Clash of Claws and Kunai
I don't own anything except Oc's. All content goes to its proper owners.
Few weeks after Seaheart's revival
Work on the bridge was its typical slow drudgery. Laborers both skilled and unskilled hauled and lifted cut stone into place, before heading off to get more from the stonecutters. Naruto let out a mix of a sigh and a groan. It was only Eleven, and lunch was at noon. The sun beat down on the blonde Shinobi and being forced to stand in it without shade was taxing. If he was to be brutally honest, and he always was, he was hoping his first mission would have more flair to it outside of facing one group of mercenary ninja.
"Is the bridge almost done yet?" Naruto asked in exasperation, despite fully knowing the answer.
The elderly "super" bridge builder Tazuna sighed at that. "For the last time, kid, it'll be done when it's done!" He explained, trying to not snap at the orange clad ninja.
"You sound just like Old Man Third. Annoyingly so." Naruto muttered.
"Then the Hokage must be a super smart man. Because he knows the value of patience." Tazuna replied, puffing his chest out a bit.
Naruto leaned back against the stone side rail of the bridge, seeing no way of beating the old man in an argument. It was an annoying feature of those elders to him, as if old age bestowed upon them some great advantage or something. What really annoyed him was how noisy the bridgework was. Years in the academy had trained his senses to a heightened state like all shinobi, but he was quickly finding that it also made very loud noises all the worse. But, even with all of that, something caught his admittedly short attention.
It first came up through his feet. The bridgework produced a lot of vibrations, but this was different. It was shorter in pace, and more constant. Tuning his ears by allocating chakra to them, a trick he learned in the academy that he only just got down due to his improved chakra control, he began to pick up on… scurrying? It was as if someone had let out a giant horde of rats under the bridge, scurrying towards the workers. But no shinobi could control rats, could they? However, soon the workers stopped.
"What happened to the sun!?" One called out, forcing everyone to turn their attention skyward.
Lookup up, the normally bright yellow glow of the sun had turned to a dull, blacked crimson. Feeling this light on their skin, it seemed to have lost all of its potency. Feeling as if somehow the blackness of night was surrounding them, trying to dig its infernal, shadowy claws into their senses. Wasting no time, Naruto created a Shadow Clone to go get his team. And just in time too, as the scurriers made their appearance.
Naruto now wished they were rats. Living in an apartment, he got good at dealing with them. Crawling up the sides of the bridge with filth encrusted claws came hunch backed humanoids. They looked like they were human at one point, but something happened to them. Sunken, sullen eyes, pale, ashen gray and worn skin, gangly limbs, exposed ribs and spine. They now looked like monsters out of that horror movie he snuck into all those years ago. As they gnashed rotting, fanged teeth, they corralled him and the workers till they were surrounded in a circle. It was then that the blonde-haired future Hokage remembered the name they were called by in the movie.
"G-Ghouls! Old man, you didn't tell us Ghouls were gonna be on this mission!" Naruto yelled, trying to keep his cool.
"I didn't know!" Tazuna replied in a panic.
"That seems to be a really weird running theme with you!" Naruto yelled, trying to keep the Ghouls at bay, but they weren't really trying to attack them.
Meanwhile back at Tazuna's house
Kakashi groaned as he tried to test his arm. It was getting better, though he still had a ways to go. Now however, instead of the week prior, he felt he could fight if he needed. As Sasuke trained, Sakura worked on checking their equipment. Tazuna's family were performing their daily chores to keep the house in order. All was peaceful and as it should, till the normal yellow light he was used to turn a lifeless red.
Raising an eyebrow believing he was under a Genjutsu, Kakashi put his hands together in a specific hand seal and flared his chakra ever so slightly as he tried to break it. "Release!" He called out quietly.
"Kakashi sensei, what's going on?" Sakura asked, joining her master in looking up at the sun in confusion.
Equally as confused, Kakashi noted that his Genjutsu release did nothing, as well as the fact that a faint feeling of malice and killing intent lingered in the air. "Sakura, go and get Sasuke." He told his female student, a serious look on his face and in his one visible eye.
