Welcome to the next chapter.
joharasbel; Thanks!
TheGreatGodzilla; Whatever happens with Hiruzen, it's going to be quite impactful on the characters. Pakura's feeling quite a lot, which is going to be coming to a head pretty soon. There's only a few ways Orochimaru could gain the Sharingan, especially now due to his limited options. We've seen how it can be done in canon, Yukine used a similar method. Yes, we'll be getting different important fights going on throughout the village. Yeah, I know how she and Kurotsuchi are going to become involved.
ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks, glad you liked it! Yeah he finally got to meet his Mother, not in the best circumstances, but he at least got to interact with her. Yukine is pretty skilled, she's worked quite hard to achieve such skill. Ryouta was in quite the heated battle, and did his best to give as much assistance to Hiruzen as possible, and in the end, it paid off. Yukine and Ryouta will have some moments together yeah.
Silver crow; Thanks. Yeah, Ryouta put in some work last time. I'm sure a good number of people will be on the lookout now for him. Maybe he looks a good bit like Madara when he was a kid. Yukine surely did. Glad you liked the fight. I don't think he'd need much beyond the acid along with what later skills he'll be able to use with them. Yeah, Ryouta managed to finally speak to his Mother. We'll see what happens with Hiruzen, whatever it is is going to be quite impactful. Satsuki might still feel anger, but she's got a good support network around her. Hearing about someone's abilities, and seeing them for yourself are completely different experiences, so Ryouta seeing his Mother doing it was quite eye opening as opposed to hearing Shisui tell him, which Shisui has told him some stuff about his parents, of course he wouldn't know all of the things about his parents. Ryouta's pretty strong now yeah. Thanks for the harem suggestions. Yeah, could be.
Guest 1; Yeah, she really did~ She's quite skilled huh. Glad you liked it, and thanks!
GuoYaohui; Glad you liked Yukine. He'll be talked about, maybe he'll appear at some point, he is quite important with some history later on in the story. Ryouta's always gonna be himself yeah, he'll evolve as the story goes on. She can be quite violent with people she hates, but generally she's pretty chill with those she loves. That could happen with Hiruzen yeah, thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 2; Thanks for the harem suggestions!
Luxo11; He fought Kiba when he had been through many intense battles, and had his chakra running on pretty much empty at that time due to what happened in the forest, at full he'd defeat Kiba without much problem.
LordofWaves; Yeah, Hashirama I thought would recognize such things. He does have a second abilty, he'll use it when he needs to use it. Yukine is pretty skilled huh, she's got a good number of ways to use different types of Jutsu's. Maybe it's a skill Ryouta could learn one day~ Anko did yeah. The distinction between Yukine and Orochimaru's methods will be made quite apparent this chapter. Thanks for the suggestions.
Hinata fan; Yukine is yeah, she's quite Kage level. Glad you liked the stuff between Ryouta and his Mother. Gaara's only after saving 'Ryouta' at this point. Thanks for the harem suggestions!
Guest 3; Yukine is yeah~ She's skilled and strong. Yeah, I always thought it would have been cool to see in the series, so I put it here~ Yeah, she could have become Hokage if she had so desired, she was in a similar league to Minato. It's possible, he seemingly inherited his skills with seals from her, so maybe after having some intense training they could come together. Yukine and Ryouta will have some time here yeah. Orochimaru did seem quite frightened of his former student, we'll see and have seen last chapter why he does fear her. Glad you liked Ryouta's moment there. They did have quite the emotional moment, after so long, Mother and son came together. Kagami definitely well could do, we'll learn a bit more about him this chapter. Thank you very much!
Valtryek sama; I wouldn't mind doing a story about how a different version of Trihexa could work, probably some kind of being born from Trihexa, and his story would be more about development and how he views the world and such since he'd have the power so pretty much no one could tangle with him save a very select few, so thanks for the suggestions!
Pinkflamingwarriorofjustice; I can't say, we'll have to wait and see~
Andrew123456; Thanks!
JustAFan; She definitely is strong yeah. She could have been, but she didn't really care for being a Kage, she had other things going on. Yukine was a Jonin yeah. Ryouta and his Mother will speak about a few things yeah. In this chapter we'll learn a bit more about his Dad. Thanks for the harem suggestions!
War Sage; Thanks. The acid can dissolve pretty much most things like how Amaterasu can burn through most things. Glad you liked the fight. Yukine surely was. We'll have to wait and see. Hiruzen's fate shall soon be shown. Satsuki and the others don't as they've already taken off before Karin came, people like Sakura and Naruko will learn this chapter. We'll get different pov's yeah. Maybe Hashirama did see the physical resemblance between them. Yeah, Hiruzen knows that Ryouta's skilled, and he certainly could use his help. Thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 4; i'd not make them a human, but they'd have a human form they could enter into like how Ophis can and Tiamat can. Yeah, he'd be his own kind of unique person with some interesting personality quirks.
With those reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
Yukine's resolve!
Together with Satsuki, Haku and Shino made their way towards the location Satsuki could see with her eyes. The chakra colours of what she presumed to be Ryouta, and Gaara, among others was the location she needed to head to at that time.
As they did run however, they came up against a few roadblocks, sand was gathered around trees that had been broken down, that had been split in half, and that had been completely destroyed all together.
"It seems that Gaara-san is in a rage right now."
Shino observed, with Satsuki furrowing her brows.
"I thought Oto and Suna were working together, this part of the plan mustn't have been told to the likes of Gaara, and the others. Still, they are potential enemies, with Suna against Konoha, even if they're trying to save Ryou thanks to what I presume Gaara feels...they could easily turn on us if they so desired, we have to be prepared to fight..."
Haku nodded.
"I am prepared to fight and beat them if necessary."
"I'll fight Kankuro, my insects should be able to disable his puppet."
Shino spoke, Satsuki nodded.
"Right. Haku can you take Temari?"
Haku thought about it for a few moments, but then nodded.
"With the charka reserves that I have, could prove to be difficult but it is going to be manageable by myself. But what about you? Fighting off Gaara, and Kabuto could prove to be too much, even for you."
"Backups going to be coming, of course I'm aiming to stop both if necessary. But I know my limits, our first job is to save Ryou and get him out of danger, I'm not looking to fight them both if possible."
Haku and Shino nodded.
