Chapter 6: Ambush

All around them, coral-like trees sprung up to grasp at the sky, their pink and purple colors sharply contrasting with the barren landscape. Naruto quirked an eyebrow at this, but kept moving.

"So, do you have a plan, Master?"

"Beautiful, this moon is, hmm? Amazing, the universe is."

Naruto sighed, gesturing to the forest of coral before him. "Can we PLEASE admire the scenery later? Let's focus on how the hell we're going to navigate through this...whatever it is."

Yoda's response was cut off by a roaring clamor, and a Trade Federation C-9979 Landing Craft flew overhead, causing Naruto's ire to grow.

"So much for fair fighting. There's got to be AT LEAST a battalion of droids in there. Probably packin' some heavy armaments, as well."

"In war and love, all is fair, no?" quipped Yoda.

Grumbling, Naruto formed his signature cross-seal, and an entire platoon of clones poofed into existence. "Damn right it is. Alright, boys. Spread out. We're going to use this cover for an ambush. Pick at them from afar, and tear them to pieces."

(A/N: A Battalion consists of anywhere from 300-1,000 troops, not counting tanks, aircraft, and vehicles. A Platoon consists of anywhere from 50-100 troops. For the sake of argument, we'll assume Naruto's clones are outnumbered 10-1.)

A chorus of affirmatives greeted him, and they vanished a second later. Naruto turned to Yoda with a grin.

"Now all we have to do is wait."

"So sure you are, that this trap will work?"

Naruto laughed. "Before I came here, were you aware that there existed a person who could make multiple, solid copies of himself?"

Realization hit Yoda, and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Full of mischief, you are."

Naruto shrugged. "Meh, it's what I do."

In a nearby clearing, the carrier was unloading its' cargo, multiple AAT's were being ushered out and followed by wave after wave of droids.

"I'm deploying my forces as we speak, Master." said Ventress.

"Yoda has made a grave error straying this far from Coruscant. His arrogance shall cost him."

Ventress chuckled. "I'll make sure that the Jedi gets his 'fair fight'."

"See to it that he does, Ventress. You know the price for failure. We cannot allow the Republic to get a stronger foothold in the galaxy, and Toydaria is part of that equation. To stop them here is to stop their advance. I expect nothing less than total victory."

"And you shall have it, my Master." Ventress bowed her head, and Dooku's visage dissipated.

She turned to her droid commanders. "Find Master Yoda. Bring him here alive if you can, but dead if you must. Kill the blonde boy. Neither my Master nor I have any use for him."

"Roger, roger." Turning, each commander went to their separate stations, and the droid army made its' way into the coral forest.

Smirking, Ventress went to her personal ship, from which she could study the army's advance. "The first move has been made, Master Yoda. How will you follow up?"

Unfortunately, Ventress had no idea that the first move had already been made. Hers had been the follow up. Now the game would truly commence.

As the tanks made their way into the forest, the formation was forced tighter and tighter together, the large, hulking overgrowth making it difficult to maneuver through.

Gazing through its' binoculars, one commander spotted Naruto and Yoda sitting casually against a coral tree.

"There they are. They're deep in the forest. Fire on Sector 11!"

The tanks immediately opened fire, pelting the forest with laser blasts, Naruto cringing every time one struck the tree that was in front of them.

"Look, I know that this is the best way to lure them in, but couldn't we just use my clones?"

Yoda shook his head. "Want me alive, they do. More incentive, it is, for them to come closer. Besides, unable to reach us with their artillery, they are. Out of range, we are."

Naruto nodded, and watched with a sharp eye as they continued to unsuccessfully bombard the tree line.

Finally, the commander realized their munitions weren't reaching their target, and ordered a cease-fire. Testing the coral, he found it sturdy enough to completely block off their tanks' advance.

Sighing in annoyance (if droids can actually sigh), he turned to his fellow commanders. "We're unable to advance further. The tree line is too sturdy. We cannot fit our tanks through them, either."

Another commander made a hand signal. "Very well. Infantry, advance."

With a small chorus of acknowledgment, half of the army broke away and headed into the forest, immediately spreading out to cover more ground and lessen the search.

Without a second to spare, blaster fire erupted around the forest, sounds of intense engagement echoing throughout the area.

"Wh-what is going on? 4th Squad, report! 5th Squad, status! Can anyone read?" barked the commander.

Nothing but static greeted him. Meanwhile, shouts could be heard, some mechanical and others biological. Mechanical screams could be heard amidst the blaster fire, and the occasional hum of a lightsaber cutting though something rang out in the overgrowth.

