Phantomsoul2015:DID you just make Kiba figure oh the raikage thunder armor

Response: I forgot if I responded to this. But no. Essentially Kiba can put extremely volatile Raiton chakra around his hands and feet, that's it. It's definitely not perfected.

The Battle of Yamiji Village Begins

Tenten stared outside the walls of Yamiji Village, her eyes narrowed as she saw her father continue to prepare traps for the upcoming battle. Tenten could only stare as she watched her father's work, before she clenched her fists and began to set up her own traps. Tenten smirked as she continued to work diligently, placing traps around the general area, most of them explosive tags in order to cause rock slides, without damaging the structural integrity of the village, or fort if she was being honest.

The village had large, stone walls that surrounded it, towers jutting out of the walls, three on each side, that gave a massive aerial view of the surrounding area. The village was on the only mountain in the area, which made sure that the towers could see for miles with no hindrance other than the sea of trees surrounding it. Yet even the trees wouldn't be enough to stop the grassy field an attacking force would have to cross to even reach the mountain. And that's when the traps kicked in.

Explosive tags littered the field in specific formations that would active barrier ninjutsu, causing massive explosions. Specifically designed space-time fuinjutsu crafted by the fuinjutsu users, that would imprison the enemy group that fell into their trap before warping them away. There was also fake ground littered around the area, covered over with Doton jutsu. The fake ground couldn't support the weight of more than three people, crumbling away when faced with such a weight, revealing a deep hole. If they survived they could make it back up, the Tree Climbing Exercise was a basic one, but the fall alone should kill them unless they could reach the wall or slow down their descent.

Of course this was only aided by the samurai who shot arrows from the towers, ignited with fire.

Tenten could only frown as she set her last explosive tag she had prepared as a trap before she looked around, her eyes widening as she saw her father next to her. "Dad? How did you get here so fast? Weren't you at the other side of the fort?"

Stijin nodded, before he tapped on the earth. "I'm a clone," Stijin stated, causing his daughter's eyes to widen. "I, or I guess the boss, sent me around to this half to make sure that traps were placed here too. Still, it looks like you've handled it pretty well. The explosions should narrow the movement of the advancing army into one lane, but you don't need an explosion to finish them off," Stijin stated, looking at Tenten's final explosive note.

"What should I do instead?"

Stijin smirked. "Simple. You funnel the flames caused by the explosions into the choke point, starving them of air. Asphyxiation. Here," Stijin stated, placing three tags on the ground, a smirk on his face. "Those aren't explosive tags, they're tornado tags. They cause massive gusts of wind. They should force the fires to grow and suffocate those in the area."

Tenten's eyes widened. "Tornado tags? How come I've never heard of them?" Stijin smirked. "They're a relatively new development by the Scientific Ninja Weapons Department. They gave them to me because I sell weapons, so they thought I'd likely hear of their effectiveness first. Never thought I'd be seeing them first-hand though."

Tenten nodded. The Scientific Ninja Weapons Department gave her family unique and new weapons all the time because of their weapons shop, especially because it was run by shinobi rather than just regular civilians or merchants who got their hands on shinobi products. The quality was better, and thus it was more likely that true shinobi would go to their shop to by products. An easy way to spread the word about a new development. Tenten nodded before she looked over the field.

"The only issue is that it can't be covered with a genjutsu. Neither of us really know any." Stijin smirked, before he waved his hands, looking over at the wall. "Hey! Hayama! Place the genjutsu!"

"Got it!" Tenten heard before her eyes widened at the seals she saw throughout the mountain and field disappearing. Tenten rolled her eyes at her smirking father's clone looking at her. "Shut up," the girl muttered, punching him in the face, forcing the clone to dissolve into mud. The bun-haired girl stomped back into the fort, awaiting the battle to come.

Anko stood in front of Jiraiya, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry Hokage-sama?" Jiraiya nodded. "Daimyo-sama has selected you to be part of his personal guard. He wants you to join the Twelve Guardian Ninja. You would be the fourth member."

