Welcome to the next chapter!
joharasbel; Thanks!
Morregen; Thanks! Yeah, he has some plans up his sleeve to deal with Orochimaru and the likes. Glad you liked it!
ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks! He does yeah, he is doing his best to achieve victory. Glad you liked the additions. Tsunade does have her role to play, which will become rather apparent in the near future.
LezarioFanficio; Thanks!
Silver crow; Shizune is pretty skilled. Kakashi and Sakura, we will see what happens with them. Kabuto did yeah. Yeah, Ryouta is pretty strong. Tayuya did yeah. He does pity them, knowing Orochimaru at least had some to do with how they currently are. We shall see what happens. Check the bottom of the chapter for the result of the poll. Yukine surely will do. It will take a few chapters. He will meet some of them yeah. Onoki could do. Thanks for the harem suggestions.
TheGreatGodzilla; Tsunade is going to be important, how we shall see soon. Shizune and her group encountered them, as we saw what happened last time. This chapter answers about Sakura, and it was expressed two chapters ago about Sakura. Satsuki sent word to the Hokage about Sakura not showing up as she said, they were literally on a time limit so they didn't have time to wait. Sakura will be the mother. Maybe Himawari will be older than in canon.
Guest 1; Depends on which one wins.
MassEffect One; Thanks!
MetalGear23; Thank you!
Phantom Reader; Yeah, he's using everything to his advantage, and making sure that no matter what, Kabuto and the others cannot get under his skin, while he strikes at their own insecurities. Orochimaru does seem to have a few plans for Ryouta. Yeah, they are aware that Ryouta isn't ever going to turn on the village, and something has to be going on. Yeah, how Ryouta did it will be explained pretty soon. No worries. Yeah, sounds good. Pretty interesting Balance Breaker abilities. He would have a familiar yeah. That would be an interesting power set, thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 2; Thanks for the suggestions!
Hinata fan; It will take a few chapters. Yeah, they are aware he isn't going rogue. Orochimaru will have quite the crisis soon enough.
Guest 3; Thanks!
With those reviews out of the way, its time to start the chapter!
Catch Ryouta!
Mikoto kept wondering what was going on with Ryouta, and the others. Having been made aware of what was happening with Ryouta, and the others, she knew that he would be coming here, and she also knew he must have some kind of plan, she hoped that he did anyway.
"Hahahahaha...not long now Mikoto..."
Mikoto shot a scathing look towards Orochimaru who appeared at the other side of the prison cell she was kept in. She was thankful at least that she was alone, for the most part, she hated being stuck with the snake around her, as she knew Orochimaru was doing it for safety purposes.
"Yes, not long now."
Orochimaru gave curious eyes towards Mikoto, who in turn kept staring at him defiantly.
"Hmm, you sound depressed. Why are you depressed? If anyone around here has a reason to be depressed, then its me! Not you!"
Mikoto rolled her eyes at the snake like human.
"Good, I'm glad that you are depressed."
Orochimaru gave darkened eyes towards the woman before him.
"Do not sound like that with me. I'm only trying to achieve goals, and you're sat there, thinking about yourself!"
Mikoto was perplexed by what was going on, the eyes of Orochimaru displayed an insanity that she was unaccustomed to seeing in Orochimaru. Each day that passed, it seemed that a little more, he would become reckless, wild, and unpredictable, it was hard to discern what thought he would have from the previous one before.
"Erm, no, you're the one thinking about yourself. I'm thinking about others. I don't know what's wrong with you, but I wont be surrendering to you anytime soon, do you understand that?"
Resolute feelings within her words, and through her actions in the past and present, Orochimaru scowl became bigger and more notable on his face, his eyes displaying a wildness that couldn't be hindered by anything.
To the side of Orochimaru, Yukine gave a distinct laugh that caused Orochimaru to feel rage build within him.
"That laugh...that damn laugh that sends me crazy..."
"I'm not laughing."
Mikoto defended herself, but Orochimaru wasn't pleased.
"Not you! Her, beside me! Yukine!"
Mikoto blinked, looking around, but couldn't see Yukine.
"She isn't here. She's dead."
Mikoto thought that made sense, but to Orochimaru, it was something else entirely.
"She's always here. She has cursed my soul, and is slowly destroying me...but, I wont give in. She can join her son when I take over his body!" Orochimaru shot his eyes towards Yukine who gazed at him with coldness. "Did you hear that?! Your son going to be taken over me, and you're going to be a distant memory!"
"Oh dear, it seems you're going crazy again Orochimaru. Time to have the electro shock treatment."
Orochimaru showed genuine fear in his eyes, and pulled away quietly.
"Stay back you crazy Demon..."
Mikoto wondered if Yukine had indeed done something, as it would explain what's going on with him at this current time.
"Orochimaru, please, you're worrying Mikoto-chan right now, and we couldn't have that, could we? Also, how could you call me a Demon? Between us, I think that you're the most demonic one between us, you know?"
Orochimaru placed a hand to his mouth, while Mikoto stared on curiously, wondering truly what was going on.
"I am going! Mikoto, your days are numbered!"
Orochimaru huffed, and turned away.
Then storming out of the room, he slammed the door shut fully, Mikoto wondering what was going on and wished that Ryouta would be safe.
After the fight with Shizune, Ryouta was busy making sure that Shizune and the others were safe. He didn't want to leave them all alone in the forest where anything could happen to them, he could see out of the corner of his eye, that Kabuto was growing increasingly frustrated, Ryouta wondered why he was in such a rush, besides the obvious reasons, Ryouta felt like there was more to it than what Kabuto was suggesting.
"If it takes this long, we should leave them."
Kabuto retorted, Ryouta rolled his eyes.
