Chapter 33
Destruction

Land of Earth
Wasteland

Naruto sprinted with Chakra enhanced legs through the empty terrain towards where he last saw the Shiin Clan hidden away in the valley, the smoke was getting larger and larger which meant he was getting closer and closer.

He had wanted to go to Oninoko and just forget the Shiin Clan but his conscience would not let him do so and in the end, he had come running to a Clan he barely knew for people he barely knew but even so he would do it anyway even if it was stupid.

Naruto came to the valley and skid to a stop as sweat dripped from his forehead, he looked down into the valley and he could make out the battle occurring between the red-clad Kazan Ninja and the more ragged Shiin Clan. He could actually hear a cacophony of music from all different kinds of instruments in between the explosions at least not even mentioning the Kazan had turned one side of the valley into a huge lava flow which was going into the river and creating a huge amount of steam which must have made the fighting down there unbearably hot.

Naruto stood at the edge peering down wondering how he should help but the whizzing of metal through the air brought him out of his mind and he ducked and dodged under a handful of shuriken which continued their journey and got embedded into the opposite valley wall from where he was standing.

Naruto's then jumped back as a rock clad fist slammed into the ground where he was standing and he finally found his opponent a Kazan Ninja who was dressed in dark red from head to toe with a dark grey metal chest plate along with a Samurai looking Kabuto helmet which was plain and didn't have the usual decoration on top.

"You're not a member of the Shiin Clan." He said pointing out the obvious.

"No, I'm not." Naruto said as he slid into a fighting stance.

"We have no quarrel, if you leave now I can pretend I never saw you." The Kazan said as he too settled into a strong Taijutsu stance which Naruto recognised as the Horse stance with legs spread apart even with fists by his sides, it was a solid stance that gave massive stability he would not be knocked off his feet easily.

"Sorry I can't do that." Naruto apologised and then charged forward.

The Kazan still had both fists covered in rock and he lashed out with a left jab which Naruto ducked under and threw a hook aimed at the taller man's ribs which were blocked with an elbow.

There was a furious exchange of blows, punches, knees, kicks and elbows. Naruto attempted to get into his guard and attack the ribs but the Kazan countered by bringing up his knee and attempting to shatter Naruto's jaw Naruto managed to deflect the knee with both hands by striking at the knee with his palms, then Naruto changed tactics and threw a seemingly reckless kick at the man's head which was caught by the Kazan Ninja with both hands but Naruto expected this and he struck out with his right arm and slammed his elbow right into the man's knee and made him buckle from the sudden blow.

Naruto took advantage by then hitting him with chain punches into the ribs even though he was balancing on one leg with the other in the Kazan's iron grip. He decided to counter by flinging Naruto around like a rag doll and attempting to smash him to the floor but Naruto then slammed his other leg into his wrists and made him let go and Naruto hit the ground in a controlled manner and was on his feet in an instant just dodging a heel kick by a hairs length from his opponent.

"You're good." He complimented Naruto seemingly impressed with his close combat ability.

"So are you." Naruto returned the compliment panting.

"But now you're a threat that I have to kill." He lamented and brought his hands together and made a familiar Hand Sign.

'He's a Yoton user!' Naruto already knew how dangerous the Yoton was in close combat and he didn't want to exhaust himself too early using his own Kekkei Genkai to counter him.

Naruto launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken at the Kazan forcing him to release the Hand Sign and stop the Jutsu he was attempting to activate.

Naruto moved in close to stop any attempt at activating that Yoton no Yoroi Jutsu which would cloak them head to toe in lava and basically made Taijutsu impossible.

Naruto launched a kick at the man's shin and both of them winced as bone hit bone, Naruto was trying to cut the man down and hoping that his shin wouldn't break before his opponents as he kept kicking at both of his legs with his own.

"Urgh!" He grunted while Naruto was holding back tears from the pain of slamming his legs into his enemys' own though he was not taking it without dishing it back out as the Kazan was throwing punches which Naruto was barely dodging and he was getting glancing blows which were making his skin split from the force of them just catching.

