Naruto: The Weapon Master
Chapter 36: Double Trouble
"We're getting close to them," said Kiba.
"Geez, things are really starting to step up. Don't you think so?" asked Naruto, he along with Shikamaru, Kiba and Akamaru were leaping through the treetops with the sun already setting during their pursuit with the Sound ninjas.
"Maybe so, but right now it's the three of us against the two of them, I kinda like those odds," said Shikamaru.
"Hey, what do you by three of us?" asked Kiba.
"Arf arf!" Akamaru barked, feeling rather offended at being left out.
Shikamaru smirked in response "Oh sorry about, I meant four of us,"
"Heh, I can't wait to blow them all away with the new jutsu that Akamaru and I have been working on!" said Kiba excitedly.
"So, what's the game plan for this one Shika?" Naruto inquired, ready to put an opinion of his own.
"Still working on it, but what's important is that we've got to catch up with them before the sun fully goes down,"
"Then let's speed things up and get a move on!"
The group increased their speed in an attempt to catch up to the remaining two Sound ninjas and retrieve Sasuke from them. Ahead of them, Tayuya and Sakon were ahead of their pursuers and trying to keep away from them until they reached the border.
"The sun's going down and yet Jirobo and Kidomaru had still not caught up with us," said Sakon.
"Forget about those punks, I'm more worried about what Orochimaru would do to us if we don't get this guy delivered to him in time," said Tayuya, rather nervously. Displeasing Orochimaru often results in very dire consequences.
Soon enough, the sun had fully set and night fell upon the land. Naruto and co were still in pursuit of their targets.
"Hurry, I can smell them just ahead of us!" said Kiba urgently.
"No, we're close enough as it is. It's best that we maintain this distance from this point on until sunrise," Shikamaru spoke.
"Why, we could even use the dark to launch a surprise attack on them and get Sasuke then make a clean escape back to the village,"
"Sounds plausible and I would have agreed with you but the major issue is that for the plan to work; we need stable visibility. We can't risk going in blind, wandering through the darkness. The moment that they figure out what we're up to, they'll simply solidify their defense around the coffin and hold out till we tire ourselves out. It would have been a different if Neji was here with us,"
"Surely, you aren't forgetting about our sense of smell, are you?" Kiba inquired with Akamaru barking in agreement.
"I haven't forgotten about it, but remember that they've also memorized the geography thanks to Orochimaru, plus…," Shikamaru looked up to peer through the trees and see the dimly lit moon and cloudy skies "My jutsu won't be of much help at this time with the moon being so dim and the clouds moving around overhead. To be on the safe side, we need to wait until daylight,"
"I don't know about that idea…," said Kiba unsurely.
"I agree with Shikamaru," Naruto spoke up.
"I thought you would want to attack them now than wait later,"
"Even though we share the same rank, I would turn to Shikamaru as the go-to guy for strategies. Just trust him, he hasn't steered us wrong," Naruto insisted.
"…Fine, then what's the plan once the sun comes up?"
"Already working on it," said Shikamaru thoughtfully.
Meanwhile, in a hideout located at the Land of Rice Paddies. Screams of pain could be heard echoing through the dark hallways. Kabuto hastened his steps into a room where the source of the pained screams came from behind a shower curtain.
"Lord Orochimaru…," Kabuto muttered lowly.
Said person was in the shower, blood seeping from his rotted arms and flowing into the drain as the Snake Sannin endured the endless pain inflicted upon him from his failed assault on the Hidden Leaf village.
"Is Sasuke not here yet?!" Orochimaru demanded.
"Time is running out for him, he won't last at this rate," thought Kabuto "There are many other bodies ready at your disposal, you can even use mine if you wish,"
"No, is has to be Sasuke! Why do you think I've waited this long?!"
"But you're running out of time, the sword that Uzumaki used on you was stronger than we thought! We were unaware that he possessed such a weapon!"
Orochimaru's eyes widened as he recalled that damn memory; he almost succeeded in killing the Third Hokage with the use of the forbidden reanimation jutsu if not for that blonde jinchuriki appearing out of nowhere and using that strange sword which not only freed the past Hokages which he had been controlling but also damaged his soul directly and rendered his arms unusable.
