I had intended to start off this chapter in a different way, but I had an influx of reviews that, for one reason or another, I need to answer here instead. So next chapter, I suppose. *pouting face*
So you all hated the cliffhanger and sorry about that, but I'm hoping you'll forgive me with this chapter. Guess we'll see.
As mentioned in my Maelstrom Siblings fanfic, a writer named Aclux has a NarutoxWarcraft challenge for anyone who is interested. Please speak to them about it if you are, but they have written the challenge in Italian, so you'll need to ask for a translation. Sorry.
Now, onto the review replies. First off, to the anonymous reviewer 'A fan'. With regards to your questions, I cannot guarantee at this time that the Apple will reappear, but neither will I say it won't appear at all. I'm debating bringing it back in eventually, and how to do so. To your other two questions, we will not be seeing the Templars or Assassins from the Assassin's Creed universe. Neither can reach the Naruto universe without recreating the freak accident that happened to Raphael. I hope this answers your questions.
To the anonymous reviewer Orca, thank you for your review, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.
And to KamiKageRyuuketsu, I thank you for adding one review count to my fanfic. This particular reviewer/flamer actually at least had the courage to sign in on their account, though not enough courage to actually have their private messaging feature enabled. They're exact words were "Hinata fanboy trash has been reported for story theft". Clearly, their rage at someone daring to have a different like or opinion then their own is quite intense. *rolls eyes* I really love these people who don't even bother to try and understand characters, instead judging them entirely based off of a few scenes or something. And then threaten other people who happen to like that character. I'm sure it makes them feel all big and powerful, but it honestly is hilarious seeing them trying to justify their existence by flailing and yelling at everyone around them. To KKR, if you happen to read this, I have this to say: take a chill pill and realize that your opinion is not the only one that matters in this world. I know your ego probably has a hard time accepting that, but there it is.
So, with that out of the way, on with the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Assassin's Creed. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Ubisoft respectively. This is a nonprofit fan made work of fiction. Please support the official releases.
Chapter 40
Invasion
Naruto and Sasuke immediately leapt away from both each other and Gaara as the red haired jinchuuriki stood there while sand poured out of his gourd, swirling around him and waiting for his command. The two Konoha genin, now at a distance, both began thinking of how they would deal with the situation.
Sasuke had been training almost non-stop all month long in order to try and overcome Gaara's sand. He had seen how short and bloody Gaara's fight had been, how he could use his sand to block and defend, then quickly grab and crush his opponent. It would be very hard to overcome given how quickly it moved. So in response Kakashi had worked on improving Sasuke's speed to help overcome the speed of Gaara's sand. He had also trained him how to use a special jutsu he claimed would overcome any solid defense Gaara could put up with his sand, but told Sasuke only to use it if he absolutely needed to. Sasuke's own clan members, under his mother's orders, had furthered his training with his Sharingan, taijutsu, and ninjutsu arsenal, helping him prepare for fighting any of his other opponents in the Finals, provided he won against Gaara. What Sasuke had not been expecting, however, was to find himself in a three way match against Gaara and Naruto, the latter he considered one of the other top contenders in the Finals, given his previous experience fighting against and alongside him. Fighting Gaara would be hard enough but with the added distraction of Naruto, it would make the fight all the more difficult. His only saving grace was that Naruto would be as distracted as he was.
A thought that was going through Naruto's mind as well. Naruto had been expecting to face off against Dosu, a fight he had easily enough prepared for through the use of earplugs to prevent himself from being disoriented by Dosu's bracer, as well as plans to disable his opponent's primary weapon. He had also given thought to his potential other opponents, working on how to defeat them if he should face off against them. He had, at the insistence of his various sensei, worked on improving his ninjutsu, adding a couple of wind and fire ninjutsu to his arsenal and improving his ability to manipulate both. And he had also continued to work on the Rasengan, though he had not yet finished said ninjutsu, as he was still having some trouble maintaining both power and focus in the final stage of the ninjutsu. But on his own, he had still focused on his hand to hand and weapon skills, believing that he could utilize them to overcome most of his opponents and prevail in the Finals.
Now though, finding himself in a three man free-for-all, Naruto was more hesitant about his chances of winning. He had experience fighting like this, thanks to Anko having the team face off against each other in such a manner, but this was against two new opponents, with at least one of them ready and willing to kill him. He would need to stay on his toes if he had a hope of winning.
Gaara simply stared at his two opponents, a psychotic grin slowly twitching its way onto his face. Seeing neither of them ready to jump into action, he finally spoke. "Are you two going to fight me?" He asked, his voice trembling slightly in excitement. "Then fight me…fight me or die!" He shouted, as his sand shot towards them.
Reacting on instincts honed from hours upon hours of training, both Naruto and Sasuke dodged, the former drawing his sword in an instant and shrouding it in wind chakra. The whirling wind cut through the sand tendril, dispersing it, while Sasuke quickly hurled several shuriken at Gaara. The projectiles slammed into a tendril of sand, being slowly engulfed and crushed as Gaara merely smirked, only to blink as the sand was scattered by a cutting blade of wind slicing through it and barely missing his cheek. His aqua eyes immediately shifted to Naruto who was readying his sword from another swing, only to be forced back by a pillar of sand shooting towards him, intending on smashing into him.
Sasuke growled as he quickly ran through hand signs, launching a large fireball at Gaara. The Suna genin merely blocked it with a wall of sand shooting out of his gourd, protecting him easily from the fireball, though the sand on the surface of the wall was superheated to glass, shattering as the wall came down. Gaara's eyes widened however as Sasuke was already in his face, a fist cocked back and ready to throw. More sand moved to intercept the Uchiha, only for him to spin with blinding speed, coming down and around on Gaara's blind side as he kicked up, his foot smashing into Gaara's chin and actually momentarily lifting him into the air before he fell back.
In the crowd, Baki and Kankuro, both watching the fight, could only gape in utter disbelief and shock. No one, in the time they had known Gaara, had ever been able to actually land a blow on the jinchuuriki. Everything that was thrown at him had always been stopped by his sand before it could hit. To see this genin move with such speed and skill, and actually land a hit on Gaara, was unthinkable to them.
With the Konoha jounin, Gai nodded in approval. "I see you increased Sasuke's speed to help him overcome his opponent's defense. Impressive, my eternal rival," he said with a smile to Kakashi, who merely shrugged, his one visible eye lazily watching the fight.