Eventually, Naruto's stamina proved superior or at least his bones harder to break as the Kazan dropped to one knee after one harsh kick which broke a bone as both Ninja heard it snap from the force and Naruto took full advantage and grabbed the mans head and drove his left knee into his face then his right and finished him with a harsh elbow to the top of his head.

The Kazan dropped to the ground hard completely and completely unconscious, Naruto had hit him with all he had, the man had a broken leg, broken nose and jaw as well as a nasty head wound from the elbow that he used to finish him off.

"Ah, hah, ah." Naruto panted as sweat dripped from his head and he could feel all those small cuts from the glancing blows and now Naruto could feel each small stinging cut that was bleeding.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Another huge explosion rocked the valley and this time Naruto fell down and hit the ground as another huge plume of smoke began to rise up.

'That's not smoke.' Naruto realised.

He looked over and saw a huge pool of lava fighting against the fast-running river which was producing a huge amount of steam and there was far more as it looked more active than the lava flow which had now cooled and hardened.

"I need to get down there," Naruto muttered to himself looking at the small figures exchanging Jutsu and shuriken, the Kazan were easy to see due to their uniform appearance while it was obvious that most of the Shiin were still hiding in the shadows and attacking from a distance.

'I'll take care of these wounds first, and recharge my Chakra with some medicine.' Naruto thought as he opened his pouch.

'Not to mention, I've got to deal with him.' Naruto looked over at the unconscious Kazan Clan Member.

Down In The Valley
With Tayuya & Sasame

Tayuya was not having an easy time as she currently was hiding up in a rock formation in the cave while playing her flute and controlling her 3 summoned Doki with the notes and was using them to fight against the invaders while Sasame was trapping them in Genjutsu allowing Tayuya to get kill shots in on their enemy, it was a really good system for the two of them to use.

Arashi had just returned from patrol and engaged the leader of the assaulting Kazan Ninja and that fight was happening outside and the source of most of the explosions and destruction in the area.

The injured were being led into tunnels that lead further down the valley where they could escape and try to head to a village that was supposed to be in the far north-east of their current location.

"God damn it how many are there." Tayuya complained as she took the flute away from her mouth for the first time since the battle started.

Sasame was out in the open with her own instrument a modified steel Kugo, a giant war harp shaped like a crescent moon with multiple strings that when Sasame plucked them let out high harsh notes which produced a razor-sharp wind which the orange-haired girl was using to cut down attacking Kazan Ninja.

As it stood Tayuya and Sasame were technically part of the rear guard and were buying time for injured and noncombatants of the Shiin Clan to flee as such they were mainly dealing with the few attackers who managed to punch through the frontline which was being led by Arashi who Tayuya could hear was fighting the leader of the forces attacking them.

"Where the hell is Shiin?" Tayuya wondered angrily as she swiped some sweat off her forehead, ever since that huge lava slide the heat in the cave itself was getting unbearable.

Lava created through Chakra was not as hot as natural lava but it was similar to the fact that natural lightning was faster than lightning created through Chakra. Fighting a Raiton user in a thunderstorm was a stupid idea just like fighting a Kazan near a volcano was suicide both could manipulate the actual element directly instead of producing a lesser version through Ninjutsu and of course a Kazan using natural lava could also control the toxic fumes that came from the eruption which could easily be used to wipe them out since they were in caves.

'Be grateful for the small mercies.' Tayuya thought wryly as she continued to use her Doki as shields for Sasame who was the main defender of their small part of the battlefield.

'Where are Kotohime and Menma!?' We need everyone!' Tayuya thought as one of her Doki blocked a barrage of the shuriken from hitting Sasame in the back and then another attacked the Kazan who threw them.

Tayuya's Doki were Summons but in actuality, they were more like unliving puppets as they did not bleed nor die from injury of course there were a lot more than 3 of them but Tayuya preferred the ones she had now, all of them were huge and muscular with bandaged eyes and mouths sewn shut, one was wearing a dark green full bodysuit with long hair and a huge studded metal club held in both hands which were being used to sweep Kazan away as well as smashing into the ground to create a smokescreen with dust.

