"It's...you." Asuma Sarutobi mused with a mix of shock and worry. He knew from Jiraiya that Akatsuki would be coming. But him of all people…
"It's been a while, Asuma-san." His enemy stated calmly, his red piercing eyes staring him down without any sort of readable emotion. "You certainly seem to have gotten stronger."
"Itachi Uchiha…" Asuma mumbled the name of the traitor under his breath, feeling the wet sensation of a drop of sweat rolling down the side of his face.
Itachi Uchiha was part of Akatsuki…
He didn't know what it was, but Asuma could feel immense power radiating off of the rogue ninja. Itachi Uchiha was always a genius. That much was obvious. The boy had graduated from the Academy by the young age of seven, while he also entered the Anbu at the age of eleven.
He was glad his team wasn't here at the moment. Especially Sasuke…
The boy would have rushed his brother without a second thought, and he would not have stood a chance against him.
He had to signal someone…
"It looks like I'm gonna have to eliminate you right here and now." Asuma stated, holding up his chakra blades.
Jiraiya-sama had said that two Akatsuki members were coming. If that's the case, then where is the other one?
"Asuma-san…" Itachi started with a tone of no emotion. "Please do not get involved with my work. I have no intention of killing you…"
"That's not something that a guy who butchered his clan can say." Asuma countered with narrowed eyes. He pushed chakra into his blades, forming long blue edges. He couldn't beat Itachi. Not in a million years. But if he could at least stall him for a couple of minutes...
"It seems I cannot resolve this problem without encountering another. Very well…" Itachi trailed off with closed eyes, having made his decision. "Then I will get through with force." The Uchiha opened his eyes, running through six hand signs before forming a hole with his left hand to breath through.
Shit! Asuma cursed internally, digging his feet into the yellow-tinted dead grass below him at the sight of his enemy inhaling.
"Katon: Housenka Tsumabeni (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)!" Itachi exhaled, and a wide volley of small fireballs bursted towards Asuma. However, upon the split second of release, Itachi threw out his right hand toward the fireballs with great speed, throwing Shuriken into each fireball.
Fire shuriken? Asuma widened his eyes as he leaped into the air to avoid the shuriken…
"GAH!" Asuma wailed out as he found himself losing control in the air, grunting as he hit the ground hard on his side. He glanced down at his leg to see where the scorching pain was.
Shit…
One of the flaming shuriken formed a cut into him, but it also heavily burned the wound and the surrounding skin, leaving Asuma with a burning pain in the side of his leg.
The eldest of Fugaku Uchiha crossed his fingers, quietly reciting the name of his technique. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!"
Itachi's chakra was severed in half, taking the form of an exact duplicate of himself. The real proceeded to run past Asuma, who was unable to stop him.
Asuma painfully glanced back. Sweat rolled down his eyes when he realized that the man was heading in the direction of a certain Uchiha and Jinchuuriki.
Two Jinchuurikis...
Damn it! Asuma cursed at his weakness, engraving his foot on the ground, lifting himself up onto his knees. Please forgive me, Father. I was unable to stop him. Whatever happens next is all my fault...
The Itachi clone watched with cold eyes as his opponent stumbled to his feet, who let out groans of pain as he did so.
"I will give you one more chance, Asuma-san. Back down now, and I will let you live."
Like hell he would! He would not go down this easily.
He was a Shinobi. A Jonin! The son of the Sandaime, Hiruzen Sarutobi. In honor of his memory, he could not roll over and bring further danger to his subordinates.
He rolled his fingers within the confines of his chakra blades.
"Go to Hell, Itachi Uchiha…"
Itachi closed his eyes. He wished it did not have to come to this. Regardless of the choice that he made, he would not hesitate to do what was necessary. After all, he butchered the entire Uchiha clan without mercy. His own blood. What is the death of one random enemy ninja compared to that?
"So be it, then. You will die now, Asuma-san..."
Meanwhile
"It's payback time, scum." The disdained-filled voice of Kin Tsuchi drawled as she glared down on her enemies. The sources of her humiliation.
Hinata Hyuga...the weak-willed princess who actually managed to hold her own in one versus three.
And Sakura Haruno...who had her on the ground with a kunai to her throat in the span of five seconds.
They are going to suffer! They are going to pay! They are going to rue the day they crossed paths with her.
She was Kin Tsuchi, a member of Otogakure and a disciple of Orochimaru. She would not let the stain of being beaten by a pampered princess and a clanless bitch remain any longer!
"Now…" Kin started as she reached into the pouch on her right leg. She swung her hand out forward. She snapped her fingers outward, sending out a trio of senbon towards her two enemies.
With relative ease, the two kunoichi leaped off of their respective branch and into the air, avoiding the thrown senbon. Sakura narrowed her eyes at the Oto ninja, holding a tight gaze with the girl.
What is she thinking? There's no way she can take the two of us at the same-
"Kyah!"
"SAKURA-SAN!" Hinata shrieked with wide eyes, turning her head towards the pink-haired girl just in time to see her getting sent flying into the ground by Kin Tsuchi, who had moved so fast that they were caught off guard. Hinata glanced down momentarily at the cloud of dust that was formed by Sakura's impact with the ground.
Thank goodness...Hinata sighed at the sight of Sakura's body twitching. She glared back at the Oto kunoichi, who was now turned towards her. W-Wait, what?! But how? How is this possible?
The familiar black patterns running vibrantly across the left side of her body made it all too clear. She was now just like Sasuke. She had been infected by the bite of Orochimaru. It was no wonder she had increased in speed so significantly.
"That mark...when did you get it?" Hinata enquired with a glare.
"Some time after the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams." Kin replied as she ran her fingers across the activated mark on her neck. "I'll admit, it didn't feel so good in the beginning. My body felt like hell. I couldn't move for days...I was awake but at the same time I wasn't. I didn't think I would wake up ever again. However, I must say...the end result…" Kin rolled her fingers into a tight fist, her lips curling into a wide smile. "I'd say it was worth all of the pain. Now, I can have my revenge!"
