Chapter 26 The Invasion Begins
I don't own Naruto. Anything I use from the story is the property of its creator Masashi Kishimoto. Same with anything I use from other stories
(Arena)
While Naruto's and Kankuro were having one of the more awkward conversations of their young lives. Neji and Lee stood on the battlefield ready for their match. "Lee. Before this match begins there's something I feel I should tell you." Neji replied. He owed it to his teammate to say this while he had a chance.
"What's that?" Lee wondered.
"You've always felt that I'm your rival because you thought of me as the genius who simply was capable of everything haven't you?" Neji said bluntly.
Lee was slightly caught off guard but gave the only answer he could, "Yes." Lee said firmly. Neji was the person he wanted to beat as much as anybody.
"Well then I'm afraid you misunderstood me completely." Neji replied staying calm.
"How so?" Lee wondered.
"The only reason I'm even capable of half of what I've done so far is hard work and effort. Sneakily using my Byakugan to watch main branch members train so I could see the techniques that I wouldn't learn otherwise. Trying to find places to work on the techniques without anybody knowing, a particularly hard task when I'm inside my clan's compound. You may think I'm a genius, but you're completely wrong about that. I may not go to the lengths that you and Gai have, but I've always worked hard to get where I was." Neji explained. He owed it to Lee to get rid of that misnomer because he had a lot of respect for his teammate.
"If I may interrupt you two, how about I tell you something else you might find interesting." Genma smiled.
"What's that?" Lee wondered, and Neji was equally curious.
"Somebody once asked the Third Hokage what it was like to train the Three Sannin, The Third Hokage replied with this quote, 'Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.' It's perfect to describe the situation because the shinobi world isn't about intelligence, it's about finding what you're good at and then doing everything in your power to master that in a way that makes you successful. While most people can't stand Gai's constant spouting about Flames of Youth, most will agree on one thing"
"What's that" Lee wondered.
Genma smiled, "Nobody in the village works harder than he does. Your sensei is one of the hardest workers of any shinobi that I have ever met and that includes some legends. Neji is a branch family member who's capable of things that some main branch members can't. Then there's you Lee, a young man who's come this far without genjutsu taijutsu, or a bloodline limit. Everyone knows what Gai can do, now it's time to show us what you can do." Genma praised. Up in the crowd Gai was practically in tears as he watched his two students and heard the praise.
Neji smiled at the statement and decided to have some fun, "Alright Lee. As our sensei would say. It's time to show the Leaf Village and everyone watching the Power of Youth. BYAKUGAN"Neji shouted as the famous jutsu appeared in his eyes.
If it weren't for such a serious situation Lee would've cried but it was, "RIGHT!" Lee said happily as he got into his own stance.
Genma smiled knowing this was going to be a good match. "Rock Lee vs Neji Hyuuga. Match Begin"
Lee smiled a bit before simply vanishing in a shocking show of speed and to the shock of the whole crowd closed the distance between him and Neji in a flash, "Take this Neji. Leaf Hurricane." Lee shouted as he quickly spun and connected with the powerful kick to Neji's stomach sending him flying into the wall with a powerful thud.
Up with the other competitors Tenten smiled, "This just got a whole lot more interesting."
"You aren't kidding. His speed has practically tripled since the preliminaries." Tayuya gasped.
"Actually, his speed has gone up only a little bit." Tenten smiled.
"Impossible." Tayuya said in disbelief.
Tenten smiled since this would shock everyone, "Not at all. Lee uses training weights on his legs most of the time including for his match with Hinata. Now that his weights are off, you're about to see the real Rock Lee." Tenten smiled.
"Fuck." Tayuya gasped as she watched Neji get up and walk back towards his opponent.
"Impressive Lee. I didn't expect that you'd go without your weights." Neji smiled. He knew about Lee's weights, but he never imagined he'd use them this soon.
Lee saw Neji and frowned, "I must confess, I didn't think you'd be able to get up after that." Lee admitted. That kick should've done serious damage to Neji.
"Funny story actually. I asked our sensei to spend our personal training time hitting me as hard as he could. My goal was to be able to endure powerful blows because I knew that would be the key to this battle." Neji replied.
Lee's eyes widened before he adopted a smile, "Interesting. Which means that our training methods over the past few months will decide who wins this match." Lee replied as he moved again.
"Care to explain Tenten." Tayuya wondered looking at the bun haired girl. It was probably a bit reckless to talk so openly but she didn't care at this point.
"Neji is well aware that Lee's speed and physicality would be a problem so he trained to be able to endure as many attacks as he could hoping to find an opening to paralyze Lee's legs with jyuken and win the match. As for Lee, he probably spent the month working on how quickly he could strike to avoid Neji's attacks." Tenten replied. As teammates they knew each other well and this was the solution they came up with.
