Chapter Thirty-One: War Continues!
"How's it going Kuro-san?" Gohan asked, the first one to openly address the chakra loss that the sprinting across the sea was causing the team.
The recently conscious Kuro was kneeling on top of the water of the open sea, his chakra slowly expanding in an odd shape that somehow let him glide along at full sprinting speed, "A few more minutes, then it'll be stable enough to hold you all, just another few minutes!" Kuro said, ignoring the blood flowing from his left shoulder.
Kenpachi glanced over his shoulder, nodding to his little partner in crime, "Give him a boost will ya?" he suggested.
Yachiru nodded before pulling herself up to be standing with a foot on either of his shoulders, forming a quick series of hand seals before aiming her hands towards Kuro in a way the was nearly the same as the Yamanaka clan seals, "YACHIRU SPECIAL: NATURE CHAKRA INJECTION!" she shouted, causing the small group to look at her.
Kuro's next breath caused his eyes to widen as it felt like his entire body opened up from his back, "What is this?!" he asked in shock, feeling the energy about to reach his hands and thus the seal he held for the Ninjutsu he was casting.
Yachiru grinned, "Just a little something, now focus, it's coming!" she cheered.
Kuro's eyes widened as he quickly had to hold back the influx of chakra before suddenly it seemed like a boat's bow made from chakra appeared around him, "Jump on quick! This is a lot more chakra then I'm used to!" he said, just as everyone leapt into a straight line behind him.
Kuro formed one more hand seal before placing his palms together and pushing forward, "DEEP WATER STYLE: CAPTAIN OF THE ARMADA!" he shouted before the chakra-boat shot forward as fast as an all out ninja's sprint.
Gohan lay down the unconscious Naruto to his left in the boat, placing a hand on Naruto's forehead, "Now, let's see if I can open up his mind a little…" Gohan muttered to himself as he tried to help 'cleanse' anything bad from his system.
Gohan gasped as he got a glimpse of Naruto's mindscape, 'Amazing!'
##########
"Now just ease it into place." Minato tutored from a new open doorway on the wall next to the Kyuubi's cage.
Naruto kept his hand on the wall next to his father's new room, "Which way do I rotate the Storage Seal's inversion points?" Naruto asked.
Minato smirked, "Same place I always got stuck," he muttered with a small chuckle to himself before speaking up to Naruto, "Counter clockwise, and don't forget to stabilize with one of the Five Pronged Seal elemental points."
Naruto smirked as the seal stretching across the wall of his mindscape shrunk before moving into a rectangular shape, becoming a door as Naruto pulled his hand away and stepped back.
The door became coloured a plain black as a golden door handle appeared. Naruto grabbed the handle and pushed it open, "Heh! Looks like it worked Dad!" Naruto exclaimed with a smile.
Inside the room, exactly like Minato's, was a replica of Naruto's old apartment, exactly as it had been on the first birthday he had had while living there, but before it was attacked and destroyed. There was only one major difference; on the bed, lay the unconscious soul of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Naruto turned to Minato as he stepped back from the doorway, "He's still not awake." Naruto said, his smile becoming a slightly worrying frown.
Minato nodded, "That's expected, no one that comes back now will be conscious until you are, but once they are they'll basically be living a normal life inside your little apartments, we can only go around these rooms though." Minato explained to his son with a smirk, "On the other hand, their abilities will be much easier for you to access considering now that they will be just underneath the surface." He finished.
"Does that mean I'm going to have to put up with everyone in here all the time?" Kurama asked with a tired look on its face, barely bothering to open a single eye to glance at Naruto and his father.
Naruto looked over to Kurama and scratched his head, "Hehe, umm, for a while yeah. But I'll try to find a way to make the sound seal off at your will." Naruto explained with a grin.
The fox nodded its massive head before closing its eye once more, "You should hurry, I can't feel anything outside at the moment, happens when you use that soul stealing technique of yours." Kurama mumbled.
Naruto nodded before taking a few steps further down the wall, forming hand seals as Minato watched on, "FORBIDDEN SEALING ART: MIND PALACE EXTENSION: HOLDING ROOM!" Naruto announced as his hands blurred through hand seals before he placed them on the wall in front of him, spreading the seal once more before creating a door, opening it to see Deidara lying on his back on the bed, same plain white clothes that Hiruzen had on in the same room the other two late Kages had.
Naruto grinned, "Now I understand it, this won't take long," Naruto said before turning to glance at his father as he closed Deidara's door, "And then after that, I'll take in your more in depth abilities." Naruto said with a grin.
Minato nodded, "Then you'll be going after this Fuu girl?" Minato asked, seeing Naruto starting on the next door.
Naruto's eyes turned dark as he finished the next door a half minute later, opening it to confirm that the unconscious Akamaru lay in a warm fuzzy ball on the pillow on Naruto's bed with Naomi Kaguya laying right next to the ninken, causing Naruto's dark look to lighten slightly before he answered, "Yes. I will get to Fuu-chan as fast as I can, no holding back, I just have to finish this all as fast as I can." Naruto promised himself as he closed the door and went to form the next one.
Minato nodded seriously before looking over at the wall above the hallway that led into the cage room, 'Hmm, maybe I can make an outer viewing seal over there so we can see what's going on?' he thought to himself before another thought occurred to him, 'I wonder if Kushina will be revealed through Naruto's new knowledge of seals?'
##########
"SHOCKING BURST BULLET!"
**BOOOOOM**
Sakura landed forming hand seals at the ninja in front of her, who had just shot a boiling water dragon at her, "FIRE STYLE: FIRE PHOENIX BOMB JUTSU!" she shouted, bringing her mouth to her lips.