Anko was confused. This was unexpected to say the least. She wasn't the most well known, or skilled, shinobi in Konoha. She could name several that were much better than her that could likely defeat her in full on combat. But the Daimyo hadn't chosen them, he had chosen her. But why?

"I can see you're deliberating over the idea. However, unfortunately I'll need an answer right away. If you choose to participate in the Twelve Guardian Ninja you will primarily be a shinobi of the Daimyo rather than Konohagakure. However, I was going to send you to serve under him in the war anyway so it doesn't particularly matter. However, I have a group of shinobi moving out to assist the Daimyo in the war effort, so if you're going to participate give me the answer."

Anko's eyes widened even further, not expecting the decision to be forced upon her in such a way. Yet the answer was clear. She had to get stronger, that much was obvious, and there was a clear way to do that now offered to her.

"I'll take it!"

Jiraiya nodded, signing off of a piece of paper before he folded it up and handed it to Anko who took it with a brisk nod. Jiraiya then sighed. "Be at the gates in about three hours. You're to move out to the capital. Get there as fast as possible. You never know when the Daimyo might be marching off to war." Anko nodded before she walked out of the room, Jiraiya turning to his side.

"I wish I had time to train someone else, but I'm afraid I don't. Neku," Jiraiya called, getting an Anbu member with a cat mask to appear beside him. "Go to Tanzaku-Gai. I have a person I need you to meet with. I can't run my network from behind this desk..."

Sakura frowned as she continued to try to perfect the Shosen Jutsu (Healing Jutsu) under Yoshino's guidance. The woman had been helping her for a few days, and she could see marked improvement in her scores. She was no competing in the top five best competitors in the entire program, soaring over her previous competition, fighting equally with Tsuyu Amegiri in the rankings, both of them competing for third place. As the fish Sakura was healing finally began to flow back to life Sakura grabbed it and quickly placed it in the container of water near her, Yoshino smiling behind her.

"Good work," Yoshino said, clasping her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "It seems like you've got the Shosen Jutsu (Healing Jutsu) down. That's some great progress in the course of a few days. With the last three days coming up on the exam make sure to remember what I've taught you in order to pass alright!" Sakura nodded, thanking the Nara Clan matriarch before she rushed out of the house, finding it difficult to breathe in there.

After all, she was consistently placed around a family filled with geniuses who outpaced even her. It was reflected on the scoreboards too, with Shikamaru still being ahead of her. And above even him was that girl from before, Ameno. Sakura didn't know how, but the girl had a solid lead over the rest of the competition, and would likely be single-handedly trained by Tsunade. Sakura clenched her fists as she leapt over the buildings towards the training fields, ready to go work off some steam.

The pink haired girl landed on the training field, her fists so tight they dug into her palm, drawing blood. She couldn't let that happen. She had to be the one to win in this competition and be trained by Tsunade. She couldn't afford not to be. After all, if she was accurate on who Jiraiya's disciple was it only made sense for her to become Tsunade's. Naruto, Sasuke, and her were a team, and like the Sannin before them she wanted to become the strongest of the next generation.

Sakura took a deep breathe, her chakra roaring in her chakra coils, before she started training.

Kabuto smirked as Orochimaru's face flickered onto the display, the mans rage visible on his face. "I suppose that the operation was a failure, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto muttered, his eyes narrowed. Orochimaru glared at his second-in-command, rage filling his face despite his inability to act on it. Kabuto smiled. Orochimaru hissed, merely pointing at Kabuto. "Prepare yourself. I'll need you for the upcoming operation. Get Gen'yumaru ready. I'll be needing his body. I'll need you to initialize the jutsu."

Kabuto's eyes widened, surprised as Orochimaru's admittance of desperation before he nodded. "Of course Orochimaru-sama. I'll get right on that. ALthough I think you should know that the force you sent Guren to lead is almost within striking distance."