On the arena floor, Gaara slowly pushed himself up, shock evident on his face at being hit, even as his face seemed to crack, revealing that there was a layer of sand adding an extra level of protection. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he saw that, getting back into his ready stance. "So, you've got some kind of sand armor, huh? Guess I'll need to break through that too," he said, preparing to rush in at Gaara. He was stopped however by two tendrils of sand launching towards him, forcing him to back flip away. They pursued him, about to smash down on him, when Naruto appeared from above, slashing with his wind-fused ninjato, dispersing them both. He shot forward as Gaara raised his sand again to try and block Naruto, the blade cutting into the shield of sand and actually cutting down through almost three feet of sand before it hardened enough to stop the blade. Naruto quickly drew the sword back before the sand could compress around it, back flipping away like Sasuke did as Gaara slowly stood up.
Naruto landed not too far from Sasuke, quickly giving a glance to the Uchiha to make sure he wasn't about to be attacked. Yet Sasuke wasn't making any move to attack, instead watching Gaara, his eyes now the blood red of the Sharingan. He crouched down, quickly sprinting forward, moving fast enough to blur his appearance as Gaara shot sand towards him to stop him, now looking more murderous. Sasuke leaped to the side, cart-wheeling in the air to avoid the sand as he landed and jetted towards Gaara, quickly turning and spinning around Gaara to deliver a powerful back hand to the back of the surprised boy's head. Sand barely rose up in time to block him, only for Sasuke to turn quickly, reaching past the sand to grab Gaara and yank him into a hard knee, before delivering a powerful haymaker to Gaara's cheek, dropping the boy to the ground. He was about to punch again when a whistling, almost shrieking sound alerted him, and he quickly tilted his head as a crossbow bolt, shrouded in spiraling wind blades, ripped through the air near where his head had been and slammed into a wall of sand that had appeared behind Sasuke, the wind scattering the sand in multiple directions as the crossbow bolt continued onwards and buried itself deep into the arena wall. Sasuke looked to Naruto, who was already reloading his crossbow, and gave him a slight nod.
By some unspoken agreement, the two Konoha genin realized the truth. Their best chance at winning was to bring down Gaara first, as he would be the hardest to take out. Once Gaara was no longer able to fight, they could then face each other and settle the match. Sasuke quickly grabbed Gaara, straining as the boy's weight was greater than it should be due to the gourd on his back and the sand armor he seemed to protect himself with. He quickly tossed the jinchuuriki away, jumping back in the opposite direction as this time Naruto aimed directly at Gaara, pulling the trigger and firing a bolt at him. Immediately sand rose up, forming a thick wall that the bolt slammed into, only for an explosive tag wrapped around it to ignite and explode, engulfing Gaara's position in smoke and flames.
In the kage viewing booth, the Kazekage's eyes narrowed. "I must say, I am quite surprised at how this match is going so far. Your two genin combined are giving Gaara quite a tough fight. Not surprising since one of them is an Uchiha," he said.
Sarutobi chuckled softly, glancing at the Kazekage. "Sasuke Uchiha is one of our star genin for his year group, becoming the rookie of the year. However, do not underestimate the other genin down there. Naruto Uzumaki can surprise you."
A frowned slightly as he heard that name. "Uzumaki…is he related to that clan? He does not bare any of their traits," he commented.
"I'm afraid I can't really comment on that front. I hope you're not thinking of repeating the offense your village did against the previous Uzumaki we had in our village?" Sarutobi asked, his tone indicating he was joking, but with a hint of steel. A just stiffened slightly at the mention of Kumo's attempt to kidnap Kushina Uzumaki when she was a young genin, only to be rescued by Minato Namikaze, before focusing on the match.
Baki and Kankuro, now joined by Temari, could only gape as they saw the smoke and flames that engulfed where their younger brother and student had been. They couldn't believe that two genin were giving Gaara such a hard time. But what's more, they were terrified of what might happen now. If Gaara was driven too far, he might unleash his biju. And here in the stadium, it would be a massacre. The smoke slowly started to clear, drawing their attention as they saw something in the center.
Naruto and Sasuke both watched as the smoke cleared, revealing charred ground from the explosion. But there was no sign of Gaara. Instead there was a dome of what appeared to be warped glass that began to crack, before shattering, falling away from what it had formed around.
Gaara, unharmed, slowly stood up, sand cracking off his body as he was surrounded by broken glass. A psychotic grin had formed on his face as he looked at Sasuke, then Naruto. "Yes, yes YES! I HAVE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE! SHOW ME MORE!" He shouted, as the glass was blasted into the air, mixing with sand that formed into multiple pillars and tendrils that shot towards the two Konoha genin.
Sasuke, his Sharingan activated, was barely able to dodge out of the way, constantly hopping, back flipping, and somersaulting to get away from the sand. Naruto was doing the same, but without the advantage of the Sharingan, he was hit by one of the tendrils that sent him flying, his haori and shirt both ripped a bit from some of the glass inside the tendril, leaving behind superficial wounds to his chest as well. He hit the ground, rolling and tumbling before managing to right himself and land on one knee, gritting his teeth as he clutched his chest.
Hinata gripped the rail tightly, watching the fight, worry now in her eyes as she watched her teammate and friend get hit. Beside her, Lee clenched one first as well as he watched. "Gaara-san is powerful and dangerous," he said quietly. "But I'm sure Sasuke-san and Naruto-san will prevail against him. Do not worry about him," he reassured Hinata.
"I know. I have faith in Naruto-kun…but I still don't like him being hurt," she responded, watching as Sasuke landed near Naruto.
On the ground, Naruto grimaced as he felt the stinging wounds, wiping them as clean as he could of any dirt and sand. He looked to Sasuke, who was holding his stance, warily watching Gaara. The sand wielding jinchuuriki was grinning at them psychotically, his sand whirling and streaming wildly around him.
"Well, that didn't work," Naruto said softly, seeing how Gaara seemed unscathed, beyond his mental state. "All we've managed to do is drive him into a battle frenzy."
"His sand is what makes him dangerous. We need to try and remove it if we're going to beat him," Sasuke murmured, studying Gaara. "Fire is working well enough. If we can force his sand into glass, and not give him a chance to grind it back down, we can reduce his sand. Do you know any fire jutsu?"
"I've got something better," Naruto said, standing straight now. "Get ready to use one of your fire jutsu on my mark," he said, making a cross emblem. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"
Immediately ten clones of Naruto all appeared around them. Five of them drew their ninjato, charging forward to engage and distract Gaara, while the others all moved into an arc with the real Naruto and Sasuke in the middle of them. "I want you to use a fire ninjutsu on my mark," Naruto said softly, as his clones all prepared their own ninjutsu.
