Chapter Eighteen: Escape. It's time.
"SUSANO'O: ARMOUR!"
Susano'o came into existence, wrapping around Gamatoki protectively and giving him two extra arms, one of which lifted his shield for him.
Nagato paused in his attack, "Well…maybe this will be interesting after all." He muttered.
The water dragon screamed before diving at Gamatoki, just as Sasuke's eyes flashed from atop Toki's head.
"INFERNO STYLE: FLAME CONTROL SWORD!"
Gamatoki used his shield to knock the dragon into the air as the black sword of flames materialised his new right chakra arm, slashing the airborne dragon in half while instantly evaporating the remains of its body.
A tiny puff of smoke appeared from where the dragon's head was, signalling its dispulsion.
Gamatoki slowly turned around, facing the tiny form of Nagato that just landed on the water's surface.
Nagato smiled as he purposefully made slow hand signs, "SUMMONING JUTSU!"
Three puffs of smoke revealed the remaining three paths of Pein; Deva, Animal and Preta.
Nagato closed one eye and his three Paths suddenly seemed alive.
Sasuke swallowed deeply, 'I couldn't handle that other guy before, I can't handle this guy, and now there's four?!' he thought with a scowl.
Gamatoki spoke, "The armour's already slipping, let's go Sasuke!" he said before leaping high into the air, bringing his flaming sword down at the four.
Deva jumped up, "SHINRA TENSEI!" he yelled.
As if repelling the jutsu, Susano'o shimmered as it kept falling towards Deva, when Animal appeared, "SUMMONING JUTSU!"
Summoning a worm, both paths pushed off of it to get space as Gamatoki hacked the worm in half before his blade descended on Preta and Nagato.
Deva turned in midair, focussing his technique on Gamatoki's actual arm, which were the only parts of his body that weren't covered by Susano'o, "BANSHO TENNIN!"
Toki was yanked sideways, causing his attack to hit the water next to Nagato who didn't even bat an eye as Preta leapt up to Gamatoki's chest.
It placed its hand on the armour preparing to absorb it's chakra…
Toki slashed at Preta's form but the path was pulled clear by Nagato's gravity technique.
Preta landed next to Nagato, "If we can't drain the armour, drain the summons." Nagato spoke to himself logically with one eye still closed.
Animal, Deva and Preta lined up in front of Nagato as animal placed his hands on the water, "SUMMONING JUTSU!"
*POOF*
Animal had summoned apparently nothing, but a second later, Preta vanished entirely.
Gamatoki spoke, "Sasuke! Where is he?" he asked as Deva began running at him.
Sasuke's Sharingan flared, "It looks like a chameleon! Watch the water for its footsteps!" Sasuke warned as he formed hand seals.
"UCHIHA FIRE STYLE: GRAND FIREBALL JUTSU!"
Gamatoki swung his head from his left to his right, spitting oil in an arc in front of Deva. The arc lit up instantly from the Fireball, forcing Deva to raise his arms, "SHINRA TENSEI!"
The jutsu was blown back, but from behind its dispersion came Toki's Flame sword.
Sasuke smirked as it seemed he was about to take out another body.
*POOF*
Sasuke gasped as Gamatoki was dispelled, Sasuke fell through the air as he looked down, seeing Preta sticking its arm out of the hidden chameleon's mouth, his hand where Gamatoki's bare forearm was mere moments before.
Sasuke turned back to Deva to see him mid kick. Sasuke was knocked back from the kick to his shoulder, but Sasuke was smirking as he took the chance to place a seal on Deva's leg.
Sasuke flipped onto his feet, holding a hand seal, "SEALING ART: ICE PRISON!" Sasuke yelled.
Water rose up instantly just as Deva was raising its arms, "SHINRA-"
And Deva was frozen.
Sasuke span, seeing the chameleon with his Sharingan mid attack with its stretching tongue.
Sasuke's cloak billowed outwards as the tongue hit him, apparently going straight through him harmlessly as he used the Genjutsu to hide as he found one of the seals in his collection.
The tongue started to retract as Sasuke slammed his seal on it, "SEALING ART: SUMMONING RESTRICT!" he yelled.
Nothing seemed to happen as the chameleon kept withdrawing its tongue, but Preta used the chance to exit the beast's mouth and charge at Sasuke.
Sasuke met the charge as his curse mark grew across his arms, knowing that Preta would absorb any of his technique that was targeting him.
Sasuke whipped his scythe into motion as Preta used two of its metallic black poles which Sasuke finally got a good look at with his Sharingan as they clashed in Taijutsu for just a minute, 'These rods are conducting his chakra!' Sasuke realised before taking quick action.
His blade clanged as it caught the first chakra rod before Sasuke pushed up the handle of his weapon, using it to knock Preta off balance for just a moment which Sasuke used to kick him in the chest.
But Preta lifted his knee to block the kick then used the position of his weapons to push Sasuke back, which gave the Uchiha a chance to use a jutsu.
He shunshin'd above the chameleon that was heading towards Nagato as his scythe crackled with the Cursed Lightning of his stage one curse mark state.
"REAPER'S LIGHTNING!"
To Pein's shock, the chameleon wasn't dispersed, it was beheaded by the jutsu that Sasuke slammed through its neck and into the water, slightly electrocuting Animal Path who was the only other person in the immediate vicinity.
Sasuke rolled to his feet as he landed and began charging at Animal, when Nagato stepped in front with one eye still closed, "No more games!" Nagato shouted as he clapped his hands together.
"CHIBAKU TENSEI!"
Sasuke watched the small black ball begin to rise over his head when he felt it, "W-what?" Sasuke asked as he was lifted up into the air along with a lot of water and fish and seaweed.
Sasuke looked around in confusion as he was approaching the calamity before his eyes widened at what was approaching from the other side, 'Shit!'