"If you don't take another body right now, you will lose everything!" Kabuto persisted.
"Everything!?" Orochimaru roared in pain once more as even more blood seeped out of his arms.
"I'll go and get them ready for you, then I'll see to it that Sasuke has been retrieved," Kabuto began leaving the room "I'll have to use Kimimaro for this,"
"Curse you Uzumaki...CURSE YOU!" Orochimaru yelled in rage and hatred of the cause of all his problems.
The sun was high in the sky as Sakon and Tayuya leapt through the trees before stopping to rest for a moment.
"Are we almost there yet?" asked Sakon.
"No, and we still have a ways to go. But take a look," Tayuya looked behind her with Sakon following suit to see Naruto and co right behind them "And there's still no sign of Jirobo or Kidomaru,"
"Newsflash; those two are dead, couldn't you figure that out?" Naruto sneered at them.
"Who needs those two when I can handle those guys myself!" Sakon lunged at the group whilst forming a handsign in midair.
"Let's intercept him, Kiba!" said Shikamaru, leaping towards the enemy with Kiba right next to him as Naruto remained behind to form a Rasengan.
"Fist Barrage!" Sakon began throwing punches at blurring speeds, repeatedly striking Shikamaru and Kiba before sending flying only to notice them disappearing into puffs of smoke "Those were Shadow Clones in disguise?"
Naruto lunged at Sakon with his jutsu to attack "Rasengan!" but Sakon intercepted by grabbing his wrist, forcing the jutsu to be disrupted.
Sakon smirked "How are you supposed to hit me when you can't even throw it?" then he noticed that Naruto was smiling smugly.
"Because I was baiting you to come after me," no sooner he said that, something zipped past them, revealing to be Kiba using the Tunneling Fang jutsu and heading straight towards Tayuya and the coffin.
"They lured Sakon away so they could target me next," thought Tayuya, she was about to move when something immobilized her from head to toe as Kiba quickly grabbed the coffin "What the?!"
"Shadow Paralysis jutsu, successful," said Shikamaru confidently.
"Dammit!" Sakon tried to move away but Naruto grabbed him by the wrists to hold him in place.
"No need to rush, let me help you with that," Naruto reared his head back and slammed it into Sakon's to daze him before hopping back and lunging at him "Bicycle Kicks!" he rapidly pummeled Sakon's face and chest whilst pedaling his feet in midair "Flying Kick!" then he attacking with a powerful kick to send Sakon flying towards Tayuya.
Kiba leapt out of the way with the coffin whilst Shikamaru moved Tayuya within range before releasing the jutsu let them crash into each other as they began to make their getaway.
"Come on, Shikamaru! Time to pull out!" said Kiba urgently, passing the coffin over to Naruto as they moved away.
"Don't worry, I'm right behind you!" Shikamaru responded as he followed after them "Just like I thought, they left themselves wide open,"
"Those punks think they can get away so easily?" Sakon rose to his feet as the Cursed Mark began spread throughout his face and body "Well, think again!" he went after them with great speed unlike before with Tayuya following after him.
Naruto and the others were moving as fast as they could when Kiba suddenly sniffed the air and looked behind him "Guys, we've got incoming and it's coming in fast!"
"What a drag, keep moving! We're almost there!" said Shikamaru urgently.
They moved as fast as they could with their pursuers closing in when they heard barking and looked down to see Akamaru on a tree branch with his paws on an explosive tag with several more stuck to other trees behind the puppy.
"Alright Akamaru, get moving once you set the tags!" said Kiba as he moved past the puppy.
Sakon landed on a tree branch when his heard hissing and turned to see an explosive tag burning up and about to detonate much to his horror.
"WHAT?!"
*BOOM*
The tag exploded as the tree fell to the ground amidst flames with several others soon following suit.
"Perfect, he fell right into our trap!" said Naruto with a smile.
Kiba nodded in approval "Nicely done, Akamaru!" the puppy barked happily and began scampering over to his partner.