"On it." She said as a massive shadow engulfed her before continuing on its way, forcing them to look it up.
All they could see due to its speed was it had wings. Massive bat-like wings. Those wings propelled whatever that white blur above them was straight towards the bridge.
Back at the bridge
Having surrounded his charges in Shadow Clones, they formed a form of defensive circle, kunai at the ready as the ghouls snapped and lashed at them. Naruto, however, wasn't fooled. They were merely prodding him, testing him, wanting him to slip up. Suddenly some of them backed away from the newly built edge of the bridge, as if making space for something. Something truly massive. When soon after the sun was blocked out in a great shadow, he realized he was about to get his answer.
What struck them first was its landing. The sheer weight of this behemoth rocked the bridge to its foundation, and for a moment, it felt like the bridge would give. Miraculously, if only barely, it held. Naruto turned to look at what caused this disturbance, and if the ghouls caused him concern, then this threatened to kill him with fright.
Standing before them was the great skeletal frame of a bat, ballooned to utterly monstrous proportions. Its bony, scythe-clawed hands gripped each side of the bridge, and even its wide frame wasn't enough to make it look kind of scrunched. Its short, yet stout hind legs held aloft a great, cavernous rib cage with rotting organs left to dangle in the wind. Rotting matts of flesh and fur scattered its back haphazardly between two rotting, leathery wings, its massive wingspan blocking out the sun. What faced them was its head, a squared off, bulky piece of horrifying work, equipped with a gaping jaw, and teeth that made shinobi swords look positively tame.
"K-K-Kid, wh-what is that thing…?!" Tazuna stammered out in a panic.
"It's called a Terrorgheist, chattel. A creature far more noble than your wretched kind." A raspy, guttural voice said from behind the hideous monster's head.
"Why don't you come out here and say that to my face, coward?!" Naruto yelled with his usual brash bravado.
"Kid, no…! What're you doing…?!" Tazuna whispered in sheer terror.
"A human with fire. I like those." The voice answered, almost bemused.
The great abomination lowered its head like the ramp on a plane to reveal its rider. What stood before them was humanoid, but somehow even more horrifying of a specimen than even the ghouls. Its proportions were bloated and rotted to gigantic degrees, stretching ancient ashen hide to seemingly beyond any known limit.
Its legs were bent in several places like a bird's, tipped in wicked talons. Its chest bulged outwards, unable to contain its sheer dense muscle on display. As it stepped off the great monster, its long arms swayed with ethereal ease, tipped with black tipped claws. Naruto looked up to this "person's" face, to see eyes with a volcanic red, boiling over with the purest hatred. Skin stretched around a pointed, crooked nose and thin lips curled around a maw of thick, curved fangs. Its head was crowned by a set of pointed quills, and ears pointed sideways like a fox's.
"It is quite brave of you shinobi to face a true lord so boldly. For that, I can commend you." It said to the genin, looking him over like a cat would a mouse.
"You don't scare me." Naruto shot back, though it was a bold-faced lie.
"Oh? And why should I?" It asked coyly.
"Whatever you are, back away from my student and the bridge builders. In that order." A voice familiar to Naruto ordered.
"Kakashi sensei! Don't worry, I got this under control!" Naruto yelled.
"Yeah, you've really got this in the bag, loser." Another voice next to Kakashi replied in a stoic, sarcastic tone. This got the horde of ghouls cackling like hyenas.
"I don't see you doing anything helpful, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.
"So, this is the group that old Zabby failed to snuff out, huh? No wonder why Gatō never got nowhere, relying on you shinobi to try and solve his problems." The beast snarled, stretching its thin lips in something approximating a smile.
Reaching up and grabbing onto his Konoha forehead protector, Kakashi prepared to reveal his Sharingan. "Whoever or whatever you are, you're going to regret coming here today!" Kakashi replied, one hand pulling out a kunai.
"You all can eat the kids and workers. The gray-haired cyclops is mine." The monster ordered its degenerate minions, pointing to the veteran Jōnin.