"I see." Tayuya replied as Neji was sent flying again.
"The winner of this match will be the one who breaks first." Tenten frowned as she watched the match.
To the watching crowd it was a one-sided match as Lee's speed allowed him to attack Neji up close and the Hyuuga simply endured the attack. "I'm not done." Neji frowned as he got up from the fifth kick to his body.
"You should stop Neji. This is not youthful at all." Lee frowned.
"Thanks for the concern Lee, but I'll be fine." Neji smiled before charging Lee once again just for Lee to dodge him and send him flying with another kick.
"Neji. Please surrender you can't win." Lee frowned.
"I can still win. I just need you to slow down for a bit" Neji grunted. Lee's attacks were taking their toll on him.
"That won't be happening Neji. I've got you beat."
"And why's that." Neji frowned
"When I showed off my real speed in our first exchange, I knew you'd assume I took off my weights this morning before I arrived at the arena. I can't really use seals so I'd have to take them off in a place that would allow me to keep them safe. What you didn't realize is that I've had my weights off for the last week." Lee smiled knowing that would be the nail in the coffin.
"It can't be." Neji gasped aware of what that meant for him and this match. Normally, Lee could only use his top speed for about 10 minutes without his weights because of the incredible strain it has on his body. Now he had no idea how long Lee could go and considering he was at his limit, pushing on would only make him look foolish.
Lee smiled, "That's right Neji. I've spent the week moving at my actual speed to the point that I won't exhaust myself quickly. That means I can keep doing this for a while." Lee smiled.
Neji fumed because that was it, "Sorry Lee but I surrender. I can't win against you like this." Neji sighed. He hated to lose so easily but he saw no way out.
"I understand" Lee smiled bitterly.
Genma smiled having seen the whole thing, "Winner Rock Lee." Genma roared and the crowd erupted again with a mix of boos and cheers. Seeing Neji give up so easily was a shock but anybody who'd been paying attention understood what was happening.
Over where the ninja participating in the exams were waiting the tension practically spiked when they realized what the end of this match meant. "It's time" Yakumo said calmly as she spun to head towards the arena.
"Yeah" Tayuya replied before doing the same. It was time for her to face off with Yakumo in a match that meant so much more than promotion.
(Scene Skip)
As they stood in the arena. Tayuya and Yakumo were nervous because of the stakes. but both knew that they needed to give their all, "Yakumo Kurama vs Tayuya MATCH BEGIN" Genma roared before stepping out of the way. This was a match that he was looking forward to for various reasons.
"The first move is mine Tayuya." Yakumo smiled before starting to run through hand signs.
"Not likely" Tayuya shouted before quickly reaching into the pouch on the side of her pants and pulling out a flute. Without missing a beat Tayuya, put the flute against her lips quickly blowing it causing a ring of sound to head towards Yakumo.
"Nice try but it's too late." Yakumo smiled as she dodged the ring of sound before putting her palms together gathering energy. "Secret Art: Shadow Sky" Yakumo shouted as she raised her hands to the sky shooting out a burst of shadows that eventually formed a massive cloud over the arena.
"What the fuck is that?" Tayuya said nervously.
"This is called Shadow Sky. It creates a cloud of power around the battlefield. I don't need to tell you what that means." Yakumo smiled. Her attacks were shadow based and with the cloud covering she could do some damage.
"Nope but I'm not concerned, "Tayuya smiled as she flashed hand signs of her own. "EARTH STYLE: Makibishi Bombs" Tayuya countered as she spit the blob into the air. The mini bombs filled the arena surrounding Yakumo. If Yakumo had the advantage in the air. Tayuya seemingly had it on the ground.
"Clever. Your bombs mean that if I move too far, I get blasted." Yakumo smiled.
"Yup but I'm not going to wait for you to move" Tayuya smiled as she reached into her pouch again this time grabbing a senbon.
Yakumo's eyes widened, "Oh you're good." Yakumo smiled as Tayuya tossed a senbon about three feet in front of her. On the surface it would seem like a relatively harmless move, but the senbon was aimed to trigger one of the bombs.
"Have fun Yakumo." Tayuya smiled as the ground lit up causing a small explosion not far from Yakumo. It wasn't designed to hurt her, but instead force her to go to other bombs but as the dust cleared Yakumo was in the same spot and relatively unharmed.
"Clever plan and it would've worked on most people, but I'm not most people."
"I can see that" Tayuya replied with gritted teeth.