Orochimaru grinned. "Good. Remember, send in the reinforcing army only a day afterwards, they won't have had enough time to rest by then and their guard will be down. Send in the summons after that. Yamiji Village is a great place to start this war."

Kabuto nodded, before he walked off, eager to go find Gen'yumaru. He finally had his opportunity, and it was all thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Naruto Uzumaki. After all, how could he move out of the shadows against someone as strong as Orochimaru? No, Naruto had shown him the way, Hiruzen had given him the chance, and now he would seize it.

Sasuke's body burned as he finally dropped the Kubikiribocho, his blazing red eyes reverting to their natural black as his muscles finally gave out on him. He had been training for about six hours straight, only bothering to take breaks to eat and drink to make sure he didn't faint in the hot desert sun, in order to reach an acceptable combat level. Ko had managed to watch the Uchiha and could only scoff at what he had seen. The Uchiha had bristled at that. He hadn't been holding back much. Trying to perfect his Raiton-chakra control and work on his speed training he was doing with Kakashi wasn't easy, and to see someone scoff at that was insulting. Insulting enough for him to realize just how out of his league he likely was in this war.

Ko wasn't trying to insult him. He was trying to warn him.

And the message had been received loud and clear.

"You are quite strong Uchiha-dono."

Sasuke whirled, shocked to hear someone talking to him with such a title. The only people who referred to people by Clan names and as equals in the same manner was someone of another clan. And to his knowledge there was only one person here who was also a member of a Clan. "Kurama-dono," Sasuke said, biting out the equal terminology. She had earned it after her display during the assault. He was surprised she was still here. She clearly wasn't physically fit from what he had seen.

"Thank you," Sasuke muttered, kneeling down to seal Kubikiribocho on a storage seal on his wrist Kakashi had put. Yakumo smiled. "Do not thank me Uchiha-dono. Thank yourself. You were born with quite the powerful body. Cherish it while you can."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean born with a powerful body? I wasn't born with my abilities, other than the capability of the Sharingan. I had to work for them." Yakumo smiled. "Yes, forgive me. I seem to have forgotten myself. I merely meant that you differ from one such as myself."

Sasuke frowned, looking at the frail girl, standing, wiping a larger bead of sweat that threatened to go into his right eye. "Differ from you? What were you born without the ability to use chakra like Lee?" The girl shook her head, a small smile on her face. "No, I am quite unlike Rock Lee, although we are also very similar."

Sasuke frowned. "Stop beating around the bush. If you're going to tell me, tell me."

Yakumo smiled. "I am the opposite of Rock Lee. I was born with a talent for the more chakra-intensive arts, genjutsu being the primary one obviously, but I was born with a very weak body. It's too weak. I can't even really train it up to the point where I can function as a regular shinobi."

Sasuke's eyes widened, shocked by the revelation. Situations like Lee's were common. People who desired to be shinobi but lacked the chakra capability to do so. Lee was only special because he persevered to become a shinobi anyway. But this was something entirely different. It was much more rare for someone with so much potential, especially in the form of her destructive Kekkei Genkai, to be born with such a frail body and become a shinobi. They died far to early on in their careers. It was likely only because of her Kekkei Genkai that she was even alive in the first place, or allowed to become a shinobi instead of just, sadly, a breeding tool for the Kurama Clan. The fact that she was from a Clan, specifically a Clan heiress if her previous words were to be believed, only made it more tragic. All that expectation on her frail shoulders.

Sasuke suddenly felt very, very blessed to have been born in a family where such issues were rare.

Yakumo smirked at Sasuke's silence. "There's no reason to be alarmed. Yes, I am a rare case, but it's nothing too bad. I can still put on quite the performance can I not?"

Sasuke stared at the girl, his eyes much softer than before, not that he truly noticed. "Yes. Your genjutsu are very powerful. To be capable of genuinely tricking shinobi of their surrounds to the point of it practically being a ninjutsu and being capable of murder. It is...terrifying to say the least." Yakumo smiled. "Why thank you. That is high praise coming from someone of your status. Although to be fair even I don't know if my genjutsu could enthrall you when your Sharingan was active."

