Welcome to the next chapter
joharasbel; Thanks!
Morregen; Thanks! Yeah, Danzo is up to something for sure. Neji and the others are going to have to do their best.
ShadowUzumaki55; They did yeah, Team Ten did their best. Neji will have a tough time. Haku and the others will be playing a good part pretty soon. Danzo is going to try and spin this to help himself.
Silver crow; Thanks. Yeah, Garaga did. Guren is pretty strong. Ryouta is buying time, this is a good opportunity for that to happen. Seems like Guren is aware of her yeah. Yeah, they don't trust each other in the slightest, neither want to work together and are prepared for the other to back stab them, but need each other since both have had their resources cut, and lost a good deal. She told them on what some did, not all. No, Shikamaru probably wouldn't, but it would be enough to stall for a second or a few, give Ino the chance to switch minds, and then capture him with Choji. Danzo has little resources. We shall see what happens with Tayuya pretty soon. Without Mangekyou, Ryouta is very strong, but still has ways to go as we shall see in Shippuden. They would be cool summons.
Guest 1; Thanks for the suggestions.
seanny0105; Thanks for the harem suggestion.
shephawk; Not sure yet on that~
Guest 2; It will be happening soon yeah, and yeah, Ryouta vs Orochimaru could be happening soon.
TheGreatGodzilla; Yeah, they would suspect they would be after Ryouta as that is what Orochimaru has been wanting since before they even met, and has said on several occasions he wants to take over Ryouta and would do anything to get him, so seeing someone from Orochimaru's side, a single person at that, attacking their village in a obvious distraction like that, it would be one of the first things they would naturally jump to, and as we have seen in canon, while strong with her Genjutsu, Temari took down Tayuya in a single shot, so more experienced Ninja would be able to deal with her relatively quickly. They weren't walking, they were jumping through trees like any other ninja. Yeah, as others said, Ryouta is doing his best to slow them down in ways to make it as less obvious as possible. We shall see what Tsunade and others are doing very soon. Danzo isn't sure how it will play, but he knows for certain that one side will at least be severally weakened, if not killed, so he is biding his time for the opportunity to strike.
Phantom Reader; Yeah, we got another nickname for her. Some people will know of or have met her. Yeah, I will eventually write such things. Yeah, the snakes he sent off, have already begun doing some new things, such as meeting up with Haku and the likes. Orochimaru is worried about Danzo, and what he might try to pull if he doesn't get Ryouta in time. Glad you liked the fight. Yeah, that would be an amazing speed feat. Neji is going to have a tough fight, and especially with Guren. Kabuto does yeah, it isn't working for him. Thanks very much! Yeah, it is a shame that they are introduced, and do so little in the story, when there had a good deal of potential. Yeah, I always welcome suggestions. Yeah, if that is how you want to do it, it would be up to you, I don't mind, whatever is easiest for you.
Hinata fan; We shall see very soon. Yeah, it will be solved pretty soon.
Guest 3; Thanks!
With those reviews out of the way, it is time to start the chapter!
Guren vs the rescue team!
Reminiscing about the past, Ryouta thought about the times he had spent with Mikoto.
The times that he was able to be there when she was upset, he remembered a time when after the Uchiha had perished for the most part, and how she was sad.
"Back then, both of us had lost a lot...but, she had Satsuki-chan...and I did as well. All I have to do is remember that time Mikoto-san, how things could have been different if you had died that day. That's why, I'm determined...I wont let Satsuki-chan suffer the same way that I did...she has family in you, I don't want to be the reason that she loses that last bit of family she has...I don't want her to lose everything, like I lost Shi-chan..."
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ryouta, while standing on a tree, contemplating his next fight ahead of him, Ryouta kept up a gaze upon Kabuto, Tayuya, and Kimimaro. All three of them, just in case he came face to face with an enemy that would do some worrying things.
Ryouta could see the impatience of Kabuto. It was clear that he was thinking of something that would cause distress and worry at the same time.
"Are you worried that Guren couldn't hold off those four enemies as you would call them?"
"No, I am more concerned with the fact that you're going to go easy on your former comrades."
Kabuto reprimanded him, only for Ryouta to show a subtle but intrigued smirk.
"Again, why does it matter when the desired results happen regardless? Unless...Kabuto. The mission to lure out Kakashi-sensei and Mikoto-san, how did you accomplish that exactly? Because Orochimaru wouldn't have been able to get his little mission approved so easily unless you had someone helping you? You couldn't have organized an ambush so easily. Even if they were coming back, and even if you did somehow manage to get someone inside of the village to do your dirty work? But if that's the case, who could it be?"
When Ryouta said it, even Tayuya was curious as to who it could be that would be capable of doing this. She wasn't privy to the knowledge that Kabuto had, and it was clearer now than ever that they must have a secret helper on hand, as she couldn't recall a time when it was said they had a secret operative still within Konoha, as that originally, was Kabuto.
Kabuto refused to answer the questions, and turned his head towards the right hand side.
"You think that you've got the best chance against me, don't you? Trying to outwit me, but I wont reveal anything to you, you can take your guesses, but it wont work with me. Especially trying to work out our plans. You have no hope in doing anything of the sort."
"Alright, if that's how you want to play it. But in the end, Orochimaru will have his time come, eventually he will get what is coming to him, the same for you."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses.
"Don't allow those sentimental feelings you have for this group to come into play, I wont be much pleased if they do."
When Kabuto said that that an air of smugness in his voice, Ryouta truly had to resist the urge to go and kick his ass at that point.