Yakumo smiled before putting her hand in the rat symbol. "Now it's time to deal with those bombs. Shadow Rain"
It didn't take much to figure out what that attack would do and Tayuya was in shock, "You're nuts. That'll trigger all the bombs and you'll get creamed" Tayuya gasped as drops of rain fell from the cloud above.
"Not at all." Yakumo smiled as a shell of shadows surrounded her just as the rain began snuffing out the bombs. She used the shadows to block the earlier strike, but she'd need much more this time.
"This bitch" Tayuya fumed as the rain detonated the bombs, but Yakumo was safe. It was a genius move and now she needed to come up with another plan. The fact they were surrounded by smoke meant she was in trouble since she couldn't see either.
"Shadow Rave" Yakumo shouted.
Tayuya looked up wondering what was going on to come next just to hear a rumbling underneath her, "Fuck" Tayuya cursed, and she jumped to the side just in time to avoid a group of shadow-based spikes. The attack caused the smoke around them to clear revealing a still safe Yakumo
"Not bad huh Tayuya." Yakumo chuckled.
"You're good and since I have no idea what you're gonna do next I'm in trouble." Tayuya admitted.
"Yup."
"But I'm not giving up." Tayuya smiled as she stared flashing hand signs.
"Good" Yakumo smiled as she flashed hand signs of her own.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough" Tayuya shouted.
"Shadow Blast" Yakumo shouted, and she pulled her head back before expelling a powerful blast of wind chakra. The two attacks c causing a mini explosion to the delight of the crowd.
"Not bad. I would've never guessed Tayuya could keep up with Yakumo like this." The Naruto with Kin and Sasame nodded in approval. Tayuya was performing better than he thought.
"Tayuya hated the cursed seal and trained extra hard to not rely on it as much as the other members of the Sound Four. Plus, she was developing this style for when she eventually fled Orochimaru." Sasame confirmed.
"That's fine and all but why do I get the feeling that Yakumo is holding back." Kin frowned.
"She is to some degree." Naruto said calmly.
"You mean to save Chakra?" Kin wondered.
"Yup. Yakumo is trying to save her chakra for what happens later. It might come back to bite her but oh well." Naruto smiled.
Back at the arena the two girls both had the same thought, 'We gotta wrap this up.' Tayuya and Yakumo said at once. Tayuya was convinced she could win quickly, but she needed to save her strength. Yakumo was doing the same and that meant both girls were making this match longer than it should have been normally.
"Looks like I gotta bring out the big guns." Yakumo scowled before flashing hand signs.
"You two huh." Tayuya smiled before biting her finger and flashing hand signs.
"Black arts: Festival of the Shadow Beasts"
"Summoning Jutsu"
As massive beasts appeared from the shadows next to Yakumo, they were blocked by three massive demons that appeared with Tayuya.
"Where were you hiding these guys." Yakumo scowled. She had no idea that Tayuya could summon anything and now this was about to get ugly.
"Trump card!" Tayuya smiled as she grabbed her flute and started playing a melody.
Yakumo's shadow beasts attacked the massive Doki but with Tayuya at the helm the beasts fought back. The watching crowd couldn't believe the two girls were genin and after a series of vicious clashes a loud puff of smoke marked the end of another fierce exchange "Gotta give you credit Tayuya. This hasn't been too bad." Yakumo smiled panting with exhaustion.
"Thanks." Tayuya smiled. This was a much better match than she expected.
"Unfortunately, it's time to end this." Yakumo smiled as she put her hands in a ram hand sign.
"What are you up to now." Tayuya frowned. She got her answer when Yakumo's skin became slightly tanned and horns started to appear.
"I really wanted to save this transformation for later but oh well." Yakumo said in a voice similar to Ido's as she started flashing hand signs. "Black Arts: SHADOW END." The shadows coiled themselves around Yakumo.
Tayuya cursed as she bit her hands started making hand signs. With Ido out instead of Yakumo the attacks were going to get stronger, and this looked like a particularly dangerous attack. "Summoning: RASHOMON GATE" Tayuya shouted as a large blue demonic face appeared from the ground.
"Nice defense. Shame it won't work." Yakumo smiled as the coil of shadows charged forward. Much to Tayuya's horror, the gate did nothing to stop the attack and Yakumo burst through it while keeping up her speed.
"This is going to suck" Tayuya frowned as Yakumo's charge connected causing a massive explosion.
Everyone watching was in complete shock as smoke engulfed the battlefield making it impossible to see anybody or anything. After a few minutes, the smoke cleared to reveal Yakumo and Tayuya on the ground completely exhausted. Genma walked over and with a glance knew the result. "This match has resulted in a DOUBLE KNOCKOUT" Genma shouted, and the crowd erupted to congratulate the two girls. It was an incredible match and one that probably would've been remembered for years to come, if feathers hadn't appeared from the sky moments later.
