Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto
Co-Author and Beta: Etheral-23
Chapter 47: Breaking the Leash Act V
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
ANBU, jōnin and chūnin alike descended from the cliff into the port as the explosions went off, taking advantage of the shock and disorientation felt by the slaver-mercenary force. The ANBU were silent as they brandished their weapons, sword, kunai or other, while the other shinobi didn't hide their warring cries. The moment for stealth was over, now was the time to strike with all they had. Team 10 and their nekoshou ally landed with a crouch, as the shinobi around them dispersed, quickly starting the melee as more and more of their ninja descended, and more mercenaries flocked to the docks to fight.
Asuma's trench knives shined momentarily with a brief reflection of light, and he swiftly began attacking the enemy closest to him. A quick series of punches puncture armor and skin, followed by a swing that cut the merc's throat. Kuroka waved her arm and conjured a series of spectral spheres of pale blue flaming light; they impacted a multitude of Blood Leash soldiers, sending them flying away as the area of impact seared with spirit fire.
Ino saw a man charging at her with a large blade held high above his head. He let out a cry as he brought it down upon her, but the Yamanaka was quicker, dodging to the side and seizing his arm, a palm strike underneath his arm dislocated his shoulder and bent it at a painful angle. The soldier screamed, but was quickly silenced by her foot slamming against his jaw.
Blood Leash mercenaries let out multiple cries of shock and disbelief as two giant hands appeared out of nowhere, slamming them against the sides of buildings, cracking the wooden walls as their forms fell limplessly to the floor. Choji received a quick pat on his shoulder, Shikamaru alerting him from archers taking position. The large bellied boy brought his enormous hands closer around them as a shield, but not to defend them against the archers. Instead, a paper ball filled with multiple tags was thrown in the air by the Nara, exploding with blinding light; the swift burst was strong enough to temporarily blind the archers.
The distraction made the group lose focus of their surroundings as tendrils of shadows dashed across the ground and connected to the shade of their feet. In an instant all froze stock still. "Shadow possession jutsu complete," Shika quipped in a calm reserved tone with his hands together in his clan's signature jutsu.
Shock would be only momentary before blood sprayed from each of their necks. Behind the archers stood Kuroka with blood dripping from her claws. Releasing his jutsu the Leash mercs fell like marionettes cut from their strings. Paying the corpses no heed, the nekoshou sniffed the air walking over the bodies; "My sister is here, along with the others."
"You can sniff them out with all the chaos around here?" Ino questioned as their team got a second the catch their breath.
Kuroka glanced towards the teen girl before peering to Asuma who spoke up; "Which direction?" The feline demon pointed towards a large doorway before sprinting off with team 10 following.
A pronounced twitch came from Ino's eye; "She could have answered me."
"I think she is more focused on freeing her sister from these clowns," Shikamaru retorted dryly running beside his blond teammate.
"We're in the slave pens" Their teacher pointed out, there were many cages with people trapped inside, all looking frightened at the chaos around them. "We must be careful here, releasing them is a secondary objective" Unfortunately, the prisoners would have to remain where they were for the moment. If they opened their cages they would be caught in the crossfire.
"Intel says Garan the Old is in charge of this area" Shikamaru said, sidestepping around an ANBU that clashed with a heavily armored Leash fighter. "He is in charge of logistic, hardly ever seen in combat rolls, but suspected to be extremely proficient in ninjutsu"
"Let me handle him, you three assist me and Kuroka in support roles" Asuma ordered, "An old man in this line of work is one of the most dangerous things there is"
Turning around the corner, they entered the area between the slave pens and the first barracks, ignoring the great clash of fighters happening everywhere. All they could hear was the sounds of war cries, metal ringing, flesh tearing and... Music?
The notes of a stringed instrument rung out.
They saw Kuroka back flipping to their position near the doorway, letting out a harried pant. Inside the room were numerous shelves holding scrolls, books, ledgers. All the transactions the slavers had conducted through the years. At the end of the room sat a man in silvery robes with a large conical hat, his face wrinkled with age, showing a few spots in places. His white hair with trimmed in a fashion that made it look sharp, with a long triangular beard and a mustache that sprung upwards.
He knelt on a red cushion with golden tassels at the corners, next to him were two lamps illuminating the wide room, casting a shadow over him. In his hand he played a shamisen with such nimble movement of his fingers it spoke of many years of experience.
Around him, were the fallen bodies of at least four Konoha ninja, one of them an ANBU, multiple cuts all over their bodies.
"Ah, more interlopers arrive" Garan the Old spoke with bored tedium. "Are young people nowadays not taught it's rude to barge in unannounced?"
Asuma stood beside Kuroka whose eyes scanned towards every pen in the room; "Warlord Garan, we've come for your head."
"Have you now, Asuma Sarutobi?" the aged man chuckled; "Your legacy is nearly as infamous as your father's. I found it curious he and I never crossed paths in our long lifetimes. As for you, that little fiasco among your 'elite' twelve in the fire capital raised a few eyebrows."
Well this guy is well connected to know all that. Kuroka however ignore the banter glaring at the elderly man; "Where is my sister!?"
Garan gave the neko a bored glare; "If you're referring to the defiant white haired nekoshou she is with that succubus. Both are to be Lord Goro's personal playthings."
The sound that came from Kuroka's throat was completely inhuman.