He really hated Kabuto, every moment he spent with Kabuto, only reinforced the kind of person Ryouta believed Kabuto was, a heartless man that would do anything for the sake of his Masters goals, a follower that thought of destruction and mayhem, experimentations, he could see him being a younger Orochimaru, only with a few differences, but still made him quite the person Ryouta really disliked.
"Considering I don't care what you think or how you feel, that means nothing to me."
Because of it being so coldly explained and direct, it was something that caught Kabuto off guard, and caused him to back peddle ever so slightly.
"...Well, don't keep the boss waiting. That's all I have to say."
"Makes me wonder why you're so obsessed with us getting there. I suppose my theory from before is becoming more likely. But the question is, who is crazy enough to team up with Orochimaru? Or maybe it isn't about being crazy, maybe its about desperation."
When he said that, it did get Tayuya to thinking about it.
Now that she could see it for herself, she was questioning what Orochimaru was thinking about. Why he was doing these things in the first place, and what it meant for them as a result.
"Desperation? Hardly. I think you might be trying to see something that simply doesn't exist."
Ryouta could see by the subtlest of movements by Kabuto, that he was lying. He couldn't escape the eyes of the Sharingan, and Ryouta for sure was able to keep this going, and to make sure that Kabuto would understand exactly what was going on regarding Ryouta.
"If you say that, then who will believe you? I don't know about the others with you, if they shall believe you or not. If I was them, I would wonder why you have been lying to them this entire time?"
Kabuto scoffed, while Kimimaro looked on towards Ryouta.
Despite everything going on, Kimimaro was beginning to see something else about Ryouta, that not many others could understand, at least when it came to the Orochimaru group. Even when it came to his supposed former allies in Kimimaro's eyes, he could tell that Ryouta held some worry for them, and the fact that he came with them to save Mikoto, he did think that it was a very good quality that he had, and if nothing else, he respected the likes of Ryouta.
"Would you die for Mikoto Uchiha?"
Kimimaro suddenly asked, even surprising Kabuto.
Ryouta took a glance towards him, seeing the expression in his eyes.
"If I had to, then yes. But I'd prefer not to die. I am willing to make that sacrifice for anyone that I love."
Tayuya was stunned to hear that.
She also thought...no one would ever say that to her. That someone would go out of their way to come to her rescue.
No one was going to be there for her, when her eventual death would come.
Kimimaro also was astonished, but not for the same reasons as Tayuya.
"A single persons life, is worth your own? Is that how it is seen in Konoha?"
"I can't put words in anyone else's mouth, I can't say that everyone in Konoha would do that. But for me personally, I would do that. For my village, for those I love and care for. It isn't about anything other than my feelings."
Ryouta half wondered why that Kimimaro was asking these questions, it was something that made little sense to him.
But, it seemed that Kimimaro was thinking about something deeply.
While Ryouta said it, he could see the group approaching.
Satsuki, Naruko and Hinata.
All three of them having very much hard determination on their faces from what he could make out. They would be there within the minute.
Neji stared down his opponent, and saw that Guren seemed to be releasing a calming aura.
Even as he examined the young woman's face, he truly couldn't discern what was going on with her, so he made sure that he was prepared.
"Your Byakugan is good, but can it handle my power? The eyes don't always have the power to save your soul, Hyuga."
"Save my soul? No, someone already did that for me. Its time for me to save his soul in fact."
Guren laughed at those words.
"Are you talking about the Uchiha by chance?"
"Yes. While not as dramatic as you're making it, I have a promise to keep to my comrades, and I am indebted to what Ryouta Uchiha did for me."
"He did something for you? That's nice, I suppose though it doesn't matter in the end, as I am going to end you!"
She weaved through some hand signs, and above her, crystals in the shape of shurikens came about. Materializing within the air, Guren gestured her hand downwards, and released them towards Neji.
Because of the speed they went, no normal Genin would be able to dodge it, but thankfully Neji with assistance from his eyes was able to keep up with them, without the Byakugan he knew that he wouldn't be so lucky and would have been ripped apart immediately.
However, as he dodged them, she made lightning fast movements towards him, and swung a blade that was growing from her arm in the shape of a crystal to slice him.
"Do you think you're buying time for them to get towards Ryouta Uchiha? Even if they do, they have Kimimaro there, they have that bastard Kabuto there, and they also have Ryouta Uchiha himself there. Those three would demolish your little gang, there wouldn't be a way for you to recover."
Neji quickly withdrew a kunai, and blocked the attack, sparks going between their blades, so Neji pulled back briefly, and announced "Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!" and began using his fast finger work to come at her, coming at her from all angles as he ramped up the speed each time.
"Maybe that's how you see it, but I wont allow your words to taint me any longer! Even if it is only for a minute, I have been able to slow you down. It might be enough for the others to reach Ryouta Uchiha."
Guren looked confused as she weaved her way through the attacks. Neji remembered when Ryouta did this, how he was able to avoid all attacks with his speed alone, and Guren was showing something similar. He didn't know who was faster between the two, but it was clear that Guren was a monster in her own way.
"You seem to care for this Uchiha kid. But why? Aren't you a Hyuga?"
She asked, dodging the Sixteenth attack sent her way, before leaping back, and shot off a myriad of crystals towards Neji. But to her surprise, he used his fingers to deflect their trajectory, and sent them away from his body, something that she had to commend him on.
"I am, it is my pride as a Hyuga...and a friend, to do my best for those I care for."
He then leapt for her, but before he could reach her, he threw a flash bang towards her. The light shined, and caused her eyes to become blinded for a few moments. Those moments, Neji used to try and come at her from an angle that she wouldn't expect.
