Naruto grips his fist at the sight in front of him. The odd mixture of serpent and crustacean imposes its menacing form, only heightened by its ability to hover over them.
'This is bad. So far we've only really fought against the Great Beasts, but now we have these guys… Shit, what are we supposed to deal with first?'
Takeshi disappears from sight but Hinata still sees him clearly. She moves to intercept him as he makes a dash toward Awaji again, hoping to get past the Hyuga at the very least, thrusting her hand through the air and sending gust of chakra and air to blow him back.
[Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm]
"Naruto, leave him to me! You take care of the Great Beast!"
Takeshi tries to maneuver in any way he can
"Yeah, but…" He looks back to Awaji whose barrier is struggling against the onslaught of what seems to be members of the Uzumaki clan. "Damnit!" He forms his signature seal.
[Multi Shadow Clones]
-x-
The entire area is filled with hundreds of Naruto who take charge. Many of them go upward, using the buildings to give themselves a bit more height to go after the Amikiri. They come at it from below, from the side, and some try to jump over it although that may be a tall order.
Amikiri swings with its claw, hitting some of the Clones, while with its other claw it snaps and ensnares another group of them. The ones who escape the fate of being dispersed, use this chance to hop onto its body.
[Fighting Tongue Bind]
Their tongues take on a much thicker appearance and lash out, wrapping around the creature's pincers and using the tongues to pull themselves up and on top of its back. Amikiri tries to shake them off by wriggling its body but they channel chakra to their hands and feet to hang on.
It tries to shake them off by slamming its back against a building, causing it to collapse even more than it already was. Some of the Clones manage to hop off in time and hop back on, others move out of the way just in time, while others are not as fortunate and are dispersed.
They try to position themselves on the same side of the creature's back and not be so scattered, so they can deliver a powerful blow. They all gather chakra at their palms.
[Massive Rasengan Barrage]
The Amikiri is sent falling sideways from the impact, losing its balance slightly, and crashes into a building.
-x-
The rest of the Clones go to confront the Uzumaki, coming in waves at them. The Uzumaki send out their chains to attack with impressive precision. Some of the Clones attempt to grab onto a few rectangular chains with the intention of pulling their user away, but the moment they come into contact, the Clones' chakra is drained and they disappear.
'They can use the Draining Chains…' Awaji begins to sweat as he keeps focus on the shield he's created from his own chains. "Naruto! The rectangular ones will drain your chakra! The jagged ones have a higher attacking power!" He calls out instructions.
"Got it!" The Clones move on the defensive as the Draining Chains take on the role of a shield, ready to disperse any Clones that come near. "Let's see how good they are at absorbing chakra."
The Clones puff out their chests and let out a series of croaks that resonate off each other, boosting their strength.
[Frog Call]
They don't have natural energy to empower them, but this is a case of quantity over quality, and it seems to be working. They hold their ears in pain and fall to a knee but they're not out for the count just yet.
The largest of the three pushes himself back up and forms a hand sign, trying to ignore some blood dripping from his ear. His Adamantine Chains begin to shake, the sound of metal on metal filling the air and seemingly overpowering the croaking.
[Wind Style Ninja Art: Rattling Chains]
The jutsu seems to perform a similar task to the senjutsu Frog Call, being a diversionary tactic more than anything.
When the croaking stops, the shorter man places a hand on his companions' backs and their ears stop bleeding, they no longer seem dazed from the auditory jutsu.
-x-
During all the commotion, there are two Clones that stand back while the others push back the Great Beast and keep the Uzumaki at bay, and while Hinata makes sure the invisible man does not get any closer.. One of them sits in a meditative pose while another gathers chakra to perform a particular jutsu.
When it comes right down to it, these two are the important Clones. All the rest are merely a distraction until they can finish their work.
The latter Clone slams his hand on the ground and formulae spread from his hand.
[Ninja Art: Summoning]
A small toad hops from the smoke and immediately goes to Awaji and rummages through his pockets using its tongue. It grabs the scroll they'd taken from within the sealed space, gulps it down, and vanishes.