Whole buildings and pipes were being ripped from the outskirts of the Hidden Rain and were being pulled towards Sasuke at an increasing rate as the buildings broke up into small debris.
Sasuke watched the buildings approaching to crush him, so he did all that he could, "SUSANO'O!" he yelled.
From Nagato's point of view, the whole being that was Sasuke's Susano'o was being buried in midair, after about thirty seconds, there was nothing but a large wet ball of rock and cement.
Nagato smirked as he raised up his arm, "ASURA: DIST-"
*FLASH*
Nagato's smirk vanished as he saw the calamity readjust to suddenly having a chunk of it taken out from the inside.
Nagato stood frowning slightly as Animal knelt, summoning Deva path from his ice prison, "It seems he has escaped." Deva said.
Nagato glanced at Deva over his shoulder, 'I still don't understand how Yahiko's body still has its own thought processes as some points…no matter.'
"Yes it does seem so. Go get me three more bodies, you know what to look for." Nagato ordered as he dispelled the other two paths.
Deva nodded before floating up into the air, "I am going to check on Konan first." He said before flying back towards Rain Village.
Nagato sighed, 'It will take me a week to prepare the new bodies and get used to their sizes, I guess that gives Konan time to heal as well.' He thought before lifting into the air himself.
'I guess Konoha can have one more week before I come for them.'
##########
One Day Later…
##########
"Jiraiya-sama!" Izumo yelled as he shot to his feet, seeing Jiraiya slowly arrive on Sasuke's hover board.
Kotetsu leapt over the desk slamming his hands on the gate, "Get Shizune-sama quickly! And-"
"Holy Log!"
Kotetsu turned to Izumo to see him looking down at Sasuke, whose body seemed fried in a lot of places while others seemed fine, but his grip on the board that dragged him all the way back to Konoha didn't seem weakened in the slightest.
The gates started to open as an ANBU team landed next to the two supposedly unconscious Shinobi, one of them moving to place medical chakra covered palms of Jiraiya.
"No…" Jiraiya said weakly before looking down at Sasuke, "Heal, the burns." He managed to say before falling unconscious again.
One ANBU placed a hand on Jiraiya's chest, "I'll take him to Shizune-sama, look after Uchiha-san." he said before the two disappeared in a shunshin, appearing on the couch in Shizune's office at the hospital safely.
The medical ANBU gasped, "What the hell did this kid do to himself? He's got friction burns on almost all of his skin and most of his muscles!" she thought out loud, not realising that Sasuke's Susano'o managed to protect the majority of the damage from getting to his organs.
Lucky that Naruto left an emergency Hirashin Seal on the bottom of Sasuke's board.
The medical ANBU turned to her two associates, "Lizard, grab his board and go find a room for him in the hospital. Piglett, go report to the temporary Hokage." She ordered.
Lizard snickered before leaving while Boar sighed, "I'm not a Piglett, my name is-"
"THE GUY'S DYING YOU IDOIT WHO GIVES A SHIT WHAT YOUR NAME IS?!" the medic ANBU yelled before disappearing in a shunshin with Sasuke a moment later.
Boar stepped back in shock as did Izumo and Kotetsu before Boar seemed to snap out of his shock and disappear in a shunshin himself.
Izumo blinked and looked to Kotetsu, "The hell was that?" he asked, second guessing the respect that came with being an ANBU member.
Kotetsu shrugged, "Honestly, we see so much weird shit at these gates I'm not that surprised." He said with a completely straight face before looking down the road as though he saw something.
Izumo followed his glance, "Huh, looks like a storm is brewing." He muttered as the two watched the storm clouds on the horizon.
##########
"YEAAAAH!" Killer B yelled with a grin as his demonic cloak began to dissipate, standing tall as he faced his opponent.
"Yo Naruto, your control is tops bro." B rapped.
Naruto held up his hand, seeing the red cloak that was tinged slightly gold, 'Thanks Kurama, I think I understand what I need to do.' He thought, not realising as he ignored B.
Kurama nodded inside Naruto's mind, "Just be quiet brat and get used to it, honestly…this isn't so bad I guess." Kurama said.
Naruto smirked, letting the red chakra tails behind him slowly expand and retract behind him, "Thanks Kurama, we'll see how it works tomorrow yeah?" he asked.
"YO Naruto!" B yelled.
Naruto snapped out of his funk, "Huh? Yeah?" he asked.
B sighed, "I been trying to get your attention for a minute or so, I think we're done for the day Naruto." He kinda rapped.
Naruto rolled his eyes at B's weirdness, "Why do we gotta stop? Kurama and I are finally starting to sync well together." He said with a sigh.
B glanced around the cave, double checking that his brother hadn't come again to intrude, "Cause you need to answer some questions number nine." He said seriously, standing out from his sword stance while walking to the back of the cave.
Naruto frowned, noting B's seriousness and following behind him, 'What's up with him?' Naruto thought as they entered a little tunnel.
B glanced over his shoulder, "Number eight looked after me when I was younger. Enhanced my lightning chakra up to enormous levels, as well as some other stuff." He said as they entered a small 'room'.
Naruto raised a brow, "Other stuff?" he asked.
B nodded, sitting on a raised piece of rock, "Yeah, like sensory stuff. But I'm no good at tracking, my sensing is more like…elemental stuff." He said with a nod.
Naruto sat opposite B, not quite getting where Killer B was heading towards with this.
B took off his shades, something that Naruto hadn't seen before, "Your wood chakra. Explain, now." He practically ordered.
Naruto's eyes widened in realisation, "How in the name of Log do you know what wood chakra even feels like?" he asked.
"Shut up that's how." Killer B answered before speaking again, "Your fire chakra more than quadrupled since yesterday morning as well. Explain." B ordered.