However, as he was jumping down from the tree, to deliver a blow to her, she was encased in a beautiful red crystal that took the form of an apple.
Even then, he still came at it, with his quickness and precision to take it down, but his fingers couldn't break through it, even when he did his best to inject his chakra into the crystal to stop it fully, it didn't work.
She extended her hand outwards, and released a stream of crystals in the form of thick needles, Neji because he was close used his chakra through his legs, briefly pushing on the giant crystal, and sent himself flying through the forest, with Guren smirking.
"I thought you'd do that..."
When he tried to go further, his back suddenly hit a wall.
He turned, and saw that a crystal wall had formed of similar needles that she had sent to attack him.
"Damn..."
"Damn indeed Hyuga."
She pushed forward, and sent a hand towards his chest, intending to finish him off with a crystal coming out of her hand.
"Eight Trigrams, Palm Rotation!"
Using chakra to shoot out of his body, he rapidly spun around to make sure that the crystal would be caught up in it. To Guren's surprise, it did seem that the crystal wasn't able to face down the spinning dome of chakra, so she pulled back, and laughed as Neji came to a halting stop.
"Little nice trick you have there."
"It isn't all I have, I assure you."
Neji rushed her, and did a flurry of jabs to try and get her.
But she was agile, and quick to move out of the way, before placing her hand out, and created a large crystal spike that came shooting from her hand to penetrate Neji's form.
Neji quickly moved out of the way, but saw that his right hand side got caught ever so slightly. Even then, Neji continued on, and shot for Guren once more, believing that she wasn't good at hand to hand combat and that she would be able to fall if he managed to land a few blows on her.
However, she proved to be more difficult than he could have imagined, as she was able to deflect and move all the way around him as if he was the one going in slow motion, and got towards the right hand side.
"Pitiful."
Reeling her fist back, she slammed it hard into Neji's face, Neji noticed that she had a thin layer of crystal around her fist, which increased her powerful punch, and sent him flying through the air, and caused him to smash deep into the ground as a result.
His cheek felt swollen, and bleeding due to the damage she gave to him.
When he looked, he saw that she came towards him, and had her large spear like crystal erupting out of her hand. He went to dodge, when he felt his feet being stuck, so he looked down and saw that Guren had trapped him fully within the crystal.
He panicked, and tried to get out of it, but he couldn't do anything, and she came for him with the intention to kill…
That's when suddenly, she stopped in mid air.
"What the..."
Guren looked down, and saw from her shadow, was a long winding shadow through the trees.
Next, she noticed Ino stood close by, with her fingers in a seal motion, indicating that she had been using her sensory skills to pinpoint the time precisely to stop him fully, and then she saw coming from the right, a large human sphere.
"Oh shit...but, you guys should still be..."
Guren didn't have time to finish the sentence, before she was slammed hard and fast by the human round sphere that was bigger than her, sending her flying all the way down into the ground, with Choji landing on top of her to grind her into the ground to knock her unconscious.
However, it didn't work out that way for them.
"You think that will be enough for me?" Guren surrounded herself in a beautiful pink crystal like aura, as she gazed at the enemies before her, as she flung Choji off of her body. "That's fine, because it doesn't matter if it is one of you, or ten of you, you all shall fall before Orochimaru-sama and his power!"
Releasing her aura, crystals shot up from around her, and formed what looked like a Dragon of pink crystal. The group grit their teeth, and wait for what's to come…
Moving through the forest, the team of Haku, Karin and Lee moved as fast as they could. They didn't stop for even a moment, knowing that their allies, their friends, needed them now more than ever, and that was the best thing that they could do as a result.
"Come on..."
Karin murmured, pushing her senses as far as they would go.
Haku could see that Karin was truly trying her best, so she didn't do anything to disturb her concentration, instead glancing at Lee, who kept his eyes stead focused in front of him.
"Lee-kun, are you okay? Your body...it still is technically recovering."
"I will be okay! The burning youth of everyone is really igniting my own passionate flames! I wish to go towards the beings that have caused this problem, and stomp out the cause of this pain! Even if I push my body!"
Haku definitely could see that, and it was an admirable quality that
"Yes, I understand the determination. But please be careful so you don't go and get yourself hurt as a result."
Haku was worried Lee would push himself too far, but she would make sure that it dint happen. She knew Ryouta wouldn't want Lee to become hurt because of this, so she was determined to do everything that she could to save him should he get into a compromising position.
Meanwhile, back with Guren and the others, the four Ninja started down Guren and her pink Dragon.
"Have the Dragon."
Guren waved her hand, and caused the giant pink Dragon to shoot for them. Slithering on the ground similar to a snake, it went straight for Neji, who Guren perceived as the biggest threat to the group.
Choji turned himself into a giant ball once more, and came towards Guren with high speeds.
"Is this really what you're going to do to me?"
Guren weaved through some hand signs, and allowed crystal needles to erupt from the ground to capture and skewer Choji, only for Ino to place her hands out, and begin seemingly trying to activate her mind transfer technique.
Understanding the meaning of it, Guren leapt out of the way, only to see a shadow shooting from the tree, and towards her own.
"Damn, a ploy."
As she said it, she allowed crystals to form below her, a giant shuriken that she flew off on, and avoided the shadow possession, looking to see her Dragon go for Neji, who in turn rotated at high speeds as the Dragon crashed into the area near him.
The rotation took pieces off of the Dragon, but it was beginning to overwhelm the young Hyuga, to the point the rotation was slowing down and that his body was becoming more visible by the moment.