Her second was shirtless with dark pants and bald unlike the first, it was littered with scars and had two huge claw weapons bandaged to both of its arms. The third was completely covered in bandages with needles sticking out of its head and had its head constantly tilted back looking at the sky this one was her main defender and would be used as a shield for Sasame and herself if she was spotted.

'We're losing this battle, more and more are coming in!' Tayuya thought in alarm as a full squad managed to break through the frontline and were heading right for Sasame and the other defending Shiin members.

"I'll have to use it!" Tayuya spoke taking her mouth off the flute for a moment and taking a deep breath for what she considered her strongest Jutsu along with being the most Chakra draining as well.

"Makyo no Ran!" Tayuya said the name of her death melody and then played her flute.

The Doki suddenly stopped in place and then the stitches on their mouths ripped apart as they forced their jaws open and then worm-like things came out of the Doki's mouths they were translucent looking like ghosts and they were covered in mouths looking like hungry spirits and of course they were and under the control of Tayuya's melody the ravenous worms attacked the nearest enemy Ninja who of course attempted to attack them but weapons passed right through and Chakra was absorbed.

This Ninjutsu was Tayuya's strongest and most draining, as she had to use Chakra to control the worms while they got stronger through feeding on Yang Chakra as they were mainly composed of Yin Chakra and needed to balance out the severe deficit of Yang through devouring it mainly from Tayuya's enemies, this paired with Sasame's Futon based Ninjutsu made it a powerful combo to be feared and Tayuya could already know that the Kazan had now lost their advantage as her worms shot around devouring Chakra from her enemies.

Sasame was concentrating with her eyes closed and kneading a huge amount of Chakra while Tayuya was running interference with her Jutsu.

"Hiden Ninpo: Uta no Shi!" Sasame unleashed her Ninjutsu as she did a full strum of her war harp and unleashed visible blades of wind Chakra at the invading Kazan who was of course more concentrated on dodging Tayuya's own Ninjutsu so even if they saw the attack coming most of them were already in motion and couldn't stop their movement and of course, they were cut to pieces by the merciless blades made of wind which Sasame seemed to control through plucking at the strings on her steel harp.

Tayuya grinned as she controlled the worms even though her Chakra was draining faster than her Jutsu could replenish, it was satisfying to see them all fall and die, more and more Shiin Clan Members were forced back into the cave as the frontline was pushed back so she had to be careful and make sure none of her family was caught in her technique.

'There's Kotohime! But where's Arashi and Menma we've held out long enough to start running now.' Tayuya thought almost smiling at seeing familiar faces.

Then Tayuya's smile died at seeing the injuries of her fellow Clan members, Kotohime was missing her right arm and she was clutching a bloody kunai in her remaining arm it looked like she had lost her instrument not that she could use it one-handed.

Then the worst happened and the mouth of the large cave exploded in lava and multiple Kazan Ninja leapt in and landed on the ground making the mud hiss and bubble under the heat from their Yoton no Yoroi but then the worse one of them appeared.

The leader at the previous battle which annihilated that village, the head of the Kazan Assault Teams; Kazan Kagetora better known in the Land of Earth as Gashadokuro because after a battle all he would leave behind was white bones after melting all the flesh off with his Yoton Ninjutsu. He was a huge man easily the tallest person Tayuya had ever seen standing a full head and shoulders above all the other men around him and he was well-muscled like all Ninja were but not bulky instead he was lithe and looked light on his feet but judging from his exposed biceps that did not mean wouldn't hit hard. He was simple clothes like all Kazan did except for one decoration on his chest in white was the symbol of the Kazan Clan an exploding volcano.

But the thing that caught Tayuya's eye the most was what the huge man had in his hands, his left hand was holding a limp body while the right had something round in it.

