I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Monster
Ryuu frowned as he stared at the top of the giant turtle's head, Fu leaning on his shoulder. The entire island, as it turned out, was a massive turtle under the control of the Hidden Cloud, and it had been constantly moving around since they'd arrived to keep the Akatsuki from finding them. Yomo had noticed first during one of his recon flights and had told Ryuu about it as soon as he'd gotten back.
"What's on the agenda for today?" Fu asked.
"Well, Naruto's dealing with his fake mission to build an animal army, Killer B is spending his time alternating between in bed with Yugito and writing raps, and Yugito is spending her time between in bed with B and training Utakata to control his Tailed Beast Chakra," Ryuu listed. "Guy's recovering from using the Eight Gates, Aoba and Yamato are supervising Naruto, Hinata's trying to help keep Naruto distracted, Sasuke and Itachi are supervising Kisame, and Hotaru, Tayuya, and Kabuto are all mostly trying not to let Naruto figure out what's actually going on. I suppose we could find a secluded spot, or fly up high enough to not be seen, and have some fun."
Fu grinned widely. "We have been busy enough to have a bit of a dry spell lately, haven't we?"
"We have," Ryuu smiled, kissing her.
After a few seconds, however, he pulled away, eyes narrowing as Yomo cawed from above. He and Fu flew into the air instantly, Ryuu sensing for foreign chakras, Fu looking around just as countless insects from the island, several of them giant ones, began to chitter and buzz with warnings about danger.
"From the west," Fu translated.
Ryuu turned, activating his Sharingan as well. He could sense it clearly now that he was focusing in the correct direction, but there was a problem. It was near the ocean floor and closing in rapidly. Very rapidly. It was covering miles in less than a minute each. And it was not only horrifyingly powerful, it was massive. A few seconds after the bugs began to warn Fu which direction it was approaching from, Sasuke, Itachi, and Kisame appeared below them, Ryuu and Fu dropping to hover beside the spikes they stood on.
"Under the water, eh?" Kisame mused. "A Water Type opponent. I'm glad I borrowed this from Killer B."
He rested Samehada on his shoulder, just as the Giant Squid exploded out of the water, being impaled on the Island Turtle's spiked shell. Water began to rise before them, a massive form rivaling the Island Turtle for size emerging from the water which cascaded down its body in dozens of waterfalls. However, even as the water fell, Ryuu's gut dropped, his body went cold, and Isobu roared in confusion and outrage within him.
"What...is this?" Kisame asked. "I thought...you were..." He stared at Ryuu.
"I am," Ryuu growled, glaring at the massive creature before them as the waterfalls began to run dry. "Orochimaru cloned Isobu, the Three-tails."
It looked a bit different than Isobu. Its shell was largely the same, but with enormous, blade-like growths in a row down the center of its back, its shell on its shoulders and around its forearms was black and more heavily spiked than Isobu's, its underside was the same light grey as its back, the backs of its elbows extended into enormous spikes, its head lacked the hair-shaped shell section Isobu had on top of its head, instead replacing it with a pair of enormous horns that curved upward from the sides of its head, but it retained the mouth-guard-like section, albeit slid down to the clone's chin, freeing its gaping mouth filled with enormous, razor-sharp teeth, and the shell section on its chin was framed by a second pair of horns that grew downward before curling forward and up like a pair of tusks. The last two differences were the inclusion of a pair of snapping turtle hind legs armed with enormous claws, and that the clone's three long tails ended in spear-like points, rather than several smaller spikes like a shrimp's tail.
"I don't believe it," Kisame gaped. "Orochimaru was really capable of this? Cloning a Tailed Beast?"
"Easily," all four of the others nodded.
"This was probably an amusing pass time for Orochimaru," Ryuu said.
"Most likely just something to keep himself busy while he transferred hosts after perfecting his method for stealing Kekkei Genkai," Sasuke said.
"It's stronger than the Three-tails," Kisame said. "I can handle it."