Gaara's tendrils struck at the clones, dispersing two, but the other three dodged and attacked, cutting through the sand tendrils. The trio kept him distracted as the real Naruto nodded to Sasuke, who quickly unleashed a fireball. Immediately, all six Naruto finished their own hand signs. "Fūton: Reppūshō! (Wind Style: Gale Palm!)"
Six palms shot forward, and from that, six compressed waves of wind blasted forward, striking the fireball which turned into a massive blaze, its intensity fueled by the wind while its velocity was skyrocketed by the momentum of the six wind techniques. People in the audience flinched as even they could feel the heat from their seats.
The three remaining shadow clones quickly jumped out of the way of the inferno, which Gaara could only stare at, awe and bloody glee on his face even as his sand swarmed into position again to protect him. The flames washed over his position in a sea of reds and oranges, sweeping past him and scorching the ground before smashing into the opposite wall, leaving a massive blackened mark on the wall.
Mikoto, with her clansmen, felt pride at the sight of her son in the arena, so far showing great skill and capability. But also seeing him work alongside a fellow genin to go after the greater threat. She glanced at Naruto, a sad smile appearing on her face. It wasn't hard for her to see the resemblance in appearance. Minato's hair, but Kushina's face and eyes. She had never said anything, because she knew his identity was being kept a secret for his own protection. She had wanted to help him out, but when her husband was alive, it was impossible. And when she became the clan head, she had to focus on maintaining her clan. She hoped that perhaps she could approach him one day, and ask for his forgiveness. For now, she cheered both Naruto and Sasuke on.
As Sasuke, Naruto, and his clones finished their jutsu combination and cut the chakra off, the flames disappeared, leaving behind only a massive curved wall of warped glass. Immediately the eight Naruto clones rushed in, moving to engage Gaara and distract him, as Sasuke began running up the wall of glass. Naruto however began to circle the glass from a distance, planning to keep striking at a distance when need be.
The Naruto clones rounded the glass wall, only to be immediately met by tendrils of sand that pierced all of them, dispersing them. Gaara, behind the wall of glass, grinned more in excitement, only to look up as Sasuke dropped down, striking at him with an axe kick to the top of his head. Gaara's sand barely blocked it, but Sasuke leapt back before it could grab onto his foot, bouncing off the glass wall and creating some distance. He landed, panting as he did so.
Gai, watching this, gave a quiet nod. "As I expected though. While you were able to get his speed up, his stamina cannot match. It took both Lee months of intensive training to raise his stamina to the point where it is," he commented.
Kakashi crossed his arms, nodding quietly. "You're right. But the point wasn't about giving him the endurance to fight the way you and your student do. I was focused mostly on increasing his speed for another reason."
The jounin, listening to him, blinked in confusion save for Gai, who turned to his 'rival' with a stunned look on his face. "You didn't," Gai said, worry in his voice.
Kakashi merely remained silent as he watched Naruto giving Sasuke a temporary respite by engaging Gaara with his ninjato again.
On the arena floor, Naruto quickly cut through another tendril of sand with his wind infused blade, ducking under another as he put all his time training with his sensei and on his own to use. Dodging one tendril he slashed through another, flipping through the air to avoid one aimed at his feet, before landing and back-skipping to avoid another tendril. Gaara growled, about to unleash a large wave of sand against him, only to blink as his sand instead surged to stop another attack from Sasuke. The Uchiha bounced off the sand, throwing a kunai with an explosive tag at point blank range. It embedded in the ground at Gaara's feet, with the red haired jinchuuriki covering it in sand as it ignited, sending dirt and smoke flying everywhere.
Sasuke and Naruto now landed next to each other, both panting, as they watched the smoke clear, revealing Gaara with broken portions of his sand armor streaming off of him, and that grin still on his face. "Yes…YES! THIS IS WHAT I WANTED!" He shouted, only to clutch his head, groaning out. "N-No…mother…I-I promise…blood," he groaned out, as his sand started to form around him, turning into a giant sphere.
Naruto and Sasuke both looked at each other, before Naruto readied another crossbow bolt, channeling chakra into it before firing it. The bolt became wreathed in wind chakra, a shrieking cry as the bolt shot towards the sphere of chakra. It barely buried in the sphere, even with the wind chakra enhancing it. The bolt only penetrated an inch or so, then was pushed out of the sphere and dropped to the ground. Naruto cursed softly, holstering his sphere. "There's no way I'm penetrating that sphere," he said, looking to Sasuke. "What about you?"
"I've got something, but I'll need to work up some speed to use it," Sasuke said. "Can you keep him distracted, so he doesn't pop out and attack?"
Naruto nodded, as Sasuke began gauging the position of the sand sphere, before realizing he'd need more distance then he could get on the ground. He quickly turned and began running up the wall of the arena, to position himself properly.
In the stands, Baki, Temari, and Kankuro were now incredibly nervous, boarding on terror now. They knew that Gaara only would have secluded himself inside a sand sphere if it meant he was about to let IT out. And that was not only interfering with the plan, but would most likely mean they'd be right in the path of destruction that would follow. Baki clenched a fist, his face grimacing. "That fool is going to blow the plan," he whispered.
Meanwhile, the cloaked ANBU tilted his head a bit behind his mask, an amused smiled on his face. "My oh my. Jumping the gun a bit, aren't we Gaara-san?" They whispered to themselves.
Naruto quickly summoned several clones, watching as above the sphere of sand, a single eye was formed out of the sand, slowly scanning around. "So that's how you're planning to watch us, huh?" Naruto asked himself, as he made several more clones, each one quickly spreading out. Two of them charged in to try and cut through the sphere with their ninjato, only to be pierced by spikes of sands that shot out of the sand, then retracted when the clones were gone. Naruto cursed and sent more of the clones in to distract Gaara as Sasuke stuck to the wall of the arena, crouching down.
Kakashi leaned forward, watching Sasuke now, as Gai shook his head. "My eternal rival, I cannot believe you taught your student that jutsu. It is far too deadly for a genin to use," he said, causing Anko, Raphael, Kurenai and Asuma to look at Gai.
"What jutsu are you talking about?" Asuma asked him. Gai merely watched Sasuke, as Kakashi started to speak.
