I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Fury
Ryuu stopped, turning back to Utakata, who had paused, staring up at the sky. Ryuu looked up, seeing nothing, even with his Sharingan. "What is it?"
"That chakra, it's flowing," Utakata said.
"What chakra?" Naruto asked, he and Ryuu looking around, then up in confusion.
"I don't see anything," Ryuu said. "Or sense anything."
"It is there," Utakata said. "Chakra from the atmosphere and terrain."
"There's a type of chakra you can see but my Sharingan can't?" Ryuu asked, raising his hand to his ear. "Hinata, do you see chakra flowing from the terrain around you, or around us, with your Byakugan?"
After a moment, Hinata said, "No, nothing. Why?"
"Utakata says he can see it," Ryuu said, just as Utakata blew a stream of bubbles into the air, the bubbles drifting toward the ruin they were heading to.
"That way," Utakata said.
"Shiranami must have activated the jutsu," Ryuu said, lowering his hand. "Something that strong would have to build up chakra first."
Utakata nodded. "My thoughts exactly. We need to hurry."
Ryuu and Naruto nodded, following Utakata's bubbles. After a few moments, they sprinted up a flight of stairs and slowed to a stop, Ryuu seeing Shiranami, a man with messy blur hair, prominent tear troughs, a light blue poncho over a dark blue shirt and pants, and an annoyed expression, standing behind Hotaru, who had the her kimono shirt pulled down off her shoulders, exposing the jutsu sealed in her back, looking like a metal disk with large, swollen vein-like protrusions around it.
"Akaboshi's men are useless," Shiranami sighed.
"No kidding," Ryuu said. "You didn't choose pawns very well."
"Oh?" Akaboshi asked. "Then how about you? Word Bind Jutsu!"
he held his hand out and chakra ink formed on his palm and shot toward Ryuu, already forming the same seal as the villagers had. Ryuu swiped a hand through it, his chakra scalpel disrupting the jutsu and scattering the word as normal ink.
"Sorry, not interested," Ryuu said. "Deactivate the jutsu or I'll force you to with Genjutsu."
"Ah, yes," Shiranami smirked. "The Uchiha clan's dreaded Sharingan. Sorry, but I'm afraid you'll find I'm not so easily swayed by Genjutsu."
"Is that right?" Ryuu asked. "Well, we'll just see about that."
"Word Bind Jutsu!" Shiranami said, the ink forming the word split, this time, and the ground under Ryuu split open instantly, only for Ryuu to remain in place, wings suddenly spread behind him. "What!?"
"Nice try," Ryuu smirked. "One more strike, then it's my turn up to bat."
"Ryuu, we need you!" Hinata's voice suddenly shouted from the communications seal.
"Shit!" Ryuu swore.
"Go," Naruto said. "We'll handle this."
Ryuu nodded and vanished, reappearing in front of Fu, just in time for his tanto to block a katana, the shinobi holding it, a boy of maybe thirteen with bandages wrapping his entire body from his feet to his nose, leaving the upper half of his head and his white hair exposed and a heavy white cloak over the bandages, leapt away instantly, his light pink eyes watching Ryuu, both eyes narrowed.
"Ryuu Uchiha," the child mused.
"Who are you?" Ryuu asked. "Why are you attacking my friends?"
"I wish to test my success," the child said. "And you're the perfect subject, I think." he knelt, stabbing the katana into the ground before raising his hands. "Shall we begin?"
"After you," Ryuu said, putting his tanto away.
The boy unraveled the bandages around his right hand and it began to harden, turning a dark grey, like steel. Ryuu smirked, both exploding forward as Ryuu hardened his right hand. Their fists met in a deafening collision, but when they did, cracks shot out across Ryuu's left arm to his elbow and he shouted in surprise, leaping backward. He landed beside Fu again and stared at his arm as the cracks hissed and steamed, sealing as the arm repaired itself. His eyes widened. That was close. He nearly lost his arm again. If he'd swung with his left arm, that would have shattered every bone in it, hardened or not.
"Jesus," Ryuu breathed. "That's some defense."
"With my Steel Style, I can harden my skin until even blades are useless against me," the boy said.
"Steel Style?" Ryuu asked. "What's that? I've never heard of it. Is it a Kekkei Genkai?"
The boy laughed. Then, he shot forward again. Ryuu grunted, charging again, this time adding a repulsion seal to his right fist as he hardened it, and when their fists met, both skidded backward, the boy raising an eyebrow as Ryuu grunted, shaking his hand as it stung. That ability was ridiculous. The boy moved to charge again but Ryuu appeared directly in front of him in a crouch, his right fist exploding into the boy's abdomen, sending him exploding backward into a building. After a moment, a mass of black storm clouds exploded out of the doorway and lightning exploded out of the clouds, flashing along the ground before arcing upward, hitting four of Ryuu's kunai, which each had lightning chakra coursing through them, turning them into lightning rods. Once the lightning ended, the kunai fell apart and the boy stepped out of the building as the clouds faded.
"Impressive," the boy said. "You're as skilled as I'd heard."
He fell to his knees, panting suddenly before a massive, armored, pig-looking creature exploded down onto the ground in front of Ryuu, roaring. It had an orange face, a white body with spikes over its back, huge leather straps to hold its armor on, and a mane of green fur around its head. Before anyone could react, it spun, scooping the boy up in its mouth, then exploded into a cloud of smoke, taking the child with it. Ryuu sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"How do I always attract freaks?" Ryuu grumbled.
