Hey! How's your day going? I hope it's great.
So, before answering to some reviews, I'd like to explain why I only posted one chapter this week. Alright, so basically I was working in the outline of the story, polishing it and finishing it (yeah, it's not finished yet because I lacked what would be the second part of shippuden). I don't know if I'll ever finish this, but at least I'd like to have it clear what I'll do with the story and how it will end. But it's basically that.
Reviews: This time I only saw one I could answer directly, but I thank everyone else for their reviews. So, the guest review (once again, I'd like if you made an account so I can answer you directly). First of all, yes, holding back means not using his full capacity, which therefore means less strength and speed is used by him. Also, thanks for the compliments on the story.
Alright, I hope you enjoy the chapter and remember:
I DO NOT OWN DBZ NOR NARUTO.
Gohan flew towards the monster, breaking the sound barrier when doing so. He delivered a kick with the enough strength to push the creature sidewards. Unbalanced, the One-tail struggled to respond to the attack, being defenseless when the saiyan punched its face. A scream from Gaara astonished the saiyan, which gave the monster the space and time to defend itself.
Its giant tail struck once again, but this time Gohan was able to stop the tail right before hitting the ground. The short grass underneath him moved violently due to the gust the impact provoked. The saiyan created a small energy ball on each of his hands, burning the creature's tail and forcing it to take it away. He positioned himself in front of the One-tail's abdomen, his hands adopting the exact same position they had some minutes prior.
"Masenko!" This time, lighting came out of his hands right before the energy blast emerged from them.
The blast got progressively bigger as it went forward, passing through the creature's stomach in a matter of seconds. Gohan flew to the monster's head to recover Gaara. However, a sand spear came out of the One-tail's neck, blocking his way towards Gaara. It had gone through him. After retreating back to the grassland close to the forest, he managed to get the sand spike from his arm, which turned into regular sand after doing so.
What? How did this happen? He was barely able to move his injured arm, which reminded him of the battle against Cell. My body is more vulnerable for some reason...
With his eyes closed, he liberated more of his energy, causing his white aura to increase in size. He voluntarily avoided super saiyan, he didn't think of it as necessary. And he proved himself right when he flew towards the monster and blew its right arm up with an energy ball. The scream of the One-tail caused the tree to tremble, but Gohan didn't seem to be affected by it.
In the blink of an eye, the saiyan had already taken the redhead from the monster's forehead. He landed in the grasslands, close to Sasuke. Then, he glanced back up to check on the One-tail, finding that the monster was now falling apart. Gohan looked back to the redhead, finding that his energy had decreased considerably. And when he turned back to the monster, it had already become a pile of sand.
So that thing is connected to him... The saiyan went back to Sasuke and checked his pulse. He was still breathing.
Gohan also checked for the lizard's energy, but it had disappeared. Maybe it had died, and so he went to check on the forest. A row of destroyed trees and a crater was everything he could find. And before he could theorize on the situation, he noticed several energies approaching him. The saiyan put Gaara next to Sasuke and got in his fighting stance.
"Hey!" He said with a wide smile on his face, lowering his arms.
Naruto was the first one to come out of the forest, waving at Gohan once he was able to recognize him. Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino followed the blonde. And behind them, Neji stared carefully at the saiyan with his byakugan still activated. They were surprised to find Sasuke and Gaara defeated in the floor while he was standing with just a wounded arm.
"Are you okay?" Ino ran to grab the saiyan's arm. "What happened to you?" She covered the deep wound with one of her bandages.
"That guy did it to me," Gohan pointed at the unconscious redhead, "he turned into a really big monster when I tried to take him to the nursery back in the arena, and then that giant lizard helped me and Sasuke fight that thing."
"A giant lizard?" Shikamaru asked while trying to find the giant animal his friend was talking about.
"Oh, like that giant toad!" Naruto said while the saiyan tried to explain himself.
Shikamaru finally shrugged, already knowing that summoning things and animals was possible. What he couldn't ignore, though, was that Sasuke seemed to have been thrashed while Gohan only got a wound in his arm.
"Anyways, we should take Sasuke to the hospital, I'm pretty sure he has several broken bones." Gohan said as he grabbed the Uchiha, causing his everyone's jaw to drop. "Yeah, and this guy too-"
"Run! We have to save Sasuke!" Ino desperately yelled as she pushed Gohan forward, further damaging his purple shirt.
Neji grabbed the redhead and ran behind the group as they left back to the village through the forest. He already knew that something was weird about that Gohan. If he was able to beat the guy that wiped the floor with the boy of the two dojutsus as well as Lee, he had to be pretty strong.
Half an hour had gone by since the Third Hokage and Orochimaru had gotten themselves in that position. Enma still held the sword that was no more than a couple centimeters away of killing off the old man. The monkey king was skeptical about his old friend being able to seal the enemy's soul entirely. He had to finish this now before he bled to death.
As stubborn as he was, he didn't give up until he felt his arms getting weaker. He figured what his only remaining move was, and prepared to finish the technique. His remaining chakra gathered in his palms as he struggled to keep on breathing. Hiruzen glanced back at Enma, nodding as if he told something to it.
Orochimaru's eyes snapped open as the phantom of a demon with a white tunic appeared from behind his mentor. He recognized the figure immediately, it was the Death God. The man with the snake traits knew the battle was already over, but he never stopped trying to pull his sword further into the Third's body, which Enma always prevented from happening.