"Leaving them out here for God knows what to find the and do unspeakable things, I don't think so. I don't know how it is done with Orochimaru...no, rather, I know exactly how it is done with Orochimaru, but I live by my own morals, and what I believe is right, so if you don't like that, then that isn't my problem."
"And if you're doing this, then Konoha show up?"
"I already said that I'd deal with it, so can you stop complaining at me? You're wasting my time in doing this, so I ask that you don't do anything to slow me down, okay?"
Tayuya stifled a laugh, she did find it amusing to see Ryouta being capable of telling Kabuto what was what, and Kabuto couldn't do a thing against him either.
Guren silently watches, as does Kimimaro, wondering more and more about Orochimaru's decisions to turn Ryouta into his next vessel.
Kabuto turns his head, as Tayuya approaches.
Not saying anything, Tayuya examined Ryouta carefully with her eyes running from the top of his head, to the tips of his toes.
When she got close, Ryouta glanced at her, Tayuya huffed.
"Going to attack me?"
"Going to give me a reason?"
Ryouta countered, with Tayuya adopting a small smirk on her face.
"Yeah right, I'd rather not fight you again. I've already tried, my Genjutsu didn't work on you and I don't have the physical skills to fight someone like you. So there would be little point." Her eyes drifted to Kabuto who looked away, so she spoke once more. "Wanted to say, it was pretty funny when you roasted Kabuto, the stuck up guy needed it."
Ryouta was surprised by that, but he kept a calm face as he spoke.
"It appears he is getting on everyone's nerves huh."
"You can say that again. He has a superiority complex, and an inferiority complex at the same time. He really does my head in, I can't really be bothered with his demands sometimes."
Ryouta thought that summed Kabuto up pretty well.
"Indeed, though I struggle with something about you, Tayuya-san."
Tayuya raised a brow.
"What?"
"You stay with Orochimaru, even after he sacrificed your comrades...why?"
Tayuya turned her neck towards the right, and gave furrowed brows.
"Those guys were idiots, dispensable."
Ryouta exhaled, and continued hiding Shizune as he spoke to Tayuya.
"When I talked about your friend being sacrificed by Orochimaru, you're wondering if the same thing is going to happen to you, especially because everyone here is stronger than you are, right?"
Tayuya was taken aback by what he said, and had to admit that perhaps, deep down, that she did think a little like that, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself right now, and tried to keep her guard up.
"...Wrong on all accounts, buddy."
Ryouta didn't think so, especially seeing as how she hesitated to answer him, he believed he was right on the money.
"Okay, Tayuya-san."
For reasons unclear to Ryouta, Tayuya seemed to become annoyed.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"I am not here to question what you do with your life, I'm here to save Mikoto-san and that's it."
Tayuya developed a scowl on her face, and looked on with squinting eyes.
"Even then, I'm happy about being Orochimaru-sama's personal guard. It is a privilege, an honour."
Ryouta pondered if that was truly the case, though he suspected that it wasn't.
"Is that so?"
"It is." She boasted, though Ryouta saw her eyes waver for a moment. "You see, if you only had come to realize this yourself, then Mikoto wouldn't be in this situation. You could have been given the Curse Mark, and come with us easily, then we'd all be happy together."
"Yeah, and if I did, I'd have some weirdo possessing my body and I'd be essentially dead."
Kimimaro heard what he said, and inched closer as Tayuya hummed.
"It is a blessing to be chosen by Orochimaru-sama."
"Why is it?"
Tayuya paused when he said that, as did Kimimaro.
Kimimaro however thought of Orochimaru, and what he did for him, and decided that it would be for the best to do for this situation.
"Because, he gives you immortality. By being with him, always."
"I would rather die than immortally live with such a monster possessing my body."
Because of the loyalty Kimimaro had, it was perplexing why someone wouldn't want to do that for Orochimaru. Even though he understood that Orochimaru had done certain things, to Kimimaro he was someone that he always would follow, after everything that he had done for him, and even if he was being lost in favour to Ryouta having the chance to be the ultimate vessel for Orochimaru, he still wished to serve him.
Tayuya on the other hand wore a perplexed expression on her face.
"Why wouldn't you want something like that? Death would be something you'd never have to fear!"
"Yet, the one who keeps body hopping is probably the most afraid of death, and does what he can to avoid his death, even killing others so he can live. He is a coward in my eyes."
Kimimaro didn't like that, and turned his eyes towards Ryouta with furrowing brows.
"Orochimaru-sama isn't a coward, he is someone to idolize. To respect. His path to power, to greatness shouldn't be ignored."
Ryouta was taken aback by Kimimaro's sudden outburst when he had been quiet the entire time.
Ryouta could feel the hurt within Kimimaro's voice when he spoke about Orochimaru, as if offending Orochimaru was simply out of the question.
"Why idolize a man that deserves nothing of the sort?"
"Because, you haven't seen Orochimaru-sama's kindness."
Ryouta felt sorrow for Kimimaro, it seemed he genuinely believed his own words.
"Sorry, but there's nothing kind to Orochimaru, he is evil, and he's using all of you. He forces you to fight, against any enemy that he chooses, he even sacrifices his own people to save himself. Even when they're begging him not to." Kimimaro and the others fell silent. "Orochimaru is not a kind man at all, he is a monster that uses anyone for his own advantage, and he will use all of you to get what he wants, then he'll throw you away. The acts of his supposed kindness he has shown you...let me ask, what did he want in return?"
Kimimaro didn't want to believe it, and turned away, while he coughed, Ryouta noticing the blood coming out of his mouth.
Seeing that, Ryouta saw that Kimimaro was also sweating uncontrollably at the same time. It was clear that he was suffering through something, Ryouta didn't know what it was, though if it was Orochimaru related, he wouldn't be surprised.
Ryouta walked closer.
"Are you ill?"