Shooting through the forest was easy enough, their combined efforts managed to make them be able to close in on the distance, so when they finally did get in close, they saw Gaara shooting off sand again and again towards Kabuto who was dodging them, but clearly was having a very difficult time in doing so.
When seeing it, Satsuki went to make a move, when Gaara's sand erupted forward to try and capture Kabuto up in said sand, only for him to be able to retreat away at a blinding speed, something that did begin to annoy Kabuto as Gaara was coming dangerously close to him.
Satsuki managed to get in close, Temari locked eyes on her, and brought up her fan, swinging it down and releasing a strong burst of wind that would cut through anything in its path, fortunately Satsuki saw it coming with her Sharingan eyes, avoiding it completely, and managed to get back a good distance.
"Damn, they've already caught up."
Kankuro murmurs, Temari clicks her tongue.
"If they get involved, then it could cause us problems Kankuro. If Gaara's monster comes out now due to their interference..."
"I know, that's why, use your wind with my poison smoke bombs, it should be enough to drive them off."
Temari nodded, and moved her hands across her face, as Kankuro brought out his puppet. Opening the mouth of the puppet, it released bombs of smoke towards them, so Satsuki and the others retreated backwards.
Only for them to explode, and release the poison clouds, which she fanned towards them enough to spread it rapidly but not disperse it.
Satsuki and Shino pull back, but Haku didn't.
"Wind Release, Great Breakthrough!"
Like she had learned with Pakura, Haku releases a strong burst of wind from her mouth that begins cutting through the smoke on all sides as Haku slides through it in her leaping forward across tree branches, to the point that Temari could feel the winds tickling her skin.
The force of the wind slams Temari down and away as she was caught off guard, Kankuro's eyes widening at the sight.
"Temari!"
Kankuro calls, but she waves him off.
"Go with Gaara, make sure that she doesn't die."
Kankuro grits his teeth, but nods his head and simply chases after Gaara who keeps going after Kabuto, rage becoming more and more apparent within her mind, as she felt Shukaku's influence becoming something that was causing her more worries than ever before.
But she fought them down and continued after Kabuto with Kankuro following.
Satsuki and Shino manage to make their way around and glance at Haku.
She waves them off, so they take off together in a burst of speed, leaving this to Haku herself.
With Ryouta and the others, Yukine kept hugging her son, petting the back of his head, as he looked up to his Mother's face, all the while Yukine wove through several seals, and applied them onto the barrier that was containing the First and Second Hokage's, she knew at her current level it wouldn't hold forever, but she knew it would stall them for a little time, giving them sometime to formulate a plan.
"Mom..."
"Look at how you've grown Ryouta. Or do you prefer Ryou?"
"I don't mind...either one."
"Do you like it, your name? When coming up with it, we wanted it to be strong, yet kind, so we came up with Ryouta. The strong kind Dragon."
"Yes, I love my name."
Yukine giggles sweetly.
"I'm glad. I wasn't the best at naming...but with Shisui, and you, I think Kagami and I got it right...Kagami, he isn't here to see you..."
As she said it, Ryouta did have a question for his Mother since she was now back from the dead.
"...Say Mom...do you remember the other side?"
Ryouta wondered if she could remember interacting with his brother, with Shisui, or his Dad even.
"Hmmm, I have vague memories about it. But that's mostly because..." Her eyes violently shot to Orochimaru who tried to do a sneak attack. Orochimaru backed down. "...he hasn't mastered it to the level that I had done when I was alive and kicking, though difference is, I don't use alive good people to sacrifice unlike that monster."
"Did you invent it Mom?"
"Nope, he did." Ryouta watched as Yukine pointed out Tobirama. "Though compared to when he did it, it seems Orochimaru has improved on it somewhat. Though still it has some major flaws." Yukine smiled at her son, and hugged him tightly. "But don't worry about that now, I'm sorry that I've missed so much of your life."
"Mom, don't worry about that..."
Yukine smiled at her sons kindness.
As Ryouta hugged his Mother, Yukine's eyes went towards Hiruzen.
"Not best of circumstances, but it's good seeing you again Grandpa."
Hiruzen chuckled lightly.
"Yes, I'd never want you to go through this, but I am glad to see you again, Yukine-san."
"What's with the san on my name huh? I always said you should just call me Yukine."
She playfully scolded the older man who adopted a soft smile.
"Haha yes, of course Yukine."
Yukine continued to smile, as she looked around.
She saw outside of the barrier, a war was raging on.
"Minato, he's gone, isn't he? I can't sense him anywhere."
"Yes...he is."
"Kushina too?"
"Yes...her as well."
Hiruzen revealed sadly, Yukine gave a pained look.
"So that means their child lives without parents, poor kid..." Her eyes went over the area, before she sensed something. "Nine Tails...I see, so that's where he is right now. I guess they didn't have a choice if they're both dead, but the pain that child must have endured by damn idiots seeing Tailed Beasts host as monsters themselves, I swear it drives me nuts." Shaking her head, she directs another question for Hiruzen. "Anyway, Fugaku?"
"Dead."
Yukine placed a hand on her forehead.
"Seriously...geez, all those I knew...Mikoto! Is she alive?"
"She's alive."
Yukine released a breath at Hiruzen's reply.
"That's one good thing. Say, what about Itachi, and Izumi? I can't sense them around here, but maybe..."
"Even back then were they going out?"
Ryouta looked surprised, with Yukine giggling.
"By your words I take it they did get together, I knew it, they always were so sweet together...so where are they? They aren't...ooh God, they aren't..."
Ryouta shook his head.
"They're...they're alive...but we don't know where they are….lots of things have happened."
Yukine sensed the seriousness in Ryouta's voice, wondering what had gone down.
"Also Yukine...about your son...about Shisui..."
"I know...I can't sense him anywhere and since Ryou is here, and he's not...Shisui's dead, isn't he?" Ryouta hung his head low, as Yukine looked down at him. "Oh my boy, you awakened the Mangekyou, because of his death, didn't you?"
"I..."
Yukine adopted a soft expression.
"I put the connections together as seeing how he himself awakened it and your Dad as well, and how you've got the Mangekyou... But yeah, such a power born from the pain and sadness of losing those you cherish the most, it's a price that really shouldn't have to be paid. People can get lost in such pain, I've seen Uchiha that have lost themselves to such power...but, your Dad never did, and neither did Shisui...and seeing you before my eyes, you haven't either."