Hinata gasped at the sudden augmentation of Kin's voice.
She was going to attack…
Her right foot glided back across the ground as she held an open palm outwards, holding her right palm tight to her body to complete her clan's traditional battle stance.
"W-We are not going to lose to you!" She declared, preparing herself for the inevitable assault. After her retort, she saw it. The chakra being pulsing through Kin's feet, boosting her forward as she rushed the Hyuga girl with instantaneous speed. Speed that was so quick that she could barely keep up with it.
So fast! Hinata inwardly panicked as she ducked under an oncoming hook from Kin. She seethed as she parried a couple of punches from the Oto nin, the attacks still stinging her hand. Did the Curse Mark really amplify her abilities this much? Hinata found herself wondering as she pedaled backwards, drawing back a palm.
She seems to be moving at three times the speed she was moving back in the Forest...as well as when she fought Shikamaru!
"Haaaa!" Hinata roared, lunging toward her opponent. She thrusted her hand forward - only for her attack to be ducked. She quickly threw another palm with her other hand.
Kin thrusted her own left arm upward, blocking the attack. She snapped into a sharp grip on the young Hyuga's hand, prompting her to grunt as she tried to force herself out of the Oto nin's grip.
Sh-She's too strong…Hinata whimpered at the ever-tightening grip, feeling Kin's fingers digging into her wrist like little daggers. B-But I cannot give in here!
"Haa!" Hinata yelled, throwing her free hand toward Kin's face, only for it to be parried and countered with a hard punch to the stomach, expelling the breath out of the ex-heiress as she crumpled over Kin's fist. "GAH!" She cried out as Kim removed her hand from her wrist to a tight grip on her short hair.
"Let's get a couple of things straight, Princess!" Kin exclaimed, removing the hand from her victim's abdomen, staring her dead in the eye. "What happened in the Forest was a fluke." The Oto nin grunted with disgust, pulling Hinata's body toward her with her left hand and…
THUD!
"AUH!" Hinata's eyes bulged open, her body hitching forward from the second punch to her stomach.
"Nothing more!"
Kin once again pounded her enemy in the gut, eliciting yet another cry of pain from her.
"Nothing less!"
Now with all of her strength, Kin gave Hinata a gruesome punch to the side of her face. Blood and spittle cascaded out from her nose and mouth. She felt the harsh grip on her hair quickly leave as she recovered.
N-Not yet! I can't lose. Not to her…
"AHH!" Hinata gasped as she retreated a couple of steps as she threw a palm towards Kin's shoulder. As if it was in slow motion, Kin sidestepped the attack with a smirk on her face, fishing into the pouch on her leg mid movement and retrieving some senbon.
O-Oh no! Hinata found her eyes widening in alarm as she was helpless to the assault she was now open to.
With a senbon in each hand, Kin began her rush by swiping her hands across Hinata's body with scary accuracy. Had she wanted to, she could have easily severely injured the young Hyuga, but she wanted this beatdown to last.
Beads of red liquid gushed out of the newly created wounds as Hinata found her mouth wide open, releasing an ear-piercing scream as she was left victim to the shallow yet harmful senbon attacks.
SHHK!
"...unh…" Hinata groaned as she felt another cut opening on her cheek, though this was nothing compared to the tattered mess her clothes and mesh armor shirt were now in.
This is my chance...She thought to herself as Kin threw both of her hands toward her torn upper body. She widened her eyes, channeling her chakra to the target area and pushing it outward. Now!
TSSHK!
"AHHH!" Kin yelped, her hands momentarily numb. As an instant reflex, she found herself dropping the senbon in her hand.
Hinata bent her knees, facing sideways as she changed her stance in a rush. Kin was still reeling from the damage done by her Juuken attack. That wasn't the only attack unique to a Hyuga however.
There was also this…
"Juukenho: Hakke (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams)..."
She was nowhere near as skilled with the move compared to Neji. So a reduced version would have to do for now!
"...Sanjuunisho (Thirty-Two Palms)!" Momentarily channeling chakra to her foot, Hinata rushed Kin just as soon as she recovered. However, it did nothing to help her from Hinata's tenketsu-blocking technique. With a fierce spin, Hinata thrusted both of her hands forward with two fingers outstretched. "Hakke Nisho!"
"Grk…" Kin grunted, stumbling backwards as Hinata continued to approach, wailing on the enemy kunoichi and reciting the amount of palms with each interval.
"Yonsho! Hachisho! Juurokusho! Sanjuunisho!" Hinata stood in place after finishing her technique, seeing Kin freeze up on the spot. Taking advantage of this, she rushed forward and thrusted her a palm at Kin's chest. "Take this!"
"GUH!" Kin choked as she was thrown backwards off the tree. However, she recovered mid flight and landed on her feet. Hinata leaped off the tree branch, landing in front of Kin with a sharp gaze, her Byakugan scanning her every movement intently and carefully.
Kin rose to her feet, glaring at her enemy with disgust. That attack did practically nothing to her. All she had to do was push more chakra from the Curse Mark into her system. As the chakra from the Curse Mark was a completely different source and a much denser source at that, her blocked tenketsu were opened. Not only that, but the marks on Kin's body had now spread halfway.
Damn it...Hinata cursed to herself, biting her lip at seeing the fruits of her labor being undone down to every minute detail. She was so engaged and focused on the opening of Kin's tenketsu that she never noticed the kunoichi making a move.
The next thing Hinata knew, Kin had swept her legs right out from under her. The girl fell forwards, only for Kin to catch her fall by burying her fist painfully into Hinata's gut. The battered and weakened Hyuga could do nothing but groan out of pain and lean onto her fist for support.