The flaming phoenix hit the dragon, evaporating it before the jutsu moved on to obliterate the body of the undead ninja of the past. She leapt forward as the corpse began to regenerate, "Do it now!" she said, using her speed to shoot past her enemy, cutting him in half in a swift move with her Executioner's blade.
A large scroll unrolled from underground, wrapping up the ninja with the paper before Sakura threw the pre-made seal at the paper, her chakra activating it upon contact, "SEAL!" she shouted along with the scroll ninja.
With their enemy frozen in stasis, they moved onto the next one, 'Nearly there! We're on our way Sensei!' Sakura thought as her Scouter Sight focussed on Kakashi's chakra signature, clashing with another signature that was eerily similar to the six near it. what she eventually saw caused her eyes to widen.
Seven water ninjas, three of which had their legendary blades while the remaining four held either a Zanpakuto or Katana in hand. Sakura scowled as she realised just who they were; the previous generation of the Seven Swordsmen of the mist, with Zabuza's old sensei in the lead, his Zanpakuto clashing against Kakashi's White Light Sabre.
##########
"SEALING TECHNIQUE: PHANTOM DRAGONS NINE CONSUMING SEALS!" The process had begun, Fuu's body levitating in the air between the two outstretched hands of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Five people stood on different fingertips across the statue's two hands, chakra dragons coming out of them to wrap around Fuu and rip the bubbling red chakra from her. Danzo's eyes gleamed as the red chakra flowed from Fuu into the statue, 'Once this war is over I will assassinate this Tobi person and take back the Leaf village, for the sake of the village, I must take this power for myself.' Danzo thought, his facial expression blank other than the gleam in his eyes as he stood on the right ring finger of the statue. Beside him on the middle finger, Mei Terumi stood holding the same seal as Danzo, her focus on pleasing the man across from her, 'One day soon I'll be queen of the world! This technique Tobi is gonna use will give me and Orochi-kun the rest of our immortal lives to spend expanding our grasp on the world.' she thought with a smile directed at the man standing on the other hand's pointer finger. Orochimaru stood in his old akatsuki cloak, the only one to be holding a different seal as his arms stayed interlocked underneath his sleeves. He smirked and winked at the auburn haired Mizukage whom had claimed him upon his first day on her side, 'I'm not complaining, but sometimes she can get a little distracted.' Orochimaru thought as his three chakra dragons focussed on Fuu for more chakra. By Orochimaru's left, Zetsu stood calmly as his dragon took part in the procedure, his thoughts were out with the millions of White Zetsu he was giving goals to achieve through their mental connection. To his left on the left hand's ring finger, Tobi stood in a completely new outfit, an entirely purple and white overcoat over his dark clothes though his orange mask was still the same as before. On his back rested a high class gunbai, which had another white full-headed mask that had two eye holes sitting on its handle. The room was silent as Tobi glanced up, wondering what his newest real allied partner was up to. ########## Kabuto panted heavily as he sat in the chair, looking over the shoulder of his Shadow Clone as the clone conducted the revived ninjas throughout their fights in the war. The real Kabuto sat in the chair trying to stay conscious as the medical tubes in his arms were forcing the very last of his experimental serum into his blood. He wasn't sure about how good it would do, but Tobi had looked over it and tweaked something in the chemical components as he formed a hand seal and sped up the molecules with heat. The bag emptied and Kabuto ripped the needle from his arm, breathing heavily as his skin started to crack, causing Kabuto to grin, 'Yes! Orochimaru's genes really did have the answer to sage mode!' Kabuto thought as he began to feel his chakra and muscles contort. He looked down with a frown as his stomach began to throb with pain, his eyes widened as a weird bulge was slowly protruding from under his shirt, causing him to grit his teeth in pain as it became longer and longer. Kabuto panted heavily once more as his eyes slitted, 'Not long now, with Juugo's and Orochimaru's cells being the last two, I will soon be in my ultimate form!' Kabuto thought to himself with a pained grin. ########## 'NINJA ART: PHANTOM BEAST EATING JUTSU!' Tayuya thought as her jutsu appeared from her flute, eating the chakra networks from the Zetsu horde in front of her. There were a few she missed, but they were taken care of as she ducked, letting her partner for the war battles cover her, "TWIN RISING DRAGONS!" Tenten shouted as she began to rain kunai after kunai down on the Zetsu with pinpoint precision, taking out the last of this group in the one move. Tenten landed back to back with Tayuya, pulling out her sword as Tayuya formed an eerily off-key chord on her flute, "Go for it Yu-chan." Tenten said with a confident smirk as she entered a low stance. "NINJA ART: SOUND STYLE: SOUND WAVE CHOKEPOINTS!" Tayuya said as she slowly pulled her flute away from her lips, even though the sound somehow still kept going. The two revived Chunnin level ninjas on Tenten's right froze and their invisibility Genjutsu dropped, showing two long thought dead mist ninjas with a chain connecting their gauntlets, "You're up Buns!" Tenten smirked and she blurred between the two of them, Nuibari gleaming in the misted light before she could be seen stopping to their side, "Now Yu-chan!" Tenten shouted as she stabbed the sword into the ground and formed a short sequence of seals. Meizu and Gozu suddenly snapped out of the Genjutsu of Tayuya's, only to find them tied up by Tenten as both her and her partner finished their seals. "LIGHTNING STYLE: PARALYZING CURRENT!" Tenten shouted, shocking the mist ninjas into complete paralysis as Tayuya pulled out a seal about fifty times