Ryouta wondered more about his Dad, and what led to him awakening the eyes as well.
"So...Dad had the same eyes as me...and so did Shi-chan..."
"Shi-chan huh? He only let me and your Dad call him that, he used to get so embarrassed...I guess in the end, he grew to love it and wanted you to call him that...haha, Shisui..." Ryouta gently smiled as Yukine peered into his eyes. "Someone so young to have the Mangekyou...I know how painful it must have been to lose Shisui...damn it Shisui, you're really gone, it wasn't your time yet, you shouldn't have died, my son..."
Regret and pain came to her, while Ryouta looked on sadly.
"He looked after me...we were very close...he saved me, the night that he died...I love him, I always remember what he taught me, his kindness...gave me the strength to carry on...he was brave, until the end Mom."
Hearing her sons words, she couldn't express how happy she was.
"I knew he would be like that. Shisui loved you, before you were even born. I remember him telling me that he'd be the best big brother, one that would love you, and take care of you, anyone that would pick on you, they'd be swiftly taken down. Seems like he kept his word~"
As she said it, Orochimaru moved to the side of both Hashirama and Tobirama, trying to break the seals as he caused both Hokage's to begin activating their Jutsu's from inside of the barriers, to try and break out of them.
Shaking her head, she got into a fighting style.
"Sorry about this Hiruzen, Ryou, lets chat in a bit. First, I've got to go and beat down Orochimaru, to make him waste as much chakra as possible, thanks to my status I don't have to worry about running out of chakra, but I don't have access to my full power, so this is gonna be annoying, if I did Orochimaru would be dust...but, as it is, I'm sorry in the limited capacity that I have."
"No, don't apologize, your knowledge on our side would be more than enough for us to help win this battle."
Yukine gave a strong smile to Hiruzen's encouraging words.
"Take a small break, I'll begin giving you some chakra to replenish your supplies." She summoned two snakes, then they wrapped around Ryouta and Hiruzen respectably, she then began giving her chakra to them via the snakes. "There, I'll go and stop Orochimaru...though with my current power...it's a good thing he never could master this power, if First-sama, Second-sama and myself came back as well at full power..."
As she said it, Yukine shot off for Orochimaru who winced at the sight.
Seeing her incoming, he worried about what was going to happen next...
Meanwhile, back within the stadium, with the others having gone, Kakashi fought off some Ninja when Anko came to his side, and began speaking to him.
"We've been tricked."
"Tricked? How?"
"That Ryouta that Kabuto has, Karin said that it wasn't him. It was some kind of replica, a fake that was probably designed for a trap."
As she said it, she shot through two Oto Ninja and took them out on the spoke.
"So he even made one to fake the Sharingan...what kind of trap could they be setting?"
"I don't know, but since Orochimaru is after the Sharingan it can't be a coincidence that he made the one person apart from her Mother that would make Satsuki want to go and chase after them. As according to Karin, Ryouta right now is with Hokage-sama, and I have never doubted her ability to sense, so I'll have to go with what she thinks is the right one."
Kakashi growled.
But he also believed in Karin's sensing ability, if this was what she thought then he'd go along with it.
"Right..."
"Also, Ameyuri is in the village."
Kakashi felt ill with that revelation.
"You're kidding me."
"Wish I was. I'll have to go since you're needed more here than I am, Karin is going to take me. I'm going to go and meet with Mikoto, and see what would be best."
Kakashi thought that made sense.
"Right, then I'll go and have Sakura go and get Satsuki and the others. The girls smart, she can take Naruko, and Shikamaru with her. I'll also have my Ninja hound take them, you concentrate on Ameyuri and make sure she doesn't do anything dangerous."
"Right, best of luck."
"You as well."
Anko rocketed off and met up with Mikoto while Kakashi went to Sakura's side, and brought Naruko to the young girl, along with Shikamaru.
As he spoke to her, he fended off some Ninja.
"Sakura, wake them up, you and the others are going to go and provide support to Satsuki and the others. I'll give you my summon." Kakashi weaved through some hand signs, and slammed his hand onto the ground, summoning Pakkun. "He'll take you to Satsuki and the others. Find her, and provide support. It seems that the Ryouta they have, isn't the real one, it's a fake."
"F-Fake? Then where's the real one?"
"Fighting with Hokage-sama right now. So wake them up, you've got a mission to do. I'm sorry to leave it you, I can't leave right now."
"Y-Yes Sensei."
Sakura did what was tasked of her, and placed her hands into a hand sign.
She tapped Naruko's shoulder as she said "Release." freeing her fully from the Genjutsu's effects.
She shot up and her eyes wandered around.
"What's going on?"
"I don't have time to explain fully, but we'll be going on a mission. Short version is that Satsuki, Haku-san and Shino-san have gone after a fake Ryou-kun which could be a trap, we have to also go after them or they could be in serious trouble."
Naruko worried for her friends as Sakura went towards Shikamaru.
She went to release him, when she saw that his eye opened ever so slightly, and glanced at her.
Blinking, she then tapped his shoulder.
"Shikamaru-san, I know you're awake."
Shikamaru groaned as he rolled over.
"Ugh...what a drag..."
"S-So, you were just pretending to be asleep?"
Shikamaru placed a hand to his ear, and groaned.
"Alright, I'm awake now, it's fine. So what's going on? Satsuki ran off, didn't she?"
"She did? Sakura-chan, tell us what's happening!"
Naruko yelled so Sakura sighed.
"Short answer is that right now, the Ryou-kun that got kidnapped, wasn't Ryou-kun, and he's really with Hokage-sama, and the Ryou-kun they're chasing could be leading Satsuki and the others into a deadly trap, so we have to go and provide support to them."
Naruko's eyes displayed dread.
"Then what are we waiting for, lets get going!"
"Yeah..."
Pakkun held out his paw pads to Shikamaru.
"If you help out and succeed, I'll let you touch my paws, which are really soft and supple."
Shikamaru adopts a grimace.
"Why would I want to do that?" Pakkun lets out a breath, before biting Shikamaru's hand, and drags him with him. "W-What the hell are you doing you crazy dog?!"
"We're going."
Pakkun jumps away with Shikamaru complaining, Sakura and Naruko release a small breath before going off together.
As that went on, Anko made it to Mikoto as she slew through several Ninja that tried to attack, then Anko explained what was going on.
"It seems to be quite the situation, but I can't leave here yet."