Naruto scoffed, "Why the fuck should I tell you anything? Don't you realise I have to kill you know?" Naruto said darkly as he stood, Kurama's chakra burning out of him.
B hit his hand on a hidden seal on the wall, and Kurama's chakra suddenly was sucked into the wall while electrocuting Naruto in the process.
Naruto fell to his knees in shock before B rested one of his swords on Naruto's shoulder.
"Naruto," Killer B said, his voice laced with power, "I am loyal to my village before I am loyal to my kind. I copied this seal and put it in here back in the day when I trained Yugito to control her beast, though both of em didn't like it being called like that.." he said, trailing off at the end.
"Still don't like it." The Hachibi said inside B's mind.
B nodded, 'Still don't matter,' he thought before continuing with his lecture, "The fire chakra you now got is violently powerful. How'd you do it?" he asked.
Naruto stopped struggling, 'So I either tell, or I die? How long has he been waiting for an opportunity like this? Is this why the Raikage was so easy to convince to help us?' he thought.
B smirked, "You've probably worked it out, so ima just say yeah. A asked me, I came through, like I always do." He chuckled confidently.
The seals deactivated, letting Naruto breath properly as he began talking, "I am the only user of the Soul Drain Jutsu. I take a person's soul and the attributes that come along with it and assimilate those attributes into my physical body." Naruto started.
"The man who set me on this path was my grandfather, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He wants Konoha to prosper, to stay strong, to…I dunno…develop I guess?" Naruto asked shaking his head.
Killer B tilted his head, "What does that have to do with anything? My bro don't care about your jutsus or plans for Konoha, what is your intentions towards Kumo? And how the hell did you increase your fire chakra? And the wood?" B asked all in one go, holding his sword underneath Naruto's chin, forcing the blonde to look up.
B raised a brow as Naruto was smiling, "Kumo? Nothing, I don't care about it. But my chakra?" he said before the gills on his neck flared, shocking B into pulling his sword back.
Naruto smile was slightly crazed as a line began to burn its way down his face, just like did for those of the Sarutobi clan, but only one line from his right eye unlike Hiruzen's six, "I absorbed Sarutobi-Jiji and took his chakra for my own. Now I don't even need to finish with my original target." Naruto said with a fanged grin.
B nodded slowly, "So, you killed that old guy? To get the fire chakra?" he asked with wide eyes.
Naruto's crazed look evaporated instantly, suddenly becoming pained as he looked away, "I…I guess I did. He asked me to so I did." Naruto muttered.
B hesitated, "He asked you to? Why?" he asked.
Naruto smiled softly, "He wants to see our dream become achieved." He said, almost in a whisper.
B was silent before he stood, sheathing his sword and grinning, "Damn nine! That reason's fine! I wanna see this, what's your first step boi?" he asked.
Naruto stood confidently, "I need to drain Orochimaru, I need the Akatsuki gone." He said with a nod to himself.
B grinned, "Well for you to get that openin, you need that bomber gone yeah?" he asked.
Naruto nodded with a small smile, causing B to shrug as he slipped his shades on, "Well then nothing has changed bro, time for us to train Naruto." B said as he walked out, before glancing over his shoulder.
"So, what about the wood chakra?" B asked.
Naruto smirked, "Now that one I have to keep quiet. Though I'm pretty sure you can figure it out, just take in these facts: I can absorb a soul as long as my chakra is stronger, Orochimaru attacked my village." Naruto said before pausing in his sentence.
B turned once more as the two of them neared the main cavern, an expectant look on his face, forcing Naruto to sigh before answering, "And Orochimaru can bring people back to life temporarily." Naruto finished.
B nodded, "So…that Senju Hokage?" he asked though he already knew the answer.
Naruto just smirked, confirming it for B who then began forming hand seals slowly.
Naruto raised a brow as B walked, "I thought you said training was done?" he asked as the two of them stepped into the major cavern of the cave.
B grinned as he turned, "You trained with Kurama, now train with this new fire!" he yelled while launching a lightning jutsu at Naruto.
Naruto began jumping backwards he raised a hand to his mouth grinning, "FIRE STYLE: MUD WALL!"
B chuckled with raised brows at the Earth Style: Mud Wall that was enveloped with red hot flames, blocking the lightning jutsu easily before the flames began reaching towards Killer B.
Now it was B's turn to grin at Naruto, "That was nice bro!"
Naruto leapt ontop of his wall, forming more seals, "Expect nothing less from Naruto!" Naruto rhymed before raising his mouth to his lips, "FIRE STYLE: DRAGON FLAME BOMBS!"
B grinned as he defended himself, 'Man! How is this kid only a Chunnin?!' he thought before going on the defensive.
##########
"LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN!" the Raikage's voice rang out from the Kage booth.
"YEEEAH!" the crowd seemed to cheer as A took his seat between Onoki and Tsunade.
Onoki was frowning, "Princess Tsunade, that's the same team as three years ago at your exams isn't it?" he asked as he looked along the lines of Shinobi that stood in the arena.
Tsunade just grinned, "Yep."
"Oh damn." Onoki muttered under his breath.
##########
C yawned, "Alright everyone stand tall and proud, this is your chance to make a name for yourselves." He said quietly.
Each village had their own row, Cloud, Stone, Rain and then Leaf. The arena they all stood in was very similar to the one in the Leaf village, except that it was twice as big and instead of grass and trees, there were rocks and a single river right down the middle.
C formed two hand seals before holding his fingers up to his lips in a way similar to when a ninja would launch a fireball jutsu, making everything he said through the circle amplified as if he had a surround sound system of speakers.
C gestured upwards and everyone in the arena followed the movement to see a large image being projected on the wall underneath the Kage's booth, "First! From the Hidden Cloud Village! Samui, Karui and Omoi!" C announced.
