Chapter Thirty-Two: Losing Control, Gaining a bloodline, A Girt of Trust
The forest was quiet, shockingly quiet considering the two ninjas that were somewhere amongst the trees. But suddenly, the quiet was broken.
"GRAND FIREBALL JUTSU!"
"WATER DRAGON JUTSU!"
A massive fireball began to burn through the trees, only for a dragon made of water to rise up from the sopping wet forest floor. The two Ninjutsu clashed, dispelling each other as one transformed the other into steam before being put out.
*CLANG*
In mid-air, a kunai knife was knocked off course by a small bone.
The bone flew into the brush, causing an oddly dark flock of crows to fly free from the bushes.
The birds flew through the forest, homing in on the location where the bone came from.
"DESTRUCTIVE WAVE!"
An explosive chakra beam shot through the flock of crows, forcing them to go up above the trees as they began to come together, forming a pair of hands and the face of a Sharingan wielder.
"UCHIHA FIRE STYLE: GREAT FIRE ANNIHILATION!" a powerful voice rang out as the mid-air face spat forth a large amount of fire towards the trees below it.
"ICE STYLE: BLACK DRAGON BLIZZARD!" a voice from the forest below roared before another dragon, this time of black ice instead of water, rose up to hit the center of the great fire jutsu, instantly putting out the center of the flames while the sides spread further, setting the trees ablaze.
The crows finished coming together as Itachi Uchiha appeared standing atop a branch in the treetops, looking through the foliage as he saw a chakra signature coming towards him. Itachi quickly formed a single handed seal as the chakra signature neared quickly.
Naruto Uzumaki blurred at Itachi, his form covered in lightning as he stabbed forward with his fingers, "FOUR FINGER NUKITE!" Naruto shouted with his appearance.
Naruto's hand stabbed right through the clone, causing it's chakra to activate, "GREAT CLONE EXPLOSION!" it shouted as it exploded.
*BOOOM*
Itachi landed on the ground and looked up at the falling branches from the explosion, only to frown as he felt a chakra signature behind him.
Itachi turned slowly to see Naruto pull a tri-pronged kunai out of the ground.
The two stood silent for a moment before Itachi began to speak, "Tell me Naruto, have you had to use the gift I gave you?" Itachi asked his body formed hand seals.
Naruto raised a brow as he threw the kunai at Itachi, "What gift?" Naruto asked.
"FIRE STYLE: BLAZE BALL!" Itachi yelled as he spat forth the fully compacted miniature fireball.
*FLASH*
Naruto appeared in midair as he span, barely moving under the fireball as he dropped his blade to form hand seals, "EARTH STYLE: MUD BOMB!" Naruto shouted, spitting a glob of mud at Itachi.
The Uchiha used a high speed shunshin to blur out of the way of the attack, coming to a stop before sprinting at Naruto. The Uchiha pulled out a sword from the sleeve of his garment as he approached, attacking at Naruto who reached his hands out towards the incoming blade.
*CLANG*
The sound of impact ran through the blade that now sat in Naruto's grey tinged enlarged hands, letting Naruto see the slight smile Itachi held on his face, "That's good, so Sasuke stayed with the village then?" Itachi asked as the two men stood in a power struggle.
Naruto frowned as he nodded, "Where else would he have gone?" Naruto asked curiously as he brought his other hand around to punch Itachi's chest.
The Uchiha easily slid his sword on an angle against Naruto's hand so that he could use it as a pivot point, moving out of the way of the blonde's punch as he talked, "I assumed that he would give in to the darkness that many Uchiha are plagued with. But, it seems he is much stronger than I thought." Itachi finished as he brought his foot around.
Naruto ducked under the kick as he pulled the sword from Itachi's grasp as he channelled chakra to his hand.
*FLASH*
The sword disappeared in a golden flash, landing out of the way next to Naruto's kunai as the Uzumaki's arm turned completely grey and stretched unexpectedly.
Itachi was grabbed by the cloak and tossed like a rag doll back against a tree, only to disappear in a substitution upon impact.
Naruto turned as he felt his chakra fluctuate quickly, letting him concentrate freely as Samehada pulled out the chakra from the Genjutsu immediately.
*POOF*
In Naruto's hand appeared one of his battle shuriken as he finished his turn, throwing the blade as hard as he could towards the recently teleported sword.
Abandoning his attempt to reclaim his weapon, Itachi turned towards the battle shuriken as it ripped through his stomach, turning him into a puff of smoke as Naruto scowled, hearing the real Itachi's voice off to the side, "You need to force me into using the Mangekyou Naruto." Itachi said seriously.
Naruto turned to face the real Itachi as his bone spears slowly slid out of his arms, "And why is that?" Naruto asked as he stood in an offensive attack position.
Itachi shifted his stance slightly, bringing up an arm to chest height in a defensive stance as he began to respond, "I can't disobey the orders I've been given, but if your eyes see the Mangekyou Sharingan, then my little gift will- hck!" Itachi began before he suddenly jolted into an emotionless expression.
Naruto frowned, "Itachi? What do you mean by gift?" Naruto asked.
Itachi stood silently for a moment before forming an impossible quick series of hand seals, "UCHIHA FIRE STYLE: SEA OF FLAMES!" Itachi shouted as he spat forth the wide wave of fire.
Naruto scowled as he began leaping back, forming hand seals as quick as he could while doing so, "WATER STYLE: FIVE FEEDING SHARKS!" Naruto announced as he landed ankle deep in the water on the ground.
Five sharks jumped up in front of Naruto, exploding in water and once more protecting him as a large portion of the forest around them set alight in fire once again.
Naruto frowned as he glanced around the area, 'Damn. I thought I'd be able to use the trees to my advantage and attack him without his Sharingan seeing me properly, so much for that…' Naruto thought as a tree fell between him and Itachi.
Using the split second of time that the tree falling between then succeeded in giving him, Naruto formed a green glowing rasengan between his two hands, "TRUE WIND STYLE: RASENGAN!" Naruto shouted as he thrust his hands forward.