"I thought so, I'll go and confront Ameyuri."
Mikoto didn't like it, but right now, she didn't have the luxury to leave since she was coordinating the defences of the others around.
"...Karin is going with you?"
"Yeah, I've put her in a safe location, but I'll take her with me."
"Be safe Anko, Ameyuri might not be the leagues of Orochimaru, but in her own right, she is very dangerous."
"Trust me, I've tangled with her before, I can do it again."
Anko was assured of this.
Though she knew Ameyuri was dangerous in her own way, so they'd have to move quickly.
Back with Temari and Haku, the former gives a small pant as Haku places senbons between her fingers. Seeing Temari seemingly looking tired, it made sense since she hadn't fought Shikamaru all that long ago either.
"You wont be getting by me, and after I'm finished with you, I shall be going to stop your friends."
"I wont let you."
Temari swung her fan down, and released a burst of wind in the form of a tornado, but even then Haku dodged to the right, noting the winds slowness compared to before, as she launched her senbons towards the young girl.
But it didn't stop her as she released a burst of wind around her, batting the senbons away, and then turning to launch her attack, but Haku vanished from sight, and only a mirror was left behind, shocking Temari as she felt behind her suddenly had gotten cold.
She turned to see Haku coming out of her mirror, with her senbons fully tightened between her fingers, and swung them like claws, Temari barely dodged back, but she received slice marks across her arms, and legs, drawing a good deal of blood out of her wounds.
Managing to pull back far enough, Temari went to swing her fan down when she saw Haku having released her senbons right for her once more, so she moved her fan to intercept them, she didn't want to waste chakra this time.
When her fan blocked them, she suddenly felt pressure on said fan, which blew her back with incredible force.
"Aaaah!"
Haku landed on the ground after kicking Temari's fan and by extension Temari herself, with her body smashing into a tree. The leaves on the tree began raining down like snow scattering all around the young woman.
Temari coughed up some bile from the impact, but didn't even have time to stop as Haku once more prepared her senbons, and launched herself towards Temari at high speeds.
"This girls fast, and relentless, I don't have a lot of chakra to work with thanks to the fight beforehand, I have to do it when it counts."
Temari folds her fan up, and uses it to swing for the incoming Haku, but Haku flips up, and goes above Temari, releasing her senbons from above like rain.
Jumping back a good distance, Temari then opens her fan as Haku comes in close, swinging it for the young girl. She didn't release any winds, but used the fan like a battering ram to force down Haku who blocks with her arm coming up.
Temari pulled out a kunai, and launches it down onto the ground, with a smoke bomb attached to it, releasing a cloud of smoke around the pair of them.
"So, she's using this kind of tactic to hide herself. This is like when Zabuza-sama uses his Hiding in Mist technique, I just have to use my wits and senses to get around this."
Haku closed her eyes, as she thought about what was going on.
She tried to hear for everything around her.
The tiniest sound that would give Temari away.
Then she did, she heard the sound of her fan opening subtly, so she turned towards it, and went through some hand signs, and then she placed her hand down onto the ground, cold and ice began to erupt around her.
"Ice Release, Frozen Capturing Field."
The ground froze beautifully as it spread out around her, and then went forward.
Managing to hit Temari's feet, the young wind user couldn't escape so Haku cut through the smoke, seeing Temari's eyes widening.
"You found me?!"
"I have been trained to be able to hear even when my eyes fail me, and vice versa."
Allowing her senbons to hang between her fingers, she begins running around Temari, cutting into her skin with the senbons to the point that she'd be disabled. She didn't want to kill Temari, but she did want to stop her from being able to attack again.
"No...damn it!"
Haku panted as she placed a hand on the floor while hunching over.
"It seems that my chakra reserves were lower than I had anticipated."
"Seems like we had rotten timing, our battle would have been won by me if I had the chance to use all of my chakra."
Haku shook her head.
"Though you say that, this kind of fight between our villages, it seems that neither of us really wish for it."
Temari's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?"
"I could tell when Ryou-kun was captured, that it wasn't apart of the plan, and that you felt sorrow for what was going on. Especially with Gaara-san. So, I can't envy the difficult position that you had to be put in during all of this."
Temari lowered her head.
"This wasn't what I wanted in the first place, this is for the good of our land...but, I don't think it is at the same time if that makes sense. I didn't want this to be death and carnage, but I am only a Genin, I didn't have a choice."
Hearing her out, how hard it was for Temari to deal with this, Haku fully believed what she had said to be the case.
"I understand that. Choice sometimes isn't down to us when we work for our villages. Hopefully, this can be resolved without much bloodshed."
"Heh...maybe. Though, thanks to what that guy in glasses did, your boyfriends in danger."
"I trust in Satsuki-san and the others, I know they'll be able to secure him." She spoke, and then thought. "If that is Ryou-kun that is, even I have my doubts that it could be. Even then, if there's the tiniest chance it is...we have to get to him. Ryou-kun...please be safe right now...please..."
Haku could only do that, as she felt the limits of her chakra being pushed more and more...
Back with Ryouta and the others, Yukine and Orochimaru came closer and closer, when Orochimaru laughed.
"Don't make me laugh, you'll fight your former Sensei."
"To protect my child, you're damn right I will!"
Yukine rushed at Orochimaru with blinding speeds, even despite the weakened state she still had a good amount of speed, so he brought out a sword from the pits of his stomach, that he pointed it at her dangerously.
"Do you like this blade Yukine-chan?"
"The Kusanagi. My husband would have loved that sword."
Yukine commented as Orochimaru came towards her, and swung for her.
"That's right, this blade is said to be able to cut through almost anything, and it can extend, I can even control it telekinetically, so lets see if you like my sword piercing through you!"
He swings for her several times, moving so fast, befitting his Sannin status at how strong he truly was.
But she avoids with minimal movements, showing how fast she still was despite the weakened condition she was in, Yukine then pulled back, and weaved through two different hand signs at the same time.
"Fire Release, Running Fire. Wind Release, Breakthrough."
Causing the flames to become like a circle, she used the winds to power them up even more, and caused the flames to turn into a massive wheel of fire. The winds empowering the flames to the point that even Orochimaru was surprised by her level of skills she still had in spite of her current circumstances.
But it didn't stop him from pulling away, and swung his sword out for the flames, trying to cut them all the way down to nothingness, but as he swung his blade, she erected a barrier before the flames so his sword didn't touch it.