"I am...doing my duties for Orochimaru-sama. I would appreciate if you didn't interfere anymore. Also, please don't speak about Orochimaru-sama in a tainted manner. He might have some problems at the moment, but he is someone that gave me a purpose."
"He gave you a death sentence."
Ryouta murmured, and shook his head, feeling genuinely sorry for how Orochimaru had twisted people to his own bidding, even to the point they were believing Orochimaru had any kindness within him for those around him.
The group consisting of Satsuki, Shikamaru, Naruko, Hinata, Neji, Ino, Choji and Kiba were all continuing on their journey. The sun was beginning to rise within the sky, something that Shikamaru felt good about as the light would help extend his shadows to different places, and the others kept their eyes on the prize that was Ryouta.
While they thought maybe he would be too far gone by now, with the speed he could go, Kiba after travelling for a good while, began speaking up.
"Guys, I think we're getting close."
Satsuki felt relief flooding through her heart.
"Hinata, a progress report?"
Shikamaru asks, Hinata nods timidly as she speaks.
"Y...Yes, I can see...Ryou-kun, I can see him...he's not that far from us now...he is travelling with...ooh no..."
"What is it?"
Naruko asks, Kiba gives a dreadful look as well.
"This scent...its that Kabuto guy..."
When hearing that, Ino actually looked relieved.
"If it is, then it has to be Orochimaru, right? Kabuto is working with him, isn't he?"
Satsuki confirmed it with a nod.
"Yes, that's right. Hinata, anyone else with them?"
"Erm...yes, there's a girl...with what looks like a flute, travelling with them..."
"Hey, I know. She was there when the Old Woman and Pervy Sage fought that creepy Orochimaru guy!"
Naruko expressed joyfully, due to the fact that she was convinced that she was right, that Ryouta was being forced to do things against the village.
Shikamaru raised a brow.
"Is that so? Then you know what she's capable of?"
"Eh...well, Ryou said that she used sound based Genjutsu. Pretty strong, I think he said...but, he reversed it back onto her...when they fought. Yeah, that's right. He was able to use his eyes to flip it back onto her!"
Satsuki thought that was plausible, and thought that if he could do it, then she would be able to do it as well.
"Anyone else?"
Choji asks, Hinata furrows her brows.
"Two people...one seems to be a woman...and the other a man. I don't see anything else on them...that could tell me anymore about them. They all seem to be...standing around and...Ryou-kun, it seems that he is doing something...with three people on the ground...they look to be unconscious."
"Maybe he's fighting back against them!"
Naruko wished for that to be true.
But Hinata regretfully didn't think the same.
"No...I don't think so, they aren't making moves to...a-attack Ryou-kun...it seems like...they are...together..."
"Impossible!" Naruko rejected, wanting to believe Ryouta wouldn't ever turn on them. "He wouldn't join the likes of Kabuto, or Orochimaru!"
Satsuki wanted to believe the same thing as Naruko, that Ryouta wasn't there by his own choice. He was being forced, and he had to do his best to make sure that everyone was safe. That's what Satsuki wished to be true, and she wouldn't allow herself to even entertain the idea that he has changed sides, that he was with Orochimaru willingly.
"But, it begs the question, if he's with Kabuto, what's the reason? Say he hasn't joined their side, why would he be travelling with him?"
At Neji's question, no one had a response.
Shikamaru breathed out sharply.
"If we're getting close, then we have to do what we can to disable them. So far we haven't seen traps, it is clear that they haven't the time to make them. So they wont be aware of our appearance. We only have a single shot at this, so we have to play to everyone's strengths. We have to stop the others, and secure Ryouta before the enemy can launch an attack on us..."
Listening to Shikamaru, with Satsuki also putting her thoughts into it, they began formulating a plan that would hopefully be able to secure Ryouta away from the enemies and get him back to Konoha as soon as possible...
Meanwhile, once having made sure that Shizune was safe, as were the others with them, Kabuto, Ryouta, Kimimaro, and Tayuya, along with Guren began making their way towards the destination Ryouta didn't know about, the fact that they had in Kabuto's mind wasted time was something Ryouta didn't care for at all.
Moving through the forest, Kabuto glanced towards Ryouta, who in turn glanced right back towards him.
"What?"
Ryouta asks, Kabuto shrugs.
"I am curious about you, that's all."
"Well, you'll have to keep being curious."
Kabuto pushed the glasses up his face.
"I like how you're confident, are you expecting Orochimaru-sama to allow you to leave?"
"I have already accepted what's going to happen, so you don't have to worry about that."
Ryouta knew what Kabuto was doing, trying to get under his skin.
But Ryouta wouldn't allow that to happen.
Continuing through the forest, Ryouta kept his eyes sharp and at the ready, soon realizing that something was amiss as his eyes glanced back through the forest. He began seeing chakra colours within his field of vision of his Sharingan.
Guren also noticed it second, Kimimaro joint third with Kabuto who realized it at the same time and Tayuya hadn't realized it by the time an attack was finally made towards the enemies.
"Seems like we have guests."
Tayuya was caught off guard as Ryouta noticed three groups attacking various enemies.
"Great, what we need. Some Konoha Ninja attacking us."
Guren saw Naruko, Satsuki and Shikamaru go for her, so she placed her hands out, and created a shuriken out of crystal, a giant one at that, and threw it towards the enemy.
"Heh, it seems that we were attacked after all. Even then it is only a few rookies, we can handle them."
At the same time, Ino, Hinata, and Neji go right for Kabuto who furrows his brows, whips out a kunai, and moves to intercept.
"I wont let you all stop us to give Ryouta Uchiha to our Master."
Finally, Kimimaro, was attacked by a combination of Kiba, his dog, and Choji, so from his fingertips, he began revealing what looked like bone bullets, Ryouta looking on with some surprise at that fact, and furrowed his brows.
Tayuya looked to see that she wasn't being attacked, so she went to pull out her flute, when suddenly...her body stopped in motion.