"No," Ryuu said, all three Uchiha suddenly surrounded by Chakra the same color as their Susanoo. "We'll handle this. You be ready to block any attacks aimed at the island turtle."
Kisame nodded, setting the end of his sword on the ground as the three Uchiha starting forward, forming their full-bodied Susanoo as they charged. Fu waited with Kisame, tanto in one hand in case Kisame wasn't as reformed as he claimed, though Kisame paid her no mind, instead watching the battle. As the three Susanoo reached Isobu's clone, they all struck with their blades, the combined impact hurling the clone away, but it didn't scratch its shell.
"Aim for the eye!" Ryuu shouted as the Susanoo landed on the water, Ryuu's tanto blade expanding into a solid green drill with green flames like the tanto's blade forming the drill's threads.
Sasuke's Susanoo pulled its wrist bow's string back, an arrow forming as he did, as Itachi formed a string of three connected Yasaka Magatama and flames roared to life along Ryuu's drill, but when they all fired their attacks, Ryuu's forming into a spiraling spear of flames, the Three-tails Clone roared, a Tailed Beast Shockwave exploding from its mouth and dispersing Ryuu's flames as it deflected both Sasuke and Itachi's attacks. Sasuke's arrow splashed down somewhere behind the clone as Itachi's Yasaka Magatama exploded against the clone's shell on the very end of its shoulder projection, the explosion doing nothing.
"This isn't going to go very well!" Sasuke snarled.
"It's striking back!" Itachi warned.
The clone roared a second time, this time expelling a half-dozen massive blasts of pressurized water like Isobu could fire. Ryuu avoided two, which exploded in the distance, past the Island Turtle, Sasuke dispersed one headed for him using an arrow, though the arrow missed the clone, and Itachi blocked three with the Yata Mirror, but was sent slamming into the Island Turtle anyway, several of the turtle's spikes breaking off.
"This thing's too powerful!" Sasuke shouted. "I'm going to use Amaterasu!"
"No!" Ryuu shouted. "It might ram the Island Turtle!"
Sasuke swore. "What do we do, then?"
Just then, the clone dove, only to explode out of the water a second later, sailing high into the air and falling toward the Island Turtle. All three Uchiha leapt into the air over the island, forming their most powerful attacks again, Ryuu this time firing a Majestic Demolisher Flame from inside of his Susanoo. At the same time as they struck, Killer B transformed into Gyuki, firing a Tailed Beast Ball as Fu transformed into Chomei to do the same. The blasts all slammed into the Three-tails Clone's underside and sent it flying away from the Island Turtle before the Uchiha landed on the Island Turtle, only to leap off of it again, following the clone out to sea, Killer B and Fu following. As it crashed down in the water, it immediately dove. Killer B dove in after it, and a few seconds later, resurfaced, struggling to restrain it with his arms and tails.
"Yo, fool, stop resisting!" Killer B shouted. "Otherwise-"
The clone cut him off by blasting him in the face with a water blast, sending him bouncing across the surface of the water. It roared, lunging at Sasuke, and it bit down on the sides of his Susanoo, crushing it instantly, only for an Afterimage Clone of Ryuu to get Sasuke to safety before he could be crushed. As its jaws closed, however, Ryuu, Fu, and Itachi all struck, Ryuu and Itachi both opting for a Majestic Demolisher Flame and Chomei firing a Tailed Beast Ball. This time, all three attacks exploded into the clone's face before it could stop them, Chomei's impacting with the eye directly. The resulting explosion hurled the clone away, shrieking a high piercing cry of agony as flames roared over its entire body.
"You hit it!" Sasuke said, reforming his Susanoo.
"It's not over!" Ryuu said.