more complex than the standard ninja sealing seals. "SEALING ART: SEAL DISRUPTION!" Tayuya shouted as she threw her seal into the air above the two. The seal flashed and a thin shot of light moved from the seal and into the top of their enemies' heads, causing the two to stop existing as living people and turn into dust. Tenten pulled her sword free and moved her chakra into the handle, retracting the sewing thread in less than a second as she and Tayuya moved to find other ninjas to fight alongside of. ########## "All clear from the eastern trail up through to here Anko-sempai." Pikkon said as he and his three man squad arrived at the pre-allocated location. Anko nodded, her and her temporary partner – Iruka Umino – smiling slightly at seeing the other team arrive safely. They began to walk side by side as they started to discuss their movements for checking out the northernmost section of the Mountain's Graveyard. Little did they know, that Pikkon's medical ninja had accidently stepped on an invisible piece of ninja wire… ########## Along the wall of the cave, the seventeenth bell rang, causing Orochimaru to smirk, "Go alert Kabuto, get his main defence moving." Orochimaru said to Zetsu. The plant man nodded as the White side's eye closed, taking over the conscience of another White Zetsu in the area to go alert Kabuto to the potential threat to their base. ########## The White Zetsu smirked as it arrived out of the ground in front of Kabuto and his clone, "Seems like you took Madara-sama's words to heart." Zetsu said. Kabuto nodded, trying to ignore the sweat he was letting out, "I won't be hiding in someone's shadow anymore." He said before swallowing the pain and taking a breath, "Guessing we've been found?" he asked. Zetsu nodded, causing Kabuto's clone to glance at the original, earning a nod to it's silent question. The clone moved a hand over to the upper portion of the scroll for a second before moving back to its original position, "Package sent, estimated intercept to take place in five minutes or less." The clone said.Kabuto nodded with a smirk, 'Not even the Jinchuuriki could stop him, that man, he's the perfect weapon to have brought back at this time.' Kabuto thought as he twitched from a sudden spike in pain towards the snake-like protrusion from his belly button.
The white Zetsu began to sink back underground, 'Interesting, he really is a powerful man.' Zetsu thought as he disappeared.
##########
"That's all of them." Naruto said with a slight smirk as he opened the now complete door, looking in to see the first man he absorbed, Mizuki, asleep on the bed.
Naruto closed it and looked over to his father, "I'll need you power soon Dad, do you mind?" Naruto asked.
Minato nodded, stepping over towards his own room, "Not at all Son. Now go and save her." Minato said as he closed his door behind him, causing the seal with his full name on it above the door to glow.
Naruto looked up towards the giant fox, "Kurama… if I need you…?" he asked hopefully.
The massive fox nodded to Naruto immediately, "I don't want Choumei to be taken in by an unworthy host. You will have my aid Naruto." The fox said, it's mouth forming a giant menacing grin.
Naruto nodded, "Thanks Fox." Naruto said before closing his eyes.
##########
Naruto's eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly, accidently trowing Gohan's hand off of his head and having the high pressure wind hit his back, throwing him from the chakra boat.
"Flash-san!" Yachiru shouted in shock, throwing her hand back towards the blond ninja. In the single movement, numerous clones appeared in the same position, one hand holding the previous clone's hand while the other stretched towards Naruto.
Naruto turned and grabbed the closest Yachiru's hand, blinking at the fact that her clones even felt like they had real skin. He used her grip to right himself in midair before he flew forward, letting go of the clones as he came closer and landed behind the last person on the boat, Azula, "Thanks Yachiru-chan!" Naruto shouted over the wind.
Azula glanced over her shoulder at him as Yachiru's clones were suddenly gone, "You good now Flash-sempai? You've been unconscious for nearly twelve hour's straight." she asked with a serious frown.
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I'm good," he said as he pulled out one of his special kunai, "Hold onto this got it? Just in case we get separated. If you guys are in fatal danger, send chakra into it and I'll be there soon. Got it?" Naruto said.
Azula nodded with a smirk before turning sideways in her crouch, "You really do care for us even though we just met yesterday don't you?" she asked as she took the offered kunai and tucked into her sleeve in an odd manoeuvre.
Naruto smirked and nodded, "Of course I do, you're my comrades now and I won't stop caring for each of you." Naruto said over the loud wind.
Azula smirked before snaking her arm around Naruto's neck and pulling him into a literally searing kiss. Naruto's eyes widened in shock for the entire kiss, staying quiet as she pulled away, her smirk in place as steam came from Naruto's lips from his saliva evaporating.
Azula winked at Naruto, "There's more in stall for you if we make it through this." She said with a grin before facing forwards again.
Naruto blinked before licking his slightly burned lips, 'Well… I'll deal with this when the fighting's done.' Naruto thought to himself before he felt his lips begin to heal.
"Land ho!" Kuro shouted.
Gohan stood up, using a ridiculous amount of chakra control to keep straight on a constantly flowing surface of someone else's chakra, "It is the Mountains' Graveyard! We should move on foot to avoid being spotted!" Gohan said loudly.
Naruto nodded, "Agreed! Let's run!" Naruto shouted as he leapt up into the air, flying alongside Azula and Kenpachi as they landed on the water's surface and began to run.
Gohan leapt off as well, landing at the head of the group as Kuro let himself fall behind, dropping his technique before he stood once more on the water, blurring to catch up with Gohan as he ran to the old man's left.