Sasuke's eyes widened before he smirked. "Yes that is a good question. I suppose we'll have to find out some day won't we?" Yakumo smiled. "Yes. Yes, I suppose we shall."

The two smirked, competition flaring in their eyes before they nodded, taking their separate ways, Sasuke to go start his shift on watch while Yakumo likely went to set up a perimeter of genjutsu. At least, that was what Sasuke assumed. After all, with someone with such devastating power in the fort, why not make it practically invulnerable. She had conjured lava in the fight with Genraika, why not make more? After all, shinobi couldn't walk on lava.

Kiba, Ino, Neji, and Shino, frowned as they looked at the surrounding shinobi, the group of Genin sticking together due to not knowing anyone else on the force. There were so many shinobi it was ridiculous. Even they didn't know there were so many shinobi in Konoha, although many of them likely didn't operate in the light of day, as less than half of shinobi did.

Ino frowned, her eyes burning with annoyance. "Why do I have to go fight for the Daimyo! It's not like I don't want to, but I mean come on! I'd rather be out there fighting actual shinobi like Sasuke-kun! Sakura told me he left a few days ago!"

"Sasuke is so well known in only makes sense for him to fight shinobi. Why? It would be a waste of a resource to have him fight predominantly samurai," Shino muttered, out getting Ino to frown. "If that's true then why is someone like you here Shino? Your bugs won't be of much use against samurai." Shino nodded.

"Yes, but I believe I know why I am here. Why? Because I, unlike other members of my clan, am far to inexperienced to truly fight against other shinobi. During the invasion I fought against a foreign invader from Suna, and I lost. He was a Genin like us. If I cannot defeat him, why would they send me to fight more capable foes?"

Ino frowned, huffing but accepting Shino's reasoning. Still, it didn't sit well with her to practically hear that she was weak. Sure she didn't make it to the finals of the Chunin Exams, but she still thought that she was plenty strong. Her eyes widened however as she saw Kiba glaring daggers at Neji.

"Hey, Kiba, is everything alright? You look...angry."

Kiba snarled, Akamaru hiding in the Inuzuka Clan members hood, glaring daggers at Neji despite still standing next to him of his own free will. Neji stared dispassionately back at Kiba, his eyes interested, but lacking much of the arrogance that they held before the Chunin Exams.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just standing next to Hinata's abusive cousin is pissing me off."

Neji frowned, looking at the ground, to ashamed to meet Kiba's eyes. The other Genin clearly felt bad for the Hyuga, but they couldn't deny the truth. Neji had been rather brutal during the fight with Hinata, and despite the fact that the young girl won, she clearly wasn't ready for combat on the vicious level that Neji was dishing out. Hinata was not frail, but she wasn't built like Sakura. She wasn't made to take much damage, but rather dodge and weave around her opponents. If it wasn't for her trump card, the girl would have definitely lost.

"I apologize for my actions during my fight with Hinata-sama," Neji stated, the tone evident displaying that. "I went overboard. I let my rage cloud my actions. I promise you that it will never happen again. I will live my life fighting with her, not against her."

"And why would she want someone like you fighting at her side," Kiba snarled, clenching his fists, his sharp nails digging into his hands and drawing blood. Neji frowned. "That is a question that I wonder myself."

Kiba snarled, the answer clearly not satisfactory, but he was stopped by Shino. "Enough Kiba. Let it go. Why? He apologized, and Hinata did not seem to be bothered by his behavior. She has likely forgiven him. He is a fellow shinobi of Konohagakure, and a valuable one at that. He will be immensely useful in the upcoming fights against samurai due to the Juken. Do not harass him further."

Kiba whirled on his teammate, his animalistic eyes conveying his rage. "I'll be the one to determine that. If I have anything to say about it he won't even be necessary in the fights! I'll crush every samurai, without his help!"