Instantly the majority of the stands burst into the loudest cheers heard in the village for a long while as the screen showed a ten second clip of each of the ninjas in action from footage from the previous tests before ending on a picture of each Shinobi with their names printed across the bottom of the picture.
"Then! The Stone Village's Chen and Lay!" C announced.
The same repeated across the screens and many could hear the low thundering cheer of the few rock ninjas in the arena.
"The Rain village ninja: Fang!"
Fang's snippet of footage was shorter than the others, but every movement was pure skill and confidence, not a single attack was part of a combo, everything was instant death.
"YAY! FANG-SEMPAAAAI!" Obito from the Hidden Rain team yelled while jumping up and down in his seat in the front row.
Everyone was staring in shock at the childlike antics of the ninja until their third teammate pulled back a fist, "Dammit you idiot! Shut the hell up yeah?!" Boom yelled as punched the ninja face-first into the ground.
Fang merely nodded towards his team.
C cleared his throat, "And Finally, the Leaf Village's Shikamaru! Sakura! And Naruto!" C declared with a gesture to the final three.
The shorts on the screen showed Shikamaru seemingly manipulating darkness with no effort as Sakura blurred around at impossible speeds on the next third of the projection while Naruto was shown using his airborne sword techniques.
"ROUND ONE WILL BEGIN!" C yelled, causing the crowd to burst into cheers once more.
C turned to the ninjas as he pointed at the screen which changed to show the tournament setup, "The tournament will consist of four three on three matches instead of the original planning because of some unforeseen circumstances as well as a contender dropping out."
"Was it S-, the Uchiha?" Fang asked with a hiss in his tone.
C nodded, causing Fang to look off to his team slightly as C continued, "The first Round, Samui versus Naruto versus Chen. The others, go to the waiting bay." C ordered as the first three pictures lit up on the projection screen.
Everyone left the arena as the three specified ninjas went and stood in position, C lifted his arm.
Time seemed to slow as Naruto lifted his head, there was almost nothing different about him other then the single line that travelled down from his right eye, symbolising Sarutobi's assimilation into Naruto's soul.
Naruto smirked as his eyes looked around the arena, 'So…Jonin huh?' he thought as he glanced at the persons in the arena wearing a Jonin vest before his eyes trailed over the Kage booth, 'Baa-chan expects so much of me in these battles,' he thought before his smirk widened slightly, 'I guess I shouldn't let her down.' He thought before his eyes landed on the Hidden Rain ninja Fang.
Fang was glaring right back, which caused Naruto's smirk to grow into a full on grin, 'And the Snake will be at my mercy in the next round…'
"So kid, it seems you'll finally get that soul you were telling your girls about aye?" Kyuubi asked from inside his mind.
Naruto nodded as his eyes locked on his opponents, 'But for now, I gotta deal with these two!' Naruto thought as Cee's hand finally came down.
"BEGIN!"
Samui charged at Naruto while drawing her sword, knowing he was more than likely the biggest threat while Chen began forming seals as he leapt backwards.
Samui yelled in effort as she swung her weapon while Chen's voice rang out, "EARTH STYLE: GAIA'S FIST!"
Naruto didn't seem to care as the attacks moved towards him, but Samui did. She leapt up away from the area so that she wouldn't be squashed by the giant fist of earth.
It was at the last second that Naruto turned towards the fist as his left hand formed a Rasengan which he thrust upwards towards the fist.
"GIANT RASENGAN!"
*BOOOOOOM*
Samui landed covering her eyes from the debris as she heard someone running before that running suddenly stopped.
The dust cloud fell and Samui's eyes widened, 'Where the hell did they go?' she thought.
"EARTH STYLE: EARTH SPEARS!"
Samui used a substitution as the leftover log was destroyed by an earth spear just as Naruto appeared next to it, grabbing the stone spear in his hands.
Naruto yelled in effort as he ripped the spear free as Chen ran at Naruto, pulling out an axe in the process.
Everyone was amazed at Naruto's strength as he swung the large piece of earth in an arc, aiming to collect the approaching stone ninja in the side.
Chen lifted his axe as he channelled his elemental chakra into it, effortlessly turning the spear back into dust and throwing Naruto off balance.
"WATER STYLE: WATER BULLETS!"
Naruto smirked as he looked to his side, seeing as Samui used the water from the river to try and hit him and his opponent who he had just clashed against with Samehada against the axe.
The stone ninja moved to jump up as Naruto lifted his free hand, "WIND STYLE: SUCTION!"
The stone ninja was caught off guard as Naruto pulled Chen in front of him and used him as a shield against the water pellets.
Chen was battered with the water bullets in a bone breaking manor, causing the ninja to cough up blood as Naruto crouched for better cover.
Seeing as Chen was almost down after the barrage of water pellets, Naruto just let go of Chen's back as he jumped up into the air.
"LIGHTNING STYLE: THUNDERBOLT!"
Naruto swung his arm around as lightning crackled along his arm, "HELL STAB: FOUR FINGER NUKITE TECHNIQUE!" he yelled.
The streak of lightning shot at Naruto, who used his technique to cut through the lightning bolt on his way towards Samui, using his wind funnels to propel him from his feet.
Samui was caught off guard seeing the legendary attack of the Sandaime Raikage flying towards her, luckily for her, Naruto had miscounted Chen's power.
"EARTH STYLE: OCEAN OVERTURN!"
Just as Naruto was about a meter off the ground, the ground underneath him seemed to flip like a pancake, slamming into his left side and knocking him away.
Samui glanced over at Naruto who dug his attack into the ground to give himself an anchor as he turned around, seeing Naruto's eyes widen, Samui turned to see what the big deal was.
It was Chen, mid-swing at her head with his axe.
Samui dropped into a very wide split, letting the axe move overhead before she shocked everyone as she used her breasts like two bouncy balls to bounce up and head butt Chen in the sternum.