"What the…?"
She looked around, not seeing anything that could have stopped her.
Ryouta noticed however, her shadow had been possessed.
When the three attacking Oto Ninjas launched their attacks, Guren, Kabuto and Kimimaro saw that each of the people they defeated, were nothing but Shadow Clones, creating a large smoke screen for all of them to be blinded.
"Fire Release, Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Satsuki came out of hiding, and released a giant fireball for Kabuto, Kimimaro, and Guren. The trio tried to move out of the way, when Choji came out of hiding and used his enlarged hands to try and grab Kimimaro, a shadow extended right for Kabuto since he was the closest to Tayuya who was already possessed. Guren herself was being flanked by several of Naruko's Shadow Clones, leaving her little choice but to fight back.
"They had a pretty good plan and executed it pretty well, it could have worked pretty well against these guys, especially with the tricks using Naruko-chan's Shadow Clones as well, I am sure that was a Satsuki-chan idea for sure."
However, before they could, Ryouta calmly flashed out of sight, and the next moment, the giant fireball was cleaved in half, and was sent two different directions, blasting into nearby trees, and generating a beautiful blaze through the forest.
Satsuki looked surprised as Ryouta glanced in their direction, Shikamaru's eyes widening when realizing Ryouta knew exactly where they were.
"You can all come out of hiding now, I know you're there."
Ryouta spoke up, not thrilled that he would have to confront a good number of enemies. Especially since he was aware he still didn't know the precise location of Mikoto, so he didn't even have the opportunity to turn this around on the Oto group, and simply kill them, he still needed them alive for this to work.
Satsuki first emerged, together with the others.
Ryouta looked over all of them, and exhaled slowly.
He didn't want to do this...but he knew deep down, he would have to make sure that they didn't find out what was going on, he didn't want to endanger them, so he could keep them safe…
Meanwhile Sakura was sleeping peacefully in bed, the dream that she had kept playing within her mind, that was until she woke up.
People had tried to wake her to no avail, and had stepped out by the time Sakura woke up.
In the distance, she saw the sun was beginning to rise, as she had a hazy memory of what was going on...
But soon it came flooding back to her, and her eyes widened in worry.
"Ryou-kun..."
She pressed herself up from the bed, and grabbed her things, before heading out of the door.
She needed to go as fast as she could, she didn't have time to waste.
She knew Ryouta needed her, and for that, she needed to do the tasks he had asked for her to do.
Back with the others, Ryouta stood on top of a large tree, looking down at the Konoha group. He couldn't see Sakura with them, nor Shino. He didn't know where Shino was, he knew were the likes of Haku, and Karin along with Lee were, or at least knowing they wouldn't have been in the village at the time they were sent out.
Ryouta also thought about Tenten, concluding she probably wasn't with them as he silently searched around.
But then Naruko chirped up, confused by what was going on, but directed her words at Kabuto.
"Kabuto! How dare you take Ryou from the village!?"
Kabuto gave bemused eyes, before glancing at Ryouta.
Without even looking, he knew what Kabuto was thinking about.
"Naruko, you're as naive as always. Jumping to conclusions that you have no idea about."
"What did you say Kabuto?!"
"You heard what I said. You're being a naive little girl, I suggest watching the situation and seeing where it is going. Before you do anything like jumping to conclusions."
Naruko growled at Kabuto, Ryouta sighed and spoke with a small breath releasing from his mouth.
"Naruko-chan, Kabuto didn't force me to leave. I left of my own accord."
Audible gasps rang through the group, Ino shook her head again and again.
"Ryou-kun, that's a lie, you couldn't….you couldn't have gone...with them willingly. There's no way you would do that!"
Ryouta hayed causing them pain, so he tried his best to mitigate that.
"I did, Ino-chan." Ino refused to accept it, shaking her head again and again, while Satsuki saw his eyes on her. "Satsuki-chan. You read the note, you understand the reasons I left. You shouldn't have come for me."
"You wouldn't leave us...you wouldn't leave me. We've been through too much together."
Ryouta did think the same thing, he wished he could say it openly right now, but instead, he knew he'd have to keep the charade of himself up.
"Exactly, we have been through too much. That's why, I have to leave and do what I can to protect the village, protect all of you. Orochimaru isn't going to stop, neither are people such as Tobi, they'll always come after me, I'm simply saving those I care for."
"Do you realize what you're saying? Going to Orochimaru, he'll take over you!"
Satsuki argued with Ryouta, who in turn nodded slowly.
"I can do a lot of good for people, by doing this. I can protect the village by doing this. Can you imagine, living with the threat of Orochimaru always being over everyone's shoulders constantly? Think about what happened when the Oto invasion happened, that could happen again. More people could die, because of me. I don't want to be the reason people are suffering."
Expressing it directly, Ryouta tried his best to sound convincing as he wove some truth into his words, as he did want to end the suffering and worry for others that Orochimaru had caused pain for, like Anko, Satsuki, and Mikoto, along with others.
Though Satsuki wasn't convinced, not because of his performance which did have equal parts sad and distant tones, but because there was something else going on, and that was Ryouta doing this never would make sense to her.
"So, you'd willingly give yourself up, to protect us?"
Satsuki demanded, feeling sadness bubbling within her.
"I would. You know I would, Satsuki-chan."
"Not like this. We're here, Kabuto and his little group cannot defeat us all! There has to be some other reason!"
Ryouta shook his head.
"No, there isn't."
When saying it, Satsuki kept her eyes on him, looking for any possible sign that he could give as to the reason this was happening.
It was killing Ryouta, knowing that he had to deceive those he loved. He knew if he said it out loud what he was really doing, especially around Kabuto, or the others, then they could contact Orochimaru, and Mikoto could be killed...no, she would be, and all of this would have been for nothing.