Neji looked at Kiba, his eyes wide. "I see. I wish you luck then."

"I don't need your luck," Kiba roared, ready to come to blows with the Hyuga, only for a hand to clamp down on his shoulder. "Enough dog boy! I ain't dealing with your broody ass throughout this entire trip. Just because you weren't the one to get the female Hyuga doesn't mean that you get to bully her family. Now move along!"

Kiba growled at the person, only for his eyes to widen as he saw Anko smiling down on him. "Come on now mutt. Do something. I dare ya!"

Kiba growled at the woman but merely brushed her hand off of his shoulder, stalking off into the group of shinobi to glare at Neji. Even when the Inuzuka member disappeared Neji still felt like he was being watched. "I thank you Mitarashi-san, but I did not deserve that. Kiba was right. I was abusive towards my cousin. I have much to make up for."

"Damn straight," Anko stated. "Of course you do. But I can already tell that you genuinely want to. If the mutt is being an ass about it then he'll have to get the curbed out of him. Teamwork matters on the battlefield, and the bad blood between the two of you is a detriment to everyone else here. Remember that white eyes."

Neji blinked at the nickname. He had a feeling he would be hearing it a lot. "Yes ma'am."

"Good!" Anko roared. "Now lets get this party moving!"

"Isn't it started," Ino questioned.

"Let her be," Neji stated, a sigh escaping his lips.

Naruto stretched as he came to walked into the Hokage's office, a grin on his face. "Hey, we're back Ero-senin!"

Jiraiya winced. "Stop calling me that brat!" Naruto ducked underneath a quickly thrown book, a smirk on his face. Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "I take it your mission ended successfully if you're here with a smile on your face."

Tsunade and Naruto both frowned at that, glancing at each other. "We did learn about Uzushiogakure, but we found...difficulties." Jiraiya frowned, staring at Tsuande and Naruto with intensity. "Explain."

"There were Kiri shinobi there," Naruto began, causing Jiraiya's eyes to widen. "They seemed to be looking for the same thing we were, Uzushiogakure history and jutsu." Jiraiya frowned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I see. And I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that you ended up fighting with them?"

The duo nodded, making Jiraiya sigh. "Great. Negative relations with another village, just what we need right now. You didn't kill any of them did you?" The duo snorted, shaking their heads. "No, we didn't kill anybody."

Naruto glanced at Tsunade, wondering if she would comment on how he almost died, but a sharp look from her removed that idea from his head. She clearly wasn't going to mention it. There was no reason to worry Jiraiya more than he already was with the news of another shinobi village possibly increasing hostilities. Not for something that didn't matter in the end because Naruto was alive at the end of the day. Other things however...

"There's other news," Tsunade said, frowning, getting Jiraiya's attention. "Orochimaru was there with some his lackeys. A girl with manipulation over strings that matched the description of who Genma fought. There was also someone else, a new player. He looked like he descended from the Kaguya Clan in Kirigakure."

"A runaway from the purges," Jiraiya commented, making Tsunade nod. "However, he was the reason that Orochimaru was there. The bastard didn't seem to really care about the Uzumaki, more the Kaguya Clan member. He has a serious illness, that Orochimaru wanted me to heal."

"Did you?"

Tsunade snorted. "Who do you think I am? Of course I didn't. But even with that illness doing significant damage to him he was capable of fighting on par, and even defeating a Kyuubi-enhanced Naruto."

Naruto winced, staring at the ground. "Yeah...he beat me when I was channeling three tails. I was too weak to stop him. Just like with Orochimaru."

"Don't be too hard on yourself kid," Jiraiya stated. "You couldn't have stopped Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. He was far too out of your league. Even now I wouldn't try those odds, Orochimaru is still dangerous without application of chakra."

Naruto grit his teeth, his hands clenching. "Yeah, but I recently I haven't been able to defeat many opponents using my own merits. Everything has been based off of the Kyuubi."