"Oh come now, let's have some civility" The aged slaver replied, his fingers never stopping playing his melody. Ino briefly thought it was actually a very good tune, but she wouldn't be caught dead admitting that about the Blood Leash Warlord. "My patience has been growing thin from your meddling. Leave now and you might be spared"
"Awfully sure for someone whose home is being invaded right now" Asuma jabbed
"I'm sure you felt the same when Sound and Sand attacked you" Garan smiled as the jōnin made an irritated sound. "Oh sure, you may kill our soldiers, but we'll train more. You may disrupt our operations, but it's a temporary setback. You may even kill a few of my fellow warlords... but you have absolutely no chance in killing Lord Goro"
"He's just a man" The Sarutobi said in defiance. "If he bleeds, he can die"
Garan's smile became predatory, "Ohhh... but Lord Goro does not bleed" He spoke those words with utter and complete conviction. Not out of arrogance but of fact in his eyes. "Bring your poultry assassins, Konoha; they shall fall at Lord Goro's feet in a pool of their own blood."
"We won't fall so easily," Ino quipped back in defiance.
A loud scoff came from the elderly man; "Dear child, your death was assured the very moment you accepted this mission. In hindsight it is a true pity; A Yamanaka, a Nara, and Akimichi would sell for the finest price to the right buyer."
The three kids felt their skin crawl but shook it off ready for anything. But no one made a move while Garan kept playing his shamisen. To which the older man took notice; "Not stepping forward for my head, children?" Garan gave a mock look of thinking; "Oh yes, I see. Could it be you have no solid information about me and what I can do hmm?" A dark chuckle escaped the man's lips; "then you're all in for quite the treat before you die."
"The only one dying today will be you, human" Kuroka snarled as her patience waned and anger swelled.
"Are you sure you don't want to rephrase that?" The old slaver said with a cruel mocking tone, momentarily pausing playing his shamisen to motion at the bodies of Konoha ninja around him.
The nekoshou decided the time for talking was over, and sprung to action.
"Wait!" Asuma futile called out to her.
Garan merely smirked and his notes began playing faster.
Before Kuroka's widening eyes, dozens of thin strips of paper flew from behind the old man. Gathering as they twisted, bent and coalesced together into tall thin figures. Numerous forms of origami warriors manifested, holding paper swords which swung directly at the cat woman. Kuroka quickly stepped back, but one of the paper blades still managed to cut cleanly through a strand of her hair.
"Some type of puppeteer jutsu" Asuma quickly analyzed, the lack of hand signs or gestures with his limbs indicated he must be manipulating them through his instrument. "Ino, Shikamaru, prepare your techniques! Choji, bring the roof down on him!"
Garan cocked his head as soon as more strips of paper appeared from behind him and formed a slew of various weapons of all types. In a heartbeat the weapons flew like missiles towards the team! "As if it'd be it that easy, Sarutobi! I am far from a simple puppeteer like those third rate amateurs in Suna."
In a flash Asuma and the others ran, ducked, and avoided the onslaught of oncoming weapons. A loud cry and hiss came from Ino holding her arm as one of the paper blades grazed her arm.
"Careful girl," Garan addressed in mock concern; "Those weapons are quite sharp."
"If this scars I'm kicking your ass!" Ino screamed back.
"You're a feisty one, and rather uncultured compared to most clan high born. Then again, shinobi are not known for the cultured sort, after all."
Choji's suddenly enlarged hands burst through the roof, dragging down concrete and wood, wreaking the structure so it would fall over the old man. Through his notes, Garan's paper soldiers cut and knocked away any piece of debris that would fall on him.
"Careful now, the slave pens are close by" The man said mockingly, yet it had the desired effect as the Akimichi suddenly found himself hesitating on using larger scale attacks with his body expansion.
Kuroka conjured multiple spheres of spirit fire, hurling them at the paper soldiers and setting them ablaze. She charged, once more ignoring the team, with her claws poised to strike. Garan merely smirked as he continued playing his notes. Multiple spears of paper formed behind him and shot forward with great speed. The nekoshou dodged with great dexterity with elegant movements, and prepared to sink her claws on the old man as she drew close.
Garan played an acute note.
Kuroka, who was just one breath away from the slaver, let out a sharp cry of pain as arcs of electricity run through her figure. The lightning blast had come out of nowhere, striking her from above. Another note was played on the shamisen, and she was sent flying with a burst of pure force.
Asuma quickly took down the paper soldier he was battling, and moved over to grab her; she was almost too hot to touch. She squirmed and groaned in his gasp. "Shit..." He swore as the saw the old man grin and prepare another more paper warriors. "Ino, Mind Possession!"
The Yamanaka readied her technique-
Kuroka groaned, "W-Wait, he's not using..."
-and assaulted the Warlord's mind.
Garan grinned, and played another tune.
Ino shouted, head knocking back as though she had been struck.
"Ino!" Shikamaru cried out in concern.
The blonde took a deep breath, fingers going over her lips as she felt something warm, it was her own blood dripping from her nose. "What the...?"
"Not fast enough, child" The old man mocked. "Not nearly fast enough" Kanji shone around his figure, forming an invisible barrier, before dissipating.
The Nara's eyes widened, "He made a barrier jutsu that blocked mind techniques?" It didn't make any sense to him. "But Ino just requires visual contact, how did he..."
Kuroka stood up with Asuma's help, "That's not ninjutsu he's using, I felt it when his lightning struck me..." She grunted, holding unto her stomach.
Garan's smile only widened, around them they saw as the multiple spheres of all the different elements manifested. Water, wind, fire, earth, lightning, and even more. Team Asuma watched horrified as even ice and wood formed as well, the water turning solid and pieces of plant life sprung from the ground.
The jonin felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek. "That's not ninjutsu, it's... it's beyond the laws of the ninja arts, it bypasses all we know"
Kuroka gritted her teeth, to think a modern day human was so knowledgeable in that craft...
"S-Sensei?" Choji called out nervously.
"That's the predecessor of ninjutsu, the mystic craft that ninjas have long since tried to reclaim, but protected at all costs by their practitioners..."
