A/N: I am way distracted now. So distracted that I have no idea what to write in the author notes.
((Edit)) Actually, there is something I'd like to share with you in case you didn't see it. Gabzilla, bless her, has come out with another excellent work based on the Naruto/Hinata Rasengan scene in chapter 18 of this story. The art made the front page at DeviantArt and received more than one thousand favorites. A link to it is available in my author's profile page. Thank you again, Gaby!
Chapter Twenty: Guts, Wits, and Death
For Haruka, the excitement was boiling over. The long, awkward wait was over at last, and the strong opponents that she had been craving had shown themselves at last. Their appearances were shadowed—probably intended to be a genjutsu scare tactic—so that they looked like upright, animate shades. Haruka was far from frightened, however; she and Keisuke would defeat these two together, and go home in triumph.
It was not going to be as easy a battle as she had thought when the opponent arrived, however. Their shock appeared to have worn off quickly, and the target that she pursued after the initial attack was fast enough to evade. The other shade followed after them, intercepting Haruka and engaging her to give the original target time to escape to a safe distance.
"Distracting me to keep me away from your partner, eh?" she said to the interceptor. "That's useless. You won't fare any better than he would have!" Changing angles to come at the new threat from the left, she accumulated chakra in her right palm. With full speed, she charged, aiming Jyuuken directly at her opponent's lung. A wicked grin crossed her face; this would hurt badly enough that there would be no way for this one to interfere a second time.
But to her surprise, the opponent seemed to be expecting her brand of attack. The shade dodged subtly to Haruka's right, so that the attack barely missed by inches. Haruka's grin faded, seeing her attack so easily estimated and evaded. This opponent had to have fought Hyuuga before, at least one time.
Her surprise increased exponentially when, within a millisecond of dodging, the shade returned the attack—in the Hyuuga fashion. In a perfect, graceful maneuver, Haruka's opponent twisted its shadowy body halfway around, jabbing two fingers into her out-thrust arm. Haruka felt the stab of momentary pain followed by numbness that accompanied the closing of a tenketsu point. This opponent hadn't just fought Hyuuga; this opponent had to have actually been a Hyuuga! A closer look at the shade on Haruka's part revealed that, in the shadowy head, there were two white spots that could have represented eyes. More than that, as well—the body shape of the shade was female, moving with as much grace, or perhaps even more, than she did!
Haruka was stuck staring at the enemy like a statue. It couldn't be, she told herself. No Hyuuga would willingly give themselves to someone like Orochimaru, who did that to Keisuke... Apparently, however, someone had, for the shade was now following up her tenketsu strike with more of the same, maneuvering quickly behind Haruka to seal up more. In a moment, the Sadist would be disabled.
Luckily, she was not alone. At blurring speed, Keisuke intervened, dashing to them and yanking her out of harm's way. Dirt kicked up around them as they sped to a safe distance. From Keisuke's arms, Haruka recognized the pattern of Chisoku no Kokuin on her partner's skin, the Carved Seal of Progression that made inhuman speed possible for the Reiude user.
"Hey, put me down!" she protested. "I didn't ask for a gallant knight in shining armor, you know! That shadow girl wasn't anywhere near winning!"
"That 'shadow girl' is a Hyuuga like you," Keisuke said, letting her down, "And you were about to get a heavy dose of her Hakke. If you weren't going to move..."
He was cut off by an unintelligible shout from behind him, which heralded the incoming blast of lightning-fast air from behind them. It impacted the ground only two meters from where Keisuke stood a half-second before, exploding and sending dirt flying everywhere. It had come from the second shade, which was now being rejoined by the Hyuuga shade.
"What the hell was that?" Haruka asked. She was staring at the small crater left in the blast's wake.
"No mistaking it," Keisuke said. "That was Raifu Daigeki, the Lightning Wind Strike. The second opponent has the same Ghostly Arms that I do."
"Ah, no way!" Haruka exclaimed. "I can't see any Arms coming from him. Can you?"
"No," Keisuke admitted. "That doesn't mean they're not there, though. If they can shadow their appearances with whatever that black aura is, it shouldn't be too hard to hide the Ghostly Arms, which were normally invisible to begin with."
Neither pair was moving at the moment. They stood staring at each other, and Haruka could hear them conversing in their garbled, guttural language even as she spoke to Keisuke. They seemed to be trying to decide what to do next, watching her and Keisuke carefully for any signs of weakness or sudden movements.
"Bastards," Haruka said. "Those bastards had to have been doing something to us in our sleep. We're up against ourselves now, Keisuke! Orochimaru and his damned goons made living shadows of us!"
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Cruelty.