Jiraiya frowned. "Alright kid. How about this? I won't send you into the field so soon. Stay here with me for a couple of weeks, and I'll train you. I mean seriously. I'll have a clone handle the paperwork."

Naruto grinned at the offer. "That sounds awesome! Although no peeping on bathhouses!"

Jiraiya winced as he felt Tsunade's killing intent spike, causing him to frown. "Yeah gaki, just shut up please!" Naruto grinned, likely knowing exactly what he had brought upon the powerful Hokage. "Anything else you have to report," Jiraiya mentioned. Tsunade frowned.

"The crow isn't sure if the shark can be brought to roost."

Naruto glanced at her, confused, however Jiraiya frowned, nodding. "Dismissed."

Naruto frowned, confusion written on his face as Tsunade walked out. "When do we start ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya sighed, looking at the paperwork he had to do and Naruto. Smirking he formed a shadow clone before he stood. "Right now gaki!"

Tenten frowned as the night came. Tensions had gradually been rising throughout the day, as the scouts came back with more and more terror written across their faces as the day went by. They had reported monsters headed towards them, creatures of horrendous size and mass, but that didn't make sense. The only thing that would fit that description would be summons, and there was no way anyone could summon the amount of summons the scouts had replied, nor ones of that size unless they were a Jinchuriki, and Orochimaru had no Jinchuriki to current knowledge. None of this made any sense. There was no way that this army could have been possible, but they couldn't ignore what the scouts had seen. They were positive it wasn't genjutsu.

Needless to say the number and power of the traps had been increased.

Tenten stared at the moonless sky, the darkness enshrouding Yamiji Village causing her to frown. A moonless night was a common night for shinobi to attack. It was harded to see without the moons light, and on a cloudy night like this even less was visible. Tenten fumbled with the kunai in her hand, frowning. The tension was taking over her, she realized as she noticed her chest rising and falling even faster. She was going to hyperventilate. She was not ready for the combat she was about to witness. She hadn't fought in the invasion that much, and the ony fight she did participate in she lost, only being spared out of respect.

There was no way she could handle the enemies coming her way if the scouts were to be believed.

Tenten clenched the kunai with a death grip, analyzing the edge of it, wondering how quickly she could-a hand.

"Calm down, Ten-chan." Tenten turned, her eyes wide as her father smiled down at her. "Be calm Tenten. You will be fine. I'm here. No harm will come to you. You're strong. Breathe slowly."

Tenten nodded, taking several deep breathes before she nodded, staring up at her father. "I'm better now. Thanks." Stijin smiled. "No problem. Now let's keep watch shall we?" Tenten nodded.

The seconds dragged into minutes which dragged into hours before the guards on the walls finally heard a loud crash. All eyes snapped in that direction, before another crash could be heard on the opposite side of the fort. Another crash, and then another.

"What is that," a samurai questioned, bow in hand, arrow already ready to fire.

"Trees," Gaku called, his eyes narrowed. Nearby his ninkin barked, growling with a vigor. Gaku glanced at the ninken before he nodded. "Yeah. Those are trees falling." The samurai glanced at Gaku, a frown on his face. Clearly he thought the idea was incredulous. If something was knocking over trees it would be visi-

Well shit.

"What the hell is that?"

The monstrosity screeched, it's fury palpable, as it brought its four arms above its head, the two crab-like hands snapping with power unheard of. Tenten could only stare in horror. "What the hell," she whispered. Stijin frowned, looking the monstrosity over. "It's at least as tall as a summon. How did we not see it coming?"

"Or hear it," Gaku muttered, clenching and unclenching his fists. They were definitely not prepared for this. "The scouts definitely weren't lying."

"More," Stijin stated, getting Gaku to nod. "Yeah."

From the forest the monstrosity came from smaller monsters rushed forward, each of them thundering across the ground as they rushed across the plain to reach the hill the fort rested on. "It looks like that thing has children," Stijin muttered, horror at the monsters rushing the field, beginning to wander into the field of traps.