"Damnit!" Takeshi curses. 'They got whatever they found to safety. This fight has already become fruitless.'
"Doesn't matter." The larger Uzumaki cracks his neck. "All we have to do is grab the jinchurki or the old man and we'll know everything they know."
Awaji narrows his eyes. 'They couldn't possibly mean…'
"As if we'd let you." Naruto looks back with rage in his eyes.
"Oh, how scary."
The meditating Shadow Clone disperses, having accomplished its goal. When it does, all the others vanish with it. With Naruto's new chakra composition, he's no longer able to maintain that many Clones. With Sage Mode activated, he moves to perform the Shadow Clones again but Jugo stops him.
"Wait. Your chakra is distributed among your Shadow Clones, right? Keep yourself at full power for that thing." He motions to the Amikiri which is already rising back in the air, screeching. "I'll take care of these guys."
Naruto nods. "Alright."
Jugo steps out of Awaji's protective barrier, his flesh shifting to a dark grey and taking on an alien appearance. "Elder, please keep the kids safe from me."
"Very well."
-x-
Naruto and Kurama vs. Amikiri
The Amikiri flies upward in a spiral, screeching in what appears to be a fit of rage. It comes flying down right at the centre of the group, pincers at the ready to strike.
Naruto's clothes turn orange, surrounded by flame-like chakra. The flames expand further and further, growing a set of animalistic legs, a pointed snout, and nine long tails lashing out.
Kurama jumps, creating a forceful gust of wind as he leaves the ground, and grapples Amikiri. He manages to dodge one pincer and grab onto its base, but the other pincer snaps at Kurama's arm, completely severing the form.
Kurama grunts. "It cut through my chakra like it was nothing."
"Then let's not give it another chance!" Naruto calls out and moves the nine tails in unison.
Two tails wrap around each pincer and close them shut, while the rest of the five tails wrap around its serpentine body. The added weight causes Amikiri to plummet to the ground, unable to fly with Kurama holding on. They impact some distance away from the rest, not wanting to get the others involved into the melee. Despite the hard crash, and being unable to really soften the fall, Naruto and Kurama still hold on tight.
Kurama's severed hand regrows and he tries to grab Amikiri's beak but it gives out a screech before he can. The sound pierces Naruto's ears and causes the chakra to loosen. Something about the sounds makes Kurama's avatar form start to ripple and become unstable.
Amikiri uses this chance to slither out its slimy body and fly up.
When the screeching stops, Kurama's form returns to its normal condition. "Damn. So that's what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Frog Call." He shakes it off and stands up to his feet, albeit a bit shaky from the ear-piercing sound, and looks up at the creature, going over his next course of action.
"Well, if you're gonna stay there…" Chakra swirls around Kurama's paws.
The wind whirls and cuts through the air like a razor, letting out a screech that rivals that of Amikiri.
[Sage Art Wind Style: Rasenshuriken]
He throws his jutsu at the alien creature, swerving through the air as it flies directly toward it. Amikiri easily hovers out of the way but with a clenching of his fist, Naruto detonates it. The ball expands, creating a miniature localized tornado that's strong enough to push away rubble all the way down on the ground.
Amikiri gets caught up in the blast and howls in pain as its belly is buffeted by the jutsu. In pain, it reaches out its pincer and digs its claws into the ball of chakra and wind. It successfully cuts it in half, sending out a blast of air as it does.
As it turns around to look to Kurama, it sees another Rasenshuriken flying right into its face. There's not enough time to dodge this one, but there's enough time for it to extend its other pincer and grab the Rasenshuriken mid-air. The jutsu swirls and nicks at the pincers before detonating but it doesn't manage to reach the size and scope of the first one. Amikiri slams its pincer shut and cuts the Rasenshuriken in half.
When it pulls back its claw, it's clearly injured but nowhere near the extent it normally should be after taking a Rasenshuriken. Its crustacean half is rough as can be.
Kurama growls. "This thing… It can cut through chakra."