'Sorry Tayuya. A double knockout is still a loss.' Kabuto whispered to himself as he walked away from the other shinobi his part done.
(Unknown Area 3 minutes ago)
Kankuro knew he was running out of time but luckily for him he arrived at the main area for the Sand Village forces. "Kankuro what's going on. Where are Gaara and Temari." Baki said angrily.
"We got a problem Sensei." Kankuro panicked.
'Yes. The signal could come any minute and you're not with Gaara or Temari."
"That's the thing. We've been betrayed by Orochimaru. I think he killed dad on the way to the village and took his place." Kankuro said weakly. He had run a fair distance in about 10 minutes, so he was exhausted.
"What!" Baki exclaimed.
"No way"
"Lord Kazekage is dead?" some of the soldiers said nervously.
"Kankuro, do you have any proof." Baki said with a serious stare.
"No but" Kankuro paused because a red blur dropped from the sky and a smiling Fu dropped in front of them causing smoke to pile up
"Note to self. Doing that really sucks." Fu chuckled as unseen by any of them Fu got rid of the 4 demonic wings she was using. When the smoke cleared the group saw their guest.
"You! What are you doing here?" Kankuro growled.
"Hey there puppet boy. I guess I found the right spot for the Sand Village forces that were about to attack." Fu smiled. Thanks to Temari she knew where they'd be and that made things so much easier.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Baki frowned. Behind him a bunch of Sand Ninja were prepared to attack the interloper.
"The name is Fu and I think I have something that belongs to you guys." Fu said in an oddly cheerful tone as she reached for the pouch on her side and pulled out a scroll.
"What's in the scroll." Kankuro narrowed his eyes.
"See for yourself" Fu smiled as she unfurled the scroll and then activated it revealing a tattered and bloody robe with the symbol for Sand on it.
"Impossible!" one person said.
"Where did you find this?" Baki scowled.
"I found it on top of a corpse that was attacked by animals. It's about half a day from here normally, but since I'm the jinchuriki of the seven tailed beetle I can quickly make up the time. Now if you don't mind I gotta go because I'm exhausted." Fu said cheerfully before leaving via a shunshin. She did her part and now it was time to relax.
Baki was furious because there was no way that somebody could imitate this particular hat and robe without seeing it in person. "Men. Let's withdraw."
"But what about the invasion and Orochimaru's plan." One person protested.
"If he killed our Kage than his plan means nothing because our leader is dead. If this girl is lying, which I doubt, then we can simply come back later." Baki said firmly.
"What about Gaara and Temari." Kankuro protested.
Baki cursed because he needed both of them safe especially since things had changed, "Go find them Kankuro and hopefully before the invasion begins."
"Right" Kankuro said as he returned to the stadium. Gaara was an easy task and he'd trust Naruto to Temari for the moment.
(Battlefield)
To the civilians watching the feathers seemed like an odd celebration, but to the ninja it was a different story. "Release!" thousands of ninjas shouted at once. The feathers were the start of a genjutsu and one that would've put them to sleep and kept them vulnerable.
Up in the Kage Booth the situation was anything but calm, "Well that's annoying. I figured at least one of them would've been trapped. Oh well, it's time to play the game" Arashi smiled as he reached for a smoke grenade in his pocket.
The Third Hokage sighed before nodding to the disguised Karin who left via a shunshin. Things were about to get ugly, and she would just get in the way, "I guess the time for games is over. Wouldn't you agree my dear pupil." The third said eagerly before looking towards the Kazekage.
The Kazekage reached for his face and tore it off revealing a smiling Orochimaru, "That's right sensei. It's time for the Leaf to Fall!" Orochimaru smiled as Arashi activated the smoke grenade. The smoke that billowed out caused everyone to turn towards the Kage's area.
"Looks like it's showtime." Naruto smiled aware that the smoke was the signal for the invasion to start.
"What about Tayuya and Yakumo." Kin said nervously.
"They're fine." Naruto smiled.
"I'm not sure about that. They've got company" Sasame panicked as her brother appeared on the middle of the arena.
"Don't move Sasame." Naruto said quickly.
"But Naruto! Tayuya and Yakumo are defenseless!" Sasame said nervously.
Haku frowned as all around them shinobi with the symbol for the Sound Village started attacking, "We have other problems" Haku frowned as a ninja charged her before she quickly kicked one of them away.
"Yep." Naruto smiled before unsheathing his sword and slashing a shinobi in the stomach, "Let Uncle Genma deal with Arashi."
Down on the arena floor Arashi was very pleased at the situation in front of him. Tayuya and Yakumo were weakened. and the proctor couldn't protect them both, "Tell me Mr. Proctor, do you plan on dying today?" Arashi said confidently.