"Shiin Clan!" His voice boomed throughout the cave as the fighting settled down and all attention was on him.

"Give up! You're leader Arashi is dead!" He announced and held up and showed everyone what was in his right hand a white skull.

"NO!" Numerous voices chorused together at the declaration.

"It's not possible." Tayuya muttered with wide tear-filled eyes, her gaze swept over to Kotohime who was holding back her own tears and Tayuya knew it was true.

Tayuya hated Kotohime but never doubted the woman's loyalty and love for Arashi and to see her standing there with tears in her eyes and biting her lip so hard she was drawing blood meant one thing.

Arashi had been killed by the Gashadokuro.

'We're fucked then, this is the end.' Tayuya felt strangely calm at her impending death though when she looked over and saw Sasame had collapsed to her knees sobbing that lit a fire in Tayuya, if she could her sister out of here alive then at least Sasame could live on and pass down the Shiin Clan's music.

"If you do not surrender then an example will be made of you, like this boy here!" He shouted out again and held up the person who he was holding for all to see and Tayuya gasped at seeing who it was.

Menma was being held up by the neck for the Shiin and Kazan to see, he was bleeding heavily from his head and was also badly burned on his right side, to the point where his clothes had melted into his flesh he looked like he was on death's door ready to go in.

"Why!? so you can kill us without a fight!?" One of them shouted out, it was Kana a woman older than Tayuya who specialised in Genjutsu like her.

"The men will be put to work in the mines, the women will be taken in by the Kazan." He replied his voice flat but loud.

"Grgh!" Tayuya growled, she knew what that meant.

The men would be used for hard labour until they died and the women would be distributed to the Kazan Clan as pleasure women little more than sex slaves for the victorious Kazan to slake their lust on.

It was a common practice between Ninja Clans and one of the biggest ways to get a Kekkei Genkai within a Clan after all you just needed to breed a generation loyal to the winning Clan and they would inherit the leadership and pass down that power to their own children, the most famous victims of such a thing were the now-extinct Azuchi Clan who used to possess the Bakuton Kekkei Genkai but they were defeated by the Izuchi Clan Vassals of the strongest Clan in the Land of Earth the Tsuchi Clan.

Within 2 generations the Izuchi Clan established a full platoon of Bakuton wielding Ninja and 2 generations later all Izuchi Ninja had the Bakuton while the Azuchi Clan were relegated to history books.

It would be worse for the Shiin Clan since they possessed no Kekkei Genkai and forcing the teaching of their Hiden Ninjutsu was not what the Kazan were after they just wanted the Shiin Clan dead.

"F-fu." Menma attempted to speak even though there was blood stuck in his throat but it did catch the attention of the man who was holding him by the scruff of his neck.

"What?" He questioned and brought Menma closer to him in an attempt to hear his words.

"Fuck you!" Menma hacked out the words and made a single hand seal, then Kagetora noticed that the young Ninja had covered his chest in Explosive Tags which were now lit and glowing.

"You!" Kagetora realised instantly what Menma was attempting, a suicide attack.

He launched Menma away like he was a kunai but he was a moment too late as the moment Menma left Kagetora's hand the Explosive Tags went off and the entire cave was consumed in a huge explosion which kicked up massive amounts of dust and debris.

Tayuya did what she thought was best and dove at Sasame in an attempt to cover her, even though her legs screamed out in agony she managed to reach Sasame just before the shockwave hit.

With Naruto

Naruto managed to sneak himself down the cliff while the two Clans were fighting out in the open but Naruto noticed as he got closer that the Shiin Clan were getting pushed back further into the cave and then he noticed Arashi in the thickest of the fighting and he seemed to be the one keeping morale among the Shiin as all of the Ninja around him seemed to be protecting him by covering his blindspots as he plucked away at that instrument of his the Shamisen and it seemed with each pluck he produced a wave of fire which he could control and shape based on what strings he used.

In fact, despite being pushed back to the cave it looked like a lot more Kazan were being killed compared to the Shiin.

