive barrier Jutsu that has save many lives over the years. Adding a defensive oriented Jutsu to her library would go a long way in helping Sakura fulfil her role as a support specialist to her team.
But Kurenai didn't just stop there. She saw a lot of potential in Sakura and keeping Kakashi's recommendations in mind she began instructing her on Genjutsu as well to which she took to it even more so than Hinata ever did which was a surprising factor considering the fact Hinata has also received additional tutelage from Shoko of all people. Sakura's affinity towards Yin Release was also discovered during that time and so Kurenai was determined to drill into the girl as many lessons as she possibly could. Kiba helped her on her tracking and evasion skills while Shino helped Sakura polish up her subtlety and stealth related skills. As of now Sakura had a staggering ten Genjutsu related techniques under her belt but most of them would be rendered useless at a time like this with her current opponents.
Even though this was a startling and dramatic improvement to her overall skills Kurenai still wasn't satisfied with the level Sakura was on, so she did the next best thing. With Kakashi constantly advising her on his own students specialties and areas of improvement the female Jōnin then proceeded to rope Might Guy into helping her tutor Sakura. The Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf Village was more than welcoming towards Sakura as he began her on a brutal and intense physical regimen that only those from his own squad have ever survived from. Rock Lee, Neji, and Tenten could all spiritually sympathize with Sakura's plight who rarely trained herself in any Taijutsu or physical augmentation which was painfully highlighted during her time with the Taijutsu Master of their village.
While Guy didn't see it fit to begin training Sakura on the Strong Fist Taijutsu style that he and Lee favored, he instead began teaching her a different style more suited for her at her current level. What he presented her with was a more unique and personalized Taijutsu Style that he named the Springtime Flower Style. Guy's motto and life philosophy on the Springtime of Youth was a heavy inspiration in the style that he helped develop for her but Sakura and her more girlish tastes was quick to disagree with the green Jōnin. Instead after learning the in's and out's of her new style and becoming comfortable with it she decided to rename it to the Rising Cherry Blossom Style in homage to her new outlook and determination in life to grow stronger.
The brand-new style that Guy spent an entire week inventing for Sakura through his extensive library of martial art styles he mixed together different aspects of styles he was familiar with to fuse it together into a hybrid style that not only would suit Sakura at her current level as an amateur but it had an innate flexibility and well spring of potential in it that it would allow Sakura to adapt her body to it's stances over time and evolve alongside it. The meticulous and vigilant Taijutsu Master wrote the full outline of this new style down into several scrolls for Sakura that she has studied the in's and out's of up until this very day. She treasured them greatly and just like with her very nature to be inquisitive and curious she used her bookworm like mentality to study and absorb the information of her new style with a vigor that actually made Guy proud. She ingrained all of the lessons taught to her into her very body and now she was progressing nicely with the martial art.
The style that Sakura preferred to coin the Rising Cherry Blossom Style is a hybridized martial art that is partially offensive and partially defensive that has a strong inclination and tendency to lean more heavily towards being more of a strictly defensive style in application. It focuses primarily on disabling your enemy by converting the energy and momentum of your opponent into that of your own and using it against them. The staple tactic of this style involves the art of pinpoint precise deflection and debilitating headbutts and it often relies on the speed and stamina of the user. It's second tenant lies on both foot sweeps and elbow jabs and it often relies on the agility and speed of the defender. The true battle strength of this personalized style is that it's very in your face and can quickly become overwhelming for the opponent. By utilizing the momentum of your parries, blocks, and deflections for your own gain, your opponent can be thrown off balance, which is a huge advantage in and of itself. In that respect the biggest strength of this Taijutsu form is the ease with which you can learn it, but with respect to the dedication that goes into mastering it. By exploiting the sheer strength of your challenger your opponent tends to overexert themselves, giving you the opportunity to gain the upper hand.
With that in mind the style isn't without its flaws or imperfections as no style is perfect. These flaws are made all the more evident given Sakura's young age and novice experience in the physically demanding art of Taijutsu. The style's biggest and most glaring weaknesses is the fact that it often requires the opponent to make the first move. If you're facing an opponent that doesn't allow you to pace yourself according to his own actions, then all you can do is to try to force your opponent into a position you can dominate from. It's second major flaw is the need for very fast reflexes, agility, and speed as the style lacks more circular movements that allow you to flow with your momentum gracefully to help conserve your stamina and dictate the pace of the battle. If you're up against an opponent who dances around you, you're no longer the one in control of the fight.
With all of that being said Sakura has improved by leaps and bounds as she is now in a far different realm of skills in comparison to how she used to be at the start of the Chūnin Exams. Despite the more serious training and initiative Kakashi took with them in the time leading up to the exam Sakura's reserves of chakra was still far to low for him to safely teach her Elemental Ninjutsu and as such he was only able to impart to her more generalized skills in combination with a few more basic level Genjutsu that she would excel at due to her near perfect Chakra Control that was practically instinctive to her. He was only able to help her polish up on her more rugged and general combat skills such as tracking, defensive tactics, and trap making.
There was a lot to teach but with so little time so Kakashi was only able to do so much for the female on his team. However, it did nothing to stop the pride that swelled in his heart when Guy and Kurenai reported to him before their mission and informed him over lunch the startling improvements the pink haired girl made. It astounded him that she had that much talent and potential locked away within her body and he was happy to finally see that she was tapping into it. With the added experience Sakura had from sparring against both Naruto and Hinata over the months leading up to the Chūnin exams that left her with enough skill to break even with Ino during their match where Sakura had an injured hand it further demonstrates the lengths she has gone too.
Seeing her advantage staring her straight in the face Sakura wasn't going to let the opportunity pass her by as she saw the downed Chūnin before her attempting to scramble to his feet. Being in such a prone form would do him no good and that was a notion that Sakura understood as well as she lunged straight at the man and grabbed him around his legs while ducking into a tumble. Using her natural feminine flexibility and dexterity Sakura came out of her ground roll with the Chūnin's legs locked into a painful kneebar that had the much older man screaming out in pain. Hyperextending the man's knee Sakura knew she didn't have long so she wrenched back on the man's leg causing his screams to echo out in the middle of the battlefield alongside the sound of a sickening pop signifying the damage done to the enemy's leg.
That pain however would blind the Chūnin to a fatal detail that Sakura subtly slipped onto him using her increased skills in subtly granted to her from her training with Shino. Untangling her legs and arms from her opponent Sakura back flipped away to gain distance from her downed opponent just as his partner jumped over her raised earth wall to reinsert himself into the battle. The first thing this man noticed was his partner on the ground clutching at this broken leg in agony and that was enough to garner the sympathy of the Chūnin Sakura kneed in the face. Rushing to his partner's aid the man hovered his hands over the other man's broken leg with anger boiling up inside him. "Why you little bitch!" The man roared as he was seconds away from taking off at Sakura but the single hand sign she had primed and ready sent dread tingling down his spine.
"Boom." It was one single word from Sakura, and it was enough to explain away the paper bomb that she had attached to the very back of the man's pants leg while she had him in her leglock. The paper bomb exploded launching the standing Chūnin back through the air and against her previously erected defensive wall while the first ninja had his leg blown off with flesh and blood exploding outwards from the point of origin. The man's screams were quickly mooted out as he passed out from the intense pain that he was in.