All attempts to reach the forward squad were unsuccessful, and the fighting eventually died down, before utter silence once more greeted the droids.

"W-what...can anyone get a squad on the line? What the heck just happened?" droned a commander.

Another one poked his head up from his tank. "Nothing, sir. No readings from Squads 1-5. They've been completely wiped out."

The droid pounded his fist on the durasteel. "That's just great. NOW what do we do?"

Snickering, Naruto gave Yoda a thumbs-up. "Worked just like I planned. And we only lost 10 clones in the process. I can't be sure, but the last tally we came up with was just under 500 droids. They cannot form a cohesive unit to save their circuits."

Nodding, Yoda hummed. "But still in danger, we are. The tanks, unyielding they will be. To get around them, too much time we would take."

Naruto grinned. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Our advanced forces have all been destroyed, General."

Cursing inwardly, Ventress' face barely managed to conceal her rage. Damn those accursed Jedi.

Katuunku laughed. "Master Yoda is living up to my expectations."

What the droid said next had both of them puzzled. "Actually, our force was wiped out by another force, significantly larger than several individuals. I'd hazard a guess, and say possibly a platoon's worth or more."

This was news to both of them. Katuunku hadn't thought Yoda would bring so many clones to assist him in supposedly peaceful negotiations, and Ventress was thinking the exact same thing.

"Were you able to identify the defending force? Were they clones?"

The droid shook its' head. "No, ma'am. They were identical copies of the blonde boy you mentioned earlier. We were only able to identify him after retrieving some neural memories from our droids in the field, moments before they were destroyed."

While this may be hard to believe, Ventress still had to not outright dismiss the claim that one boy had wiped out half a battalion of droids in the span of 20 minutes. "Can you play the footage back?"

With a nod, the droid did something off-screen, and hazy imagery replaced his figure. Several droids were in front of this particular unit, when a greenish-white saber came out of nowhere and obliterated the leading droid, his body falling to pieces as the others scanned for the threat. A second droid fell to pieces, then a third.

With a single order, all the droids opened fire into the surrounding area, blaster bolts careening to and fro as they tried to flush out the assailant.

Yet droids still kept dropping, most of them being pegged with blaster fire now, but a few were falling to pieces like the others had, and Ventress was able to identify the reason this time.

Nothing in the galaxy cut like a lightsaber, and this was definitely a lightsaber cut on the chassis of a nearby droid.

"Could this runt actually be stronger than I had anticipated?" she speculated. While she was sorely tempted to dismiss the thought outright, what was happening before her eyes was nothing short of outright slaughter. As the droids were whittled down to just a few numbers, the assailant revealed himself.

Or rather, themselves.

Had she not seen it herself, she would have outright laughed in the face of the first person who told her that a person could make solid duplicates of themselves, and then wonder what sort of deathstick they were on to give them this high.

She would have had to apologize to said person later, had that occurred.

Identical copies, right down to the blonde hair, three whisker marks on each cheek, and those solid, piercing blue eyes. She couldn't look away as they each ignited a green lightsaber and charged the remaining droids, effortlessly deflecting and dodging the panicked blaster fire from the now frightened infantry.

The last thing that greeted her particular droid was the image of a green blade piercing its' forehead, before said blade was run up through the droid's skull and killing the feed with a burst of static.

As the droid's visage reappeared, Ventress' hands were curled into fists, and barely contained rage roiled off of her in waves.

"Well, I must say, that boy has quite some talent for someone so young. To be able to wipe out half a battalion by himself, I'd venture to say he's on par with that of a Jedi Master. Oh, how fun." came Katuunku's glee-filled voice. Ventress had to resist the urge to break his neck with the Force.

"Commander. Have you discovered their location?"

"Affirmative. While their exact location is unknown, they have given away their general position. Our heavy troops are mobilized, and are moving in to engage them as we speak."

While this gave Ventress some comfort, she knew that it would take more than what firepower they possessed to drag Yoda down. They needed to corner him, and with the ambushes that the blonde miscreant was performing, that was going to be rather difficult to accomplish.

"Very good. See to it that your men do not fall into any more ambushes, commander. Ventress out."

Nodding, the droid terminated the link, and she scowled out at the forest.

"It seems your droids are having difficulties, Ventress."

Turning, she regarded the king with feigned amusement. "Oh? I don't think so. Now that we know where they are, we can pursue them without any more delays. My troops will be on the lookout for ambushes, so those will no longer be effective. The Jedi will be captured in no time, Your Highness."

