Naruto: Shinobi Hunters

Digi-Destined Saga

Crescent Moon Kingdom Arc

Kurama no Kyubi: This is the final chapter of the Crescent Moon Kingdom Arc, and so, after this I'll go back to writing the next Arc of Dragon Ball Shippuden, but until then, please enjoy the chapter.

"Digivolution." Normal speech

'Digivolution.' Normal thought

"Digivolution." Biju, Digital God, Legendary, transformed Laguz, Perfect, Spirit, God speech

'Digivolution.' Biju, Digital God, Legendary, transformed Laguz, Perfect, Spirit, God thought

Bakuto: Kurama no Kyubi doesn't own anything other than his own OCs.

Chapter 46: T.A.O.E.A.E

As even had fallen, Kana was sitting at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean as she was thinking about what had happened earlier.

Flashback

"Kana-chan, stop this! I may not know how you're feeling, but revenge isn't the answer! It never is! If anything, once you've gone through with it, you'll only feel empty inside! You'll never be satisfied!"

Kana stared at Mirai in shock before slowly backing away, and she then jumped off.

Flashback End

She just sat there, thinking back to Mirai's words.

Just then, someone emerged from the forest behind her. Now, she was self-trained, but that didn't mean she wasn't trained well. So, without missing a beat, she rose to her feet as she spun around and drew her sword.

"And you are…?" She asked, pointing the sword at the boy now standing before her. However, that's when she noticed it. His eyes. They were red with three black tomoe in each; the Sharingan.

Hoping that she hadn't already been put under a Genjutsu, she closed her eyes shut. She didn't understand it. She couldn't wrap her head around it. There should have only been one Uchiha remaining; Uchiha Sasuke. So where did this guy come from?

Kana realized she didn't have time to think about it, and so, she just charged forward with the intent on killing this new arrival.

Sakura

Sakura ran through the forest under the setting sun, the Digivice in her weapon's pouch, and the X-Loader which she had temporarily stored Budmon in hanging from what appeared to be a thorny vine wrapped around her waist. That vine hadn't been there before.

Flashback

Suddenly, several "snakes" in the form of arrows that connected to Medusa's back shot towards Sakura, and she quickly leapt to the side as she pulled out a kunai. She was holding Budmon with her left hand while she had let the Digital devices drop to the ground.

"Superb reflexes. I see you've been trained well. Maybe that old hag is good for something, after all." Medusa commented.

"You… you've been keeping tabs on me?" Sakura asked.

"But of course. You are my darling daughter, after all." Medusa said, a vicious grin on her face.

'Kh… This woman… the Snake Witch, Medusa. To think that someone like her is my mother.' Sakura thought as she gritted her teeth before asking "Where's Crona-nii? What have you done with him?"

"…"

"ANSWER ME, YOU BITCH!"

"Now, now, is that any way to speak to your mother?" Medusa said before continuing "As for where Crona is, don't worry. He's currently enjoying life with the other Meisters of DWMA. Spying on them for me, of course."

"Why you…!"

"Hmm… Yes, those are good eyes on you. They fit the child of a Witch perfectly." Medusa said before adding "Now, why don't you come a little closer so that I can get a better look at them?"

"Huh? What do you…" Sakura trailed off as she looked towards her feet to find them standing on a black arrow on the ground "Oh, shi–!" And then she was suddenly propelled towards Medusa who grabbed her by the neck.

Sakura then swung her kunai at Medusa's face, however, a snake-head connected to Medusa's left arm by a series of black dots grabbed the kunai in its mouth before forcing it out of Sakura's hand and throwing it to the ground, which was when the explosive tag that Sakura had attached to it at some point blew up.

"If you think that you'll be able to take me down just like that, then you're vastly underestimating me. I come from that century, after all." That's right. Medusa was born in the Void Century. However, that doesn't mean that she was a member of the 100 Gods, after all, that's a title which was only given to the 100 survivors of the countless number of people that fought the Perfect. No, Medusa is just a Witch that was born in that century. Witches have unnaturally long life spans, and it is not unheard of for a Witch to be over a thousand years old. However, despite a Witch's seemingly endless life span, only a few have ever passed the 10.000 year mark, with Sakura having heard that the Grand Witch, Mabaa-sama is supposedly one of those few.

Four arrow-shaped "snakes" then came out of Medusa's back before wrapping themselves around Sakura's wrists and ankles before slamming her into the wall of the cave.

Medusa then walked over to her, and as she reached the pinkette, she sat down as a thicker arrow "snake" came out of her butt to act as a chair, and she was brought up to Sakura's stomach.

"Sakura, my sweet daughter, as the Witch that you are, I think it is time that you finally awakened your Magic potential." Medusa said with a grin as a ball of Magical energy appeared in her palm, and she thrusted it into Sakura's stomach, causing her daughter to scream out in agonizing pain.

Flashback End

Sometime after that, Sakura had woken up and Medusa was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that whatever Medusa had done to her, it greatly increased her Magical abilities. She'd always been able to use Magic for as long as she could remember, with an affinity for plants, though it had never been at the level where it could be used in a fight. Now however, she had suddenly found herself being able to freely control trees with relative ease and could even sense their life force.

'I need to hurry! The others could be in trouble!' Sakura thought as she ran in a straight line through the forest, the trees moving by themselves to the side as if to make way for her.

The Palace

Just outside of the window to the throne room, a wooden contraption had been set up, with a plank going a bit out from the wall.

"Ungh. Stop! Shabadaba, what are you doing to me?!" A blindfolded Michiru yelled as he was dragged out the window and towards the contraption by the guards. Behind him were Shabadaba sitting on the throne while his counselors were standing around him.

"No! Stop it! Let go!" He was then lifted over the railing and onto the plank.

"I've always thought this would be a more entertaining way of executing people." Shabadaba said as one of the guards placed a noose around Michiru's neck, though the Prince then retaliated by slamming his shoulder into him, causing the guard to fall down on his knees before getting back up as Shabadaba continued "So far, you've proven me right, Michiru! But please, don't overdo it."

Michiru fell down on his butt, one leg going off the edge of the plank, and the guards then helped him back up.

"Hmph. Take the blindfold off." Shabadaba said, and the blindfold was removed.

As Michiru saw where he was, his eyes widened and he backed up into the railing before falling down on his knees.

"Crank it." Shabadaba said and one of the guards began spinning a part of the contraption, causing the rope to be pulled on, and Michiru was forced onto his feet as he began walking towards the edge.

"See that you don't fall off to quickly. I've paid good money for this show. Heh heh heh heh hahahahah!" Shabadaba said as he began laughing.

Michiru managed to stop about halfway out on the plank as it started bending downwards, both due to the weight and how far out from the palace tower it was. He then look over his shoulder at the grinning and laughing madman.

Just then, however, due to the strain on the plank, it bended further down which caused Michiru to almost run towards the edge, and Shabadaba looked on excitedly, but the Prince managed to stop just in time as he let out a sigh, and Shabadaba's excited face turned into one of disappointment.

The Prince looked down in fright as he panted before looking up, and his eyes slowly widened as he saw the most beautiful view he had ever seen in his entire life; two mountain peaks with the ocean behind them visible in-between them, and the sun setting in the horizon.

That's when he remembered his father's words.

"Joy. Happiness. Our hopes. And our dreams. A place of peace and harmony. That's the sort of land I envisioned."

"Papa…!" Shabadaba then noticed Michiru straighten his legs and back as he looked out over the Kingdom.

Kana

KLANG!

The sound of metal clashing against metal resounded through the forest as Kana (her eyes still closed) went in for another attack as they fought amongst the trees.

She had no way of knowing, of course, but her opponent, despite having the Sharingan, was not an Uchiha. Rather, it was Bakuto Masaki. The story of how he obtained those eyes is unknown, but since he can turn them off and on like an Uchiha, there might be some kind of connection between the Uchiha and Masaki Clans.

Kana's sword clashed with Bakuto's before she jumped back in a summersault and landed on the lowest branch of a tree. The two looked towards each other (even though Kana's eyes were still closed) before they leapt towards each other at the same time, their swords clashing for an instant as they passed one-another, and they both then landed where their opponent had been just a moment before.

The very instant she landed, however, without giving Bakuto any time to breath, Kana spun around on her feet before leaping up at her opponent, his back still turned to her. What Kana didn't notice, however, was Bakuto's eyes changing as the three tomoe turned into the shape of some kind of seven-bladed shuriken. And as Kana's blade then swung down on Bakuto's back, some kind of black aura surrounded him, blocking the sword like some kind of armor.

'What?!' Kana had to struggle to not open her eyes when they widened.

Just then, a shockwave suddenly hit her, knocking her off-balance as she was thrown backwards. Bakuto didn't go in for the attack, however, as he just turned around stared down towards Kana as she managed to brace herself with her hand and she bounced onto her feet.

'Is that… the Mangekyo Sharingan?!' She thought in surprise, having thought that particular eye had been long lost among the Uchiha Clan, but she then regained her composure as she thought 'It doesn't matter. As long as I can figure out what kind of powers his eyes have, I should be able to find a way around them.'