"I know you too much to tell when you're lying and telling the truth. You can fool everyone else on this planet, but you could never fool me. I know there's another reason, and if you wont say, then I'm taking you back to the village."
"I can't let you do that, Satsuki-chan. I've left the village, I wont be returning."
Satsuki wished she knew what was happening, then maybe she could do something, anything.
Naruko didn't know what to think, she just couldn't ever see Ryouta abandoning the village like this. Even if the reasons he gave were at least a little plausible, it still didn't make much sense to someone like her that Ryouta would do this, as he always valued friendship and teamwork above going solo.
"C-Come on Ryou...you're kidding, right? You wouldn't abandon the village...I know you, you wouldn't do this..."
"Naruko-chan, I'm not leaving because I want to." Kabuto raised a brow. "Its because I can't accomplish my goals with staying in the village. This way, I can protect the village, and also accomplish my goals at the same time."
Kiba growled, and stepped up to fight.
"Then, if you're not gonna come back on your own, we'll make you come back!"
Ryouta raised a brow.
"You can certainly try Kiba-san."
Kiba placed his hands together, as Shikamaru yelled "Don't!" but Kiba was already in the middle of transformation, and caused his dog to transform, before shooting off towards Ryouta, his body and the dogs transformed into him body rotated at incredible speeds.
"Fang Over Fang!"
The pair went towards Ryouta like drills.
The young man stood there, and simply allowed them to approach.
As Kiba and Akamaru were going to pierce him...they were surprised by the fact that he seemingly had phased through their attacks.
His image didn't distort, he felt like he was right there by the smells that Kiba and Akamaru had picked up, but their attacks went through his body as if he was a ghost, and appeared on the other side, even shocking the others by how he accomplished that.
"What...did he do? He couldn't have let them go through him! He isn't a ghost!"
Naruko yelled out, Ino nodding.
"Was it some kind of after image or something...but, I don't see where he went..."
Shikamaru furrowed his brows.
"I don't think he left that area he is standing on."
"Eh? Then how did he do that?"
Choji asked, bewildered.
Neji looked on, having a theory about it, as he observed with his Byakugan, having witnessed what had happened.
"In the moments that Kiba and Akamaru were attacking, and reached his body, he moved his body so fast within that space, that it appeared as if he was standing still. We've seen him do after images, think of it as an advanced technique of that. Where he doesn't move much but is able to avoid the attacks, however it must take a good deal of concentration and effort to achieve that. Still the advantages of such a move to counter attack, I can see why he was made a Jonin at such a young age..."
Ryouta released wires from his fingertips, and as Kiba and Akamaru were at the back of him, he attached the wires to them, so as they continued forward, almost similar to how it happens with the Puppet Master Jutsu, Ryouta manipulated their rotating forms, without Kiba or Akamaru able to break out of it, and caused them to come right back towards him.
But they came at him from an angle, something Ryouta was able to do thanks to his wires.
"Aaaaah!"
"Woof!"
They collided with one another, their spinning bodies came to a halt, and began moving forward to the left and right of Ryouta's body thanks to Ryouta flicking his fingers, dragging them towards him with the wires still attached to their bodies, Satsuki was in awe at the sight.
"Amazing...he is manipulating their bodies, like he can manipulate Ninja tools or Puppet Masters can. Damn, I knew having him as an enemy would be difficult. Fighting Ryou like this where it is one on one is a waste of time. We have to combine our efforts."
Ryouta extended his arms, catching Akamaru with the right, and grabbing the back of Kiba's coat with the left, displaying some incredible strength by suspending him in mid air with a single hand.
Ryouta gazed into the eyes of Kiba, who didn't have a chance to counter, and was caught within Ryouta's Genjutsu, knocking him unconscious.
"Night, night. Kiba-san."
Tayuya smirked at the sight, glad that he was showing something to her that would be intriguing….but then she caught herself doing that, and furrowed her brows, wondering what was going on inside of her.
Kimimaro again was seeing the skills that he thought Orochimaru would be desiring, and understood more about what Orochimaru wanted from Ryouta.
Kabuto was as well and wasn't feeling too hot after seeing such level of skill.
Even Guren was astonished, even a little excited to see what else he would be capable of doing.
Besides Tayuya, they all could see how Ryouta was moving, even if they themselves in that situation would have found it difficult to react, they still understood the level of skills Ryouta possessed.
Satsuki shook her head at Kiba and Akamaru.
"I told them not to attack on their own...such idiots."
Ino breathed out slowly, looking down at her hands.
"He...was so strong...Ryou-kun is amazing...and wish right now he wasn't our opponent..."
Hinata looked on, not being able to believe that Ryouta would turn to the dark side.
Naruko looked bewildered, she never thought she would have to fight against him like this.
"...He defeated them without making it seem like much effort..."
Choji was flabbergasted, though Neji understood the difference between Kiba and Ryouta in terms of skills.
"No, that isn't entirely true. It did requite effort, but not the one you think it would do."
Ino tilted her head.
"What do you mean?"
Neji released a breath, before explaining what had happened.
"It was a test of skills yes, but he was fully aware of what Kiba was going to do, took advantage of the recklessness of Kiba's front attack and was able to use the perfect counter to his attack, being able to even have them cancel one another out with their rotations, while also capturing them before they could even think of the next move. That's Jonin level thinking and application of plans all within a moments notice."
Shikamaru agreed, Ryouta didn't simply power through, though that was a component, he also manipulated the situation to his advantage, he was able to twist the situation to his advantage, knowing his opponents and their weaknesses, devising a counter attack within moments, and using the skills he had to take advantage of every part of the battle, Shikamaru understood now why Tsunade said they'd have to slow him down, rather than being able to bring him back by themselves.
"You can have him back, he'll be asleep for a short time."