Grinning, Katuunku shrugged. "We shall see."

Throughout the forest, clones were being shot down left and right, droidekas and super battle droids working in tandem to clear out the forest of traps and ambushes. Occasionally, a few clones got in a lucky shot, so 3 supers and 2 droidekas had been taken out. But by the end of the sweep, no clones were left.

Shaking his head, Naruto stood with Yoda on top of one of the trees, looking out at the advancing army.

"I might just have to up my game a bit, Master."

Yoda shook his head. "Done enough, you have. Handle the rest, I will."

Naruto looked at him. "You sure? I can take care of them, if you want."

Yoda chuckled. "So sure of yourself, you are. Very well. Consider this the Strength portion of the Master Trials, you should."

Grinning, Naruto nodded. "Way to motivate someone, Master. I'll take care of them in exactly 60 seconds. Just watch."

Yet, after such a bold claim, Naruto simply closed his eyes, and assumed the lotus, getting Yoda's eyebrow to quirk. After 15 seconds, Naruto snapped his eyes open, orange pigment covering his eyelids. Yoda's eyes widened slightly as his eyes turned yellow, with a bar substituting his pupils. For a second, Yoda thought he was tapping into the Dark Side, but relaxed when he felt no negative energy rolling off of the blonde.

"Strange. Feels natural, it does. As if in tune with nature, he is. Almost...almost as if one with the Force, he has become. Such a technique, this is."

Pulling a tri-pronged kunai from his pouch, Naruto threw it in an upward-diagonal angle, letting the knife soar high into the sky before he made a handsign.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu."

Instantly, Naruto vanished. Yoda was startled at how quickly his presence disappeared. He was then puzzled, as the knife that he'd seen Naruto throw clattered to the coral next to him.

"Taju, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A cry got Yoda's attention, and he turned just in time to see Naruto create hundreds of thousands of clones, the pigment disappearing from his eyes as he did so. Each took out the exact same knife that he'd seen earlier, and they all threw them straight down into the forest, a massive hail of metal skewering the ground below.

A yellow flash had Yoda turn to his side again, Naruto once more next to him holding the strange knife.

"How much time is left, Master?"

Yoda blinked. "15 seconds left, are there."

Naruto grinned. "14 seconds too much."

He disappeared again, and this time, the world nearly exploded in front of Yoda.

In the span of literally a second, explosions rocked the landscape. Trees fell hard, some crushing droids that were unwary of their surroundings. Tanks ripped themselves apart, and droids collapsed to the ground twitching. Throughout the droid-occupied section of the forest, mechanical screams could be barely heard above the creaking of trees as they tumbled to the ground, and the sounds of AAT's erupting into barely contained fires and explosions.

A breath later, Naruto was once more by his side, pocketing his special knife with a smirk on his face. "Too easy."

Yoda couldn't help but ask, as even with the Force he couldn't see what occurred. "Something, you did. What it was, you will tell me."

Naruto nodded. "Yes, I will. But first, we should start heading towards the palace. The way is clear now."

Narrowing his eyes, Yoda leveled a look at the blonde that told him he'd tell him right here, right now, or he was about to fall from a very high place.

Sighing, Naruto took out the kunai. "This is my father's signature jutsu, the Hirashin no Jutsu. It literally means, 'Flying Thunder God Technique.'"

Seeing Yoda's nod, he continued. "This is an S-Ranked Ninjutsu, both for its' effects and its' usage. The Hirashin allows me to literally tear holes in the space-time continuum, and jump through them. In essence, I'm traveling through space-time."

Yoda's composure broke, and he gawked openly at the blonde. Naruto found this highly amusing, but kept explaining himself. "With it, I can literally be everywhere at once. In the span of a second, I tore apart the droid army down there. Since I'm the user, I am the only one who can see what's going on in between tears. Everyone else sees it as just a yellow streak, or a yellow flash. That's how my dad got his nickname, 'Konoha's Yellow Flash', as he used it to systematically eliminate most of a country's army in one battle."

Yoda had managed to compose himself by this point, and gestured to Naruto to follow him down the tree. As they landed, Yoda surveyed the landscape, and it was just as Naruto had said.

Every single droid, every single tank, had been torn to pieces. The destruction was utter and complete. Nothing would be getting up from this slaughter. Turning, he regarded Naruto. "If so powerful this technique of yours is, why use it more often, you don't? Better yet, teach it to others, you should."