Its claws gripped the stone firmly, digging in and turning what they contacted to dust. Then, with a powerful thrust of the legs, it surged forward towards Kakashi with the force of a tsunami. This movement was quickly and swiftly not only stopped but countered. Its face contacted at first a blur, before landing on the ground to reveal a red metal shield. The sudden force sent the creature back into the face of the Terrorgheist, which growled in annoyance.
"If I recall, the curfew for undead monstrosity like you is after dark. Not before it." A booming, yet regal voice said from behind them all.
Looking back towards the village, they saw a towering man in red and azure clothing standing before them. Suddenly the shield, as if animated, flung back and attached itself to one of the man's gauntlets, before brandishing an unknown type of hammer in his other hand. Flicking his kasa hat off his head, he revealed spiky red hair, deep tanned skin, deep royal blue eyes, and a face… that shockingly looked like Narutos, but more wizened and mature in form.
A stunned Sasuke looked at the man in silence for a moment. 'Who is this guy…? And why does he look like Naruto…?' He wondered mentally.
"Finally, a handsome shinobi to come and save the day for once!" Sakura blurted, leaving Sasuke ever so briefly annoyed for reasons he didn't understand.
Kakashi rolled his eyes at his kunoichi student's antics. "Focus, Sakura." He told her sternly.
"Right, sorry…" Sakura answered quickly.
"Wait, let me guess, old man. You don't know him either." Naruto dryly said.
"No…! Yes…" Tazuna admitted sheepishly, trying to save face.
"You know, Old Man Third told me lying was wrong." Naruto said with a punchable smirk.
"Shut up, kid. You're a ninja. Lying is your bread and butter." Tazuna replied bitterly.
The banter stopped as a cold and guttural chuckle could be heard from the troglodyte humanoid. Standing up and composing itself, its grin turned practically cheshire in exposing its horrible fangs.
"Looks like Seaheart's back on the menu, boys!" It roared, and the ghouls gnashed their teeth in delight.
Drawing two kunai, Sasuke looked at his sensei. "Alright, Kakashi. Who is taking what?" The young, fowl haired Uchiha asked his superior.
"Sasuke, Sakura, you deal with the ghouls and protect the workers while they get safely off of the bridge. I'll take the ugly one-" Kakashi started, only for Naruto to cut him off.
"Define which one is the ugly one, Kakashi sensei." Naruto asked nervously, not liking where his master's thoughts were going.
"The ugly humanoid one." Kakashi specified.
"I'll have you know I was voted twenty years in a row as the most desirable of all my siblings." Said ugly humanoid said, putting its hand on its chest.
"If that's what you vampires call desirable, I'll pass." Oda shot back.
The others were shocked at what the strange man called the humanoid monstrosity, but Kakashi quickly continued. "Naruto, you distract the gigantic, ugly bat thing for our new friend here." He ordered his orange clad student.
"Are you insane!? That thing could eat at a house for breakfast!" Naruto yelled.
"What's wrong, loser? Don't think you can handle it?" Sasuke asked, ever so slightly nervously.
"I swear to the gods, Sasuke, I will PERSONALLY stuff you down that thing's throat if you ask me that again!" Naruto roared back, curiously not getting a single quip from Sakura.
"Well, my small, brightly colored, and extremely terrified new friend, let's get to work on this Terrorgheist!" The man yelled as he rushed through the ghouls and grabbed Naruto.
"Heh… heh heh heh… I'm gonna die…" Naruto chuckling, mumbling nervously.
"Sakura, get ready! They're coming!" Sasuke called out as he threw both of his kunai at two of the ghouls, the two kunai impaling the ghouls through their eyes and piercing their brains.
"Where did I put those explosive tags…?" Sakura muttered, fumbling through her things.
The entire concave line of ghouls closest to them roared, surging forward like a horde of starving wolves. Claws digging deep as they could into stone as their scrawny, hunched frames lurched and bounded with each stride. Many had their tongues out, waving in the wind and slobbering at the prospect at eating such young, juicy flesh. However, they were playing right into Sasuke's hands as said hands began making hand seals.
'Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!' Sasuke mentally called out as he used his jutsu to blow out the biggest fireball he could at the pale, gnarl-clawed freaks before them.