Ryouta tossed Kiba towards the group, Neji caught him, as Akamaru was let go by Ryouta, who ran over to his masters side, seeing that he wasn't a threat as Kiba wasn't awake anymore.
Ryouta then bit into his thumb, drawing a small amount of blood, before weaving through some hand signs.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Slamming his hand down, a huge cloud of smoke erupted out, and with his large body on the forest floor, a giant red snake appeared, Garaga himself, who gave a gleefully delightful smile on his face, Ryouta adopting his own small smile.
"Heh kid, what's this about then?"
"We have defected from Konoha, make sure those from Konoha can't follow us, okay Garaga-san?"
Garaga looked towards Ryouta, who smiled, Garaga smiled right back.
"Of course, if that's what you want kid."
"Thank you, Garaga-san. I've got to go, before anything else happens."
"Right, got it kid."
Ryouta turned around together with the others.
"Wait, Ryou!"
Satsuki yelled, as Garaga moved forward.
Ryouta glanced at them, before turning to Satsuki.
"Its too bad, that Sakura-chan couldn't be here. I would have loved to have seen her one last time."
Satsuki became perplexed at that.
Why was he bringing Sakura up at that point?
It didn't make sense to Satsuki.
It must have some meaning behind it, but Satsuki was at a loss as to what that could even be.
Then Ryouta, Guren, Tayuya, and Kabuto accompanied by Kimimaro, all vanished as they began jumping away.
"No.…! Ryou!"
Naruko tried to move forward, but Garaga got in the way and swept through the area with his tail, forcing them all to jump away, and stopped them progressing.
As that was going on, Lee, Haku and Karin were returning to the village, with Lee pumping his arms up and down as they walked along a large path right back to the village. The sun was rising in the sky, and beamed down what little rays were showing towards them.
"Aah, that mission was so good! Thank you for letting me go!"
Karin waved her hand.
"Nah, don't worry about it, I'm glad that you could come with us."
Haku nods her head.
"How are you feeling anyway Lee-kun?"
"All good! A little sore, but that's to be expected, Tsunade-sama said!"
Karin nods, folding her arms.
"Makes sense, you just have to take it easy, you know?"
"Yes, she's right. Still, being able to go on missions again, it was good to go with you Lee-kun. Maybe we could all go together with Ryou-kun next time."
Karin developed a small smile on her face, cupping her hands on her face.
"Ryou-kun will be so surprised when we are able to show up so early! I bet he was expecting us later!"
"Is that why you wanted us to leave early?"
Lee asks, Karin giggles to herself.
"Well, that and because it is good that we get back to the village. I have some stuff to do anyway, like beginning to train and make sure that everything works out for the better for us."
Haku never really understood what Karin was speaking about, and simply nods her head a single time.
"Karin-san, what are your intentions when we get back to the village? Because I wont let you do anything weird with Ryou-kun."
Karin developed a scowl on her lips.
But before they could speak, Haku noticed a bird in the sky, delivering some kind of note.
"Its from the village."
"Why would they be sending a letter to us?"
Lee asks, Haku shrugs.
"They shouldn't be expecting us back until later, so it isn't a progress report. I don't really know what they could want."
Haku placed her arm out, the bird landed on it, and gave the note to Karin, who began reading it.
As she did, her face dropped, seeing the letter from Tsunade and her eyes turning towards Haku and Lee.
"We have to go, now!"
"To the village? What's wrong?"
"Not to the village." She replied to Lee, turning her eyes away from the village, and began concentrating. "Hmmmm...hmmm….come on...are you over there somewhere..." Karin pressed her abilities as much as possible, while Haku began reading the note to herself, becoming shocked. "Where are you..."
"What is this? Ryou-kun...he has..."
Lee was befuddled with what was going on, and tilted his head left and right.
"Why? What's going on?"
Haku handed the note to Lee, as Karin felt her limits being pushed.
"Aaaah...its faint...but maybe...yes...maybe they're that way...we would have to get closer..."
As she said it, Lee let out a yell.
"Aaaah! We have to go, right now!"
"Yes, we need to leave immediately."
Haku said it as a finality, and began moving together with Karin and Lee, wondering more on what was going on...
Meanwhile, back with Satsuki and the others stared up at the giant snake, and she tried to move towards the right.
Going as fast as she could, but venom came spraying out, which covered a good sized area, enough that Satsuki halted her movements, and saw the venom turning everything it touched, to stone.
"Damn."
Satsuki expressed as she pulled out a big shuriken, launching it towards the giant snake, as Neji activated his Byakugan, launching himself forward to try and use his Gentle Fist to subdue the snake before it could do anything else.
However, Garaga stuck out its snake tongue, and wrapped it around the harmless parts of the shuriken, Satsuki was surprised that he caught it, considering that she had wire to move it out of the way, even then the snake was fast enough to catch it before she could move it.
"Aah..."
Neji saw the giant snake launch the shuriken down towards him, so he avoided it, stopping his progression, as the giant snake whirled its tail around, generating winds strong enough that Neji wasn't able to fight up against them, pushing him back towards the others.
"Damn it..."
Naruko was surprised, Garaga seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Hmm, I fought against the team of Ryouta, Haku, and Karin, I believe the names are, and its pretty funny to see so many fighting against me now! Hahaha, come on kids, what are you going to do now?!"
Venom released towards them, so Satsuki weaved through hand signs, and released a stream of fire from her mouth. The venom attached to the flames, and combatted them, beginning to turn some of the flames into stone, and cancelled one another out.
Naruko placed her hands together, and created a number of clones, grabbing some paper bombs, and attached them to themselves, before firing them off like jets, Satsuki watched on to see that she was trying to attack the giant snake from all angles.
"Clones huh? I've got ways to deal with this!"
Garaga raised his tail, and slammed it down into the ground. Because of the size and sheer strength the snake had, the incredible shockwave generated caused all of the clones to be scattered around the area, dispelling all of the clones within a single movement.