"The hell kinda ability is that?" Naruto grumbles. "Wait, if it can cut through chakra, then… Aren't we kind of in a bad spot?"
"Yeah. My avatar form, your Rasengan, they're all pure chakra. The exact bad matchup against this one."
"Then let's switch it up a bit." Naruto jumps up to get closer to the giant beast and lets out a croak, which looks rather odd coming from the mouth of a fox.
[Sage Art: Frog Call]
Amikiri does not react in any way as the sound waves hit it and it dives right into Kurama, sinking its claws into his stomach and into his shoulder.
"Damn, didn't even flinch?" Naruto grunts.
"Well look at it! It doesn't have ears!"
"Oh…" Naruto just realizes.
Amikiri pushes Kurama down through the air with great speed, fully intending to slam him into the ground. A plan that's foiled when Kurama's form simply… disappears.
Amikiri lets out a bewildered squawk.
Kurama wasn't cut by the Amikiri's apparent ability and it wasn't that Naruto lost focus on the form. No, Naruto saw an opportunity. Because the Amikiri dove into Kurama's chest, that placed Naruto above it as he inhabits the area around Kurama's head while in avatar form.
Naruto released his avatar form voluntarily and now he stands right above the Great Beast, where he enters his Chakra Mode once more. Free from its grasp and in a more advantageous position.
Naruto wraps his tails around the pincers and its body, and curls his feet up to his stomach.
"This one I learned from Bee!"
[Double Foot Stomp] *
The impact as Naruto stomps down onto its back sends it crashing down into the ground. However, the effect of the Double Foot Stomp is somewhat negated. Its purpose is to crush the enemy's body, but the Amikiri being part snake does not actually have a lot inside its body to crush. No bones or anything of the sort.
So when they find themselves on the ground, with Kurama trying his best to keep it wrapped in his tails, it manages to slither its way out, using its slimy body to get free.
Kurama tries to grab it in his paws again, but it releases another powerful screech. Kurama's form wavers and it uses this opportunity to wrap its own body around Kurama and squeeze him right, digging its pincers into the chakra to sever his body.
Getting the idea from earlier, Naruto once again releases his avatar form, putting the serpent off-balance as it no longer is holding onto anything. Naruto uses its scaled body to propel himself away and jump to safety.
Amikiri does not give up its chase and sends a pincer down to strike at him. He does manage to get out of the way, but the wind pressure alone sends him off course. Its striking the nearby buildings also sends debris flying everywhere which Naruto does not manage to dodge all of. His senses are heightened when in Sage Mode, but the chaotic nature of the flying rubble makes it difficult to fully predict.
Some blood dripping from his head where a stone had hit him, Naruto gets distance between himself and the Amikiri under the cover of dust, and hisses in pain.
"It seems like it doesn't feel pain the same way we do."
"It doesn't. It's moving about way too fast and way too well even after taking direct hits. We'll need a plan, or some back up."
"Well, the others are preoccupied right now."
Kurama clicks his tongue. "But it looks like someone else has free time on their hands."
Inside their shared mindspace, surrounded by nine torii gates, Naruto looks to two in particular that display activity.
From the third gate marked with "三", waterflow drips in and out like a tide at the beach. The humidity has reached the torii gate itself as droplets of the water drip from the moistened wood.
From the sixth gate marked with "六", a caustic solution inches its way closer to the shared space in the middle. The ground hisses and sizzles as it comes in contact with the bubbling liquid.
-x-
Meanwhile: Hinata Hyuga vs. Takeshi Imori
Hinata's form dances through the battlefield, the chakra gathered at her fingertips leaving behind a faint light like a gymnast's ribbon. Her movements are precise and elegant, her speed making her a deadly force to be reckoned with.
However, Takeshi Imori is not one to be outdone. He manages to keep up with his swift opponent and then some, being able to react to the Gentle Fist with surprisingly skilful taijutsu of his own. When Hinata does manage to land a strike on him and close a chakra point, he immediately places a hand on the spot he was hit and sets his chakra back in order.