Naruto shook his head. "I can't." At Yoda's speculating gaze, he elaborated. "There's a reason it's almost a Kinjutsu. The Hirashin is literally a Space-Time Ninjutsu, allowing the user to identify and tear open holes in the fabric of space and time."

"However, there is an inherent risk that comes with doing so. If you do it a split second too early, you could wind up throwing yourself hundreds of years into the future, or hundreds of years into the past. Your body would not be able to compensate for the sudden shift in years and location, and you'd either die as a shriveled old man, or you'd cease to exist period. Too late, and the jutsu will fail utterly. The backlash of which will tear you apart at the molecular level, as you are literally colliding with space-time. Naturally, the human body loses in that fight."

Seeing comprehension dawn on Yoda's face, he finished. "Naturally, I would not want to put anyone else in harm's way, and using this jutsu just poses too great a risk to the user. I'm immune to that risk because I have the devil's luck."

Yoda chuckled at the last comment, but nodded. "Understand, I do. However, useful it is, that jutsu. Keep it handy, you should, for see much combat, you will. With such a technique at your disposal, doubly so, hmm."

Naruto face-fell. "Well, crap."

Yoda chuckled. "Come. To the palace, we will go. Fail, we will not."

Ventress laid her communicator on the ground, and a life-sized version of Count Dooku burst into life.

"Your Majesty. So good to see you again."

"Likewise, Count Dooku. You were right, after all. One Jedi is not worth a hundred battle droids. Not by a long shot."

The count smirked, ready to accept the Toydarian's unyielding support of the Confederacy.

"They're not worth one hundred...more like a thousand. No, from what I've seen, the high echelons of the Jedi are worth at least ten thousand of your battle droids. I am sorry, Count Dooku, but with this demonstration, I am encouraged, now more than ever, to join the Republic and throw my lot in with the Jedi Order."

Needless to say, the Count was flabbergasted. He quickly composed himself. "I urge you to reconsider, O Wise King. You have my guarantee that you will not regret it."

The king scoffed. "Your agent ALSO promised me that Yoda and his companion would get a fair fight. I do not deal with those that break their word. It is done, Count."

The Count sighed. "Very well. I had hoped that you would listen to reason. Perhaps our negotiations will be more successful...with your SUCCESSOR! VENTRESS, KILL HIM!"

Katuunku's eyes widened in horror as she ignited her sabers. His bodyguards vainly tried to strike her down, but she merely thrust them away with the Force, knocking them unconscious.

She aimed to cut him down, yet her blades stopped mere inches from his neck. Blinking, the king watched as she groaned and struggled against an invisible force. Turning he regarded Yoda and Naruto, the latter immediately disposing of the two remaining battle droids Ventress had as bodyguards.

He sighed in relief. "Jedi Master Yoda. I am very pleased to meet you, at last."

Yoda regarded the king with a smile, his arm still outstretched as he held Ventress at bay. "Share the feeling, I do, King Katuunku."

Naruto held up a hand, and did a short wave. "Hello, ugly. How are you doing this fine evening?"

Ventress snarled, but was thrown back by Yoda as he released his hold on the Sith.

Turning Yoda regarded the visage of Count Dooku. "Failed you, Ventress has...Count."

She immediately leapt to her feet. "I don't fear you, Jedi."

Naruto snorted. "Well, you should. This old fart is the leader of the Jedi Order for a reason, you know. It sure as hell ain't because he's pretty."

Katuunku snorted a laugh, while Yoda developed a tick mark on his head. "Watch your tongue, you should, lest it be ripped out of your mouth."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Yoda. "Try me, frog man."

Shaking his head, Yoda looked back at Ventress. "Strong you are in the Dark Side, young one...but not THAT strong."

He made to finish Ventress off, but Naruto stayed him. "Don't. Save your surprises for another time. I'll take care of her."

She scoffed. "As if a brat like you could defeat me."

Naruto cracked his neck as he spaced himself between Yoda and the king. "Well, you never know until you try, right? So come on, young one. Try and land a hit on me. I'll even give you first crack, since I'm such a gentleman. Ladies first, and all that jazz."

With a roar of anger, she leapt at him with abandon, and Yoda could see the Count cringe. He knew firsthand that his apprentice didn't stand a chance against Naruto. Hell, HE barely stood a chance against Naruto, and he was at least three times stronger than Ventress.

Naruto effortlessly dodged her wild swings, and whistled as she tried a spin kick. "Should a lady really be using that move? I mean, if you'd been wearing a shorter dress-"

"Shut your hole, you miserable creature!" she growled, and started to retract her swings, making them more precise and sharper. Naruto saw this, and stepped up his defenses, as well.