Seeing that, caused Choji to rapidly fire himself forward, and smashed into the side of the crystal Dragon, enough for it to be knocked off balance.
"Haaaah!"
Ino attached some wires together with paper bombs, and threw them around the crystal Dragon, Neji used his eyes to guide her in the best directions and caused the wires to bind the Dragon, before they all leapt away, explosions ripping through the small area of the crystal Dragon.
"This isn't the academy anymore boys and girls, you should be afraid as this is going to be the end of you."
When the dust died down, the crystal Dragon had taken a good blow with the paper bombs, but it wasn't enough to cause it to be destroyed completely, and instead, Guren used what was left, and sent it out in a burst of sharp crystals right for Choji, trying to take him out.
Choji panicked, and turned into his sphere shape, and began moving around to try and dodge the attack, while Neji rushed Guren to attack her.
"Back off."
This time, she created a wall of crystals, blocking Neji's path long enough for the crystals to keep going for Choji, while Ino dashed around the area, and got behind Guren, and threw off several shurikens towards her.
Guren rolled her eyes, as she allowed the arm mounted blade she had to cancel out the shurikens, and made a wall of crystals to block Ino as well.
"Did you think..."
Her eyes went towards Shikamaru, and saw his shadow splitting in two, she looked to see that from Ino and Neji's shadows, that shadows came erupting from them, going under the crystal, and went towards her to immobilize her.
She smirked "Clever boy." as she mad dashed away, inches away from being caught, as she them flung her hands out, several shurikens of crystals came flying right fore the young ones, so they all got behind Neji on his request, and he began rotating once more, trying his best to protect them all.
As the shurikens bombarded them, Neji saw that he wasn't able to keep up with them all. Even though his rotations kept him mostly safe, he saw one shuriken get by his defence, and slice into his arm, causing him to wince, then because of that slowed reaction, another came for his face, he moved, but received a small cut across his cheek as a result.
Neji wasn't deterred, and kept going, rapidly moving his body to accommodate for the increased speed of the shurikens.
"Just keep spinning, boy. It wont work forever."
Guren spoke in an indifferent tone, allowing a giant shuriken to appear in the air. It was clear to Shikamaru that she was underestimating them, perhaps even intentionally, so she could have a good time in the fight.
She then released the shuriken, this time Neji leapt forward, and got towards its right. Using his precise timing with his Byakugan, and aiming a kunai with wire attached, he flung it through the hole of the shuriken, and stabbed it into a tree, before pulling the wire, and grinding the crystal to a halt, moments before it could kill Team Asuma.
Guren was simultaneously amused and unamused, the former because she was glad to see that Neji had some strength, but annoyed that it seemed that she would have to deal with some people that could cause her some problems later on down the line if she didn't finish them off here and now.
"Geez, that Byakugan is pesky. Maybe I should kick it up a notch or two? Yeah, lets make sure that you guys can't escape anymore." Her eyes went over them all, before smirking at Neji. "You Hyuga, and your little backup, I have been taking it easy, I wanted to see what kind of power you really have...but, I think its time that it ends now. I've had my fun with you."
Choji cringed, while Shikamaru kept his eyes on Guren, seeing how she was forming her crystals, and decided to ask Neji who came back towards them.
"Neji, with your Byakugan, you can tell how she is forming those crystals, can't you?"
"Yes, beyond obviously using her chakra, she's able to form them from the moisture in the air as well as physical matter such as the ground, she has a limitless supply as long as she has chakra, and I can see that she has an abundance of that. If she gets her hands on us, then she could potentially even turn us into crystal."
Shikamaru focused his eyes.
"Then, why doesn't she rush in when you're rotating? She clearly has the skills to use her shurikens to bypass even your defence, but she doesn't come and turn you to crystal, why?"
Neji raised a brow.
"Now that you say...perhaps she's simply cautious."
"Perhaps...but, something else is bothering me about her. She keeps going for you, when technically I am the most dangerous to her. Not to downplay you of course Neji, as you are stronger than I, but my shadows possessing her would be hazardous to her...so why is she going after you first?"
Neji thought about it as well, and now that Shikamaru said it, it did seem odd that she wasn't trying to take out Shikamaru who while weaker than Neji, had an arguably more deadly ability if used in the correct way, at least against Guren, as Neji knew getting through her crystal armour with his Gentle Fist would be highly difficult.
"Are you chitchatting in a way to try and defeat me?" Guren called out, terrifying Ino and Choji. "You can theorize all day if you like...well, usually I would say that, but I've got to get back to Orochimaru-sama. So, I'd prefer if you'd simply die right now, okay?"
She weaved through some hand signs, and then caused the giant crystal shuriken to appear as many.
Gritting their teeth, they saw the onslaught of giant shurikens that could come for them. Shikamaru knew Neji would not be able to deal with that, and they didn't have time to run away from the attack either, it would be very dangerous to them all.
"Geez, this lady is crazy, she's handling all four of us at once."
Choji murmured, Ino nodding.
"He's right Shikamaru, we can't try that shadow game one again, she'll be aware of it."
Shikamaru closed his eyes briefly, thinking about the best way to proceed in this battle.
"I know you're both right. Odds are that even with all four of us, we wont be able to match her. She is fast, and strong. Her crystals cannot be broken by normal force. That's why, we have to think a little differently."
"And how do we do that when there's literally a giant barrage of shurikens about to come for us."
Shikamaru exhaled slowly, when he saw a small snake pop up from the ground. He knew it belonged to Ryouta, as opposed to Orochimaru due to the way that it looked at Shikamaru, and from the information that Garaga had given him beforehand.