The faint glow around this man's hand is unmistakable. Medical jutsu. The mask is also unmistakable. This man and the other three, their masks have the same property as the one they fought all the way back in Tsuji Town, who unleashed the Kappa. Whatever they're made of, not even the Byakugan can peer through to see their faces.
"Why are you doing this?" She sends a burst of chakra from her hand when she gets closer, trying to knock him off balance. "What do you gain from attacking us?"
"What we gain, girl?" Takeshi growls. "We regain our pride that you Great Nations stomp all over."
"The world's changing!" Hinata protests. "We don't have to keep constantly fighting, we can work on resolving things peacefully. The Shinobi Union is making sure of that."
Takeshi scoffs. "The Shinobi Union... It's changed nothing! The Great Nations snap their fingers, and everyone else is supposed to just follow their decisions like obedient mutts."
"It's nothing like that!"
Takeshi charges forward. 'Damn, what am I getting all worked up over? The Uzumaki are getting to me…' He does an impressive job keeping up with her, striking with deadly precision.
He can't allow to be hit, but equally Hinata can't allow herself to get hit, either. She can clearly see the structure of the medical ninjutsu in her hands and it is NOT made for healing. One strike can be lethal when the person striking know the human body inside and out.
In terms of flashiness, their battle definitely take a backseat, relying on speed and precision. They keep chasing each other over the rubble, trying to get the other to slip up, to step on the wrong spot, to wave for even a moment. Neither of them does.
Takeshi gets some distance between them, trying to use this chance to make a dash, but Hinata tries to get him from afar. She thrusts her hands forward, creating a surge of wind.
[Gentle Fist: Vacuum Wall Palm]
He manages to get out of the way just in time, but the pressure still catches him and throws him off balance. Hinata immediately pounces on the chance and surrounds her hands in purple chakra, the sheer force of her jutsu roaring like a lion.
[Gentle Step: Lion Fist]
Takeshi grunts and thrusts his own hand forward in the very last second. Their palms clash, Lion Fist meeting Chakra Scalpel. Hinata tries to get her jutsu to push through before Takeshi can do any damage, but the man is skilled enough; his jutsu began working the moment their hands touched.
[Nervous System Rupture]
She can feel her body not responding right. A tingling sensation washes over her body, her hand being the starting point of it all. 'No… I have to… push through…' She struggles and tries for a moment longer, but her chakra is disrupted.
The two of them part. Hinata's fingers twitch and her hand shakes as she tries to get her feeling back. Because of her own chakra clashing, the effect was dulled but she still doesn't have an arm to fight with. Takeshi isn't looking too good, himself. The Lion Fist did manage to get through, even if he countered it. The chakra in his arm is disrupted.
'This is already a waste of time and effort. There's no point in continuing.'
He raises his other remaining hand and forms a set of quick one-handed seals.
[Ninja Art: Light Refraction]
A blinding light surrounds Takeshi and bursts out from him. It only lasts a brief moment, but it's enough to force Hinata to look away, especially with her heightened eyesight which would increase the effectiveness of the technique. It's not a powerful light by any means, but it's enough. When the light vanishes, Takeshi has already retreated.
-x-
Meanwhile: Jugo vs. Uzumaki
Jugo takes a stand in front of Awaji's barrier who's still focused on keeping the children safe from harm. The wildling takes a deep breath and activates his power to the best of his extent. He leans down and propels himself by emitting chakra from his feet, becoming a cannonball.
The largest Uzumaki steps in front of his companions and sends out a group of Adamantine Chains to halt Jugo's progress. He manages to steer himself away from most, but some do clash right into his body, but Jugo tries to push through the pain, which in turn leaves him open for the chains that he dodged to come back and wrap around him.
"I don't know what you are but even you can't break these chains." The Uzumaki mocks.
Jugo grunts. "I don't need to break the chains, I just need to break you." At a great speed, he flies up.