In his travels with the Twelve Guardians, he had seen things that defied explanation. At least, explanations that could only fit within the ninja's craft. While many techniques were clearly mystical in nature, ninja utilitarianism had waned the true potential of jutsu, forsaking the mystical and spiritual elements in favor of pragmatism and power. But this was another practice so advanced it went beyond the modern day jutsu's laws, seldom carrying any of the limitations.
"This is true magic... onmyōdō"
The young genin could only pale at this revelation.
"Your father would no doubt be impressed, Asuma," Sarcasm dripped from the elderly man's tone; "All your jutsu are mere brute parlor tricks compare to the glory of onmyōdō. As I shall demonstrate for you all." Garan played a cord adjusting his tune sending out a wave of fireballs.
"Shit!" Asuma cried out grabbing his students as he and Kuroka dashed through the follies of fire and over to some cover.
Regaining her breath Kuroka shook her head; "Never have I thought I would see a human using onmyōdō in this day and age."
"How the hell do we fight a guy like this?!" Ino questioned breathing heavily beside Choji. Her eyes quickly turned to Shikamaru who dryly stared back; "Well you're the genius what do you got?"
"How do you expect me to form a plan so far for this?"
A deep chuckle escaped the wizened man's throat; "How indeed, my young Nara. Ninjas may just be thugs without two brain cells to rub together... but letting a Nara have enough time to think is folly of the highest level" He played a series of quick notes, summoning multiple paper spears, "So I'll spare myself the trouble. Be a good lad and just die"
The spears were thrown at high speed towards the Nara and his fellow teammates, Choji reacted fast and made his arms enlarge massively, forming a shield around his friends. He grit his teeth, holding back the cry of pain building up as the paper spears buried themselves on the surface of his great limbs, tearing through bandages and skin and drawing blood.
"Choji!" Ino shouted in concern.
"I'm fine!" He grunted.
Kuroka pulled out multiple paper tags from her sleeves. "You're not the only mage around here. You may have learned magic, but I breathe magic"
Throwing her paper tags in the air around them, Kuroka proceeded to do a series of handsigns, the tags freezing in mid-air as kanji glowing with purple light manifested before them with a steady pulse. The Nekoshou slammed her hands together, and the room was shrouded in darkness.
The shadows had moved to cover every surface of the room; to the point the only place that was spared from the sudden darkness was the area where Garan was sitting, as the two lamps at his side still created a small illuminated space. The warlord tilted his head with a curious hum.
"Now, use your shadow!" Kuroka shouted at Shikamaru, snapping him out of his momentary shock.
"Right!" He quickly dropped to one knee and used his clan's signature handsign. The entire room was shrouded in darkness; it was all a big shadow. Allowing his own shade to navigate with unparalleled speed and reach. He could feel it approaching Garan in a single second.
Garan played a few notes, and the light of the lamps at his side surged with extreme intensity.
They had to shield their eyes for a moment, as the darkness in the room was literally pushed back by the sudden glare. Shikamaru's shade was reduced to a single strip of darkness that moved in between his paper soldiers. Quickly, the Nara forced his shadow to continue forth, fighting against the glare of the lights, still close enough to reach the Warlord.
Then Garan threw a single senbon at the shadow, and Shikamaru's horror, his shade was pinned in place.
"You're not the first shadow user I've faced boy," The warlord spoke with disinterest; "And you won't be my last." Plucking the strings lightning shot forward striking Shika in the chest before the others had time to fully react.
A scream came from Choji watching his longtime friend sent flying back and hitting a cage before falling to the ground. Horror etched on Ino's face seeing the burnt mark of her teammate with a hole in his shirt and chain mesh made by the bolt. In a blink Kuroka had snatched up the young Genin as Garan was about to strike him again and bring him to his team as they took cover.
"Hmm," a bored tone came from the Warlord; "Is he still alive?"
A low pained wheezing came from the gnashed mouth of the Nara heir with his sensei and others around him; "Fuck!" Shikamaru hissed out before holding his chest.
Garan barked out a chiding laugh; "Hah! Stronger constitution than I thought!"
Shikamaru knew the old man had the upper hand, they couldn't get close, he countered everything they had been throwing at him, the pressure was getting to them, making them slip up.
If this was a game of cards, and each member of their team had an ace to play, then Garan's deck was stacked full of Jokers. His magic was no joke, and could pull off techniques of such variety and usefulness he could merely toy with them as much as he liked.
"So much for lightning striking twice with the famed 'Ino-Shika-Cho' formation" Garan called out with a smug smile, the bastard was actually having fun. "Oh yes, renowned for their outstanding strategies and complementary skills. Bah!" He scoffed, "Once upon a time ninjas were masters of subterfuge, but look at you all now. Children who play soldiers who think the epitome of warfare is just making bigger and bigger explosions. Inexperienced little kids like yourselves could never have hoped to defeat me"
His played a series of quick notes, his soldier's advanced, the sound of paper fluttering filling the air. Asuma stood before his team, changing his grasp on the knives, chakra swirling through them as they extended into long blades of pure energy. He slashed and cut at every paper puppet that came for them, his movements a blur of speed as pieces of perfectly cut paper filled the air.
He let out a valiant cry, not giving an inch, even as the paper swarmed his vision he kept cutting more and more, so long as they kept coming he would keep slashing.
Until they finally stopped, and the air was filled with shreds of paper.
Asuma panted, feeling his arms growing tired.
Garan smirk, and with a pull of the strings, the papers floating in midair stopped, folding upon themselves until they became thousands of shard senbons.
The jonin gasped, and the senbons flew forwards.
Fortunately, he was pulled back by Kuroka, who swiftly conjured a barrier upon which the paper senbons crashed like rain upon a window.
The team gave a collective sigh; "I'm sorry..." Asuma and his Genin peered over to Kuroka who barely whispered; "My emotions were clouding my judgement. We barged in unprepared because I was too focused on finding my sister." She turned her gaze towards them with light tears in her eyes.