The pinked haired girl felt sick to her stomach for doing such a thing to another human being, but she resolved in her mind that she was shinobi and she was expected to hurt others in defense of her mission and life. It was either them or her and she instinctively knew that they wouldn't show her any mercy if the roles were reversed. Being a kunoichi and a young girl at that, Sakura had a lot more risk and danger posed to her in the shinobi world in comparison to a man when it came to defeat in a battle. That was perhaps the harshest but more important lesson that Kurenai instilled within her that she neglected from her time in the academy and on Team 7. It was a lesson that Kakashi himself has hinted to her over time, but it never stuck until now and she was glad that she was now wizening up to the teachings of her elders.
The two Chūnin that were coming directly at the film crew would also learn this harsh lesson when Henrietta was the first to react in response to the hostilities. The Chūnin wanted to inflict the most damage right off the bat so they immediately formed hand signs to begin their assault.
"Ice Style: Snow Bomb Jutsu!" The two ninja were in sync as they launched a barrage of snowballs at the group intending to blast the group of civilians with the explosive properties of their attack, but it would never reach as Henrietta extended her arms out in front of her and four small panels on her arms opened up followed by a thin translucent shield of pure chakra charging up to form a barrier in front of her body. Rico did the same thing to adding to this defense that blocked the incoming snow bombs that detonated against the girl's defense without leaving so much as a scratch on the marionette's or the film crew.
Triela herself wasn't idol either as she took aim at the two incoming Chūnin with her hand pulled back to expose the dual barrel of a projectile weapon embedded within the hollowed-out space of her arm. Much like with the puppeteer corps of the Hidden Sand Village their puppets had dozens upon dozens of hidden compartments and mechanisms all across each of their puppets that hid weapons of various kinds for numerous occasions.
The marionettes were no different as Shoko based much of their physiology off of those feared puppets and as such all of the girls had specialized weapons made for combat. A small spray of chakra was launched out of the muzzle of the barrel in her arm that was accompanied by two small black beads of steel that traveled through the air faster than most Jōnin could throw a kunai and not expecting this kind of counter attack the first Chūnin was struck in his vested chest and the concussive blast tore his protective vest to ribbons while sending him tumbling to the ground while his partner gritted his teeth in anger.
'This is how shinobi fight? Such violence and anger in them… the same as my uncle. It's to much. I want to leave.' Yukie wheezed in her mind as she collapsed to the ground while ignoring Makino who was attempting to direct her in this hectic scene to act out her lines in accordance with the action going on around him. Everything was being ad-libbed as they went considering the hectic nature of the fight unfolding before them but there was no better actress out there who could act on impulse and improv all of her scenes and the crew was right up there with their skills to run smoothly in such scenarios but now Yukie wasn't responding to what anyone was telling her.
Henrietta was quick to disengage her shield as she met the man's charge half way with more speed than she's ever had before in the past. Pulling out her trusted combat knife that was designed differently compared to normal kunai to clash with the angered Chūnin who was attempting to use his superior size and age to overpower the much smaller girl who wouldn't budge in her staunch defense. Henrietta had the advantage in this contest as her knife was designed with a serrated edge that allowed it to wedge itself into the kunai locking it in place giving the brown-haired girl extra leverage while her new metal coated limbs afforded her more strength than her old outdated wooden one's ever could.
Growling in anger the older man lashed out with a thrust kick to separate himself from his adversary who blocked this attempt with her unused hand before clamping down on his limp with her impressive physical strength. Yanking back on it Henrietta completely destroyed the Chūnin's center of gravity sending him flailing into the air where she then one handedly began to spin him around her with a grunt of exertion. At the apex of her spin the deadly assassin girl released her grip of the man sending him crashing into his partner who was just getting up from being blasted by Triela's assault.
The two men tumbled over each other into a heap of snow, but their misfortune would only grow worst as Rico took aim at them with both of her arms that revealed a long barrel on each. The end of the barrel had small holes cut into the think cylindrical pipe in an interesting design. Clenching her fist closes Rico unleashed a deadly volley of red coated beads from her two launchers on her wrists that puffed out jets of flames for each bead that took off through the air.
The Chūnin never stood a chance as the first bead that connected with one of them exploded against his chest sending flames flying onto his clothes. The subsequent projectiles to follow only added to this as the beads were going so fast that they began to piece into the softer parts of the human body igniting incendiaries that coated the beads with its harsh chemicals. The two men were soon well on their way to burning alive as they attempted to roll around in the frozen snow-covered ground, but it did nothing from putting out the fires spreading across their bodies and it did nothing to prevent Rico from adding to their suffering as she bombarded them with more steel that ripped into their body now that their bodies weren't covered by their protective ninja vests anymore. Rolling around on the ground also aggravated these puncture wounds even more as the jagged and harsh ground added friction to their skin making their pain and injury even worst.
It wasn't too long after that display that the two enemy Chūnin were dead on the ground without either one of them being able to lay a finger on any member from the crew. As always, the marionettes did what they were trained to do since joining the mafia and that was to execute their mission with brutal efficiency. "Area cleared…" Henrietta muttered as she pocketed her knife since none of the other Chūnin were anywhere close to the crew who could only look on in shock at the display of their protectors. 'These are the shinobi that we hired…? If this is what they are capable of then perhaps princess Koyuki can retake her thrown.' Sandayū Asama the manager to Yukie dared to hope within his mind as he rushed over to the actress's side who was in a near catatonic state.
"That's it… I know you guys want to continue filming but we can't risk putting you all in danger any longer. We need to return to the ship until this treat is dealt with." Jean ordered in his gruff and cold tone. He unlike his younger brother Jose wasn't one for indulging others in their wild fantasies and whims. He wasn't willing to put the lives of the entire crew in danger just because the director wanted to catch a money shot. It was time for them to go back to the safety of the ship while the shinobi handled this matter. The handlers for the marionette's in the mafia weren't all trained shinobi. They possessed chakra and some skills, but they weren't Jōnin level like Kakashi and other ninja in the leaf were. Of course, some in their organization such as Aspen Meno was, who was a former Elite Jōnin of the village who knew Kakashi and Guy personally.
It wasn't the smartest move to have them out in the open when they should be retreating. Makino of course protested to this fact, but Jean wasn't inclined to appease his clients wishes in this argument as the explosions from Sasuke's fight gained their attention.
After splitting up from his teammates Sasuke found himself engaged with the female teammate of this three-man Jōnin cell. She was proving to be every bit as difficult to deal with as Naruto and Kakashi were also finding out. 'Naruto said that these suits absorb Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. I need to see what visual effect it will have in battle.' The dark-haired boy theorized in his mind as he immediately went through a set of hand signs in preparation for Fubuki who was now well within range. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Red hot miniature fireballs flew from Sasuke's mouth towards his adversary who grinned at the audacity and in her mind stupidity of her opponent.
Letting the first fireball impact against her the enemy Kunoichi smirked as the flames dispersed around the radius of her body. The air became distorted and blurry during this time, but it soon cleared up once the flames disappeared. She felt a small additional boost to her reserves, but it wasn't by much since it was only fireball that she was hit with.