Suddenly, something leapt out of the smoke, revealing to be Sakon having escaped from the explosion which surprised Naruto and the others "Don't think you can mess with me!" he launched ninja wire at Akamaru to bind him to a branch which has an explosive tag attached to it "I'm gonna kill that mutt!"
"Get away from Akamaru!" Kiba quickly rushed to save Akamaru as the tag began to detonate.
"Kiba, wait!" Shikamaru called out.
*BOOM*
But the tag detonated with the explosive shockwave knocking them all down towards a valley below.
"Kiba! Akamaru!" Naruto called out in worry and was about to follow after them when Kurama quickly spoke up.
"Naruto-kun, there's still one more enemy approaching you!" said the nine-tailed vixen urgently.
Naruto looked up and growled in anger, seeing Tayuya approaching him and Shikamaru to attack them "Dammit, we don't have time for this!"
"Man, what a drag," Shikamaru grumbled in agreement.
Down at the bottom of the valley, Kiba got back to his feet while feeling a bruised in certain parts of his body but still good to go then he went to check on his canine partner.
"Akamaru, are you okay?" the puppy barked in response much to his relief "That's great to hear, I was really worried about ya,"
"You won't have to worry any more, once I send you to the afterlife," a voice spoke up, causing them to turn and see Sakon not far from them.
Kiba faced him with a glare "Like that's gonna happen, you're going down here and now,"
"I'd like to see you try,"
Music Start: Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 OST; Gatebreaker
Kiba reached into his ninja pouch and brought out two Soldier Pills which he ate one and tossed the other to Akamaru to eat, making the puppy's fur to turn red.
"Alright then, Ninja art of Beast Mimicry: All Fours jutsu!" Kiba went on his hands and feet before speeding forward kicking off the rocks in a pinball manner until he was Sakon's blind spot and attacked from behind, landing a hit "Got him!"
However, Sakon glanced over his shoulder with a smug smile then something hit Kiba without warning and sent him tumbling away and splashing into the river nearby. Akamaru quickly ran over to check on him.
"What just happened? I know that my attack connected but it didn't seem to damage him, then there was that attack, I didn't see it coming either," muttered Kiba with a frown, getting back to his feet "In that case, we'll go with a pincer attack this time, Akamaru,"
"Arf!" Akamaru barked in affirmation and stood at the ready.
Kiba formed a handsign as he crouched "Beast Mimicry: Man Beast Clones!" there was puff of smoke and it faded to reveal a doppelganger in Akamaru "Alright, let's go!" they dashed forward while running on all fours and sharply darting left and right to throw their opponent off as they drew close "Man Beast Ultimate Taijutsu: Fang over Fang!" they leapt into the air and started to spin, forming two mini tornadoes then swooped down to attack from different directions with the confidence that their opponent won't be able to defend himself simultaneously.
However, when the dust settled down, the results weren't what the Inuzuka and his canine partner expected at all. For some freaky reason, both of them had their hands restrained Sakon and another one was sticking out from his back.
"What's with this guy?!" Kiba was shocked to see this, he snapped back into focus and lashed out with a kick only for a foot to emerge from Sakon's stomach and block it "What the?!"
"This is quite perfect, Sakon. There's one for each of us," said the other body before launching a punch to send Kiba flying who then puffed into smoke to reveal a hurt Akamaru on the ground.
"Akamaru!" Kiba called out in worry.
"Oh, so you're the real one. Multiple Fists Barrage!" Sakon then punched Kiba to send him crashing into a boulder, Kiba looked up to see Sakon in front of him with a punch midway which leaned out of the way to barely dodge but an arm emerged from the elbow to grab him by the neck.
"Dammit!" Kiba tried to break free from the chokehold but to no avail.
"My brother and I get along really well, Ukon usually sleeps within me while I'm active most of the time. But he would come out to play when the moment calls for it," Sakon explained.
"This must be his ability, now that I think of it. This must be what helped them escape when Shikamaru had captured them during our first encounter," thought Kiba.
"He can focus his arms and legs out of any part of my body for either offense or defense, like so!" Ukon protruded his head next to Sakon's and a fist emerged from his forehead to hit Kiba in the face.