The wind-imbued rasengan flew through the air thanks to the wind funnels, tearing through the trunk of the falling tree as well as the area where Itachi was a mere second before.
Itachi appeared behind Naruto in a shunshin, stabbing a kunai at his spine as Naruto channelled wind chakra to his feet quickly.
Naruto was pushed up into the air as he performed a backflip, aiming his bone spears to slash at Itachi. The Sharingan user pulled out another kunai, using them to evade and deflect Naruto's attacks with the bone spears.
As the two fought up close, Naruto noticed that Itachi's movements had changed almost completely, 'It's almost as if… he's not in control!' Naruto thought as he realised what had happened to Itachi.
Kabuto frowned as his control on Itachi stayed in place, though it was hard to keep up with Naruto, even with the Sharingan, 'Maybe I should send more people to fight with Itachi… or maybe just have him summon his Susano'o?' Kabuto thought as he made Itachi retreat in a shunshin for a moment since his arm had been cut slightly.
Naruto frowned as Itachi suddenly retreated, "Dammit hold still!" Naruto shouted in anger before flexing his lightning armour into existence.
Itachi's Sharingan span quickly as he barely ducked in time to dodge Naruto's fist, 'This is my chance! C'mon!' Kabuto thought to himself as he pushed harder with Itachi.
#########
"Ya damn annoying woman!" Kenpachi yelled with a frown as he continuously slashed Yachiru's blade through the air.
His enemy, the revived Guren, was making crystal after crystal as Kenpachi hacked through one after another with his only complete arm. The crystal user wasn't able to get fatigued from chakra loss, but with Yachiru's aid, neither was Kenpachi.
Kenpachi shouted in exertion as he side-stepped a stab from Guren, who was attacking with a spear of crystal once more. He smirked as he saw an opportunity to get his arm and sword back, "HA!" Kenpachi shouted as he slashed as hard as he could while sending chakra into the blade.
Kenpachi cut a large chunk out of Guren's armour, revealing his arm as it began to fall into flakes of flesh upon contact with the air. He leapt away as he dodged another attack.
Kenpachi began to chuckle as his arm mostly regenerated, leaving only part of his pinky and ring finger stuck in the armour with his sword, "Finally!" Kenpachi exclaimed with a loud laugh as he leapt back a few meters.
Off in the bushes, Yachiru knelt in front of the unconscious Iruka. She formed a few hand seals before pressing her pointer fingers to his forehead. She frowned in concentration as she found the potential for medical chakra in his system, she sighed in relief, 'Good thing this guy seems to know some kind of medical jutsu!' she thought to herself before she blinked, her eyes turning pitch black as her sight became nothing but colours.
Yachiru 'grabbed' Iruka's medical chakra before 'shoving' her own chakra into it, forcing it to grow as she directed it towards his sensory receptors in his brain.
She focussed on Iruka as she looked up to her clone, the one who had retrieved the Chunnin for her, "Go make sure Kenny has all the back-up he needs." She ordered it.
The clone nodded before it took the short sprint back towards the field where Kenpachi was hacking through crystal continuously now to avoid being trapped in Guren's Ninjutsu.
The clone bit it's lip in slight worry as it noticed that every time he had the chance, Kenpachi was closing his hand forceful enough to be 'clapping' with one hand, 'Sorry for making you wait Kenny!' the clone thought as it formed more hand seals, knowing what her teammate wanted from his signal.
The clone formed a few hand seals as her X-sengan activated, "YACHIRU SPECIAL: ELEMENTAL TRADE-OFF!" she shouted as she looked at Kenpachi through her little box hand seal.
Kenpachi grinned as he felt the fluctuation of the elemental chakra he had been holding in his hand, ready to channel it into the small pink sword he was wielding, "HAHAAA! Got ya now!" Kenpachi shouted with a sadistic happiness as he let the chakra flow.
His natural water chakra was converted into wind chakra as Yachiru filtered natural wind chakra into his system so it moved as if it was his own chakra, 'Go Kenny!' the clone thought as Kenpachi sent the chakra into the little tanto.
Kenpachi took a low stance, ducking under Guren's spear before he disappeared, appearing behind Guren as she shook as if she was hit multiple times in a second.
Kenpachi stood proud as Guren fell into pieces of crystal and flesh, the wind chakra that had sharpened his weapon fading as he turned, reaching out towards the remaining flesh he had left in Guren's crystal armour.
His flesh floated through the air, putting itself back together as he walked over to retrieve his own sword, "That was fun, wish we could do it again some time." He said as he knelt, picking up his sword and twirling it experimentally, checking to see if she had damaged it in any way.
"YACHIRU SPECIAL: SUMMONING JUTSU!"
*POOF*
Kenpachi blinked in confusion as Yachiru summoned him to be standing by her side, though he was pretty sure it was a clone, "What was that for?" he asked.
Yachiru frowned before pointing back into the clearing, "You were almost attacked, she's putting herself back together, but now that you have your own blade, this should be no trouble, right Kenny?" she asked up to him.
Kenpachi scowled, "Back together?" he asked out loud before leaping up into the trees before leaping even higher, soaring over the field he had just been summoned from as Guren stood up in one piece again, causing him to smirk, 'Guess she's more annoying than I thought she'd be!' he thought as he fell towards his target.
Guren looked up as her enemy fell towards her, 'I have to give my full focus to Itachi, let's see what she'll do.' Kabuto thought as he lowered from direct puppetry to orders.
Guren's eyes seemed to take on a different light as she got control back over her body. She cart wheeled out of the way of Kenpachi's downwards strike, "Heh, almost got me." She remarked as she came to her feet, making a small sharp crystal form above the back of her hand.
Kenpachi raised a brow, "Huh? She talks now?" he asked himself.
Guren smirked, 'Orochimaru-sama must've revived me with the reanimation technique! I knew he'd never leave me!' she thought happily before her gaze turned hard, "Time to take out the trash!" she remarked before charging forward towards her enemy.
Kenpachi frowned before once more forming a hand seal, "NINJA ART: SPIRITUAL PRESSURE!" he shouted.