"Nobody here is going to judge you for wanting to free your sister," Choji quickly remarked as Ino tended to Shikamaru's wounds.
Asuma caught his breathe; "We will get her and everyone out of here. But we need to use our heads okay," The older man spoke gently garnering a nod from the demon feline.
"I'm curious," Garan spoke up with mock interest; "Do you think that will keep you safe?"
"Please tell me you have a plan" The Yamanaka muttered to her teammate.
"The only thing I can see going for us is that he's not taking any of us seriously" Shikamaru replied, hissing as she tightened the bandage. "This is the first time we fought someone with such a large repertoire of skills. Skills we are not trained to deal with, I might add..."
"He countered your move" Asuma pointed out to the nekoshou. "Can you counter some of his?"
"As much as it pains me to admit it, that human is good, very good. I'd need time to prepare a greater ritual that would be able to take him off guard, but he's not giving us even a second" Even now the barrage of paper senbons continued. "Although... he uses his shamisen for his spells, he might need it as a catalyst to focus..."
"But we still can't get close" Choji shook his head. "He just pulls out someone to force us back" His hand slowly went to one of his pouches, "Maybe I should use one of my pills to-"
"No!" Asuma quickly shot down the idea. "If you fail to give us an opening, or if he incapacitates you, then you're done for. That boost won't last forever, and we don't know how long he can hold against that"
Kuroka cocked a brow; "How dangerous are these pills of yours?"
"They are used for only the most absolute no choice scenario," Asuma explained.
"This is why we need them. This guy means total business sensei; we have to try some-"
Asuma interrupted Choji once more; "I said no." The young Hiruzen was not having this debate.
Holding his chest Shikamaru shook his head; "Then I have no idea how to bring this guy down. Anyone got any ideas outside of Choji's crazy one?"
Kuroka looked back at the warlord, as the bastard's barrage continued, he actually seemed more focused into playing his instrument for his own entertainment. He had been looking down at them every step of the way. If they could find just any way of surprising him…
A thought occurred to her. "Yamanaka girl" She ignored her indignant cries and reminder of her own name. "How is your telepathy?"
Ino was taken aback, "What? I-I mean it's getting decent but no way I can try to read his mind, he's defenses are too strong for me to-"
"No need" Her tail reached out to touch Ino's forehead, "You guys do the same, and we just need a quiet place to talk"
"My mind is not a hub!"
"Oh shut up" Shikamaru annoyed said as he placed a hand on her head.
Choji shrugged sheepishly and followed suit, along with their sensei.
Ino pursed her lip as she lowered her walls and let four consciousness in, the weight of multiple voices in her mind acting in tandem was strenuous, but she could handle it.
Kuroka gave them information at enormous speed, possibly routes to take, strategies, abilities she could use. One in particular made Shikamaru's eyes widen.
"Could have told me you could do that" His disembodied voice remarked.
"Got a plan kid?" The nekoshou's amusement was palpable.
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The old warlord continued with his melody, this song in particular recalling the tale of an old man lost at sea, it was one of his favorites. It was melancholic, but what didn't feel as such at his old age?
The battles he fought were trivial, there had seldom been any enemy worth his time. The true challengers were long dead and buried, and replacing them were mere brutes with all the brain power of rocks.
He had a been a child when he heard about the cataclysmic battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, at the time it had seemed like the epitome of power, the tales of the clash spread far and wide, prompting so many to try and achieve that same level.
That had been the beginning of the end.
Ninjas degraded from masters of stealth to front line soldiers who believed the greatest key to success was to develop more and more powerful techniques, create bigger and flashier instruments of destruction.
His father had once defeated an entire battalion force of fifty elite samurai by using illusions which hid the fact they were walking straight into quicksand he had created from once solid earth.
There was no more room for strategies in this world, no tactics, and no smarts.
It infuriated him. The only people who ever appreciated the art of warfare were his comrades in the Leash, his strategies had allowed them to reach the top of the underworld, with barely a few who could even call themselves their rivals.
And now he had the newest generation of disappointments to deal with.
He missed the old days.
Their newest 'tactic' seemed to be dropping the barrier they had been using to protect themselves, upon which the Akimichi jumped out as he enlarged his body until his torso was cartoonishly ballooning. He began rotating at great velocity, and before Garan's eye the earth underneath him began adhering to his body, until it covered his frame completely until he resembled a giant round rock.
The human ball of earth barreled through his paper constructs, shredding them on its path. The old warlord was deterred in the least, even as the Akamichi's form closed in. A few notes on his shamisen and large blunt spikes of rock jutted from the ground right underneath the young boy, throwing his large body away with great force as the room above them further ripped and he trailed right over his team.
The jonin charged in with blinding speed, knives glowing with chakra, descending upon him. It stopped inches before his face. Garan smirked with satisfaction at the sight of the Sarutobi's shocked and irritated face as a glowing kanji formed underneath him, his eyes freezing in the literal sense as frost slowly covered his trembling limbs.
"You sought a fight against a master of the elements," He called out to the jonin triumphantly. "You should have known how this would play out, young man"
At the corner of his vision, he saw the Yamanaka girl appearing in the background over her sensei's figure, her hands poised in her clan's signature technique. Garan felt a twitch of irritation at her lack of foresight.
"This again? Girl didn't you learn your lesson already-"
It was only through years of learnt reflexes that he managed to dodge. The first warning was the girl falling limplessly on the ground, a sign that her possession had taken place, but he felt no intrusion upon his mind. The second warning was the movement at his left, one of his paper soldiers suddenly shifting and moving in to strike.
At himself.