The effect was swift, yet utterly destructive. The center of the line was quickly engulfed, releasing wails of pure agony and fiery death from those ghouls unable to get out of the way. The unleashed fireball, shot out like a flamethrower, scorched many that also were not immediately hit. This, however, created a gaping hole in the line, and forced the ghouls to one side or the other of the bridge.
"Come on! This way! We can hold them off!" Sakura yelled, as the workers and protecting Naruto clones didn't take much motivation to follow the order.
As the two genin rushed up to get between the workers and the toothed horrors in front of them, the ghouls hissed and growled. Slowly the fires began to die down, and the ghouls began to circle and weave their way through the ash and bodies. Even if the bulk of their prey may have escaped, that only made their desire for flesh increase. Now their eyes were firmly fixed on the two.
"Did you make them angry?" Sakura asked, drawing two kunai.
"Hm. If I did, then they won't be living long enough to act on it." Sasuke replied, drawing a kunai of his own.
Meanwhile - With Kakashi
Being a jōnin for more than a decade, Hatake Kakashi had faced all manner of foes during his days as a ninja. However, nothing prepared him for the nightmare in front of him. This vampire, being very different from any vampire he had ever heard of, was more beast than humanoid. It was fast, strong, and fought with the purest form of hatred imaginable. Even he, with all of his combat experience, doubted his chances in his condition.
Dodging a meathooked claw slash from the animalistic humanoid, Kakashi watched in shock as those razor-sharp talons carved into the stone surface of the bridge like a kunai through paper. Making a mental note not to get cut by those, he unveiled his Sharingan, feeling that he would need it. Dodging claw slash after claw slash and gnashing, fanged bites, the heterochromatic scarecrow jōnin kept his Sharingan eye trailed on the vampire, watching and waiting for an opening. This thing was strong and fast, but it lacked technique and skill, making its attacks very predictable and easier to read even without a special eye.
"You think another eye will save you? That's just more for me to feast on!" It roared, nearly slicing open his opponent's belly with a close call.
"We'll see. After all, this eye is quite special to me." Kakashi replied to a bit coyly, dodging the slash to his belly before running Lightning Release chakra into the kunai in his hand.
Slicing with the kunai, Kakashi aimed for its wrist in an attempt to cut off its hand. However, much to his surprise, the beastly humanoid just barely managed to move its arm out of the way so that only its wrist got cut as it bit back a cry of pain. Though Kakashi noted that sickly, putrid black blood gushed and dripped from the wound as its skin swiftly knitted back together. This thing could regenerate.
"Why are fights like this never easy…?" Kakashi muttered in frustration.
"Did you really think it would be that easy to defeat me, meat? My kind have faced far worse than you." It snarled back in annoyance.
"For a second there? Yeah. I kind of hoped so…" Kakashi reluctantly admitted.
"You chattel really are foolish creatures. Just like father said." It chuckled back, finding no small pleasure in Kakashi's failure only to be caught off guard by a swift kick to the face that knocked it back.
"Foolish we may be, but there's one thing you should know about shinobi. We never give up until it's truly over." Kakashi responded, throwing his Lightning Release coated kunai at the beast and impaling it in the eye as the electricity zapped it.
As the animalistic creature screamed in agony, Kakashi knew deep in his gut that this fight was only getting started. Not only that, but, rather than killing it, he had probably just made it angry. Grabbing the kunai and forcibly ripping it out of its head, it then let out a roar of rage, dead set on revenge as its eye began to regenerate.
With Naruto and Oda
"So, what's the plan!?" Naruto yelled as the mammoth monstrosity eyed the two up.
"We need to force it into the water to successfully detonate it." Oda explained.
"What do you mean by 'detonate'?" Naruto asked nervously.
"These things have a nasty habit of exploding upon redeath into a swarm of killer bats from inside its ribcage." Oda explained.
"Oh great. So how are we supposed to get it into the water!?" Naruto snapped at Oda.
"Keep it distracted for me, I'll get in position." Oda said as he rushed off around it.
"I officially hate this plan…" Naruto grumbled, and soon the skeletal juggernaut squared up to him.