"I'm known as Kakashi of the Thousand Jutsu, because I have copied many jutsu over my career. Definitely not a thousand, but you know how people are with the nicknames they give," he said. "However, in my career, I've only created one single original jutsu, one that I was inspired by my sensei to create. An assassination jutsu made to penetrate any defense," he finished, as Sasuke finished running through his hand signs, holding out his left hand, as lightning began to form.
Sasuke gritted his teeth as he felt the power, and did his best to maintain control over the jutsu now forming in his hand. He looked up, Sharingan blazing, as the lightning formed into a sparking ball, the shrieking noise sounding almost like birds as he gripped his wrist.
Gai, watching it, shook his head quietly. "Chidori," he said, looking to Kakashi, who seemed to smile slightly as he watched Sasuke start to bolt down the wall in a blur, trailing a streak of dust, dirt, and lightning behind him.
Naruto, seeing Sasuke charging towards Gaara, blinked in surprise, before nodding to his clones. They quickly moved to attack the sphere, distracting Gaara, as the real Naruto fired a bolt at the eye, dispersing it. The clones were all pierced by sand spikes that shot out from almost every angle of the sphere, creating a hedgehog like effect. Yet Sasuke, his Sharingan seeing it in perfect detail, dodged to the side slighty, missing the spikes as he drove his fist forward, the ball of lighting piercing through the sand easily and allowing Sasuke's arm to disappear deeply into the sphere.
All was silent for several moments as all took in what happened. The majority were impressed at Sasuke's attack and its results. Only those who knew of Gaara's reputation and capabilities were gaping in horror at seeing one of his strongest defenses breached. The trio of his siblings and sensei could only stare, shocked at what they were seeing.
And that's when the screaming started from inside the sphere. The wails of agony and surprise from the red haired jinchuuriki, as Sasuke's smirk disappeared and he frantically pulled on his arm, trying to escape. He barely managed to free his arm as the scream morphed into an almost inhuman roar, and what looked like a long arm of sand with blue tattoos shot out of the sphere, trying to grab him again.
Naruto quickly moved in, slashing at the arm with his wind shrouded ninjato, managing to drive it back, as both he and Sasuke panted, staring in horror as the arm retracted and they momentarily saw a dark eye with a star shaped yellow pupil inside the sphere, glaring at them. It vanished as the sand sphere began to collapse around Gaara, revealing him standing there, panting heavily as he clutched his left arm with blood seeping from his left shoulder where he had been pierced by Sasuke's attack.
"H-he's bleeding…Gaara's bleeding!" Baki said in horror, staring at the injured jinchuuriki. This was more than any of them had thought ever possible. Their experience with Gaara had led them to believe he was all but invincible, and yet these two genin, especially the Uchiha, had not only been able to hit him several times, but even injure him.
In the kage booth, the Kazekage could only narrow his eyes. Gaara being injured would not do, especially since it could trigger him unleashing his biju here in the middle of the arena, which did not work for him. He made a hand motion with his left hand, out of sight of the other kage.
The masked ANBU, seeing the hand movement, smirked as he finished the hand signs for his jutsu. Soon, chakra began to flood through the arena, creating a genjutsu that began affecting everyone present.
The civilians began to fall asleep, shrouded in feathers in their minds, but the Konoha shinobi, save for some of the genin, easily recognized what was going on and dispelled the genjutsu. They all immediately began to ready themselves to fight, searching for the caster of the genjutsu, or any enemy.
They were momentarily surprised as a number of civilians suddenly leapt up, shedding their clothes to reveal the tan uniforms of Suna shinobi, or unfamiliar purple, grey, and black outfits with headbands bearing musical note emblems. A few of the Konoha shinobi, caught off guard, were quickly cut down, but the rest leapt into action, engaging the enemy.
In the kage booth, Sarutobi immediately locked eyes with the Kazekage, who was looking at him, before his two cloak wearing henchman surged forward, releasing powerful smoke bombs that didn't just engulf the booth but sent up a massive pillar of smoke. A signal to those waiting outside the village.
A Suna jounin, seeing the pillar of smoke rising over the walls of Konoha, signaled the hundreds of shinobi with him, knowing other battalions were moving out now. As one they charged towards the wall, hoping their support promised by their Oto allies would arrive in time.
Sarutobi felt himself being grabbed and dragged from the kage booth, finding himself soon clear of the smoke as the Kazekage held him at kunai point, forcing him to watch the combat below. "This is an excellent vantage point, don't you think?" He asked, as his two bodyguards attacked the Konoha shinobi who had been guarding Sarutobi, quickly killing him. A and his two attendants, Mabui and Darui, quickly moved away from the conflict, remaining neutral. (1)
In the arena, the Hyuuga capable of fighting had gathered together to form a perimeter while Hiashi looked to two of the branch member guards who had accompanied them. "Escort Hitomi and Hanabi back to the compound immediately, and rally the rest of the clan. We will be along once we've cleared out the enemy here," he ordered. The two Hyuuga nodded, moving to escort Hitomi and Hanabi away, both of them unaffected by the genjutsu thanks to activating their Byakugan's as soon as they felt it, as did the other Hyuuga. Hanabi however could only stare in horror at the dead bodies, some Konoha shinobi, others the enemy, starting to litter the ground as screams and yells filled the air. Hitomi barely managed to turn her daughter's gaze away, picking her up and carrying her as they were escorted away. Unaware of unfriendly eyes watching them.
In the arena center, Gaara was still screaming in agony, as Baki, Kankuro, and Temari appeared, the two siblings grabbing their brother. Baki, standing between them and the Konoha shinobi, looked over his shoulder. "Get Gaara out of here! We still need him for the plan!" He shouted.
The two older siblings nodded, putting his arms around their necks and fleeing. Genma moved forward, stepping in front of the genin. "You two better get after them. Whatever they have planned with him can't be good. Stop them," he ordered, even as he prepared to fight Baki.
Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, before nodding to Genma and quickly dashing off in pursuit, before the Suna shinobi could get too far away.
In the contestant area, the genin still there all had shaken off the effects of the genjutsu, and now were springing into action, quickly moving to join the fighting inside the seating area. Hinata, her Byakugan activated, was drawing her bow to fire at the first available Oto or Suna shinobi she could find, only to stop as she saw her mother and sister being escorted away. She also saw several figures, dressed as civilians, suddenly 'awaken' from their seats and began to discreetly follow them. Eyes narrowed, she quickly moved to follow, worry gripping her heart.