The Death God used its sword and cut the chakra from Orochimaru's arms. A drop of sweat came down the sannin's forehead when he became unable to move his arms. And yet, for some reason, he felt relieved deep inside.
"So that's everything you managed to do, huh?" The sannin said as he saw his mentor fall down in front of him. He didn't take much longer to make his next decision. "Now! Retreat!"
Enma went to Hiruzen, who was still holding to his life. It grabbed the old man, noticing the hardly curable wound he now had in the middle of the chest. The monkey king turned to look at the jounin waiting outside the barrier, and then back to the Third.
"Enma, thanks..." The hokage said, struggling to breathe and coughing up blood after every failed attempt at talking. "One last thing," this time, he coughed a lot more blood than before, concerning the monkey king, "when Konohamaru turns 13, give him the contract."
"Right." It said while nodding. And just like that, the Third's flaming heart stopped beating.
As the monkey king disappeared into a cloud of smoke, the barrier finally disappeared. Yuichi was already next to the dead Hokage a second after the barrier dissipated, but Orochimaru had already gone out of sight for them. Behind him, Hayate and Kakashi joined to see their now deceased leader.
Yuichi struggled to believe such a thing, but he felt forced into doing so. He had served the Third Hokage in the years of his rule following the death of his successor, the Fourth. And even after many years of serving him directly, of spending so much time with him, he felt as if his death was a good thing in the long run. He could say many good things about his personality, but he would still not feel any type of grief at the sight of his dead body. Did he hate the man? Was it because of the Uchiha massacre? No, that's impossible, he hates the Uchiha... Right? He doubted he'd ever be able to find the reason of such feelings, but what he knew, is what his plans were for the future of the village. Hopefully, Jiraiya will help him in doing so.
"It seems like they'll retreat." The grandson of the Second said, glancing back at his colleagues. "Inform about the Hokage's death."
"Right." Kakashi and Hayate responded before leaving the roof.
The sannin ran through the roofs of the houses and buildings of what once was his home. His minions surrounded him, every single one of them being ready to defend their leader. He never expected for the battle to go as it did, he had planned it for years and yet he didn't manage to go out of it without any damage. That damned Sarutobi was always annoying, and this battle wouldn't break that tradition, of course. Every step forward he took and did not feel his arms, his frustration and anger grew.
Orochimaru forced himself to calm down, though, as someone unexpected got in their way. A purple haired woman, her suggestive outfit being totally ignored by the one that was once her mentor, her father figure. He noticed her hands trembling, which caused nothing more than his smile to widen. Anko couldn't ignore that smile, forcing herself to calm down even when she wasn't able to.
"Surrender, now," she extended her arms, letting a couple of snakes out of her sleeves, "I won't hesitate to kill you all."
"Oh, Anko, it's been a while." The sannin's typical smile was difficult to hide.
"Shut up and surrender." Anko said, pointed her arms at her former mentor.
"Don't talk like that to Lord Orochimaru!" Tayuya jumped in front of her, taking her kunai out and pointing it to the woman's neck. "If you try anything, we'll kill you."
"Calm down, she's an old acquaintance." He beckoned the pink-haired girl to back off. "Now, Anko, will you let us go now? I don't think it would be convenient for the Leaf to lose you."
"I don't care!" She angrily yelled. And only a second after realizing what she said, she covered her mouth in shame. "Because I will-"
"You can join us if you want to, you're always welcome to the Village Hidden in the Sound." Orochimaru smiled, this time in a less creepy way than usual. "You were the first one, after all, I owe you many discoveries."
The Sound Four turned to their leader in shock, but it suddenly vanished as the sannin beckoned them to surround the woman. Anko was surprised to see this, her doubt disappearing due to the sensation of being in danger. She gathered her chakra in her hands as she put them together, which was noticed by the man with the snake traits. She jumped back, but was stopped by the orange-haired shinobi, forcing her to throw several snakes from her sleeves at him.
Orochimaru's minions didn't take long to react, organizing themselves and attacking the enemy kunoichi in unison. Kidomaru jumped back as he took his bow out, aiming an arrow at her head. Tayuya, on the other hand, charged against the purple-haired kunoichi, her kunai in hand. And before the remaining two members of the Sound Four could respond, Kabuto appeared and blocked their way.
Anko took a step back as she figured who had just saved her. She only needed his identity to guess what his intentions were, and they surely weren't that good. She thought of the idea of calling for help and trying to resist, but she finally decided to leave the place.
"Lord Orochimaru did not order you to attack her," Kabuto angrily pointed out as he took his glasses off, "don't you ever do something without his explicit orders."
"Oh, thanks, Kabuto, but I did order them to surround her." Orochimaru calmly said before running quickly towards the purple-haired kunoichi and getting on her way. "And you, where are you going? This isn't over yet."
"What do you mean?" Anko answered with a firm tone, one the sannin could look through. "You can't use your arms, right? You have no chance."
"That's not the point, dear," he shook his head, "you have to choose between two options: you join us or you die right here." His confidence drew a smile on his face, a really big one.
Anko's eyes became white as something hit her neck. Behind her, Kabuto had taken the chance to end it once and for all, figuring that they couldn't waste any more time in the matter. His master nodded in response of his question. He grabbed the woman and followed the group once it continued the retreat.
So that was the chapter! What did you think? I hope you liked it!
Anyways, see you next week with the next chapter!