Bakuto on the other hand had a different set of thoughts going through his head.

'Despite having her eyes closed, she's still very much aware of her surroundings…' He then closed his eyes before opening them as he said "I see. So it's an Ability. You're a Devil Fruit User."

"My, you picked up on it pretty quickly, didn't you?" Kana spoke, a hint of annoyance in her voice "Yes, you're right. I am a Devil Fruit User. Now, can you guess what type of fruit it is?"

"Despite your eyes being closed, you were able to react to all of my attacks, and were even able to land perfectly on this branch. Furthermore, without missing a beat, you spun around on your feet as soon as you had landed on the ground, and leapt towards me, even though you shouldn't have been able to see anything, and thus shouldn't have been able to know if you jumped too soon or too late. So it has to be some kind of Paramecia Devil Fruit which grants you the power to see through solid objects– like your closed eye-lids for example." Bakuto analyzed.

"Heh. You're good. Yes, I ate the Eksu-Eksu no Mi. I'm an X-Ray Woman." Kana said. (Kurama no Kyubi: I don't know what X-Ray is in Japanese, as I'm not that good yet, so I just wrote down what I assume the letter "x" would sound like in Japanese.)

"You see; after you Uchiha had destroyed my village, I set out to specifically search for this Devil Fruit, knowing that it would give me an edge over the Sharingan." She finished.

"This is where, I suppose an Uchiha would say "don't underestimate the Sharingan" or something like that. I'm not like them, though, as I've made a point not to over-rely on my Sharingan." Bakuto said, and soon after the fight resumed.

The Palace

As the crescent moon shone its light down on the Kingdom, circus music reached the ears of the guards standing at the gate, and they looked down the road, towards where it was coming from, to see the circus people coming towards them.

"You. What are you doing here again?" The guard asked as the circus people had come to a stop before the gates.

"Oh, well you see…" The Circus Director began as he held his hands together.

"Get outta here!" The guard yelled as he pointed his lance at the Circus Director.

"Whoa there, brother." The guards looked behind the Circus Director to see a silver-haired man with a black eye-patch over his left eye, a dark-blue bandana, and wearing a sleeve-less orange shirt over a dark-blue shirt which had a collar that went so high that it covered the man's mouth and nose. His right eye was also closed, almost as if it was smiling in an upside-down smile.

"We were summoned by your boss for a command performance." The man said as he stepped forward.

"I received no orders." The guard said.

"You didn't?" The man asked as he brought his hand up to his eye-patch "Are you sure about that?" And he moved it up, revealing a spinning red eye "Hmm?"

Throne Room

The door behind the throne opened up to reveal the three hired Shinobi, and the three councilors to the right of Shabadaba moved out of the way as they stepped forward.

"What is that?" Ishidate asked as he came to a stop next to the throne.

"Entertainment. A simple hanging is so boring, don't you think?" Shabadaba said.

Just then, the gates opened up, letting the circus in.

"That circus bunch again? How did they get in?" Shabadaba asked as he had walked over to the contraption that was being used for the execution to see what was happening.

"Shall I send them away, my lord?" One of the councilors asked.

"Hmm… Not so fast. Now that's entertainment." Shabadaba said as he observed the circus performers before turning to Michiru as he continued "Frankly, he was beginning to bore me."

As Michiru looked down at the circus performance, Kakashi was standing in the middle of the plaza as he looked up towards him.

"The circus? Here? I haven't seen one since I was born."

People were beginning to gather outside of the palace to watch the circus, while others were watching it from the windows.

Palace Storeroom

In a dark storeroom within the palace, a small part of the wall was pushed aside as Korega looked around.

"It's all clear." He said as he stepped out and climbed to his feet.

He was then followed by his men, Hikaru, and Lee.

"We of the King's Guard are the only ones who know about this passage."

He then cracked open the door to see if the coast was clear. Luckily, there weren't anyone else around.

"Hikaru-sama." The archer said as he was kneeling behind the young Prince.

"Huh?" Hikaru turned around to face the guard who held up three arrows for him.

"Take these arrows. I made them especially for you. They may come in handy." Hikaru smiled as he took the arrows.

"Thank you."

"Let's go." Korega said before the group of 7 left the room and they began running down the hallway.

"It's too bad that Mirai-san couldn't find Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun in time." Lee said.

"Yes, well, it's too late to go back and wait for them now." Korega said.

"According to Kakashi-sensei, Prince Michiru is being held on the upper terrace. Remember guys, there's no time to lose." Lee said, having an ear-piece in his ear which was connected to one that Kakashi had.

Entrance Hall

As the guards under Shabadaba were heading to watch the circus, one of Korega's men snuck up behind one of the pillars before giving a signal to the others who were waiting atop a staircase on the other side of a door.

"It's all clear." Korega said as he turned towards Lee, who then brought his hand to his ear.

"We're ready."

Palace Plaza

"All right… Let's get this started." Kakashi said before walking over to the front of the fountain as all of the performers had stopped performing, and even the music had stopped, as they were all standing behind the fountain along with the animals.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, our grand finale! So sit back and enjoy." He said as he pulled up his eye-patch, revealing his Sharingan, which Ishidate noticed instantly, and he then went through a series of hand-signs.

As he finished with the hand-signs, the fountain's water suddenly shot up as though it had a mind of its own before shooting a blast of water down on everyone gathered.

He then threw off his disguise, revealing his Konoha Hitai-ate and Chunin/Jonin uniform.

"ISHIDATE!" Shabadaba yelled as he turned towards his hired pawn.

"I'm on it!" Ishidate said as he, Karenbana, and Kongo ran off.

The guards then charged towards the circus performers as Chamu roared and Kiki jumped off his head.

"Are they really here to rescue him?" Shabadaba asked as Michiru was smiling.

One of the performers was on the ground, holding one guard's arm behind his back while strangling another between her legs. Two others were riding the mammoth as they were chasing some of the guards, the mammoth simply hitting the guards with its trunk. The Circus Director along with two others ran away from the guards, however, then the rhinos ran the guards over. The boxing kangaroos were standing back-to-back as they were each faced with a guard, though they simply hit the guards in the face. Five of the guards backed off into a circle before falling onto their butts as they were surrounded by the four polar bears. Chamu just ran through the guards trying to attack him. And finally, the giraffe was eating the leafs of one of the trees at the edge of the plaza as the performers that didn't want to join in on the fighting were standing by his feet, watching as four disarmed guards were running from the three zebras.

Entrance Hall

"The upper terrace is off the throne room. With all the guards outside, it should be unprotected." Korega said as the group had gotten up to the second level of the entrance hall and were running towards the stairs leading to the third.

As they reached the third, however, they all came to a stop as someone was there waiting for them.

"Heh heh. So, he was right. That Ishidate. He's a clever one. He guessed that all that ruckus outside was just a diversion." Kongo said.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll take care of this one." Lee said as he stepped forward.

"You sure?" Korega asked.

"Quite sure. This one and I have unfinished business." Lee said.

"He's all yours, then. Good luck." Korega said as he, his men, and Hikaru all ran off down a large hallway.

"Oh no, you don't!" Kongo said as he began running, but Lee jumped into the air as he spun around before sending a drop-kick down on Kongo, which he blocked by crossing his arms above his head, causing dust to be blown around from the impact. Kongo then pushed his arms upwards, causing Lee to jump back into the air as he flipped before landing back down on the floor again in a crouching position as he pulled out a pair of nun-chucks.

"This time I won't go easy on you." Kongo said as he rubbed his shoulder.

Lee then began swinging around with the nun-chucks before saying "I can say the same."

Palace Plaza

Chamu looked up towards the palace.

"So they're up there, huh?" A person had appeared next to him, but before he had time to see who it was, they had already disappeared.

Korega's Group

Korega's group ran up a flight of stairs before they came into a large room, however, as they ran into the room, a kunai suddenly shot down, hitting Korega in the leg.

"Ugh!" He grunted as he fell down on one knee as the others began looking around for their attacker, but they didn't see anyone.

Hikaru, who looked down at the kunai, figured out where it must've been thrown from and he readied his bow as he was about to fire, however, the archer came up in front of him instead.

"You should save those arrows for when it really counts." He said before firing his own arrow, however, it just hit the wall, and then a kunai came in from a completely different direction, this one headed straight for Hikaru's face.

However, through a small crack in the floor, a thin vine suddenly shot up an through the hole on the rear end of the kunai, catching it.

"… What?" Hikaru looked confused before a huge sound like a boom could be heard, and everyone looked towards the wall on the other side of the room to see that someone had made a huge hole in it, and that someone was coming in through it.

That someone proved to be none other than Sakura as some kind of bark-like gauntlet armor was covering her right arm before receding.

"You guys go on ahead; I can take care of things here." She said, looking towards them.

"Right. C'mon, Captain." The bald one said, however…

"Damn. It must've been tipped with poison…!" Korega said as he had removed the kunai that had hit him before he turned to the others "You guys go on without me."