"Not at all. Tell me Arashi, do you know what fate awaits you?" Genma replied coolly.
Arashi smiled, "If you mean the fact that Lord Orochimaru plans to take my body, yes. I'm well aware."
"Then you've come a long way from the guy I remember." Tayuya scowled as she slowly got up.
"Seems you've recovered nicely Tayuya." Arashi smiled.
"Yeah. Yakumo here took a nice chunk out of me, but I'll live. Can't say the same for you." Tayuya snickered.
"I'll gladly die for Lord Orochimaru." Arashi smiled.
"Fuck. Hey Yakumo, did I sound so ridiculous when I was on his side." Tayuya smiled.
"I mean you hated him from the start, so I don't know?" Yakumo smiled.
Arashi's eyes widened, "I see. That explains why they were so prepared."
"Yep. Orochimaru let me go after first exams. Took Kin with me and we even have one other on Team Leaf."
"Who could… it can't be. Please don't tell me that Sasame is here." Arashi said with gritted teeth. Despite everything he'd done he really didn't want Sasame involved. It was why he didn't say anything when she left to see her clan members.
"Yep. She's in the stands now and she knows what type of monster you've become." Tayuya said with a vicious grin.
Arashi sighed because there was nothing he could do, "Then I suppose I'll have to show you just how much of a monster I am." Arashi scowled as he charged a weakened Tayuya at high speed, pulling out a kunai in the process.
"Shit" Genma cursed but it was too late and Arashi stabbed Tayuya in the stomach causing her to cough out.
"Any final words Tayuya." Arashi smiled as he twisted the kunai deeper.
"Just two. Kaboom asshole." Tayuya smiled as she wrapped her arms and legs around his body just before it began to glow.
"What the!" Arashi gasped but it was too late as Tayuya exploded in a kamikaze style attack. Genma and Yakumo were fine due to Ido taking over and protecting both with her shadows, but the same could not be said for Arashi who took a direct hit from the powerful strike.
The explosion caused the Sound ninja still fighting to lose focus and that allowed the Leaf ninja to finish them off. With the ninja near their group defeated Haku left via a shunshin to protect her apartment complex, as Sasame and Kin turned towards a smiling Naruto.
"What's going on. Why did Tayuya just explode?" Kin gasped.
"Simple. Because it wasn't Tayuya." Naruto smiled.
"That's not possible. We saw her fight Yakumo and a clone would've popped from the hits she took." Kin gasped.
"The real Tayuya was fighting. At least util the end of the match." Naruto smiled.
"Huh?" Kin said in confusion.
"While the smoke from the last attack was up, Ido used the smoke to replace Tayuya with an exploding clone and got the real Tayuya out of there." Naruto replied. While he was fucking Kin and Sasame about Arashi, Yakumo and Tayuya worked on a group of plans to keep Tayuya safe after their match. Genma was told about them also since they knew he'd be the proctor. It was perfectly executed as far as he was concerned.
"So, where's Tayuya now?" Kin wondered.
"She should be at the mansion recovering from her match. I want to bring you girls over there myself, but that's up to you." Naruto smiled as he focused back on the battlefield with Kin and Sasame doing the same. The trio watched as the smoke cleared to reveal Arashi in extremely bad shape. His clothes were torn apart, and he had burns all over his body. He would've been a sitting duck, had Kabuto not appeared out of nowhere and whisked him away.
"I don't think I'll be much use in a battle right now so take me back" Sasame said firmly.
"Same with me" Kin nodded. Both girls were a bit shaken about Arashi and considering things in the area had calmed down they wanted to stay safe.
Naruto smiled before wrapping his arms around the girls, "Let's go" Naruto smiled but just as he was about to leave four hooded figures appeared around Orochimaru and the Third Hokage.
"That's not good." Kin frowned and she was proven right when a purple barrier surrounded the veteran shinobi.
"No kidding. That barrier is the Four Violet Flames technique. That means the Third and Orochimaru are trapped, and nobody can interfere without getting seriously hurt" Sasame panicked.
"He'll be fine. Now let's go." Naruto smiled nonchalantly.
"What about you?" Kin wondered.
"I'm a clone that the boss made in order to get you girls away from the battlefield" Naruto smiled before vanishing via a shunshin. Everyone was safe and now it was time to get down to business.
(Third Hokage vs Orochimaru)
To say Orochimaru was angry was an understatement, "Unbelievable" Orochimaru fumed since Arashi was seriously hurt by that attack and Kabuto was forced to take him away. He was to be his next body and seeing him die would be trouble.