Making as many Shadow Clones as he could, each Naruto began wrapping exploding tags around the handles of their kunai. Taking aim, the army of orange clad shinobi went on the attack.
"CHARGE!" The original called out as the dozens of blonde and orange genin rushed at their opponent.
Taking aim, all of the Naruto fired, throwing all of their kunai. "EXPLOSIVE KUNAI STORM!" The Naruto army called out, naming their improvised jutsu.
The explosive kunai rained exploding metal hell down on the massive bat monstrosity. As each kunai exploded on contact, the beast roared in pain and fury as the barrage of explosive metal mayhem peppered it like dust in a windstorm, forcing it back. Angrier than injured, the creature tried to swat the clones away to destroy them, making some of them poof into smoke as the Naruto army continued launching explosive kunai at it. Eventually, the storm of detonating metal ceased as all of the Naruto ran out of explosive tags.
"Uh oh… Out of tags…" Naruto said before looking back at the Terrorgheist.
The beast uncovered itself, snarling in rage at the orange clad mob before it. Rearing its head back, the creature let out a loud scream of a strange black and red eldritch power, waves of black and red energy washing over the Naruto battalion. Barely having time to cover their ears in agony, Naruto's Shadow Clones all poofed away. However, the original was not so lucky. He felt as if the scream was tearing into his very soul, trying to rip his life essence out of him as an outline of spiritual energy began to pop out of Naruto from his back. It was only through sheer force of will that Naruto managed to stay conscious and hang onto his very life itself.
Panting and dropping to one knee, Naruto looked up at the massive bat monstrosity. Seeing its opportunity, the beast reared back its head with its jaws wide open like a snake's, preparing to end this. Lunging down, the undead abomination attempted to snap the orange clad future Hokage up in one bite and eat him whole. Trying his best to move out of the way, Naruto found his efforts futile as the scream had exhausted and paralyzed him.
However, it was at that moment that something happened. A set of ethereal blue chains wrapped around its neck, torso, and wings, and winched up tight. Suddenly, and straining against incredible force, the bat winged monstrosity's jaws snapped shut agonizingly short of its prey. Paling and sweating at how close of a call that was, Naruto leaned over to look beyond the great monster. Standing on the nearest bank from the bridge, the same chains coming out of powerful arms, stood Oda, straining against the beast's might.
"Good job over there, sport! Took that like a champ!" Oda yelled over to him.
"Thanks! Now what!?" Naruto yelled back as the monster kept trying to bite him but kept coming up short.
"We need to force it onto its hind legs now! Hit it with everything you got and don't let up!" Oda roared, getting a better footing for what he had planned.
"Now you're speaking my language!" Naruto yelled with some enthusiasm.
Making the hand seal for his signature technique, Naruto made as many more Shadow Clones as he could. Pointing at the Terrorgheist, Naruto called out to his clones.
"KAMIKAZE CLONE BARRAGE!" The original called out, the doppelgangers all charging in.
As they each got within range, the clones all began throwing each other into the creature with all of their strength, slamming into the beast with great force. Great enough to poof them with each impact, only for each one that disappeared to be replaced by more taking their place. Bit by bit, the monstrosity was being forced upwards, even as its claws dug into and scraped against the bridge. Oda dug in his heels and began to heave with every ounce of power his muscles could muster, backed up by Naruto's clones' repeated blows. Finally, if by only some god given miracle, they broke the monster's grip on the bridge.
Back with Sasuke and Sakura
Slicing through a ghoul's head with a kunai, Sasuke ducked under a claw slash from another as he kicked it in the head hard enough to break its neck and make its head spin around. As the ghoul with the broken neck dropped to the ground, Sasuke cut off the heads of two more jumping over a claw swipe from another. Drop kicking that ghoul, the young avenger snapped its neck and rattled its brain. Landing on his feet, he stabbed one in the eye to pierce its brain before wrenching his kunai out of its skull, leaving behind a destroyed eye and an impaled brain.