Kirabi and his genin, Samui having joined them after her defeat, had quickly pulled back, not wanting to get caught up in the fighting. Kirabi however looked anxious, not enjoying being a bystander. Even if the Konoha shinobi were from another village, especially one his own had an antagonistic history with, he disliked seeing the civilians of the village put in harm's way, knowing that most likely, more were dying outside the arena. Yet A had made his orders clear: the Kumo shinobi would not engage unless attacked first. They were not here to join the fight, save for those assigned to Operation Blind Eye. Instead, Kirabi did his best to start shepherding his genin away, much to Karui's annoyance.
"We should be using this opportunity, going after that blonde bastard, or finding the traitor!" She shouted angrily, only to be shushed by Omoi.
"Please be quiet. Otherwise some Suna or Oto shinobi will come after us, and then we'll end up getting Kumo in a war against them, and maybe Konoha too!" Omoi said. Karui was about to respond when Samui put a hand over her mouth.
"He's right Karui. Be quiet and follow orders," she said sternly, causing Karui to growl but otherwise remain silent.
With the jounin sensei, all of them had leapt into action, quickly moving to engage the nearest enemy shinobi. Kurenai was doing her best to shield Yakumo, who had made great strides with her genjutsu and was improving quite well physically, though still below the level of a newly graduated genin. That didn't mean the Kurama heiress couldn't fight though, as she closed her eyes, reaching out with a genjutsu and trapping a group of enemy shinobi. Immediately they all froze, then began to scream as cuts appeared on their bodies and blood began gushing out. Raphael, pulling his sword out of an Oto shinobi, saw the carnage and winced.
"Remind me not to get on her bad side," he mentioned to Anko, who was watching two Suna shinobi being strangled by the snakes she had launched at them from her arms.
"Yeah. Regular genjutsu is bad enough," Anko murmured, drawing her ulaks and dodging a slash from an Oto kunoichi spinning around and slashing her across the throat.
Yakumo, seeing the dead from her attack, gaped as she realized she had just made her first kill; multiple ones in fact. She began to tremble until she felt Kurenai's calming hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Kurenai's reassuring smile, and felt a gentle squeeze on her shoulder, before the jounin moved to attack the next group of enemies. Yakumo took a deep shuddering breath, closing her eyes as she tried to calm herself, for now at least. Her eyes opened only for them to widen fearfully as she saw a Suna shinobi charging to her, bloody kunai in hand as he readied to end her life, a snarl on his face.
Before she could scream there was a green blur, followed by Lee appearing, one bandaged fist buried in the side of the Suna shinobi's face, sending him flying from the force of his punch. Yakumo could only gape as Lee turned to her, worry on his face.
"Yakumo-san, are you hurt? Are you alright?!" He asked worriedly, only for her to hug him tightly, kissing his cheek.
"Thank! Thank you Lee-kun! Thank you!" She sobbed, as Lee blushed madly, smiling a bit. He gently patted her on the shoulder, before gently pulling away from her.
"I-It was no problem, Yakumo-chan," he said, before looking around. "Will you be okay? I must return to the fighting."
She shyly nodded, before gently squeezing his arm. "P-Please come back," she said quietly. Lee just gave her another smile and nodded, before turning and heading off to fight.
Kakashi grunted as he slashed through the throat of a charging Oto shinobi, spinning to backhand a Suna kunoichi behind him before he drove his kunai into her neck, finishing her. Gai appeared at his back, his knuckles slightly bloodied from his enemies, grunting softly. "That's ten for me now, my eternal rival."
"This isn't a contest Gai," Kakashi said, watching for his next target, frowning. "We need to hurry up and finish the enemy here, so we can move elsewhere. I'm sure they're attacking more than just the arena."
His words were prophetic, as in the streets there was chaos. Civilians not present at the arena were being escorted towards the safety areas, a series of bunkers used to protect them in times of conflict. But Suna and Oto shinobi had already begun spreading from the arena, engaging what Konoha shinobi were in the streets, leading to blood and carnage in the usually peaceful village. The Konoha shinobi fought fiercely, even brutally, to protect their home, but the invaders had the advantage of no restrictions, no civilians to protect. Bodies of both sides could be found lining the streets, some moaning in pain and agony, others forever silent.
Near the Academy, Yugito growled as she slashed sideways with both of her katar, deeply cutting into the neck of a Suna shinobi and nearly decapitating him. She whirled, stabbing an Oto kunoichi through the face before kicking her away, her eyes starting to glow blue with her pupils becoming slit like as, in her anger, she drew on her biju's chakra. Near her, Iruka grunted as he pulled a kunai out of his forth kill of the day, turning to throw several shuriken at another Suna shinobi who screamed in pain as the shuriken wounded him. The two of them had been at the Academy, as Yugito, despite wanting to support Naruto and Hinata, had wanted to stay away from the Kumo shinobi while Iruka had been stuck at the Academy teaching students. When the invasion began, the two of them had quickly moved to help evacuate the students, only for several enemy shinobi to appear. The two of them agreed to hold them off while other instructors got the students to the safety of the bunkers. Now, as they finished off the last of their opponents, they quickly rushed off to help others in the village.
Outside the village wall, a second wave of Suna and Oto shinobi charged the wall of Konoha, attempting to scale it rapidly even as the shinobi defenders hurled kunai and shuriken down at them or launched powerful ninjutsu, slaughtering dozens of the exposed attackers. It would seem that the attacks against the wall were futile, as the attackers on the ground could not aid their brethren charging up the wall without hitting them, and the ones charging up the wall had no cover from enemy attacks.
That all changed though when a massive three headed serpent, summoned by a ritual summoning seal further back in the woods, appeared, towering high above the wall as it let out a shrieking hiss. Beady reptilian eyes glared down at the wall as the snake surged forward, heedless of trees that were uprooted and tossed aside by its massive body, of allied shinobi unable to get out of the way and were crushed or tossed aside by its scaly bulk. The weapons thrown against the massive bulk, the jutsu launched against it, did little to stop it, save for leave some scorch marks where fire jutsu burned ineffectively. The massive snaked reared back, all three heads opened wide to reveal massive fangs and forked tongues, before they lunged forward, smashing down on the wall, creating three massive gaping holes in the wall. As it pushed its bulk forward, the three holes became one massive breach, to let the Suna and Oto shinobi pour through.
On the top of the arena, the Kazekage smirked behind his veil, watching the chaos. "Quite a sight, isn't it Hokage-san?" He said, slowly reaching up to his face, only to stop as he heard Sarutobi's voice.