"Overconfidence can lead to carelessness. It's a lesson that I imbued in you during your training." The third smiled.
"Yes, but they seemed far too prepared for that possibility. To prepare an exploding clone would've meant they knew he might attack." Orochimaru replied. Seeing as how the real Tayuya wasn't there, it was a pre-planned move.
"It was and so was this." The Third smiled before focusing his chakra on something. Then to Orochimaru's horror, a flash appeared out of nowhere and Naruto appeared inside the barrier without a problem. Naruto was dressed in his main combat outfit, so he was good to go.
"You called Lord Hokage" Naruto smiled his blade by his side.
"Orochimaru was surprised that his plan was seen through so easily. I thought it wise to tell him how" The Third smiled.
Naruto smiled back before focusing on the Sannin, "While I can't take credit for that exploding clone trick. I can take credit for why it was needed."
"After I freed Tayuya I altered my plan. There's no way she could've known what I would do?" Orochimaru seethed. The barrier that he used should've prevented anybody from entering but Naruto clearly used a space-time jutsu.
"Who, said I was talking about Tayuya? Haven't you noticed that something.,. or rather someone is missing from our little game." Naruto smiled.
Orochimaru looked and he could see his summons were already attacking, but that was it and then his eye widened, "IT can't be. You got to the Sand Village as well."
"Yep. People say I have a way with kunoichi, and the Sand Village team had a really cute kunoichi with their group." Naruto smiled.
"You little brat!" Orochimaru roared.
"Thanks a-" Naruto started to say before the memory of one of his clones appeared. "Well how about that" Naruto smiled.
"What happened my boy." The third said nervously and even Orochimaru was concerned.
"I just got some interesting news from one of my clones. It looks like the Sand Village discovered that a certain snake Sannin killed their Kage and now their forces are withdrawing. Fu was back at the mansion, and she told the clone that took Sasame and Kin back. When it dispelled, Naruto learned the latest.
"How!" Orochimaru cursed. He killed everyone with Rasa so there was no way that his deception could've been figured out.
"The ANBU with Lord Hokage was a sensor and she recognized your chakra. When that happened, we used another trick to find, the host of the six-tailed beetle Fu. Since she and her tailed beast are buddies, it was a pretty easy task to get her to fly along the main route to the Sand Village until we found the Kazekage's body. Fu's not as good as I am with seals so she couldn't bring his whole body, but she did grab his cloak and hat. How fortunate are we.' Naruto smiled.
Orochimaru was shaking with rage since his plans were completely ruined. There was no way his soldiers could win without Gaara and the Sand, "You truly are as frustrating as your father and mother boy. Not to worry though, I'll deal with you soon." Orochimaru smiled as he bit his hand and started making hand signs.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Naruto smiled.
"What!" Orochimaru growled
"What was he about to do." The third wondered.
"Summon back the souls of the previous Kage to fight for him."
'What!" The Third gasped.
Orochimaru smiled, "And why wouldn't I want to do that." Orochimaru replied not denying that was his plan. A part of him was slightly concerned that he knew about that since not even Tayuya knew about this particular technique. However, this wouldn't be so easy to counter.
"Because the moment, you do you're screwed." Naruto smiled.
Orochimaru chuckled before going through with his plans, "We'll see who's screwed boy. Impure World Reincarnation." Orochimaru shouted and two coffins appeared from the ground. Naruto and the Third watched in shock as the First and Second Hokage's appeared from the coffins.
"I can't believe you'd go this far." The Third shook seeing his former teachers appear. On the left was the legendary Hashirama Senju, a tall man with tanned skin and dark eyes dressed in the red armor that struck fear into the hearts of any shinobi who stood in front of him. Next to him his younger brother Tobirama Senju the fair skinned, red eyed, white-haired brother of the legendary first Hokage and the man who would one day replace him as second Hokage. Just as he did in the days of old Tobirama wore his blue armor with white fur collar and black suit.
"You're up against two of the greatest Kage in history boy. What could you possibly do to stop me?" Orochimaru cackled as the jutsu was completed and the two Kage came to life their focus immediately turning to the Third Hokage.
"Well, isn't this a surprise. You've grown old Saru." Hashirama smiled.
"Well, the years have not been kind." The third replied with a bitter smile.
"Who's that boy next to you." Tobirama wondered.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Lord First, Lord Second. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Son of the Fourth Hokage. It is a privilege to meet both of you though I can't help but be confused."
"Why are you confused young Uzumaki?" Hashirama smiled.
Naruto smiled, "Because right now you're both being controlled using a technique invented by Lord Second. Even in spirit, I find it hard to believe that two figures as legendary as you would allow that to happen." Naruto replied.
"Why you!" Orochimaru growled.