The Yamanaka had managed to mind transfer herself into a one of his puppets and taken possession of it. Possession over inanimate objects was not unheard of, but to actually perform such a technique on something lacking a brain, a human's nervous system, or familiar anatomy, required years of practice. Even possessing an animal was difficult because of the differences in body.
He could tell by the choppy movements of the paper soldier that the girl only had rudimentary control over the puppet, she was completely inexperienced when it came to possessing no living constructs, but out of urgency in their fight against him she had taken a risk.
And so when the paper blade failed to reach him, it instead cut through the first string on his shamisen.
His control flickered, just for a moment, but it was all that was needed for the Sarutobi to spew smoke from his mouth right at him. No, not smoke, gunpowder...
Two trench knives clashed, igniting a spark, and the power exploded right on his face.
The force of the blast sent jonin flying back, clothes singed and burnt the tip of his beard smoking. He stopped his barreling with his two knives digging into the ground, once he was on his feet he patted his form to put out the growing flames.
"Gonna need to trim a bit after this..." Asuma said mournfully as he touched the burnt patches of his beard.
Ino roused herself to awakening, just as Choji rejoined their group. "Did we get him?"
A blast of wind cleared the smoke, revealing a very much alive; and very much furious Garan.
"Of course not..."
The expression on his face was a far cry from the confident superiority, much of his facial hair had been ruined, and he sported a prominent burnt mark on his right cheek. His old eyes crinkled with fury as his teeth gnashed.
"You brats...! I will cut off your tongues and sell you to the most brutal crime bosses of the underworld!" He threw the destroyed remains of his shamisen away. "I do not know if I'm angrier at you, a group of simple minded thugs, or me, who fell for your simple tricks"
From his crouch on the ground, Shikamaru smirked. "I'd say it wasn't half bad, for a bunch of dumb ninja"
The old man growled. "Just because you managed to harm me and broke my tool doesn't mean your victory is assured. Congratulations, from now on I'll be taking you seriously" He raised his hands and through a series of handsigns, invoked a series of glowing kanji forming around him. "Bear witness to the true power of my magic!"
The Nara joined his hands, and his shadow extended through the debris filled floor over to the warlord.
"Oh for the love of..." Garan threw a senbon at the shadow, stopping it on its tracks as he had done so before. "I actually give you the honor of graduating from annoying pests to a small threat, and you make the same mistake you already did before?!"
And it was THESE brutes who had actually managed to get the better of him. Garan felt his temper rise, deciding that his next course of action should be to obliterate them in an instant, simply remove this annoyance from the face of the Earth and-
Kuroka shifted out of the Nara's extended shadow, claws lengthening and poised to strike. With a feline-like cry she buried them in the old man's heart.
Garan stared incredulously at the nekoshou, at the claw that pierced through flesh and bone upon his bleeding chest, then at the group of ninja... and realized that he had completely ignored the fact he did not see the non-human among them until now. Using her own brand of spells she took refuge in the Nara's shadow, and struck the moment he lowered his defenses.
With his limbs losing all sensation to them, his breath leaving his lungs, and feeling of his life force slowly leaving him, Garan came to the realization that he died from having underestimated them, looked down on them, played with them, never considered them a threat... and so they took advantage of the very same stupidity and hubris he had levy at them.
With that knowledge, Garan conveyed all the disappointment and understanding he felt into his last words; "Oh..."
Kuroka pushed him off her claw, and the old warlord fell to the ground dead.
A thoroughly exhausted Choji collapsed to the floor on his back, sucking in as much air as he could beside Shikamaru who fell onto his backside. "Let's not do that again please," The large belled boy expressed with wary exhaustion.
Wiping the sweat from his brow Asuma jogged over towards Ino who sat on her knees with a dazed look; "You alright kiddo?" He knelt down in front of her.
She offered a weak thumbs up; "Daddy always warned about the risks of possessing an inanimate object. Have to wait for the brain fog to pass." The blond slouched forward with a huff.
The least exhausted of the group Kuroka beelines for the holding cells close by. There she was met by surprised yells and tearful pleas from many humans and demons of Lanka. In a flash her claws tore through several locks before seeing several keys hanging on a wall. Grabbing them she tossed them to a man who quickly took action opening every cell. "Koneko!" She cried out over the cheers of freed people.
"Kuroka!" Her feline ears perked before sharping dashing through the growing crowd. Her yellow eyes glistened upon seeing the sight of her baby sister and Akeno held in one large cell. Tearing off the lock the door flung open with a crying Koneko nearly tackling her sister in the tightest hug she could.
Akeno could not hold her own tears as many Lanka residents, both adults and children rushed over to embrace the succubus. "We are free," her voice cracked as she held everyone around her.
Team 10 came to the scene of people from all walks of life; human and non-human embracing one another like kin with tears in their eyes. It truly was a sight which brought a smile to Asuma's face for a moment before turning serious. "Everyone!" He yelled out drawing everyone attention; "We're not out of the woods just yet, anyone one of you can fight?!"
"I can" The words of the young lady with long jet black hair were heard, her violet eyes staring with immense joy at Kuroka. The nekoshou let out long sigh of relief upon seeing her, embracing her tightly. "We always knew you'd come, we never lost faith in the queen"
"Mhm!" The smaller white haired nekoshou nodded brightly, clinging to her sister's skirt.
"I'm just sorry we didn't arrive sooner"
"But you came with help" Violet eyes turned to the group, and the men there felt a lump caught in their throats upon seeing her. They were just so... mesmerizing somehow. "I'm Akeno, aid to Queen Kuroreimei. Thank you for freeing us"
Asuma was half compelled to dispel a genjutsu; he had to be in one for suddenly finding himself attracted to this young lady. Her looks were pleasing yes, but they weren't something out of this world. There had to be a reason why he found her to be so utterly enchanting. He cleared his throat, "I-It was no problem"
Shikamaru averted his eyes while Choji blushed; Ino meanwhile looked at them confused.