"Please forgo the theatrics, Orochimaru. They are tiresome," he said in a resigned voice. "If you were the Kazekage you would have trapped me in his golden sand. Which means he most likely is now dead, isn't he?"
The figure let out a snake like chuckle, their voice changing."My my, how perceptive of you, Sarutobi-sensei," Orochimaru said, peeling away the flesh mask he wore to reveal his own visage, the Kazekage hat falling to the ground. "I imagine this is not the reunion you were expecting?"
"Do not mock me, Orochimaru. Hundreds of innocent are dying right now," Sarutobi snarled at him, only for the kunai to tighten against his neck.
"Hundreds of innocent people in other countries die all the time. Do they bother you, or is it that it is your own people dying today?" Orochimaru asked mockingly. He smiled at the sight of his snake started to advance into the village. "You do not know how long I've waited to see this. After you betrayed me and gave what should have been mine to that Namikaze brat, I dreamt of this day for so long. It is glorious."
Sarutobi's eyes narrowed a bit at that. "Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself? The village is not destroyed yet, and its shinobi are not dead yet."
"Do you really think there is anyone who can stop what is happening?" Orochimaru asked, only to stop, his eyes widening as a massive smoke cloud appeared above where the three headed snake was at.
There was a massive shadow that suddenly covered the snake, before a gigantic toad landed on top of it, crushing it beneath its bulk. On its head stood Jiraiya, grinning as he directed the toad to the opening where a massive swarm of Suna and Oto shinobi was starting to pour through. "Oil, now!"
The toad turned, its cheeks bulging before a massive spout of oil shot out, engulfing the charging shinobi and throwing them back, the entire breach covered in oil. The Konoha shinobi in the area quickly fell back as Jiraiya finished his own hand signs and breathed a stream of fire out, igniting the oil and turning the entire area in and around the breach into an inferno. The Suna and Oto shinobi caught in the blaze were incinerated, most only able to scream as they saw the fire approach, only to be silenced in an instant. Others however were not as lucky, caught on the edges of the blaze and set on fire, their deaths more slow as the fire burned them to death instead of destroying them instantly.
In one single move, Jiraiya had stopped the breach, and the majority of Suna and Oto shinobi meant to invade the village were either destroyed or trapped outside the wall, forced to try and climb the defensive fortification as their only way to enter was denied them by the still raging inferno.
Sarutobi smiled as he heard Orochimaru's snarl of anger. "I thought I taught you better, Orochimaru. Plans never survive first contact with the enemy," he said.
Orochimaru growled, signaling the two Suna bodyguards, who split apart, revealing now four individuals who quickly formed a square formation around them on the rooftop. Cloaked ANBU, free from the fighting in the arena, were quickly dashing up to try and aid their leader, only for the four individuals to summon a large purple barrier around them, separating the ANBU from them, their leader, and Sarutobi. Orochimaru shoved Sarutobi away, shedding the robes of the Kazekage as Sarutobi turned to face him. "Whether the village burns or not today, I will still have the pleasure of killing you, Sarutobi-sensei. Let us see your precious village recover from that," he said, readying himself for combat.
Sarutobi let out a sigh, shedding his own robes, revealing his old shinobi battle armor underneath. "I was almost hoping I wouldn't need to use this today. But very well. Let us begin, my former student," he said, also readying himself.
Meanwhile, Kankuro and Temari had quickly made their way out of the village, needing to get Gaara somewhere safe where they could stabilize him, and he could play his part in the battle. Both of them were sweating, not from exhaustion but from fear of the now silent jinchuuriki they carried. They knew that it was very possible that any minute, Gaara could lash out at them and kill them. They honestly were not sure if he was less or more dangerous in his current state, as he had never been wounded before.
Temari glanced over her shoulder, cursing as she saw movement in the distance, but closing fast. "We've got company!" She shouted.
Kankuro cursed under his breath. "We'll never get away in time. Guess we'll need to try and fight them off, till Gaara recovers," he said, searching for an ideal combat area.
Behind them, Naruto and Sasuke were closing in fast, catching glimpses of the trio in the distance. Naruto, looking at his ally, nodded in their direction. "Any idea what we do when we catch up to them?" He asked.
Sasuke grimaced a bit in thought. "I think you should engage the puppet user, and I'll go for the sister. We'll need to try and take them down fast, before Gaara recovers. Otherwise we'll find ourselves in a very bad three on two fight."
Naruto nodded at that as they chased after the Suna shinobi, intent on stopping them.
Elsewhere, Hitomi was hugging Hanabi to her, the young girl still shaken and horrified at what she had seen at the arena. They were being escorted towards the Hyuuga compound, though fighting in the streets had forced them to take a more circuitous route, forcing them to one of the wooded training grounds. They could still hear the fighting in the distance, and through gaps in the trees, they could now see a purple barrier towering above the arena.
One of the two Branch members stopped, raising his fist as his active Byakugan detected something. "We're being followed," he said, turning. "At least four pursuers, with shinobi chakra levels."
The other guard quickly moved into a defensive position. "Hitomi-sama, you must leave quickly. We'll hold them off," she said.
Hitomi nodded quietly, knowing that there was little reason to argue. She and Hanabi were prime targets, as neither could handle fighting trained shinobi. She quickly began to move away, aiming towards the Hyuuga compound, as the Hyuuga guards held their ground. Soon enough the four figures appeared, revealing themselves as masked shinobi with no emblems or other signs of village affiliations. The two Hyuuga held their combat stances as the four shinobi charged at them, kunai drawn.
Hitomi had only made it perhaps thirty or forty feet when two more figures appeared, both also masked and displaying no emblems. She quickly held Hanabi closer as the heiress of the Hyuuga clan trembled in fear. All her confidence and control, instilled in her by her father and his training, was out the window, destroyed by the sight of dead bodies and fighting, and by fear of these adult enemy shinobi. Now she was nothing but a frightened little girl, tears forming in her eyes.
"Hyuuga, we will make this simple. Surrender to us now and you and your daughter will not be harmed. Resist, and we will have to beat you both into submission," one of them threatened, both of them drawing kunai. Hitomi trembled at the sight of them and their demands. Her motherly instincts were to protect Hanabi, but she couldn't. Fighting would be futile and they would both be beaten. And surrendering would simply result in them being likely used as breeding material for whichever village they belonged to. Tears started to form as she almost took a step back, feeling fear and despair at failing her second daughter as well.