Going to the sky, he takes the chains with him as they're tightly wrapped around him, and eventually the chains end. The Uzumaki tries to drag him down but Jugo releases his output of sage energy to overpower him.
"Pull him down!" The man orders as he struggles, feeling himself being lifted up his feet
The other two send their chains up to try and pull Jugo down, but he manages to fly up just in time, pulling the large Uzumaki with him.
"Sento!" The woman cries out as her companion is dragged upward.
Jugo gains considerable heights, pulling the Chains with him, before he stops and switches directions to now go downward. He chakra emitted from his feet boosts him in the opposite direction and he crashes into Sento Uzumaki.
Sento makes sure to keep hanging on. "You bastard, you'll kill us both!"
"That's fine with me." Jugo hits the man on the chest, both to get in a strike but also to hold on. His hand enlarges and his fingers extend past the man's chest, creating what resembles a harness. "I'd resolved myself to this fate years ago. At the very least, in the end I found someone willing to help me, willing to look at me as if I was a person. If I can take down at least one of you, then I will!"
"I don't need your fucking lifestory!" Sento gathers a chain around his fist to form a knuckle and hits Jugo on the forehead. He starts to bleed but does not let go of his enemy.
Sento continues to pound on him while Jugo focuses his energy on increasing their speed.
Before they impact, Jugo closes his eyes, prepared for what's to come. 'Thank you, Naruto.'
[Ninja Art Aviary: Condor]
A large predatory bird, easily twice the size of Jugo who's practically a giant himself, lunges directly at them and snatches the from the air before they can impact. It grabs onto Jugo's shoulders and jostles them slightly, which makes the two falling let go of each other. Sento falls to the ground with a thud, while the condor flies back to Awaji's barrier and lets Jugo down on the ground.
Heavily panting, Kotori releases her condor. She falls to her knees and tries to catch her breath. An adult condor, especially one as oversized as that one, is beyond her abilities to properly utilize but she managed to hold just long enough.
"You're… not… going anywhere… Jugo…" She wheezes.
Jugo looks at her, bewildered. "You…"
[Earth Style: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot]
Four large spikes of earth jut out from four directions in the ground around the Uzumaki, all aiming for the same point in the centre of the square that they form, their pointed tips aiming for the three shinobi in the middle. They manage to dodge easily enough, even Sento who had to get back up to his feet.
They stand on top of the spears which have stopped their progress and look to the group, where they see a small boy in a kimono shirt has placed his hands on the ground.
Shoto smirks. "We're not done."
Looking down at the base of the Bamboo Shoots, a cluster of crystals form a small path between Yokumaru and Shoto's spears. They're positioned in rows of two, protruding from the ground diagonally forward, getting progressively larger until they reach their destination.
[Crystal Style: Divine Pathway]
The crystals enlarge and cover the entirety of Shoto's jutsu, in addition to forming their own protrusions. The Uzumaki dodge in time, getting even more distance between them and the barrier.
Sento looks between his partner and Yokumaru. 'Just what is this jutsu?'
Shoto and Yokumaru look quite exhausted themselves after using some fairly high level techniques. They're nowhere near as exhausted as Kotori, but they feel the effects.
"What're you doing?!" Awaji shouts. "Get back behind the barrier, quick!"
The shorter man man surrounds his entire body with his chains, creating an armour for himself. He grits his teeth through the pain and charges at them, past Sento and the woman. He roars a battle cry.
"Oi, wait!"
Jugo stands in the way of his charge and tries to block him from getting any further.
"Get out of my way!" The Uzumaki punches at Jugo's shield arm, which does not stop these particular chains.
[Adamantine Draining Chains]
The chains go through Jugo's arm and through his entire body, passing through like a ghost. Jugo's bodily modifications begin to dwindle as his chakra is sucked into the chains.
"Not even your body can stand up to this!" he mocks, but after a moment, his sneed turns into a frown.
The Uzumaki's body begins to change. It first starts from his arm where the chains originate from. The flesh turns a brown colour and parts of it expand like bubbles of pus. That moves onto his shoulder, then his back. His arm grows in size.