From her safe place on Kenpachi's shoulder, Yachiru held her hands to her eyes as if they were binoculars, "Hey! That guy from before is over there again! Along with someone who's got nature chakra in their system!" she said before her eyes widened, "Hold on, TWO people! Though one of them has friends." She said.
Naruto frowned, 'Nature chakra? Well Anko's seal should be containing some…the other person must be an enemy.' Naruto thought to himself before flying next to Kenpachi and Yachiru, "Yachiru-chan, how can you see nature chakra?" he asked.
Yachiru looked at him through her 'binoculars' and smiled as Naruto's eyes locked with hers… they had changed. "My X-sengan, named by Kenny, let's me see all chakra types." She said simply as her entirely black eyes looked at Naruto.
As she pulled her hands away from their 'binoculars' position, her eyes faded to normal. That made the decision much easier for Naruto, "Yachiru, lead Kenpachi-san to the nature chakra source that has friends, it should be a purple haired woman by the name of Anko Mitarashi. Join up with her and help her and her team and tell them where we're going. Got it?" Naruto ordered.
Yachiru nodded as Kenpachi grinned, "The Snake Mistress of Konoha? Well I haven't seen her in a while." He said, reaching up and placing a hand on a scar running along the side of his jaw.
Naruto smirked, "Well, you will see her again soon I hope." Naruto said to the two before Kenpachi held a hand seal.
"Yeah Flash, catch ya later." Kenpachi said as Yachiru leant forward while holding on to Kenpachi's head tightly. She began to glow in a blue light which suddenly went to her hands and then Kenpachi's speed compounded, the two of them moving away in a blur of speed as fast as a shunshin.
##########
Anko and Iruka looked to the group's right at the same moment, "DODGE!" they ordered, Iruka disappearing from sight while Anko dove out of the way.
Everyone managed to disperse in time as a massive fireball burned through the area, forcing them to separate as a man calmly walked into the center of the new clearing.
Anko looked back and her eyes widened as she took a defensive Taijutsu stance, staring at her assailant's chest, "Shit! Nobody look at his eyes!" Anko shouted.
Unfortunately, she did so a little too late as the medic of Pikkon's team looked up.
'Step one, remove their ability to recuperate.' Kabuto ordered his puppet.
Itachi's Mangekyou blazed as his eyes locked with the medic's, "TSUKUYOMI!" Itachi announced.
The medic fell unconscious as Pikkon appeared behind the Uchiha, swinging his sword to try and behead the ninja. Itachi ducked, forming a one handed Ox seal before he disappeared in a murder of crows, flying around Pikkon and cutting him lightly all over his body before the man used a substitution to dodge the vital attacks. His attack missing, Itachi turned the crows to begin to fly towards Anko.
'Step two, remove the largest threat.'
Itachi reformed into himself holding the end of a series of hand seals as he faced Anko, "UCHIHA FIRE STYLE: GRAND FIREBALL JUTSU!"
Anko sent to use the substitution, but an Itachi clone grabbed her from behind, causing her to hesitate as the fireball bore down on her.
"UMINO EARTH STYLE: GAIA'S LUNGS!"
A hole opened up underneath the fireball before the hole seemed to 'breathe in', sucking the fireball inwards before it 'breathed out', launching the fireball straight up into the air.
Anko smirked as the shadow clone behind her was dispelled, "Good work Iru…ka?" she asked, seeing the man behind her.
Gone was the calm Chunnin instructor. Here stood the last of the Umino Clan, the last son of the branch family.
And he had just finished more hand seals.
"UMINO EARTH STYLE: GAIA'S GRIP!" Iruka announced.
'Step three, if target is too hard to get to due to their comrades, weaken the team.'
Itachi leapt up into the air as a large hand of rock came up from the ground beneath him, the arm continuing to stretch up towards him, but not quick enough as he formed another quick series of seals and used the substitution.
Itachi appeared behind Pikkon's other teammate, the squad's Mind communicator, mid kick towards his spine. The ninja jumped forward into a combat roll, dodging the kick as he formed a quick series of hand seals, "FIRE STYLE: FLAME PELLETS!" the ninja said, launching a quick series of mini fireballs at Itachi.
His Mangekyou activated as time seemed to slow down for Itachi's perception, letting him move between the first three fireballs as he formed another half-Ox hand seal, dispersing into a flock of crows as the next ball hit him.
This ninja wasn't as fast as Pikkon, so after the little cuts got him, it was no surprise that a kunai appeared in the back of his neck, Itachi holding it firmly in his grip as the Genjutsu fell.
Pikkon, Anko and Iruka lined up together, facing down the reincarnated Uchiha as he ripped his kunai free, letting the grey matter spread away from him as he brought his kunai around and threw it up into the air, causing Anko and Pikkon to look up at it just in case it was an attack, though Iruka kept his eyes glued to Itachi's feet.
Itachi blinked, 'Step four, repeat.' Kabuto thought through Itachi before the Uchiha ran forward to attack once more.
Iruka smirked, "Crush!" he shouted, still holding his hand seal from earlier.
The arm of rock that had been made earlier swung down at Itachi, forcing the Uchiha to stop his charge or else be squashed, 'This Chunnin may be more of a threat then I thought.' Kabuto thought as he made Itachi pull back.
"TRI-ATTACK!"
Itachi flipped backwards, barely dodging the water, fire and lightning imbued in the three arcs that had been flying towards him. He quickly pulled out another kunai as he caught the first airborne one, blocking both of Pikkon's dual swords before ducking the one held in his mouth. Itachi's Sharingan glowed as he pointed at Pikkon, 'DEMONIC ILLUSION: BRAINFREEZE!'