"Arf! Arf!" having recovered a bit, Akamaru charged in to help Kiba but Sakon saw him coming and smirked deviously.
"Multiple Leg Barrage!" Sakon duplicated his legs into three as he launched Kiba with a powerful kick into Akamaru's direction, both crashing into yet another rock and appearing seriously damaged "How does it felt to be kicked by three legs at once? Why I can even-,"
A hand suddenly clamped his mouth Ukon grumbled while looking at his brother in annoyance "That's enough, Sakon. We don't have any time to play around…," he activated his Curse Seal fully to transform into a red-skinned Oni with a long horn protruding from his forehead "We're going into phase 2 and wrapping this up,"
"Oh alright, you're always so impatient," said Sakon as he transformed as well.
Akamaru whined a bit, catching Kiba's attention "I gotcha, those horns aren't just for show. I can sense that their power has greatly increased with that transformation of theirs. Makes me suspect that Neji and Chouji went through the same thig with their opponents,"
"What are you in the mood for, brother?" asked Sakon.
"Rip them apart," Ukon replied bluntly.
"Dammit, I think we're finished here," thought Kiba grimly.
"Arf!" Akamaru barked about something which seemed to have surprised Kiba.
"What are you saying Akamaru, you want us to try that jutsu?" asked Kiba in disbelief with the puppy nodding in affirmation "It's too risky to use it without anyone around to back us up! The moment we use it, all that remains of our chakra will be used up and we won't be able to move afterwards. It will be all over for us the very moment we miss, we'll have died for nothing,"
The next thing Kiba knew was Akamaru angrily pouncing at him and biting his hand much to his shock "Akamaru…?"
Having waited long enough, Sakon and Ukon charged towards the duo with intent to kill them once and for all. Akamaru immediately moved to position to protect Kiba who looked down in thought.
"I must be a lousy master for you to bite me like that, alright then Akamaru…," Kiba rose to his feet and stood at the ready "We'll use the jutsu,"
Akamaru lunged forward and moved past them who simply ignored the pup and went straight for Kiba with a punch which he tried to block but the impact slammed into the rock from before and was punched in the torso with enough force to make him spit out blood. However, Kiba had braced himself and grabbed Sakon's arms to hold him in place.
"Now Akamaru, Dynamic Marking!"
Sakon and Ukon looked up to see Akamaru spinning in midair above them before something splashed in their faces and immediately realizing what it is.
"Dog pee? What the heck kind of trick is that?!"
"Now's my chance!" Kiba pulled back and kicked off a rock to somersault into the air with Akamaru landing on his head as he formed a handsign "Inuzuka Style: Man Beast Transformation Combo; Two-Headed Wolf!"
There was a large of smoke before a loud thump was heard as the smoke dissipated to reveal a giant feral version of Akamaru albeit possessing two heads that were drooling large amounts of saliva onto the ground.
Sakon snorted at the sight of the transformation "All that flair and you're nothing but a slobbering dog,"
"What can that mutt possibly do?" Ukon sneered.
They sharply leapt into the air and spun rapidly at speeds to appear as a giant tornado, much bigger compared to when Kiba and Akamaru use the Fang over Fang jutsu. Sakon barely avoided the incoming attack with one of his legs receiving a cut but he suddenly slipped the moment he landed and discovered the cause of that.
"The drool!" said Sakon in realization.
"Sakon, you idiot! On your right!" said Ukon angrily.
But the warning came too late as they were hit dead-on by the attack "Wolf Fang over Fang!" the combination attack continued to shred at the enemy's body until they were literally torn in half with both halves falling away from each other and the duo landing afterwards.
Kiba spoke smugly "How do you like that? Wolf Fang over Fang's revolution speed is so intense that we can't see anything while we're attacking. But it will cut you even without direct contact and will also rip you to shreds if it does,"
But then he was shocked to see the two halves of the body beginning to squirm and regenerate the missing halves with grey scaly replacements before rising to their feet and facing them as if nothing actually happened.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, brat," said Ukon.
"To be honest, we were planning to separate," said Sakon.