'Wow! He really is that good.' Naruto thought as a huge tiger made of fire erupted from Arashi's instrument and charged at the Kazan burning some of them up.

Naruto being very careful while sneaking around, hid behind a rock on the edge of the side of the river, he couldn't cross the raging rapids without exposing himself so he decided to stay hidden and observe the flow of the battle and wait for the best moment for him to intervene.

The Kazan were no slouches but with a raging river, the Suiton users in the Shiin Clan were proving their worth even though it was lava the sheer amount of water they were throwing at the Yoton Ninjutsu was actually causing it to lose power and become more manageable and easy to dodge.

By the time Naruto reached the ground bottom of the valley, he had the feeling that he wouldn't need to intervene as Arashi despite being a bad matchup against the Kazan was dominating the battle.

But this state of affairs did not last as Naruto felt a huge Chakra signature above, he looked up and saw that something was falling down from the sky and it had a lot of Chakra.

"Did something jump down from the top of the valley!?" Naruto said shocked momentarily forgetting he was supposed to be sneaking around.

Whatever it was, the moment it hit the ground a huge plume of dust and dirt shot up in the air and a massive heatwave went through the valley Naruto's lip cracked from the sudden dryness that overtook the valley even with a river right next to him.

"Retreat! We've delayed enough!" Arashi's voice echoed through the valley.

A huge glob of lava erupted from the plume of dust and earth and smashed through Kazan Ninja and into the Shiin's ranks killing a group of Ninja, they didn't even have the chance to dodge.

"There is no retreat now." A low tone echoed and the debris cleared to reveal a burning crater in the ground and a man standing on the edge, he was huge and was emanating Chakra.

"The Gashadokuro." Arashi seemed to recognise the man instantly.

"And you are Arashi leader of the Shiin." He replied looking at him with some respect in his eyes.

"I'm not the leader." He said modestly though there was a bitter tone to the words.

"Yes, you are now." The man called Gashadokuro said and he threw something black at Arashi and Naruto realised what or rather who it was as Arashi caught it by instinct.

"Shiin." Arashi muttered confirming Naruto's suspicion.

He had thrown Shiin's severed head at Arashi who after gazing at it for a moment threw it to the side like trash.

"We found him fleeing north with two whores, I had him killed and took the women." Gashadokuro informed Arashi like he was talking about the weather.

"I see, I don't suppose you would let my Clan flee the Land of Earth?" Arashi asked him though judging by the look on his face he already knew the answer to that.

"We will finish what we have started." Gashadokuro stated with a smirk.

"I thought that would be the case." Arashi lamented and his eyes sharpened.

"Menma, go inside and tell everyone to retreat, I'll hold him off." Arashi ordered the injured blonde boy next to him.

Naruto winced when he saw Menma's wounds, it looked like he took the full brunt of a Katon Ninjutsu to his side.

"No! Arashi! If you die we are lost!" Menma argued with his working eye looking at Arashi.

"It is my duty to protect the Clan no matter what, even at the cost of my life." Arashi said the words that everyone knew about Clan Heads.

"Go now!" Arashi urged and he twanged his Shamisen harshly producing a screeching note which to the surprise of every but Arashi the water from the river surged upwards high in the air and then slammed down over the Kazan forces.

When the water cleared there were fewer Kazan but those that remained were covered in lava and producing huge amounts of steam.

"Yoton: Shakugaryugan!" Gashadokuro unleashed a barrage of lava balls at Arashi and the Shiin Ninja.

Another strum and Arashi created a wall of water but against the superheated rock, it might as well not have been there as they pierced right through and more Shiin Ninja died while Menma brought his ocarina up to his lips and began to play notes producing a Genjutsu fog.

The Gashadokuro charged right through the water wall and went right for Arashi.

"No!" Menma screamed and he jumped to stop the name.

"Menma! Stop!" Arashi shouted but it was too late as the Kazan man slapped Menma away with a lava-clad arm and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Ninpo: Katai Suidan!" Arashi strummed again and created hundreds of small balls of water which shot at the charging lava Ninja.