Pikkon's eyes entered a daze and he froze as if someone had just hit the 'pause' button on his life, the sword falling from his mouth so that it fell vertically between his arms.
Itachi smirked as he stepped into Pikkon's guard, forcing Pikkon to be staring into his eyes as they morphed, "TSUKUYOMI!" Itachi announced.
"STRIKING SHADOW SNAKES!"
Itachi quickly leapt away from Pikkon, grabbing the falling sword as he dodged Anko's snakes. The snake user threw a handful of senbon at high speed, forcing Itachi to retreat further as he blocked with the newly acquired sword.
"Pikkon?!" Iruka asked as he landed in front of his frozen boyfriend. The dead look in the swordsmen's eyes made tears appear in Iruka's as he started shaking with sadness and rage.
Feeling a chakra spike behind her, Anko glanced over her shoulder at Iruka and Pikkon. A near fatal mistake.
Hearing the sound of something flying through the air, Anko stepped to the side while sending chakra to the modified curse seal on her shoulder, planning to dodge what she assumed was a kunai or shuriken.
It was Pikkon's sword, and the way it was spinning as she tried to dodge still managed to lodge it blade first through her left bicep and the top of her breasts, sticking out her right breast and into the air as she fell.
Anko's scream of pain knocked Iruka from his sadness, letting the rage take over as he spun away from Pikkon and formed hand seals, "UMINO EARTH STYLE: MULTI-EARTH CLONE JUTSU!" Iruka shouted.
Itachi looked down as he saw chakra begin to manifest in multiple locations in the earth…fifty different locations.
Earth clones began to pop up from everywhere and charge at Itachi with earth kunai, not having enough chakra in them to maintain a handle on Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. But the sheer number of them was holding off Itachi for a moment.
Anko panted in pain until the sword was suddenly pulled out of her chest and arm in a quick movement by one of Iruka's clones as the real Iruka finished more hand seals, "SUMMONING JUTSU!" Iruka shouted.
A large naked mole rat appeared from a plume of smoke with a long series of saddles along it's back, each saddle having a bubble of a special protective glass around it. Iruka's earth clone helped Anko into one as the real Iruka placed a hand on her chest. She managed to ignore the pain for a moment to look up at Iruka in confusion, "Wh-what are y-you doing?" she asked weakly.
Another clone placed Pikkon in the one behind Anko as Iruka answered, "Saving you." Iruka said between deep breaths. He hadn't used this much chakra since he left ANBU.
Anko's eyes widened as she realised Iruka wasn't planning on escaping with them, "N-no! You can't stay here yourself!" she shouted as she tried to get up.
*Chop*
Anko fell unconscious as Iruka knocked her out with a swift chop to the back of her neck, 'There's a reason that this man was summoned all the way out here. If it's vital to our success in this war, I have to stay.' Iruka thought as he stepped over to the still frozen and unconscious Pikkon.
The mole rat looked over at the clones, "Umino-san, your enemy is almost done with your clones." It informed Iruka.
Iruka nodded as he cupped Pikkon's face, kissing him one last time as tears began to fall from his eyes, 'You will live Pikkon. You need to.' Iruka thought as he pulled away and leapt off the summoned beast as the bubbled moved over the two ninjas.
Iruka landed on the ground, his face absolutely emotionless as tears continued to pour from his eyes, "Go Watori!" Iruka ordered, causing the mole rat to dig underground in but a few seconds.
Seeing two people escaping, Kabuto scowled, 'Dammit! I can't let them tell anyone about this place!' he thought as he gave Itachi the order to go all out.
Itachi slashed the jugular of another clone before leaping up into the air once more, nearly a dozen of the clones following after him. Itachi's eyes snapped open, showing the Mangekyou at full blaze as his eyes began to bleed, "AMATERASU!"
Nearly all of the clones were instantly incinerated as Itachi made more hand seals while he fell towards the ground, aiming himself so that he'd be diving in the direction of the chakra signature underground, "EARTH STYLE: HEAD-HUNTER JUTSU!" Itachi announced as he began to fall.
"FIRST GATE: OPEN!"
Itachi looked to his right, bringing up his arms in time to block the kick sent his way easily thanks to the Sharingan. But Itachi's eyes narrowed at Iruka's hands which were holding the Boar hand seal, "EARTH STYLE: MUD BOMB JUTSU!" he shouted as his cheeks bulged.
Itachi formed a substitution jutsu, just escaping the fireball sized chunk of mud that exploded upon contact with a tree just behind him. The whole field was covered in a wet layer of mud from Iruka's attack. Itachi appeared in a quick blur, facing down his surprisingly strong opponent.
Kabuto grinded his teeth in annoyance, 'How is this possible?! This man is nothing but a Chunnin instructor! How is he able to keep up with Itachi Uchiha?!' The Kabuto clone thought angrily.
Itachi took an all out offensive stance, 'Take him DOWN!' Kabuto ordered the man angrily, forgoing the direct control to force the idea of Itachi working at absolute maximum.
Iruka crossed his arms across his chest as he closed his eyes, 'C'mon! Find the release!' Iruka thought as he felt deep down in himself, finding the thing he was looking for, he smirked as he let the flood gates open, "SECOND GATE: OPEN!" Iruka shouted as his chakra signature exploded with power.
Iruka shot towards Itachi, throwing a punch at the man's midsection where Iruka was forced to keep his gaze focussed on. But even though Iruka was now equally as fast as Itachi, the Uchiha's Sharingan gave him the advantage.