Guren stumbled before falling to her knees under the intensified gravity, though she quickly used it to her advantage as she stabbed a crystal into the ground, "CRYSTAL RELEASE: RISING CRYSTAL PILLARS!" she shouted.
Large crystal pillars began to raise up out of the ground towards Kenpachi, so the ninja began to dodge sideways, but seeing that the pillars began to follow his movements, he continued running towards the north, 'If that's the way Yachiru-chan saw the other chakra signatures, then odds are she won't want me to go towards it.' he thought as he began to run off into the trees.
Guren frowned in confusion before Kabuto's voice rang through her head, 'Guren, don't let him head further north!' he ordered.
Guren's body began moving of its own accord, needing to follow his orders, though she was pissed off as shown by her furious expression, 'Kabuto!? You asshole! What the hell are you doing using Orochimaru-sama's jutsu?!' she thought pointedly.
Hearing no reply, she was quickly pulled into the desire to stop Kenpachi, so she quickened her pace as she made a crystal kunai that she threw forward.
Glancing over his shoulder, Kenpachi's visible eye widened before he spun and dropped down to the ground, pulling his sword back defensively as he knocked away the next few airborne kunai. Kenpachi scowled as the crystal user landed, though his gaze narrowed on her free hand, which was still holding the last hand seal for her earlier crystal technique.
Hearing a loud rumbling move around behind him, Kenpachi looked left to see the crystal pillars moving towards him, forcing him to move south to dodge and towards Guren, so he raised his sword, "WIND SLASH!" he shouted in exertion, using the last of the borrowed wind chakra in his strike.
"CRYSTAL RELEASE: PYRIMAD SHIELD!" Guren shouted, unsure if her crystal could stop the man's swing, formed a large pyramid that was facing point force at Kenpachi with three hand seals as she leapt back.
Kenpachi's hit her pyramid and cut through it with little difficulty, though it did throw his attack off course.
Her techniques stopped, his attacks evaded, the two ninja stood facing each other with a deep frown on their features.
'This chick… how the hell is she doing any of this?' Kenpachi thought seriously as he shouldered his blade, wondering if he should fill his free hand with Yachiru's Tanto, which was still tucked in his obi.
Guren smirked as she breathed steadily, 'I can't get tired, I can't be killed by normal means, I'm totally gonna win this!' she thought confidently.
Back with Yachiru, her clones came back as they looked at Iruka with their X-sengan eyes.
The clone that approached Iruka from feet saw his chakra on a different angle, "Umm, what's with his feet?" she asked curiously.
At the mention of his feet, the other two looked at his feet only for their eyes to widen, 'Whaaat? How did that happen?' she thought curiously.
##########
"It should be just over that rise!" Azula shouted over the loud winds as she pointed.
Gohan and Kuro's eyes followed the direction she pointed, only for Kuro to shout out, "MOVE!"
Gohan and Azula used the substitution since they weren't sure of the direction of the attack, while Kuro leapt upwards as he brandished his clawed hands.
"WATER DRAGON JUTSU!"
Kuro grinned as the jutsu spiralled through the air towards him, "CUTTING EDGE!" Kuro shouted.
As the dragon came close, Kuro cut through it, zooming along its length to rapidly approach their attacker.
Seeing the person standing near the base of the Ninjutsu, Kuro threw himself at them claws first.
*CLASH*
Kuro raised a brow as his claws seemed to come to a stop against the edge of someone's palm, "Ah damn, chakra scalpels." Kuro thought as he got stabbed straight through the head.
Kabuto pulled back his chakra scalpel with a smirk from under his hooded Akatsuki cloak as Kuro fell to show he was but a mere water clone, "Well, so much for a pre-emptive strike." The new looking Kabuto said with a smirk as he leapt back up the Cliffside, landing at the entrance to where his scroll sat to protect it.
Azula leapt out of the few trees as Kabuto felt a large amount of heat coming from his right, "FIRE STYLE: FIRE BLAST!" Gohan shouted as he launched hi jutsu.
Kabuto ran at the technique before diving underground as it passed over him, but as he came up again, his eyes widened as Azula landed in the path of the fire Ninjutsu. Azula swung her arms as the jutsu came near her, causing the fire to encircle her before she redirected it back at Kabuto.
The medical ninja's cheeks bulged as his jutsu took form, "POISON MIST JUTSU!" Kabuto shouted, spitting forth the highly flammable Ninjutsu.
The fire hit and exploded, giving Kabuto the chance to rip off his hood and unbutton s few buttons on his cloak as he saw movement approaching from his left.
Kabuto span just in time to block a powerful kick from Kuro before the ex-ANBU captain began slashing and attacking at high speed, forcing Kabuto to go on the defensive as he retreated back a bit further.
"DIMENSIONAL PUNCH!"
Kabuto looked over to the old man in the distance, who seemed to be mid punch even though he was a long distance away.
*SLAM*
Kabuto reeled from the fist that suddenly materialised mid punch at his face, giving Kuro the opening to slash at Kabuto's chest.
"Gah!" Kuro shouted as he coughed up blood.
Kuro rolled with the momentum of being hit in the stomach, coming up to a stop as Gohan swung again.
Kabuto brought his hands up, blocking the materialising fist as his new snake-like appendage shook it's head from the impact of hitting Kuro back, causing Kabuto to smirk as Gohan's attack missed, though just barely.
Kabuto quickly leapt to the side, his snake-appendage flinging around as he used it to coat-hand Kuro's quick strike, knocking the clawed man in the jaw and flinging him head over heels through the air.
Kabuto laughed as he formed a hand seal while leaping up into the air, "STRIKING SHADOW SNAKES!" Kabuto shouted as he held his arms out to his sides.
Azula abandoned her attack, clicking her fingers to make a spark before widening the fire in front of her, causing the snakes to burn to a crisp upon contact.
The other shadow snakes attacked Kuro, killing him instantly before the man splashed into water, showing that it was a water clone.
Unseen by the others, the real Kuro had moved around to try and attack Kabuto from above, but he noticed something that he looked at with a raised brow, 'What's he doing? How come that Yachiru girl didn't tell us about someone being with this guy.' Kuro thought before looking down, his eyes widening.