"Ah sorry" Akeno suddenly perked up, smiling apologetically at them. "It's my nature, it invokes those feelings on men automatically" She showed her wrists to see a pair of bracelets with kanji written on them, "The old mage put this on us, kept us from using our magic. Please remove them and I can help protect the slaves here. And also tone down the aura I project" She added the last bit with a teasing giggle.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Fires raged around the pier of the Blood Leash base as the battle was in full swing. Mercenary and ninja clashed all around with both sides being evenly matched, but a careful observer could see the shinobi slowly gaining the upper hand. Slave ships rocked from the jutsu flung around crashing through scores of the slavers. While at the same time the slaver's army proved their skill taking down many Leaf shinobi crossing their way.
This was slowly becoming a battle of attrition. With Konoha's righteous fury clashing against the Leash's brutal relentlessness.
In the middle of it Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Karin, with Queen Kuro's son Kyoka faced down the second most dangerous Warlord outside of Goro himself. Sarnai sneered avoiding a kunai; "Facing down four brats and a demon. What is this amateur hour?"
Kyoka held his katana ready to strike; "Presumptuous aren't you."
"Disappointed more like" The warlord said airily, flicking her hair. "Here I heard that dear Kushina was back from the dead, and she doesn't even have the courtesy to come great and old friend. And instead five snot-nosed brats think they can take me on"
"She's here" Karin confirmed with an edge in her voice, "But she's got more important things to do than to fight the likes of you"
"Oh does she now?!" Sarnai smiled widely and mockingly, "Tell me, tell me, what could she possibly have to do than to settle our score?"
A tremble came from Goro's own mansion, noticed by the lady warlord even in the midst of all the chaos. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as her lips set into a thin line. Slowly, they curled upwards once more, showing thrill. "Oh, I see, she's been sent to kill Goro!" She laughed out loud, holding her stomach. "Ohhhh well, it seems we will not be able to fight once again after all"
"I wouldn't bet against her" Naruto proudly proclaimed, "She's a badass"
"And Goro is an absolute monster" Sarnai said with a type of twisted fondness. "But he's still kind enough to send you back the pieces to bury"
None of his teammates or Kyoka could react in time for Naruto to have flown by then attempting to punch the woman. His anger had gotten the best of him which fueled his impulse and instincts take over, but his fist was easily caught by the lady warlord. However instead of letting out a chiding rebuke, she stared at the boy's face.
Her memory ignited as the one time she had seen Kushina's face shattering her ANBU mask during one of their old battles. Her lips curved upwards to a sinister smile; "You're her son..." She whispered with an eerie glee in her voice.
Raising her free hand she was about to slam it into the boy till hitting a log via the blond's substitution, as he landed beside his cousin and team.
"Idiot control your damn temper," Sasuke hissed out.
Naruto however ignored him holding his hand. That woman's grip felt like she crushed some of his bones.
"Hehehe," Sarnai chuckled before going into full out laughter; "HAHAH! Oh the Gods must be smiling on me today!" Malice glowed from her eyes, glaring right at the blond; "I hope my lover keeps your mother alive so I can bring her your corpse."
The young ninja got their act together, getting into formation. Karin stood at the back with various shuriken and tools ready. Naruto and Sakura on the front, as they packed the stronger physical attacks amongst the four. Sasuke positioned himself to the side, his eyes morphing into his Sharingan, ready to spot any openings and dive in when the opportunity presented itself. Kyoka for held his blade perpendicular to his face, his sandals scrapping the earth as he widened his stance.
Sarnai smirked, flicking her long ponytail over her shoulder before she popped her knuckles. "Welcome to the big leagues, kids"
And then they moved.
Kyoka was the first to reach her, sparks flew from his blade as her arm guards rose to defend, the material strong enough that all they left were scratches. Their movements blurred with each strike and parry, Sarnai dodged to the side and his downwards swing missed. Kyoka grunted as a punch to his kidney region destabilized him, and a kick sent him back.
Naruto charged in with four clones, surrounding her, crystal erupted from all directions in a serrated wave at her, erupting into great gleaming spikes coming for her. With great speed, the warlord jumped and twirled in the air, deftly dodging them all and letting them crash against each other, standing up upon the wrecked crystals with her arms crossed and that arrogant smirk still in her face.
The shadow of the young kunoichi loomed over her, and with a valiant cry the fist slammed down on her position. Crystal exploded and shuttered into smaller pieces and powder along with dust from the earth, creating a momentary cloud. Sakura's eyes widened in urgency as she realized her attacked had not connected at all, and she stood over merely a pile of broken crystal.
She felt a hand grabbing the back of her head, and her nose and mouth bled out as this hand forced her face to painfully connect with knee repeatedly. Momentarily stunned, the kunoichi felt her body lift from the ground and spun with such velocity it cleared the dust. She was thrown with great force, colliding with one of Naruto's clones and dispelling it.
The real Naruto caught the rosette but sent skipped quite a ways from the force. Not to be left out Karin through a flurry of kunai at the older woman who only scoffed. Her speed was incredible with her every movement she dodged the blades save one she grabbed in the air. Turning on her heel Sarnai tossed the kunai back at twice the speed aimed for Karin's head.
She was saved just in moments by Sasuke who pulled her out of the way before unleashing one of his clan's prized fire jutsu. Sarnai only smiled as the flames drew close, to even the Uchiha's surprise she dodged the massive fireball, dodging right underneath it before extending her arms; "I've killed a few Uchiha in my time boy! Your clan never impressed me!"
His doujutsu could see the razor sharp come from her fingers. However they moved at a speed too fast for even him to avoid. The wires however did not get close as they tangled in Kyoka's sword as he stood in protecting the younger man. "Miss Kushina made us very aware of your fondness for wires," the prince hissed out.