"Right." The bald one said before the five of them ran off.

"Now then." Sakura said as she now stood in the middle of the room, and in an instant, the entire floor of the room was covered in flowers, turning it into a flower field. Pollen then rose from the flowers and into the air, and as they reached the attacker, her silhouette became visible as they could see that she was crawling on the wall like a spider.

"Crap!" She exclaimed, realizing that they could now see her, and figuring that it would be pointless to remain invisible, she became visible again, revealing herself as Karenbana.

"You stay back." Sakura said, speaking to Korega before she continued as she looked up toward Karenbana "I'll take care of her."

Korega's Men and Hikaru

Korega's men and Hikaru ran over the bridge towards the middle tower, and as they came around towards the front of it, they saw Michiru standing on the plank.

"Father!" Hikaru yelled.

"Hikaru!" Michiru said.

"Stop them!" Shabadaba yelled.

"Hurry!" The bald one said as he ran towards the entrance of the tower, but just then, Ishidate came down right in front of him and put his hand on the guy's face, the guard then quickly turning to stone before Ishidate threw him away, causing him tio break apart.

"SIR!" The archer yelled.

A bunch of guards then showed up as they quickly surrounded the three remaining guards and Hikaru, and Shabadaba laughed at the scene.

"Hikaru!" Michiru said as he looked down.

"That was an elaborate little plan you guys came up with, but it was doomed from the start, I'm afraid." Ishidate said as he walked down the steps and towards them, holding his petrifying glove at the ready.

Palace Plaza

Two people, one boy and one girl ran towards the gates leading into the plaza.

"Looks like the battle's already started!"

"Tch!"

The two ran into the plaza as the girl, Mirai, jumped into the water beast coming out of the fountain, causing it to disperse, and as she landed on the fountain, she began spinning around, the water swirling up around her.

The boy, Sasuke, then jumped into the air so that he got above her, and the water formed into a water cyclone before catching Sasuke and throwing him towards the palace.

Palace

"That was an elaborate little plan you guys came up with, but it was doomed from the start, I'm afraid." Ishidate said as he walked down the steps and towards them, holding his petrifying glove at the ready "Now, DIE!"

Just then, several kunai with explosive tags attached to them flew down near the feet of Ishidate as well as the guards surrounding Hikaru and the others. The tags then caught fire and no more than a moment later they blew up, covering the area in smoke.

Ishidate then thought he could hear a roar followed by Hikaru's shout, probably the name of whatever animal had shown up. As he began getting visibility again, he saw Hikaru riding a saber-toothed tiger as the three soldiers were running alongside him.

"Fools." He said simply, however, that's when a new voice suddenly spoke up.

"Sorry, but you're not going after them. Because I'll be stopping you here." Ishidate turned towards the remainder of the smoke to see a silhouette come towards him, and as the smoke faded entirely, the silhouette came to a stop as Ishidate got a good look at him.

It was Uchiha Sasuke, however, he was a bit different as his body was now covered in black tattoo-like markings, and his formerly onyx eyes were now yellow while his sclerae was black.

Lee VS. Kongo

Kongo gave a right hook which Lee ducked under before going in for a left one as his opponent backed away towards a pillar, however, this time Lee jumped out of the way as Kongo punched off a chunk of the pillar like nothing.

Summersaulting through the air, Lee landed Behind Kongo as he quickly turned around and then swung around his nun-chuck and moved towards his opponent, trying to hit him with it, but Kongo moved to avoid the steel weapon before attacking with a diagonal kick. Lee then ducked under the kick before knocking Kongo's other leg from under him, causing him to fall onto his back.

"Now!" Lee proclaimed as he pulled down his leg warmers to reveal a bunch of other nun-chucks before throwing them into the air. As the nun-chucks landed, they dug into the floor, and even broke into the pillars, indicating just how heavy they were.

Lee, who now held two nun-chucks, began swinging the two nun-chucks around, though he accidentally hit himself in the head, knocking him slightly off balance. Quickly recovering however, he sped up at an incredible speed, running alongside the wall before turning towards Kongo, and running straight towards him.

Kongo barely even had time to register the coming attack as he got knocked to the ground, and Lee came to a stop as he began rising back to his feet before speeding up again, knocking Kongo aside, though he didn't fall down this time.

As Lee ran at super-human speeds, he connected the four pieces of the nun-chucks together, combining them into a bo-staff, and as he ran towards Kongo from behind, he hit him into back with the staff, sending him high into the air.

Lee then jumped after him, appearing above him as he swung the staff down, hitting him so hard that he was sent flying straight down towards the floor, causing a huge dust cloud upon impact as a large crater was formed, and Lee landed back on the ground.

"That oughta do it."

Palace Plaza

Even though Kakashi's water beast had been dispersed earlier, a much more fiercer beast seemed to have taken its place, as the water cyclone that Mirai had created formed into the likeness of a serpentine Dragon as it flew around, crashing into the guards as it went.

"Suiryu no Idainakyúryú!" Mirai called out as a great amount of water appeared around her before, like the ocean waves crashing against a cliff, it came in over the guards and crashed against the palace's walls. Only the guards lucky enough to have been on the stairs survived.

"Don't you think you're going a bit overboard?" Kakashi asked as he stepped up to her.

"I'm just trying to take out as many as I can so that I can beat up that jerk, Shabadaba." Mirai responded.

"I'm just glad you're on our side." Kakashi said with an eye-smile.

Sakura VS. Karenbana

Sakura thrusted her arm forward, causing four vines to shoot from within her sleeve, obviously an attack inspired by one of Orochimaru's Jutsu, though she may not have realized it herself.

One of the vines caught Karenbana's arm as it wrapped itself around it, and she was swung into the wall with enough force to have it crumble down over her.

She climbed out of the rubble as she gritted her teeth in annoyance. The pinkette had obviously grown stronger from before, and she even had some new tricks with her this time, but how? It had only been about a day or so since that battle at the beach, so there's no way she could've gotten this much stronger from training alone. So then how…?

"You're wondering how I become so strong, aren't you?" Sakura asked, catching her attention "To be honest, I guess I've always had this strength in me, it's just that it wasn't awakened until now."

Was that true? Had the pinkette always been this strong, she just couldn't use this strength until now? Karenbana couldn't help but wondering what had caused it to awaken.

A bark-like gauntlet once again appeared over Sakura's right arm, augmenting her strength, and she crouched down before charging forward at tremendous speed. It wasn't anything compared to Lee, even with his weights on, but it was still greater than the average Human.

Karenbana could only jump out of the way as Sakura punched the wall where she had just stood, creating a large hole straight through it.

'I can't let myself be hit by one of those attacks!' Karenbana thought as Sakura slowly stared towards her.

"Tch. I know "he" said not to, but it looks like I have no choice but to use my full power." She then rushed towards Sakura, who met her charge with a punch, however, just before her fist could make contact, Karenbana vanished before appearing behind her and swung her kunai at her.

"Ah!"

Lee VS. Kongo

Lee was on one knee as he was panting heavily, tired from the earlier battle, but then he suddenly noticed Kongo beginning to move again.

"Stupid BRAT!" He said as he was beginning to get up, Lee still panting.

Hikaru

Hikaru and the others had fled into another tower, and as Korega's men were holding off the guards at the base of the stairs leading up to the roof of the tower, Hikaru was riding Chamu up said stairs.

They soon came out on the roof and Chamu ran towards the edge pointing towards the middle tower where the throne room was, and from there they could see Michiru as the other towers only went up to that altitude.

"Father!"

"… Hikaru!" Michiru said as he saw his son and smiled.

"Father… FATHER!"

A large rock then suddenly hit the wall near him, causing it to break apart, and Ishidate then came up amongst the rubble, using the pieces of the wall as stepping stones before he jumped high above Hikaru, flipped in mid-air, and landed perfectly on the center of the roof, facing Hikaru and Chamu, the tiger beginning to growl.

"Now then." Ishidate said as he moved towards the two, however, just then…

"Hey, your fight is with me!" Sasuke, still covered by the black tattoos, though his eyes now in the Sharingan, landed on the roof in-between the young Prince and Ishidate.

"Very well, I'll go through you first." Ishidate said before charging forward.

Kana VS. Bakuto

Kana rolled along the ground before touching her hand down on the ground and then skidding to a halt in the middle of a clearing, staring towards the trees as Bakuto came out from between them.

Kana then rose to her feet.

'Kh. He still hasn't used any of his Mangekyo abilities. Doesn't he consider me a threat? Is he just toying with me?'

"I can see you are conflicted. You're probably wondering why I haven't used any Mangekyo abilities yet." Bakuto spoke up "Well, you see, none of my Mangekyo abilities are really suited for a one-on-one battle. That's why I'm not using them."

"I will be honest; you are amongst the strongest swordswomen that I've fought. You might've even qualified for a spot among the Nanaidainakenshi if you trained a bit more." Bakuto finished.

Kana readied her sword as she gritted her teeth and charged directly towards Bakuto.