Kin removed her fist from Hinata's belly, leaving the girl to crumple to the ground hugging her midsection tightly. The former heiress coughed and hacked for air as beads of blood and saliva seeped out of her lips. Hinata moaned as she pushed off the ground with one hand, still grasping her middle with the other.
Kin looked down at her enemy, disgust evident on her face as the former heiress dragged herself through the mud over to the bark of a tree to sit upon, a hand still gripping her throbbing belly. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the girl's nose twitching and her eyes watering.
"Are you seriously crying?" Kin scowled. It was like she was kicking a defenseless dog. "Disgusting. And you call yourself a kunoichi?"
WHOOSH!
Kim's eyes shot up, feeling wind blow her hair. She circled around on the ball of her foot, thrusting her right arm forward in a claw like manner...
"GUH!"
...right at the attacking Sakura Haruno's bare stomach.
The pink-haired kunoichi doubled over as she retched out a mass of blood. She staggered over her feet from the rough landing, running her hand over the searing pain in her middle.
She removed her hand as she saw her opponent striding towards her. With a boost of chakra, Sakura lunged toward Kin. Her fist whizzed by the Oto nin's face as if it was in slow motion to the latter, she casually sidestepped the blow.
Sakura turned to her enemy with a gasp as quickly as she could. Unfortunately, she was helpless to her oncoming onslaught.
A grueling knee to the solar plexus that left her stunned and dazed. Sakura's eyes blurred, hazy from the sudden shock to her body. Her eyes flickered as she found herself on the ground, with a fist making its mark on her cheek. The metallic taste of blood found its way onto Sakura's tongue as she was grabbed by the collar of her shirt and held in the air with one hand.
Kin then unleashed a quick yet efficient jab to Sakura's throat, causing the girl to choke out the blood stored in her mouth, her hands rushing to the area of contact as an instant reflex, coughing as she did.
Kin looked with disgust as she viewed her choking opponent. Was she really taken down by her in two moves? Someone who was this weak?
"KYAAAAH!" Sakura screamed suddenly as, though she did not realize it, Kin had subconsciously tightened the grip of hand, digging her fingers into Sakura's collarbone.
"I'm going to put you out of your misery, you worthless wretch!" Kin scowled as she pulled back her fist, thrusting it forward in one instant motion.
SPLAT!
A vibrant red liquid was spilled on the ground, falling in a rhythmic pattern. However, the blood did not belong to Sakura. Said pink-haired girl opened her eyes carefully, wondering why the punch had not made contact. She blinked when she saw a glimpse of a slender indigo-haired Hyuga, who had managed to hit Kin with a palm strike to her lower back.
A well-placed Juuken (Gentle Fist) strike deals heavy damage to internal organs. And this situation was no exception when it came to Kin's kidneys.
The Oto nin hacked once again, blood seeping out of the gap in her mouth and her grip on Sakura loosening, allowing the emerald-eyed kunoichi to escape. Ignoring the retreating Sakura, Kin glared back at Hinata, who was breathing heavily and seemingly frozen in place, her movements sluggish and dulled.
"You bitch!" Kin cursed through another glob of blood, wheeling around and backhanding Hinata across the face. The sheer strength of the strike left the girl stumbling backwards, covering her face with her hands as she felt drops of crimson liquid cluttering in her hands from her nose.
As the girl suffered, Kin reached into her pouch, taking out two senbon. With the swipe of her hand, the senbon was released into the air towards the defenseless kunoichi. She would have had two senbon stuck in her body if it weren't for Sakura, who slid in front of her with a kunai in hand, hitting both of the needles to the side and out of harm's way.
After a moment of breathing and comprehension, Hinata gave her friend a smile of gratitude. "Thank you, Sakura-san!"
Sakura glanced back and returned the smile, before regaining her serious expression as she faced their opponent.
"Together, Hinata-san!" Sakura said as she bent her knees slightly. At the responding 'hmph", the two of them rushed the Oto nin together. The young girl smirked, she was ready for them.
However, in the short moments while Hinata and Sakura were rushing her, Kin suddenly felt a harsh pain rush through her body. She winced as she attempted to her hands when, to her surprise, she found that she couldn't. Her body was literally frozen in place.
What the hell?! Why can't I move?
Before she could search for an answer, Kin's entire world went black for a split second. A well-placed uppercut to the jaw from Sakura left her head snapping upwards. Regaining her footing, Kin opened her eyes to see Sakura stepping out of the way, allowing Hinata to rush forward with a palm strike to the sternum.
"GUH!" Kin spluttered, choking out more drops of blood as a result of the gruesome Juuken strike.
Yes! Hinata inwardly cheered. Then, with a thrust of her fingers, she continued her assault, slowly yet accurately jabbing at Kin's tenketsu. The cost of traveling and the harsh fallout from fighting left Hinata heavily fatigued. Plus, the everlasting pain in her midsection didn't make matters any better. But I can still do this!
With a fierce yell, Hinata pushed her open palms forward, blowing a wave of chakra out of them. The attack connected with Kin's abdomen. A metallic red bursted out of Kin's mouth as she was sent flying, her back hitting a branch with a deafening crack!
That's got to have done some major damage! Hinata thought with narrowed eyes as Kin fell to the ground on one knee, coughing up more blood. The fight was theirs. After all, one of the first things a Hyuga learns in training...is that no matter how strong you are…you can never train your internal organs. Even the strongest person can be taken down by a significantly weaker yet skilled Juuken user.
Unfortunately for Kin, she was completely unaware of this information. As such, she was completely confused by how such simple attacks were having an effect on her.
My movements are becoming slower...why? Why?! Kin panicked inwardly. This was supposed to be her fight. She was supposed to be in control, not them! Why was she still weaker?!
Because she wasn't.
Kin chuckled humorlessly as the truth dawned on her.