Chen gasped as Samui quickly landed a combo of Taijutsu strikes, which combined with the onslaught he received earlier, seemed to be nearly too much for Chen to handle and stay conscious for.
Samui flipped backwards and delivered an uprising kick to Chen's chin, launching him up into the air at Naruto who was flying overhead.
Instead of being caught off guard and hit with Chen's body, Naruto merely cut off wind chakra from his feet and fell slightly downwards while raising his arm.
As Chen moved overhead, Naruto's raised arm grabbed his leg. Thus taking the momentum of the airborne man and using it to slam him into the ground face first.
Only for the substituted log to be destroyed upon impact.
Naruto landed in a crouch as he formed hand seals with a grin, 'Thanks old man!'
"FIRE STYLE: DRAGON FLAME BOMBS!"
Samui formed hand seals as the approaching flame neared, "WATER STYLE: WATER WALL!"
The fire jutsu was much hotter than Samui anticipated, it didn't break through the wall but it sure as hell evaporated every drop of water.
*SLAM!*
Just in time for Chen to land a solid punch to the back of Samui's head, before bringing around his foot, knocking her out with the punch before launching her at Naruto.
Naruto pulled out Samehada, causing many on lookers to gasp as they though he was about to slice her in half, but Naruto used the flat of the blade more like a thin wall, letting her hit it limply before falling to the ground instead of landing in the river and most likely drowning.
Chen and Naruto took a few moments to breathe as they circled each other, Naruto's breath even as Chen's was shaky with what were most likely broken ribs.
As if there was some unspoken signal, Naruto pulled his left hand to his hip since his right was holding Samehada in a reverse grip, charging up a red rasengan while Chen lifted his axe while it seemed to shine with earth chakra as Chen began forming one handed seals.
Naruto could see that Chen was struggling, most people in this situation would play fair and give Chen a chance.
The two leapt at each other, Chen swinging his axe which suddenly had a large chakra cover making it stronger, sharper and unbreakable. One of the strongest chakra upgrades possible throughout the elemental nations and probably could take the Flame Rasengan head on.
It's a shame that in the ninja world, there is no 'fair'.
Naruto span in midair, hooking Samahada under the axe's head, instantly sucking the chakra from the technique while pulling Chen so as to pass by Naruto's side as he spun.
Aiming his rasengan directly at Chen's unprotected back.
Chen closed his eyes as the jutsu impacted, setting his clothes on fire while launching him into across the arena, over Samui and straight into the river.
The crowd burst into cheers at the amazing finish as C's voice rang throughout the stadium, "Winner of round one! Naruto Uzumaki!" C yelled as the last impact was shown on the screen from different angles over and over again.
As the crowd cheered, ANBU members appeared over the unconscious contestants and they shunshin'd to the medic bay as Naruto merely levitated out of the stadium.
##########
Naruto landed a few moments later between Sakura and Shikamaru, not even breathing heavily, "So! How'd you guys enjoy the show?" Naruto asked.
Shikamaru opened one of his closed eyes, "It was troublesome, you just put a big target on your back, idiot." He muttered with a sigh.
Naruto chuckled at Shikamaru as Sakura spoke, "Yeah yeah, it was great and whatever," she said casually, "But I think we have to watch this one closely." Sakura said while pointing towards the stadium.
They looked down just as C's arm dropped, "BEGIN!"
##########
'So,' Orochimaru thought from behind his mask, 'These two are the only ones standing in my way of getting the fox child. I'll be quick about this since it doesn't matter about my identity anymore.' He thought as he calmly walked between his two opponents, drawing his sword from its new sheath in a sudden motion that blocked Karui's short sword cold.
Orochimaru smirked from behind his mask as he leant back, effortlessly dodging Lay's kunai swipe before spinning while whipping out his legs, kicking both ninjas legs out from underneath them in what he made look like a ridiculously easy manoeuvre.
Every person watching stared in awe at the snake's amazing agility and speed.
Orochimaru punched out with his fist as he landed on one foot, punching Lay in the face while his airborne knee slammed into Karui's face.
Both ninjas were launched back as Orochimaru casually tossed his sword up into the air above him while forming seals, "FIRE STYLE: FLAMING VIPERS!" he yelled as he spun.
Two huge flames shot from his mouth in a quick succession, taking the form of a snake each that chased the two ninjas down.
Karui used the substitution with a stone at the bottom of the river, watching as the snake of flames shot over her in a bright red stream.
"EARTH STYLE: MUD WALL!" Lay yelled as the wall formed to protect him.
Orochimaru had designed this fire jutsu after his own summoned creatures, in short: a snake has fangs.
The flaming snake opened its mouth as it turned sideways, letting it's mouth wrap around the wall of earth and sending it's flaming fangs at Lay from the side.
Lay suddenly dropped underground in what was a masterful use of the head-hunter jutsu.
The arena was quiet as the two snakes dissipated in flames. Orochimaru calmly moved into his first stance once more as he looked across the arena, catching his sword effortlessly.
Karui surfaced, standing tall on the water as some of it wrapped around her short sword, somehow forming what appeared to be an extremely large meat knife out of water that was slowly solidifying into ice thanks to the seal wrapped around the handle.
Lay came out of the ground behind her, "Karui!" he spoke seriously.
Karui glanced over her shoulder at the rock ninja, who was only out of the ground up to his knees. 'He wants to work together…' she thought before looking back at Orochimaru, who was calmly spinning his sword in a loose grip, 'Well, it's definitely the best option against this guy.' She thought before glancing back at Lay again and nodding.
Orochimaru chuckled as Lay retreated underground, 'Oh? They're attacking together now?' he thought as Karui began sprinting forward.