"However…"

Bakuto, who had closed his eyes just a moment earlier, snapped them open before swinging his sword with such force that he didn't just block Kana's, but sent her flying backwards, causing her to land on her back.

"You are too focused on your revenge. It clouds your judgment. Blinds you to see the truth. And even causing you to ignore little details that may lead to your downfall. This is a phenomenon known as the "Curse of the Avenger"." Bakuto said.

"Heh. You're all alike. What do you known about me anyway? You don't understand me at all. None of you do." Kana said as she just lied there.

"Like you, my home village was attacked and destroyed as well." Kana's eyes widened as she adjusted her head to look towards Bakuto, her eyes open and Bakuto's no longer showing the Sharingan, but now being blue "My parents, my clansmen, everyone in the village, even my little sister. They all died. I was the only survivor."

It took a moment for Kana to register the information, but once she had sorted all of it out, one question permeated her mind.

"Wait, you said your village was destroyed, but aren't you an Uchiha?"

"You only made that assumption on your own. But trust me, I am no Uchiha. I don't know why I have the Sharingan; none of my other clansmen possessed it."

"Then what's your Clan?"

"I am of the Masaki Clan. My name is Bakuto Masaki."

"Bakuto… of the Masaki Clan…" Kana muttered to herself before falling unconscious.

Bakuto then stared at her for a while before turning around to leave.

But then…

"Hey, what's going on here?!" Bakuto looked over his shoulder as four people came into the clearing, three kids and one adult who seemed to be up in the years.

It was Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, and Jiraiya.

"Hey, are you all right?" Ino asked as she knelt down next to the unconscious Kana before staring towards Bakuto.

"As soon as we landed on the beach, we heard what sounded like a battle, and this is the scene we find. Are you the one who did this to her?" Jiraiya asked.

"Don't you guys have more pressing matters?" The four Ninja perked at that response "You're here for the Witch Medusa, right? Well, she should still be on the island, so you can still find her." He then left, leaving four stupefied Ninja.

Unknown Location

Something flew through the air above the ocean at tremendous speed.

Sasuke VS. Ishidate

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" Sasuke fired off several balls of flame from his mouth towards Ishidate, however, the hired Shinobi simply weaved his way through the flames as he ran towards the Uchiha.

As he approached Sasuke, he lashed out with his right hand in an attempt to petrify his opponent, but Sasuke ducked before planting his hand on the ground and he launched a kick straight at Ishidate's chin.

The kick made contact, and Ishidate stumbled backwards before shaking his head to rid himself of the dizziness. That's when Sasuke came towards him and launched an upper-cut which sent Ishidate backwards through the air before he landed on his back.

Ishidate then climbed to his feet as he looked at Sasuke.

'Hmm… It seems those markings must be giving him some kind of power boost. Well, either way, he won't be able to beat me so easily.'

'I've so far been able to hold him back, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Dammit, I had hoped I wouldn't need to use the second stage, but it looks like I might have no choice.'

Ishidate then surprised Sasuke and Hikaru by crouching down and then jumping high up into the air.

"Wha…?!" Sasuke could hardly believe his eyes.

As Ishidate reached the peak of his jump, he held out his left arm towards the ground, the palm open, before clenching his hand and pulling the arm backwards almost like some kind of reverse thrust.

All of a sudden, the raven-head noticed that cracks had formed on the ground around him, before the ground suddenly burst apart, large rocks flying everywhere.

He was almost hit by a rock to the head, however, he managed to move his head out of the way in time to avoid it, a feat which he was only capable of thanks to the Sharingan.

He then jumped out of the torrent of rocks that were once part of the roof, only to receive a knee to the solar plexus as Ishidate had landed himself. Stumbling a little, Sasuke stepped away from Ishidate, who regarded him with an amusing smirk.

"Well, you've been putting up quite the fight, but I'm afraid that you stand no real chance of beating me."

"Hmph. I won't know that until I try." Sasuke said as he righted himself before going through a series of hand-signs "Katon: Goukakyo no Jutsu!"

He fired a large ball of flames towards Ishidate, and due to their close proximity, there shouldn't be any way for Ishidate to dodge in time. Ishidate then crouched down before putting his left hand on the ground before clenching it, crushing the part of the roof that was under his hand.

Then large boulders suddenly shot up from the roof in a path towards Sasuke while also blocking the fire ball. As the boulders reached Sasuke, he jumped away before pulling out two kunai with explosive tags attached to them, and he threw them.

Both kunai hit the boulders before blowing up, opening a path through the boulders between him and Ishidate, and he then pulled out a fuma-shuriken before throwing it in an arch.

Ishidate then crouched beneath the large shuriken, only to find a second one hidden in its shadow.

'Kage Shuriken no Jutsu?' Ishidate thought before then striking the ground with his hand, causing a rock wall to rise up, blocking the fuma-shuriken's path. That's when Sasuke smirked however, as the first shuriken, which was now behind Ishidate vanished in a puff of smoke before revealing Sasuke who was holding two shuriken.

"What…?!" Ishidate said in surprise as he looked over his shoulder at what he assumed to be a Sasuke clone.

The clone then threw the shuriken, but Ishidate managed to catch both of them from the air as he spun around while rising to his feet before he suddenly heard the sound of chirping birds, and he looked behind him just in time to see Sasuke break through the rock wall, his left hand covered in lightning.

On reflex, he threw the two shuriken before he even had time to aim; one shuriken hitting Sasuke in the right eye and the other hitting him in the neck. There was no way he was gonna survive that.

Sakura VS. Karenbana

Sakura stumbled backwards as she held her hand to her cheek, where Karenbana had managed to cut her.

Her eyes then widened as Karenbana vanished, the surrounding area then being covered in Sakura petals. This time, Sakura found that she couldn't do anything as Karenbana continued to attack her from all sides, laughing all the while.

She had completely turned the situation around.

Lee VS. Kongo

Kongo slammed into Lee with a lariat to the face as he ran past him, Lee being sent spiraling backwards as he lost his grip on the bo-staff before impacting with the floor and he rolled to a stop.

Kongo then kicked him with enough force to send him straight into the wall as cracks appeared around him. Before he could fall to the floor, however, Kongo grabbed him by the foot before throwing him across the large room.

Lee flew across the floor as he rolled straight through one of the pillars before coming to a stop, face down.

Kongo then landed on him.

Sasuke VS. Ishidate

Ishidate's eyes widened when the one he had thought to be the real Sasuke puffed away in smoke.

"What…?!" He then turned around towards the "clone", only to be met by a Chidori headed straight for his throat.

Lee VS. Kongo

"That oughta do it." Kongo said as he stepped off Lee who was buried in the ground "Don't you think, punk?"

He then turned to walk away, but then…

"No way… Not yet. I'm not going down yet." He turned around to, in his great surprise, see that Lee was slowly getting back up on his feet.

"No way…!" He was too shocked by the sight to notice the presence of a third person, as Mirai had jumped over his head with her back to the ground before landing behind him and she spun around on her feet as water gathered around them before lifting her left leg into the air at 90 degrees.

"Suiryu no Kagizume!" The back of her foot crashed against Kongo's side, and he was sent flying into the wall.

"You all right?" Mirai asked as she stepped up to Lee.

"Ah… Yeah. So you made it after all." Lee said as he looked up at Mirai with a smile.

"Well, of course!" Mirai said with a huge grin rivaling Naruto's.

Sakura VS. Karenbana

Sakura was sitting against the wall, covered in cuts as Karenbana, having become visible again, walked towards her.

"Ha ha! Was that everything you had? Surely that can't be it, right?" Sakura noticed a flower next to her and she plucked it before looking down on it. Then she smiled.

She then threw the flower like a kunai, however, Karenbana moved out of the way.

"Is the poison already getting to you so badly that you can't aim well? Hah! You really are pathetic."

"Heh. That flower carries a special anti-toxin." Sakura spoke.

"Huh?"

Sakura looked up at her as she continued.

"I made it specifically to counter your poison."

"And what good does that do you? In fact, why did you even throw it to begin with? Why didn't you use it to cure yourself? Are you a new kind of stupid?" Karenbana mocked.

"I guess I have something to be grateful to her for after all." Sakura muttered to herself.

"What? Did you go crazy or something? You talkin' to yourself?"

Ignoring her, Sakura instead decided to answer her previous question with a big grin on her face.

"It's simple, really. You see, I've just been injected with so many poisons before that they don't really work on me anymore."

"What…? But on the beach…" Karenbana started.

"Oh, that? That's because new poisons, especially strong ones still tend to have a slight effect on me the first time they're used, but their effects will fade before long." Sakura replied.

"But then why did you create that anti-toxin?"

Sakura smirked.

"You still haven't figured it out yet? What, are you a new kind of stupid, or something?" Sakura asked, using Karenbana's own insult against her.

"What do you…?!" Karenbana didn't get to finish that sentence as she suddenly felt a sword pierce out of the right side of her waist, and looking over her shoulder, she found Korega standing there, his face still sweaty from the poison, but it looked much better than before.