The two Kage looked at each other and then smiled, "The kid has a point Tobirama. I can feel his control but it's not that bad."
"I agree. As one who created this technique, I must give credit where it's due because you've managed to imitate it brilliantly." Tobirama smiled before he began flashing hand signs. "However, it is still an imitation and one I can easily counter. Impure World Reincarnation Release." Tobirama smiled as he pressed his hands to the floor and disabled his technique.
"No. This isn't possible." Orochimaru gasped. He should've had full control over the Kage and now that was gone.
"It is boy. I lived in an era of powerful Uchiha who would gladly copy this technique. I'd be a fool to not have a way to deal with it should it be used against me." Tobirama smiled as the technique faded and the two ninja began to disappear.
"This can't be." Orochimaru scowled. Not only were the Sand gone but now his trump card to deal with the Third was gone. Things were going downhill fast, and it was done so easily.
The first Hokage ignored the ramblings of a stunned Orochimaru in favor of focusing on his former student "Hey Saru, why don't you teach this fool a lesson. Show him that the Will of Fire hasn't faded." Hashirama smiled before fading away.
"Yes sir" The Third Hokage smiled.
As for Naruto, he was grinning from ear to ear, "Like I said. You're screwed." Naruto said cheekily.
"Well done my, boy but you seemed far too prepared for that." The Third frowned.
"Like Tenten said during her battle with Temari. Rule 1 of combat is don't reveal your trump card. I had tons of time to think about the invasion and I originally thought the trump card was Gaara, but I realized that he was a way to keep other powerful ninja from interfering with his attempts to kill you. That meant he had another trump card. Over the years I learned about tons of jutsu, but nothing made sense. Then I remembered the Forbidden scroll and the fact that Orochimaru wanted it. Luckily for me, I still had the copy from when we imitated it to stop Mizuki, so I looked through it and found Impure Word Reincarnation. It seemed like the perfect thing for somebody like Orochimaru who specialized in mind games as much as anything else." Naruto explained.
Orochimaru couldn't believe that he was seen through like that, but the young man had proven to be quite the talent, "I stand corrected boy. You are far more infuriating than your mother father or even that fool Jiraiya. But that intelligence won't do you much good against me. After all, I am still one of the Three Sannin." Orochimaru cackled. Despite the setbacks, the fact remained that Orochimaru was one of the strongest shinobi the Hidden Leaf Village had ever produced. Even though his opponent was the host of the Nine-tailed fox, the beast wouldn't be a factor unless he was willing to endanger the old man.
"Then let's do it" Naruto smiled reaching for his blade.
"Agreed" the third said confidently before biting his hand and going through hand signs, "Summoning jutsu" and pressed his hand to the ground.
"Now it gets interesting." Orochimaru smiled as the smoke cleared to reveal Monkey King Enma.
"It's about time Sarutobi. You should've killed him long ago." Enma grunted.
"Lecture me later Enma. I need my staff." The Hokage replied.
"Right" Enma shouted and transformed into a large adamantine staff.
"Now the battle really begins." Orochimaru smiled.
(Genin Holding Area)
After clearing up the arena of all the Sound village soldiers the large contingent of Leaf Village Genin were hoarded over to the holding area by Ido and the jonin sensei. All of Team 10 and Team Gai were there Shino and the real Yakumo representing Team 8 while Sasuke represented Team 7. Hinata was with the Hyuuga clan having watched with her family and Sakura was with the civilian council being escorted away, "So what do we do now." Ino wondered.
"Truthfully there isn't much for us to do at this point. ANBU and a few chunin are taking care of the civilians while the other jonin try and deal with the Sand Village soldiers." Asuma said calmly.
"We're lucky that we had their plans ahead of time. Usually war is messy, but right now we're in good shape." Kakashi smiled.
"Agreed. We owe Naruto a great debt." Kurenai admitted.
"Speaking of Naruto. Where is he." Shino wondered.
"Naruto is currently working with Lord Hokage to deal with Orochimaru inside that barrier." Ido answered taking over for Yakumo/
"That's insane. Orochimaru is a Sannin." Ino protested.
"For most people yes. but Naruto has been training hard since he was a kid. I'd wager he's at least high jonin level when he takes things seriously." Ido revealed.
"That's about right. The problem is that Naruto never has to fight seriously. It's been a long time since he used his full power and at the level he'll need to be, he might struggle to keep up." Kakashi admitted. His one regret since Naruto became his student was the lack of quality fights for Naruto.
"I wish we could help him, but we'd be liabilities." Sasuke frowned aware of the same thing.
"I hate to interrupt but we have a guest and … wait a minute what the hell is HE doing here?" Ido shouted.