Orochimaru swung his sword to deflect the aqua-blade, but since it was water his sword went right through before the edge froze, cutting Orochimaru's arm off from the elbow down.
Orochimaru merely leapt back to dodge her strike, 'Hm, she is actually quite skilled. And that technique of hers in interesting…' he thought as he slithered around her strikes with little effort.
Lay popped up behind Orochimaru, swinging his kunai at Orochimaru's legs.
Orochimaru seemingly flowed over the first strike while ducking under Karui's side swipe, he then waved his only arm while a cartridge from his mask opened towards Karui.
"NINJA ART: POISON FOG JUTSU!"
Karui gasped as she was enveloped in the mist, before realising what it was and covering her mouth but it was too late.
*CLANG*
Karui managed to get out of the smoke coughing, only to see Orochimaru striking at Lay in a flurry of sword strikes, leaving knicks up and down Lay's forearms that were slowly increasing in number.
Karui coughed a few times more before sending more chakra into the freezing seal on her sword, making her water solidify into a sharper form as she charged at Orochimaru's unprotected back.
Orochimaru suddenly leapt up, throwing his sword behind him at Karui, who had to stop to defend herself.
"NINJA ART: SNAKE TONGUE!" Orochimaru said from the air.
His tongue wrapped around Lay's neck and yanked him into the air, throwing him at Karui in the process.
The result, two clambering Shinobi struggling to untangle themselves from each other while Orochimaru chuckled.
He sheathed his blade before sealing it, forming a single hand seal afterwards, "I guess I should do this now." He muttered.
His limb convulsed before a new arm shot free, scaring the shit out of the two ninjas in front of him, "Now that's better." Orochimaru said with a chuckle.
Lay's words said it all, "The fuck is going on?"
Karui stood before coughing, "Lay, cough cough, this guy uses poison and stuff, be careful." She warned, breathing heavily.
Lay went to stand, but suddenly realised that he couldn't, "Wha- what?" he muttered.
Karui looked down at him with wide eyes, "Paralysis agent." Orochimaru said loudly.
Karui looked back at him as he approached, "Some snakes venom act as a paralysis so that the prey is weakened, slowed down so the snake can feast." Orochimaru said as he pulled off his mask, showing his face, "Others die after one dose." He said with a predatorial grin towards Karui.
Karui went to stand defensively when she had a coughing fit, falling to her knees as Orochimaru approached her.
##########
Tsunade stood, "He just revealed himself as Orochimaru! Now I can arrest him!" she said victoriously.
"Hold it!"
Tsunade looked to her side to see A ready to leap down into the arena as well, it was Onoki that stopped them.
The old man looked up with his fingers crossed, "That snake, yes in your village and the cloud village he is a criminal. But the rain village appears to have taken him in as a Shinobi of their own! We cannot accost him for the crimes he's committed unless we remove him from that village." He said wisely.
Tsunade scoffed before looking at the Raikage, only to see that he was scowling, "A?" she asked in disbelief.
A fell into his chair, "The old guy's right, dammit." He said, looking down at the end of the fight.
Tsunade watched on in defeat, 'I can't…stop him?' she thought.
##########
Orochimaru knelt down, raising up his blade to finish Karui, who closed her eyes.
…..
"So, are you going to forfeit? Or do I actually have to cut you down before my poison kills you?"
Karui looked up at Orochimaru's expectant but amused look before she began coughing heavily once more.
Orochimaru glanced at the frozen-in-one-spot ninja that was Lay, "And you?" he asked.
Lay was scowling as he said the words, "Proctor! I, ah dammit I quit!" he said angrily.
C nodded before raising his arm, "Winner, Fang!" he said with a scowl, now knowing who Orochimaru was.
The cocky snake user turned to the Kages and gave a mocking bow, "Thanks for watching the show." He muttered to himself with a chuckle before walking off.
##########
Tsunade was practically grinding her teeth in rage, 'Dammit! Make a move you asshole so I can get you!' she thought as she saw the snake sannin walk freely away from her.
A placed a hand on Tsunade's shoulder, using his chakra to cover up Tsunade's killing intent, "Calm down woman!" he whispered.
Tsunade closed her eyes as she sat back, she wasn't sure how long she was sitting like that for, but when she opened her eyes, finally feeling calm again, she saw C raising his arm once more.
##########
"BEGIN!"
As already pre-planned, Sakura and Shikamaru would take out Omoi so that whoever is left between the two of them will have the most energy to help Naruto against Orochimaru.
Omoi reached back to grab the katana from his back only for Sakura to clothe line him as she moved past, using her boots that seemed to materialize as she was moving.
Omoi was knocked back as Shikamaru formed hand seals, "DARK STYLE: BLACK PIT!"
The result was extremely amazing. Shikamaru turned all the shadows underneath Omoi's clothes into a pit as well at under his headband, sword sheathe, bandages. Everything on his body.
In the split second before Omoi hit the ground, he was suddenly completely naked.
Shikamaru smirked as Omoi covered himself, the whole audience laughing at the naked boy.
Omoi was infinitely caught off-guard and embarrassed.
Which was why it was so easy for Shikamaru to connect his shadow with Omoi's, "SHADOW POSSESSION JUTSU!"
Omoi stared at Shikamaru in shock, their eyes locking in a moment, "You wouldn't." Omoi said hopefully.
Shikamaru turned around, making the nude ninja do the same motion, "I would." Shika said with a smirk as he gripped the front of his vest between his fingers.
Omoi let go of covering himself before gripping his nipples and twisting them painfully.
Omoi yelled in both pain and embarrassment but there was nothing he could do as Shikamaru held him in place.
The whole crowd laughed/covered their kids eyes/cried in some cases/ got very excited to meet Omoi face to…face.
Omoi blushed as he heard a loud wolf whistle before a sudden realisation hit him, "C! I forfeit!" Omoi yelled hopefully.