Silently, Shikamaru allowed his shadow to go towards the snake, and it moved across the ground near undetected.
The shurikens released by Guren came rather fast, Neji gritted his teeth, and launched himself forward.
"I shall do what I can to stop this attack!"
Neji boldly stepped forward, briefly distracting Guren who was smirking.
But then out of the corner of her eye, she saw something moving, so she looked, and saw a shadow coming for her once more, and it was super close.
"Shit, how did you get so close..."
Gasping, she leapt into the air, only to feel the wind change behind her.
She turned to see that Kiba and Akamaru were coming for her, rapidly spinning like drills.
Without a moments notice, she blocked the attack in time with a crystal wall, and sent both of them flying, Shikamaru clicked his tongue when seeing his attack didn't work, his shadow didn't reach her.
"Damn brats, it seems that numbers are helping them. Even then, I have some tricks up my sleeve yet. Still, it seems that these brats are better than I give them credit for. The only one that truly concerns me is that Hyuga, with him out of the way, I could take down the shadow possessor and the others with little issue. Right, time to take it up a notch."
Guren was finished playing, and now that she had so many enemies before her, she was going to unleash the full power that she held within her being. She wouldn't stop now, not until she was sure that she would be able to finish them all off.
Back with Satsuki and the others, moving through the forest, and thanks to Hinata alerting them, it was clear that they were gaining distance and it was a happy occasion to be sure, but for Naruko, she wished that they didn't have to find Ryouta in such a position where he would be in danger.
Finally arriving to where Ryouta was stood, they all gazed at him. Hinata used her eyes, and saw Kabuto, and Kimimaro close by. She alerted Satsuki, who suspected that this would be the case, and simply looked up towards Ryouta.
Looking towards Ryouta together with Satsuki, Hinata and Naruko looked relieved he was there. But at the same time, wondered why now he had stopped all of a sudden, when he didn't do anything like that beforehand.
"Ryou, you've come to your senses!"
Naruko yelled happily, but Ryouta shook his head.
"There was never any senses to come to Naruko-chan, I already have decided the path that I wish for my life to take."
Naruko gained a question mark by her forehead.
"What do you mean?"
Ryouta placed a finger to his hair, and silently ran a finger through said hair, before directly peering towards the young blonde, briefly looking to the silent Hinata who had her eyes on the others via her Byakugan observing them, Satsuki also had her eyes firmly on Ryouta, the young man understanding what tactics she was doing and found it to be exactly like her, a good few tactics to use.
"I wish you hadn't of come, I didn't want it to go down this way."
Naruko looked perplexed.
"W-What do you mean? Come on, we can go back now! Whatever they've done, it doesn't matter! We can beat them and go back to Konoha! Everyone's waiting!"
"Naruko-chan, it would be nice. But, I can't leave. You've seen the letter I left, I wont explain it again. As long as I am around, Orochimaru, and others will always come for me. And the village, it is a place that I have seen enough suffering in."
Satsuki could relate to that, she understood what Ryouta was speaking about at this current time.
"Y-Yeah, but we've had good times too!"
Naruko countered, Satsuki stared at the body language that Ryouta had, and then noticed something.
He was making the subtlest of hand movements, only those with the Sharingan and Byakugan would be able to see them.
Only she could see them right now, as Hinata was too unfocused on Ryouta, and kept her eyes on the others like Satsuki had requested.
"We have, and that might have been enough. But, I have to do this. For too long, I've wanted to take down the man that killed my brother, to get justice for him. Now, I have a real shot. I get to finally give my brother peace."
Naruko understood the bond between brothers, Ryouta and Shisui was very strong. Even after all this time, even after he had been dead for such a good long time, Ryouta always thought of his brother, and always wanted to get justice for him.
But to her, she wished for him to come back to the village.
"W-We could do that back at the village! You don't have to go with those guys!"
"I don't want you to suffer Naruko-chan, I really do care for you. I wish it wasn't you who had come after me. I never wanted you to be in any danger."
While Ryouta said that, Satsuki subtly kept her eyes on Ryouta's hand, she could see he was spelling out words to her with making them with his hand. It was a message that she was mentally cataloguing within her mind to try and make sense of what he was saying.
"R-Ryou...don't say such things...of course I would come! I care about you! I want to help you! So come back to the village now! Please, with us!"
Tayuya once more was blown away by the dedication and declaration of those within the Leaf...or perhaps it was those that cared for Ryouta. She didn't know.
She was someone that hadn't seen such care for teammates before. She never had anything like this. Though she couldn't say that she was envious or she missed out on anything, her mind did keep wondering if this was a good thing for her personally, if she had someone that would go to bat for her, what her life would have become…
"Sorry Naruko-chan, but I can't this time. I have to go, I want to ask you to go back to the village, and stay safe there. You can forget about me."
"No way! I wont forget about you!"
Ryouta thought it was nice to hear Naruko say that.
It showed how passionate she really was about him, and tugged on his heartstrings.
As Satsuki finished getting the message from Ryouta after using her Sharingan, something only she would be able to see so no one else had any idea what had transpired between the two of them, she didn't show it on her face, she was able to keep a composed expression, but she understood fully about what was going on now, why Ryouta had done everything that he had done, and understood what he was to do now.
"So, that's it Ryou...Orochimaru, that slimy bastard...forced him to go through all this...Mom, he did all this to save Mom...and to protect us all...I knew it, I never doubted for a second you would turn on us...alright Ryou, I understand what I have to do now, lets make this convincing. I'll help you save Mom...I trust you."
Steeling herself, she took in a few breaths, Kabuto watching carefully.