"My sword cuts through all!"
Orochimaru's blade indeed did cut through the barrier that Yukine had set up, but it didn't stop Yukine from casting a seal on the blade as it touched it, running up the blade, and then towards Orochimaru's arms, it began to seal the movements in his arms, while his eyes saw the giant flaming wheel coming for him.
"Your sword might cut through all, but my Jutsu's will counter all."
Orochimaru was forced to release snakes from his arms, and pierce them into the ground, propelling himself backwards as they extended themselves.
The flaming wheel of Yukine's chased him down dangerously, breaking everything that was in its way.
"Wind Release, Air Bullet!"
Firing off a condensed pressure of air from her mouth, she forced it to go through the flames, which in turn caused the air bullet to turn into fire as well, and with them combining, it slammed into the snakes, with the flames travelling right up the bodies of said snakes, going right for Orochimaru's arms, so he had to abandon the snakes, and land harshly onto the ground.
"Mom's amazing...I heard from Shi-chan how strong she was...but wow..."
"Indeed, if she was at full power, Orochimaru wouldn't stand a chance. I know for certain..."
As he said it, Orochimaru managed to unseal his arms, but the flames came right for him, and wrapped fully around his being. His flesh and body began to melt from the intense flames, so she casually produces an explosive tag, and tosses it into the flames, creating a massive explosion that caused the barrier to shake from the intense shockwave that was ripping right through it.
"Orochimaru, I know that wouldn't be enough so you might as well..." She looked down and saw Orochimaru's body trying to attack from below, so she grabbed his face, her hand wrapping around his face. "...come out!"
Ripping him out of the roof, she flung him into the air, where she leapt up, and came at him with a strong fist.
"It wont be enough for me!"
But he blocked it with his sword, pushing her back, and swung his sword for her body, only for her to exhale a wave of wind which propelled her back, as she added flames to it to try and burn Orochimaru.
He cut through it with his sword, then sent off many snakes with his arms moving out towards her, as his neck elongated, his sword being placed back within his mouth to try and pierce through her entire being.
"Yukine-chan, it seems that even as a revived corpse, you've still got incredible fighting prowess. But, you don't have the power you had in life."
"The reason I'm not up to full power is because of you, how you haven't even mastered this kind of power."
Orochimaru felt the burn of Yukine's words.
"And you have, have you?"
"Difference is between us, I'd never sacrifice anyone, especially innocent people, to do such things, unlike you."
Orochimaru raised a brow.
"But you implied you had mastered...wait, have you found another way to use this technique besides a human sacrifice?" She didn't confirm or deny, that only enraged Orochimaru. "But how?!"
"If I have or haven't, that information belongs to my family, and last time I checked, you don't qualify."
As she said it, she reverse summoned herself, appearing on another part of the battlefield with her snake coming out of the tiled roof, as she exhales a combination of water and lightning for Orochimaru from behind.
Orochimaru grits his teeth, and forces his snakes to form a wall, to stop the movements of the water and lightning attacks, which continue to batter the wall of snakes, destroying a good few, but allowed him to cut through them, and come at her with the sword going right for her chest.
She surprised Orochimaru by taking it right to the chest, but smirked in his face.
"I'm dead remember? Sword stabs, not gonna cut it Orochimaru-sensei."
She finished off as she placed her hands on the blade still inside of her.
He tried to escape, but her strength was surprising.
"Let go!"
"Sorry, no, can't do that."
Orochimaru grit his teeth, trying to dislodge the blade inside of her, but he couldn't get it out, therefore he couldn't move at all.
She reeled back her head, and slammed it into Orochimaru's forehead, drawing blood that dripped down his forehead, then she opened her mouth as she did a flew through hand signs with her free hand, and breathed out some lightning which he combatted with quickly producing a snake to act as a shield from his own mouth, but the lightning wrapped around said snake, and caused it to be shocked out of existence all together.
"Aah, damn it..."
Orochimaru complained as she smiled.
"Reviving me was your mistake Orochimaru-sensei."
Orochimaru growled at her.
"All I have to do is rewrite your contract seal. Then I'll be taking over your sons body."
Taunting her, he licked his lips in a devilish manner.
"Taking over my son..."
The idea of Orochimaru doing this…
She hated him more now than she ever thought possible.
"Exactly, the power the boy has, is amazing."
"Wanting what others have, the same as always aren't you?"
"You know me quite well, don't you Yukine-chan?"
"Unfortunately."
Orochimaru showed a sinister smile.
"Do you like it? This form of mine."
She scoffed.
"I recognized that you had taken over some innocent woman's body, you truly are disgusting."
Ryouta looked on, and wondered how she did that, though since she had intimate knowledge on him, it made sense that she probably could tell with a glance that he was different than before, probably the same with Hiruzen though it seems that Hiruzen was focused right now, so he didn't ask him anything.
Orochimaru's sinister smile really did annoy Yukine a good deal.
"Can you see beyond the cosmetic and what was before I had changed the appearance then?"
"Of course I can, that poor woman who's body you've snatched, how many innocent people have you done this too?"
"Hahaha, I'm not telling, unless you tell me what I want to know?" Yukine scoffs, so Orochimaru shows an evil smile. "But this is what I plan to do to your son as well, I'm preparing him for a transfer. The Mangekyou Sharingan will be all mine, Yukine-chan. Thank you for gifting a strong child to this world."
"You bastard, stay away from my son..."
Yukine felt more and more disgusted.
Ryouta could hear, and felt disturbed, wondering how many people that Orochimaru had body snatched.
Pakura herself looked on, and wondered what body Orochimaru had taken over.
Her mind raced, and she thought about if it was anyone that she knew…
"Orochimaru! Who's body have you taken over!?"
She asked outright, Ryouta was surprised by the outburst.
"Pakura, why are you suddenly getting involved? In fact, why haven't you fought yet? There's two people over there, fight or else."
Pakura grit her teeth, and turned her Scorch Release towards Ryouta and Hiruzen.
The former went to activate his Mangekyou, when Yukine stopped him with a wave of her hand.
He was puzzled by his Mother doing that, but trusted her judgement, as did Hiruzen, so he paused and watched as Pakura's face was crumbling more and more.
"Orochimaru, I asked who is the body you've taken over. Tell me, if it is her then..."
Pakura couldn't finish, as her eyes displayed something that looked like fear to Ryouta.