"Oh she did, did she? As if that would even help you against me." Her fingers moved in a subtle pattern as her wires tightened around Kyoka's blade.
Shock etched on the prince's face as he saw the wires slowly dig into his katana!
"Did she also tell you no mortal made metal can possibly resist them?"
Kyoka swiftly countered by igniting his blade with flames, the sudden jet of flames forced the lady warlord back. The young demon looked at his sword, grimacing at the clear thin cuts upon the metal.
Sarnai twirled her hands, the wires shining with chakra. "Honestly, it's so messy to kill people like this. Too easy as well, I'd rather have my enemies entertain me as long as possible" Her wires moved wildly around her, tearing to pieces a long crystal dragon that came upon her. She had barely moved, instead just looked over her shoulder at the frustrated face of the blonde ninja. "Your mother, now she could give me a good time. The sounds she could make..." She chuckled perversely. "Oh they were such a delight"
"You're sick"
"Stay long enough in this life and you'll find out everyone is" She flicked her hand, and motion caused her chakra enhanced wires to lash out at the dozen small fireballs shot at her direction with high velocity, the Uchiha who casted the technique bit back a swear. "You think you're the hero? The noble ninja who came to free the slaves!" She said with mocking dramatic flair. "Pathetic, you'll cry the day you find what kind of work you have to do for your village... well, not really, given you'll die here" She shrugged.
Naruto did not give her the satisfaction of a reply; instead he used his specialty, spam lots of clones. Nearly two hundred of them came upon her from all sides, all jumping at the woman, filling her entire field of vision with copies of the Jinchuuriki. Sarnai just smiled, and began twirling with the grace of a professional dancer, her wires lashed out. Cutting fake flesh invoked from chakra and dispelling them easily, each clone fallen adding to the smoke that soon surrounded her entirely.
Her vision momentarily blocked, she relied on her other senses, her hearing picking up a crackling sound that resembled a great flock of birds.
A flash of blue appeared at the side, rushing towards her with great speed. The Uchiha closed the distance in just a few seconds, his assassination technique ready to strike her down.
But it never came, the arm holding his Chidori suddenly suffered a dozen different lacerations. He let out a struggled sound of pain as blood poured forth from his wounds. They weren't lethal, just superficial but painful enough that it disrupted the flow of chakra, and his Chidori fizzled out.
He fell to the ground, clutching his arm as he grunted.
"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out in concern, rushing to save her friend.
Karin quickly stopped her, "Wait!" And pointed, "Look!"
Around Sarnai and Sasuke they saw the wind picking up, flashes of movement conjured by the sharp wires, with such velocity they effectively created a barrier that enclosed the two.
Kyoka channeled as much energy as he could through his blade, and dashed forward to cut down the barrier... only for his blade to shatter into a multitude of pieces.
Murder glowed in the woman's eyes staring down at the Uchiha who stared up anger and fright; "Time to join your clan in hell!" Lifting up one of her legs perfectly straight. She soon brought it down aimed for the boy's neck to snap it.
Damn it! No way was this going to be his end! Not after all that came into his life, those things that brought some damn meaning back to it again. The beating of his heart rung like a bell with his adrenaline coursed through his body, watching the warlord's heel coming down.
"SASUKE!" his team cried out in horror.
Sarnai smiled in delight as he heel came down and landed. But satisfaction was not hers with her heel only hitting and cracking the floor. To the side of her foot Sasuke had dodged in moments with his lungs sucking in as much air as he could. What just happen? It was question both the female warlord and Uchiha had, but with differences.
At one moment Sasuke could see his end coming, and then it was like the enemy's movements became slowed. As if time itself slowed down just enough for him to dodge.
For the lover of Goro she glared down at the young teen, "How the fuck did you-" Her died in her throat before sneering at the Uchiha's eyes; "Lucky little punk..."
Sasuke only glared back, not even realizing the third tome of his Sharingan had just now finally appeared.
"Congratulations kid, if I remember right you're now a man in the eyes of your clan" She brought her hands close, pulling at the wires and making the barrier enclosing them shrink all the more.
Sasuke suddenly understood; the much lower chakra cost from his eyes, the way they perceived her movements much more efficiently than before. His Sharingan had evolved to its fully mature stage, with this newfound advantage, he could stand his ground against her as her analyzed her movements to the smallest detail.
...But that didn't mean he was suddenly faster, stronger, or even smarter. That woman was still leagues above his own skill, it was like fighting Kushina. Experienced, highly trained, and very talented. It wasn't some special ability that gave her an advantage over them; rather her skills were much more honed, complimented with the physical capabilities to keep them all in line.
And he was still trapped in that razor sharp barrier of hers, cornered, as she approached with a bloodthirsty grin.
"Now die like one"
Then, a flash of light, and the previously impregnable barrier of chakra enhanced wires was cut by the slash of a blade that shimmered with azure flames.
Sarnai and Sasuke sharply turned their heads at the sight of Kyoka holding the hilt of his broken katana. However now glowed a blade made of pure blue fire in replace of broken metal. Kyoka's eyes resonated with the same color with slit irises; "This is the true form of my sword, human."
With quick feet work the lady warlord dashed and dodged the azure flames while the demon prince pressed forward the assault. This left Sasuke free from the woman as his team ran up to him. "You alright?" Karin helping him up with Sakura.
The Uchiha hissed gazing at his wounded arm but shrugged off the pain glaring towards the woman; "We have to take her down as a team," his said teammates were surprised by his words. "Our team is a front line unit, time we acted like it."
"You do know how weird that is coming from you right?" Naruto quipped.
Sakura ignored the blond to speak her own mind; "She is still more experienced and dangerous than any one of us."
"Goes without saying," Sasuke lamented; "So we outsmart her and take her down together."