Son of a bitch…
She was too reckless. She should had gotten used to the power of the Curse Mark instead of using it now. She's freezing up so much because her body was still not used to the foreign chakra.
Without about as much strength as she could muster, Kin forced her body to move. Every muscle screamed in protest, but she did not care. She could not lose here. Not again.
With chakra pulsating from her feet, Kin thrusted herself forward. It didn't matter if the Hyuga could see the chakra. If she was too slow or incapacitated, it didn't matter at all. With a calculating gaze, Kin's eyes darted between her two opponents.
Durability-wise, the Hyuga was significantly weaker at the moment. She had been fighting longer and thus had been expending more than what she can handle. She didn't seem to be able to take a hit worth shit either. A couple of well-placed attacks to the right areas like the throat or solar plexus would surely take her out of the count.
As this thought played through her head, she ducked under a palm strike to the head from Hinata. She threw the Hyuga's arm to the side, striking her in the throat. The girl let out a stifled grunt as her hands retreated to the impacted area. With the new opening, Kin proceeded to slam an uppercut into the pit of Hinata's stomach.
Hinata let out another moan of pain, doubling over on the ground and emptying the contents of her midsection on the ground in multiple, raspy heaves. The girl kept coughing between breaths, blood escaping with each one.
"Hina-gah!" Sakura was cut off by Kin pushing the sole of her foot onto her chest, sending the girl falling backwards.
On her way to the ground, Sakura pushed her hand out, breaking her fall and propelling herself backwards. In midair, Sakura dug her hand into her weapons pouch, pulling out two kunais which she threw at Kin, who leaned back to duck the weapons.
"Hinata!" Sakura called out to the girl as her feet hit the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Huff...Huff...y-yes...I'm fine." The battered and fatigued Hyuga responded softly, rising to her feet with a hand caressing her bruised midsection. With her free hand, she formed a single hand sign, reactivating her Byakugan. "D-Don't worry about me, Sakura-san. The fight isn't over…"
"...yet." Kin finished for the girl as she appeared in front of the duo with bloodlust in her eyes. She threw a fist at Hinata, who parried the blow while Sakura dished out a spinning side kick to Kin's side. However, this attack was stopped by Kin's free hand.
Her left foot skidded to her side as she twisted her hips inward, swinging a deadly roundhouse kick into the side of Hinata's leg.
CRACK!
Hinata screamed out in agony, buckling over her broken leg to the ground and falling to her knees like a chopped down tree.
"HINATA!" Sakura shrieked, trying to force her leg out of Kin's vice-like grip, but to no avail. With her now free hand, she grabbed Sakura's leg and squeezed it between her arms. The Oto nin then pulled the pink-haired kunoichi towards her, forcing her knee into the girl's bare midriff. The girl doubled over in midair, falling and tumbling in the dirt, rolling onto her side as blood and spittle found its way flying out of her mouth.
"Time for you to die." Kin said with a disgusted scowl as she took out three senbon. "May you be reborn as something less pathetic in the next life." Kin forced her hand down, ready to dig her needles into Sakura's skin. However, moments before contact, her hand froze in place. Kin felt a shock run through entire body, with a resounding beat in her chest. "GOH!" Kin choked as blood seeped through her lips.
Damn it. That bitch's attacks...and the Curse Mark…
The damage Hinata did stacked with the Curse Mark left Kin unable to move her body. This allowed Sakura to recover, removing a kunai from her pouch and slashing in a diagonal line from Kin's hip to her lower breast. Kin let out a scream as a thin stream of blood gushed out of the new wound in the kunoichi's middle.
Kin slowly but surely began to back up, the marks on her body slowly receding back to the black markings on her neck.
Damn it! Kin thought to herself as she attempted to stop the bleeding with her hands. If I don't get out of here, I'll…
Realizing that she could no longer win this battle, Kin took out a circular object from her weapons pouch. An object that Sakura didn't recognize until Kin threw it to the ground. A cloud of white smoke bursted out, filling Sakura's view and obstructing her vision and Kin's figure.
"Damn it!" She cursed as she bent her knees, holding her kunai close to her body. She had expected a surprise attack to come from any angle at any moment. However, to her shock, nothing every came. When the smoke dissipated, she was dumbfounded to see no trace of Kin at all.
She had retreated…
Meanwhile - Team 2
"Kakashi-san, you look well." Itachi said fully as his blood-red three tomoe eyes darted from each person in the group, finally coming to jalt in the copy ninja.
"You have some nerve showing yourself." Guy retorted, stepping forward with a fist held out outward.
"We have no business with you. Move out of the way, and we will leave you be." Itachi commanded as the big shark next to him removed his bandaged sword from his back as if to emphasize his point.
"You may not have any business with us, but we do with you. You butchered the entire Uchiha clan in a single night. Did you think that would be forgotten?" The one-eyed ninja questioned, his brows narrowed toward his former fellow Konoha Shinobi.
"It seems from the sound of that...it looks like they're not going to let us through. Wouldn't you agree, Itachi-san?" The cloaked shark asked with a chilling grin.
He took the lack of a response as an agreement.
"Good. I prefer it that way." The man said as he rushed forward with his sword in hand, crashing the edge of his blade down on the silver-haired man.
The ground ruptured as a small fracture formed in the ground where Kakashi was. However, he wasn't squashed under Kisame's sword. He had leapt away from the attack, forming multiple hand signs in succession as he brought his hand to his mouth.
"Katon: Homuranagase (Fire Style: Flaming Meteors)!" A myriad of small fireballs sprouted out of thin air, raining down on the swordsman, like burning meteors.
The tall swordsman stuck his sword into the ground, freeing both of his hands to run through a series of hand signs.
"Suiton: Suikoudan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu)!" The swordsman held his hand to his mouth, spewing out water in the shape of a large shark. The shark-like current swirled around him protectively, putting out all of the fireballs that made contact with it.