A split second later, the clone closed its eye, forming a Tailed Beast Ball in seconds, only to detonate it in place, clearing the flames from its body while its shell protected it. At the same time, the explosion slammed into Ryuu and the others, hurling them all away and flipping the Island Turtle over as it slammed into it. Ryuu swore as he reformed his Susanoo, leaping back in between the Island Turtle and the Three-tails clone. Chomei flew over to join him instantly as Sasuke and Itachi both began to try and flip the turtle over with their Susanoo, but it was too big.
"This isn't working," Ryuu said. "Chomei, have you gaged its strength in terms of Tailed Beasts?"
Chomei nodded. "Defensively, it's beyond any of us. Power wise, it's roughly level with myself. In terms of actual attacking strength, Gyuki is stronger, but its size and shell make it a more serious threat. Overall, I'd say only Kurama could beat it alone. Even at half of his strength."
"Half?" Ryuu asked.
"I'll tell you about it later," Chomei said. "It's coming."
Ryuu nodded, turning back to the clone as it roared, exploding forward. "Fine then. I guess there's nothing else for it."
As he exploded forward, his Susanoo began to expand rapidly, its appearance changing. Its body grew into one that stood as tall as the clone's shell was wide, and its appearance changed into a Samurai. It wore a kimono shirt with samurai-style armor on its shoulders, hips, forearms, shins, and a mask with its previous form's face, but the fins on the sides and top of its head replaced by a crescent-shaped piece bearing a pentagonal piece in the center of it, centered on its forehead, inside of which Ryuu floated, the ends of the crescent reaching upward into the air. In place of the fins was a head of flaming hair, and a pair of massive wings extended from the Susanoo's back, formed from countless overlapping squares. In its hand was a katana with a solid grip, then a blade formed from the same flames as his Tanto's sword.
The clone roared, moving to ram Ryuu, only for his Susanoo to drop onto one hand and lunge, ramming into the clone and lifting its front into the air. It roared in surprise and frustration, punching at him, only for him to block the arm at the forearm with his sword, which then expanded into a much thicker drill than the previous form's. Chomei instantly blasted the clone in the face with a Tailed Beast Ball, hurling it backward and flipping it onto its back. It roared, diving and flipping itself, then fired a barrage of water blasts before surfacing into a leap after them. However, as the blasts sped toward Ryuu, Itachi's Susanoo stepped in front of Ryuu in a likewise progressed Susanoo. His was much the same as Ryuu's but was orange. Its mask was also different, bearing an armored section reaching from a point on the right corner of its bottom jaw up to its forehead, across it and bearing the same pentagonal section for Itachi to float in, then curving upward like a horn. Its face, however, was nearly human behind the armor, except with an extended, triangular prism nose. Its right hand bore a double-edged sword with the guard being formed from the blade belling outward, and its left bore an expanded Yata Mirror, which blocked the barrage, Itachi's Susanoo not budging this time. Then, as the clone itself neared them, Sasuke's Susanoo, also progressed, fired an arrow from the bow on the back of its right hand. Sasuke's Susanoo's face was maskless, but had three holes in its cheeks, giving it a skull-like appearance, a nose similar to Itachi's, and a pair of hands on the ends of its wings, the left of which held a katana by the scabbard. The arrow slammed into the clone's face and exploded, hurling the clone backward, screaming. Then, as it crashed down on its stomach and roared, again, all three Susanoo charged, Sasuke's preparing to draw its sword. Ryuu's drill shrunk down into a katana again and as they passed, the three of them slashed along the clone's shell, tearing shallow scratches into it, but not breaking through. They did, however, manage to finally draw its attention away from the Island Turtle, and it turned toward them, roaring.
"Let's finish this!" Ryuu snarled. "Chomei, piss it off!"
Chomei fired a Tailed Beast Ball instantly, not bothering to aim for the clone's face, and it exploded against the clone's shoulder. It roared in rage, but as soon as it did, Ryuu's Susanoo exploded forward, crossing the distance in less than a second and stabbing into the clone's mouth at the same time as its blade expanded into a drill. The drill got stuck, but it also stopped the clone from closing its mouth. As the clone tried, the drill began to crack, but flames roared along the drill's threads, flooding into the clone's mouth.