"What's… going on?! What's happening?!" He cries out. "Sento, help!"
He withdraws his chains from Jugo but his body does not stop changing. He grows a hunchback, his leg thickens, his throat bubbles. He can't breathe. He scratches at his throat but to no avail. He looks to Jugo, his eyes filled with terror.
"What… are you?" He gurgles out before his mutated body drops to the ground.
Jugo looks stunned. His hands begin to shake. "What did I do?"
"NATSUSHI!" Sento calls out. He and the woman make a run for their fallen comrade, which Jugo takes as a sign to move back and regroup with Awaji. They try to shake their friend awake, but he does not respond.
At this moment, Takeshi appears before them in a flash of light. "Sento, Jun, we're leaving." He immediately weaves a handsign with one hand, his other still numb from Hinata's attack.
"Not before we kill them!" Sento's voice booms.
"I wasn't asking." Takeshi slams his hand on the ground, creating an array of formulae.
[Ninja Art: Reverse Summoning]
In a puff of smoke, the three remaining enemies and the corpse of the fallen disappear.
It's then that Hinata joins up with them, having seen that this is where her foe fled to, but it's already too late.
"I didn't…" Jugo tries to contain his emotions. "I didn't mean to. That's not what I…"
Hinata interrupts him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Kotori also scooches closer to him, despite still being tired. He calms down a bit.
"It's alright, Jugo. We're here." Hinata smiles.
In the distance, the Amikiri dodges a Tailed Beast Bomb by wiggling its body out of the way.
"Elder, please continue watching over them. I need to go help Naruto. And you three," She turns to the kids, "We're going to talk about what you just did."
They look down, embarrassed.
She sighs and turns around. "But you did good." And Flickers to the giants' battle.
-x-
Kurama and Amikiri continue their little game of tag, with the serpentine creature keeping its distance in the air, while Naruto and Kurama try to bring it down.
It doesn't take long for Hinata to reach them, hopping onto Kurama's back and sinking in next to Naruto. As she comes in contact with the Nine Tails' chakra, her flak jacket turns orange, surrounded by flame-like chakra, just like Naruto's entire outfit does when he uses Kurama's power.
[Tenseigan]
Her Byakugan undergoes the change of pale white to cyan; purple chakra combines with Naruto's orange, as the black markings on Kurama's chakra gain a glow from Hinata's chakra.
"What happened?" Naruto asks.
"They got away. One of them fell in combat, but the rest managed to teleport out. I think they lost interest when you took care of the scroll."
"So then we just have this one left. It's really annoying to fight." Naruto grumbles." At least the others stayed on the ground.
Something catches Hinata's attention from just outside the range of her eyes. She smirks. "I'm assuming you've been awaiting their arrival."
"Yeah, now we can put it down for good."
Amikiri flies down with its pincers stretched out, ready to tackle Kurama, but its progress is interrupted. Three sickle-like wheels of water shoot through the air and nick at its body. It screeches and flies up, turning to the direction the water wheels came from, just in time to see a large stone-like object roll its way closer. It moves directly towards with purpose and uses one of the many destroyed structures as a ramp to fling itself up.
[Leaping Bullet Shell Tower]
The rolling object rushes right past Amikiri which dodges out the way, but mid-air Isobu uncurls himself and gathers water particles in front of its mouth.
[Water Style: Great Water Mass]
Amikiri dodges the large balls of water that come hurtling at it, and they impact the ground under it, reducing another barely standing building to rubble. Isobu himself lands with a resounding thud, shaking the very ground underneath as he plants his four feet. Amikiri snaps its claws at both of them.
Just then the entire area underneath Amikiri fills with gas. It envelops the entire land before shooting out as if blown by a gust of wind.
[Wisdom Wolf Decay]
A gooey mass of white emerges from cracks in the ground, coming together and joining up to given form to Saiken. The sticky solution that envelops her body begins to form into bubbles that fly up in the air to completely surround Amikiri.