Kakashi widened his exposed eye as he landed on the ground. He can use Suiton Jutsu so efficiently without a body of water? He can even control his current's direction! As far as he was concerned, the amount of people who could do that could be counted with the fingers of one's hand.
This man...his skill with Suiton Jutsu could rival that of the Nidaime (Second Homage), Tobirama Senju. If that was the case, then Kakashi could not take him lightly at all.
The copy ninja reached to his forehead protector, lifting it up to reveal his three-tomoe Sharingan.
"I never thought I would take part in a battle against the copy ninja, Kakashi Hatake." The shark said with a sharp grin. He jabbed a finger to his chest, introducing himself. "I am Kisame Hoshikage! Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"You…" Kakashi raised his eye out of remembrance. There was another man who gave a very similar feeling of killing intent as this man. Then, there was the sword and Kiri headband. "You're one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."
"That is correct." Kisame said as he held his blade out forward with a smirk, glad that the copy ninja knew who he was.
"Why would you abandon your village and join Akatsuki?" The Konoha Shinobi questioned with a careful gaze, glancing at the statue-like Itachi ever few moments or so.
"That is for me to know." Kisame said, his smirk fading as his eyes narrowed.
"Kisame." Itachi spoke with a blank tone, his cold red eyes dead set on the Konoha Shinobi. "Kakashi-san is mine. Stay out of the way."
Kisame glanced at his partner out of the top of his shark eyes. He sighed before stepping backwards out of obedience.
"You can't ever forget about me, Konoha's Green Beast!" Might Guy roared with a grin, blitzing forward towards Kisame. He sprawled down, breakdancing on the ground and occasionally thrusting a kick towards Kisame's body, which the man easily backstepped. With practically no difficulty, Kisame brought his sword up with one hand and crashed it down on the ground.
Guy managed to roll out of the way, but he was unfortunately too slow and the sword still grazed his leg.
"Kgh!" Guy grunted, wincing momentarily as he reached for the cut area. He glanced up at the Akatsuki member, who was now holding a sword with exposed sharp scales and bandages ripped to shreads. "What the-?"
Kisame grinned at the man's surprise. "This my sword, Samehada. Sharp, isn't it?" As Kisame spoke, a low growling sound could be heard coming from the sword, causing everyone, except Kisame and Itachi, to widen their eyes out of shock.
"Your sword...is alive?" Kakashi mumbled with disbelief evident in his voice. "But, that's impossible…'
Kisame couldn't help but grin even wider.
Suddenly, Guy shot up from the ground and jumped backwards, leaving behind small drops of blood. He crossed his arms, taking a deep breath.
This man is not to be underestimated. Guy thought to himself with caution. In that case…
"Hachimon Tonkou: Daiichi Kaimon (Eight Gates: First Gate of Opening), open!" Guy shouted as veins began to sprout on his forehead. He stepped forward, zipping towards Kisame with a fist raised. The man threw Samehada in front of him, prompting Guy to halt his attack. The Taijutsu Master dropped to the ground, throwing a roundhouse kick towards Kisame, who easily jumped away as if the attack was moving in slow motion.
Rising back to his feet, Guy crossed his arms. "Dainii Kyuumon (Second Gate of Healing), open!" More veins appeared on Guy's forehead as he continued to try and hit Kisame. However, all of his attempts were easily dodged by the former Kiri Shinobi.
Seeing that the fruits of his labor had practically no benefit, Guy once again channeled his chakra. This time, to his third gate, located on his spine. Guy's hair shot up, more veins bulging all over his body, an excruciating scorching chill running through every cell of his skin as it turned bright red.
"Daisan Seimon (Third Gate of Life)!"
No...this level alone is not enough. I must go further! Guy thought to himself as he yelled to the sky, activating the next gate, also located on the spine.
"Daiyon Shoumon (Fourth Gate of Pain)!" Guy shouted as shockwaves radiated in the area around him. He clenched his teeth. He could feel the slight tearing of his muscles, one of the drawbacks of this particular gate. Fortunately, over the years, he has learned to fight through this pain, and it barely affects him now.
This power…Neji thought with widened eyes as he witnessed Guy practically disappear. He activated his Byakugan, trying to keep track of the man's movements, but to no avail. Once in a while, he would appear to attack Kisame, who also was dodging and disappearing, albeit with some difficulty. Otherwise, he was not able to keep track of the fight at all. A-Are they really moving that fast?
"HAAAAAAAAH!" Guy cried, throwing a roundhouse kick to Kisame's exposed side. The man spat out water as he was blown away from the sheer force of the kick.
As Guy and Kisame fought, Itachi and Kakashi were left with their own battle.
Itachi ran through a series of hand signs, bring his fingers to his mouth as he mentally called the name of the Jutsu.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)!" A large ball of fire times bigger than Itachi himself bursted out from his mouth. A drop of sweat rolled down Kakashi's forehead as he could feel the sheer heat of the Jutsu approaching.
The Konoha ninja dropped to his knees, making the Tiger, Hare, Boar, and Dog hand signs. He forced his hands down onto the ground. "Doton: Doryuuheki (Earth Style: Mud Wall)!"
From the earth, a wall of hard mud sprouted from the ground in front of Kakashi. The wall became enveloped in the fire ball. The flames continued to fly off the sides as bits and pieces of the rock were eroded away. Fortunately, by the time the fire was gone, the rock was still standing.
Kakashi exhaled. He held his head up, widening his eyes to see Itachi Uchiha on top of the damaged wall, looking down on him with a tiger sign with his fingers. He inhaled, expelling a breath of fire from his mouth.
"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
"GAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Kiba screamed out of concern as the scorched body toppled to the ground. He growled ferally, dropping to the ground on all fours. "Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four-Legged Jutsu)! Juujin Bunshin (Man-Beast Clone)!"