"We're surrounded!" came the call from the other side of the fort. Hayama's voice. Stijin cursed, glancing at Tenten and Gaku. "Both of you get a side of the fort. Do not let those monsters in here. The samurai can't handle them!" The two shinobi nodded, splitting off to go guard other sections of the walls. The duo were both greeted with hordes of mindless monsters rushing them. The shinobi all grit their teeth as the first traps went off, explosions and cries of rage erupting throughout the air.

"Fire!" a samurai called, and arrows filled the air, landing with wet squelch's as they pierced the monsters hides. Yet even the arrows didn't slow the creatures down; in fact they seemed to only irritate them more, causing them to move faster towards the fort. The samurai let another wave of arrows fly as explosions went off, monsters disappearing into the night as they fell into traps holes, and massive tornado's screeching as fire enveloped them, roasting the beasts alive. Tenten could only smirk as she saw her own trap activate, her smirk becoming a full on smile as she saw the monsters caught in it no longer moving when the smoke and flame cleared. As the arrows continued to rain down on the beasts Tenten unsealed a scroll attached to her hip, weapons falling into her hands as she smirked.

"I might as well help out," she muttered before launching a kunai. She smirked as she saw the blade pierce directly through a monsters eye, the creature screeching before falling to the ground, the numerous wounds on its body finally forcing it down. Tenten smirked, until her eyes widened as she saw a kunai fly forwards, sinking deep into a samurai's throat, blood spurting into the air. Her eyes narrowed.

"They have shinobi in their ranks!" Tenten called, clenching the kunai in her hands. The samurai near her hesitated at the call for a moment, allowing a few more kunai to pass through, killing a few more of their ranks. Tenten cursed, deflecting the kunai aimed at her as she worked in overdrive, trying to find the shinobi. She dulled the white noise of the monsters banging on the gates and walls of the fort, the walls slowly giving way over the sheer force of their blows.

There!

The figure moving in the shadows, aiming towards the towers! Tenten dashed forwards, launching a kunai at the moving figure only for the figure to evade it easily, launching a flurry of senbon in her direction in response. Tenten deflected the wave with her remaining kunai, narrowing her eyes on the figures movements, noticing how unnaturally graceful they were.

Female.

Tenten leapt to the top of the tower just as the enemy shinobi did, deflecting their strike at the nearby samurai. "Get out of here! I'll handle this," Tenten stated, pushing the enemy shinobi back, finally managing to catch how they looked in the light of the tower. Tenten frowned as she saw the girl smirk, drawing another senbon before launching herself towards Tenten. Tenten grimaced as she blocked one of the strikes, although she immediately leaned back as the second attack came in, avoiding the attack with the flexibility training taught to all kunoichi in the Academy.

Tenten was still on the defensive however, barely managing to avoid the series of follow-up strikes of the enemy kunoichi, and taking a small wound to her shoulder for her attempts. Tenten grit her teeth, dodging another swipe before she smashed the pommel of her kunai into the girls stomach in the brief second it took her to follow up, the girl gasping for air as Tenten forced it out of her lungs. Tenten reacted on instinct, smashing her knee into the girls chin, smashing her mouth shut in a small spurt of blood before she spun with a flourish, the enemy kunoichi's throat slit before she could even say a word.

Tenten took a deep breath, looking at the wound on her shoulder for a moment before nodding. It was nothing serious. The bun-haired girl turned to analyze the field of battle, frowning as she saw the largest monstrosity out on the field swatting at what could comparably be a fly to it. Tenten didn't even need to pay attention to realize that that was her father combating the large beast on his own, and as much as she wanted to help...