Kabuto scowled as he landed, leaning backwards as he landed in front of Gohan, seeing Kuro up on the rocks above them, 'No!'
The aged man was sweating bullets as he swung his arm, "DIMENSIONAL SLASH!" he shouted.
Kabuto knew he would easily move under the attack, but his eyes widened as instead of him becoming particles in another dimension, something instead came from the dimension.
A massive green hand reached from the crack in reality, aiming to grab Kabuto who leapt away as he threw a handful of kunai up at the water ninja.
Kuro smirked as the kunai hit his back, splashing into water in a water clone-substitution combo as another Kuro fell down behind Kabuto.
"GOT YOU!" Kuro shouted as he grabbed Kabuto from behind and used chakra to stick the two of them to the ground.
Kabuto looked over his shoulder in shock before looking at the large green hand. Its nails became nearly three meters long as it reached the last few meters to impale the two of them, 'Damn.' Kabuto thought before the snake head on his stomach began to shake.
Everyone stared in shock as the snake became a replica of the Jirobo, "EARTH STYLE: EARTH SHORE RETURN!" Jirobo seemed to shout before slamming his hands on the ground.
The second the earth wall flipped up, it begun to be impaled by the now slowed down nails as the Jirobo-being turned and decked Kuro's face.
The water clone was destroyed by the punch while Kabuto quickly formed a single handed ram seal, using the substitution to escape be it barely.
Landing against the entrance to the area where his clone sat, Kabuto glanced over his shoulder, 'Crap! I can't let them see my clone!' Kabuto thought before ripping off his cloak entirely.
The trio paused with wide eyes as they stared at the new Kabuto. His navel snake wrapping around him tightly as he moved to almost be lying on the ground, he took a massive grin as the purple markings on his face began to elongate and parts of his hair began to separate, "You stupid missing ninja, what's the point of fighting when you know you're going to die?" Kabuto asked with a chuckle.
Azula frowned at Kabuto while Kuro glanced at the other two curiously, though it was Gohan who stepped forward and spoke, "I will fulfil Naruto-san's goal. I understand his role in the world," Gohan said seriously, though he suddenly sounded much older than before, "And I understand yours, Kabuto Yakushi." The old man said.
Kabuto's eyes widened as his mind raced in thought, though he continued to focus on taking in sage chakra, "How is it that you know my name old man?" Kabuto asked.
Gohan watched Kabuto for a moment before looking at Azula, "If you decide to take that path you'd better act now rather than later." Gohan said calmly.
Kabuto smirked as Kuro raised a brow, though Azula scowled before using a fire shunshin to appear by Kabuto's side, "You are very interesting old man. Tell me, how'd you know?" Kabuto asked as Azula stood in front of the snake-man protectively.
Gohan smiled softly as he formed a small set of hand seals, "I saw my death forty eight years ago. I know where it'll come from." Gohan said calmly.
Kuro scowled as he looked around the group, "Hey grandpa! You damn well better have a plan!" Kuro shouted, not liking the fact that it just became two-on-two considering they were barely winning with three-on-one.
Gohan's hand seal came to a close and his arms began to glow slightly, "Do not worry Kuro, you will live through this." Gohan said as a gem appeared to slowly meld out of the skin on his forehead, taking the place of a third eye, "CRYSTAL! RELEASE!" Gohan shouted as his voice began to distort.
Azula clapped her hands, "FIRE STYLE: WIL-O-WISP!" she shouted before pushing her hands forward.
The purple, black and blue fire zoomed towards Gohan, who's arms began to lose their glow as Kuro leapt away from the impact zone, "Grandpa!" Kuro shouted with wide eyes.
The old man didn't dodge, he raised his left arm calmly, "WHITE TRICK!" Gohan shouted.
Gohan's arms had taken on the shades white and black separately. His left arm covered in what appeared to be similar to Sakura's gauntlets while his right looked like a small drill, though they both were nearly shaking with power and Gohan seemed to be in pain just from their existence. He gritted his teeth as he thrust forward his raised left arm.
The fire technique hit Gohan's entirely white crystallized arm, instantly being teleported to the dimension of the other side. Gohan then began to run forward as Kabuto's horns fully developed and his body seemed to ripple slightly, "SAGE ART: WHITE RAGE TECHNIQUE!" Kabuto shouted.
Kuro and Azula fell to the ground in pain from the technique's side effects, though as it turned into a ball, Gohan held his hands up to the sky as the technique approached him, "ALTER CONVERSION!" Gohan shouted as he leapt up at the attack.
Just before the attack hit Gohan, his entire body began to glow rainbow, letting the technique phase right through him as the glow faded and he continued his sprint at Kabuto and Azula.
With the orb of the technique mysteriously disappearing after it phased through Gohan, it slowly fell and thus its side effects subsided as Gohan thrust his drill-like right hand at Kabuto, who began to fall backwards as Gohan shouted in exertion, "BLACK JOKER!"
No one expected his next movement.
As Kabuto fell underground in a dodge, his eyes widened as Gohan pivoted the moment Kabuto began his dodge, shoving the attack at his recently uncovered enemy's face, 'Shit! She's my most successful experiment!' Kabuto thought as he watched Gohan about to kill Azula.
*CRACK*
Gohan paused as a crack of lightning shot through his chest, causing the area to go silent. Azula looked away from the old man, thinking that she was not happy that she had to kill him as the sound from her lightning bolt shot from her fingertips slowly dimmed out.
"Yeah, I thought so."
Azula looked up in shock at Gohan's expression as he ignored the hole in his chest to continue his attack, though his other hand was holding a half Horse seal. Azula's eyes widened as she realised his right hand was still drilling towards her.
Kabuto shot out of the wall, aiming to attack Gohan from behind, but he was too late, "NO!" Kabuto shouted in anger as he watched the inevitable.
Gohan thrust his attack forward once more as his body began to glow rainbow again, "BLACK TRICK: ALTER CONVERSION!" Gohan shouted weakly as blood poured from his chest.