At first to Naruto it looked like the tiny balls of water wouldn't do much to him but then they made contact and even though they burst into steam on contact it seemed that the name was very true as the multitude of small projectiles forced the Kazan Leader back and had the bonus effect of blinding him with steam.

Arashi continued his assault while manoeuvring to the right so the Kazan would have his back to the river, he passed Menma who looked to be unconscious as Arashi attempted to speak to him but shook his head and stepped over the prone boy while continuing to use water to great effect.

"Katon and Suiton huh. A rare combination if you were lucky, you would have been born with the Futton." The Gashadokuro appeared from the cloud of steam completely unharmed and even smiling.

"Not all of us are lucky enough to be born with a Kekkei Genkai!" Arashi said as he began playing a tune but strangely nothing was happening though Naruto could feel Arashi's Chakra begin to drain.

"Indeed, you should curse the fact that you were born into a weak pathetic Clan!" He replied and began walking toward Arashi unflinchingly despite the barrage.

"That Jutsu was a surprise but I've adapted, now it's like taking a walk in the rain." He taunted as his lava armour seemed to burn hotter and the water balls were now evaporating before even making contact.

"I can't believe a Ninja Clan would use instruments to fight, they are the tools of servants and entertainers. How utterly repulsive." Gashadokuro commented and Naruto could imagine the look of disgust on the man's face as he said that.

"Perhaps but these instruments have saved our Clan more times than can be counted. Hijutsu: Umibozu!" Arashi shot back and he unleashed his Ninjutsu with all of his remaining Chakra.

The river had stopped flowing and instead, it rose up and formed a vaguely humanoid shape with two glowing yellow eyes, this being was easily the height of the valley and after looking around it turned its attention down at the Shiin and Kazan forces.

'I've never seen a Jutsu like this before! Did he create living water!?' Naruto thought alarmed craning his head right back and he couldn't see the top of this thing because of how close he was to it.

The giant water monster looked at Arashi then at his enemy and it lifted a huge spindly arm up and slammed it down on the glowing lava men.

The Kazan realized that they were not dealing with normal water the moment it made contact with them as instead of bubbling and turning to steam it bubbled but got very sticky instead like syrup and then they began to drown in thick sticky water.

Kazan Kagetora had realized the danger of this Ninjutsu even before it attacked and he had smartly melted the ground beneath his feet and created a place to hide, he noticed that the water above his head was not flowing down to fill the hole but instead remained above him, so he waited until it was gone and then he jumped up and noticed many of his family were inside the monster holding their necks, even as the water around them bubbled it did not evaporate.

"You." He said darkly turning to Arashi who had run over to Menma and was speaking to the boy in low tones.

"Arashi behind!" Menma attempted to warn Arashi even with a damaged and burnt throat.

Arashi however did not need a warning as his senses screamed at him and he ducked under a kick that probably would have decapitated him had he not jumped to the left and rolled with Menma in his arms.

"Remember what I said Menma." Arashi said and threw the boy towards the cave since he wouldn't be able to make it there by himself.

"Kazan Kagetora! You seem unhappy." Arashi said to the man as he stood up and turned to face him.

"That Jutsu is unique but all Ninjutsu has a weakness, I think killing you will stop it." Kagetora said to Arashi.

"I'll kill you before you kill my Clan." He declared and charged at Arashi again who began rapidly strumming his Shamisen creating waves of fire and water.

The battle was always for time but now it was Arashi's delaying actions pitted against Kagetora's rescuing actions.

The Umibozu interfered by swiping its arm aimed right at Kagetora but he was canny and often created holes or even footholds in the valley wall to avoid the sticky water monster, but the fight was far from over at this point.

Naruto could barely see the battle through the water as it seemed to distort their figures due to how thick it was but he could make out who was who due to the colour of their clothes.

The battle continued but Arashi had been fighting for most of the morning while Kagetora was fresh and had a lot more Chakra than Arashi to begin with and eventually the waves of fire and water began to get weaker along with the Umibozu getting slower the final blow was soon to be struck.