Sasuke VS. Ishidate

As Sasuke approached Ishidate with the Chidori, Ishidate suddenly brought his right hand up and smirked as he grabbed Sasuke by the neck and held him up, the Chidori dissipating.

"Ugh!"

"I'm afraid you've reached the end of the line, Uchiha. Now I suggest you say your prayers before I turn you into stone." And as he said that, Sasuke's skin an clothes began turning into stone, and Ishidate knew that this time, it was the real Sasuke.

Michiru

The plank began cracking as it bent further down, indicating that it was about to snap as Shabadaba and his retainer looked on excitedly.

"Go on! Fall! Fall!" Shabadaba said.

"Father? Father!" Hikaru yelled as he noticed what was happening.

The plank slowly bent further and further down as it got closer to snapping. Michiru whimpered a little before looking off into the horizon towards the ocean before turning to look towards the town, which was illuminated by all the city lights. Then he looked back towards Hikaru.

"Hikaru…" And he looked up towards the brightly shining crescent moon before closing his eyes "Goodbye, my son." And the plank snapped.

Hikaru could only stare in shock as his father fell down before he was left dangling from the rope.

"HIKARU!" A sudden yell snapped him back to his senses and he looked down to see Mirai, Lee, Sakura, and Korega standing directly underneath where Michiru was hanging.

"It's still not too late!" Mirai yelled, and Hikaru then noticed the rope, and realized that he could sever it by firing an arrow through it.

"You can do it!" Mirai yelled, and Hikaru nodded before running towards Chamu.

"Chamu, hurry! I can't do it without you. Will you take me to my father?" Hikaru asked the large tiger before getting on his back and Chamu then ran towards the center of the roof before turning around and running towards the edge.

"Hey, hold it!" Ishidate said as he was still holding the petrifying Uchiha as he aimed his left hand towards them and several rocks flew through the air in an attempt to stop them.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke asked "I'm still your opponent, and I'm not finished yet!" Just then, the black markings across Sasuke's body began merging before he gained a more greyish skin tone, and suddenly what appeared to be wings jutted out of his back.

"Wha…?"

Sasuke then pushed off before hovering in the air, his petrified skin crumbling as it fell off to reveal new skin that had formed underneath.

"Katon: Goukakyo no Jutsu!" Sasuke then fired a large ball of blue flames from his mouth which headed straight for Ishidate.

"Kh!" In response, Ishidate thrust his right hand forward in an attempt to petrify the flames.

It didn't quite go as expected however. While the area he was touching became petrified instantly, the rest of the flames quickly moved past his hand, and he was soon engulfed in flames. He didn't give up though, as he kept trying to petrify the rest of the flames, however, this proved to be a double-edged sword as while the flames were indeed petrified, this left him trapped in a prison of stone.

Sasuke then turned towards Hikaru to see if he and Chamu were all right.

Hikaru

Chamu had managed to dodge the rocks that Ishidate had thrown at them as he ran towards the edge while Hikaru readied his bow.

The tiger then jumped off the edge, and everyone watched on as the young Prince aimed his bow.

Michiru looked towards the two as from where he was, they had the moon behind them.

'Hikaru?' He thought.

'Father.' Hikaru thought before letting go of the arrow, causing it to soar through the air and straight through the rope.

Michiru, Hikaru, and Chamu all fell down towards the walkway below, however, several vines then suddenly shot up from small cracks in the ground before catching the two Princes and one animal.

Once they had been completely lowered to the ground, Hikaru ran towards Michiru, who was lying with his back on the ground.

"Father! Father!" He yelled before getting down on his knees next to him as he began to shake him "No! Wake up! Wake up!"

Michiru's eyes then opened, but he soon found that he couldn't breathe as the noose was now tied very tightly around his neck, and he attempted to pull it off, but to no avail.

"Please allow me, my Prince." Korega said as he knelt down by them before sliding his sword in on the inside of the rope and cut it off.

"Puah! Cough cough!" Michiru said as sat up, finally able to breathe again "I thought I was dead."

"Father!" Hikaru yelled as he jumped at his father, hugging him, Michiru soon returning the hug.

"Thank you, Hikaru." Michiru said as Hikaru was crying, relieved that his father was safe.

Kiki then came up on the wall before running over to Chamu, something that did not go unnoticed by Hikaru.

"Chamu!" Hikaru said as he ran over to the large tiger before hugging him "We did it Chamu. Thank you." And Chamu then began licking him as Kiki jumped onto his head.

"Prince Michiru! Prince Hikaru! Captain!" They looked towards the voice to see Korega's three remaining subordinates come running towards them. When Korega saw that one of them was missing, he immediately understood what must've happened.

"Now all that's left is that Shabadaba guy." Mirai said as she looked up towards the balcony above where Shabadaba was still standing, gritting his teeth at the scene.

"He can wait." Sasuke said as he landed on the walkway before transforming back into his normal form as he walked towards them "Getting the Princes to safety comes first."

"Sasuke-kun is right. We should concentrate on getting Hikaru and Michiru to safety first." Sakura said.

"Mm-hmm. I agree." Korega said with a nod.

The group then began heading back towards where they had come from. They ran through the room where Sakura had fought Karenbana before going down the stairs, followed by the large hallway leading to the entrance hall, and they then went down the stairs until they got to the ground floor, and they headed towards the door, but then…

They heard a sound behind them.

In the middle of the room was a large pillar. The entrance hall was directly beneath the throne room. At the front of the pillar was what appeared to be a door.

As they turned around, the door on the pillar opened up, and out walked Shabadaba, annoyance clearly written all over his face.

"Shabadaba…!" Michiru said before gritting his teeth in anger as he took a step forward, ready to go forward and give Shabadaba a beating, however…

He was stopped by Mirai's arm.

"Don't move. We're surrounded." And just as she said that, they noticed that there were a bunch of people standing on the walkways going along the wall. All of them were dressed in black Shinobi outfits from head-to-toe, leaving only their eyes visible.

"What the…?" Lee said.

"I didn't even sense them." Sasuke said.

"They're all dressed in black. Don't they know how impractical that is?" Sakura said.

"Dammit! The doors won't open, we're trapped inside!" Korega said as he had tried to open the doors, but found that they wouldn't budge.

"Ha! You think I would only hire three Shinobi? All of these are survivors of Yamigakure, a village where even the weakest Ninja is at the level of one of your Kage! And there are over a hundred of them!" Shabadaba said as he laughed. That's why he was so confident. Even if Sasuke or Mirai, or any of the others launched an attack against him, the Yami-nin would stop the attack long before it could reach him.

"Yamigakure? I've never heard of that village. Are their Shinobi really that powerful?" Sakura asked.

"How should I know? Dammit, this is something we really didn't need!" Sasuke said as he gritted his teeth.

"Everyone, stand back." Mirai said as she stepped forward.

"What are you going to do?" Sasuke asked.

Rather than answering his question, however, Mirai just closed her eyes before breathing in and then her eyes snapped open as water which seemed to come out of nowhere started covering her body.

The water formed into scale-like gauntlets with claws instead of normal fingers on her arms, going up to her elbows. On her legs, it formed into scale-like boots with claws on the feet. Large Dragon-like wings of water also formed from her back and a long tail appeared as well. Finally, some kind of crown of water appeared on her head.

This was the Dragon Slayer ability known as Dragon Force.

"So you still intend to fight? Despite knowing how bad your odds are?" Shabadaba asked as he smiled before yelling out "Attack them! Whoever kills the Princes will get a nice bonus!"

The Yami-nin then jumped down towards the group all at once. Truly, there'd be no escape from this.

"Are you friggin' kidding me?!" Mirai's tail suddenly extended out before slamming into every single one of the Yami-nin, sending all of them into the wall with such force that she wouldn't be surprised if she killed them.

"Wh-what the…?" Shabadaba stepped backwards in shock "S-stay back! Don't get any closer…!"

Mirai stepped forward as she stared daggers at Shabadaba. Then as she came to a stop, the tip of her tail hovered next to her before it suddenly extended towards and stabbed right through Shabadaba's stomach and came out his back.

"No… this can't… be happening. It can't…!" Shabadaba said as blood flowed from his mouth before the tail retracted back out of his gut, causing him to fall to the floor, a pool of blood soon covering the floor where he was lying.

"It's over." Mirai said.

Unknown Location

Bakuto entered a dark room deep underground.

The room itself was in a reverse L-shape and the walls were lined by stone pillars.

At the end of the long end was a pedestal which had some kind of glass ball atop it. Within said ball was the image of a Galaxy. It was the Cosmic-Type Orb. As Bakuto reached it, he picked it up from the pedestal.

"The Cosmic-Type Orb, huh? I guess it makes sense for it to be located here." He said before putting the Orb away. As he did so, he heard a sound like something opening, and he looked towards the shorter corridor.

Going down it, he found that the end of it had opened up to reveal a much larger circular room. As he entered it, he came to a stop as his eyes widened.

"What the…?!" Within this new room was a gigantic black ball which seemed to push out all light, as a result lighting the room up slightly. And looking at it, it almost seemed as though it was somehow alive.

"I see. So this is the place where the Perfect Hachimon was sealed." As he said that, there was suddenly a loud sound behind him, and turning around he saw a large dust cloud in the corridor he had just come from. As the dust settled, he noticed a single figure coming towards him.

The figure's head was covered in bandages, wore a long-sleeved red shirt with black stripes, and black pants. On the bandages covering his face was the images of three vertical eyes. Additionally, he also had the images of three vertical eyes on the back of each of his hands.

Bakuto's eyes narrowed as he activated his Sharingan, going straight into the Mangekyo. He knew who this was.

"Kishin Asura." He didn't draw his sword, but he still readied himself for a fight 'I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. As a conglomeration ofMadness himself, it only makes sense for him to be drawn to an even larger conglomeration of Madness like Hachimon.'

He then charged towards Asura.

Palace Plaza

"Sensei, are you okay?" Sakura asked as she leaned down next to Kakashi, who was lying flat on his stomach in a puddle of water next to the fountain, completely exhausted due to overusing the Sharingan.

"Sure. Nothing a couple weeks of intensive care won't cure."

"Yeah! All right! That means we've got a couple weeks of vacation duty!" Sakura exclaimed as she and Lee jumped in joy as Kakashi just laughed while eye-smiling.

"I can't thank you guys enough." Michiru said as he and Hikaru were standing in front of Sasuke and Mirai "Now I can see what a fool I was. Not only did I not understand. I didn't even try to understand the great things my father was trying to do. It's all about knowing what really matters. I think I finally see what it means to be a King. Of course, that's no guarantee that I'll ever be any good at it. But I'll give it all I've got. Just like my father did."

"Don't sell yourself so short. I've got a feeling you're gonna do just fine." Mirai said.

"You think so?" Michiru asked.

"I know so. Heh heh." Mirai said with a wide grin.

"Mirai's right. I think you're gonna make a fine ruler." Sasuke said.

"And you'll let me help, right?" Hikaru asked as he looked up at his father.

"Of course." Michiru said, looking down at his son as he ruffled the boy's hair.

"Heheheh." Hikaru laughed before looking down with a slightly sad smile.

"What is it?" Mirai asked.

"I won't forget what happened here today." Hikaru said as he looked up "I'll never ever forget the sacrifices everybody made, and the way we all joined forces to defend what's truly precious." As he spoke, tears welled up in his eyes before streaming down his face "But most of all, I won't forget the friends that I made."

"Hey, Kakashi!"

"Sakura!"

"And Lee!"

Sakura and Lee turned towards the voices as Kakashi was still lying on the ground. Coming towards them were Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, and a girl that they didn't recognize.

"Ino?" Sakura asked.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lee asked.

"We came here looking for a Witch." Choji said.

"Eh? A Witch?" Sakura said in shock 'Must be Medusa-sama.'

"Well, who else would it be, Shanaro?" Sakura's inner persona, Inner Sakura said, catching the pinkette off-guard as her inner persona had been quiet for quite some time.

"What's up with you?" Ino asked as she looked at Sakura.

"Ah! No, it's nothing." Sakura denied as she waved her hand in front of her face.

"Huh?"

"Anyway, what happened to Kakashi?" Shikamaru asked.

"I overused the Sharingan. I should be up and running again in a couple of weeks." Kakashi replied.

"Hmm? Weren't your mission just to escort some royals back to their home land?" Jiraiya asked.

"Heh heh heh."

"Hmm?"

"Oh? Are you guys friends of Kakashi and the others?" They turned towards the voice to see Michiru, Hikaru, Mirai, Sasuke, and Korega come towards them.

"Uh… Who're you?" Ino asked.

"Oh, that's Prince Michiru and his son, Hikaru." Sakura said.

"Ah! I'm Yamanaka Ino. It's a pleasure to meet you, your majesty." Ino said as she bowed.

"No, no. No need for formalities. Any friend of Kakashi's is a friend of mine." Michiru said.

"So, Prince Michiru, what are you gonna do now? Will you be rebuilding?" Sakura asked.

"Well, of course." The Prince replied "After all, the palace won't repair itself."

Sakura then noticed that Budmon was starting to get restless.

"Bud, bud, bud, bud!"

"Huh? Budmon, what's up?" Sakura asked the small seed-like creature.

Then there was a flash of light next to Shikamaru and Gaomon appeared.

"Shikamaru, I smell a Digimon." He said, causing everyone's eyes to widen.

"Gaomon, are you sure?" Shikamaru asked.

"Positive. And it's a powerful one." Gaomon said.

"Hold on! A powerful Digimon? Here? Tell me; where is the smell coming from?" Jiraiya asked, almost yelling.

"Jiraiya-sama, you don't think…" Kakashi started.

"Unfortunately, it's the only thing that makes sense. Dammit!" Jiraiya said as he looked towards the palace, and as everyone followed his gaze, the palace suddenly exploded in a massive explosion of dirt and rocks.

Shooting up through the cloud of dust was a lone figure that had bandages covering his head, the images of three vertical eyes at the front of the bandages.

"Wh-what was that?" Sakura asked.

"Could it have been Medusa?" Choji asked.

"No. I'm afraid that this is something much worse." Jiraiya said as he pulled out his red X-Loader.

As Sakura looked up, she noticed something. There was something black falling down towards the plaza.

"What is that?" She asked before it crashed into the ground several meters in front of them. They then ran over to it, though as they got closer, they could see that it was a person.

"Hey, are you all right?" Sakura asked as she got down on her knees besides him to begin using her medical Ninjutsu to heal him.

"Ugh." He grunted as his eyes opened slowly; Sasuke's eyes widening as he saw the black tomoed red eyes in the boy's eye-sockets.

'Sharingan?! But how?!'

"Hey, you shouldn't move!" Sakura said as the boy, Bakuto, sat up before shaking his head and he looked up towards the figure flying high in the sky.

"Dammit. I let him get past me…!"

"Who is that, anyway?" Sakura asked as she slowly rose to her feet.

"He used to be the Kishin Asura. But now, right now he's Hachimon." Bakuto said, but Sakura, Sasuke, and Shikamaru weren't ready for what he said next "One of the Perfect."

"Wha…?!" Sakura's voice died in her throat.

"N-no way…!" Sasuke said as he was trembling.

"One of the… Perfect?" Shikamaru asked stiffly.

All three froze as they looked up at the Perfect in a Kishin's body. However, it was not the Kishin Asura they saw there, nor was it the Perfect Hachimon. The one they saw was the three-eyed Perfect clad in a white armor, who had cut a huge trench in the land, beaten three Super-Ultimates as simply as swatting a fly, who even a Kage and the Akatsuki couldn't beat, and even a member of the Council of 5 didn't stand a chance against him. Gelelmon.

The bandages covering the Kishin's face then uncovered themselves, revealing his face. He had black hair with long bangs which had two white stripes going through them, making it almost look like there was a vertical eye on each bang. He also had three actual eyes; and while the vertical third eye looked more or less like a normal eye (well, as normal as it could be) the two horizontal ones were red with four rings centered on the pupil and nine black tomoe on the three rings closest to the center.

A huge smile then threatened to split Asura's head in half as he spread his arms out and looked up at the sky before yelling out with a high-pitched voice that clearly did not belong to the Kishin.

"Hyahahahahahahahahahah! I'm back, bitches!"

Plaza

"Wh-who or what is that guy?" Ino asked before looking at Sakura "Sakura, do you-?!"

Her voice died in her throat as she saw Sakura frozen up, and she then turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, do something!" However Sasuke too had frozen up, and she turned to Shikamaru, who had frozen up as well "Shikamaru…?"

Kana then walked past Ino before grabbing Sasuke by his collar as she yelled angrily into his face.

"Hey, are you just gonna stand there like a coward?!" She stared into Sasuke's trembling eyes before gritting her teeth and she grunted as she threw him down on the ground "I can't believe I wanted to enact revenge on such a wimp."

Turning towards Hachimon, she put her hand around the handle of her sword. Mirai stepped up next to her as she re-entered Dragon Force.

"I wouldn't be so eager to fight him if I were you." They turned towards Jiraiya.

"What do you mean?" Kana asked.

"You need look no further than a current map of the Elemental Nations and one from before 15 years ago side-by-side. You'll notice at a glance how different they are." Jiraiya said "In fact, this very island was once part of the mainland."

This caused everyone's eyes to widen. Even Sasuke, Sakura, and Shikamaru reacted.

"Wh…at?" Came Sakura's trembling voice.

"The old guy's right." They then turned to the new voice to find none other than Medusa standing there.

'Old guy…?' Jiraiya thought.

"Ah! Aren't you Medusa?" Choji asked, however, the ancient Witch in the body of a child ignored him as she walked over to them before stopping as she glanced over at Sakura.

"Pathetic. To think that a daughter of mine would be rendered to this sorry state."

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-wait! D-d-d-d-d-da-da-da-daughter?!" Ino yelled as she pointed at Sakura.

"Wait…" Mirai was looking between Medusa and Sakura as she spoke "How can this kid be her mother?"

"According to the report we received, Medusa's body was utterly destroyed, so my guess is that that's a borrowed body." Jiraiya said.

"Enough about that. What did you mean by that this island was once part of the mainland?" Kana asked.

"It's not just the Crescent Moon Kingdom. Most of the islands around the Elemental Nations were once part of the mainland." Korega said. While he may not know much about Hachimon, or Digimon in general, he would at least know what the land originally looked like.

"Ah! Then, what happened?" Ino asked, snapping out of her shock from finding out that Sakura was Medusa's daughter.

"Hachimon did. With just one attack, he sunk over 2/3 of the Elemental Nations beneath the waves" Jiraiya explained.

"Wait…! 2/3?! With one attack?!" Ino asked in shock as Choji, Lee, Kana, Mirai, and Hikaru were just as shocked themselves.

"Well, granted, he did have to use it over and over again, but he did still technically do it with just one attack. He just used it about a hundred times." Jiraiya replied.

"Then what attack did he use?" Lee asked.

""Total Annihilation of Everyone and Everything" or "T.A.O.E.A.E" for short is what he calls it." Jiraiya said.

"Um… Isn't that a little…" Ino said.

"Hmph. That's just how Hachimon is. Everything about him is pretty over-the-top." Medusa said.

"Medusa… You were around 800+ years ago when the Perfect last invaded our World, but due to the fact that you didn't oppose them, you're not one of the 100 Gods." Jiraiya said.

"What's your point? You gonna resent me?" Medusa asked as she looked at him.

"No, that's not it. I was just wondering what you were gonna do now that Hachimon has been released." Jiraiya said.

"What I'm gonna do, huh?" Medusa asked as she looked up towards Hachimon, everyone else mimicking her action.

Hachimon

"Hmm? I can smell Gelelmon and Acnolodramon." Hachimon said before looking down towards the plaza, or more specifically, towards Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Gaomon, and the others "I see. Gelelmon's scent is coming from those four; those three Humans and that… Uhhh… Gaomon, I think? I'm not too familiar with the names of newer species. No, my mistake, one of them seems to be a Witch, though since I didn't notice that instantly, she must've just awakened her powers. Well, that's good. Last thing I'd wanna do after just waking up is facing a full-powered Witch. Anyway, it seems that the four of them has fought against Gelelmon, but he must've gotten sealed away again. Hmm? Hold it. That girl there. Yes, she's a Witch as well, though she appears to be a lot older than she looks, so it must be a borrowed body. Well, at least she's not like Featherine. Facing someone like that Theatre-Going Witch just after waking up is the last thing I'd wanna do. But, but, but! Back to what I was talking about before. About Acnolodramon, it seems that he's still roaming around the World just like 15 years ago, so I guess he hasn't been sealed yet. Lucky bastard. Hmm? Hey, those two there. Yes, they were there when I was last sealed. Urgh. Unacceptable! To be sealed like that was a disgrace! I can't let them get away with that transgression! Oh, I know! Why don't I just blow this entire island to kingdom come? That should take care of them easily enough." Hachimon then spread his arms and legs as he looked up into the sky.

Plaza

"Wh-what's he doing now?" Ino asked.

'That stance…!' Jiraiya thought before saying "This is bad. He's about to use "that"!"

""That"…? Wait, you don't mean…?!" Ino said.

"That's exactly what he means. Hachimon has decided to blow this whole island to smithereens." Medusa said.

"What?! Then we need to get out of here!" Lee said.

"It's already too late for us to get away. Once his attack starts, there'll only be a matter of seconds before the island has been destroyed." Kakashi said.

"Wha…? No…" Hikaru said before turning to his father, tears running down his face "Father, I don't wanna die…!"

"Me neither, son… Me neither." Michiru said as he hugged his son.

"Dammit. It seems that I'll have no choice." Bakuto suddenly spoke up as he pulled out the Cosmic-Type Orb.

"What's that?" Choji asked.

"Something that will help us survive this." Bakuto said as he rose to his feet and held the Orb out towards the sky "Phase-Out!"

A bright light then came from the Orb before the whole plaza was covered in some kind of field, and everything within it became wobbly.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Sakura asked as she, Sasuke, and Shikamaru finally snapped back to their senses.

"Phase-Out is an Area-of-Effect type of Pokémon Ability mainly used by Cosmic-Types, though there are a number of Ghost-Types and Void-Types that have it as well. It creates a field around it and its ally Pokémon which makes both Physical-Moves and Special-Moves just phase through them." Bakuto explained. Though what he didn't tell them was that the Ability could be nullified by other Pokémon with the same Ability, and that there were still moves that could hit them, Sound-Type moves and Ghost-Type moves being good examples.

At hearing that, Hikaru and Michiru began smiling, but that didn't last long as Kakashi soon spoke up.

"And what about the people in the city?"

"… Unfortunately, even with my power, I'm not able to extend the field to them." Bakuto told them.

"What…? But we can't just let them die!" Sakura yelled.

"I know that!" Bakuto snapped at her, causing her to shut up, apparently he didn't like it any more than she did "Believe me; if I could, I would do everything in my power to save as many people as possible."

"Ah…!" Sakura remained silent as she backed down, realizing that he must've been tearing himself apart on the inside at the fact that he couldn't save the townspeople.

"Do you want to save them?" Sakura's eyes suddenly widened as she heard a familliar voice, though it wasn't Inner's voice "If you want to save them, then believe. Believe with all of your heart that a miracle will happen, and that they will be saved."

Sakura then relaxed as she began believing, her body suddenly letting out a white light, though Medusa appeared to be the only one who noticed it as she narrowed her eyes.

'She finally awakened that, too.'

Hachimon

"Hyahahahahahahahahahah! T.A.O.E.A.E!"

Plaza

The ground suddenly swelled up as everyone was yelling out in surprise, before it blew up in a massive explosion. I call it an explosion, but there weren't any fire involved, rather, it was just dirt and debris, almost as if the ground was turned inside-out. It didn't just stop with one explosion and the plaza, however, as soon after, there were more explosions, lining the road between the palace and the town before the town itself blew up as well, then it went over to the rest of the forest, and even the mountains. The explosions didn't stop till the island had become completely flat, and the ground was covered in broken trees and debris.

"The island itself survived. Maybe I'm even weaker than I thought. Well, no one could have survived that, anyway. Hmm, I need to go to sleep for a while, while I'm building my strength back up. Guess I'll give this body back to you in the meantime, though for now, you should probably find some place to hide." Hachimon said before turning towards the sky "Hmm… How about…" He didn't get to finish his sentence however as his two horizontal eyes returned to normal, indicating that Asura was back in control.

The Kishin then smiled before he flew off at an incredible speed, easily exceeding the speed of sound by at least ten times.

Plaza(?)

The Phase-Out field disappeared as everyone stood there in the middle of the destroyed landscape.

"No…!" Michiru fell to his knees as he stared at the destruction before them. In the distance were the circus people who had fallen onto their butts. There were also the guards who had been their enemies earlier who looked around in disbelief.

"I can't believe it… The Crescent Moon Kingdom is…!" Hikaru said.

"Unbelievable…!" Korega said.

"Hmm? Looks like Medusa decided to bail on us." Jiraiya noted.

"Hey, Sakura's gone too!" Ino said as she looked around, not finding the pinkette anywhere.

"No way. You don't think Medusa took off with her, do you?" Lee asked.

Sakura

Sakura ran through the destroyed forest at full speed as Budmon was sleeping soundly in the cloth around her neck, having fallen asleep at some point.

'That voice I heard… I know it was her. I would recognize that voice anywhere.'

Soon after she came to a stop as she saw someone standing a few feet ahead of her.

"You…!"

"It's been a long time, Sakura-nyan." The person standing before her was a girl who appeared to be about 13 years old with bright green emerald eyes with cat-like slits in them and long wild hair which was a darker shade of pink than Sakura's. Her outfit appeared to be a variation of a Miko uniform with the skirt being pink rather than the usual red, and while the arms were connected to the main part of the uniform, there were holes over her shoulders. The uniform also had an open back as the front was pushed out by her D-cup breasts. Atop her head was a pair of pink cat ears and she also had two cat tails coming out of her back. Her nose was that of a cat's, and whenever her mouth was closed it was in the shape of a cat's. She also had eight whiskers, four on each side of her nose.

"Azusa…" Sakura said before gritting her teeth and she yelled out "Where have you been?! You just disappeared back when Medusa-sama left, without a word! And now you just appear out of nowhere as if you never left?!"

Sakura clenched her fists and her teeth as tears began pouring down her face.

"Do… do you have any idea how much I missed you…?" Azusa then appeared in front of Sakura as she brought her into a hug while rubbing the back of her head.

"There, there-nyan. I understand how you must feel-nyan. But I had to go, I wanted to make sure your brother, Crona-nyan was alright-nyan." Azusa said.

"R-really…? Where is he?" Sakura asked.

"He's safe-nyan. So you don't need to worry about him-nyan." Azusa said.