"Relax, it isn't her if that's what you're thinking."
When Pakura heard that...she wasn't sure what to believe at all.
At the mention of this her, Ryouta wondered who it was...
Meanwhile, Sakura, Pakkun Naruko and Shikamaru travelled through the forest together, heading as fast as they could towards Satsuki to make sure that she would be alright, but as they did, Pakkun pauses, so they also stop as well.
"What's wrong little dog?"
Naruko asks, the dog raises its paw.
"Did you want to touch my paw?"
"No!"
Naruko yells, so Pakkun gives a stoic expression.
"Then, that's good because we're being followed by nine people. They aren't from Konoha either, so I have to presume it is the enemy."
Shikamaru, Sakura, and Naruko all wince.
Having nine opponents coming after them wasn't in the plans at all.
Pakkun then turns to the others.
"They haven't caught up yet, so let us step back into our footprints and then jump higher into the trees."
"But why?"
Naruko's question was met with Shikamaru's eyebrow raised.
"The dog probably wants us to make it look like we've suddenly stopped our movements, confusing the enemies. But it will lead to an ambush eventually, and we don't have a lot of time to do what is necessary. So who's going to stay behind?"
Naruko doesn't say anything.
Sakura doesn't either.
As Naruko contemplated it, Sakura did the same thing.
"These two have strong abilities, if I am able to stay behind, and stop the Ninja from following them...maybe that's my role right now. We don't have the luxury of time, every second could lead us to stop all together and lose Satsuki and the others to the enemy."
Sakura thinks to herself, believing that it might be best for her to do it.
Shikamaru's eyes look between the two of them, seeing that Naruko's hand was shaking, while Sakura looked as if she was about to raise her own hand.
Shikamaru then waved his hand.
"Get going. I'll stay behind."
Sakura and Naruko both were shook by his words.
It was clear that Shikamaru was determined, which in of itself was a surprise since he usually wasn't like this at all.
"But if we leave you behind..."
Shikamaru waved his hand.
"My Jutsu is designed to immobilize people, I should be able to stop all of them if I catch them off guard."
Sakura lowers her head, while Naruko grits her teeth.
"Don't die Shikamaru…."
Shikamaru shows a small smile.
"I don't plan on dying today."
Naruko nods, and shows a thumbs up.
"Then we'll get going!"
"Yeah, get going, you'll only be in my way."
Naruko laughs as she turns and shoots off, with Pakkun doing the same thing.
Sakura stops and peers at Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru...you don't have a lot of chakra left, what are you planning to do?"
"I might not have chakra, but I've got some ideas yet."
Sakura bows her head, and murmurs "Please stay safe." before she rushes off to go and help out in anyway that she can do.
Shikamaru is left alone, so he begins making his move, with using his own footprints to guide the group of Ninja following towards a patch of sunlight within the sea of trees, where he hides within the shadows to use them to extend his Jutsu as far as possible.
He waits paitently and hopes the Ninja takes the bait.
Soon he sees Ninja drop down, all of them being Oto, so he waits for them to move closer to the footprints that he leaves in the dirt to hopefully make them be stalled by confusion long enough for him to enact his plans.
"The footsteps stop here."
"Where could they have gone?"
"They're around here somewhere..."
As they spoke, Shikamaru knew he'd only have a moment to do this, so he pushed his chakra, and caused his shadow to erupt out of the darkness he was in, extending the shadows to the point that his shadow attached to eight different Ninja.
"What the..."
"We've been stopped!"
Shikamaru lazily steps out of the shadows, and peers forward towards the enemy.
"It seems that I've managed to capture you all." As he said it, his shadow begins to thin, indicating he didn't have long. "My possession wont last long, I'll have to take them down right..." He pauses his thoughts when he saw that there were only eight people. "Wait...that dog said there were nine of them...one of them stayed behind in case of an ambush...damn it, and I don't know where he is either..."
Shikamaru takes out several shurikens and throws them towards the enemy Ninja to see if he could lure out the last Ninja.
But all he saw was the shurikens being taken down from the right hand side, so he sends his shadow in that direction.
But due to his fight with Temari, his shadow couldn't move very far.
He couldn't reach the enemy, and came to realize one thing, and that was what was going to happen to him next.
He knew that he didn't have anyone coming for him, so this would be his death.
He thought about how he wished to live a simple boring life, befitting the likes of Shikamaru.
How he'd want a wife, and two kids.
How he'd want to grow old in a boring manner and retire when he was able to live comfortably.
Then die a normal boring death.
But this wasn't what he wished for, and knew that at any moment...he'd be killed.
The enemies began trash talking Shikamaru, but he didn't pay them any heed.
Instead, he focused in on his thoughts, and knew there was little he'd be abke to do…
But suddenly, as his Jutsu finally receded, someone appeared behind him, Shikamaru's eyes widening.
Believing it to be the enemy at first…
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You did well Shikamaru, leave this to me."
It was his Sensei, Asuma that happened to come, who was carrying the last Oto Ninja who was unconscious at this point, tossed him to the ground, and proceeds to deal with the enemies, it didn't take the Jonin long to take them all down, they were helpless before the might of Asuna's blades, and his skills with Taijutsu.
Shikamaru wore relief on his face at seeing the sight of his Sensei being there, and thanks to that…
He finally could take a break...
Back with Ryouta and the others, the blade of Kusanagi was still within Yukine's chest, though because she was a walking Zombie, essentially, it didn't seem to really bother her at all, but she knew that the barrier that was holding the likes of the First and Second Hokage would be breaking soon, so she had to do something to combat Orochimaru.
Orochimaru on the other hand, had different ideas.
"Pakura, if you don't fight now...then you know what will happen to her."
Pakura winced, and turned her kunai unwillingly onto Ryouta and Hiruzen.
Hiruzen went to stand up, when Ryouta did just that.
"I've got this Hokage-sama."
"Ryouta-kun..."
Ryouta understood right now Hiruzen still needed time, he could keep going.
"Please rest for as long as possible, I can fight Pakura-san."
Hiruzen bowed his head.
"I'm sorry Ryouta-kun."
"Please don't be, it is really fine. I am also a Ninja of this village, it is my duty and privilege to fight on your behalf Hokage-sama."
Yukine smiled when she heard that, she could tell her son had grown to be a very well adjusted young man, and Hiruzen thought similar things.
