Chapter 53 – Attack on Konoha II
"Talk"
'Think'
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei.
"What's the situation, Ibiki" Kakashi asked a tall guy with a bandanna as Team Kakashi entered Konoha.
"We just received words. Uchiha Tekka reported that Uchiha district is under attacked by a group of clones with a sharingan whereas another group of Konoha shinobi who is engaging Otogakure near the Academy reported that a group of Academy student unable to evacuate as their teacher was injured" said Ibiki.
"I'll go to the Uchiha while-" said Kakashi but was interrupted by Naruto "We got the Academy, sensei"
Academy
"Iruka-sensei!" cried Naruto, Noriko and Tenzō when they saw Iruka lying on the floor.
"What happened?" asked Noriko.
"We were the last group to leave when Mizuki-sensei hit Iruka-sensei and left us here" said Konohamaru.
Naruto, Noriko and Tenzō looked at each other before Tenzō said "I'm rather low on chakra, so the best thing for me to do is to escort them to the safe-house if both of you provided me with two kage bunshin each. Should we got attack, I can do Mokuton to trap them. Naruto, you carry Iruka-sensei to the hospital while Noriko, you got the nose to track down Mizuki-sensei. Whatever he's planning, he's taking advantage of the attack to escape. We cannot allow that to happen"
Naruto and Noriko nodded before Noriko said "Be safe".
"You too, Noriko" replied Naruto and Tenzō.
Tenzō assisted in securing Iruka on Naruto's back while Naruto and Noriko produced kage bunshin to help Tenzō evacuating the Academy student.
As they are about to leave, a group of Otogakure noticed them and prepared to attack when an Anbu in long purple hair with a sickly-looking shinobi jumped in front of them with their swords out, "Go! We'll handle them" the ANBU said.
Tenzō posted the kage bunshin for lookout while he ensured the kids got to the safe route. Once secured, he was asked by the chūnin in-charged to find and escorted the villagers to safety. Tenzō found three more villagers and killed seven Otogakure shinobi before he nearly passed out from chakra exhaustion.
Naruto carried Iruka-sensei cautiously while at the same time, deployed his kage bunshin for extra guards. As he reached the hospital, he saw a team of four ANBU fought valiantly against ten Otogakure shinobi. Naruto yelled "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and the hospital compound was filled with blonde-haired shinobi, all screaming "Protect the hospital!".
Naruro passed Iruka to Shizuka whom he met at the entrance before going out to help the ANBU when he saw his clones carrying two ANBU inside the hospital. His clones swarmed the enemies, holding them down or distracting them before they were killed by the remaining ANBU and a few Rasengan.
Once finished, one of the ANBU clapped Naruto's shoulder firmly and said "Thanks Uzumaki-san. We leave the hospital under your protection" before they shunshin off to fight in another place. Naruto was touched at their beliefs in him and steeled himself to defend the hospital.
Noriko followed the scent of Mizuki. First it led her to Nara Research Laboratory when she saw that the place was broken into and there are signs of robbery. She produced nine kage bunshin, eight to guard the place while the ninth was sent to inform about the breaking and entering.
Next, the scent led her to a cave entrance into a mountain at the outskirts of Konoha. Unsure, she activated her byakugan to check inside, only to see Mizuki appeared at the cave entrance with a flask.
"Mizuki-sensei! What are you doing?" asked Noriko with her kunai out.
"Tsk…here I thought I could make a clean escape" scoffed Mizuki "Never mind, you'll be the first to witness my new power" he drank from his flask.
Noriko switched from byakugan to sharingan. She cannot see any changes in Mizuki physically except for a weird stripe that appeared on his head, but she can feel the pressure that was build up inside Mizuki.
Mizuki grinned and jumped to punch Noriko but Noriko switched with a log. Annoyed that he missed, Mizuki continued to attack and grinned when his punched was connected which sent Noriko ten metres away.
Noriko jammed her kunai on the ground as a break when she noticed from the corner of her eyes another attack from Mizuki. She jumped to avoid, switched to byakugan and shouted "Zanzō Bunshin!"
"Ohhh…did the Hokage taught his little niece his jutsu?" mocked Mizuki who then snarled "You will not stop me!" he began to attack the nearest clone-
-only to be attacked by a jūken. Mizuki screamed and he underwent another change into a humanoid tiger.
"Really? Tiger?" asked Noriko in disbelief.
Mizuki laughed maniacally as he felt power surged through his body and punched the ground. This caused the ground to shatter which affected Noriko's clone.
Mizuki's laugh was cut short when he saw Noriko with tiger's ears, eyes and paws. She shouted "Zanzō Bunshin!" and then said "As a holder to summoning tiger, I feel it's my duty to show you how a true tiger attack"
The nearest Noriko tried to attack Mizuki who jumped to the back, when he felt sharp pain on his back, followed by a side's attack and another side.
Screaming in frustration, Mizuki jumped upwards and tried to land on the outside of Noriko's clones when he heard anothe "Zanzō Bunshin!", and he was attacked again.
"Surrender, Mizuki-sensei. I've cut a number of your arteries" warned Noriko.
"Never!" screamed Mizuki. Noriko noticed that his movements were getting slower. She stopped channelling Rajah and activating her byakugan. She hit Mizuki with jūken until he fell on the ground. As she approached him, Mizuki's appearance changed into a shrivelled old man.
"Wh-what have you done to me" croaked Mizuki.
"It's not her" said a voice. They turned and saw Shizune dropped down with a team of shinobi and a pig.
Shizune's hand glowed green which ran through Mizuki's body for diagnosis before talking "We heard that there's a breaking and entering in Nara Research Laboratory. From the brief list of missing things given to us, Tsunade-sama concluded someone was trying to concoct a steroid-like potion. The drawback is that, it also accelerates cell regeneration. I'm sorry Mizuki-san, you've burnt your lives away for a short period of power" Shizune shook her head.
"N-no! N-no! You're mistaken! I can't die! I can't die!" Mizuki whimpered in denial.
"Come Noriko-san. The invasion has finished. The Hokage and your sensei were looking for you" asked Shizune after she has finished checking on Noriko.
End Chapter 53
Jūken – Gentle Fist
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique
Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Mass Shadow Clone Technique
Zanzō Bunshin – Afterimage Clone