"Defeating this snake is going to take our time, time we don't have."
Satsuki said bitterly, Shikamaru nods.
"Every second we stay here, the more that we wont have time to get towards Ryouta and the others."
"We have to split up, and have some of us stay behind, and some of us go ahead."
Satsuki replied to Shikamaru who began thinking about logically who would be the best to remain behind. He thought about who could tackle the giant snake and be able to either win, or gain some kind of victory long enough to hold on for reinforcements to arrive, fully aware that was going to happen thanks to Tsunade saying as much.
"Yes, you're right, but who's going to stay?"
As Neji asked, Naruko withdrew a kunai, and launched it towards the enemy snake, while Hinata began summoning some water via her training with Ryouta.
Breathing sharply in and out, Hinata finely tuned her chakra, and began moving through the water with her fingertips, Neji looked on to see that she had formed needles of water, and shot them like arrows for the giant snake.
"Since when did she have a move like that?"
Neji wondered, seeing Hinata pinpointing the vitals of the snake with her Byakugan aiding her.
The snake slithered rather quickly across the ground, and avoided the attacks, all the while seeing Choji expanding his fist to try and strike the snake, only for said snake to slam his head down, and bash it against the young man's enlarged fist, breaking through the offensive power of Choji, forcing him down deep into the ground as he let out a panting sound.
"Aaah, this snakes insane!"
Choji complained, with Ino looking on with wondering eyes, thinking about how her Jutsu might come in handy. If she could use her mind transfer, then she thought that maybe she would be capable of taking over the giant snake, and putting it in a trap…
But, it moved too fast for her, and even Shikamaru wasn't able to lock it down with a shadow possession either.
"Alright fine you overgrown snake, I'll take you on!"
Naruko went to move when Garaga laughed, and came down towards her with his giant tail. The tail became so close that even Naruko didn't have time to weave through the hand signs, so Choji placed his hands together, and called out "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" and caused his arms to become enlarged, as well as his hands, and moved them towards the tail.
Taking the impact head on, the ground beneath Choji shook, and dented with the pressure, Choji felt his arms going numb from the intense wild attack, Shikamaru pulled away from the situation, and began going over several thoughts within his mind on how to deal with this.
"D-Damn, thanks Choji..."
Naruko praised as the giant snake pulled rhis tail away, and carefully looked between them all.
"So, a bunch of Genin and Chunin. I don't know about this boy, it seems to be too much to have me come out. But, I get it, you don't want to deal with anything like these people, I suppose that I'll have to fight against them with my powers!"
Garaga went to move, when Choji launched his arms up, and grabbed the snakes tail, pulling him backwards, shocking the others.
"You guys get going! I'll hold him off!"
"Choji..."
Shikamaru murmured, Satsuki shook her head.
"You can't fight it alone."
"He wont be, I'll stay with him."
Shikamaru decided, Satsuki looked on curiously.
"At the first one?"
"Yeah, Choji needs back up, and we have little time to waste. Hopefully together we can do something against the giant snake."
Ino looked on with some worry for her teammates, before nodding to herself.
"Get going! Team Ino-Shika-Cho will deal with this!"
Shikamaru could see Ino was standing up, and doing her best, Shikamaru nods, and places his hands together, allowing his shadow to go towards the giant snake to pin Garaga down, but Garaga breaks free from Choji, and moves out of the way with the shadow chasing him across the ground.
"Go, now."
Satsuki takes a moment, but knew that they were giving them this chance, so Satsuki, Hinata, Naruko, and Neji take off together. They left Kiba behind due to being passed out, Satsuki saw that with one encounter, they had split their group up already, which did cause some concern, but she wasn't going to give up now until she and the others got to Ryouta.
Garaga looked on and saw them leaving, with Garaga lightly smirking and thinking "Kid, your plan, I hope that it works. Leave this part to me." and turns back to the Genin around, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see a snake of Orochimaru looking on, knowing that he would have to do a good performance.
As that was going on, Ryouta and the others continued through the forest, with Guren glancing at Kabuto. The young man had his eyes drifting towards Ryouta, who in turn kept his gaze fully on Kabuto. Something about that always had his body shiver in place, and a chill go down his spine.
"Damn Konoha, we can't be slowed down for long."
"You're in a hurry. Could it be that Orochimaru is pushing this quickly for some reason?"
Ryouta asked, with Tayuya being confused on why Orochimaru was so adamant about being there so quickly.
"Orochimaru-sama is expecting you relatively quickly. We cannot afford to be held up for long."
Ryouta found that strange, he didn't think it would matter how long they took to get to Orochimaru. He presumed by now that he had taken over another body and he had learned it would take three years before he could switch again, so that wasn't the reason.
"Will that giant snake stop them? I didn't think they'd send that many to come for you. You must be well liked."
Tayuya wondered, Ryouta furrowed his brows.
"Yes, you're right about that. I am blessed that they do care about me."
Kabuto gave a scathing look.
"It doesn't matter much anymore, they'll see you as a traitor in the end."
Ryouta understood what Kabuto was trying to say with that statement, so he decided to shut Kabuto down immediately.
"Then that's how they'd see me. Kabuto, you can't get under my skin because you don't have any means to do so. Anything you could say, I've already prepared for. Like, you'll probably try and mention my deceased brother or family, you'll try to get under the fact Mikoto-sans fate isn't known to me, or you will try and throw Izumi-chan at me maybe?"
When he said it, Kabuto looked annoyed, as he could see that Ryouta had prepared mentally.
Ryouta then continued on, as they moved forward.
"You try and have the truth twist enough to harm me. But, you can't Kabuto, because I've dealt with people like you before, remember Orochimaru? He literally summoned my dead Mother to fight me to try and break my spirit, so you spouting out nonsense really is a few bars below that, you know?"