He then saw Pakura charge for him, so he did the same thing, pulling out his blade, he crossed the distance, and watched as she swung for him.
But as he blocked, it was clear something was wrong.
Her strikes...had no heart behind them.
Not even the usual skill she showed before.
She was too preoccupied.
So Ryouta activated the Body Flicker, and disappeared.
"So fast..."
Pakura murmured, and looked around, then felt the air change behind her, so she began moving, but Ryouta managed to land a kick to her right hand side, using his leg strength to propel her across the battlefield, something that even surprised Ryouta that she didn't move in time to even block when he had seen her speed and knew she probably could have reacted that fast but for some reason, didn't.
"She's moving way differently than before. Since the mention of that she...could it be Gaara-san? Is Orochimaru using her to make Pakura-san do these things? Or is it someone else? Whatever it is...Pakura-sans fighting spirit...it's practically gone."
As he thought about it, she placed her hand down to stop her momentum, and then got back to her feet, before she summoned an orb of Scorch Release, firing it off towards Ryouta.
Taking advantage of the remaining water around thanks to the various water techniques deployed by Tobirama and the others, he didn't waste as much chakra, so he weaved through hand signs.
"Water Release, Water Wall!"
Causing the water to rise in a wall around him, the water blocked the orb of Scorch Release, steam produced between them, allowing Ryouta the time to begin firing across the ground.
Pakura saw that he split into several different Ryouta's, using the after image technique, something that Yukine noticed, and murmured "So he's got incredible speed huh...makes sense." as Pakura looked for anything to discern the real one.
"I can't tell the real one...he's making it very difficult, he's making them all seem to be the real one..."
But they all seemed real, as she looked at the broken tiles that he ran by, and they all disturbed them. Even the water, it rippled when his foot went through it, yet did similar things to different parts of the area the others ran as well, it was a technique that truly could be scary since Pakura didn't know which one was the real one, and used way less chakra than the likes of the Shadow Clones, yet still posed a threat to which one the enemy should target.
Gathering Scorch Release around her in orb form, she glanced at all of them, before readying herself.
"Haaaah!"
Pakura released her Scorch Release in several orbs that shot through the area.
But each went through the images, with only split second timing between them.
Pakura tried to pull away, when she saw Ryouta appear to her right, so she swung her leg out, only for it to go right through the image, then she saw four more appear all around her, so she allowed her orbs to come out, and form a dome around her, which began to expand more and more.
"Water Release, Water Dragon Jutsu!"
From his mouth, he summoned a good deal of water that formed the shape of a snake like Dragon that wrapped around the dome, and began putting out the Scorch Release, something that made Yukine smile.
"Producing water at such a high volume and at his age, it seems he's skilled with Water Release, that's my boy~"
Orochimaru glared, while Pakura saw her dome being dispelled, with Ryouta appearing before her.
His eyes looked over him...and she looked tired.
Not physically, but mentally, she looked drained.
As if something was weighing heavily on her mind, beyond this battle.
"Pakura-san, that she that you mentioned..."
"That's not something you have to worry about."
"Is it Gaara-san? Or someone else? I can help you Pakura-san..."
She didn't reply and gave a half hearted attempt to swing her fist for him.
But he easily dodged it, and got behind her.
Thanks to whatever was going on in her mind, he managed to place his blade at her neck, stopping her from moving.
"Something's wrong...Pakura-sans way better than this, ever since that this she was mentioned...it's like there's been a change within her...it's like she's not even able to fight at the power she had before when she seemed to not want to fight me, it's more than that now...and I know she's got plenty of chakra left...it's like her hearts in turmoil right now, not allowing her to fight down the feelings she had...Pakura-san..."
Without knowing fully, Ryouta could only guess what was going on right now.
Orochimaru looked on with narrowing eyebrows, while Pakura tightened her hands.
As Ryouta thought about it, Orochimaru couldn't move as Yukine kept the tight hold of him and his blade, but saw her face look sad so he tried to take that and make her make a mistake by taunting her.
"What's with your face Yukine-chan? Thinking about me taking over your son?"
She despised him so much that she couldn't help but give a heated glare for the man before her.
"The sickness you have inside really makes me wish that I had the power to crush you right now. Unfortunately, it seems that because you didn't have the knowledge on how to bring us back with full power, I'll have to settle on giving you a beat down instead."
"Tch, don't forget who your Sensei is girl."
He said it as if he found what she said to be quite insulting, though Yukine didn't mind, she played on it in fact to make Orochimaru lower his guard.
"I never forgot what kind of despicable man that you are."
"But I did a good thing by bringing you back, didn't I? You can see your son again, after you died. Remind me, how did you die?"
It was clear he was trying to get under her skin, but it didn't work with her, so she decided to do the same thing.
"You know, it must have been something you hated, when I married Kagami, since my family now has access to the Sharingan. The thing you've craved for, isn't it? My family has that now, the power that you never could attain, even all these years later, you haven't been able to grasp the power my son was born with, and what he will wield to protect everyone. Plus, he's got a high affinity for snakes, so he'll be a better snake user than you ever could be."
"Shut up..."
He growled at Yukine, so she smiled wickedly.
"Hit a nerve, did I Orochimaru? It only hurts if deep down you think it is true, otherwise it wouldn't bother you, would it?"
"I told you to be quiet you corpse!"
Yukine laughed in the face of Orochimaru.
Playing on his inner feelings, making him question his own power, played into her plans.
"From how I see it, you're nothing but a body snatching leech that has to feed off of the power of others to survive this world. That's why you really summoned First-sama, Second-sama, and myself, isn't it? Because you didn't think you could do it alone. It wasn't about hurting Hiruzen or my son, it was the fact as together, they'd obliterate you, and this invasion you've got going on, to me it seems that Konoha is pushing back the invading force. We're winning, Orochimaru. The one losing here today, is you."
Orochimaru's face contorted at her words.
He didn't want them too, but it was deeply bothering him all the more, to the point that he was physically shaking.
"Stop!"
Yukine continued to laugh.
The laugh that penetrated through his being.
"The truth is too much for you. Knowing that one day, you'll be a bad memory everyone will want to forget."
Orochimaru showed his teeth in a feral manner.
"Truth? A bad memory? I'm alive, and you're dead, that's the truth before my eyes. You're the memory, an echo of the dead. And when you're gone again, I'll take over your son, and I'll use the power of the Sharingan for myself. Those magnificent eyes will be used by me, and you wont be able to do a thing to stop me."