One of the shinobi started to step forward, only to let out a cry of pain as an arrow took him in the back, even through the flak vest he was wearing. He dropped to the ground, writhing in agony as he tried to reach back and pull out the arrow, while the other shinobi whirled, eyes wide behind his full face mask. There was no sign of the one who shot the arrow, meaning they most likely were hidden in the trees. He snarled, turning back to Hitomi and Hanabi. "Come out here now or I swear I'll kill the young one!" He shouted, moving to grab Hanabi away from Hitomi. Hanabi could only scream in terror, seeing them reach for her with a kunai, as Hitomi attempted to move away while hugging her.
That was when a shadow appeared over him and the shinobi quickly spun, throwing his kunai up at the figure, only for his weapon to pass through the clone of the lavender hooded figure, revealing it was just a clone. At the same time the same figure appeared in front of him, crouched. He barely had time to look down, to see lavender eyes burning with rage before she shot up, and he felt something pierce under his neck. And then he knew no more.
Hanabi could only gape, seeing the ninja who had been threatening her and her mother standing there, rigid, before there was the sound of something metal retracting and his body fell to the ground in a lifeless heap. And standing there, blood on her left hand and sleeve, was Hinata, her face a mask of fury and rage. She turned to the downed shinobi who had managed to get shakily back to his feet, still panting heavily from the pain and shock of the arrow in his back. They could see now that it had pierced through his right shoulder, laming his ability to move that arm and forcing him to carry a kunai in his left hand. He growled as he lunged at her with said weapon, only for her to turn and sidestep, grabbing that arm and twisting it violently, snapping the point. He let out a shriek of pain, only for Hinata to jab his throat, silencing him, before she yanked him down and smashed her knee into his face. He fell back, blacking out from the pain and blood-loss combined, as Hinata stood there, panting heavily. "You're lucky I messed that shot up, you son of a bitch," she whispered, before slowly turning to her mother and sister. (2)
Hitomi and Hanabi both were staring at her, eyes wide and mouths gaping. Hinata suddenly felt self conscious of the blood on her and them witnessing her being so brutal to the two shinobi. Before she could speak however, Hanabi suddenly shot forward, sobbing as she crashed into Hinata, hugging onto her tightly. "NEE-CHAN! NEE-CHAN! I'M SORRY NEE-CHAN!" She sobbed almost hysterically, still hugging her tightly.
Hinata's eyes widened, before tears started to form as she wrapped her arms around her little sister, relief and happiness filling her heart. "Imouto…it's so good to see you," she said softly.
Hanabi just kept crying as she hugged her big sister, all self control lost. She wasn't Hanabi Hyuuga, daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga, heiress of the Hyuuga clan. She was a scared little girl, terrified at what she had seen and happy to be with her big sister, the one who had just saved her. Hinata just held her, before looking up as another pair of arms wrapped around her as well, as Hitomi hugged her firstborn.
"Hinata…it's so good to see you my little sunshine. I've missed you," Hitomi said quietly, her voice breaking as well. "I-I'm so glad to see you're safe a-and doing so well."
Hinata just smiled, one hand coming up to wrap around her mom. "I am…thank you kaa-chan," she said softly, before she flinched as she heard the sound of battle, knowing they weren't safe. She reluctantly pulled back enough to look at them both. "We need to get going. It's not safe here," She said, looking in the direction where the others were fighting.
Hitomi gave a soft nod, gently picking up the still sobbing Hanabi. "Of course. But c-can we make it to the compound?" She asked in a worried tone.
Hinata shook her head. "There's heavy fighting near the compound. I saw it while on the way here. They probably wanted to wipe out the clan members not attending the Finals. I'll need to take you somewhere else," she said, moving to the blacked out man, tying him up and dragging him and his dead comrade into the bushes to hide them for later retrieval. "Please, come this way," she said, drawing her sword.
Hitomi nodded, holding Hanabi close, as the young Hyuuga girl tried to clear her eyes, watching her exiled sister. Somehow, she knew she wasn't in danger anymore. Hinata was here for her. Her nee-chan would protect her. She hugged her mother as they followed Hinata to safety.
Back at the arena, the tide was slowly starting to turn. Despite being caught off guard, the Konoha shinobi had the advantage of teamwork and several powerful clans with bloodlines or unique abilities, allowing them to overwhelm the Suna and Oto shinobi, most of who either had no team work or only worked well with shinobi from their own village. This created a sense of disunity amongst them that the Konoha shinobi were able to exploit.
Raphael grunted as he was forced to resort to taijutsu, the fighting becoming too close for his sword. He grabbed the arm of a Suna shinobi, yanking him closer as he punched with his other arm, disorienting the man long enough to then extend and stab with his hidden blade, finishing him. He let the corpse go, turning now to engage a new opponent. An Oto shinobi rushed him, hand signs finished as he prepared to unleash a jutsu at him. Raphael responded, his hand flicking out and hurling a throwing knife that buried itself in the man's head, killing him. He continued to move on, only for his eyes to widen as he saw a cloaked figure moving towards Anko, drawing a curved kunai out from his robes. Raphael quickly drew out another throwing knife, throwing it at the figure as he rushed forward.
The cloaked figure, reacting on a sixth sense, whirled and blocked the throwing knife, their face hidden behind a mask. Raphael quickly reached him, drawing his sword and lunging as the man blocked his sword with his kunai. "I'm afraid your opponent will be me," Raphael said, eyes hard.
The figure simply drew a second curved kunai. "Very well then," he said in a slightly muffled voice. "Then let us fight." The two of them moved, weapons clashing.
Up on the roof, three ANBU, cloaked and masked, could only watch helplessly on the outside of the barrier, unable to reach their Hokage and protect him. Yet they also were in awe as they watched the two fight each other. It was rare for them to see their Hokage fight, and against an opponent almost at his level in skill and power. They had watch the two of them trade ninjutsu, ranging from massive dragons made of mud and fire, and other powerful ninjutsu that would leave them panting and sweating. Yet neither had been fazed or even seemed tired yet. Their eyes widened as they saw Sarutobi hurl a kunai, quickly multiplying it with a variant of the shadow clone jutsu that created a barrage of them.
Orochimaru merely smirked as he finished his own hand signs. "Impressive, but not good enough, Sarutobi-sensei! Edo Tensei!" With that shout, a portal seemed to appear at Orochimaru's feet, and from it rose a casket with the symbol for 'First' imprinted on it, as the kunai impacted into the improvised shield.
Sarutobi's eyes widened in horror as he heard the jutsu, and its result, as a second coffin rose, this one imprinted with the symbol for 'Second' on it. "No…Orochimaru, not even you could have gone that far!" He shouted.