C pulled himself from his laughing, "Okay, okay, Shikamaru, let him go. He's done."
The second Omoi was back in control of himself, he ran away to the back rooms of the arena, not even waiting for Shikamaru to bring back his clothes.
Which Shika did a few seconds later.
The arena was still laughing as Shikamaru and Sakura turned to each other, both of them smirking slightly.
Shika nodded, "You are restricted Sakura, you won't be able to beat me here today." He said confidently.
Sakura's boot bounced in preparation, "And would you look at that." She said, pointing up at the nearly directly overhead sun, "You are restricted as well." She said before dropping into a sprinters position.
Shikamaru formed two seals, "SHADOW ART: COCOON!"
Sakura appeared behind Shikamaru as his own shadow made a tight cocoon around him, just as her kick impacted.
His cocoon flew across the arena before splashing into the river where he emerged from it harmlessly, holding another seal as he smirked, "Got you! SHADOW BIND JUTSU!" he said victoriously.
Sakura went to dodge whatever was coming before realising her feet were stuck in place, "What?" she asked as she looked down.
It seemed that when she kicked Shikamaru, he let a part of his shadow connect with hers, so no matter how far apart the two of them were, he already had her.
Shikamaru smirked as he began to slowly form more seals, "I'll finish it quick! DARK STYLE: SHADOW BALL!" he yelled, launching a ball of darkness from his shadow.
Sakura's mind went into overdrive, 'So, I'm struck to the ground, how can I avoid this attack?' she thought as the attack neared her, 'Got it!'
Sakura formed hand seals, "FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!" she yelled.
Shikamaru smirked, 'My shadow ball will easily break through that.' He thought before he realised where Sakura was aiming.
The bright light from the fireball extinguished Shikamaru's shadow as it impacted just underneath Shikamaru's attack, cutting the connection between Shika and Sakura.
Sakura jumped up into the air, barely avoiding the shadow ball as she sailed through the air, giving Shikamaru time to form another jutsu.
"DARK STYLE: DIVINE CREATION!" he yelled.
Shadows came together, forming a spear that was entirely black before the blackness seemed to peel off. The moment it was done peeling it shot towards the airborne Sakura.
She channelled her chakra in response, "CHAKRA HOP!" she yelled, shooting herself higher to dodge the attack.
Causing Shikamaru to smirk, 'Now I've got you!' he thought to himself as she moved over him, her shadow landing directly on him and his own shadow.
"SHADOW ART: SHADOW PORT!"
Shikamaru suddenly appeared as if coming out of Sakura's chest, instantly holding the rat seal in place.
Sakura barely realised what was going on as his second jutsu took hold, "DARK STYLE: SHADOW CHAINS!"
Shadows came from underneath his clothes, about to wrap her up when she finally retaliated.
Sakura simply turned around, the sunlight hitting Shikamaru dead in the eyes and disrupting his concentration for a second, allowing her fist to slam into his chin.
Shikamaru scowled as he fell through the air, 'Dammit, plan 5 then.' He thought as he fell two hand seals.
'When I hit the ground, I will simply fall into that tree's shadow, which reaches around the stadium so I can launch phase two from directly behind her.' He thought as he moved into a diving position.
"Guess you forgot how fast I am."
Shikamaru instantly brought his arm up in a block as Sakura's heel drop slammed into his arms, knocking him into the shadow at a much faster rate than he planned.
Shikamaru still entered the realm of darkness, coming out on the other side and accidently launching himself a fair way towards Sakura from behind.
Sakura spun while her legs began to glow as Shikamaru's fist was enveloped in darkness.
"DARK STYLE: TWILIGHT FIST!" he yelled, his fist seemingly becoming flatter as the shadows enveloped it.
Sakura ran forward at Shikamaru before using her momentum to spin, launching out her left foot as it glowed, "SHOCKING BURST BULLET!" she yelled.
The two attack collided, sending Shikamaru and Sakura apart in the explosion afterwards.
Shikamaru slammed into the wall painfully, not having fast enough reflexes to react in time. While Sakura did have such reflexes.
Sakura's gauntlets activated and she used them to bring her momentum to a stop by digging her claws into the ground. She ended up stopping with her feet against the wall.
Shikamaru was still only registering the fact that he was about to cough up something when Sakura was standing again.
"WHIP FIST!"
Shikamaru's groggy eyes opened just as Sakura's hand stopped in front of his head, taking a grasp of his skull and pulling him from the wall and directly at Sakura.
He managed to look up to see Sakura's cheeks bulged, "MUD WALL!"
She quickly dispelled her gauntlet as the wall appeared a few meters in front of the airborne Shikamaru.
*BOOM*
Shikamaru slammed into the wall headfirst, causing it to fall towards Sakura who merely skated clear easily, coming to a stop behind Shikamaru as the wall impacted the ground.
Sakura bit her lip, 'Hmmm, maybe I overdid it a little.' She thought to herself.
Shikamaru began slowly shaking as he did his best to stand up, but Sakura wasn't taking any chances, appearing over him with her remaining gauntlet aimed at his spine, "Give up Shika." She said, her claws glinting in the sunlight.
Shikamaru smirked as he 'fell' onto his face, letting him form three hidden hand signs, "BLACK PIT!"
The two of them fell into a deep pit of darkness that materialised from underneath Shikamaru.
Everyone stared in shock as the two combatants disappeared.
C glanced around and for almost half a minute nothing happened, "Well, I'm not exactly-"
Suddenly the same hole opened up but this time from right behind C, causing the Jonin to quickly duck, as Shikamaru was launched out, holding his ribs with a pain filled expression.
Sakura appeared, her body fully equipped except for her wings. Her facial portion opened up with a smirk, "Well, ya pushed me this far Shika. Even Sasuke-kun has problems doing that!" she said with a small laugh before realising something.