Arashi running out of Chakra and options, threw his Shamisen at the monster he was fighting who proceeded to try and beat it out the way but, of course, Arashi has put Explosive Tags on it and they blew up before they burnt up from the sheer heat of the lava amour.

"Not impressive boy." Kagetora said and he stamped his foot on the ground and created a small pool of lava.

"Yoton: Yokumo" He created a small spider made of lava from the pool he just created and the creature jumped at Arashi who drew two kunai and threw one at the spider making it burst.

"Bad idea." Kagetora mocked him as the globs of lava became smaller spiders and repeated the process Arashi knew what kind of Jutsu it was but he was out of options as the lava spiders jumped on him and began to set his clothes on fire as well as burrowing into his body.

"AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHH!" He screamed out in pain as the multitude of spiders made it their mission to get into his body.

"Such a shame, I'll put you out of your misery." Kagetora said as he concentrated all of his armour on his right arm.

"Yoton: Shakugaikoken!" He intoned and charged at Arashi and punched right through the centre of his chest making a clean hole.

Arashi thankfully died quickly as lava filled his body along with the punch which destroyed his heart and lungs instantly.

The moment Arashi died the Umibozu which he created collapsed and turned back into

a river with the Kazan Ninja still inside it some were lucky to be over land as the Umibozu had attempted to save Arashi but he had died first.

Kagetora burnt Arashi's body until only his head remained, then he burnt the flesh away until he was staring at a white skull.

"All those who can still fight prepare yourselves this is the final blow." Kagetora shouted at his men, many got back up some didn't and others were swept away by the once again raging river.

"Let us finish this extermination." He commented and came upon the crawling Menma who had made it into the cave but not far enough as Kagetora lifted him easily with his left arm while his right held Arashi's skull.

The Kazan responded and they unleashed a collaborative Yoton Ninjutsu which went into the cave mouth and Naruto heard the screams as people died from it

Naruto could barely move after seeing that kind of display but now he was alone out here with dead Kazan Ninja so he jumped across the river and snuck behind the force who entered the caves where he was welcomed once.

Naruto was careful to be close to the ground and quiet but as he got eyes on the huge Kazan he noticed Menma was still alive and as he was held up the half-dead boy spotted Naruto who was easy to see if you were paying attention.

Blue met blue and Menma nodded at Naruto and mouthed words at him before turning his attention to the man who was holding him up in the air.

The next thing Menma exploded and Naruto had to duck to cover himself from the debris, the worst thing about explosions in confined spaces was the noise and the shockwave, Naruto had avoided the shockwave by ducking behind a rock but his ears were ringing from the noise and he could barely hear anything apart from a high-pitched whine.

He walked forward and stumbled across corpses that were half-melted along with body parts from Menma's suicidal attack, but even so, Naruto forged on.

'I hope some of the Shiin Clan survived, there has to be another way out of this cave. No Ninja Clan chooses a place to hide without preparing hidden escape routes.' Naruto thought as he held his head.

The smoke cleared a little bit and he spotted a familiar shock of orange hair Naruto ran over to find her and Tayuya though the latter was completely out of it while Sasame was awake but dazed.

"Sasame!" Naruto said and shook the girl who jumped up before realising who it was.

"Naruto you're here!" She was shocked but regained her senses.

"We need to get out of here now, can you walk?" He asked her while checking on Tayuya who was really banged up but alive.

"What?" Sasame asked back confused.

"I mean. yes, I can but what about everyone else?" She asked standing up as Naruto hefted Tayuya into a sitting position though she was completely unconscious and covered in cuts and bruises.

"We can worry about them when they get up." Naruto said to her.

"Men!" A familiar voice shouted which echoed throughout the cave.

"If you can move kill all of these dogs! Men and Women, there will be no more Shiin blood in the world after today!" Kagetora the Gashadokuro shouted loudly.