She then pulled forward, directing her eyes solely at her boyfriend.
"Ryou..." Satsuki spoke up, Ryouta turned towards her. "If you wont come willingly, then I'll fight you."
Naruko drew a perplexed face, even Hinata was as well.
"What!? You're going to fight him?!"
"Yes, and you are too."
Naruko was even more confused than ever by what was going on.
"I don't understand, why do you want to fight him?!"
"Because we have to knock some sense into him. I wont be losing him, and if this is the way, then we'll have no choice. Hinata, you'll keep eyes on the others, Ryou will be left to us, alright?"
Hinata didn't understand what was going on.
But she saw that Satsuki was serious, so she nodded.
Ryouta could see in her eyes that she fully understood, but wasn't giving it away, so he smiled lightly.
"If you want to fight, then that's fine with me, I have a place where we can fight anyway. Up ahead, its called Valley of the End. Its very important to Uchiha's, Satsuki-chan. If I remember right, it also was the famed battleground of an Uchiha with a Konoha Ninja, the First Hokage."
Naruko wore surprise.
"The First...fought an Uchiha?"
"Not just any Uchiha, this one is said to be legendary. They fought up ahead, and carved the very lands with their fight. So history said anyway."
Satsuki furrowed her brows, then tightened her right hand.
"Lets go then, no need to wait any longer."
Kabuto was satisfied with this, he was happy to see them do this, unaware of what was to come.
Back with Guren and the others, the crystal user was walking forward. Her eyes went between them all, and she showed a strong smile on her face. The resolve to rescue their comrade, their friend, she did think it was admirable.
"You little kids, you have the resolve to be a Ninja after all. Each of you facing down enemies you know that you have no hope in winning against. I commend you in being able to face me for this long. I thought for sure that I would have wiped you guys out."
"For our friend, we wont stop until you're done!"
Kiba yelled, with Akamaru barking in agreement.
Guren smirked slightly.
"He knocked you out with Genjutsu, you think he's your friend?"
"Don't try and turn this on us, we are dealing with a snake like your boss. We know how twisted that guy is, and we know how kind Ryou-kun is as well."
Ino said with a strong resolve, Guren simply laughed.
"Nice, its good that you have such feelings for someone from your village. But you understand that you think you can defeat me. Think again everyone, I wont be defeated by brats. There's absolutely no way that I would be defeated by you all!"
Weaving through some hand signs, Guren placed her hands towards the ground. Shooting up like spikes, the area became surrounded by crystals. The Konoha Genin leapt away, and they watched a large pink crystal Dragon appear before them all.
It was bigger than the trees, it looked almost the same size as Garaga. It was clear that Guren wasn't messing around this time, and she was pouring a good deal of chakra into this entity to make sure that she finished them all off.
"No way...she can make something that big…?"
Ino was perplexed, while Shikamaru grit his teeth.
"Even if I possess that things shadow...I can see it in her eyes, she's already thought of that. Perhaps she has a way to split the crystals up and reform them somewhere else to release the possession."
"The best bet would be to go with possessing her. But with that Dragon in the way..."
Neji contemplated what to say, while Kiba stepped forward.
"Hey, I didn't come out here for nothing! I also have a new technique that I've been practicing! I wanted to use it against Ryouta Uchiha to show him my new strength for the last fight we had! But, you'll do!"
"Kiba, what are you doing? You can't fight that alone."
Shikamaru expressed his concerns, but Choji stepped up, and showed resolve.
"He wont be, because I will provide him support too!"
Ino looked surprised, but happy to see that her comrades stepped up, she wished to do the same thing for the others.
Neji looked at Kiba and Choji, seeing that they were going to do it, so he nodded.
"If they can keep that thing pinned down, it might limit her usage of her crystals, we could get in and deliver some blows to her body."
Neji expressed his thoughts, with Shikamaru wishing it didn't have to be that way, but understood the merit within his words as well.
"...Alright, you two...three with Akamaru, be careful."
"Alright! Lets do it boy!"
Kiba yelled, and the dog barked.
Using a combination Jutsu, they saw that Kiba had transformed together with Akamaru and became a two headed wolf. It was rather big, not as big as the Dragon, but the sharp claws, and the teeth certainly looked strong, and sturdy.
Choji also prepared, allowing parts of his body to become enlarged when the situation called for it.
With that, the wolf Kiba launched himself forward, and twisted for the crystal Dragon. It bent out of the way, and then slammed down towards him. But Choji caught the Dragons tail and pulled it with enough force that Kiba was able to avoid it.
Then the wolf leapt up, and came down with its claws, scratching across the crystal enough to break some of it off. The crystal Dragon then turned, and slammed its body against Kiba's own, as it flung Choji away with a whip of its tail.
"I ain't done yet!"
Kiba wolf continued the assault, with him clashing violently against the Dragon crystal. Rapidly spinning and crashing into the Dragon, like a drill it was able to penetrate the crystals body enough to cause some damage.
But then the Dragon came down with a headbutt, enough force was used to cause some bleeding to erupt from Kiba's head.
Kiba growled, as the Dragon reared its head back to do another attack, when a giant fist came from the right, slamming hard into its head, sending it off course long enough for Kiba to get up, and slash across its body, causing some more damage to the crystal.
Shikamaru and the others were thankful for this time, and used it to turn the tables on Guren.
"I didn't know dog boy, and the other growing boy could do such tactics together. They work well together. Wont save them though."
"You don't know them."
Shikamaru spoke up, but Guren showed a sneer.