Guren was semi surprised by what she heard, she had heard that something went down within Konoha regarding Ryouta, but she wasn't entirely aware that Orochimaru had summoned his own Mother against him.
Ryouta stared at the befuddled Kabuto.
"Also, you know when words hurt you? Its when you think that they could be true. When I speak to you, apart of you must believe that I'm right, otherwise you wouldn't be as agitated as you are. You also think one day Orochimaru will kill you, don't you? Because I can see it right now, the tightening of your hand, the squinting of your eyes, and your face falling ever so slightly while you're trying to hide it from me. Am I right Kabuto?"
Kabuto hated what Ryouta was saying, partly because he was right.
But he didn't want Ryouta to know that, and huffed.
Ryouta mentally thought that he was probably right, even if Kabuto didn't want to say about it so he pressed on.
"So, throw your best shot at me, because I know deep down who I am, what I am doing and how I feel. Speak about my Mother, my Father, my brother, Mikoto-san, Satsuki-chan, Izumi-chan, anyone you want. Because, you can't hurt me with your words, you never will."
Kabuto was beginning to shake with his rage.
Tayuya on the other hand, thought that Ryouta was pretty cool at this moment in time, finding herself lightly blushing at the fact that even with so many people around, and in the situation he was in, he didn't back down, he never gave up, he showed that he was there to stay and he was going to make sure that he wouldn't be pushed around by anyone. Tayuya, definitely liked that.
As that was going on, following what had been written on the note of Ryouta's for her, Tsunade had found Kakashi, hidden pretty well. For his protection, as well as for other reasons she suspected based on what was going on.
She had found Kakashi unconscious, but to her delight, he had been fully treated and didn't seem to have any wounds. So she placed a hand on Kakashi's forehead, and began using her Medical Ninjutsu to wake him up.
Finally, when he did wake up, Kakashi held his head down in shame.
"...I wasn't strong enough to fight against Orochimaru, and Mikoto got...kidnapped in the end. I was pretty out of it...when Kabuto and Ryouta were speaking, but I got the gist of it, that Kabuto was threatening Ryouta to go with him, or Mikoto would die."
Tsunade scratched against her cheek, not feeling happy about this being confirmed.
"Damn Orochimaru, resorting to tactics such as this. However. The fact remains, he managed to pull off this mission for you and Mikoto, a fake one that was so real when we got it...he must have gone through great lengths to set this all up. Of course, he is obsessed with the Sharingan...but, seeing it before my eyes, how far he is willing to go, what lengths he will go to have Ryouta abandon the village. He must have been aware that no one would buy him suddenly leaving the village, even with the reasons that he has given, Orochimaru probably said it to make it more difficult for him, and to get some sick twisted happiness out of it."
Kakashi could certainly see that.
He also thought that Orochimaru probably did it to throw Konoha off, and make them guess the true intentions of Ryouta, and who he could be going towards for power or other reasons. If it was Tobi, Orochimaru or someone else. So on Orochimaru's part, Kakashi thought that made sense, if it wasn't for Ryouta being able to bypass the security measures that Orochimaru had set up.
"And Ryouta? Did he go?"
"Yes, he went."
Kakashi felt regret that he had to go through this by himself, his lone eye didn't look towards Tsunade.
Tsunade however released a breath.
"I understand what he is doing, and the boy...he really is quite the planner. If I'm right, then he really has a good way to take Orochimaru down once and for all. But he'll need our help. We don't know how much time we have, he is going to buy as much time reasonably as he can do for us to get ready. But, I do believe in that kids plan."
"Then I'll..."
Kakashi tried to get up, but he winced, and fell backwards onto the bed.
"Even though you've been healed, and your chakra has been somewhat restored, you have to take it easy for the next day or so. The poison you were given has weakened your body to a good degree. That Kabuto, I really hate him, but I have to admit that he is a good Medical Ninja."
Kakashi hated not being able to do anything.
He wanted to make up for what happened, and be able to support Ryouta, and the others right now.
However, before he could say anything, they both felt a presence coming, so Tsunade tightened her hand.
She wasn't taking any chances that Orochimaru had left something in the village for them in case Ryouta did this, so she waited for the chance to strike…
But, coming through the door, was a bewildered Sakura, who looked on curiously.
"T-Tsunade-sama, I'm surprised..."
"You weren't able to be contacted before, and my reports say you had been sound asleep, unable to wake up."
Sakura confirmed it with a nod, and began explaining.
"It was Ryou-kun...he put me in a Genjutsu. At first, it was a dream...w-well, a dream of us...but then, it morphed into something else...he told me, what's happening, with Orochimaru, and how he's being forced...w-we need to help him...he gave me his plan...and said that I should report to you about it..."
Tsunade developed a small smirk on her face.
"I see, he made multiple plans in case Orochimaru would have learned of what was going on with one of the ways. Well, that kid is quite something...but, we have to get to work, immediately. Before anything could happen with Ryouta. So Sakura, tell me what Ryouta told you, then we can go from there."
Sakura nods, and begins explaining, while Tsunade begins making her own plans, wondering how it was going with Ryouta and the others...
End chapter!
So, this chapter had the first confrontation, with Kiba trying to attack, but Ryouta stopped him for the time being. Then he summoned Garaga, and made sure that the others in their own way would be safe, while Tsunade is also beginning to make plans. Karin, Haku and Lee were also alerted to what was going on, so they're also beginning to make their way towards them, so we'll see how they're doing pretty soon!
So now, the results of the poll! First, thanks to everyone that voted, and the winner of the poll is...
Crom's son!
So yeah, that was what won, for the other stories that didn't win and got a good few votes, sorry about that.
The story should be out next week with everything going to plan, so once again, thanks to everyone, and I hope you all enjoy it!
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, Pakura, Fu,