Yukine's eyebrows narrowed dangerously.
But then she adopted a small smirk on her face.
"Your words prove my point Orochimaru. So even if I am an echo of the dead, you're not getting your grubby hands on my son or anyone I care for. Your arrogance will be your downfall Orochimaru. Mark my words. Your days are numbered. Because trust me, all life comes to an end, you are no exception, no matter how hard you try with snatching others bodies, you will eventually feel deaths embrace yourself."
Orochimaru's face burned with intense rage as did the feelings that rampaged inside of him.
Yukine had hit a sour spot that made him want to release his powers.
But in the moment of his anger, she took advantage of it, placing her hand on his face, and placed a seal on his body, a binding seal at that, which made his moments sealed for a good few seconds, which only she could muster due to how he had done this to her beforehand
She then forced the blade out of her, and did a roundhouse kick to his face, pushing him back.
Then she got in close, and did a palm strike to his stomach all within the matter of a few moments, releasing a seal on his body, forcing his body to become motionless.
"Damn you..."
Orochimaru growled, as she got before him, ripping the sword right out of his hand, and twirled it around.
Without worry, she swung it for his body, his eyes widening, trying to wriggle out of the way, managing to break the seal to move, but the blade cleaved right through from his right shoulder, to his left hip, cutting him cleanly down.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Orochimaru let out a cry as he used his special brand of replacement, a new Orochimaru coming out of the man's mouth, free of injuries, but having a pant as he wasted chakra to do something like that.
"Orochimaru style replacement, not bad Sensei. But it also wastes a good deal of chakra, so that's gotta been a pain, right?" Yukine casually looked at the blade, before throwing it to Ryouta, who caught it with one hand. "There you go Ryou, Mom got you a new weapon."
Ryouta heard what it could do beforehand and looked at the blade, before bowing to his Mother.
"T-Thanks Mom."
"No problem sweetie, enjoy the sword~ Use it for good, unlike this guy here."
Orochimaru's eyes burned with rage.
"That's mine!"
Orochimaru snapped with bulging eyes, only for Yukine to laugh.
"Sorry, that's my sons blade now, the Kusanagi should be used by someone with good intentions, and you don't qualify. I think you've been causing too much pain to my son, so this is really a gift from you. Ooh yeah, took off that little Jutsu you put on it as well, so it wont be transforming back to a snake to come to your side."
Orochimaru's eyes stared angrily before him at the young woman, seeing how she still without her full power was proving to be very difficult in dealing with.
"Damn you..."
Orochimaru shook his head again and again as his hair flapped in the wind, his eyes couldn't contain his anger, and it spread across his face, showing how mad he truly was at that moment in time.
But then Yukine saw the First and Second Hokage finally breaking the barrier and got themselves out.
"Seems like fun times over Orochimaru, time to get serious."
She exhaled, knowing Orochimaru wouldn't allow the two of them to fall for that again, so this fight was going to be quite troubling.
Meanwhile, Ameyuri made it to where she was supposed to go, and had finished taking down the guards for the Anbu that was guarding a certain area. Because it was her lightning fast speed, and with the enemies of Oto and Suna to worry about, they weren't at the full power they could have been, so she ended up tearing through the defences.
Getting to the door, she kicked it down and stepped inside.
"So this is the place you've had to spend a good long time in, is it old dude?"
Ameyuri's eyes went forward, and caught the sight of someone sat there.
With an old tired face, his lone eye went towards the young woman.
"You did the task that I gave you, that's good work, Ameyuri."
Ameyuri giggles to herself.
"I aim to please, so when am I getting my payment? Rather, when am I getting the rest of my payment?"
"When I get my hands on what I desire."
Ameyuri tilts her head.
"And that is?"
He didn't answer, instead he simply stared at her, telling her he wouldn't say anything.
She didn't appreciate that as she showed her twin lightning swords, which sent bursts of electricity down into the ground.
"I busted your ass out, on this occasion when I could have been caught up in something truly dangerous, and could have been injured helping your sorry ass. Speaking of, did you plan this? The invasion, everything, to merely get out of here? Timing seems too perfect if you ask me."
"I took advantage of it, that's all. But that's my specialty, taking advantage of new situations as they come up. Orochimaru is a smart talented individual, but he is also short sighted, that's why I shall be the new eyes of this village."
Ameyuri furrowed her brows.
She didn't know what he was going to do now.
"So, what's going to happen now? Are you going to leave? Because if you want a bodyguard, it's gonna be triple what we agreed old man, since you look so damn decrepit, it seems that I'll have to put in more work in keeping your sorry ass alive."
A small smirk appeared on the man's face as he steps out of the shadows.
Revealing it to be Danzo, he bows his head.
"Leaving would make me look suspicious...no, I do not plan to go anywhere, but it is time for me to finally get out of here without having to sneak around. And Ameyuri, you're going to be assisting me in doing this."
She didn't know what he had planned, but she wasn't going to do this for free either, even if she didn't really care for Danzo, it still helped forward some of her own goals.
"...I want more money."
"That can easily be arranged my dear."
"Could you not call me your dear? I feel sick."
"Then, Ameyuri, lets get to work."
A disturbing smile appeared on Danzo's face, he truly was setting his plans in motion.
What that might entail…
Will soon be discovered.
End chapter!
So, this chapter focused on Yukine duelling against Orochimaru, revealing more about her character, some of her history, some history on Ryouta's Father, who also had the Mangekyou, like his sons, and Yukine even gave Ryouta Orochimaru's Kusanagi blade. Ryouta also dueled Pakura once more, but compared to before, it seems that there's something truly weighing on her mind, we'll see what that is pretty soon. As it went on, Satsuki and the others continued after Kabuto, with Haku staying back and duelling against Temari, managing to edge out a victory. Shikamaru also stayed behind and managed to stall for time and was saved by Asuma. Then at the very end, it seems that Danzo and Ameyuri have a partnership, but he doesn't wish to run away, but wishes to get out, what he means by that, and what's gonna happen now, we'll soon see!
Well until next time, thanks for reading!
Ryouta; Satsuki, Sakura, Naruko, Hinata, Gaara (fem), Ino, Haku (fem), Kurotsuchi, Karin, Konan, Mei, Anko, Samui, Hanabi, Mabui, Temari,