The girl could only stare at the fort, monsters having already breached the walls and slaughtering the samurai inside who tried to defend themselves valiantly. Clearly, there were other people who needed help more. Her father could handle himself. Tenten stared down at the field, frowning as she saw more humanoid figures fighting against the samurai, drawing another kunai. She had to take care of the enemy shinobi. From what she could tell Hayama and Gaku were doing their best to plow through the monstrosities, either not knowing about the shinobi or not finding them a significant threat.

That left them to her.

One was already dead, how tough could the rest be?

With that thought in her head, Tenten leapt towards the closest enemy shinobi.

This was tough.

That was the thought on Stijin's mind as he attempted to cut into the monstrosity's thick hide once more, his blade barely cutting into it. Stijin cursed, leaping away before the creature could hit him, its slow movements being the only reason he was still alive. If it hit him once he was sure that he would die. A monster of that size had to have some serious power behind it, and with those crab claws that cut down trees, there was no way he would stand up to a physical contest. He had to continue to immobilize it by striking at joints, where there was less muscle, and finish the monster off as quickly as possible.

Stijin set to work doing just that. The monster screeched, swinging its crab claw at him, only for him to blitz forwards in a Shunshin (Teleportation Jutsu). He reappeared on the opposite side of the creature, coating his blade in flames before he swung, the light from his flames illuminating his stormy eyes as they carved through flesh, the beast howling as black blood shot into the air.

The creature whirled, Stijin's eyes widening at the speed it moved at. It had not moved that fast before. Both of its crab like claws swung towards him, forcing the tokubetsu jonin to leap into the air, landing on the creatures arm and rushing forwards on it, slashing with his blade on the creatures arm, causing spurts of black blood to fly into the air. The monstrosity roared, moving even faster as it swung its arm, Stijin unable to maintain his balance even with his chakra. The man flew, groaning as he smashed into the ground, feeling his ribs creak at the impact.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," Stijin muttered, opening his eyes to see the monstrosity rearing back its arm. The man cursed Kami underneath his breath before he shot forwards in another Shunshin (Teleportation Jutsu) to avoid being crushed. The earth rumbled from the force of the hit, causing Stijin to frown at the blue energy he saw shooting from the back of the holes on the creatures arm. That definitely wasn't there before, and was that chakra shooting from it?

This thing could use chakra!

That only made his problems worse. The creature was using chakra to thrust itself forwards. That was how it was moving faster. It could think! It was adapting itself to be better equipped to kill him.

Wasn't that peachy?

Stijin cursed, weaving through one-handed seals before he breathed in, heat filling his lungs before he smirked as the creature turned, screeching to the heavens once more. "Katon: Karyūdan (Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bomb)!"

Flame shot forth from Stijin's mouth, smashing against the hide of the monstrosity, causing it to screech and recoil in pain from the heat, Stijin's eyes widening as he saw the monsters gray skin tighten at its ankle. He smirked as his jutsu came to an end, shooting forwards, and slashing with his blade, the flames on it allowing him to cut through the beasts heel as though it was butter. Muscle, bone, flesh, tendon, nothing stood in his way as the creature lost its heel, crying out in a show of pain that he had never heard before. Stijin turned, leaping towards the creatures back to continue his assault only for his eyes to widen as he saw it morph right before its eyes. The creature shrank, dropping to a more feline shape, and hobbling on three legs. Two tails swung behind its back, empty as the chakra propulsion was available for its use. The beast was still large, but it was nothing near as large as it had been before, being more akin to the size of a house. Stijin frowned as he overshot, flying over the beasts head only for him to watch as its eyes tracked him.

The beast opened its mouth, a dull blue glow pulsing from within.

"Shit."

The beast fired.

For those asking yes, just like that Kin is dead. She was definitively the weakest one on the team, and wouldn't stand a chance against canon Tenten, meaning she stood no chance against my Tenten (even with how underdeveloped she is right now). The other stories, cause I know some of you are looking forward to A New Life To Live and The Blonde Fanalis, will be done soon. A New Life To Live is nearly complete, Fanalis' next chapter I want to have a pretty big impact, so it's gonna take a bit longer.