Another chapter is here!
Enjoy!
The Konoha Strict Correction facility was used to house criminals of the Leaf that committed treasonous acts or murders, the worst among the worst that didn't warrant a sentence to Hozuki Castle or execution. During the current time of peace, the number of criminals was minimal and so the facility was downsized and placed within a volcano. There the prisoners' chakra was devoted solely to keeping the heat from overwhelming them as they tilled the soil futilely.
Of course, in the wake of the Invasion, the smaller size meant that the addition of the Sand captives led to a serious overpopulation problem. The cells that could fit two-to-four prisoners easily were now cramped housing five-to-eight each, with former Leaf prisoners being placed in one set and captives in the others to prevent any unnecessary casualties among the two. Needless to say, none of them were happy.
So you have a single facility filled with trained killers that lost their leader, lost their war, and were stuffed into overcrowded prison cells nestled within a volcano. How much havoc could they cause in a short time if they all got loose and scattered about, taking their revenge against the Land of Fire as a whole? How much manpower would it take to bring them all to heel?
That was the question that came to the minds of the ANBU and Medical Corps shinobi midday as they looked over the battlefield that the correctional facility devolved into sometime during the night, when their guard was at its the lowest due to the majority of the prisoners being asleep and behind bars. They'd only received notice something was wrong when the shinobi that came to change their shift arrived to find corpses strewn about.
Some were impaled by golden arrows and kunai, others were withered husks. The watchtower was filled with bodies that had been crushed by blunt force and some looked like they had numerous bite marks from razor-sharp fangs. The equipment used to contact the village itself was sabotaged upon inspection, so even if they had tried to they couldn't have alerted the village before the change in shifts.
They dispatched a team to send word to the Hokage personally, unable to trust that a message would make it without being intercepted any other way. The rest combed the prison for any survivors to explain what happened and who was responsible for this. There were none to be found.
[0-0-0]
In the village proper, Anko found herself staring down at the golden chain of chakra in her charge's hands with a raised brow. It wasn't very thick and was roughly the width of a finger, with each link being smaller than that. "And it just came out when you tried to do the Chakra String exercise?"
The girl at least looked as confused as Anko did as the length of the chain increased. "I followed the instructions, focusing on sending my chakra out as densely as I can and to maintain it a straight, condensed form. It hurt the first time, since my tenketsu aren't used to trying to force chakra that dense out, but it turns out like this every other time."
"You're really just full of surprises." She grabbed the length of chain between both her hands and pulled it a few times to test how durable it is. "Well, it's fairly tangible, but I wonder how it stands up against someone with chakra?"
Tightening her grasp, Anko channeled chakra into her hands to strengthen them… and felt nothing. Her hands were numb compared to rest of her body until she released the chains. Only then could she feel it flowing back into her hands. "It interfered with my ability to use chakra just from touching it."
Karin grabbed the chain and started fiddling around with it in curiosity upon hearing that, wrapping it around her wrist. "I don't feel anything different. Then again, it wouldn't make much sense for something made from my own chakra to suppress itself. Maybe it only works on foreign chakra then?"
Anko's thoughts were racing on the implications of this and what sort of other effects it could have. Would the effect increase with the size of the chains? Would it work on different types of chakra? And more importantly, did the Hokage know about it, given that it was part of his guidelines that she underwent training in using Chakra Strings?
"I think I should go tell the Hokage about this. It seems like something he'd want to know…hm?" She trailed off as there was a knock on their home door.
Opening it revealed an Anbu Officer with a scroll in hand. She took the scroll and looked it over as the deliverer vanished, and her expression turned to a frown. "Gear up. We leave out in five minutes."
The sudden change in her tone caused the younger kunoichi to look up from the chain that she had formed into a seamless loop by connecting the ends, causing the chakra composing it to meld together. "Is something wrong?"
"There was a massive prison breakout so they're calling in every shinobi that's capable of tracking and sensing and assigning them to different sectors that they've divided the Land of Fire into before the inmates can cause problems that reflect on the village or try something stupid." She looked up from the scroll towards Karin with a stern glance. "You remember what I told you about being out on assignments, right?"
"I do," Karin said, letting the chain dissipate. "But if I haven't encountered their chakra before then I won't recognize whether or not I should be looking for them. All I can do is point out if they have chakra or not."
"That's fine. Any questioning or fighting will be done by the Anbu accompanying us, while I'll be watching your back to make sure nothing happens to you if it does come down to a fight. We're going to be moving around a lot since you've got decent range on your sensing ability, so you need to focus on not missing anything if you can help it, got it?"
"Yes, ma'am."