A puff smoke enveloped Akamaru, emerging from the smoke was a feral clone of Kiba that jumped on the real one's back. Kiba grinned, showing this sharp teeth.
"Let's do this, Akamaru!" The clone let a determined bark, leaping off of his back and spinning in the air at high speeds. Kiba did the same as both torrents spun as fast as a tornado bolting for the Uchiha. "Gatsuuga (Fang Over Fang)!"
"Kiba, wait!" Neji shouted, only for it to be in vain. Kiba attacked blindly towards the prodigy, who promptly retaliated.
Pulling out a single kunai hidden in his cloth, Itachi chucked the weapon towards the swirling Kiba. Normally, the kunai would have just bounced off like it was nothing, but, as a testament to Itachi's skill, the boy has used his Sharingan to find one of the very few openings in Kiba's attack.
A fleck of blood spilled out of Kiba's shoulders as he howled from pain. The sharp pain halted his spinning, falling to the ground like a rock.
Seeing that his owner and friend was now hurt and on the ground, Akamaru hesitated and slowed. This allowed for Itachi to sneak a roundhouse kick into the spiraling dog's small body. The dog whimpered as he was blown to the side, seemingly unconscious.
"That idiot!" Kankuro seethed, connecting chakra threads with his two puppets.
Poof!
Kankuro froze, seeing smoke where the scorched body of Kakashi was lying.
It was a Bunshin?
Itachi narrowed his eyes, glancing down at the ground when he heard a crack. His eyes widened momentarily when he realized what he was going. He leaped into the air, mere split seconds before Kakashi's true body bursted out of the ground with an uppercut aimed at Itachi's chin. The Uchiha traitor barely flipped away, feeling the quick breeze from Kakashi's attempted attack.
While he was in the air, Itachi picked up a shroud of black rushing towards him with the tip of his eye. The former Konoha nin formed hand signs, once again ending with the tiger seal. He inhaled, and exhaled, releasing yet another stream of fire.
The fireball incinerated the hoard of insects that Shino Aburame had sent his way instantly. The fire had burned then into mere specs of dust. When the fire dissipated, there was no sign of Shino's insects.
Neji grimaced. This man...he was too strong. There was nothing he and the other Genin could do to help Kakashi at all.
Itachi Uchiha…
He was on a completely different level.
This seemingly did not matter to Kankuro at all. With a wave of his two hands, his two puppets rushed forward toward Kakashi.
"Now…" He murmured, pointing his finger down, revealing a blade in the left elbow of one of the puppets.
Itachi scoffed. Useless…
Reaching into the depths of his cloak, he removed a handful of shuriken. He threw out his hand, sending the shuriken toward the puppet with no blade. Each shuriken was so accurately thrown and aimed that they became embedded in each of the puppets' joints, rendering it immobile.
"Damn it!" Kankuro cursed as he waved the hand with his remaining threads upward. The remaining puppet leaped into the air. With the bending of another finger, the puppet's other elbow opened. This time, a kunai was fired out toward the Akatsuki member.
Once again, Itachi reached into his cloak, retrieving a kunai and sending towards the thrown one.
CLANG!
The kunai ricocheted off of each other, falling to the ground with a plop. Itachi leaned back, avoiding a punch from Kakashi. The Uchiha threw a kick to the man's ribs.
Kakashi grunted from the impact, but he managed to clutch the leg with his left hand.
"Now, Kankuro, Shino!" He yelled under his breath. The black-clothed boy waved his hand toward the Uchiha. The bladed puppet flew towards Itachi. On the other hand, Shino threw his hands out as masses of insects flew out towards the Uchiha with the puppet.
The Uchiha looked up at the puppet, narrowing his eyes and focusing on the quickly approaching figure. He transferred a large chunk of the chakra in his body over to his eye, expelling it all out in a scorching blaze.
Amaterasu! He mentally chanted the name of the Jutsu. Then, out of nowhere, black flames spread all over Kankuro's puppet and Shino's insects, incinerating them within seconds. As it dropped to the ground, the group of a Genin was shocked to find that the fire would not die out at all. It kept it's same strength the entire time.
Just what is that move? He wondered to himself, finding himself unable to move out of sheet shock at the strength of the man before him. Unstoppable. He is...unstoppable!
Itachi looked down to face Kakashi dead in the eyes. Widening his eyes, the copy ninja attempted to escape by letting go of the boy's leg, but it was to no avail. He felt a rush envelop his entire body, his vision entranced on Itachi's Sharingan-no, his altered Sharingan. His entire view went red as the next thing he knew he was in a pitch-black space, illuminated only by blood-red skies.
He found his hands and legs bound, chained to what seemed to be a wooden cross.
What the…
SSHHK!
"GAH! AH!" Kakashi screamed out in agony, feeling a sharp blade being thrusted into his stomach. The Jonin glanced upward through pained pants, widening his eyes to see Itachi holding a sharp blade in his hand.
"Let's just see how well you can do without your visual prowess."
SHNK!
Kakashi once again found himself wailing out from the searing pain that burned in his stomach.
"For 72 Hours…"
GHLK!
Kakashi cried out in pain, glancing to see a second Itachi with a sharpened blade standing in front of him.
"You will be continuously subjected to this torture. It may not inflict true physical damage, but the suffering your soul goes through is quite real, you'll find. This Genjutsu isn't intended to break the body. No, it tears your spirit up inside and leaves it as a mangled mess."
For what seemed like an eternity, Kakashi suffered at the hands of Itachi. Soon, he was getting stabbed by a field of Itachi's at the same time, the pain of which was unbearable. This may be a Genjutsu, but everything happening to him just feels so real.
The entire cycle may have left his body undamaged, but the pain only seemed to increase substantially as time went on. At a certain point, Kakashi had lost track of the seemingly ever slow timeline, and he attempted to just wait out the pain.