"You're a fool boy for using Ninjutsu against me… you should have listened to your teammate!" Fubuki taunted as she dodged the rest of the fireballs before landing roughly in front of Sasuke to kick up a cloud of snow in a diversionary tactic. Jumping back Sasuke managed to dodge a strike from the older woman who had kunai in hand. Jumping into the fray Fubuki got in close to Sasuke who took his sword made of ice and clashed with the older kunoichi who braced herself due to the Uchiha's deceptive amounts of strength.
Trading vicious blows with each other the arrogant and taunting expression on Fubuki's face never lessened at any point as she hooked her arm around Sasuke's to prevent him from swinging his sword around. "I never would have imagined your teammate would know how to use Ice Style as well. You kids are full of surprises." The pink haired woman grinned as she took her free hand and attempted to stab Sasuke with the available kunai but the last Uchiha wouldn't allow such a simple move to spell his demise.
"Lightning Style: Static Jutsu!" Sasuke's Sharingan was active so he could see the distorted barrier around her body that the suit naturally generates so he knew that his Jutsu would never last long in this instance but that was not what he was banking on. Static electricity built up in Sasuke's hand as he grabbed Fubuki's arm before she could stab him sending a taser like effect coursing through her body in an instant. The charge only lasted for a second before the chakra of his technique became dispersed by her suit's barrier but that one second was all he needed as the stunned kunoichi dropped her kunai in stinging pain allowing Sasuke just enough time to wrench his arm free of her lock.
"Lightning Style: Stream Jutsu!" A thin pale blue bolt of lightning flew from Sasuke's mouth that impacted with the ground in front of Fubuki's feet that exploded with a part of his technique being absorbed by her barrier obscuring her view of her surroundings with it's distorted atmospheric effect. Growling in distaste Fubuki took to the sky with her retractable wings outstretched to get away from the chaotic confusion blocking her senses. The second she got clear of the smoke and snow rising into the air Fubuki found herself coming face to face with Sasuke who swung his sword at her faster than what she could react to. The sword made out of densely packed Yōki held up against the chakra absorbing properties of her suit allowing the fledgling swordsman to land an actual blow against his swift opponent.
Cutting the enemy across the chest Sasuke watched in satisfaction as blood flew from the wound causing Fubuki to screech in pain. With an opening granted to him Sasuke latched onto his opponent before flipping them upside down in the air. With gravity and momentum working against them Sasuke began to spin with the enemy kunoichi trapped within his grasp who was now screaming at her impending injuries. "Primary Lotus!" Breaking off at the last second Sasuke sent Fubuki crashing head first into the ground below them while he tumbled away into the snowbanks surrounding them. Coughing out snow that got into his mouth Sasuke looked up to see that Fubuki wasn't dead like he thought.
"That was a devilish move their kid… but using it against an opponent who can control the environment around her is foolish!" Fubuki seethed as blood dripped from the open wound on her chest while she clutched at the back of her neck with blisters of pain shooting up and down her spine. Around her feet Sasuke was able to spy the fact that the snow was packed together into a thick cushion that she must have used to break her fall. While it prevented her from dying it did nothing to stop the momentum that they had or the searing pain that would be shooting through her back now.
"You say that but the pained look on your face speaks otherwise." Sasuke remarked as he held his sword in hand while Fubuki snarled in rage. "You speak of pain… I'll show you pain. You'll know pain when your teammates are killed including that pink haired girl of yours. I could easily see the look in her eyes and the body language between the two of you. Maybe I should go fight her instead or perhaps she'll be taken out by our subordinates." Fubuki threatened with grabbing more kunai into her hand. Cold fury could be seen in her eyes as she glared at Sasuke who returned the favor.
"Sakura is stronger than you think." Sasuke uttered with narrowed eyes filled with a cold fury equal to the one being directed at him while Fubuki herself allowed her patented grin to return to her face. "Which one looks better? Me or that girl of yours kiddo?" Whatever response Fubuki was hoping for would be dashed by Sasuke who readied himself for the inevitable conflict to come. "Pink doesn't suit you." Feminine rage was the only thing left in the Jōnin's eyes after this as she threw her kunai that had small blue crystal orbs tied to the ends of them with string at Sasuke who jumped back just as the knife's hit the ground.
Explosive eruptions of ice spires and shards flew into the air upon impact sending shrapnel in every direction but Sasuke himself countered this with a few well-placed throws of kunai with paper bombs on it to cancel out the attacks coming his way. "I'm not through with you yet little boy! I'll make you pay for defying me! Ice Style: Tsubame Snowstorm Jutsu!" Hundreds of ice shards lifted into the air from the snow and condensation around them by Fubuki's will which began to mold and transform themselves into swallows made out of ice. Their frosty wings fluttered in the chilly air as they took off in a flock towards Sasuke who using his sword and Sharingan began to cut into and destroy the massive blizzard of ice birds coming his way.
Sasuke's dexterity and prestigious talents were on full display here as he managed to hold off the initial barrage sent at him, but he was forced to dodge the second wave once the angered woman added more numbers to her technique. He could feel the sharp wings of the icicle birds cutting into his cloak and skin sending frigid cold blisters shivering throughout his body. He couldn't allow himself to be hit with the full force of this technique or else it would shred him to pieces. When the snowstorm of birds came around for a third pass Sasuke was ready for them as he flashed through his most practiced and time-honored sequence of hand signs since a young age. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The red-hot orb of fire that blasted forth from Sasuke's lips melted the torrent of icicle bird shaped shards of ice coming his way in an instant leaving the water vapor in the air as the only indication of anything left.
"I'm not done yet!" Fubuki cried as she slammed her hands into the ground at her feet in a very familiar fashion that Sasuke's seen a million times before. "Ice Style: Ice Prison Jutsu!" Sasuke knew this Jutsu like the back of his hand since he's seen Naruto perform it a million times before in the past and letting the shock of seeing this woman with the same technique as his best friend leave his mind just as soon as it had originally came the last Uchiha narrowed his eyes down with his Sharingan focused entirely at the task at hand as he had to time his counter just right.
Large glacial columns of ice shot up into the air in a trail headed straight for Sasuke but with his fabled Dōjutsu activated he counted down the exact seconds to the very moment that Fubuki's view of him became obscured by her very own technique that was covering a wide area. 'Now!' Lashing out with his hands Sasuke threw six shuriken at his opponent three on each side of her that had ninja wire tied to them. The shuriken crossed behind Fubuki who saw them a little too late as Sasuke pulled back on the wires causing Fubuki to become entangled and pinned up against her very own ice she was creating. The ninja wire dug into her skin as it tore through the new microfibers that her suit was made out of with its razor-sharp qualities.
"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!" Sasuke roared as he unleashed a massive firestorm of flames that traced the flammable wires all the way to its target. What Fubuki couldn't see was the fact that paper bombs were attached to the wires that were now wrapped around the ice trapping Fubuki. Once Sasuke's fire reached its intended target it ignited the explosives creating a massive explosion of fire that destabilized the cliff of ice above them. Sasuke knew that his Jutsu would be absorbed and dispersed by the snow ninja's special suit but the added insurance of the paper tags into the mix would ensure that his overall attack would still hit.
At the same time this was happening the conflict between Naruto and Mizore was heating up as Naruto grabbed on to the metal claw gripping his chest. "Get this damn thing off of me!" Naruto roared as his eyes turned a scarlet red as his pupils dilated to become animalistic. He wasn't about to deal with being electrocuted again so soon after three days of having the same thing happen to him. He was in no mood to deal with such a situation again and as such he let his anger guide him a little in powering through his current predicament.