Bit by bit in a manner like this, Sasuke cut down and killed any ghouls that got close to him. So lost was he in his efforts, getting a flow going as he killed them, that he didn't notice what the others were doing. Not until it was too late, and he found himself surrounded.
'Damn…! I should've kept my eyes on the others!' Sasuke mentally cursed his own carelessness, throwing his kunai into the crowd of ghouls to kill two before going through hand seals for another Great Fireball.
He cut his hand seals short when the distinctive sound of kunai digging into stone was heard. This made many of the ghouls poke their heads up and look around, trying to figure out where these sounds were coming from. What followed next was a series of loud sizzling sounds before a symphony of explosions rang out, engulfing entire chunks of the horde in concussive mayhem as they were incinerated cluster by cluster. Looking up in confusion, Sasuke watched as his rosette teammate landed on the bridge, visible from one of the new gaps in the crowd before giving him a thumbs up.
Sasuke smirked at the gesture from his pink haired kunoichi team member. "I had it, but thanks anyway, Sakura!" Sasuke called out, surprising the young kunoichi at the rare show of gratitude from her crush.
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun! Now let's get rid of these horrid brutes!" Sakura yelled, beaming with pride.
Jumping into the air in a spin as he finished his hand seals, the Last Uchiha prepared another Great Fireball to finish them off. 'Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!' Sasuke thought as he exhaled the massive fireball again, unleashing a flamethrower-like fire blast down at the pale creatures that rotated as he spun, incinerating the last of them.
"We need to help Kakashi sensei!" Sakura yelled as her crush landed superhero style.
Sasuke nodded in response. "Let's just hope that our idiot can hold out long enough for the three of us to get there." The dark-haired avenger replied.
"I HEARD THAT!" A distinctive voice yelled from across the bridge.
Sasuke and Sakura were both surprised at that. "Apparently, the idiot has bat hearing…" The brooding avenger muttered.
"REALLY!? YOU'RE REALLY GOING THERE RIGHT NOW!?" Naruto's voice roared back.
"Unintentional pun, loser!" Sasuke called back.
"Can we save the sitcom banter for later and save our master from being turned into a blood pack on drumsticks?" Sakura asked, annoyed by the antics of her teammates as she and Sasuke took off towards Kakashi.
With Kakashi
Kakashi slid back a bit, panting lightly, and sweating a bit. His Konoha shinobi uniform was torn in places with small cuts on his skin. From taking these wounds, he had quickly realized that this vampire's claws were not just razor sharp. They were also coated in some kind of toxin, a poison or venom. While the amount in his system wasn't potent enough to kill him, it was becoming increasingly exhausting and harder to move. Not only that, but every wound he inflicted on this thing simply healed over time with it showing no signs of fatigue or slowing down.
Soon, however, he felt his rear touch one side of the bridge, indicating the end of the line. He could jump off the bridge and land on top of the water and hope this thing couldn't swim. However, considering his current state and the fact it wasn't tiring, it likely meant that it didn't need to breathe, and therefore could not drown. He was running out of options quickly.
'Damn… I never thought I'd wish I had more experience fighting monsters…' Kakashi thought, racking his brain trying to come up with a plan.
"Looks like you've hit the edge. I can't wait to drink your blood and see what this chakra you love so much tastes like." It hissed, drooling like a starving dog looking at a steak.
However, before it could lunge at the scarecrow jōnin, a large sphere of roaring flames collided with the vampire. Screaming in agony, it tried to roll along the bridge in an attempt to put out the flames. As it did, a panting and sweating Sasuke landed nearby and went through more hand seals.
'Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!' He mentally called out, unleashing a torrent of flames on the rolling vampire, attempting to roast it unalive.
"Kakashi sensei! Are you okay!?" Sakura asked as she landed nearby, checking him all over frantically.
"I'm fine, Sakura. But look at the vampire's wounds." Kakashi replied, observing his foe as it was being cooked by Sasuke.
"Its wounds are healing, but at a much-reduced rate. That means that either its regeneration is suppressed by fire damage, or it's weak to fire. Or both are true to a lesser extent…" Sakura explained as Sasuke's chakra reserves began to peeter out.