Karin glanced over to Kyoka still on the attack; "You got a plan?"
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
"Well you were holding out on me 'your highness'," Sarnai mocked dodging the Azure blade of flames; "You gone straight to this I would have taken you more seriously."
The armored demon did not rise to her mocking, merely kept a cold steely glace in his eyes as he jabbed and slashed, her deadly wires becoming useless strings against it, falling to the floor as they were cut. Though Sarnai kept a playful grin, she did not lower her guard for a second, that blade of pure chakra proved its worth by cutting through her main weapon like a hot knife through butter, and she doubted her arm guards would fare much better.
So instead, she kept dodging and played with his mind. "You're a handsome lad. Tall, very well build under all that armor I bet" She added a lick of her lips for extra effect. "Wouldn't even be able to tell you're not human" She back flipped as a swath of flames ignited before her. "Must have easier than others from your kind, they're the ones who look like freaks"
This time, he replied. "The form your flesh takes matters not, it's the shape of your soul underneath that counts"
"Ohhh wise words" She mockingly said, "Was it your mother who taught you that... or perhaps was it your teacher Gōyoku?"
His step faltered, it was just a twitch, but she noticed it.
"Oh yes, he told me sooo much about you" Emotion glowed in the young man's eyes; "So much potential squandered because you follow mommy and not the true instincts your kind thrive on. You could be ruling probably half, if not all, the nations with your talents. Buuut nope, you just live like a pampered brat doing nothing."
"...From the words a traitor who abandoned Vibhishana's teachings for base instincts. Gōyoku is nothing more than you. A low life slaver who sells people for profit."
"Guilty as charged. And love every minute of it," Sarnai smiled back with wicked glee; "Did I tell you what's in store for that sweet succubus and kitty cat? They're going to be mine and Goro's pets~"
That seemed to ignite Kyoka's fury as he roared in rage. Now his movements grew hastened, fueled by his temper instead of his technique. Exactly like Sarnai wanted.
Oh the boy had talent, no doubt, right now he was much more talented and more trained than any of those ninja brats. But his mind was clouded, she was not the opponent he wanted to be facing, and that costed him. He was too concerned for his people taken as slaves instead of focusing on this battle right now.
His skill was great, but he lacked experience.
And so in his failure to keep himself control, he let himself open. She deftly dodged the sweeping strike of his blade, swaths of azure flame burning close to her, and with the remains of her wires slashed at his back, between the openings of his armor, tearing through cloth and skin and watching the blood flow.
He let out a pained cry and stumbled, Sarnai kicked him away and watched him roll with the strike, trembling as he forced himself to stand up, sweat running down his brow and one eye closed from the pain.
"Is that all you have, 'little prince'?" She grinned mockingly. "Oh don't worry; I think I'll keep you. Never had an actual royal as a slave before. Oh blue bloods, we've had them from time to time. But not actual royalty" She licked her lips, "You'll be given the treatment someone of your standing deserves"
Whatever the female slaver was about to say next soon stopped with her danger senses coming alive. Quickly she spun around in time to catch a fist from the red haired girl with glasses. But instead of letting out a mocking taunt immense pain rung from her hand as she felt the bones breaking from the girl's punch.
Sarnai howled with pain gripping her hand, leaping away from the redhead before seeing to her surprise the same redhead a good distance away. "What the hell?!" It was then the redhead who had hit shimmered and faded into that pink haired who grinned.
"Not bad for a rookie huh bitch," Sakura quipped before realizing she was sounding a bit like Kushina-sensei.
A low pained snarl escaped the older woman's lips; "Oh I'm going to snap your-" Her words faded as two fists from both Naruto and Sasuke connected to her stomach.
Sarnai's footing faltered her right knee bending slightly as the pain rocked through her core. She lashed out wildly, the remaining wires on her fingertips striking only air as the two young ninja dodged. Sasuke attacked her right side of the abdomen with kick, Naruto followed with a swift punch to her cheek. Leaving her open for the Uchiha to deliver a palm strike that made her head turn once more, only for Naruto kick her chin.
On and on they continued on a highly coordinated combo of strikes, exploiting the weakened state of their otherwise superior of opponent, never wasting a single moment and not leaving any opening unharmed. They attacked with savage efficiency until Sarnai fell to her knees, upon which both youth reared back for a moment, and delivered a combined roughhouse kick which sent blood flowing from her lip, her body colliding with the floor in a painful landing.
The two young ninja gathered their breaths, but remained alert, even as she appeared unmoving.
Sasuke's Sharingan informed him of the subtle movements in her torso, "Still breathing, she's unconscious"
Everyone left out a collective breath of relief. Kyoka grunted, the azure flames vanished from his hilt collapsing to one knee out of exhaustion. "Are you alright, your highness?" Sakura was swift to his side.
At those words the young demon chuckled; "Think I need to train a bit more. And please just call me Kyoka, no need for formalities."
Huffing beside Sasuke, Naruto glanced to his teammate; "We got lucky didn't we?"
The Uchiha only nodded slowly before going to bound the woman's wrists; "Extremely, we wouldn't have gotten so lucky with that Kisame guy or my brother." Fact he openly admitted that spoke volumes, but he was right. This woman was on par with the blond's mother, the mere chance she fell for that rookie trick was pure luck.
Around them, multiple of the mercenary soldiers could only stare in open shock and horror.
"T-They beat Lady Sarnai!"
"What are these brats?!"
"K-Kill the, kill them now!"
The team had no time to recover, for their fight was long from over.
Naruto cracked his neck, "Let's keep the party going"
No sooner he said that, the great cavern shook, and Karin felt cold sweat drop from her brow at the feeling of the enormous source of chakra coming from the surface.
The 'party' as it were was not over, but she could feel they neared the climax.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX