Chapter 9

Jinchuriki vs Orochimaru

„There is nothing more terrifying than a monster, the creature of incomprehensible power. Ironically, humans are the very monsters they fear."- Orochimaru

The two stood before each other. The transformed jinchuriki took a deep breath, as the 'flames' faded. Most of his body was still made of blood red chakra. But otherwise, aside from the human skin still in its place, there was something that would turn anyone disgusted. There were muscles exposed. Even some bones fashioned its body, like spikes. And the head was deformed by the jaw, which seemed to be stretched forward a bit, nearly even with the nose.

As the humanoid snarled, Orochimaru licked his lips, smiling. Such bloodlust… he has never sensed one on this level. It was marvelous. Like a legion of blood thirsty S-rank shinobi in one person facing him. It has been so long, so many decades, since he last felt a shiver like that run down his spine. So many decades since he felt such superior killer intend towards him. Yes, this was what he needed to feel alive.

Both the fighters didn't notice, or didn't seem to bother with, two people looking down at them from the high ground. One of them was Sai, Danzo's agent, who could finally get down with the mission. However, it would appear he miscalculated. The tension in the air was so dreadful he doubted about doing anything. And what if things go the other way than he thought? Yamato will surely get to him. He needed to consider the possibilities to get out of this.

The other person was Clone Yamato send by the original to suppress the Nine-tails' chakra, and thus the Menma persona. But from what he could see, suppressing him was out of the question, at least for the time being. Especially since the jinchuriki was fighting Orochimaru, the fallen of the Legendary Three. The man considered to be a monster… aside from Kuromaru that is. The clone looked more carefully at his team member. Menma looked just like Jiraiya described- a miniature-humanoid Nene-tails. How could he be still moving? How could his body handle such chakra? Or rather… how was it his body hasn't disintegrated yet?

Orochimaru stood up on his legs, eyeing his opponent with a mocking smirk. "Ssso, you deccided to raissse up the sstakessss, eh?" the man asked. Being giving an answer in a form of a growl, he took a deep breath.

"It would appear you losst your reasson for that of a mindlessss beassst, boy." Orochimaru stated, barfing out a large number of serpents. The ground between the two turned dark from their sheer number. They were all crawling at full speed towards the humanoid, extending the kusanagi blade from their mouths. Orochimaru smiled wickedly. "Too bad you won't get a cchancccce to facce Sssassuke after all, brat!" He called as the snakes were about to stab the jinchuriki.

The humanoid merely raised its arm up above its head and hit the ground, causing a great explosion. A dome of light was all anyone could see. A thunder was all that captain Yamato, Sakura and Kabuto could hear. The serpents were all incinerated. Orochimaru seemed unfazed. But the jinchuriki just stood up on two legs, standing like an ape rather than human, and 'glared' at him.

"Is that it?" it asked, surprising the serpentine ninja. "You are Orochimaru of the Legendary Three. Fighting us should be as easy as breathing or talking. And yet… you can't even land a simplest blow on us?" It turned towards the bridge's direction, clearly having no care for Orochimaru's presence. "Since you can't even touch us, no matter what you try, then the Uchiha filth is unworthy of our acknowledgement. We, Menma, will NOT waste our power for filth. Neither you, nor him, have even the fracture of the potential Muramasa the Tengu had." Then Menma turned his back towards the man, calmly walking away. "We've lost our interest. You've ruined everything. We're going to deal with the Leaf and Akatsuki. They are clearly the only ones worth the interest."

As it was taking its leave, Menma's senses went mad. It looked down, to find a giant serpent coming up from underground, swallowing it. Orochimaru chuckled at the few. Then he snapped his fingers, and hundreds of kusanagi blades came out from the serpent's body. The man laughed, having killed the jinchuriki. How could he be weak, if he was still the one to kill?

The answer came in a form of his serpents head disconnected from the rest of its body. A red blur flew down to the ground, landing the moment the summoned creature puffed into a smoke. Menma was unharmed.

"Foolish mortal. Every bit as ARROGANT as on the day you gained this world for your own!" Menma growled.

"What a nicccce ssspeech, brat!" Orochimaru mocked, unfazed by the jinchuriki's words. "But you sseem to forget whom you're fighting with. I am Orochimaru! The one to gain immortality! The one to massster all the jjutssu of thisss world! I am the abssssolute power in comparisson to you!"

"Naïve like a child. That, which you believe to be great power, is still nothing. You mortals merely scratched the surface of a true jewel." Menma said, reaching its arms forward, towards Orochimaru. Then they were engulfed in flames. Orochimaru's instincts forced him to jump to his left. Orochimaru couldn't grasp why his body moved on its own, until he looked at where he once stood. An arm made off lava was coming out of the ground. But it didn't stop there. It was now chasing after him. He kept dodging the arm. Then he had to avoid the second one. And if it wasn't for his senses, he would've been now caught by the Menma. Orochimaru shot a serpent at it from his sleeve. But as it wrapped itself around the humanoid, it started to burn away, making the mad creature smile like a murderer smiles to his prey after the latter's futile attempts. But Orochimaru wasn't that weak. He opened his mouth and escaped, leaving his skin behind. In fact, he used what he could of his jutsu, to have Menma collide with those lava arms. And the collision took place. The jinchuriki was now in the being burnt by its own attack. All that talk and still it was a mortal who won. Orochimaru turned away and made his way towards the bridge, wanting to capture the others.

Sai was a bit on edge. He was certain a transformed jinchuriki would be more than a match for the twisted sage. Especially since Menma was clearly highly intelligent. But now he was gone. Danzo, his master, won't be really pleased with the news. Then again, he could proceed with his mission. Though first, he needed to take care of the captain's clone. He couldn't afford to let it spoil the plans. He needed to think about this cautiously.

But then everyone in the area felt the air felt the same: heavy. Before Orochimaru knew it, the arms made of pure, red chakra appeared above him, ready to smash him. The serpentine ninja managed to avoid being crushed by jumping to his left. Unfortunately, he did get a scratch on his calf. Not much of an injury he though… until he felt a burning pain, as his leg began to burn to dust. Being disturbed at first, Orochimaru calmed himself and barfed a snake out of his mouth, out of which he came out. As his injured skin, with the snake, burned away, he looked towards where the jinchuriki was supposed to be burned. What he found was the creature standing calmly, unharmed and smiling.

"Did you really think we would get injured by our own attack, insect?" Menma ask mockingly, ready to strike again. "We, the immortals, are not as fragile as you mortals are." And with the last word, his arms shot with flames, as the air in front of Orochimaru ignited, revealing his arms flying towards him. The man with golden eyes was however prepared. He would not be caught by this freak. He dashed by the arms and towards the humanoid. He was going to deal with this thing. He would not fall to a human possessed by a demon. He was Orochimaru of The Legendary Three. The one who would learn all there is to learn about the world. The one who would become immortal. So his legs turned into a serpent's tail as he dodged the fiery limbs, preparing to strike the beast. Menma got ready to bite his throat, only to meet a clone made out of snakes. The jinchuriki got confused for a second. A second long enough for the leader of the Sound Village to deliver the blow.

The punch was very strong. Even in this form, the jinchuriki had no choice but to be affected. Orochimaru was ready to deliver another blow, when all the red chakra and flames separated from the burned flesh and bones, as if it was another being. The 'second' torso was made out of pure chakra of the tailed beast. And it CUT the pale ninja in two with no effort. The 'physical' body finally found it footing and stared at the enemy, as the 'chakra' torso fused back. Orochimaru laid on the ground in two. He was finally beaten.

Then why was Menma still looking at the corpses so hard?

The answer came in the form of snakes coming out from the halves. They all crawled towards each other and wrapping, pulling the body together. As the body was made one again, life seemed to return. Orochimaru was not someone who would die even from the wounds as serious as these. And to the ninja's displeasure, Menma was clearly aware of that.

Sakura and Yamato could only hear another blow. 'What was going on out there?' they wondered. Who was winning? Was Naruto alright? Instead of just sitting there, they should go and help. They knew they should. However, this was a fight on a different level. There was one of the Legendary Three fighting with a jinchuriki in its transformed form. On top of that- the jinchuriki was gone insane now. Even if it wasn't actually insane, it'd likely few them for enemy and kill them. Things were just getting worse.

"Well, this is getting intense, if I do say so myself." Kabuto commented as he exited the bushes, getting their attention. "This is really now a fight between monsters rather than ninja."

Sakura glared at him. Kabuto was still so insolent, despite being still so weak after that attack from Menma. Then it made her wonder. If tensing his muscles could cause this much damage, then…

Just how strong was he?

Orochimaru eyed the jinchuriki very carefully. He really did overestimate this one. And not just in the matter of power. This one was clearly toying with him as well. Menma wanted to make him suffer. It was clearly a demonic feat to watch as mortals do everything to avoid death due to how fragile they really are. He had to think over his next move. He couldn't take the risk the creature knows how to kill him by now.

"It's time to end this, worm!" Menma said, raising and curling his tails above himself. Orochimaru's eyes widened when he felt a slight change in his opponent's chakra. He saw it. Multiple small orbs of light. No, that was no light. It was chakra. Some were blue, while some were red. And all of them were gathering before Menma's face, as if there was a dome made of the jinchuriki's tails. Orochimaru jumped backwards, taking a lot of distance from him.

'Thiss isss dangerouss.' he thought, seeing as the orbs created one, purple black ball of chakra. Then it seemed to degrees in size. 'If I get hit with thissss one, I may actually die…'

His thoughts stopped when he saw something most unusual. He had expected the jinchuriki to use that ball for an attack. No matter how ridicule it would be. But what just happened honestly surprised him.

Menma caught all that chakra into his mouth. The second later it looked as if his mass grew a tenfold. Orochimaru smiled at the sight. How was the jinchuriki going to fight now? The answer came in the form of all four tails of the humanoid striking the ground. It looked as if the beast was preparing for a backslash. The serpentine man eyed the jinchuriki carefully, when then the flames appeared at the base of its tails, slowly progressing along the spine, with the red electrical charges from the arms. The man's eyes widened in realization. So the jinchuriki was able to use THAT power. He quickly his both his thumbs and slammed his hands to the ground. "Summoning: Triple Rashoumon!" he shouted. And three giant gates, with monstrous faces painted on them, appeared before the Sound leader.

And just in time.

"Tailed Beast Blast!" Menma shouted, shooting a projectile out of his mouth. As it was on its way towards the ninja, the jinchuriki wrapped himself with his tails. And in moments there was…

An explosion.

The detonation was so strong even the three by the ones by the bridge had trouble standing. The only reason they fell was to avoid all the junk flying with the shockwave. Sakura saw even less of the bridge than there was before. If Menma was to actually beat Orochimaru, then what hope did the Leaf have?

Even Kabuto couldn't help but think about the power Menma was willing to take from the Fox. If he was to actually control them though… No! That would never happen, fortunately.

Sai and Clone Yamato looked at the crater. It was now something different. There was no sign of the rashoumon ever present. Only flames and a pair of legs coming out of the ground. Menma jumped up closer and eyed the place, before grabbing one of the legs. Now there was no escape. Orochimaru was at his mercy. Menma's smile grew ever sinister, as his claws began to blaze and grow. He would make this mortal beg for death he used to fear so much. He pulled him out…

There was no torso.

Before he could think about it, the Kusanagi blade came out of the ground, hitting the jinchuriki in the chest. It was a direct hit. And it didn't stop there. It kept pushing, making the jinchuriki fly. Orochimaru's head popped out of the dirt, as he cried, wanting nothing more than to make the brat pay for the last attack. He kept pushing until the jinchuriki hit the cliff side just a few feet away from the remnants of the bridge. The crash alerted the present three, disturbing them all. What was actually happening? Team 7 saw only the blade impaling the monstrous humanoid, that started to cry in pain. It was horrible. The creature was going to die on their very eyes.

"Looks like this is the end of the road for Naruto." Kabuto commented, having recognized the beast. "Looks like Lord Orochimaru was superior after all." He smirked.

Sakura looked at the beast… no, at Naruto with sad eyes. This is the power he was cursed him? Was THIS what the villagers viewed him for? Or was this what they feared he'd become? Her heart ached her to see him like this. As a beast. She felt hatred from her blond teammate.

A laughter filled the air. A maniacal laughter of pure insanity. The laugh only Menma was known for. Yes, he was alive. More than alive- uninjured. As Orochimaru took a closer look, he found that the blade could not pierce through the chakra-fused skin of the jinchuriki. This shocked him greatly. He never though there was anything, aside for the adamantine staff of the monkey summon, that could block the all-cutting blade of Kusanagi.

Menma grabbed the blade in his hand and moved it from his chest. "Pathetic. Even with the blade, you still fail to prove to have anything for the Uchiha to surpass. You sicken us!" he roared, shoving the blade aside. Kabuto, Sakura and Yamato barely managed to dodge the blade, while the Sound leader was having difficulty to stay still. Meanwhile Menma got out from the crater and jumped onto the boulder at the edge of the canyon, watching Orochimaru. But soon he registered the presence of others. He looked at the three with the look of none-interest. After all, what were they? Insects. He noticed Kabuto's smirk, knowing he was up to something. "Whatever you're thinking, Fraud, I'd better be worth the next five seconds, cause they'll be your last." He threatened the silver haired man, letting him know how serious he was. Kabuto lost his smirk under the sensation of fear. Not even he could overcome the primal fear.

No human could.

Sakura moved in. Tears filled her eyes. She could not bear it. Naruto did NOTHING to be like this. She had to help him. For years, ever since becoming a kunoichi, she used to stay back and let others do the job, while she watched. She did nothing to help stop Sasuke and, what's worse, she blamed Naruto for failing the mission. She used to look down at him even when he pushed himself to become stronger. Even after he lost his sister she did nothing to comfort him. But no more. It was about time she did something.

"NARUTO! STOP! ENOUGH ALREADY! PLEASE…! STOP IT!" She cried. She hoped he would hear the honesty in her voice. Because she was honest. She really wanted him to stop it. She wanted him back the way he used to be.

But what she got was not what she expected.

"YOU!" Menma glared at her. Then he grabbed his chest, as if there was a wound. Sakura wondered for a minute why he did that. "We still remember that day. When you almost KILLED US!" He roared. That's when she remembered. A year before they became genin, when he asked her out, Sakura got so enraged she threw a kunai at him. As Naruto managed to survive, his feelings for her died.

Although, in Menma's case, a crush was replaced by hatred.

"Allow us to return the FAVOUR, STUPID MORTAL!" Menma aimed one of the tails at her and shot. He aimed for her heart, but pierced her shoulder. All because of an branch pushing her aside. Before the jinchuriki could react, Yamato called forth more branches, immobilizing him. Menma struggle a little to free himself. Though the team captain knew he needed to wrap some more for safety. "You really think this will hold us, insect?"

Yamato took his eyes off of Menma and looked at Kabuto, who, to his surprise, was healing Sakura. What was all that about?

"Consider this a thank you for taking care of at least one Akatsuki member." Kabuto explained. But that would mean the Akatsuki were Orochimaru's enemies too. What was it about them that the fallen of the Three left them? "Anyway, if you happen to run into more, be polite enough as to eliminate them. Well, I have to go. My master awaits." And Kabuto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Yamato wanted to move after him. Especially since he got info from his clone on Sai making contact with Orochimaru. But he needed to deal with one psychopathic jinchuriki first.

The branches just broke.

"I'LL KILL YOU AAAAALLLLLLL!"

Just as Menma dashed at Sakura with his claws, Yamato's hand started to glow. "Hokage Style: Soul Purification Touch of Divine Judgment!" he called, managing to touch Menma where he knew the blond had his necklace. The claws stopped just a fraction of inch before Sakura. The humanoid started to cry in pain, as the red chakra started to disappear. Yamato wondered if it was a good idea. Judging by the limbs alone, it looked like the chakra was the only thing keeping Naruto alive. If he suppresses this chakra now, there will be only corpse. Luckily, his regeneration kicked in, quickly restoring enough flesh to keep the young man alive.

Sakura opened her eyes to see Naruto missing his skin and some torn muscles. But what actually frightened her was the blonde's left arm.

It was demonic in appearance.

To be continued…

Omake

Team 12 mission report 01

Team 12 approached another one of the caves in search of the daimyo's son, who got kidnapped by a band of rogue ninja.

"Your highness?" Ganju shouted. "Are you in there?"

In the cave, a young man, wearing a fine set of clothing, was tied up and pressed to the floor by a large man. The man was the last of the band. And he was in no way going to reveal himself.

"Be quiet, maggot." He ordered. "Just one word, and I'll pull your eyes out. Then you'll crawl like a maggot." He suddenly laughed at that, even though anyone else would find the joke stupid. "That'" a good one! I'm a genius… Oh s**t! You think they heard me?" he asked his prisoner. But instead of the gagged man, it was a huge ball of explosive notes that answered the question.

Outside the cave, Team 12 awaited for detonation.

"Kuro-sensei? What if daimyo's son is in there?" Anko asked.

"Shut up, fool!" Kuromaru shut her. "If he were there, the idiot would use him as a bargaining chip." The man explained, just as an explosion took place. The whole team smiled.

Until… "YOU IDIOTS! I'M IN HERE!" They heard the young man's voice.

"Bummer." Ryu shortly commented.

Omake end