Watching from a distance was Medusa; however, she was only able to see Sakura, she couldn't see Azusa.

Unknown location

"Impressive. Not only did you manage to bring one of the Sword Dancers under your control back at the Land of Sea, but you were even able to lure all those people to the Crescent Moon Kingdom. You manipulated that fool Shabadaba into staging a rebellion and usurping the throne, so that the former King would send his son and grandson away so that they would hire Shinobi bodyguards. You even knew exactly which team would be chosen to escort them. You knew that that pink-haired girl's presence there would lure in Medusa, and the Uchiha would lure in the swordswoman, who in turn would lure in the Masaki. Additionally, with Medusa there, it would lure in that other Konoha team as well as that Sannin. You even went to the trouble of tricking a group of bandits into pretending to be Yamigakure Shinobi. And with all those people gathered, it would create a large enough concentration of Madness around Hachimon's Egg for the Kishin Asura to be drawn towards it, so that he would free Hachimon and become his armor until the time when Hachimon will be back to full strength." Ishidate said as he, Karenbana, and Kongo were apparently still alive, and were looking at the scene which had just occurred through a crystal ball atop of a pedestal.

They then turned around towards a man who was sitting on a throne within the dark space they were in.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you even had taken the circus people and the Dragon Slayer into account. It's almost as though everyone in the World is nothing more than a piece for you to move around on a Gameboard."

"Perhaps. But in that case, wouldn't you agree that the Pieces that have exhausted their usefulness should be disposed of?" The man said.

"Now that's a mindset I can get behind." Ishidate said as he crossed his arms.

"As I said; Pieces that have exhausted their usefulness should be disposed of." The man said as he held out his right hand.

"?!"

"Gravity Well!"

A dome-like field with a dark red border appeared around the three hired Ninja, and then they felt a huge pressure pushing them down towards the ground as they fell onto their knees.

"What…?" Ishidate stared in disbelief and anger at the man who was still sitting on his throne, enjoying the scene before him.

As the man smiled, Ishidate gritted his teeth before charging forward. Soon after he escaped the field, however, both Karenbana and Kongo were crushed to nothing as if they had never been there in the first place.

"YOU BASTARD!" Ishidate yelled out as the eye on his glove opened up and he grabbed the man's forehead.

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" A voice could be heard, however, it didn't come from the man sitting on the throne in front of him. It came from behind him!

"Wha…?!" Ishidate looked over his shoulder.

"That you wouldn't have been surprised if I had even taken the circus people and the Dragon Slayer into account. So what makes you think I wouldn't take your current actions into account as well?" The man said as he stood behind Ishidate.

Ishidate was about to comment with something, but then he suddenly felt an intense heat, and could even smell the scent of something burning. Turning towards the one sitting on the throne, his eyes widened as the man was melting, turning into lava.

"Wha…?! No…!" Ishidate's hand sunk into the magma as various parts of his body was set aflame due to the intense heat "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

He then fell into the magma as he burned to death, screaming all the while.

"Now then." The man walked towards the throne, and as he approached the magma, it suddenly stiffened as though it had become frozen, and he proceeded to reach his hand down into the frozen lava, said lava crumbling as he came in contact with it, and he pulled out the glove which Ishidate had been wearing, which was still unharmed "I'll be taking back what I gave you."

Chapter preview

Naruto "The Ninja Storm Tournament?"

Takeda "It's a tournament for Shinobi – any Shinobi may enter, be they Genin, Chunin, Jonin, Kage, or even Nuke-nin. The only real requirement is that they are Ninja. Some may even come from the other side of the World. As a new Ninja Village, this tournament would be the best opportunity to gain some recognition."

Fu (whistles) "So this is the island where the Ninja Storm Tournament will take place, huh?"

Kurotsuchi "There are participants from most of the Hidden Villages, though from what I can see, there seems to only be one from Konoha."

Bakuto "Let me give you a piece of advice; do not let appearances fool you. Here, even the most innocent-looking people kill you if you pull your punches."

Unknown (imagine an old man's voice) "Next time on Naruto: Shinobi Hunters: Ninja Storm Tournament."

Sheena "Name's Fujibayashi Sheena, also known as "Sheena the Summoner", and I'm of the Dragon Guard's Death Squad."

Character Status

Sasuke: Level: 86

Chakra Level: Divine.

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kage Bunshin, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Katon: Ryuka, Katon: Taienka, Chidori.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, Fuma Shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Series: Naruto.

Sakura: Level: 103

Chakra Level: Divine.

Mana Level: Divine.

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Goken, Vine-Whip, Plant Armor (Offence), Flower Garden.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Magic: Plant Witch Magic.

Digimon: Budmon.

Series: Naruto.

Rock Lee: Level: 86

Chakra Level: Genin.

Techniques: Konoha Reppu, Konoha Senpou, Omote Renge, Ura Renge.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, nun-chucks (doubles as a bo-staff).

Series: Naruto.

Kakashi: Level: 420

Chakra Level: Kage.

Techniques: Genjutsu: Sharingan, Kage Bunshin, Taju Kage Bunshin, Katon: Goukakyo, Raiton: Kage Bunshin, Doton: Moguragakure, Doton: Doryuheki, Doton: Shinju Zanshu, Kirigakure, Mizu Bunshin, Suiton: Suiryu, Suiton: Daibakufu, Fuja Hoin, Sennen Goroshi, Magen: Narakumi, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga, Raikiri.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Series: Naruto.

Mirai: Level: 578

Mana Level: Divine.

Techniques: Suiryu no Hoko, Suiryu no Kagizume, Suiryu no Idainakyúryú.

Weapons: none

Magic: Water Dragon Slayer.

Series: Original Character.

Kana: Level: 347

Mana Level: Kage.

Techniques: unknown

Weapon: katana.

Devil Fruit: Eksu-Eksu no Mi (X-X Fruit).

Series: Original Character.

Bakuto: Level: 450

Chakra Level: Divine.

Techniques: Burakku Doragon'nokiba: Rippingushokuu~bu, Burakku Doragon'nokiba: Abareru Arashi, Burakku Doragon'nokiba: Jigoku no Yona Dengeki, Burakku Doragon'nokiba: Ryu no Kami no Saishu-Tekina Hanketsu, Kagutsuchi, Susano'o.

Weapons: Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan.

Series: Original Character (not mine).

Ishidate: Level: 158 (True Level: 1247)

Chakra Level: Divine.

Techniques: unknown

Weapon: Petrification Gauntlet.

Series: Naruto.

Karenbana: Level: 200 (True Level: 1036)

Chakra Level: Divine.

Techniques: unknown

Weapons: kunai.

Series: Naruto.

Kongo: Level: 134 (True Level: 1093)

Chakra Level: Divine.

Techniques: unknown

Weapons: none

Series: Naruto.

Hachimon: Level: unknown

Data Level: Perfect.

Techniques: Body-Mod, Super-Awesome Body Possession (S.A.B.P), Total Annihilation of Everyone and Everything (T.A.O.E.A.E), Madness World.

Weapons: none

Type: unknown

Title: Shape-shifter of Death/Madness Null.

Series: Original Character.

Character Information:

Name: Ike.

Age: 21

Affiliation: Greil Mercenaries, Crimea (former), Uzushiogakure.

Affinity: Fire.

Likes: His friends.

Dislikes: Ashnard.

Info: At a young age, Ike along with his parents and little sister lived in the Kingdom of Gallia on the continent of Tellius. However, after their mother's death, they moved to the neighboring Kingdom of Crimea where Ike's father, Greil, formed the Greil Mercenaries. Years later, the eastern Kingdom of Daein invaded Crimea without warning, taking the capital, Melior within days. While on a reconnaissance mission to survey the result of the battle, Ike came across the Princess of Crimea, Elincia, who had been brought up and raised in secret. Following Elincia's request, the Greil Mercenaries made way for the beast country of Gallia, however, that turned out to be Greil's final resting place as he was killed in one-on-one battle against the Daein General known only as the Black Knight. Grieving for the loss of his father, Ike didn't get time to rest, as he was now the leader of the Mercenaries, and they were hired by Elincia to escort her to the Begnion Empire in order to enlist their help against Daein. Gaining Begnion's support, they launched an invasion of Daein, taking the Daein Keep and returning to Crimea before eventually facing off against the Mad King Ashnard himself within the walls of Melior. Three years later, trouble arose again as a war was starting between the Laguz Alliance, consisting of the Beasts of Gallia along with the Hawks of Phoenicis and the Ravens of Kilvas, and the Begnion Empire, and the Greil Mercenaries were hired by the Laguz to help them out in the war. In the midst of a massive battle, the Goddess of Order, Ashera, is reawakened, and in one swift move, she turns all of Tellius' inhabitants into stone, save a few. Ike eventually leads the attack on the Tower of Guidance where Ashera resides.

Kurama no Kyubi: And now that that chapter's over, I would like to say that this story will have at least 4 main antagonists (may raise the number later, not sure), and 3 of them have already appeared. I won't of course disclose who those three are, for now, you'll have to try and figure out on your own.