"Impressive look. You keep surprising me, but look to your friends, they're being taken down one by one. They wont have the chakra to deal with my Dragon, and the same for you all, I have weakened you, you wont win against me."
True to her words, they saw that Kiba and Choji were being overpowered by the crystal Dragon, and was being repelled, and wouldn't last too much longer. Despite the fact that Guren was keeping that up, she was also able to fight them and caused some injuries to the others.
"We wont give up."
Guren heard Shikamaru declare, but Guren looked amused.
"That's what it is, is it? Is this the time you give me the speech on how you're able to win this battle, because you have your friends?" Guren mocked. "Do you see your supposed friends actually winning this kind of fight? They're losing, and so by the way, are you."
Shikamaru hated to admit it, but she was right. Even with his plans, he knew Guren was too much for the current group. She was simply too strong for them. He doubted Kakashi could beat her at this point, so it gave them difficult hope that they could do the same thing.
While losing hope...they suddenly heard a chuckle.
"Hey kid, is now a good time?"
Guren widened her eyes, as Shikamaru showed a small smile.
"Now, is the perfect time, Garaga-san."
Guren shot her eyes left, hearing the voice come from over there…
But then the ground burst from the right, and a huge tail came swinging out for Guren, showing that he had deceived her in where he was, a move so simple she didn't expect them to even do it.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"
Catching her up in it, and causing her to go flying through to another part of the forest, ramming her right through her own creation, the crystal Dragon shattering along with Garaga's strength.
Guren's right arm breaking as a result of the impact as well as the armour of crystal that was surrounding that part of her body.
As she went into a clearing, she saw that it was some kind of weird liquid had been laid out, so she made the armour around her stronger as she wasn't entirely sure what that venom actually did and didn't care to find out either.
She landed in the large pool of venom that Garaga had secretly laid out for her to be trapped in.
Digging her body into it, the venom began turning to stone the crystal armour she had around her. Knowing she couldn't stay in it, she began running and discarding the armour at the same time. She had to expend more chakra than she would like due to the fast acting of the venom threatening to turn her to stone.
"Lets get her!"
"Yeah, lets do it!"
When she came out of the clearing, she saw that Kiba in wolf form who was spinning like a drill and Choji who had both arms expanded were coming for her.
"You damn kids, don't underestimate me!"
With one arm broken, she had to rely on one handed seals, and she did so, shooting giant spiked crystals from the ground, which stopped their progression.
However, Ino came up from behind, and threw several shurikens for her, Guren used her unbroken arm to deflect them in coming, only to widen her eyes when she saw a shadow coming from the only area that didn't have any venom, knowing Shikamaru had trapped her.
"It wont end like this!"
Guren did some one handed seals rapidly and finished just as Shikamaru possessed her with his shadow.
"Now Neji!"
"Right!"
Neji rushed forward, but then saw a dome of red crystal in the form of an apple appeared around her.
"You wont get through this, I commend you on your ability but..."
"Shut up girl!"
Garaga snapped, and shot his venom across the dome, which turned to stone, before he sent his tail into it, and smashed it apart.
Guren widened her eyes in horror as she saw Neji close the distance. Shikamaru was doing his best to hold the shadow possession, but knew it would be extremely difficult to keep it going indefinitely, so pushed his limits, as Neji got in close.
"Eight Trigrams, One Hundred and Twenty Eight Palms!"
Guren couldn't do anything as Neji began hitting her with his palm strikes, his fingers using intense chakra to deal damage to the inside of her body. Again and again, she felt them damaging her, and she could feel her body slowly giving out on her.
However, she also saw Shikamaru, run out of shadow possessing, and she just had to hold on.
Each attack stung her.
She never expected them to be able to do this.
She didn't think that Garaga would show up, if she had known then she would have accommodated for the snake as well.
In the time when he only delivered thirty two of the overall strikes, Guren was freed, but she could feel the intense damage, so she leapt away from them all, and got a good distance back.
Feeling the pain on the inside, she used her strength to weave through some hand signs.
"I wont be defeated by any kids! Certainly not from Konoha!" Finishing the one handed signs, she exhaled. "Crystal Release, Crystal Encampment Wall!"
As she yelled, she released a bright red crystal all around her.
Garaga snarled, and released his venom, then smashed his tail against the turned to stone parts. But this time, the crystal regenerated, and didn't leave any trace of damage despite the strength of Garaga.
"Damn it, this is a good Jutsu crystal user."
Garaga snarled out, with a panting Guren showing a scowl on her lips.
"You damn kids...even though I didn't expect it, I have to commend you for doing this much to me. Orochimaru-sama might be dissatisfied, but I'm okay with this, for now. As even if I am stopped, Orochimaru-sama has others, and they will win this day. Ooh, by the way, you can't get through the wall either. Not until you have some incredible power, and from what I have seen, none of you possess the power to shatter this crystal. You might have injured me, but you haven't won, and when I'm ready, I will kill you all."
Garaga slithered forward, calling Guren on her bluff.
"Even though she said that with confidence, don't be fooled, she took more damage than she's letting on. She wont be fighting anytime soon. She has been taken out of this match."
Guren showed an even bigger scowl, as some blood casually leaked from her mouth.
Shikamaru figured, but it was good to hear Garaga say that.
"I should thank you, Garaga-san. Without you, I don't think we would have won against her. She is simply too strong for us currently."
"Even then, you all showed strength in the face of overwhelming odds, and gave me the time to take care of the spying snakes of Orochimaru's and set up the trap. That is a commendable action. Its time for you guys to rest, you've wasted a good deal of chakra, I'll watch over this woman to make sure she doesn't try any sneak attacks. You've all done enough now, leave it with the kid and the others."