Kabuto phased right through Gohan, turning to see what the old man was doing, his eyes widened as the rainbow glow began to cover Azula as well, the woman's eyes fluttering shut just as the glow became too bright to look at.
Kuro covered his eyes from the glow, seeing a chance to hit Kabuto since he was completely blinded by the rainbow light, forcing him to close his eyes completely, 'If he phased through that harmlessly, then it makes sense that I will too! I'll finish this now!' he thought as he stood tall.
The two he was looking at disintegrated, causing Kabuto to smirk as the rainbow glow faded into a fine mist, though his eyes widened as he caught a glimpse through the mist, "Shit!" Kabuto exclaimed as he went to form a substitution.
Kuro breathed out slowly as he fell forward, his front foot raised.
Kabuto blinked.
*SLASH*
Kabuto was thrown to the side as Kuro reappeared past the snake-like man, though both he and Kabuto paused at what was happening.
The rainbow mist that Kuro ran through began to follow him, causing him to cough heavily as he had breathed some of the mist in, just as his attack seemed to register with Kabuto.
The medic looked down at his stomach, seeing that the snake had been disconnected completely from him as it writhed on the ground, slowly changing forms to become that of the top half of the deceased Sakon.
Kabuto ignored Kuro's weakened state as he leapt over to the snake again to try and reattach it. He sighed in relief as it slowly began to mend itself onto his body. Kabuto looked back to Kuro to see something that shocked them both obviously.
Kuro breathed calmly, icy air being expelled so cold that it was a visible mist as Kabuto looked at him, 'Is this… the Hyoton?' Kuro thought as he felt his own chakra signature be morphed to fit the bloodline of his deceased clan. His chakra was one of the few that didn't receive the bloodline earlier on in his life, but as a child he trained in every technique, hoping that one day it would come forth while becoming a great ninja in other skills to keep up with his brothers.
Kabuto's grin was terrifying and piercing as he felt the shift in chakra, 'I Need That!' Kabuto thought as he licked his lips.
Kuro raised the glove of his right hand to his mouth, using his teeth to pull it off as he flexed his naked fingers, 'I know the seals, this should work!' Kuro thought as he began to run at Kabuto, spitting the glove off to the side as his speed increased.
Kabuto's grin grew as his stomach snake morphed again, this time becoming Kimimaro, "CLEMATIS DANCE: FLOWER!" was shouted as Kabuto leapt forward, letting Kimimaro strike at Kuro.
The now Hyoton user finished his hand seals, "ICE STYLE: A THOUSAND NEEDLES OF DEATH!" Kuro shouted.
From the water of his previous water clones and the river that was left over from the water dragon jutsu, one thousand needles of senbon made from water shot towards Kabuto from three sides, morphing into ice as they sailed through the air, gaining speed and sharpness as they moved in for the kill.
Kabuto quickly span, facing the front of the needle storm side on. His Kimimaro-snake wrapped around his body as he curled into a ball, the large bone weapon and the ninja holding it acting as a shield as the needles impacted.
Just as Kuro had hoped.
Kuro dropped his front foot again as he took a calming breath.
*CLANG*SLASH*
"AAHHH!" Kabuto shouted in pain as the moment his shield was getting hit, Kuro dropped into his one hit kill attack, carving up Kabuto's back and arms as he blurred past, seeing something that creeped Kuro out.
Kabuto was grinning madly.
Kabuto fell to the ground painfully, but his right hand already made the seal for what he considered his most useful technique, "PRE-HEALING JUTSU." He exclaimed with a smirk.
The wounds were shown to have healed near instantly after the first gout of blood, blood that multiplied instantly to replenish him thanks to his technique.
Kuro span back to face Kabuto again as he focussed more chakra to his hand, though something else happened as well that he noticed, 'That energy from the old man, it's still inside me!' he thought as he felt like his lungs were burning with an unfamiliar chakra.
Kuro smirked as he looked at Kabuto, "Thanks Grandpa! I'll owe you one in the next life!" Kuro said as he held a hand above his head in the art his father's sensei had created.
The art of Silent Killing.
"HIDDEN MIST JUTSU!"
Kabuto frowned slightly before he nodded to himself, 'The skill was developed so that I could function against any and all visual Genjutsu, but I guess it'll work here as well.' Kabuto thought as he closed his eyes and formed the Ram seal, his snake slithering around him to come to a rest on his shoulder.
##########
*CLANG*
Naruto held his battle shuriken in a low block, catching Itachi's sword and redirecting it off to the side before he and Itachi both span in the same manoeuvre, clashing their kneecaps against one another before they pushed apart, the two of them quickly forming a Ninjutsu.
"GRAND FIREBALL JUTSU!" Itachi shouted as he spewed forth the attack.
Naruto threw his blade upwards, unsealing one of his special kunai from his pinkie ring in a second, "HIRASHIN: PORTAL!" Naruto shouted.
A black hole opened up, sucking in the fireball as another black hole opened behind Itachi, the Sharingan user turned, causing the Kabuto clone to scowl as it's control quickened so that it could move Itachi fast enough.
Itachi leapt up into the air over the ball of flames, finishing a quick series of seals, "PHOENIX FLOWER JUTSU!" Itachi shouted.
Naruto let his foot funnels kick into high gear, throwing him up over the series of mini fireballs as he scowled, resealing his kunai, 'Dammit, I didn't want to do this, but I guess it's the fastest way to save Fuu.' Naruto thought as he began forming hand seals as fast as he could, finishing two jutsu in a moment before continuing with a third.
"EXPLOSIVE STYLE: DRAGON FLAME BOMBS!"
Itachi used the shunshin to retreat before the flames hit ground, exploding violently and forcing the Uchiha to leap high to avoid the flying pieces of bark and wood. His Sharingan refocussed as the next jutsu flew towards him.
"EXTERMINATING AIRWAVES!"
"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Itachi announced, summoning a clone that grabbed his arm, throwing him over towards the shore.
As his clones got burned, Itachi flipped to land on his feet, giving Kabuto a few seconds to think since he couldn't see Naruto anywhere and his chakra signature was far off.