"Hehe, oops." She muttered as she looked around at the astonished crowd.
##########
"What the stone?!" Onoki yelled before turning to Tsunade, "Princess Tsunade! Do you mean to tell me that girl is the Phoenix Summoner?!" he yelled.
Tsunade smiled a bit sheepishly, "Umm, yeah I guess she is." She said with a nervous chuckle before ignoring the rest of Onoki's rant in favour of watching the match resolve.
##########
Shikamaru shakily got to his feet, "I guess there is only one more thing to try." He said while closing his eyes and cracking his neck.
Sakura raised a brow as her wings materialised, "Shika, you really shouldn't do anything more." She said.
Shikamaru shrugged, causing him to wince as he stretched his ribs, "Sorry, but I want a go at this." He said as he began to raise his hands up.
Just as he made the first seal he began to open his eyes, "You should- what?" he asked as he realized that Sakura was no longer in front of him.
He had planned on telling Sakura to give up or finish it, but his unasked question was answered as she was suddenly flying at him from high in the air.
Sakura grinned as her wings were encased in fire, not that you could see it with her helmet in place, "You really think I'd just stand there while you talk?!" she yelled mockingly as she held a hand seal.
Shikamaru quickly formed his remaining seals, "DARK STYLE: CAIUS THE SHADOW MONARCH!" he yelled.
At the same time Sakura's body was enveloped in red hot fire, "PHOENIX ART: SACRED SKY FLAME!" she yelled.
Shikamaru's shadow as well as the shadows of many things around him came together to form a large grey and purple being that appeared to be holding something like the Rasengan, only it was made of black strings and had purple spike appearing around it while at the very center a deformed skull sat glowing.
Sakura's fire took the shape of a large bird, the fire becoming white hot at some points while most of it stayed red as it shot at Shikamaru's technique, Sakura wasn't even visible amongst the flames.
Sakura's fire connected with Caius' death sphere, the flames getting eaten near instantly as the winner soon become obvious.
Shikamaru smirked, 'To think I can stand up to an A-rank Shinobi by myself.' He thought as he realised that he couldn't see Sakura, which with her speed probably meant…
"Got ya Shika."
Shikamaru sighed, 'Yep, just as I thought.' He thought as he glanced over his shoulder to see a slightly singed Sakura with her executioner's blade resting on his shoulder.
After the fire was eaten, Caius disappeared and Shika sighed, "Alright, I give up. You win Taicho." Shikamaru said dismissively.
##########
Naruto grinned, 'So, that is Shikamaru's strongest move? Impressive, that thing seemed to be sucking in light itself…coolios.' He thought as C began talking.
##########
"Alright! Everyone gets a half an hour break before the final round, its gonna be a good one so I recommend you go use the utilities, get something to eat or drink and place your bets!" C said, informing the whole crowd in one go before turning and leaving the arena grounds.
##########
Onoki turned to Tsunade, "So, you have Burning Speed in your village? And you didn't think it prudent to tell me? What else have you been hiding?" he asked scoffing since there was almost nothing that could top hiding an A rank Shinobi amongst her ranks before taking a sip of his drink.
Tsunade hummed as she crossed her legs, "Well, there are her teammates…Reaping Hunter and Final Flash." She said nonchalantly.
Onoki spat out his drink in shock, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" he yelled.
A chuckled, "I didn't realise she had to tell you anything like that Onoki-dono, why would she?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.
Onoki finally calmed down, a little, "We are both part of the Triad Alliance. We're meant to share important information like this." He said with a scowl.
A raised a brow as he glanced at Tsunade, 'An alliance between three of the Great Nations? This could lead to one of two things…' he thought as he watched Tsunade laugh at Onoki, causing the man to yell in pain as his back cracked, which caused her to laugh more before healing him, 'It could be the start of a worldwide era of peace…or the Fourth Great Shinobi war.' He thought worriedly.
'I better contact the Mizukage, just in case.' A thought.
##########
Sakura just stepped back into the observation room given to the leaf ninjas, it now only housed her and Naruto, "So Nii-kun, what's the plan exactly?" she asked as she brushed the dirt from her hair.
Naruto turned away from the balcony, facing his sister with a small smile, "This has to be the chance that Akatsuki will take to attack. So this is where we take down Orochimaru before he can do whatever it is he plans to do to capture me for them." Naruto said simply.
Sakura nodded, "Yeah, but we both know that I'm probably the weakest out of us three, so what is it exactly that you want me to contribute to this?" she said, wanting exact orders.
Naruto looked down in thought, 'What would I do if I was Orochimaru in this situation?' he thought with his eyes closed.
After a moment, they suddenly snapped open, "The Edo Tensei! Orochimaru will use his reanimation technique to defend himself as well as lead the attack!" Naruto said.
Sakura nodded, "Okay, so I will take on those that he summons right?" she asked.
Naruto nodded, "Yep, you take them and I'll take the snake." Naruto agreed.
Sakura smiled at his confidence before tilting her head with a worried expression, "You're not overconfident are you? Because he is incredibly strong, this isn't gonna be easy." She said while placing a hand on his shoulder.
Naruto grinned and hugged Sakura, "No need to worry Nee-chan! I have taken everything into account! I know this is gonna be a bitch but we can handle it! I promise!" he said as he stepped back from her.
Sakura nodded happily before looking across the arena to Orochimaru, who was standing in his observation box calmly, "He's a creeper though, that's for sure." She said with a giggle.
##########
Chapter End.
Hi, sorry for lateness.
So much for extra chapters, I'm barely keeping up with life at the moment. Just, so much shit and bananas…
wait…no I reckon that explains it.
Anyways, please R&R, losing motivation and reviews will help the story come along faster.
Alky out!