To think he has a Genjutsu as powerful as this…
Kakashi let out an ear-piercing screech as seemingly a thousand blades plunged themselves into his body. Blood oozed out of his body and obscured his vision. It was so haze now from all of the torture, he was surprised he hadn't lost consciousness yet. It wasn't until Itachi spoke that Kakashi felt alert.
"71 Hours, 59 Minutes, and 59 Seconds of your torture remain."
What?! Kakashi thought with alarm. But…
That was impossible.
No! No! That could not have been only a single second.
It couldn't have been…
In the Real World
"Kakashi-sensei…" Kiba yelled through grit teeth. After three seconds or so, the two men separated, with Kakashi dropping to his knees. Sweat rolled down profusely down his face as he glared at the Uchiha traitor, who watched with emotionless eyes.
"Are you okay, sensei?" Neji asked out of concern, analyzing the man's chakra network. He widened his eyes.
It was disrupted just a second ago...he was in a Genjutsu. Did he break out of it? Then why is he so spent?
"I'm impressed." Itachi remarked, though the lack of tone in his voice spoke otherwise. "Most people lose consciousness after the Tsukuyomi is lifted. But you...are still standing."
Kakashi groaned as he stood up. He hunched over, trying to stay as alert as possible. Yes, it was true that he was still standing, but he was really only running on fumes now. The toll that Genjutsu had taken on his body was too great. If he could at least last until for a little while longer…
"Why...are you here, Itachi?"
"I have business with Orochimaru." The Uchiha prodigy stated simply. "But, I'm also here for something else. Konoha and Sunagakure are working together. The Ichibi is somewhere around here, isn't he?"
"The Ichibi?" Kakashi repeated. "What do you want with the Bijuu?"
"But he isn't with you, it seems." Itachi finished with closed eyes. "Well then, my business here is done."
POOF!
"It was a Kage Bunshin?!" Neji blurted out of shock. He glanced to Kakashi to see the man drop to his knees again. "Kakashi-sensei!"
At the sound of the boy's voice, Guy redirected his focus from Kisame to his friend, who was clearly in a bad state.
"You shouldn't be taking your eyes off me!" The Shark-man said, kicking Guy in the chest and blowing him back. The swordsman briefly glanced over to the other group to see that Itachi was gone.
Tch! There he goes leaving without warning again. Kisame thought to himself with an annoyed scowl. He turned towards the mighty green beast of Konoha.
"It's been fun, but I'm afraid it's time for me to leave." Kisame said as he flickered away with a poof of smoke.
Damn it...he used Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Jutsu). There's no use in trying to go after him! Neji thought to himself, barely seeing the fast and nearly untraceable movements of Kisame.
"Kakashi!" Guy roared out of concern as he raced to his rival's side. He dropped to his knees, placing a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I don't think so…" The copy ninja mumbled under deep breaths. "That Genjutsu...it was impossible to break out of."
"You weren't able to break out of it with your Sharingan?" Guy questioned out of disbelief. He had known that practically no Genjutsu actually worked on Kakashi. The Sharingan given to him by Obito has always seen through that. How strong was Itachi Uchiha in Genjutsu to the point that another Sharingan was useless?
Guy's thoughts were answered by Kakashi's next words, and it only served to bring more questions.
"Itachi's Sharingan...it changed. It was a pattern unlike anything I've ever seen before."
Guy's eyes widened. "How can that be? All Sharingan have the same pattern. Unless…"
"Unless…" Kakashi continued, "Itachi Uchiha has the Mangekyou Sharin..."
"Kakashi!" Guy called out of concern as his friend, comrade, and rival trailed off, falling forward to the ground. He pressed his fingers across Kakashi's neck. He let out a sigh of relief. "He's alive. Whatever that Genjutsu was has done quite the damage to him though. I've never seen Kakashi in such a state…" Guy looked at his Genin. Noticing the absence of Kiba, he turned to see the dog user slowly walking towards, his shoulder bleeding and his arms tightly hugging Akamaru to his body.
"Guy-sensei." Neji spoke up, gaining the attention of his teacher. "I don't think we can continue the mission with those two lurking around. They are too strong for us."
Guy gave a surprisingly serious nod. "I know. We need to go back to the other groups."
"What is our plan then?" Shino wondered with a raised eyebrow. Like Neji, he was doubtful that the mission could continue. Not only was Kakashi out, but those Akatsuki members were certainly stronger than everyone in the squad with the exception of Jiraiya.
"After, we leave the area." Guy said with a grim tone. It was the only thing they could do at this point. If Itachi was only a clone, then that meant that the real Itachi was still around somewhere, and he could potentially be fighting one of the other groups right now.
At all costs, he must not be allowed to encounter Sasuke!
Meanwhile
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!" Sasuke glanced at the loud voice of his blond-haired teammate as four Bunshins of the boy appeared and rushed the enemy, only for each to get destroyed easily.
Seeing an opportunity, Sasuke moved through a series of hand signs. He ended on a tiger sign, expelling a ball of fire from his mouth through the rare desert forest tree, leaving small fires and burn marks on the wood in its trail as it traveled towards Dosu. The Oto ninja tinkered with his sound gauntlets before throwing his hands out forward.
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Dosu's gauntlets emitted a low bass ringing continuously as the fire slowly approached him. The fire seemingly bounced off the sound waves before being extinguished in midair.
"What?" Sasuke's eyes widened in sheer surprise. "He got rid of the fireball with the sound waves?"
Dosu smirked, and even under the bandages wrapped around his face one could see his mouth wide with glee. "But, of course! By setting the sound waves to a bass frequency, I can put out all fire. It doesn't matter how much or how big. My sound waves can completely destroy your flames, Uchiha?"