"Just your good luck," Fu said. "At least this one wasn't as strong as Amalgam."
"I don't know," Ryuu said, staring at his right arm. "He almost broke my arm."
Fu nodded slowly. "Would you have been able to get another one?"
"I don't know," Ryuu admitted. "Next time I see him, I'll take precautions. And I think I should apply myself a bit to see how much I can actually harden body."
Fu nodded, then grinned, leaning in to whisper. "I'll gladly help you harden your body when we get home."
Ryuu laughed. "I don't doubt it."
Just then, an explosion of pure white flames erupted on top of the mountain. Ryuu narrowed his eyes and glanced at Fu, who nodded.
"We'll be okay," Fu said. "We'll call if we need you again."
Ryuu nodded and returned to Ryuu and Naruto, landing between the two and sending out a pulse of Wind Style Chakra to clear the smoke and dust around them so he could check on them. They were burned and beat up, but they weren't seriously hurt. Ryuu looked around at the crater that didn't even reach the edge of the ruin.
"Is that all?" Ryuu asked. "Not a very powerful Forbidden Jutsu, is it?"
"Yeah, that was a little disappointing," Naruto smirked, he and Utakata pushing themselves up.
"Where is Hotaru," Utakata asked.
"She's there," Ryuu said, pointing to a pillar of unaffected stone in the center of the crater where both Hotaru and Shiranami were standing.
Utakata growled, fists clenching as his eyes turned gold. "He's already absorbing more chakra!"
"He won't get another shot off," Ryuu said. "It takes too long, and I'm not going to stand around for it this time."
"I don't think so," Shiranami smirked, swiping his finger through the air. "Word Bind Jutsu, explode!"
The ground below the three of them erupted into explosions, but Ryuu appeared beside Shiranami, slamming a kick into him and launching him. As he stood, a pair of bubbles strapped his hands.
"No!" Shiranami shouted. "What have you done!?"
Suddenly, Hotaru's body began to glow.
"What's going on!?" Naruto demanded. "Stop this!"
"It's not me," Shiranami said. "I mean look, my hands are totally bound. It could be the result of absorbing too much chakra energy."
Ryuu glanced at Utakata and he sighed, nodding and forming the Seal of Confrontation. The two bubbles popped and Shiranami grinned wickedly, forming several hand seals, only for the seal on Hotaru's shoulder to fade.
"What!?" Shiranami gasped.
"She slipped your control, right?" Ryuu asked, suddenly behind him as several paralysis jutsus spread over Shiranami's body. "Naruto, take him back to Yamato."
Naruto nodded, catching Shiranami as Ryuu threw him, then took off. Ryuu turned to Utakata.
"You can still save her," Ryuu said. "I know you hate being what you are, but Saiken, the Six-tails, can save her. He can use his acid to dissolve the jutsu without hurting Hotaru, and he can absorb the damage from the blast without being harmed. He and Isobu, the Three-tails, are the two most durable, though for opposite reasons."
Utakata hesitated.
"You're her master, Utakata," Ryuu said. "Your master wanted to help you, but didn't realize what he was doing. You can save Hotaru. And if Saiken tries to hurt her, you know I can save her."
Utakata nodded. "Alright. I'll try." He closed his eyes, extending a hand to the dome of shining white light around her. "You were right, by the way. My master wanted to help. I felt it. I just couldn't accept it through my anger." He formed the Ram hand seal. "I swore never to use your power again, but please, I need your help! Please, save Hotaru!"
boiling red chakra shot off of him instantly, forming his Tailed Beast Cloak with six tails. Just as it did, the dome turned into a pure white explosion, only for the tails to shoot forward, wrapping over the dome and halting it, holding it back. Light suddenly shone blindingly off of the dome and Ryuu had to squint against it, even his Sharingan unable to see through it. After a moment, however, the light dulled slightly as a column of light shone into the air, releasing the pressure from the explosion safely, before Saiken, a massive, six-tailed slug made entirely out of white slime, formed around the explosion, bloating and ballooning massively, then shrinking back down, reverting back into Utakata's Tailed Beast Cloak, which then sank back into Utakata, who was holding Hotaru in his arms, bridal-style, smiling down at her.
"Well done," Ryuu smiled, just before Fu landed beside Utakata.
"That was so cool!" Fu exclaimed excitedly. "You're so awesome!"
Ryuu and Utakata laughed.
"Thank you, Fu," Utakata smiled. "And you, Ryuu. But I'm afraid I still can't join you."
"I know," Ryuu smiled. "Keep the seal. There's no range to it, so I'll be able to help you even if you don't come with us."
Utakata nodded, smiling just as Hotaru stirred.
"My master," Hotaru smiled.
"My what a troublesome student you are," Utakata smiled.
"Hey!" Naruto called out, landing beside Ryuu. "Is it over?"
"Yes," Utakata smiled. "It's over."
"What happened to the jutsu?" Naruto asked.
"It seems to have disappeared," Utakata lied.
"Disappeared?" Naruto asked before shrugging. "Well, as long as Hotaru's safe, I'm glad."
"Come on," Ryuu said. "Let's head back to the village and rest. Tomorrow we'll be headed back toward the Hidden Leaf."
The others all nodded and they all headed back to the village, Utakata carrying Hotaru, and Hotaru cuddling into him as he did.
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