The clouds themselves began to darken with snow ready to fall as the Nine Tailed Fox's influence fell upon Naruto's body that as usual mixed well with his Yōki reserves. Gripping the cable attached to his body Naruto sent a massive surge of chakra into it that caused amethyst colored ice crystals to form on the offending weapon. A long trail of these crystals shot down the length of the cable towards Mizore's gauntlet which caused the man to hastily retract his weapon which tore at Naruto's ice.
Feeling the clawed hand reset itself into its chamber Mizore didn't have time to do much of anything else before Naruto appeared before him in a deafening blur of speed that rattled his ears at the displaced air that rushed passed it. A resounding boom tore through the area as Naruto slammed into Mizore with a powerful roundhouse kick that took that man clear off his feet. Mizore felt his ribs crack under the force of Naruto's kick as the portly man flew through the air before smashing through two cliffs with debris and rock flying everywhere. This impromptu flight came to an end when he slammed into a third and final outcropping of earth in his way that shattered under his weight. Groans of pain wheezed out of Mizore's lips as he painfully opened his eyes to see Naruto coming at him like a freight train.
"Ice Style: Icicle Impact Jutsu!" A sledge hammer blow plowed into Mizore's stomach straining more of the man's ribs as an overgrowth of ice and frost exploded from the point of impact causing the overpowered ninja to cough up blood and spit in response. 'My technique worked on him…? The suits are supposed to negate Ninjutsu. Wait? Is it because I'm channeling so much Yōki through my body now on top of the Nine Tails own chakra?' Naruto briefly pondered to himself as he grabbed the injured man around the neck and slammed him roughly into the ground.
"How did you guys get your hands on this chakra armor? Who gave it to you!?" Naruto interrogated as Mizore tried to grip Naruto's arm in retaliation. "Wouldn't you like to know brat?" The man coughed as he grinned up at Naruto through bloody teeth. "Yes, I'd really like to know." Naruto coldly stated as his hand became encased within the red chakra of his resident Tailed Beast. His nails sharpened to fine points and the bones in his fingers became rigid. He would run this man through if he didn't answer.
"Our forces will kill you all little man and then we'll get what we came here for." Mizore taunted with a bloody cough as Naruto gritted his teeth in anger. He could feel his inner emotions stirring and boiling over to a fine point and that was due to the shared link he shared with Eva. The little demon fairy had a lot of pent up frustration coiled within her and it was being emulated by Naruto now who was in no mood for the taunts and mind games these enemies were attempting to use. They have already gotten themselves onto his hit list due to the fact they somehow got their hands on the tech his organization was working on and now they had the audacity to use it against them? It also didn't help that he could smell the arrogance off of these ninja from a mile away.
"What forces…? Do you mean those?" Naruto mercilessly taunted as he grabbed Mizore's head and forced him to look over to where Eva was and what he saw caused his eyes to widen. All four Chūnin accompanying Mizore were viciously torn apart by thick shards and spears made out of ice jutting out of the ground. Their bodies were mangled and shredded by these thick formations of ice while at least one of them had a hole blown through his chest from what Naruto could tell was from one of Eva's high pressurized blasts of water that ripped through the man's skin and bones like butter.
"Impossible?" Mizore groaned out as Naruto then turned his head to face where Sakura and the clients were, and four more incapacitated ninja could be seen. "You've vastly underestimated us, and you'll pay the price for that soon enough, but right now I want to know how you got your hands on the Jasmine Dragon Mafia's tech. That was meant for our client up here in the Land of Snow?" Naruto insisted as he stomped down on the purple haired man's large club like arm when he noticed the sly older man attempting to reach for a kunai. The man let out a wail of pain as Naruto began to freeze him to the ground beneath their feet. "I'm not talking kid so you may as well kill me right here." The portly man resisted as a snarl worked its way onto Naruto's demonically charged face. He was seconds away from plunging his fist into the man's chest when the entire glacial island shook from the battle going on between Kakashi and Nadare.
"Ice Style: Wolf Fang Avalanche Jutsu!" The entire cliff face on the tallest peak of the glacial island that the battle was taking place on began to shake as the snow became loose and destabilized. The thousands of metric tons of snow began to transform into large man-sized wolves with glowing red eyes and seeing this Kakashi knew he had no choice but to break out the big guns. He couldn't allow his team and clients to get caught in the crossfire of such a technique and as such he flew threw a set of hand signs faster than what most Jōnin could ever manage. "Lightning Style: Lightning Blade!" A powerful surge of electricity poured out from Kakashi's hand as he leapt into the air and cut straight through the rushing pack of snow wolves that began to dissolve the second that they came in contact with the famous shinobi's powerful technique. "It's pretty pretentious of you to name a technique after your name don't you think Nadare!" Kakashi taunted to a miffed Nadare who couldn't react in time to the famous speed of the leaf Jōnin whenever he was using his signature technique.
"I've got you!" Kakashi declared as he slammed his lightning covered fist into Nadare's side that actually managed to put a small crack into the power cell on his shoulder. For a brief moment Kakashi's technique was able to overpower the natural barrier of Nadare's suit and this force sent the arrogant man sailing through the air after being repulsed back where he slammed through a cliff side to land on a lower plateau. His back ached with enormous pain and seeing the fact that Kakashi landed on his feet was like pouring salt into the wound. Rage shimmered beneath the skin of the native to the Land of Snow as he scrambled to his feet in preparation for another technique but Kakashi was one step ahead of him as he was already finishing another sequence of hand signs.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" It was a chakra intensive technique to cast but since they were literary surrounded by water on all sides it lessened the burden placed on the Copycat Ninja's shoulders to activate. The massive water spout shaped like a dragon's head surged forward to a panicking Nadare who had seconds to react. His hands were a blur as he performed a sequence that Kakashi couldn't quite see given the debris in the way. But he would soon see it's affects as a large sheet of ice from the mountainside next to them came to life. "Ice Style: Tiger vs. Dragon Jutsu!"
A giant tiger made out of ice and snow came to life and intercepted Kakashi's powerful water dragon causing the entire liquid structure to begin to freeze upon the point of impact while the crafty silver haired Jōnin used the distraction and obstruction from all of the water vapor in the air rapidly cooling down to form a dense fog as his cover to his approach.
A fatal kunai strike was almost Nadare's fate if he didn't twist his waist at the very last second as Kakashi came out of the dense fog mere feet from him with his fully matured Sharingan boring a hole into the Snow Jōnin's skull. "Now the naming of that last technique is just comical. What would have happened if I didn't use a dragon themed attack? Are you sure you're not making all of this up?" Kakashi taunted with his patented eye smile in place as he was using mind games to throw off his opponent and so far, it was working splendidly well. He of course needed to get payback against this trio of ninja who helped a dictator take over this country 10 years ago but the silver haired Jōnin would never admit to being just a little bit vindictive.
"Shut your damn mouth you insufferable man!" Nadare roared as he took a swing at Kakashi who ducked this strike and lashed out with a lightning fast kunai slash of his own that managed to cut into one of the blue wired tubes traversing the length of his clothes. Sparks flew as the cocky man panicked and jumped back outside of Kakashi's immediate range. That was too close and now the structural integrity of his suit was in question.
Looking over to his teammates Nadare saw that both of them were in a very tight spot and that the eight Chūnin that they brought with them were either dead or incapacitated. They were at a major disadvantage and losing quite badly. If they didn't retreat right now while they still could then they would never get another chance. What he needed right now was a big enough distraction that could guarantee him and his teammates an avenue of escape. There was only one thing left that he could do in this situation.
"You've interfered with our plans once again Kakashi Hatake and this time you'll pay dearly for it. You leave me no choice in this matter. Begone!" Nadare declared as he took out a flare gun and shot it into the air were the glowing red flare shot high into the sky above the island raining down a soft red light onto the onlookers. Seeing this flare Fubuki who was caught in Sasuke's nasty trap limped her way out of the debris of fire and rock to make her way to her comrade while blocking off Sasuke's pursuit of her with a thick large wall of ice. Mizore who saw Naruto's momentary lapse in concentration pointed his gauntlet straight at Naruto's chest where he fired off another spring-loaded kunai directly into Naruto's tattered flak jacket that barely did a thing to stop the mechanized penetrative power of this launched kunai.
Blood spurted from Naruto's chest as the kunai lodged itself into his lower lung while the desperate battered Jōnin took this opportunity to then use the claw function of his gauntlet to push Naruto away after extending it with a forceful launch. Naruto was sent flying through the air where he crashed into a nearby rock that fractured under the rough impact it received. A surge of electricity coursed through Naruto's body seconds later curtesy of Mizore who took off running to the best of his abilities after retracting his metal claw which had intentionally pushed the kunai further into Naruto's chest once it had clamped down onto him.
Naruto was coughing up blood at this point as he watched fast moving fireballs crash down near Mizore's feet curtesy of Iris who he could hear screaming his name in fright. He could sense his twin daughter's presence closing in on him as the enemy Jōnin managed to regroup with their comrades in preparation for Nadare's distraction. Chaos's black nightshade could be seen chasing the two as they tried to pull back and with the hectic nature of the battle coming to a close Kakashi knew not to pursue any further with the way things were now.
"I'll see you soon Kakashi if you and your group can survive this!" Nadare threatened as the power core on his shoulder hissed before unlocking itself. The Yin/Yang symbol that acted as the cover to the device extended into the air allowing the onlookers to see what was inside of it. A chakra core was now visible that was being supported by a small clear glass like case with wires and tubes leading inside it. The core was a small spherical ball that looked like a bead that if you were able to look close enough at had small Fūinjutsu seals written all across its surface.
The chakra core shinned bright in that moment as Nadare overloaded it and forced it to expend all of its built-up energy. "Ice Style: One Horned White Whale Jutsu!" With the massive dump of chakra being unleashed from his damaged suit Nadare was going for broke and it could be felt as the entire glacial island shook as a massive white one horned whale made out of chakra and ice shot up into the air from beneath the island ripping off a sizable chunk of the landmass with it while the large horn on its forehead tore through everything in sight. On its own this was bad but when you add in the factor that Kakashi had copied Nadare's technique with his Sharingan at the same time allowing him to summon his own marine mammal then things went from bad to worse as the two whales smacked into each other at the apex of their jumps cleaving the entire island in two and causing both halves to start to crumble under the massive hulking frames of the giant beasts falling back onto them.
'Everyone…' Naruto wheezed as charged up his chakra cloak for a discharge that sent him across the hill he was on and towards the startled film crew who were now starting to panic considering the fact that the entire island was beginning to fall apart. "Daddy!" Iris called out as she reached Naruto's side first with fear and worry seeped into her eyes. She could see the wounds that he sustained, and she was not pleased in the slightest but that would have to wait for now.
"Not now Iris! I need a boost!" Naruto called out as he felt Eva return to him now that everyone was in real danger. Her anger and foul mood swing was abated for the time being as she wanted to ensure the safety of her friends and family first and foremost. By now Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi had returned and he even managed to capture the two Chūnin that Sakura had fought. Despite the serious injuries she inflicted upon them she didn't actually kill them which meant that they would be perfect sources of information once they were interrogated.
Knowing how dire the situation was both Iris and Eva surged their power into Naruto at the same time causing him to cry out in pain but the young Chūnin wouldn't let such a thing stop him despite the fact that the girl's conflicting energies were tearing through him. "Everyone brace yourself now!" Naruto roared out with blood dripping from his mouth. It was do or die time as Naruto went through a chain of six hand signs that he had to calculate together in his haste to get the desired effect he was looking for. It had to be big, bigger than anything he's ever pulled off before. Slapping his hands together in the signature stance he takes for his Ice Style Naruto slammed the palm of his hands into the ground.
"ICE STYLE: ICE GLACIER JUTSU!" A new technique was born right before everyone's eyes as an enormous wall of amethyst colored ice erupted from the water vapor and ocean water around the island that sprung up and separated the group and the film crew along with their small section of what remained of the glacial island from the rest of it that was tearing itself apart with the two chakra whales receding into the sea. The massive wall of ice that Naruto formed conformed itself around the small chunk of land left securing its structural integrity and making itself out to be an entire miniature island all onto itself.
'Incredible… Naruto where do you get this strength from?' Sasuke numbly thought in his mind as the sword made out of ice given to him by Naruto crumbled away in his hand. The limits to what Naruto was capable of always surprised the last Uchiha who couldn't imagine what the young boy wasn't capable of when push came to shove. 'I did it… everyone is safe now…' Naruto drowsily thought to himself while making brief eye contact with Sasuke who had a stunned look on his face at the feat his teammate just pulled off. An entire conversation happened between the two friends in that instant but the impact of it would have to wait as everyone gathered around Naruto as their now separate island floated along in the ocean. Off the coast of what used to be the original land mass a chilling sight could be seen.
A large ship… almost as big as the Dawn Theatre could be seen with a large central mass and large white flags blowing in the wind. The jolly roger of the ship that signified its identity and allegiance was that of a black centralized dot with a large ring situated around it that had extended triangle shaped protrusions jutting out from it reminiscent of how a stylized depiction of a sun and its shining rays would look like. At the very top of this ring the design changed slighter to extend up into a tower like shape.
'Impossible… it can't be. That's the symbol of the Black Sun.' Naruto thought to himself before falling to his back in exhaustion and pain. What was the most notorious and powerful criminal syndicate doing all the way up here near the north pole? What was their connection to what was going on? So many questions plagued Naruto in that instance but none of that would matter for now as he felt the anxiety filled gazes of his daughters and friends upon him.
"Everyone is safe now… we can get out of here." Naruto choked out as he saw Yukie of all people looking at him with a mixed range of emotions on his face. Fear, horror, pain, and dare he say slight amounts of awe was all reflected in the actress's eyes as they started down into the tired and pain filled eyes of Naruto whose entire body was wracked with pain. "Daddy! Stay with me! Stay with me daddy!" Iris's voice was becoming dimmer and dimmer as Naruto closed his eyes once more. "Everything is going to be ok. I promise." These were Naruto's last words as he felt Iris's warm golden hands engulfed in flames placed themselves down on his chest. Always being on the receiving end of injuries was not a pleasant feeling for Naruto who once again for the second time in three days was falling into the abyss of unconsciousness.
Land of Snow / Unknown Cave
This area of the country was the wildlands just ten miles north of the capital city of the Land of Snow called the Snow Point City of Nova Auroras. It was a stylized way of referring to the city of Auroras but as one of the very few settlements on the entire continent and country it gave the denizens of the Land of Snow leniency on how they wanted to advertise their culture. This unknown cave was located in the Azure Tundra north of the capital that led directly up into the north pole of the world. The tundra was the coldest place in the world and also one of the harshest environments. Nothing but the most hardy species could even survive way up here but it did nothing to deter the small creature who has made its home in this remote and untouched cave in this peaceful and lawless land.
It's pure white vertical slit like eyes were currently tracking a small group of Frost Goblins. They were a rare breed of the common mythological species of Goblins that could only survive in cold ecosystems. They were an unsightly creature with unattractive features and a very small stature barely making it over three feet tall. While usually they either have green or grey skin these goblins had a rare cream-colored skin tone to help them blend in more with their environment. There were currently four of them with small fabric clothes covering their frame as the cold didn't bother them much in the slightest… now if you were to stick them in the desert…
The small party of four were attempting to find refuge from the sudden snow storm that swept into the land. On the backs of two of the small little humanoid creatures was a sack containing the dead corpse of special avian supernatural creatures that could survive the harsh climate of the north pole. Other uncommon off breed versions of rabbits and birds were also in in these sacks that fell victim to their hunters. These rare species could never possibly survive in any other environment in the world which has ensured that they were never truly discovered by the rest of the human population of the world at large but that comfort didn't mean that they still weren't susceptible to becoming the prey to other hunters and predators. As far as the little impish creatures were concern it was either kill or be killed and eat or be eaten. The circle of life and the natural law of nature reigned supreme over all others and they were no exception. They didn't speak in any recognizable language instead relying on unique and distinctive grunts and noises to communicate with each other but they as a collective had no idea that they were about to stumble upon the den of a far superior predator to them.
It's eyes as stated before were very animalistic in nature and were pure white vertical slits while its sclera were a very deep teal color that appeared almost dark blue. It's fur was a very soft baby blue with dark teal colored rhombus shaped markings on its back. Two very large and noticeable diamond shaped pointed ears twitched sensitively to every sound made around it as it was in complete hunter mode. It was going to dine well tonight with the large assortment of food attempting to enter its cave without permission.
When the creature was first born nearly three months prior it did not know what to do with itself as it had no mother or father to guide it and its instincts down to its very soul was resonating within it to seek out a part of itself that it knew it was missing. It was a powerful calling that was telling it that it needed to find this mysterious entity that was so vital and integral to its life. So, the first place it went was a large city that was north from where it was born. It searched the civilization up and down but never found the special presence that it felt within its heart. It spent nearly a month loitering around the city avoiding all contact with the humans and denizens that resided in it before it gave up hope and traveled farther north into the land eventually coming upon the Azure Tundra which was a lawless wildland inhospitable to humans and most normal mammals.
While trekking up to its permanent resting place the small unique creature came upon a mesmerizing and breathtaking valley about 6 miles north of the capitol at the entrance to the Azure Tundra. The valley was cold and desolate, but it had a unique attraction to it that made it stand out. Three massive skyscraper sized monolith styled mirrors all pointing to a frozen over lake. An altar was situated on the opposite end of the lake. What made this place feel so special yet ominous at the same time was the fact that the young newborn creature could feel an unimaginable amount of Yōki dwelling just beneath the surface of the lake. In fact, the Yōki was so prevalent that it has seeped into the atmosphere of the entire country and surrounding region. The air was saturated with the demonic energy that felt chaotic yet overwhelmingly tranquil and peaceful. It felt like it was a part of nature to the point that the curious little animal almost couldn't tell that there was an actual source generating this presence that it was feeling.
Regardless of whether it was harmless to go down their or not the little migrating and lost newborn decided that it should follow its instincts and stay far away from the weird valley as it possible could. Most if not all of the other animals and supernatural creatures were doing it so it would do the same.
Up here nothing bothered it as it went day by day with that ever present and clawing feeling in its chest that it wasn't born complete and that it needed to find the missing link to its existence. That notion has been driving the poor creature mad all of this time but with this solitude granted to this entity, it came with some benefits. Time allowed the small quadruped animal like creature to learn, hunt, and survive out on its own. But most importantly of all it learned how to harness and master its unique powers that it was born with.
By the time the first goblin got into the cave it was already to late. It had no idea what danger it was in or what had hit him. The impact of what felt like a massive boulder smashed into the lead goblin who was sent crashing into the wall of the cave with a resounding crunch that signified that its back was broken. It's cries of pain alerted the other three members who were standing at the entrance to the cave waiting for their friend to clear it. With danger now coming into fruition the other three creatures scrambled into action as one had a crude axe attached to its belt that it brandished while another has a large shield on its back that it stole once from a warrior of the human civilization that they knew never to go near without a plan.
The last one had a slingshot that it loaded a stone onto as it took aim at the predator that it could see stalking them in the darkness. They wanted to run away but they had nowhere else to go and the snowstorm was growing worse by the second. They'd be lost or end up dead if they went back out there so their only option was to kill whatever was in this cave and claim it as their own until the storm passed.
Easier said than done as they say…
The goblin launched his sharp rock from his slingshot with great aim being a seasoned hunter, but it did nothing as the creature's ear's twitched in response to the distinct sound of air being displaced by a flying projectile. The agility and reactionary speed that it showed was on a whole new caliber as it sidestepped the flying rock as if it were moving like a snail. A growl escaped the beast's mouth as it took off with such speed that a cloud of snow and dust kicked up behind it.
Sailing pass the two other goblins the creature lunged for the long-range archer of the group with human levels of intelligence and tactics guiding its instincts. This goblin saw the danger it was in and dove out of the way of his attackers path leaving it wide open for its partners that came down on it from behind. The axe wielding goblin attempted to hack the creature to pieces who stood its ground and allowed its prey to attack it. The axe came down right on the animals back and a resounding, yet unsettling sound of metal breaking filled the cave with its deafening sound.
The goblins axe broke against the skin of the mysterious beast that now had its fur sticking straight up into the air that had magically transformed into icicle crystals. It's quills were quivering in the fading daylight as its enemies attack bounced harmlessly off it's tough body. The fear in the eyes of its prey filled its heart with delight as it unleashed a deafening roar that belonged to a beast far larger than its small size. The cave shook from its powerful roar as it watched the goblin tumble to its legs in fright.
Lunging on it before the others could make a move it clamped down on its neck with its sharp teeth before it began to violently shake its head from side to side spraying diluted inky green blood everywhere much to the horror of the two able bodied goblins who were quickly losing morale. Leering up at the last two enemies the creature growled to further intimated them before it opened its mouth and a cyan colored orb of power began to charge in its maw. Seeing this the goblin with the shield braced itself while the archer took cover behind its ally just as the creature unleashed a condensed cyan colored beam of Yōki at it's target that traveled the distance between them in nearly the blink of an eye.
The second the beam impacted the old and rustic shield a massive explosion of ice shards grew from the epicenter of the beam knocking the two remaining goblins off their feet from the new added weight pushing against them. A thin trail of icicle shards grew out of the beam itself leading back to the creature that fired it that shattered once the power to the attack was cut leaving a large glacial growth leeching off of the shield the goblin was holding. Scrambling to their feet in fear they were instantly met with the creature that was less than three feet from them now.
It was understandable that the two panicked as the goblin with the slingshot tried to shoot the beast before them but for some inexplicable reason beyond its tiny brains comprehension it missed its target despite the fact that it was only three feet away. It was impossible to miss anything at that distance, especially when the target was just a big as you were. It didn't even look like it moved yet the sharp stone could be seen bouncing off the cave floor behind it. A dark grin was on the creatures face at this point as another rock was sent at it and suddenly it wasn't standing in front of the goblins anymore.
A soft lick to the neck of the goblin with the slingshot in its hand alerted it to the fact it was now in mortal danger. The proud predator wasted no time in snapping down into the neck of its prey while its partner that had the shield tried to slam its fist into its unprotected back. Or so it thought. The second the goblins hand came crashing down onto the creature's back it squealed in pain as the fur that it had previously thought was soft was now as solid as diamonds once more with sharp icicle shards replacing the strands of fur on the creatures back.
Picking up the prey in its strong jaws the creature shook its head violently killing the enemy in its clutches while ripping a huge hole in its neck while it shot off several waves of its sharp icicle fur at the last enemy that was writhing in pain. Its fur was now like barbs as it rattled the shield wielding goblin with its sharp edges. It stumbled over its own feet in agonizing pain as it tried to reach for its shield that was trapped under the overgrowth of ice from its predators previous attack and seeing the resistance that it's prey was attempting to put up brought a curious expression of amusement to the creatures eyes.
It's tail which was erect and alert up in the air was shaped very similarly to its ears while it had a dark deal colored tip of fur to it. Channeling its mysterious power into its tail the spry appendage turned into a very distinct and familiar purple curved blade like appendage that glistened in the fading daylight. With a swing of its hip the last goblin was sliced in half by its predator spraying its blood all across the cave.
It's hunt was now over and after snapping the neck of the very first goblin that entered the cave the far superior predator dragged the sacks of dead animal corpses into the cave with it to eat. With nothing to do it began organizing the bodies and going about its business until a very sharp and distinctive energy signature spiked somewhere out in the world very close to it. It was a mesmerizing and distinct hybrid energy source that resonated with this creature's very soul and felt entirely familiar and comforting to it. It was the same energy that coursed through its body. The energy held a lot of rage, pain, and anger in it and the creature could feel the Yōki in the air mix with this ominous yet powerful force as the snowstorm and dark clouds in the sky increase overhead.
It's other half… the missing portion of its soul was finally close by and even closer than three days ago. Did that mean that soon enough, very soon it could meet its progenitor and find the salvation its been looking for? Only time would tell, and time was quickly approaching. If that was the case, then it would savor the food it had tonight since tomorrow it was finally going on the hunt of a lifetime… the hunt to track down its other half… its creator.
To be continued...
[Land of Snow Arc]
Jutsu Library
1.) Fūinjutsu: Four Point Detection Barrier - A simple and effective C - Rank barrier Ninjutsu that a user can set up that will allow them to sense when chakra signatures at Genin level and above pass over its threshold. To set up the technique four specialized seal tags need to be placed in the cardinal directions out the outside perimeter of the area you are trying to protect, and an invisible dome shaped barrier will erect itself spawned from those for predefined seal tags.
2.) Ice Style: Ice Make Jutsu - A Jutsu created from the combination of both Naruto and Evangeline's teamwork. By molding chakra mixed in with Eva's Yōki into his hands Naruto can create any object he wants out of Ice. Depending on how much chakra he puts into the Jutsu will determine how durable the creation is.
3.) Yōjutsu: Water Celebration - A Demonic technique that Eva created that allows her to rapidly form a large volume of water that is cerulean in color instead of the normal clear color water takes. It is thick and heavier than normal water and it can blast through objects and break them a lot easier than normal water can. Eva can control this water at will and she can create large volumes of it.
4.) Ice Style: Snow Bombs Jutsu - A weak C - Rank technique in complexity that is a standard for the ninja of the Hidden Snow Village. Much like the Earth Style: Mud Bomb technique this one compacts a dense dosage of chakra into the snow balls that the user creates. They explode with the force of a typical Paper Bomb for comparison.
5.) Earth Style: Earth Wall Jutsu - The user creates a solid wall of earth as a form of defense. Chakra is either converted to earth within the body and then spat out to form the wall or the user can manipulate pre-existing earth to form the wall. The earth then instantly rises up and takes form. The barrier itself is also coated with chakra, making its strength incomparable to that of a normal mud wall. Because of the earth's special characteristics, the wall is highly resistant against, for instance, fire and water.
6.) Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu - This technique creates a volley of small fireballs, which are sent flying in an unpredictable manner assaulting the enemy. In addition, the flames are controlled individually with chakra, so avoiding them all is extremely difficult. Shuriken can also be concealed within the flames, creating an unexpected secondary surprise attack. Like the flames, the shuriken can be controlled with chakra. For the most part, however, this technique is used as a distraction.
7.) Lightning Style: Static Jutsu - A basic Lightning Style Jutsu in which the intention is to create and generate static electricity in your body. You are to generate and then stockpile a continuous stream of static inside of your body. It is not good as an offensive Jutsu and it's not meant to be. It is the beginning tier in Lightning Style Jutsu and it's meant to teach users how to perform Lightning Style Ninjutsu. However creative minds can come up with an infinite amount of uses for the static electricity that they store up in their bodies using this Jutsu.
8.) Lightning Style: Stream Jutsu - The basics of Lightning Style. It is the exact same as it's other elemental counterparts such as the Wind Style: Stream. The user exhales a bolt of lightning from their mouth in the direction of their enemy. The person hit with this Jutsu will find their bodies going numb and a nasty electrical burn on the skin in which the Jutsu touched.
9.) Primary Lotus - The Primary Lotus is a technique that requires the user to open the first of the Eight Gates, giving the user five times their normal strength. The user kicks their opponent into the air and then uses Dancing Leaf Shadow. Once behind their opponent, the user restrains them and pile-drives them into the ground head first while rotating at a ferocious speed. Due to the use of one of the Eight Gates, the user is left extremely fatigued, making this technique a (double-edged sword). It may also be used on multiple people at once.
10.) Ice Style: Tsubame Snowstorm Jutsu - This technique creates a cluster of ice needles in the shape of miniature swallows out of preexisting ice, which the user then launches at the opponent. These needles can change direction in midair and will maim the opponent with their sharp wings. This technique can be countered by Fire Release techniques, which in turn melts the ice.
11.) Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu - The Hallmark Jutsu of the Land of Fire and the Hidden Leaf Village and founded by the famous Uchiha Clan the Fire ball Jutsu is the go to fire style Jutsu as well as a rite of passage in the Uchiha clan. The Jutsu spews forth a fireball from the mouth of the user and the size of the technique is depended on the amount of Chakra used by the user. The Jutsu is the gateway Jutsu to many other advanced and powerful fire style Jutsu.
12.) Ice Style: Ice Prison Jutsu - This technique allows the user to infuse their chakra with ice on the ground and bring it to the surface. The user can then trap their opponent within the ice by controlling its movements and completely surrounding them in the ice. It is strong enough to withstand basic Fire Release techniques, because the ice has already been infused with the user's chakra. The user can also surround themselves with the ice prison to act as a shield.
13.) Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu - The user breathes fire along a cord or any other type of long object, which rushes forward in straight line catching the enemy on fire. A line of enemies can be used as the conductor as well. The flames are meant to target, and assault the enemy's upper body just like a projectile weapon.
14.) Ice Style: Icicle Impact Jutsu - A Jutsu that Naruto developed that allows him to slam into an area and create a massive construct of ice that breaks apart and cuts deeply into anything in the surrounding area with millions of little icicle shards. It is an area effect Jutsu that covers large distances.
15.) Ice Style: Wolf Fang Avalanche Jutsu - This technique allows Nadare to cause an avalanche when near a mountain and transform the falling snow into a pack of wolves to attack the opponent.
16.) Lightning Style: Lightning Blade - A technique that was created by Kakashi Hatake. It is a S-Rank Jutsu that is made for one hit kills and assassinations. It is so powerful that it was said Kakashi split a real lightning bolt in half with it. It is a more concentrated and enhanced form of the Lightning Style: Chidori Jutsu the parent Jutsu to the Lightning Blade and also a Jutsu that Kakashi created. It is also the very first and his only original technique that he has credit for using. All derived Jutsu from the Lightning Blade was also created by Kakashi unlike the hundreds of Jutsu that he knows that he did not create.
17.) Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu - The Jutsu shapes a large amount of water into a giant, powerful dragon, which hits the opponent with formidable might, dealing physical damage. The ideal place to use it is near a body of water, but if the user's skill allows it, it is possible to use it even in a place where there is none. The amount of water used will be in proportion with the user's skill.
18.) Ice Style: Tiger vs. Dragon Jutsu - The user manipulates pre-existing ice and forms it into a giant tiger. It is cold enough to freeze any Water Release technique that it comes into contact with.
19.) Ice Style: One Horned White Whale Jutsu - This technique allows the user to create a humongous whale with a long narwhal horn out of preexisting ice to attack their opponent. The user needs a source of ice in order to use this technique. The large bulk of this technique is capable of creating great destruction upon landing. However, due to its size and lack of speed, this technique is used more as a distraction, or to block an opponent's movements rather than attack.
20.) Ice Style: Ice Glacier Jutsu - A powerful and upgraded version of Naruto's Ice Style: Ice Wall Jutsu. Naruto goes through a quick sequence of six hand signs before clapping his hands together in his signature pose for his Ice Style. Naruto then slams his hands into the ground where a giant structure of ice is formed from the water vapor in the surrounding atmosphere and goes up to at least 100 feet in the air. It is mainly used as a defensive technique, but it can also be used as an offensive technique, because of the sharp ice that it forms on its surface. It can tank many techniques, even Fire Style Techniques. The barrier comes up rather quickly but takes a lot of energy from the user.
Rising Cherry Blossom Style - Rising Cherry Blossom Style is a hybridized martial art that is partially offensive and partially defensive that has a strong inclination and tendency to lean more heavily towards being more of a strictly defensive style in application. It focuses primarily on disabling your enemy by converting the energy and momentum of your opponent into that of your own and using it against them. The staple tactic of this style involves the art of pinpoint precise deflection and debilitating headbutts and it often relies on the speed and stamina of the user. It's second tenant lies on both foot sweeps and elbow jabs and it often relies on the agility and speed of the defender. The true battle strength of this personalized style is that it's very in your face and can quickly become overwhelming for the opponent. By utilizing the momentum of your parries, blocks, and deflections for your own gain, your opponent can be thrown off balance, which is a huge advantage in and of itself. In that respect the biggest strength of this Taijutsu form is the ease with which you can learn it, but with respect to the dedication that goes into mastering it. By exploiting the sheer strength of your challenger your opponent tends to overexert themselves, giving you the opportunity to gain the upper hand.
With that in mind the style isn't without its flaws or imperfections as no style is perfect. These flaws are made all the more evident given Sakura's young age and novice experience in the physically demanding art of Taijutsu. The style's biggest and most glaring weaknesses is the fact that it often requires the opponent to make the first move. If you're facing an opponent that doesn't allow you to pace yourself according to his own actions, then all you can do is to try to force your opponent into a position you can dominate from. It's second major flaw is the need for very fast reflexes, agility, and speed as the style lacks more circular movements that allow you to flow with your momentum gracefully to help conserve your stamina and dictate the pace of the battle. If you're up against an opponent who dances around you, you're no longer the one in control of the fight.
Author's Note (A/N): That's that and what a chapter it was. There is a lot to unpack from such a heavy chapter I'm sure. The awkward and tense atmosphere hanging around Team 7 is pervasive following the dramatic cliffhanger and conclusion to Naruto's and Sasuke's fight last chapter. The dynamic between the two friends have changed and become strained with a riffed dividing the two on opposite sides in the aftermath. Eva herself is completely besides herself following this event as her more demonic instincts are screaming for blood which in hindsight completely nullifies all of the hard work she and Naruto have been working towards over the course of the month since they've being practicing with their demonic energy and the Winter Fairy King transformation to control their emotions and powers.
Eva is holding a grudge against Sasuke for his reckless actions while Naruto himself is left in a whirlwind of turmoil as this hits him too close to home and reminds him of his childhood trauma and the death of Kenichi. Meanwhile Kakashi and Sakura both are left picking up the pieces of this strained relationship as they still have a mission to complete despite the circumstances. Over the course of Naruto's recovery he meets up with Kurama where the two of them engage in a heavy conversation that leads to a lot of startling revelations and bombshells being dropped.
The two have a somewhat civil conversation in which Kurama expresses not only his opinion on Naruto's recent performance and stance on his relationship with Sasuke but he also expresses his great disgust and hatred towards the Uchiha all together. The conversation develops between the two as Kurama expresses his love for his former home on Hōrai Island. A mutual amount of curtesy and respect is forged between Naruto and Kurama after this conversation with each other. We also get a hint at a new character that's to come.
The attack from the mercenary squad divides the group where we get to see Sakura and Sasuke in action as well as Henrietta and the girls which is always a treat. As the fight unfolds we see that Naruto and Eva are not in the right frame of mind. Naruto is suffering from what could easily be described as PTSD due to all of the recent life and death battles that he's taken part in. It's affected his battle prowess and decision making skills in battle which led to him being initially overpowered by Mizore. Sakura herself gets to show off her tremendous development as a ninja during her battle against the two enemy ninja. I've given her a major buff to her skill set while carefully choosing Ninjutsu for her to add to her repertoire. Her skills will now be well rounded and will continue to be developed over time as I introduce more techniques to her.
Sasuke himself has a tough fight against his own opponent where he proves his advanced skills and strategic thinking once again. We also get an inside look to his inner thoughts and we see his internal struggle with the fight that he had with Naruto.
Finally we get to see the conclusion of the battle and the foreshadowing for things to come in the next chapter. A certain little creature is on the hun and is looking for it's creator.
Next Chapter: Chapter 87 (Meeting a Familiar)
That's the end of Chapter 86 I sincerely hoped you enjoyed it.
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Published: 6/1/2019