"Sasuke, Itachi!" Ryuu shouted.
Instantly, the flames turned black, Amaterasu flooding into the clone, which shrieked and writhed instantly. The drill finally shattered, but the katana's blade remained. Ryuu's Susanoo hurled the sword skyward before flipping over the clone, all three tails stabbing at him instantly. However, as Ryuu knocked one tail downward under himself, Itachi and Sasuke slashed the other two downward as well, all three landing behind the clone. Then, they all landed behind the clone before grabbing a tail each. Then, they twisted, swinging the clone over themselves and hurling the clone away from the Island Turtle. It crashed down into the water hard, but as it surfaced again, screaming and writhing, Amaterasu was raging from its mouth. Then, finally, it fell onto its back, falling still. Ryuu narrowed his eyes, waiting as Amaterasu spread from the clone, covering the water around it, then nodded to Itachi and Sasuke. Both focused, the Amaterasu shrinking out of existence.
"Is it dead?" Sasuke asked.
"Yeah," Ryuu nodded. "It's dead."
"No, it's not," Itachi said.
As if on cue, the water around the clone exploded into the air as it dove. All three tensed, but as Ryuu extended his senses, he felt it fleeing even faster than it had approached. He narrowed his eyes.
"We should follow it," Itachi said.
"We should finish it," Sasuke agreed.
"We need to flip the Island Turtle back over first, and get permission to leave the island," Ryuu said.
"It'll be gone by then," Itachi said.
Ryuu nodded. "I know. We'll probably have to track it down after the war."
Itachi nodded, looking back toward the Island Turtle. However, as he did, the Island Turtle began to roll. Within seconds, it had been righted again, Ryuu seeing the Tsuchikage flying back up from the spike where he'd been pushing the Island Turtle back over. The three Uchiha let their Susanoo fade, flying over with Fu, who Chomei had returned control to. As they landed beside B, however, they instantly noticed something was wrong.
"What happened?" Ryuu asked.
"We can't find Yamato," Aoba said.
"That's because he's gone," Kisame said, walking over. "Sorry. I tried to catch him, but he was too fast."
"He?" Ryuu asked.
"Orochimaru," Kisame said, gesturing off to the right. "He made me look like a fool, then left."
Samehada leapt off of his back, curling around Killer B until it was on his back again. As it did, Ryuu stared at what Kisame had gestured to. There had obviously been a massive battle, and Orochimaru had left several shed skins behind. Ryuu was impressed Kisame had managed to challenge Orochimaru enough to make him shed his skin once, let alone multiple times.
"Who fought him?" Ryuu asked.
"Me, Yamato, Aoba, Naruto, Hinata, Utakata, Kabuto, Tayuya, and Yugito Nii," Kisame listed.
"Was anyone hurt?" Ryuu asked.
"Kabuto was," Kisame said. "Hinata's treating his wounds now."
"Take me to him," Ryuu said.
Kisame nodded and quickly led Ryuu and Fu to the building where they'd been staying. Everything was soaking wet and had been destroyed and rearranged by the Island Turtle flipping over, but they ignored the damage, instead quickly running to Kabuto's room where Hinata was struggling to stop his bleeding, Tayuya seated at Kabuto's side worriedly. Ryuu and Fu both appeared at Kabuto's side with the Body Flicker Technique, beginning to heal him alongside Hinata, and Kabuto's wounds began to seal rapidly. He had all manner of injuries. Puncture wounds, lacerations, fractures, a ruptured eye, torn ligaments, burns. Orochimaru had clearly been very far from gentle with Kabuto, and had taken a special pleasure in beating him, but between the three of them, they were able to heal him completely.
"You've improved," Kabuto smiled up at Ryuu.
"So have you," Ryuu countered. "Severed aorta, punctured lungs, eviscerated liver, damaged spinal cord. If not for you healing your own wounds this whole time, you'd have died."