Elsewhere, seeing the thick mist surrounding the area, the Kabuto clone scowled before forming a combination seal and slamming his hands on the scroll, 'I don't like this, but now at least they'll all fight at maximum capacity.' it thought in pain as it's chakra was being sapped continuously into the scroll rather than in small bursts before it seemed to jolt straight with a grin, 'I guess I'll send him out into battle too.' It thought as it concentrated it's chakra to contact one of Kabuto's most useful undead Shinobi.
##########
"SUMMONING JUTSU: EDO TENSEI!" Mu, the reincarnated Second Tsuchikage announced as he slammed his hands on the ground.
A coffin slowly rose up out of the ground, an immense chakra signature emanating from it in waves. Waves that were getting noticed.
The coffin fell open as Mu looked to their left at the incoming chakra signature.
Electricity charged through his nerves, forcing his body to move at such a high speed that his muscles were almost getting shredded in the process. Luckily, Rock Lee was able to withstand the pain of the eight gates themselves.
"LEAF RISING LIGHTNING!" Lee shouted as he appeared in front of Mu.
Sharingan eyes watched in interest as the bandaged Kage disappeared in a blur, reappearing high into the air with his body shaking from the electricity surging through him.
Madara Uchiha smirked as Lee appeared behind the airborne Kage with his swords raised above his head, "LIGHTNING DROP!" Lee shouted as he swung his swords downwards.
Mu moved as quickly, spinning and pulling himself into as tight a ball as he can, dodging one of the swords while the other got imbedded in his shoulder, but Mu still managed to kick out and push himself away from Lee, keeping one sword lodged in his shoulder as they separated in midair.
Only to see the green beast's grin sharpen as he held his sword high, "THUNDER FANGS!" Lee shouted.
A bolt of lightning shot from the sky, hitting the sword that was lodged in Mu and frying him for a moment as Lee landed on the ground, glancing over his shoulder to see Madara Uchiha was merely watching, 'I do not know who he is, it would be best to destroy this kage first.' Lee thought confidently as the lightning strike wore off.
Lee turned, smirking as the people who told him where to go caught up before turning back to his paralysed enemy that fell from the sky, "Right!" Lee said to himself before disappearing in another blur.
The Kabuto clone dropped its control over Mu at this time, causing the Kage's eyes to take on a more focussed look as he quickly brought his working arm around in a block. He succeeded, blocking Lee's kick as he was thrown backwards, 'I'll use this chance to get some room before launching my counter attack, I just need a few-'
*SLAM*
Mu was thrown back towards Lee thanks to Kin's kick to the back of his head, making him flip painfully through the air to be caught by a puppet.
Konkira swung his arms, "SECRET BLACK MOVE: IRON MAIDEN!" he shouted as the person next to him unravelled a scroll.
"SEALING ART: IMMOBILIZATION!" the sealer shouted.
Mu sighed, 'Well, damn.' He thought as the puppet was wrapped up in the bandages and he was no longer able to move.
Konkira shouted, "Lee-san!" he shouted as he pulled his wrapped up puppet back to him, it's arm still sticking out between the bandages as the palm of the puppet hand opened up.
Lee appeared in a blur, catching his second sword as it popped out of the hole, "Konkira-sama! He's summoned someone else!" Lee announced, pointing over at Madara.
The Sharingan user smirked as everyone he was watching turned their attention to him, "Not exactly like I was expecting, but any welcoming party is a welcomed one." Madara said to himself as he calmly walked towards the ninja of the alliance.
Konkira nodded, "An Uchiha, we have to act quickly!" he said, turning around to the captain of the entire division, pausing with wide eyes as he saw the look on the captain's face.
Misa of the Scolding Seas stood with a steamy sword of water in her hand, glaring dangerously at the man they were facing, "Everyone behind me now! Inuho, give me a read and check his name for me now!" she ordered.
A Yamanaka male formed three quick hand seals as he closed his eyes, "NINJA ART: MIND SCAN JUTSU!" he announced.
And then his eyes snapped open, "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he fell to his knees in pain.
People stared in shock as Misa nodded, "Dammit, I hoped it wasn't him, but only people with the Eternal Mangekyou can cause your mind physical pain from trying to come inside." She muttered to herself.
Since Kin was already by her side, she was the one that asked the obvious, "Who is he Taicho?" she asked softly as she pulled out a handful of senbon.
Misa took a shaky breath as Madara's calm walk slowly began to turn into a jog, "He's…Madara Uchiha!" she exclaimed.
Madara grinned as he heard her proclamation, he brought a hand to his lips as he decided to start things off with a bang, "UCHIHA FIRE STYLE: GREAT FIRE ANNIHILATION!" he shouted as a dense ball of fire formed in his mouth.
Misa formed her own quick series of hand seals, "WATER STYLE: DENSE WATER BLADE!" she shouted before swinging her blade downwards.
The blade hit the ground and expanded, shooting forward and cutting over three quarters of the way through the fire Ninjutsu. Misa turned to Kin, "Do it now! Where's your partner?!" she shouted as the fire grew towards them.
Kin smirked as she formed a quick series of hand seals, "She's here!" Kin exclaimed as she leapt up high into the air.
Temari stood on two small hand fans as she held her larger fan in her grasp, Kin placed her palms on Temari for second as the wind user swung, "WIND STYLE: WIND BLADE WALL!" Temari shouted as Kin's chakra went into the fan as well.
"SOUND STYLE: AMPLIFICATION VIBRATION!" Kin shouted.
The wall of wind pushed forward, catching what remained of the fire jutsu and throwing it back at the user, the whole technique shook with power as the extra vibration gave more speed and explosive properties to the blades themselves.
Madara smirked, letting the fire wash over him, "Let's see how the world has changed while I've been gone." He said with a smirk as his skin was burnt to a crisp, healing very quickly thanks to his un-dead body.
##########
*CLANG*
Kuro landed panting as he wiped the blood from his cheek with one hand while the other held a half-ram seal, 'Damn, even with my mist in place he can tell when I'm getting close to him.' Kuro thought before taking another deep breath.