"They actually split into two?!" said Kiba in disbelief.
Ukon continued to speak "Things would have been bad had we taken the full brunt of that attack, now's the time to get serious,"
Kiba felt the legs beginning to shake and realized what was happening, even Akamaru was whining in concern their current status.
"I know boy, we only have enough left in the tank to use Wolf Fang over Fang one more time. We need to make this last shot count," thought Kiba.
"This time, we're taking them down, Wolf Fang over Fang!" the duo attack once more with Sakon and Ukon quickly darting out of the way and concealing themselves behind some of the large rocks scattered about but they remained undeterred "There's no point in hiding, we're not relying on our eyes right now but rather tracking you by the scent which Akamaru had placed on you earlier!" they quickly located the Sound Ninjas and continued their attack.
However, Sakon and Ukon bit their thumbs hard enough to draw blood then sped through a set of handsigns before slamming their palms to the ground "Summoning jutsu; Rashomon!" something burst out from the ground, revealing to be a giant gate resembling that of a roaring demon. Kiba and Akamaru collided with the gate and actually dented but it stopped them completely in their tracks and began to fall towards the ground.
"Impressive, Rashomon is our greatest defense taught to us by Lord Orochimaru himself. But for him to dent it like that…," said Ukon.
Sakon snorted "However, it matters not…for this is the end!"
The twins leapt into the air with their fists reared back to put an ed to the duo when one of the heads suddenly woke up and splashed something into Sakon which caused him to cry out in pain whilst undoing the transformation, revealing Akamaru who purposely took the hit from Ukon and crashed to the ground.
"Akamaru!" Kiba called out in horror, not wanting to belief that the puppy acted a shield to protect him as he fell.
"Dammit, he did it again! But this one feels like it's trying to burnt out my eyes!" said Sakon in agony.
"Go and wash your eyes out by the river while I deal with this one by myself," said Ukon in annoyance as he turns towards Kiba.
Kiba tried to move to check on Akamaru but realized that his body was severely weakened from both the transformation and the recent damage from colliding with the Rashomon gate "Darn it, I can't move! This can't be the end for us, can it?"
"Like I said before, I'm going to rip you apart," said Ukon as he strode closer.
"Tch, looks like I have no tricks left," said Kiba when he saw something glint and looked down to see the ring in his finger before recalling something.
"These rings are linked to the bracelet and have the power to summon a weapon to the wearer without requiring me to be nearby to use tag mode," Naruto's voice echoed in his mind.
"I've got no other options, please give me something to turn this all around so I can save Akamaru! Equip!" the ring glowed brightly for a few moments before fading away to reveal Kiba wearing a device modeled on a wolf's head on his left wrist. It is purple in color with a gold bell and hammer feature. Kiba felt information about this device flow into his mind as he stood.
Ukon quirked an eyebrow at this "What is that thing supposed to do besides trying to make you look pretty?"
"Let me show you," Kiba then took a stance after opening up the wolf's head of the gongchanger "Echo! Howl of the Beasts! Beast On!" he flicked the hammer to make it hit the bell, the device released violet energy which engulfed Kiba's body before dissipating to revealing him donning a violet-and-black helmet and bodysuit with a wolf's motif, the suit is adorned with metallic armor at the arms, feet, elbows and knees.
"What the heck just happened?!" Ukon demanded.
"Excitement, my style, to the limit of my will! Iron Will, GekiViolet!" Kiba struck a pose with an explosion of purple smoke occurring behind him "Here I come!"
"This won't change a thing!" Ukon charged to attack him.
Music Change: Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 OST; Go Ahead
"Gekiwaza Wolf-ken!" Kiba sharply leapt forward with enhanced speed and landed a powerful knee kick into Ukon's torso, forcing him to stumble backwards in pain before retaliating with punches and kicks.
Kiba skillfully blocked and parried whilst counterattacking with elbow and knee strikes. He grabbed an outstretched punch by the wrist and moved in to attack "Savage-Savage Elbow!" he raised an arm into the arm and brought an elbow down hard on Ukon's forehead which actually breaks off the forehead, making him stumble back but Kiba wasn't yet done "Gekiwaza Wolf-Wolf Kick!" he performed a spinning jump into the air and landed an axe kick upside the head yet again.