The dust and smoke were settling now and Naruto could see the man standing there minus an arm but otherwise looking alive and there was a worrying amount of uninjured Kazan Ninja.

"Cut their throats!" He ordered again though it looked like he couldn't see them.

"Over there! orange!" One pointed out seeing Sasame's bright hair.

"Sasame duck!" Naruto warned her and grabbed her arm to pull her down.

Metal flew and blood spilt as Sasame turned back to Naruto with a shuriken embedded cleanly in her neck and even more in her chest.

"Naruto." She whispered with lips covered in blood and she collapsed down.

"Sasame! Shit!" Naruto took stock of her injuries and grimly realised the truth if he took the shuriken out she would be dead in seconds if he left it in she'd live longer but without a Medic-Nin nearby it wouldn't matter.

"Naruto! Listen to me!" She begged with tears in her eyes as blood began to pour out of her wounds.

"KAZAN BASTARDS!" Another voice roared as members of the Shiin Clan recovered and the battle began anew but Naruto was only paying attention to Sasame who was bleeding out in his arms.

"Get Tayuya away from here! Please!" Sasame said to him as she held out a hand and grabbed Tayuya's.

"But you and your Clan." He pointed out.

"The Clan is dead like me! Please take here out of this country, I want my sister to live!" Sasame gasped with tears and blood running down her face.

"Please! I want my sister to live!" She begged again grabbing him weakly with her other hand.

"Okay, I will. I swear on my Nindo that I'll get Tayuya out of this country." Naruto vowed to the dying girl.

"Thank you, hah, all I ever, hah wanted was to play, hah, with her again, hah." Sasame said gasping for breath.

"Get out now, I know that whoever's left won't last long," Sasame whispered as her voice got weaker.

"At the crossroads deep in the cave, take the left one, then right then when you come to the dead-end face the left wall and the hidden exit is there." Sasame's voice got weaker with every word.

"I understand." Naruto whispered back to her.

"Good, go." Sasame urged him.

"I will." Naruto said but then he grabbed the shuriken embedded in the girl's neck.

"It'll be quicker this way, just like going to sleep." Naruto said to her that though he had tears in his own blue eyes it would be a quick and relatively painless death, often this was called mercy because dragging out suffering was seen as bad Ninja etiquette.

"You're really too kind Naruto, take care of Tayuya for me." Sasame said with a smile.

Naruto pulled the shuriken out and blood near erupted from the open wound it flowed quickly, and Sasame still smiling died right there in front of Naruto with her reflection in his eyes.

Naruto reached over and closed the girls' eyes and then grabbed Tayuya in a bridal carry and stood up, he looked over his shoulder at the battle seeing what was left of the Shiin Clan fighting with nothing to lose and seeing the Kazan lighting the cave up with lava.

He took a good look at all the death and destruction then turned and ran as fast as he could.

AN:

Here you all are Chapter 33, hope you enjoyed it.

This was meant to be much smaller but what can I say it got away from me. There was also supposed to be a scene where Kagerou would use her Antlion Ninja Art: Ephemeral and become a butterfly girl who would produce music with every flap of her wings which would fuck shit up, but I couldn't find a place to put it.

So the Shiin Clan are wiped out and this was meant to happen from the start to show that Naruto can't save anyone he was getting lucky so far but luck runs out and he couldn't do a thing to save them from the Kazan. This was something I wanted to do with this story before I even finished the first chapter.

Translations:

Makyo no Ran=Revolt of the Demon World

Hiden Ninpo: Uta no Shi=Secret Ninja Art: Song Of Death

Yoton no Yoroi=Lava Release Armour

Gashadokuro=Starving Skeleton

Bakuton=Explosion Release

Yoton: Shakugaryugan= Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock

Ninpo: Katai Suidan=Ninja Art: Hard Water Bullet

Futton=Boil Release

Hijutsu: Umibozu=Secret Technique: Sea Priest

Yoton: Yokumo=Lava Release: Lava Spider

Yoton: Shakugaikoken=Lava Release: Scorching Armoured Fist