Kuro's eyes widened before he ducked, letting Kabuto's seemingly blind swing over his head, "Damn!" Kabuto grunted out, thinking he was off in guessing Kuro was there.
Kuro blurred with high speed, disappearing silently from this side of the mist as he brought the focus of his chakra to the right shape. Kuro smirked after a moment, using chakra to manipulate his vocal cords, "It's over." Kuro said aloud, his voice shaking and echoing through the mist.
Kabuto turned shaking, 'Wha-what is this? Why is it so cold dammit?!' he thought as he began to try and feel a chakra signature in the chakra thick mist.
*thunk*
Kabuto opened his extra eye lens to look in front of him, "A m-mirror?" Kabuto muttered in confusion at the little mirror floating in midair, about the size of his head.
Kabuto looked at his reflection closely before he noticed something close by to his left. Taking another step into the mist, Kabuto saw another head-sized mirror floating around waist height.
"It's over."
Kabuto turned again in the direction of the voice, 'There it is again.' Kabuto thought with a scowl before deciding to sit down and focus on his nature chakra.
Kuro smirked as a single large mirror appeared in front of him, "Now, let's see you run." He said with a slightly mad grin.
Kabuto's eyes snapped open, "HA!" he shouted, pushing his chakra out in a burst that dispersed the mist around him for nearly ten metres.
"SECRET TECHNIQUE: THOUSAND DIMENSION SLASH!"
Kabuto's eyes widened as he saw the thousand or so chunks of ice, forming the mirrors he had been seeing throughout the mist. As Kuro pushed his hands into the mirror in front of him, physical ice copies of his claws appeared on either side of each mirror, his left hand on one side and his right on the other. Kabuto scowled as the mirrors began spinning, "Fuck!" Kabuto shouted as he lost his composure, forming hand seals again as his stomach snake turned into Jirobo.
"EARTH STYLE: EARTH SHORE RETURN BARRIER!"
Four slabs of earth came up around him, forming a rectangular prism that the mirrors began to lodged themselves into as they moved to slash him to pieces. Kuro scowled as he saw only the brown of rock through the mirror in front of him.
But he just shrugged, "Oh well, at least I took out the other one." Kuro muttered to himself as he pulled his hands out of the mirror.
Kabuto gasped as he got the memories of his Earth Style: Shadow Clone, seeing at the last second how a mirror came at it from the thick mist, hacking through it's head in less than a blink of time, "No!" Kabuto shouted as the control over his puppets became only single minded order: defeat their enemy.
##########
The Fourth Kazekage gasped in shock as his technique hesitated in it's movement, "Hm, I'm back in control." The Fourth said before smirking and continuing with his technique, though instead of being a one-hit-kill against a group of opponents, he weakened it to target a single opponent with a non-lethal amount of force.
Gaara used his sand shield to smash the golden sand aside, "I will not let our dreams die here!" he announced angrily as he formed another Ninjutsu, "SAND DRILL!"
##########
"Danzo-sama!" a ROOT ninja shouted as he landed in the cave.
Everyone in the cave glanced over as Danzo spoke, "Report."
"The undead Shinobi have stopped fighting at full power, they seem to be more focused on counter attacks instead of high dealing damage!" the agent explained.
The group scowled in unison before glancing over at the chuckling Orochimaru, "Well then, I guess it's time eh Mei-chan?" he asked rhetorically as he moved one of his hidden hands.
Mei nodded, turning to the root member, "I left a seal on the file over there, channel some chakra into it and they'll have backup from my village." She said to him.
Danzo nodded as did Tobi, "Good, do it." he ordered.
The ROOT member nodded before moving over to a slab of rock like a table.
They all glanced over to Orochimaru again as his chakra pulsed, "JUTSU AMPLIFICATION!" he shouted, connecting his chakra to Mei's via a chakra string from his heart to hers.
Everyone watched on in shock as Mei's chakra dragon was joined by more from her chakra pool, causing both her and Orochimaru to have four chakra dragons connected to Fuu while the others only had one present.
The dragons hit the sphere of chakra, causing it to grow in size and more chakra to get pulled from the obviously in pain though still unconscious Fuu.
Tobi chuckled, "Well, things shall be coming to a close much sooner than expected." The man said through his mask.
##########
"Do it Yachiru!" Kenpachi said with a grin as he stabbed his blade through Guren's foot and pinning it to the ground.
Guren seemed to come to the realisation that she had slightly free will as this happened, causing her to look down at her stabbed foot with a scowl, but she unable to make a remark as she glanced over to the sudden burst of chakra.
"YACHIRU SPECIAL: PAST JUTSU RESONANCE!" Yachiru shouted as her chakra twisted to copy Iruka's last jutsu from the chakra active through the unconscious man's feet.
The earth dome to Yachiru's side began to spit glob after glob of mud at Guren, causing the crystal user to form a shield of crystal that begun to get ripped apart at the same rate it was forming, forcing Guren to stand still and focus entirely on defence.
Which gave Kenpachi a grin as he formed a hand seal to focus his already active Genjutsu hybrid "SPIRITUAL PRESSURE!" he shouted.
Guren gasped as she was forced to the ground under the weight of her own crystal shield, causing her to lose the crystal and let the mud globs hit her dead on.
The barrage lasted for less than a minute before she stopped moving, causing Yachiru to drop the jutsu and hold her hands to her eyes, causing her X-sengan to activate. Yachiru grinned, "Her chakra's gone Kenny! This guy's move gave all the chakra in her body to the earth!" Yachiru explained, seeing what had happened with her evolved eyes.
Kenpachi grinned, walking over to the mud glob and ripping his sword free, "One down, what now?" Kenpachi asked.
"B-Bloodst-stain-san…"
Kenpachi rolled his eyes before glancing at the barely conscious Iruka, "What is it?" he asked with scowl at the name.
Iruka pulled himself into a sitting position, a Yachiru clone on either side to support him, "Where's Naruto? Y-you're supposed to be a-at his side!" Iruka exclaimed, anger obvious in his eyes as he thought that Kenpachi and Yachiru had left Naruto for dead.