Itachi parried the attack, feeling the shockwave of chakra from Iruka's empowered fist. But that didn't faze him in the slightest since the two instantly engaged in a Taijutsu bout, Iruka going all out to try and land a hit while Itachi focussed on defending to try and read his opponent's movements.
Itachi saw an opening and countered, kicking Iruka back so that the two were a few metres apart, giving Itachi the split second he needed to run through a handful of hand seals, "FIRE STYLE: PHOENIX FLOWER JUTSU!" Itachi announced, spitting the pellets of flame at Iruka.
But Iruka had used the time to channel chakra into a special technique created by his clan.
Itachi's eyes widened as the wet mud under Iruka's feet began to move, causing Iruka to shoot off to the side as if he were skating. Combined with his high speed Iruka surprised Itachi and Kabuto by being able to easily move between the mini-fireballs and charge at Itachi head on.
Itachi's Sharingan read Iruka's movements, he moved his arms into a cross-guard as he took a deep breath to launch one close up blast the second Iruka's attack hit his guard.
It hit his face.
Itachi reeled as Iruka used the opening to lay into him, slamming punch after punch into the man's chest until Itachi regained himself and reached forward. The mud moved, sliding Iruka back a step, just out of reach and into safety.
Itachi's Sharingan scanned the chakra flowing from Iruka's feet into mud, seeing that it was moving him in way to counteract his Sharingan, 'Itachi reads the muscle movement to predict where the attack is coming from, but the mud flow moves this guy without any indication from his muscles whatsoever!' Kabuto thought as Itachi moved again.
Iruka began to pant as the toll of the using the eight gates began to harm his body, 'Shit!'Iruka thought as he made his final decision, 'I won't let this guy catch up to Pikkon!' Iruka thought as he began to form hand seals.
##########
Zetsu looked up suddenly, gaining everyone's attention though they still maintained the jutsu that was slowly ripping apart Fu, "The other Jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki, is approaching the shore from the east." He announced to the group.
Orochimaru smirked, "I'd be glad to go be the one to fight the fox brat, I owe him one for our last encounter after all." Orochimaru said before licking his lips.
Zetsu ignored the man, only listening to Tobi's next words, "Inform Kabuto. Tell him that I trust he can handle it." Tobi ordered.
Zetsu nodded and closed his eyes as he telepathically sent the message to one of his other selves, no one noticing Orochimaru's eyes narrowing at Tobi's choice of words, 'Trust… interesting.' Orochimaru thought as his expression became one of complete neutrality.
##########
Kabuto smirked, "It doesn't matter, I have back-ups in place, tell Tobi not to worry yeah?" the Kabuto clone said confidently.
The white Zetsu merely blinked, "It is Naruto Uzumaki, with back-up." It explained.
The clone frowned, as did the real Kabuto who was pulling on a new over cloak as a new…appendage, of his wrapped around his waist.
The real Kabuto smirked from under his cloak as he spoke to his clone, "Use the back-up, and send her against that Chunnin. Itachi will attack Naruto's group directly while I finalise my experiment." Kabuto ordered as he walked over to the rock wall, picking up a purple vial that he shook around before popping the lid off, "This is it." Kabuto muttered to himself before chugging down the liquid.
The white Zetsu raised a brow in interest as the real Kabuto fell to his knees and began coughing between bouts of laughter. It glanced at the clone, who ran a finger over an already glowing seal as it activated, 'Hmm, maybe I should observe this one.' it thought as it went underground.
##########
Iruka finished his hand seals, "You'll be stuck here with me! UMINO EARTH STYLE: RETURN TO GAIA!" Iruka shouted as the mud began to spin around the two of them.
Itachi froze still, 'Summon the backup line of defence.' Kabuto ordered Itachi.
The Uchiha calmly began his own hand seals as the mud became a large dome around the two of them, entrapping them instantly as Itachi slammed his hands on the ground, "SUMMONING JUTSU!" Itachi announced.
Iruka frowned at the coffin that began to rise up inside his prison. The mud began to spin once more, throwing around glowing pieces of mud that upon contact with Itachi's right leg, tore a chunk of his chakra network right out of him.
Just as the coffin opened.
Iruka smirked, "It doesn't matter what you summon, everything in here will have the chakra pulled from it and given to the earth itself! You will become nothing but nature chakra… as will I." Iruka mumbled, a tear falling from his eyes as he knew he was going to die.
Iruka closed his eyes as he remembered the touch of his life partner, the smell of his burnt toast. Iruka nearly chuckled, 'What's he going to eat while I'm gone?' Iruka thought as tears began to flow freely from his eyes.
He opened his eyes with a fierce light in them, a new determination as he remembered the time when he first saw the love of his life, the man's confidence as he leant against the doorframe of Iruka's classroom.
Iruka shook his head as his eyes refocussed on the figure stepping out of the coffin, causing him to frown, 'Another ninja? No matter, we'll all be-'
Iruka's eyes snapped wide as he realised his mistake.
The new ninja clapped her hands and a solid purple seemed to grow from her chakra, wrapping herself up tightly in a way that Iruka's attack would hit it and cause it to break, but it would heal again before his technique could touch her directly.
But the thing that made Iruka realise his mistake, was Itachi's Genjutsu being disrupted from Iruka's technique moving right through where Itachi was supposed to be standing.
Feeling a grip on his shoulder, Iruka turned with wide eyes, coming into a direct stare with Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan.
"TSUKUYOMI!"
Iruka's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to his knees as he entered unconsciousness. With Iruka down, the mud stopped swirling, only hitting Itachi's arm once more and taking another chunk of his chakra network, returning it to the earth as nature chakra.