[0-0-0]
"Sorry about this," Naruto said with his hands clasp together as though to offer a prayer to the Honey Badger roughly three times his size that laid before him in a lifeless heap. He couldn't say he was fond of the vicious bear-sized creature, but he still didn't exactly enjoy having to kill it. But that was the mission he and a pair of other Chuunin, Hayase and Okei, had taken.
While they had arrived earlier that morning in the Land of Honey, the trip had been something of an awkward affair since his partners were roughly twice his age. But they were pretty straightforward with explaining how they operated on this sort of mission, having done it a number of times before. They marked a map he had of the local area with spots that the big ones usually nested in and decided that they would split up to cover all of them as quickly as possible once night fell.
"One more to go," Naruto said with a sigh as he finished enclosing the corpse in a sealing scroll that Okei had given him. The Chuunin was apparently familiar with a variety of sealing formulas, as proven when Naruto asked him a question about it. He immediately regretted it when he ended up having to listen to an hour-long speech about the difference in the formulas and how they affected the containment, preservation, ejection velocity, etc.
On the plus side, now he knew how to make a simplified single-item storage formula that could fit on a sheet of paper the size of a business card. He used them to keep his masks, sealed in separate sheets with their names on each one, in his pouch. That made carrying them around much easier since he didn't have to rummage around in his storage scroll for them.
Setting out to the next spot marked on the map, searching for any trails that would lead him to the last target, Naruto came to a stop when he heard a strange sound cutting through the air from behind him. He turned around and squinted his eyes, only to register what it was only a second later. "Whoa!"
He jumped upwards as an oversized shuriken whizzed by where he had stood and wedged itself into a tree. It was an unmistakable attack against him. Landing in a crouch, Naruto turned in the direction that it came from as he reached for his kunai pouch. "Who's there!?"
"Take a guess," a familiar voice whispered from behind him.
It can't be, he turned around to see the stretching limb and spread fingers flying forward from the ground, but too late to react as it struck. The fingers of the stretching hand closed around his neck and carried him several meters across from his landing spot into the trunk of a tree. The impact wrenched the kunai from his hand and a pained cry suffocated in his throat as his consciousness flickered upon hitting the back of his head against the tree. "Grkk!"
"I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do this." A figure emerged from the ground seamlessly. "I've had dreams about squeezing the life out you, Nine-Tailed Brat."
Naruto's quickening pulse skyrocketed as he laid eyes on the man who had betrayed his trust, revealed the secret hidden from him, hurt Iruka, and tried to kill him. He was far more muscular and broader than Naruto remembered, stripes lining the muscular frame at certain points and eyes narrowed into slits. But it was him no doubt.
A snarl bubbled up in his throat as the name forced itself out through his gritted his teeth. "Mi… zu… ki!"
"Glad you remember me," he said, tightening his grasp to cut off Naruto's windpipe. The boy frantically tried to wedge his fingers between his neck and the broad fingers slowly strangling him to death. "Because I haven't forgotten how you ruined my life!"
"You… ruined it…yourself!" Naruto gathered chakra into his hand and fingers, bleeding it through the tenketsu, and then repeated the training steps he used to cut through leaves to sharpen the chakra. The rushed and desperate act resulted in cutting into both his fingers and the set around his throat.
The flexible hand retreated, blood running from the gouges from where the sharpened wind-chakra parted Mizuki's flesh. "So they taught you some new tricks huh?"
"How did you… get out of prison?" Naruto panted, working to level-out his breathing as he picked up the kunai and held in a defensive position. The dull throb in the back of his head, the hot blood that ran from his hands where he'd cut himself in haste, the bruised flesh around his neck, all the pain he was in slowly fell to the back of his mind as he stared at the man in front of him. "And what did they feed you in there?"
"Like my new look?" He tightened his fist to flex the muscles in his arms. "This body is the result of the power bestowed upon me by the knowledge of Lord Orochimaru."
"The snake guy is dead," Naruto said. "The Old Man made sure of that."
"Believe that if you want. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that when I was sprung from prison, one of his men gave me what I needed to attain this power in exchange for doing them a little favor first. So you and I are going on a little trip… after I've worked out my frustration, of course."
It wasn't hard to guess who it was that gave Mizuki whatever power he was going on about and wanted Naruto brought alive. There was only one person alive that would do both while flying under Orochimaru's banner. The moment that Naruto came to that conclusion, the air grew tense. A feeling of anger blossomed in his chest and the cuts on his fingers sizzled softly as they healed over in a prelude to what was to come. "That bastard Kabuto is behind this, isn't he!?"
A slight chuckle left Mizuki's lips at seeing the anger becoming tangible in his visage. Confident in his own newfound power, he didn't fear it. "I wish Iruka could see that look on your face right now. Even he couldn't confuse it for anything less than that of a monster."