They were all thankful to Garaga, and took a small break while Guren watched on, now realizing that Ryouta did have something up his sleeve.
But to what end, she truly didn't know, and she had no way of contacting Orochimaru either, she only hoped Orochimaru would make it out alive...
Having made it to the Valley of The End, it was a large lake like area, with a waterfall running down.
Standing on two sides of the large waterfall, were two large stone statues of two figures that were legendary within the Ninja world.
Ryouta cast his eyes forward, looking between two large statues.
One he recognized as the First Hokage, remembering him, even meeting him for a brief period.
The other, was an Uchiha, and not just any Uchiha. An Uchiha that had incredible skills and power.
"Madara Uchiha...yes, I remember seeing his face in old scrolls...I wish I could have come here earlier, its a beautiful place, even if these aren't the best of circumstances. Still, Madara Uchiha, I wonder how you really were as a person? I guess it doesn't matter now...gotta focus on here, and now, not much longer, then it will be over."
Ryouta landed on the water surface nearby, his eyes dancing between the two Konoha Ninja, with Hinata on the sidelines, keeping her eyes focused on Kabuto, and Kimimaro, along with Tayuya.
The young red haired girl however was going through some different things, things she didn't expect to happen.
Naruko didn't look willing to fight, but Satsuki withdrew some kunai's and held them in a reverse grip.
"Ryou...we can't do anything to stop this? We have to truly fight one another?"
"If you don't want to fight, then you can return to the village. Otherwise, this is the only way Naruko-chan."
As heartbreaking as it was saying this, and seeing the sadness on her face, Ryouta tried his best to remember what he was doing, and why he was doing it. Hitting these emotional beats inside of his chest, it was a very difficult situation that Ryouta was going through as well as the others.
"Its fine, Naruko. We can fight him."
Satsuki held serious eyes, and a face to match.
Kabuto also looked on, seeing that Satsuki seriously intended to fight, which he was happy for. He just hoped that Danzo didn't do anything that was weird, or would involve himself. He couldn't afford that, and neither could Orochimaru.
"Ryou..."
Naruko held her head down, and thought about everything that was going on.
Deep in her heart, she knew that this had to be some kind of ploy, she believed in him that much that he was doing this because he was doing his best for them.
Even if she didn't understand right now, she had to place faith in him, she couldn't do anything else, she believed that he was doing this for a reason.
Even then, the very idea of fighting against him...it brought a mass of conflictions to her heart. She found it tough ever seeing him as an enemy.
"I see, so you wont back down? Okay, then I'll have to stop you to save you. I hope you're prepared...because I wont let you stop me."
Ryouta said seriously, something that Kabuto resonated with, Kimimaro also resonated with his resolve.
Because of the situation, Ryouta had to play this carefully, he just hoped that very soon, he would be able to finally get to Mikoto and save her from the pain that she was in right now.
As that was going on, back within Konoha, Tsunade stood within an underground area, staring at the few people around her. She saw allies, and new allies, people that would help them in this. She also was aware that they had to do their best for the village, and she was planning the best way to go about it as quickly as she humanly could do.
Understanding that she had limited time for that day, and that she could be called at anytime, she was mentally prepared for what was to come. And thanks to the help of those she trusted, she was able to get everything in order for what needed to happen.
Standing close to her, she saw Sakura who seemed to have a semi nervous expression on her face.
"Sakura, thank you for your hard work. If it wasn't for you, we would have been slowed down and might not have made it."
"W-Well, I wanted to make sure that Ryou-kun and the others would be safe so I tried my hardest..."
Tsunade places a hand on top of her head, and gave a strong smile.
"Yes, it is working out. Now, all we have to do is wait, and for the plan to begin. You shall also be a good part, we need to do this precisely, and quickly. With no room for error. I know it is asking a lot, but today could be the day we make a change to this world."
"No, please don't worry about me Hokage-sama, I am prepared."
Tsunade nodded at the resolve that Sakura was showing.
"Orochimaru brought this upon himself, now its time for Konoha to show why it isn't something to be trifled with. And trying to mess with its citizens, he shall know the day that he made his last mistake."
Hearing Tsunade speaking was awe inspiring for Sakura.
She couldn't get enough of how confident Tsunade was.
How smart she was.
The kindness that she was exuding at the same time.
Tsunade was truly someone that Sakura looked up to, someone that she respected, and someone that Sakura truly could say was worthy of being Hokage. She took what happened within her stride, and she made sure that everything would work out for the best.
Tsunade looked over the others, and thought "We are ready now Ryouta, I leave the rest to you. Be careful." and looked down at her hands, tightening them so tight that she was able to see her knuckles turning rather white, but she didn't mind, as she was placing her trust within Ryouta, for his plan to work and at any moment, they would begin...
End chapter!
So this chapter focused on the fight with Guren, Neji doing his best initially, and then later was joined by Team Ten and Kiba as well, who all fought hard, and managed to seriously incapacitate Guren to the point that she is in a critical condition. The others finally caught up with Ryouta, and this time, Ryouta was able to send a secret message to Satsuki, while drawing focus of the others away, and now with her on side, they shall soon come together. And finally, Tsunade is prepared, with what Ryouta had asked so we shall see that very soon!
Well, until next time, thanks for reading!
Ryouta; Satsuki, Sakura, Naruko, Hinata, Gaara (fem), Ino, Haku (fem), Kurotsuchi, Karin, Konan, Mei, Anko, Samui, Hanabi, Mabui, Temari, Pakura, Fu,