Itachi walked up to the person he had summoned, who began a quick series of hand seals as she looked up, "CRYSTAL RELEASE: CRYSTAL DRILL!" Guren shouted as her crystal began to form a drill before moving upwards, slowly digging up through the hole in the ground.
Guren leapt for freedom, but they both froze still as she landed outside the shell. Kabuto's voice came through his mind, 'Itachi! Head to the north at once! Intercept the team coming from the ocean, Guren! Don't take any chances and kill this Chunnin!' Kabuto ordered.
Itachi's eyebrow twitched the slightest before the two ninjas nodded. Itachi leapt out of the dome to land next to Guren, just in time to feel another chakra signature appear.
"NINJA ART: SPIRITUAL PRESSURE!"
Guren slouched from the sudden gravity increase while Itachi blinked his eyes, not letting the Nin-Genjutsu harm him at maximum as he used the shunshin just in time to avoid the blur that was Kenpachi's sword as he tried to cut the man down.
'Keep going Itachi! Guren! Kill this guy and then finish off the Chunnin.' Kabuto's clone ordered.
Kenpachi turned with a scowl, noticing that Itachi had use the shunshin and kept running, 'Looks like Flash-san will have some trouble after all.' Kenpachi thought before raising a brow at the giant earth dome, 'That's interesting.' He thought as he turned his attention to Guren.
Ignoring the extra pressure on her, Guren held a hand seal, "CRYSTAL RELEASE: CRYSTAL PRISON!" she shouted as she turned to launch the growing shard of crystal at Kenpachi.
The swordsman decided to test the crystal's durability. Stepping to the side, Kenpachi swung his sword to cut through the crystal as it barely moved past him, causing him to scowl as his sword made a deep gash, but wasn't even close to cutting through the crystal, 'Well, looks like this'll be an annoying one.' he thought with a sigh.
As Guren ran at him, she formed a spear of crystal which she thrust towards Kenpachi at a high speed. He battered the attack aside before aiming a kick at her open side, but it was blocked by a crystal that seemed to materialise just above her clothing.
Kenpachi scowled as he used a basic substitution to move away, 'Okay Yachiru, hit me with it.' Kenpachi thought as he cracked his neck.
Hidden away in the trees, Yachiru nodded as she saw Kenpachi crack his neck, 'Okay!' she thought before forming a familiar set of seals before aiming her hands at Kenpachi just like she had with Kuro, "YACHIRU SPECIAL: NATURE CHAKRA INJECTION!" she shouted.
Guren turned towards Yachiru's shout, bringing up her spear defensively as she thought the shouted jutsu was an attack, at least until she felt Kenpachi's Spiritual Pressure increase tenfold.
Guren instantly created more crystal that began to form her armour.
*SHLINK*
Kenpachi smirked as his sword was buried right through his enemy's heart, "Heh, that was quick." He said confidently before moving to step away.
But to his shock, Guren grabbed his arm, "CRYSTAL RELEASE: CRYSTAL PRISON!" she shouted.
Kenpachi's eyes widened before his literally ripped himself free, losing his forearm inside the prison that became her armour. He scowled as he leapt away, 'Great, my arm won't regenerate if she's got it in there along with my sword.' Kenpachi thought seriously.
Guren attacked him, but with his Nin-Genjutsu hybrid still in effect, he managed to dodge with little difficulty, 'This is gonna be a long one.' he thought as he began dodging all of the woman's attacks.
Yachiru frowned before stopping her technique, quickly moving her arms to her sides where clones suddenly appeared holding her hands. One of them formed more seals and aimed her hands at Kenpachi again, reigniting his system with new nature chakra before he could run out, while the other clone ran towards the earth dome, intent on finding out who owned that other chakra signature.
The real Yachiru slowly began to edge closer towards Kenpachi and Guren's fight, though she stayed hidden in the trees as she pulled out her little pink tanto, 'Even though he hates using it, I've seen Kenny wield my sword before too. It'll be better than nothing.' She thought as she tried to find an opening where she could throw her partner her weapon.
##########
"Heat signature incoming, feels like a single person." Azula reported as the group of ninjas had just begun to run along the shore.
Naruto took the lead in the formation as he began speaking orders, "Form a loose arrowhead formation behind me, where is the signature coming from Azula?" Naruto asked.
Azula took a breath through her nose before blowing out through her mouth, steam rising from her lips with the action, "Whoever it is they are coming directly for us… in fact, they even changed their direction to be aiming at you Flash." She said with a frown.
Naruto nodded, 'So, Zetsu has an eye on me.' He thought before closing his eyes and holding the Snake hand seal, still managing to run in a straight line as he let his wood chakra reach out into the trees nearby.
He found his target, two copies of him, "COMBINATION: EXPLOSIVE STYLE: WOOD STYLE: BARK BOMB JUTSU!" Naruto shouted.
Off to the group's sides, two trees exploded, destroying the white Zetsu that had been hiding inside them instantly.
Naruto smirked, "And now?" Naruto asked.
Azula smirked at his confidence, "The person following us has hesitated before moving towards those explosions." She said as the group past the now dead trees.
Naruto stopped running, sliding to a stop on the sand of the beach and forcing the others to do the same, "Can you tell me anything else about the person? Anything significant?" Naruto asked.
Azula closed her eyes and felt deeper, frowning after a second of concentration, "I can't believe I didn't notice before, it's the same person who took Fuu before!" she shouted in realisation.