"Tell me where he is!" Naruto ordered, feeling the same anger that beckoned his Tailed-Beast cloak in his voice, which no doubt reflected on his face. He hadn't forgotten how Kabuto had been the one to activate that seal that ended up causing Karin pain. Nor did he forget how she'd nearly blown herself up to try and take him out. Just remembering it was enough to get his blood boiling, and it was only the memory of the sort of monster he'd became and nearly killing Sakura that stopped him from reaching out for that power to tear the location out of Mizuki's flapping lips that instant.
Mizuki extended his hand, palm facing up as though offering it. "Don't worry, I intend to take you there personally. But first, I want to test out my power against that of the Demon Fox."
The two glared at one another with clear hostility that mounted with the looming silence as one attempted to restrain himself and the other urged the change while drunk on his newfound power. Only the distant crashing sound reverberating through the trees broke the tension. The rational part of Naruto latched onto it and recalled that was where the other two Chuunin had gone off to finish their mission, likely to be victims of a rampage should he lose control.
"I brought two friends of mine along with me," Mizuki said, following his side-glance. "That sound you hear is them tearing your comrades apart. They had poor luck taking a mission with you."
"… Then I don't have time to waste playing with you," Naruto said as he made the Cross-Seal. Shadow clones popped into existence and surrounded him. Two of them broke from the group to follow the distant sound of destruction and search for his teammates. The rest swarmed Mizuki like a tidal wave.
The sight only served to put a smirk on Mizuki's face that bared his fangs. Then he exploded into motion, fast enough that Naruto barely registered as the memories of the clones in front of him popped half-a-second before the man was in front of him with his fist cocked back. The world blurred as one of the clones pulled a Substitution and took his place.
That was close, Naruto thought as his mind caught up with the swap. He was faster than Naruto had predicted, and if the clones didn't have some ability to make their own judgment it would have gone poorly. The rest of the clones tried to swarm him again, only for Mizuki to bat them aside until he spotted the sole one standing still and moved as quickly as before—likely pegging him as the original.
Naruto's instincts screamed for him to use a Substitution the moment he lost sight of him. It proved to be the right call as he received the memories of the deceased clone afterwards. It's only a matter of time before he catches me. I'm going to need to deal with his speed and finish this quick.
Naruto went over his options in the span of a second as he swapped places again. Getting Byakko out of the sealing slip and mask would take three seconds at the least. That sort of time wasn't an option while Mizuki could close the distance at the obvious tell. Not to mention if he was in touch with Kabuto, he'd likely been informed about Byakko and has a countermeasure ready.
So that leaves something he can't know about. Naruto had already exposed he could use wind-chakra, so that was out. That left the Rasengan and the thing he was working on before he left the village. The former could likely end the fight in a single blow, but Mizuki was fast enough that Naruto was struggling to keep track of him. The latter could probably surpass Mizuki in terms of speed, but it took time to convert enough yang-chakra for it to manifest properly and last for more than a minute.
As long as I can stop him from moving they both should be able to work though, Naruto decided as another set of clones disappeared between a swap. An idea came to mind, though he wasn't a fan of it. As long it works, it'll be worth a hit or two.
He created ten more clones, giving the appearance that he was trying to pad out his losses. Each of them was instilled with the plan as they pulled from his thoughts on creation. One dispersed immediately, spreading that knowledge to the surviving clones which acted it out.
Naruto threw himself forward and swapped places with a clone, leaving it to scatter along with five others. Mizuki took note of their departure and made to give chase after them, suspecting that he was one of them. Naruto used that opportunity to fling explosive-tagged kunai at the six in a spread-shot, since he didn't know which one Mizuki would go after. At the same time, he felt a pair of clones raiding his pouch from behind for the concussive tags he had there.
Six explosions rang out, stopping short of the clones as they used the foresight to escape the blast radius with a well-timed burst of chakra from their legs. Mizuki, with his clothing scorched from the proximity of the blast but otherwise unharmed, immediately wheeled around to try and strike down the one that threw it. A Substitution put Naruto out of range as one of the tagged clones took his place and was dispersed by the blow, resulting in a chain-detonation as Naruto used a Body Flicker at the last moment to get clear.
The shockwaves from the explosions threw up a dirt and dust veil. Memories of the clones that were sacrificed flooded Naruto's mind as what remained of their chakra spread to the rest. The surprised look on Mizuki's face at the last moment left him wanting to believe that it was over, and that his extra measures were unnecessary.