Ceasing his fiery assault on their undead foe, Sasuke dropped to one knee. Panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath, the Uchiha Avenger felt how low his chakra was. He had used up too much chakra using the Great Fireball over and over again at too high of a level. At this point, he only had one higher powered, prolonged Great Fireball left in him before he wouldn't have enough chakra left for another.
Shaking some of the smoke and flame off its scorched body, it roared in unyielding rage. "You will pay, you duck-haired chattel!" It roared as it lunged at Sasuke with blinding speed.
However, before it could reach the brooding avenger, an electric buzzing sound was heard as a blur took off at it. With an explosive piercing sound, the vampire found itself impaled from behind by a Lightning Release chakra coated hand, a kunai gripped in it. With a flick of the wrist. Kakashi pulled it out and swiped across its neck, bisecting its fanged mug from its neck. Then, with a nod, the two performed hand seals and roasted the decapitated horror in a configuration of chakra fire.
"Let's see it heal from that." Kakashi said, watching their fallen foe burn.
Back with Naruto and Oda
"What's happening back there, Naruto!?" Oda yelled back at the orange clad blonde.
"I'm trying here, this thing is as stubborn as I am!" Naruto yelled back, continuing to send Shadow Clones at it.
"Alright, my turn for the miracle." Oda muttered as he closed his eyes and concentrated before turning away from the scene on the bridge.
Slowly, the same swirling wind-like energy began to flow through Oda's veins, going straight into strange kanji like runes on his legs, glowing with a wind chakra like blue color. They soon shone bright, bright enough for Naruto to see them from the bridge as he saw these swirling blue winds appear from the ether and head towards Oda.
"What is going on over there…?" Naruto muttered in confusion.
Gritting his teeth, Oda took a mighty step forward, which in turn forced the Terrorgheist somewhat higher onto its hind legs. Soon he took another such step, producing a similar result. Step by step, foot by foot, heavy breath one after another, he began to force this beast up more and more. Using its unnatural strength and weight, the Terrorgheist fought back against the human that chained it, but every bit of lost effort was slowly, but surely regained. Finally, with one great, mighty heave, the undead bat was forced to stand vertically.
Even as the chains slackened, the Terrorgheist struggled to stay balanced. Its frame was extremely top heavy, and it was not a bipedal creature by instinct. Naruto then finally realized why Oda wanted it upright. Looking down at its feet, it was now standing on the under-construction portion of the bridge, the least stable and unlikely to hold its weight. And it was already starting to give.
"Now, Naruto! Hit it now!" Oda yelled, spinning around and getting into a running position.
"Right!" Naruto replied, jumping as high into the air as he could via chakra to get above the Terrorgheist, "MULTIPLE SHADOW CLONE TECHNIQUE!"
As Naruto called out the name of his signature jutsu, a massive amount of Naruto clones appeared above it. As they came down towards the massive bat monstrosity, the clones began to spin. Soon, they began to collide with it, legs first, with enough force to dispel themselves as the bridge beneath the beast weakened more and more with each impact.
"MULTIPLE CLONE SPINNING HEEL DROP!" The Naruto army called out as they hit the Terrorgheist with spinning ax kick after spinning ax kick to bring it down.
Soon, the part of the bridge beneath the monster finally gave out. Jumping with all of his strength, Oda got above the beast and pulled out a crossbow-looking mechanism that he then attached to his right gauntlet. The mechanism for his brother's most recent invention. Taking aim, Oda fired two massive spikes covered in glowing orange kanji runes. As the Terrorgheist fell into the water, the two bolts collided with the beast's center of mass, hitting it square in the chest. While it plunged into the water, a massive depth charge-like explosion went off as a gurgling death scream was heard.
"Ah. Love the smell of exploding Terrorgheist in… well I guess it's midday, isn't it." Oda said, looking up.
As if some great enchantment was broken, the effect that had gripped the sun had begun to fade and peeter out, returning the heat and yellow light to the village. Naruto staggered a bit on his legs and put his hands on his knees, panting. Sweat began to roll in beads off his face from the exertion. Looking up at Oda, he also began to pant, and had as much, if not more sweat pouring off of him from his part in that great monster's demise. Swiftly the rest of Team 7 joined the two brightly colored warriors.