"Who! What's going on Ido?" Genma said nervously. Ido rarely lost her emotions so that was a red flag that something very bad was about to happen.
"See for yourself." Ido scowled as a figure walked into the room. It was a figure that was very familiar to quite a few members of the group and not for good reasons.
"You!" Kakashi growled. The figure was a long black cloak with red clouds all over but thanks to the Sharingan eye showing it was obvious who was there.
"Is that a way to greet your old friend Kakashi." Itachi Uchiha said with a smile.
"Itachi! You've got a lot of nerve coming here." Sasuke growled.
"Don't tell me Orochimaru recruited you to help him?" Genma gasped.
"No. I came for a different reason. One that." Itachi paused because Asuma had one of his trench knives pointed at Itachi's neck.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you right now."
"I'll give you two. Reason 1 is I'm a shadow clone. Reason 2 is I have some information you may find valuable and if you attack me, you won't get it." Itachi replied.
"Then talk." Asuma growled.
"As we speak, Danzo Shimura and his little army are marching towards the Hidden Grass village. I believe he fully intends to destroy it and take it over."
"What!" the jonin said in shock. Even Asuma was forced to pull away from Itachi in disbelief.
"I was as pleased as you when I heard the news, but I owed it to my former home to tell you about it." Itachi
"How can you talk about owing your former home when you destroyed our clan" Sasuke shouted. Seeing his brother in front of him for the first time in a while was shocking but he was able to hold it together thanks to years of training for this day with Naruto.
"That is a conversation for another time." Itachi said before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"That… was strange." Ino frowned.
"Ino now would be a good time to be quiet." Shikamaru replied. Unlike his teammate, Shikamaru was aware that Itachi just dropped a major bomb on them.
Ino looked towards the jonin sensei and saw that all of them were nervous, "My bad." Ino said bashfully.
"Ino it's fine. Things have just gotten interesting and not in a good way." Asuma frowned.
"What should we do sensei?" Shikamaru wondered. Thanks to his dad talking to him about clan head training he knew about the dangers of Danzo. Hell, he was a bit shocked Ino didn't. At any rate things were going to get very troublesome
"Right now, we wait. Everything's gone as planned so right now we aren't needed." Asuma said calmly. Afterwards was another story.
"Got it" Shikamaru replied. The good news for the group was that they weren't needed. The bad news was that even after they dealt with this. There was far more trouble on the way.
That's it for chapter 26 and things are just getting interesting. Next chapter Orochimaru's forces decide to up the ante, but a surprising source of backup changes the game.
AN:
I imagine there are a few people who are confused about Naruto and his various appearances during the last few chapters along with a few others.
Here's basically what happened timeline wise.
Starting point: Naruto walked into the arena and took a seat with Kin Haku and Sasame.
Fu was watching Gaara who was somewhere in the arena.
Karin was by the Hokage's side with a shadow clone of Ido's to support her.
Sakura was with the civilian council
Hinata was with the Hyuuga clan
Yakumo and the other competitors were in the arena.
Event 1: Karin senses an unfamiliar chakra that the Ido clone recognizes as Orochimaru. The Ido clone separates from Karin and quickly goes to find Naruto to tell him. During this time the first match between Temari and Tenten begins.
Event 1.5: Tenten beats Temari
Event 2: Ido's clone finds Naruto as he's going to congratulate Tenten and tells him about what Karin has discovered. Naruto tells Ido to find Fu and tell her about what's happened. Naruto makes two shadow clones the first one goes to Tenten to congratulate her while the second returns to the seats with Kin Haku and Sasame.
Event 2.5 Fu is told about Karin's discovery and Fu and Ido come up with the plan to find the Kazekage's body and she flies away.
Event 3: Kankuro discovers Naruto's clone making out with Tenten. They talk briefly and Kankuro goes to his battle.
Event 3.10- Temari is told by Naruto that the Kazekage is dead, and they have sex. This is happening just as Kankuro's battle with Shino begins. Tenten is back with the other genin at this point and Naruto is back at the seats.
Event 3.75- Fu discovers the Kazekage's body and seals the hat and cloak inside a storage scroll and flies back to the village.
Event 4: Kankuro goes to find Temari and discovers her in bed with Naruto. Keep in mind this is happening in the process of Lee and Neji's battle began. Kankuro learns the truth and leaves.
Event 5: Yakumo and Ido's battle begins
Event 5.10- Kankuro meets with Baki. Gaara is not with him but there's a reason for that. Fu appears and shows them what's happened.
Event 6: The invasion begins.
Get ready for next chapter because the fun is just getting started.
AN 2: The moves that Ido used were from XD Gale of Darkness an old and very underrated Pokémon game.