[Water Style: Caustic Bubble]
Amikiri cuts through some of the bubbles surrounding it and does manage to eat through the chakra, but the corrosion still takes place, hurting the creatures that screeches in pain. It begins convulsing in pain, knocking into bubbles as it does and detonating them in the process.
"Isobu! Saiken!" Naruto calls out.
"I will keep it surrounded by my bubbles." Saiken begins forming more bubbles to release into the air. "You bring it down."
"Watch it, this thing can eat through chakra, but it seems limited in its power." Kurama warns his siblings.
"You're right." Isobu stomps closer to them. "When I last fought this thing, it didn't even bother dodging, it just made my water into a splash."
"Wait, you've fought this thing, Isobu? How'd you win?"
"I mean… I didn't entirely. I just got tired of messing around with it, so I went back underwater. It didn't follow."
Kurama sighs. "Yeah, well, cowardice isn't really an option right now."
"Hey, that wasn't cowardice! If anything it was boredom!" Isobu defends himself.
Hinata looks between the two of them. "Is that important right now?"
"It's very important!"
"They kinda get like that sometimes." Naruto rubs the back of his head.
Saiken unleashes another wave of poisonous gas at Amikiri. It tries to maneuver around the bubbles and does succeed in going around some of them, but when the gas starts nearing, it can't afford to be careful with what it dodges. Amikiri lets out a screech of pain which resonates through the air, the bubbles around it begin to ripple and detonate remotely. A rain of acid falls to the ground.
"Guess I'll just have to do all the work myself, eh?" Saiken prepares another batch.
Naruto takes a long hard look at the field in front of him. He looks to the Amikiri, looks at the bubbles, then to the acid that just rained down.
"Hey, Saiken, can you get them as high as you can? Above that thing."
"Sure can do!" The bubbles go directly up before they start positioning themselves to surround Amikiri.
"Isobu, follow my lead!"
"Let's see what you got." Isobu stomps on the ground.
"Hinata," He turns to his girlfriend, "Can these things be made into anything other than spears?" He points to the chakra weapons that hover around Kurama's arms.
"I've never tried, but it might be possible. What exactly were you thinking?"
"Something with a bit more airtime than a spear."
"Let's see what we can do." Hinata holds Naruto's hand and the two begin focusing their chakra on the spears.
They break down into a more flame-like abstract shape, twisting and bending as they project the image they have in their mind. After a moment, in place of the spears are two chakram, circular thrown weapon, that whirl around his arms, additional energy coming from where there would normally be a bladed part on the actual thing.
"Alright!" Naruto throws the chakram in the air, aiming for the bubbles that hover over Amikiri.
Without even touching the bubbles, the purple weapons detonate them and continue flying to detonate even more along its path. The acid rain begins to drip onto the Amikiri and this time it has nowhere to safely run to. Isobu joins in by firing torrents of water to increase how much acid falls down.
Amikiri flies lower to the ground and tries to get out of the field of acid rain. Its senses dulled due to pain, it's not able to dodge the next attacks.
Naruto throws another chakra weapon at it, which explodes violently in its face. Isobu charges in and grabs hold of one pincer with its tails, while Saiken grabs the other pincer. It struggles and tries to break free but is held in place. It grabs Isobu by the shell after getting an inch of freedom and clamps down. Isobu's shell cracks but he keeps holding on.
Amikiri brings its tail to attempt to push Saiken off, but the slimy and squishy body proves difficult to get a real hold on. Seeing this effort fruitless, it focuses its strength on the pincer that holds onto Isobu, trying to break the shell.
Before it can try to succeed, Kurama hops over it where it lies held in place. Naruto gathers two more of the Tenseigan's spears and fires them at its body, ensuring its chakra is disrupted. It releases its grasp on Isobu and Saiken. Kurama then gathers dark chakra in front of his snout, join this time with lighter purple chakra from the Tenseigan.
[Tailed Beast Bomb]
It impacts heavily at point blank range, allowing no chance to dodge or lessen the impact in any way. Isobu and Saiken release the Amikiri as the Bomb sends it flying far away before detonating in the distance, truly ensuring that the section of the Hidden Whirlpool is all but irreparable.