"Excuse me a moment…" Kakashi muttered before running over to the side of the bridge, beginning to throw up a large amount of sickly black gunk over the side.
"Eww. Hey Naruto, great job back there. I didn't think shinobi could take down such a big creature." Sakura said with genuine praise in her voice as Kakashi gave a thumbs up in the background.
"Not bad. For a loser." Sasuke backhandedly praised his teammate, a small smirk on his face.
"A loser, dear Sasuke, would have their soul ripped violently out by a Terrorgheist's screech. Naruto here, has not just great fortitude, but an incredible will." Oda corrected, standing up for his new orange clad partner.
"That's the language of Sasuke for 'Nice job, big guy'. But I am more than happy to take the compliment." Naruto said with a big smile.
"Well, it takes real bravery to be afraid, yet still stand against terrifying odds. You shinobi certainly are a fascinating lot." Oda mused.
It was at that moment that Kakashi came back from emptying the contents of his body and stomach of vampire toxin. His mask back up and his face wiped clean, Kakashi smiled through his mask at his student.
"Nicely done, Naruto. You all really have grown, especially you." The heterochromatic scarecrow praised his blonde, orange clad subordinate.
"Well, I shall not interfere with your mission any longer. Have a wonderful day…" Oda said as he began to walk off, only to be stopped by the Jōnin sensei.
"Actually, we were hoping you could help shed some light on what we just faced." Kakashi told him.
"Have you never faced a vampire before? Strigoi I understand, they aren't exactly a common breed, but you've never faced a vampire and its minions before?" Oda asked, confused.
"Hm. Before today, we were sure vampires were just a myth." Sasuke replied stoically.
"I might be able to answer your question with a question. What year is this?" Oda asked measuredly.
With that, Sakura pulled out a small booklet calendar. "It's one thousand years post-Sage of Six Paths. But here's a calendar. Maybe that might help you more than that." Sakura said, handing him the booklet.
"Thank you, Lady Sakura." Oda answered with a respectful bow, Sakura blushing ever so slightly at that.
Pulling out his own booklet calendar, he flipped back and forth through the various pages. For several minutes, Oda was deeply engrossed in what they assumed were calculations of some kind. Finally he stopped, his eyes widened at a sudden realization, and dropped both booklets to the ground.
"We were in stasis for over a thousand years…" Oda breathfully said, horror dripping out of every syllable he spoke.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow in confusion as he lowered his forehead protector. "Is everything alright, Oda-san…?" The now one-eyed scarecrow asked in concern.
"They're gone. All of them are gone. Drordottr… Odion… Everyone sacrificed themselves… For what?" Oda muttered to himself cryptically as he dropped to his knees in absolute despair. A kind of state Kakashi hadn't seen since the Kyūbi attack on the village.
"Um… Oda…?" Naruto asked in concern, moving to put a hand gently on his shoulder.
"For those you long for the most, the hand of fate plays the cruelest hand." Oda said, looking down at the cobbled stone beneath him.
"Come with us please, Oda-san. It's obvious we have a lot to discuss." Kakashi told him, worried about the man.
"On that… we are in complete agreement." Oda answered somberly, slowly rising and joining the team on the walk to Tazuna's house.
Welp. For the record, no I did not anticipate this to be this monstrously long. I know other people have written longer, but for me and my ground, this is insanity. Oh I had fun, but I'm questioning my ability to pace things anymore. Before I keep rambling on, a word from my cowriter.
Uzumaki Ricky- Hello again, true shinobi fanatics! Uzumaki Ricky here again, coming to you from the Land of Aloha! Hoo boy, this chapter was a doozy of a long one. But we enjoyed writing it. We hope you had fun reading it.
Though MHG is having a bit of a breakdown at how unexpectedly long this chapter was. He should be fine after a bit though. Anyway, keep your eyes open for the first chapter of Shy Fox Chronicles, which should be going up on Saturday. Aloha and good night, everyone!
In agreement with my cowriter, I hope you all have a great night.