Sasuke grimaced. If he could nullify flames, then that meant he could stop his main source of Jutsu. The only real Jutsu that he had that wasn't a fire Jutsu was the Chidori. At best, he could use the Chidori four times. After that, he'd probably be so sapped out of chakra he wouldn't be able to move anymore. And then there was the Curse Mark...it would likely take over his body should his chakra hit bottom.
The Uchiha survivor glanced to the left to see a large wall of sand being sent hurtling by Gaara. Dosu held his hands out forward once again. Sound waves bursted out from Dosu's metal gauntlets.
Gaara grunted, spreading out his fingers. The wall of sand targeted by sound waves split into two smaller walls. The auburn-haired boy pushed his hands inward. The two torrents of sand curved and shot toward the Oto nin. The gauntlet user grunted out of annoyance as he momentarily closed his eyes, letting the foreign power in his body take over.
He winced, feeling the cold chakra oozing throughout the chakra pathways in his body, stemming from a single point on his neck. He couldn't help but release a guttural roar as the influence of the Curse Mark crossed over half of his body, its black marks dotting the entire left side of his body.
"The Curse Mark?!" Naruto cried out in exasperation and shock.
"Just like me…" Sasuke whispered under his breath. He had distinctly remembered Neji Hyuga and Tenten reporting that Dosu had the Curse Mark, but seeing was believing. And now that he could see it for himself, he could hardly believe his eyes. And the boy seemed to have a better mastery and or acceptance of Orochimaru's power. The aura radiating off of the boy right now was immense.
As if feeling the power wasn't enough, Dosu practically disappearing in front of his eyes didn't help matters either. Out of nowhere, Dosu had appeared next to Gaara, firing a quick jab to the boy's face. Fortunately for Gaara however, his sand automatically shifted in front of Dosu's face to protect the Kazekage's son.
The sound user dropped to his knees, wheeling a kick into Gaara's legs, only for the sand to move down to protect once again. Dosu flickered behind Gaara, throwing a roundhouse kick that was also blocked. Dosu groaned out of annoyance, engaging Gaara's sand in a flurry of punches and kicks.
Throw as many attacks as you can! Dosu mentally thought to himself as his next punch forced itself through the sand, narrowly missing Gaara's forehead.
For the first time in the entire fight, the emotionless face on Gaara's face actually displayed a momentary shock, one that was very similar to when Lee broke through his sand shield in the Chunin Exams. This was very much the same situation, but Gaara had not been able to adjust his fighting style to better counter situations such as these.
Let the sand repeatedly block your consistent attacks...And then…
Dosu stomped on the ground, spinning around on his heel and throwing his fist down on Gaara's skull…
BOOM!
Change it up when he least expects it! Dosu thought triumphantly, feeling Gaara's head buckle down from the force of his hook.
"KAH!" Gaara gasped as specks of blood flew out of his mouth.
"Gaara! God damn it!" Naruto cursed, taking out a handful of shuriken and, in a panic, throwing it clumsily. All except two of the shuriken missed its mark. To compensate, Naruto crossed his fingers. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu)!"
A surplus of white smoke appeared in the air. Out of the cloud flew an abundance of cloned shuriken, all heading towards Dosu and Gaara.
The Jinchuriki of the Ichibi grunted, recovering from Dosu's hit and throwing his hands out to his sides. All of the sand enclosed around him, separating Gaara from the rest of the world under the sand's watchful protection.
Using the speed granted to him by the Curse Mark, Dosu leaps backwards, avoiding the crowd of shuriken, all of which was easily stopped by Gaara's shield. The latter let down his shield as the hoards of shuriken disappeared with poofs of white smoke. Naruto and Sasuke dropped back down to the ground, landing next to Gaara as they faced the lone Dosu.
"Just because you have a Curse Mark doesn't mean you can win, you bastard!" Naruto yelled.
"Even so, at that level of power, you stand no chance at fighting Orochimaru-sama." Dosu replied with a confident gaze. These three were barely keeping up with him, an underling. Orochimaru was on a completely different level. He killed the Sandaime Hokage. He wasn't even sure if the other two members of the Sannin could beat him now. "Now then, let's finish this!"
"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" A new voice yelled. Dosu's exposed eye widened as he glanced in the direction of the voice to see a large fireball, bigger than the one Sasuke had previously released, flying toward him.
Even still, fire of this magnitude...Dosu held his hands out forward, once again emitting low bass sound waves, nullifying the fire. Is no match for me!
"I already told you, Sasuke Uchiha! Fire attacks such as those will not work on me!"
No...Sasuke thought to himself with wide eyes. That wasn't me.
The four Shinobi glanced at the source of the fireball, and were all shocked to see the sender. It was a raven-haired man in a black cloak with red hair. What really gave the man away was the piercing red eyes he had. However, to Sasuke, all he needed to see was the face. It was a face he would never forget for as long as he lived.
The face of the man he once loved as his brother...the face of the man he looked up to…
The face of the man who slaughtered their entire clan.
Sasuke's jaw fell. He continuously blinked to fully process and make sure what he was seeing wasn't just some Genjutsu.
No. It couldn't have been. He had the Sharingan, a dojutsu that allowed him to see through practically all Genjutsu. This wasn't some cruel illusion he was seeing. It was truly his brother-turned-traitor.
"Itachi...Uchiha!"
After about a long year's wait, I'm finally back with an update on this story. I'm truly sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I honestly wrote myself into a corner with this chapter trying to take on so many fights. Plus, there was all the stuff with covid, some mental health problems, school, and other stuff.
But I'm fine now. I hope this chapter was somewhat worth the wait. I definitely think I'm going to look back and edit this chapter a little bit later on. I think after two or three more chapters we'll be out of this mini arc and onto the next thing.
Once again, I might put some thoughts in later or something to pad out the fight scenes more, but I'm in a rush right now.
So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, take care, goodbye!