When the dust settles, the Rashomon gate appears from the ground and swallows the Amikiri back to the netherworld.
Naruto breathes a sigh of relief. "That goodness that worked."
Isobu tries to look at his back where the crack is. "I'm just glad it didn't break my shell again."
"Again?" Naruto raises a brow.
"Yeah, it got me pretty good when I fought it. Took me a lot of time to recover from it."
"So you DID run away!" Kurama confronts him.
"I told you I didn't!" Isobu shouts back.
"Thankfully it's gone for now." Hinata deactivates her Byakugan, returning her eyes to their normal paleness. "Um… mister Isobu, how different was this creature from when you fought?"
"Hm?" He turns his attention away from Kurama's mocking. "Pretty different, I suppose. It looked kind of out of it, like it wasn't focused on the fight at all. And it looked way weaker."
"So they continue to be chained by Tamamo's seals."
"And whoever those guys were, they might be on their way to unsealing it, especially if they already know what Mito found. We gotta regroup and report everything."
Hinata nods. "You're right."
"We'll keep on being on the lookout, you all stay safe." Saiken's form melts away into the ground.
Isobu just begins walking away. "If something pops up, you know where to find us, Naruto."
"Yeah. Thanks for your help!"
Naruto and Hinata return to the rest and they all take a few minutes to recuperate from the battles that just unfolded. While resting, Hinata does take the time to have a serious conversation with the kids.
"You went in and confronted shinobi much more powerful than you. Do you even realize how much danger you were in?" She scolds them. "You were completely drained after doing just one jutsu. You never go into battle by exhausting yourself."
"Sorry, mom."
"Sorry, sensei."
"Sorry, shisho."
They all look down.
"Please don't be too hard on them." Jugo comes up to her. "It's because I put myself in danger that they stepped in. They saved me."
"And I was too absorbed in keeping the barrier that I did not see them step outside of it." Awaji sighs.
"Even still…"
"No, you're right." Naruto steps by her side. "You three, you did something good but the way you went about it could've made it so much worse. Today you got lucky you didn't die. So from now on you're training twice as hard, understood? No matter what, I'm not going to be the one to tell your parents something bad happened to you because we weren't taking care of you properly."
The kids nod.
After catching their breath, they decide it time to get back to the ship. It'd be better to have more people around, and to leave the village behind. On the way out, Naruto and Awaji take one last look at the Hidden Whirlpool Village which they somehow left more destroyed than it was before.
Along the way back to the ship, they actually run into Chojuro, Saizo, and Kiri, who were on their way to the village after seeing a Tailed Beast go through not too far from them in that direction. So they figured something had happened and ran to help. Naruto and his group explain everything that happened on the way back to the ship.
After all that happened, the rest of the trip seems boring in comparison. They do run into some more pirate vessels which they take down with relative ease.
The kids continue their training, now a bit more intense than before. They've gotten rather good at dodging so it's time to move onto the next stage. Performing jutsu while staying on the mast. That particular skill requires them to split their focus- to keep their chakra to their feet but also weave their chakra through their body, without disturbing what they'd gathered on their feet.
Under Naruto and Hinata's tutelage, they manage to pick up on the skill by the time they return to the Hidden Mist. Even without being prompted to, they turn it into a challenge and keep each other on their toes, they even continue past the time that was designated for their training to keep at it.
With that, their first mission for the Hidden Mist Village comes to an end.
Name meanings
Sento Uzumaki (うずまき セント, Uzumaki Sento) = named after the Sentoku type submarines.
Jun Uzumaki (うずまき ジュン, Uzumaki Jun) = named after the Junsen type submarines.
Natsushi Uzumaki † (うずまき ナツシ, Uzumaki Natsushi) = named after the Natsushio-class submarines.
Amikiri (網切 or 網剪) = A Japanese yokai. Its name can either be translated as "net cutter" or "cutting shrimp".