Kabuto shrugged, grimacing. "Orochimaru doesn't handle betrayal very well. I'm only alive because he wanted me to suffer and missed his opportunity to kill me. And if Kisame hadn't been helping, none of us would have been able to survive."
"Good to know," Ryuu nodded. "You're going to be sore for a few days."
"Yes, I know," Kabuto nodded. "I did train you in Medical Ninjutsu, after all."
"Where did Orochimaru keep that Three-tails clone?" Ryuu asked.
"It was the thing that escaped from the base where we dealt with Mhao the final time," Kabuto said. "When the trail disappeared, it was because Orochimaru came to collect it."
"How do you know that?" Itachi asked.
"Because he told me while we fought," Kabuto said. "He always had a bit of a problem with bragging about the things he views as accomplishments." He groaned, forcing his body to go limp. "Go and check on Naruto. He's bound to have realized something was wrong when everyone disappeared. He only stayed behind because Utakata used one of the Six-tails' powers to knock him out."
Ryuu nodded. "Fu, Hinata, let's go."
Both nodded and they headed into the Island Turtle, where Naruto was just waking up. He looked over at them, frowning.
"What happened?" Naruto asked.
"Orochimaru sent a clone of the Three-tails after us," Ryuu said. "It's been dealt with, for now, but we were at a serious disadvantage, power-wise."
"Really?" Naruto asked.
"Yes," Fu nodded. "Chomei says that only Kurama could have beaten it in a one-on-one battle."
"Which means, you need to start training to control Kurama's power," Ryuu said, just as Utakata, B, and Yugito walked into the room.
"B and I will oversee your training," Yugito said.
"So will I," Fu added. "You and Utakata have to master controlling the power until it's as easy as controlling your own body."
"When you've finished these drills, Tailed Beast Chakra will feel like it's just an extension of you!" B said, extending Gyuki's tails from his back and drawing two of his shorter blades. "It'll seem like your arms and legs, it's true!" He shattered the ground with a tentacle, then leapt into the air, slashing the stones into a few dozen blocks of random shapes and sizes.
"Whoa!" Naruto grinned.
"Catch them with your Tailed Beast Chakra," B said, his tentacles catching the blocks and rapidly piling them at random, "stack 'em like building blocks. Use your chakra and the Tailed Beast's to balance those rocks!"
Ryuu stared at the tower of blocks. There was a wedge and a pyramid included, and neither was at the top. Ryuu didn't think he could balance them like that no matter how much control he had, much less in under a second.
"And now, it's your turn," B said, tapping a sword against the pillar and making the whole thing crash to the ground.
"Okay I'm using the Nine-tails' Chakra, right?" Naruto asked.
A Chakra Cloak formed around him instantly, but unlike before he had control, and like every other Jinchuriki, where the cloak was boiling red chakra, Naruto's Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak was gold and formed around his body like a second skin. The Chakra moved over his body like flames, and the ends of his forehead protector's strap floated upward behind his head. Ryuu's eyes widened as he saw the cloak, and Naruto held out a hand. A Chakra Arm formed from transparent, golden chakra extended from around his arm, its fingers pointed like any other Jinchuriki's Chakra Arm, but when Naruto went to grip the first block, the block all but exploded from the amount of power he now wielded. Ryuu nodded. As he'd thought, this training would keep Naruto busy and would buy them more than plenty of time before Naruto would try to leave.
Fu extended Chomei's tail, snapping it against the ground and shattered it just like B had. As the blocks were in the air, Ryuu formed a Wind Rapier, then flickered, the chunks of stone crashing down in another complete set of blocks. Then, he and Fu together formed a third set for him to train with. He may have mastered his Susanoo and be more advanced in the training than Naruto or Utakata, but he hadn't come anywhere close to mastering using Isobu's chakra. And since Isobu said he was finally fully recharged, he was free to practice with it now.
Leave a review.