That belief was summarily crushed as Mizuki abruptly shot of the ground like he was breaking the surface of water. The man was slightly injured and furious, that much was clear as he lashed out with the back of his fist. It connected with Naruto's head and pain bloomed where the blow had caught him before he hit the uneven ground with a loud thud.
A haggard breath left Naruto's mouth as his sight returned just in time for him to see Mizuki's foot descended to stomp on his chest. Even with chakra flooding his body in reflex to the impending blow, the force still jostled through his body as it passed through. The ground caved in around him as he let loose a pained cry padded out with blood. "Agh!"
The sound etched a cruel smile onto Mizuki's face. He was reveling in the superiority of the moment, intent on drawing it out as he pressed down. "The Leaf's standards must've really fallen since I got locked up if someone like you made Chuunin because of a few cheap tricks."
"That you… fell for," Naruto said with a wheeze as a set of memories suddenly flooded his mind. One of the six that he had dispatched earlier was watching the scene unfold and dispersed to signal the counter-attack. He used his hands to brace Mizuki's leg and then anchored himself to the ground with chakra to hold him in place as clones broke through the surrounding brush from the four cardinal directions.
The biggest issue was that Mizuki was too fast to properly hit. But he wasn't like Neji, whose eyes let him peer through a trap or had that spinning defense that took him by surprise. A textbook ambush would work just fine once he could no longer evade by sinking into the earth or jumping away, which was accomplished by baiting Mizuki at the expense of taking a hit—even if it was sooner than planned.
Being attacked by all four directions with only two hands and one leg free, Mizuki could possibly fend off three of the four attacking him now. The fourth would hit no matter what. Between all of them carrying kunai laced with wind-chakra, each and every one of them could cut him down.
"You think this is enough to take me down!" Mizuki, angered at the thought of being outmaneuvered, lashed out while caught between the four-pronged attack. He brought his other foot up, placing all his weight onto the original's chest, to catch the one attacking him from the front.
His left hand turned into a fist that he brought down with all the might he could manage to smash in the head of the one attacking the left. Reaching for his oversized shuriken that fit just right in his other hand, he swung it to cut the third one down. That left his rear exposed to the last one.
The clone was positioned perfectly to drive it into his unprotected back… at least that was what should have happened.
Instead, there was a loud popping sound as Mizuki's right arm turned boneless from all the joints dislocating. The limp arm still holding the large shuriken stretched around like a living serpent, guided by his chakra. It promptly cleaved the clone's head in half, causing it to disperse along with the technique.
Certain of his victory, Mizuki grinned down at the younger shinobi and his lips moved to gloat…only to be promptly thrown off so abruptly that he was in the air and spinning before he realized it. Righting himself and landing in a crouch, his confusion only served to grow in the face of the boy rising to his feet while wreathed in a thin yellow aura like sunlight given form that bled from his skin.
The timing was too close, Naruto thought as he looked down at his hands and body in disappointment. The death of the fourth clone served as the trigger for the fifth, which had devoted itself to converting all the chakra it possessed into yang-chakra as quickly as it could, to dispel itself as a next-to-last resort. The net result was supposed to be a sudden influx that flooded his limbs with vigor, threaded his muscles with strength, sharpened his senses and reflexes, and numbed the pain as his body healed at a heightened rate—but Mizuki catching him with that kick too soon and fending off the fourth clone like that cut it short.
"That must be the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox, right?" Mizuki asked regaining his composure after being surprised. "He mentioned you could do something like that, but I was expecting… more."
Naruto shook his head. True enough, it was based off his time spent while wreathed in the Nine-Tailed Fox's power while trying to kill Kabuto. That strength and speed were when he was at his strongest to date, but that sea of anger and murderous desire robbed him of reason. So he took Jiraiya's advice and the training that he'd went through with Karin and Sakura to form a means of reaching a similar state without the corrupted and malevolent influence.
His own chakra reserves could be used to attain a similar form. He'd practiced and ended up running into a tree as a result to confirm it. But in this case it was both rushed and divided by a third due to the existing clones seeking his teammates, so he couldn't even form a chakra arm or make another clone because it would spread the yang-chakra too thin to reach a heightened state.
But it's good enough like this against him, Naruto concluded as he stared up at Mizuki and clenched his fists. "You should be grateful that I'm in this state instead of using the Fox's power like I planned as my last resort."
"Oh and why's THAT—" He lunged for Naruto with abnormal speed at the final word to try and catch him off-guard. Yet his charge was met with a cross-counter as Naruto's fist greeted his face eagerly. Mizuki was then sent crashing through a tree a few meters behind as a result.
"Because I would have torn you limb-from-limb already," Naruto finished. "And if I do that, I can't get answers from you. So let's wrap this up and you tell me where exactly Kabuto wanted you to bring me, okay?"