"Are you so certain Sarutobi-sensei? It seems that I have," Orochimaru said with a laugh, as a third coffin started to rise, this one having the symbol for 'Forth' on it. Sarutobi cursed as he clapped his hands together, channeling his chakra to try and suppress the last coffin, knowing he couldn't let that one be summoned. The coffin froze, before sinking back into the portal, disappearing. (3)
"Hmmmm, disappointing. Still, I'm sure these two will be more than enough for you, Sarutobi-sensei," Orochimaru cackled, as the lids to the coffins fell to the ground and two figures slowly, stiffly stepped out. Sarutobi shook in disgust and anger as he saw the two figures.
"Hiruzen, is that you?" The first, a man with long black hair, wearing red samurai like armor, and with skin that would be tanned if it wasn't tinted by grey, asked, studying the Sandaime Hokage.
"You look so old. How long has it been?" The second man, dressed in blue armor with short spiky white hair and red markings on his face asked, his pale skin made worse by the grey tint.
Sarutobi closed his eyes, tears forming. "Hashirama-sensei, Tobirama-sensei…it's been far too long," he whispered quietly, not able to look at his two old sensei and the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage respectively.
Tobirama glanced around, his eyes narrowing. "It would seem that blasted technique of mine has been used on us this time. I guess you were right Hashirama, this technique would come and bite me in the ass one day," he said, as Hashirama chuckled.
"You never knew when to listen to me, did you Tobirama?" He asked, only for them to be interrupted by Orochimaru stepped up behind them.
"While this is quite enjoyable, I'm afraid that the time for pleasantries is over," he said, as he held up two kunai, each with a seal attached to it. He stabbed them into the back of the resurrected kage's heads, smirking as both corpses stiffened, the grey tint disappearing as their faces became stoic, as the kunai with talismans sunk into their heads. "Now, Sarutobi-sensei, shall we begin?"
Sarutobi opened his eyes, his face set in a hard scowl as the tears were banished. "I swear Orochimaru, you will fall this day," he said. "I will not stand for this desecration." He quickly ran through hand signs, biting his thumb and slamming his hand down in a summoning jutsu. A cloud of smoke erupted, before a large monkey dressed in a leopard skin vest and Konoha headband stood next to him.
"So…your snake of a student finally returned," Enma, the monkey king and boss of that summoning contract, stated as he eyed Orochimaru and the two resurrected Hokage, before looking to Sarutobi. "Are you ready this time Sarutobi? Will you kill him?"
"Yes Enma, I will," Sarutobi said, holding out his hand as Enma smirked, transforming into a large black and gold staff that fell into Sarutobi's hand,
Orochimaru just smirked, pointing at Sarutobi. "Kill him," he ordered, as the Shodai and Nidaime shot forward.
Clearing in the Woods
Temari cursed as she and Kankuro were forced to drop to the ground in a clearing, her releasing her hold on Gaara. Their pursuers were too close and they couldn't run much farther, not if Gaara was going to be of any help to the invasion. "Get him out of here! I'll hold them off," Temari said, drawing her fan and preparing to fight. Kankuro however shook his head, setting Gaara down.
"There's no way you can hold them both off. We'll just have to fight and beat them here," he said, drawing out his puppet as well.
Temari looked at him, before nodding quietly as they both stood, ready to face the two Konoha genin. Temari narrowed her eyes, seeing them approaching, before she quickly unleashed a wave of wind at them, to try and blow them apart and allow Kankuro and her to engage them on their own terms. Yet the Uchiha quickly shot a fire jutsu back, overwhelming her wind jutsu and making his jutsu stronger in return as it shot towards them. They both quickly moved, while Gaara's sand, acting on its own, blocked the fire jutsu. Temari looked up as the Uchiha shot towards her, making her wince. She'd have preferred fighting Naruto, as he was a wind user like her, but also relied heavily on his weapons it seemed, which she could defeat with her wind. Sasuke however could use fire jutsu to beat her wind jutsu. Still, she had no choice as she readied herself for the fight, her brother doing the same as Naruto made a bee line for him.
Naruto quickly shot forward, ninjato drawn and slashing down at Kankuro, who maneuvered his puppet to block the strike and jab at Naruto with a retractable poisoned blade in one arm. Naruto easily side stepped it, turning the maneuver into a spinning slash that cut the arm off the puppet, causing it to drop to the ground. Kankuro cursed as Naruto grinned at him. "You really don't have much luck with Konoha shinobi, do you?" He taunted. Kankuro just glared at him, readying himself for the next round of fighting.
Neither of the two Suna siblings, or their Konoha opponents, noticed that as they began fighting, Gaara began to stir, a sickly yellow chakra starting to form around him as his lips twitched into the beginning of a manic grin.
And chapter. Sorry if things seemed sporadic there, jumping from fight to fight like that. With so many things going on, it was kind of tough to keep it focused. And sorry for another cliffhanger.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and if not, well sorry then. Hopefully the next one will make up for it. Guess we'll see, won't we?
To recap, Aclux has a NarutoxWarcraft fanfic idea, so please talk to him if you're interested. But again, it is in Italian, so you'll need a translation if you don't read Italian.
Thanks go out to Bill Alain for his help in betaing this fanfic. Thanks man.
So, again, hope you all enjoy this chapter, and see you next time.
1. This is to correct a mistake from an earlier chapter. I referred to Darui as C, which was my mistake. Sorry about that.
2. To those worried that Hinata seems overpowered, she's not. She's utilizing three things far more powerful and dangerous than any jutsu, and can topple the newest genin to the most experienced jounin: surprise, stealth and deception. They don't always work but when they do, they can finish even a powerful opponent in a single move.
3. I know that canon says that you can't summon someone who's soul already belongs to the Shinigami, but I maintain that said rule was thrown in at the last moment by Kishimoto to prevent Kabuto from summoning the previous Hokage, and therefore is not a true valid ruling. Especially since we then see that there is an exception to the rule that had just barely appeared in the first place. Kishimoto, during Shippuden, was creating inconsistencies when he tried to tie up loose plot holes created by Shippuden's plot trying to connect to Naruto's plot, as well as wildly making up powers necessary to move his plot forward *CoughRinneganandSharinganhaxscough*. It seems pretty obvious that Orochimaru was summoning the 4th Hokage, and it was not the Shinigami that prevented the summoning, it was Sarutobi himself. So, I'm sticking to that, as it makes far more sense to me.