Ukon tumbled to the ground before rising to his feet with blood dripping down his head while disbelief at what's happening "Where the heck did he get this power?!"
"Brother!" he turned to see Sakon running towards him to help.
"Get over here and help me deal with this punk, he's become far too annoying now!"
Kiba snorted behind his helmet "You haven't seen anything yet! Gekiwaza Wolf-ken; Hard-Hard Attack!" he tapped the Gongchanger, releasing a bright flash of violet light which died down to reveal him along with the Sound Ninjas within fighting arena much to the latter two's shock.
"What the heck, is this some kind of Genjutsu?!" asked Sakon in disbelief.
"Here I come!" Kiba lunged at them with a flying punch and struck Sakon, snapping back into focus and attacking. He rapidly switched targets between the two whilst engaging them in close combat. He was fighting Ukon when Sakon rushed in and grabbed Kiba by the shoulder then tried to do something when a burst of violet energy knocked him away.
"Impossible, I couldn't merge my body with him! That strange energy is preventing me from doing so!" thought Sakon in shock, that moment of distraction cost him as Kiba targeted him next after knocking Ukon away.
"Gekiwaza Wolf-Wolf Bullet!" Kiba took a stance as his body radiated violet energy and gathered above him to create a violet lupine wolf with a bladed tail, he thrust a fist forward to launch the wolf which jumped at the enemy in a spinning attack, slashing with its bladed tail before the arena disappeared as Sakon fell to the ground with his body cut up and forcefully reverted from the Cursed Form.
Ukon quickly rushed over to Sakon and absorbed him into his body as the latter spoke weakly "That really hurt, you take over while I rest inside the body,"
"You're so pathetic, Sakon," Ukon retorted bluntly "As for you, I'm gonna kill you if it's the last thing I'm going to do!"
"Sorry pal, but that's not gonna happen! Gekiwaza Wolf-ken…," Kiba tapped the gongchanger to make it start flashing as violet energy enshrouded his left fist then he suddenly appeared in front of Ukon in a burst of speed before he could react "…Rise-Rise Fist!" he attacked with a powerful uppercut to launch Ukon into the air and crashing to the ground behind him.
Kiba began walking away towards Akamaru as Ukon struggled back to his feet, he stopped and held out the gongchanger "…knockout," he spoke whilst closing the gongchanger.
Violet electricity suddenly coursed throughout Ukon's body as he cried out in agony before collapsing whilst engulfed in an explosion, the aftermath being an unmoving charred body.
Music End
Kiba undid the transformation as he went to carry Akamaru in his arm "I can't believe that you went and took that hit to protect me…I really am a lousy master," he looked at the puppy with growing feelings of self-loathing when a voice suddenly called out to him.
"Well well, you look like you've been through a wringer but managed to come out on top. I think I should change my opinion of you Leaf Ninjas,"
Kiba turned around, ready to use the gongchanger to transform again when he saw who it was that spoke and relaxed a bit before responding "What do you know…looks like we're allies again,"
Weapon/Gear List
Beast-Fist Henshin Brace GongChanger = Juken Sentai Gekiranger
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, it's seriously becoming a bad habit for me to take long in updating these old stories of mine but then again work just loves to throw monkey wrenches into my plans. But I refuse to let it make me give up on any of them, so rest assured that I won't fail in updating ALL of my stories no matter what. This chapter focused on the tag battle between Kiba and Akamaru vs Sakon and Ukon, I figured having Kiba transform into a Super Sentai would fit him well in this fight since he's mostly a close-range fighter and would be able to win before Kankurou would show up to help. The next chapter will be Shikamaru against Tayuya and Naruto facing down Kimimaro until Rock Lee comes to take over, I'll leave it to your imaginations on the kind of weapons they will be using. It's likely that I would combine both fights into a single chapter before moving onto the Naruto vs Sasuke fight that you're all really after. Till then, read and review like always.
PS; I set up a voting for Zenko of DC about whether you guys want me to put in TMNT into the story.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.