Getting angrier and angrier, Ventress couldn't fathom why she was unable to hit the blonde. He had yet to use the Force in his defenses, and it looked like he wasn't even trying, which only served to further enrage her.

Throwing one of her blades at him, she used the distraction to break his guard, and-

WHAM

Ventress found herself face down rather suddenly, her mouth full of Toydarian soil. It took her a second to realize she'd been struck, and rather forcefully if the face imprint she left behind was any indication.

Looking up, she saw Naruto rubbing his fist mockingly. "Ouch, that one hurt. You have a very hard head, you know. I didn't think you'd be so tough, what with you being a girl and all."

Meanwhile, on Coruscant...

Revan was taking a rather relaxing sonic shower, the droplets cascading down her voluptuous breasts and trailing between her legs as she washed away the day's fatigue. As she finished her shower, she grabbed a towel and made to get out.

Out of left field, a sudden urge to throttle her husband struck her with the force of a hovercar, and it surprised her so much that she slipped on the wet tile and landed on her perfectly round bottom, a yelp of surprise escaping her lips.

"Well THAT was strange. I don't typically think about manhandling my husband unless he does something rather idiotic. Knowing him, however, he's probably done just that. I'll have to inquire as to what transpired when he gets back, and see if he gets a reward for good behavior, or a punishment for being a jackhole."

Back on Toydaria...

Having heard Naruto's comment, Ventress saw red. Calling her other saber into her hand, she holstered both of them and, despite her master's cries of warning, thrust her hands out in a stabbing motion, lightning flying from her fingertips towards the blonde.

Dooku couldn't believe his apprentice was directly disobeying him. He'd specifically told her that she should never use Force Lightning outside of training, as she wasn't quite proficient enough with it. The user always ran the risk of electocuting themselves as well as others, but the more experienced the user was with the technique, the lesser the risk became, until a master could throw it out without a second thought, and run no risk of backlash.

Ventress, however, was nowhere near a master, and the strain on her face showed it, as well as he now charring fingertips. Naruto, however, was looking no worse for wear. As a matter of fact, he hadn't even drawn his saber to block the strike. Unknowing to onlookers, he'd used his mastery of wind to put up a buffer to her lightning, and while this lightning was of the Force, even the Force seemed to follow the basic elemental properties, and one of them was lightning's inherent weakness to wind.

Finally, she could no longer maintain the technique, and Ventress let it go, the last sparks crackling against Naruto's wind shield as her hands fell to her sides.

Smirking, Naruto let the shield dissipate. "So, I'm hoping this means you're done?"

Growling, Ventress pressed a button on her wrist communicator. She'd set explosives prior to greeting the king, in case Yoda DID manage to find his way there in time. This came back to save her skin as the whole group assembled turned to regard the explosion the det. charges caused, followed by a massive rockslide.

Yoda merely thrust both his arms out, and the rockslide stopped cold in midair. With a little effort, Yoda threw them aside, and sighed. He knew exactly what happened, and was not pleased with it.

She had taken this opportunity to hightail it out of there, and with a few Force-imbued sprints, she was on her solar sailer and rocketing off into the atmosphere as they looked on.

Turning, Naruto and Yoda regarded the stoic visage of Count Dooku. Yoda was the first to speak. "In the end, those who follow the Dark Side, cowards they are."

"It's a pity I wasn't there in person, my old Master."

"A pity indeed, my fallen apprentice."

Regarding Naruto, Dooku grinned. "And my dear friend. How are the children? Your wife? Doing well, I hope?"

Naruto snarled. "Don't talk about my family in front of me, traitor. You have no right to speak of them. Next time we meet, I'll be taking your head."

Dooku laughed mirthlessly. "So you say. But I've gotten stronger since our last encounter. Regardless, there is no reason to speak further on matters that cannot come to pass. Until next time, my old friend."

As Dooku's image faded, Naruto nodded. "Yeah...until next time."

I've just taken a look at the amount of episodes they've got for The Clone Wars Animated Series. I'll be frank: It's a lot. 22 episodes in 1 season. It took me two chapters to cover one episode. There are 4 seasons...so far. That's...well, that's a lot. I may very well end up cutting out a few episodes that don't revolve around central characters or events necessary to the series. Don't be hatin', it's just managing the overflow of work I'd have on my plate.

Anyway, Look forward to more.

Sgt. Assassin