Kenpachi chuckled, "He's just up there, no worries." Kenpachi said, pointing up to the mountain ahead of them.
Iruka relaxed slightly, thought Yachiru's words caused him to smirk slightly, "What about your friends? That mole didn't take them that far off." She said as her black eyes looked off through the trees.
Kenpachi frowned, "Were those friends of yours injured?" he asked as he turned to face Iruka fully.
The Chunnin nodded, "Yeah, Anko and Pikkon…" Iruka mumbled, hoping the mole's natural connection to the earth was helping them stay alive as it had for him on many occasions.
Yachiru and Kenpachi made eye contact before nodding as Yachiru stood tall, letting her two clones keep Iruka stable as she held her hands out to her sides, "YACHIRU SPECIAL: TRUE CLONE TECHNIQUE!" she yelled in concentration as instead of her temporary but solid clones, five exact copies of her appeared in a shift of air.
Yachiru nodded to the group, "Follow Earth-Monkey's orders okay girls!?" Yachiru exclaimed with a grin as she gestured to the wounded Iruka.
The girls nodded as they lifted Iruka above their heads, a different Yachiru on each limb as the two temporary clones lifted from under his back and head, """"Choo choo!"""" they exclaimed as they began to jog off towards the large mole that was currently hiding just under the surface of the dirt of the next field.
Kenpachi chuckled at the show as the girls moved off, though he looked to his right as Yachiru landed on his shoulder once more, waving her tanto towards the mountain, "That way!" she announced before a massive chakra fluctuation hit the two of them.
##########
Itachi looked up, his Sharingan blinked with sudden clarity, 'I'm in control!' Itachi thought as he used the shunshin to escape the massive blast of black lightning that struck just moments later.
Itachi landed forming hand seals, "KONOHA FIRE STYLE: BURNING VICTORY JUTSU!" Itachi shouted as he turned on the tree branch he stood atop of to face Naruto.
Naruto's eyes widened at the technique, forming his own seals remembered by the Third Hokage, "KONOHA FIRE STYLE: BURNING VICTORY JUTSU!" Naruto shouted as well.
Naruto spat out the fire jutsu with masterful control, mirroring it so that it hit Itachi's attack in the same way. The two flames moved through the air, taking the fiery form of the Konohagakure leaf symbol before impacting each other in a powerful blast. The fire jutsu was originally intended as a victory symbol used during war times to demonstrate their power upon victory during a battle.
The smoke covered the area as two blurs zoomed into the thick cloud. After a few minutes, the smoke cleared to show Naruto and Itachi, kunai against kunai in a struggle of strength.
Naruto grinned, "So, Konoha's gonna win this?" Naruto asked.
Itachi smirked as his arm shook from the struggle of keeping up with Naruto's strength, "Indeed, I think its fate we were sent to battle one another Naruto." Itachi said before rolling back into a defensive stance.
Naruto ducked under the thrown knife, raising a brow as he channelled his chakra to the knife in hand, "Why's that Itachi-nii-san?" Naruto asked as he threw the kunai to his far right.
Itachi smirked as he finished his hand seals, "I guess Sasuke really did unlock the Eternal Mangekyou, that's good I guess, now he understands everything." Itachi muttered to himself as his fireball moved towards Naruto.
*FLASH*
Itachi stood slowly as he turned to face Naruto, who caught his mid-air kunai and landed in a crouch, "So, can you give me a heads up on how to end this quickly? My…" Naruto trailed off before taking a shaky breath, "My wife she…" he began before his face contorted in pain for less than a second, leaving his face completely blank as his empty eyes watered slightly.
Itachi's eyes widened, "Your wife?" he asked.
Naruto looked towards the mountain he sent his team towards, "Fu-chan is up there."
A large chakra signature fluctuated, causing both Itachi to look up with slight anger while Naruto looked up with fear and confusion in his eyes.
Itachi's face took on an angered expression as he turned back to Naruto, "Naruto, look at me now." Itachi said as he sprinted forward.
Naruto tore his gaze from the mountain as he looked forward, his eyes locking with Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan, "TSUKUYOMI!" Itachi shouted.
For a full second, Itachi and Naruto stood in complete stillness as in their minds, 72 hours passed. And in those 72 hours, something crawled up and out of Naruto's throat to interact with the Sharingan master.
A moment later, Naruto fell to his knees, "I get it now, your gift." Naruto said as he sweated bullets, while fluctuating as much healing chakra throughout his body in the process.
Itachi nodded before walking towards Naruto and offering him a hand up, "The Kotoamatsukami, Shisui's technique." Itachi said in reply.
Naruto smirked as he looked up at Itachi, a steaming eyeball falling to the ground from a dispersing group of feathers, "So what's the order it forced upon you by that crow inside the Tsukuyomi?" Naruto asked as he accepted Itachi's offered hand.
"To help protect Konoha in the best way possible, but I'm starting to realise something as the best plan formulated in my head." Itachi said as he looked up at the sky.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What's that Itachi?" Naruto asked, kind of wishing he could help Fu ASAP rather than talk, they could talk later.
Itachi smirked at Naruto as he looked back at him, "Naruto, you are going to do something for me now. This is my gift to you." Itachi said seriously, though he kept his smirk in place.
Naruto raised a brow, "A gift?" Naruto asked.
Itachi nodded as he closed his eyes, "Do what I say Naruto, the others will see you soon and Fu will be saved, but only if you follow my next orders." Itachi said seriously.
Naruto frowned slightly, hearing the seriousness in Itachi's voice, "Okay… what do I do?" Naruto asked.
From a distance, one would see the fabled Itachi Uchiha tell something that seemed to anger the blonde teen in front of him. But after a moment, the blonde nodded and began to form hand seals…
##########
Chapter End.
Can anyone guess what the full extent of Itachi's gift is? It's guessable considering what Naruto can now do thanks to his experience.
Anyways, please R&R. if I don't get reviews I don't get motivated aye.
Love ya and leave ya, Alky out ya'll.
Ps. Out of my other current stories that are viewable from my profile, which do you find the most interesting? I have a plan concerning them :)