Naruto's smirk fell as he scowled, 'Shit! I doubt any of these guys could take down Itachi by themselves…except maybe Grandpa over there.' Naruto thought as his sight travelled across the treeline before he sighed, 'I guess I don't really have a choice…' he thought before turning to the group.
"Azula, can you feel anymore heat signatures? Try for somewhere near the person that Yachiru was talking about before, probably underground or something?" Naruto asked hopefully.
Azula closed her eyes again as she focussed, for a few moments of silence she stood with a frown on her face before her brows furrowed in recognition, "Yeah I think I can, like…six people maybe? They're near the first ridge of the mountain." She said.
Naruto nodded to the woman, "Okay, I want you to do anything you can to get to those people and find Fuu. Stop what they are doing immediately and try to bring her to me okay?" Naruto asked as he began to slowly walk towards the treeline.
Gohan placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto Namikaze, take this." Gohan ordered as the young man turned to face the old.
Gohan took out a scroll from his pocket, passing it to Naruto as he began talking once more, "You may not believe me, but I am two-hundred and forty eight years old as of late last month," he began causing Naruto Azula and Kuro to stared at him in shock, "As long as you are the one to guard this scroll, you will not die." Gohan said with a nod to Naruto.
The blonde stared at Gohan for a moment of pure confusion before he slowly reached out, taking the scroll from the old man, "What's so special about the scroll?" Naruto asked.
Gohan waved Naruto down so that he was able to whisper in the blonde's ear.
Kuro and Azula raised their eyebrows at Naruto's expression of shock and even a little fear, "I-I can't take this." Naruto said, holding out the scroll like he was afraid of letting go.
Gohan simply closed Naruto's hand around the scroll, "Your enemy is arriving." He said simply, sounding weaker all of a sudden, before he turned to Azula, "What is our heading?"
Azula blinked in confusion, trying to decipher what could've been said as she pointed towards the mountain, "That way…" she mumbled.
Gohan nodded to Naruto once more before he began to run off. There was a few seconds of silence before Naruto shouted, "Kuro! Azula! Move out! I'll be with you as soon as I can be." Naruto ordered with a wave of his arm.
Kuro reacted like a fully trained ANBU captain, "Hai Taicho!" he said immediately before sprinting after Gohan.
Azula stared at Naruto for a moment longer before the blonde turned towards her, spinning as he swung his blade overhand in a downward swipe.
Azula's eyes widened as Naruto's blade barely missed swinging behind her head to intercept a flurry of shuriken as he stabbed his blade into the ground, Naruto let go of his sword as he span, "Go!" he shouted as he placed his palm on her back and gave a small shove as he aimed his other palm at the person between the remains of the two trees, "DECAPITATING AIRWAVES!" Naruto shouted.
Azula started sprinting after her new comrades, glancing over her shoulder at the man who seemed to blur out of the way just in time, 'Have to stop these guys!' she thought before she moved faster, aiming to catch up with her other teammates.
Naruto finished his spin, grabbing his sword as he got into a defensive stance facing his opponent, 'Now…Itachi Uchiha…' Naruto thought as his eyes focussed on the man's Sharingan eyes.
Instantly he felt a Genjutsu nearly take over him, but his grip on Samehada made it so that the intrusive chakra of a Genjutsu was instantly sucked out. Naruto smirked at the semi-realisation, 'Can't risk being separated from my blade… only one choice.' Naruto thought as he placed his sword back in the partial seal sheath.
Naruto whistled lowly, "Gigi, giiiiii!" his sword said loudly as the revealed hammer-like handle took the form of its revealed state, wrapping the rope around his waist to hold his long cloak tightly. Naruto glanced down to double check that the handle wasn't about to become a massive hammer, it didn't.
Naruto took a deep breath, "Itachi!"
The Sharingan wielder was calm as he walked towards Naruto, "Naruto-kun… I'm sorry but I will be fighting all out." Itachi said in his own voice.
Naruto's eyes widened, "Am I talking to Itachi or Orochimaru?" Naruto asked.
Itachi smirked as he began to form hand seals, "Itachi, and Orochimaru isn't the one controlling me." Itachi said before bringing his hands to his lips, "UCHIHA FIRE STYLE: GREAT FIRE ANNAHILATION!" Itachi shouted.
Naruto formed his own seals as he began leaping back towards the water, knowing that he couldn't hold back, "WATER STYLE: GIANT VORTEX JUTSU!" Naruto shouted, taking the ocean from the water and throwing it forward.
The water put out the fire and continued towards Itachi, who used a shunshin to dodge as he appeared standing atop a tree.
The water overtook the beach and went up into the treeline, knocking down many but not the one Itachi stood on.
Itachi stood calmly as the tree he stood on swayed back and forth, he glanced towards another tree as a tri-pronged kunai moved over the tree Itachi was looked at.
*FLASH*
Catching the kunai, Naruto turned to face Itachi once more.
Itachi jolted as Kabuto shouted through his mind, 'Defeat him as you would any enemy! But make sure you keep him alive, so no Mangekyou techniques unless you know for certain you can trap him in the Tsukuyomi!' Kabuto ordered.
Itachi nodded, "Here I come Naruto!" Itachi said as he pulled out a kunai, his Sharingan glowing.
Naruto held his own kunai in a defensive position, "Let's go!" Naruto shouted as his eyes began to turn into slits.
##########
Chapter End.
CLIFFHANGER!
Anyone gonna guess what's gonna happen?
Next chapter coming next weekend (I Hope) trying to get back to a chappie a week.
Love ya and leave ya, please R&R alky out!