This was what Kiba faced now—cruelty incarnate, a monster that had known suffering in its past, one that could only find solace in projecting that cruelty onto others. The cruelty showed in Hiroto's horrible, toothy grin. It glinted off of the knife held against the unconscious child's throat and sounded in the screech of the child's mother in the next room. Its pressure infected the wild nin, stiffening his joints and turning his skin cold.
Kiba wished that Akamaru were here. The dog would nudge, bark, and bite him back to his senses, would fight alongside him, would comfort him when the fight was through. If Akamaru were with him, he might feel he had the power to save that child and his mother, those who had no part in this crazy battle.
But Akamaru wasn't here. He was standing guard over Jiraiya and the team's escape route.
"I will give you ten seconds to fall to your hands and knees," Hiroto told them. "Comply, and you will suffer temporary unconsciousness and most likely survive. Defy me, and the delay that you cause me may necessitate your deaths in addition to the death of this child."
More wailing came from the open door nearby. The child still remained limp and helpless.
"Neji," Kiba asked, his voice gravelly with strain, "That's not a trick, is it? That kid is real?"
"Hiroto is completely serious," Neji said. "As he always is. He does not need guile or trickery to win."
There was no doubt in Kiba's mind that Neji was being truthful. All of that power and cruelty in the image that stood before them did not lie. The child and his mother were both real, just as the Byakugan confirmed.
"Kiba," Neji said, breaking his stare. The wild nin ceased looking at the cruel picture in front of them and refocused his gaze to by his side, where his commander sought his attention.
"We cannot surrender ourselves to him," the Jounin told him. "Whatever plans he has for the Hyuuga clan will affect all of Konoha. This is a case of one life against thousands."
They say a thousand deaths is a statistic, and one is a tragedy, Kiba thought to himself. The terrified mother howled again, making him avert his eyes back to Hiroto, who was still smirking at them and shaking his head at their fruitless scheming.
"Also," Neji continued, "There is the fact that our friends—in particular, Naruto and Hinata-sama—will be in great danger of dying if Hiroto is not stopped. Surrender is out of the question, for me."
Kiba felt the wind at his back that meant Neji had gone forward to engage, and his face grew wild. To choose between the life of an innocent stranger, who had nothing to do with this, and the lives of his best friends? More than that; the lives of possibly half of Konoha, which was already more than devastated? In such a huge war, the village could not survive another assault like that. As for Hinata, who was as much his sibling as she was his teammate and Shino's...
He turned to watch Neji's attack. Hiroto had elected to simply defend against the assault of his fellow Hyuuga, leaving the child unharmed. Kiba knew it was because of him; Hiroto believed that as long as he held the unconscious captive, he would not be attacked by more than one. However, he could see that Neji used the occupation of his one arm to his advantage. The elder Hyuuga's skill kept him alive, but it did not seem to be enough to defeat Neji one-handed.
A thrust to the heart made by Neji had to be dodged rather than blocked, but that was no loss of combat momentum. Hiroto leaned to his right and ducked under the Jyuuken blow, bringing his left leg up for a counterattack. Spinning like a top on his planted right leg, he launched a sweeping kick aimed at his younger opponent's head. There was such power in it that even as Neji stopped it with both of his hands, it caused him to slide backwards along the floor several inches.
Neji made the attempt to strike at a tenketsu in the leg, hoping to slow down Hiroto's mobility. The old Captain knew exactly what to expect, however, and twisted at precisely the right moment and angle to make him miss. He then began shaking his leg violently in an attempt to free it. Seeing a good opportunity, Neji did some twisting and shaking of his own, causing him to fall heavily to the ground. Kiba looked on hopefully as his commander dove straight at Hiroto's exposed chest, a deadly Jyuuken bolt held in his palm.
Kiba's expression turned beleaguered again when Hiroto held up the child in front of him for protection. Neji barely stopped himself in time, holding off the deathblow mere inches from the kid's head. It seemed that if Hiroto wasn't able to attack with that hand, he was going to make use of his human shield.
Neji's hesitation afforded the enemy an opening, and a double-legged leaping kick slammed Neji in the chest. The upward momentum carried Hiroto all the way back onto his feet, and the arrogant smirk found its way back onto the old Captain's face. It was clear now that Neji was at a disadvantage.
Damn it, Kiba lamented silently as the battle continued. I have to do something about this, but I don't know how I can!
Neji took one of his strikes at Hiroto with too much forward momentum. The enemy sidestepped him and, taking a grip on his arm and shoulder, capitalized on his mistake by twisting forward and down, causing the younger Hyuuga to make an unscheduled flight several meters down the hallway, completing one and a half forward flips en route. When Neji sat up, he was clutching that shoulder and wincing; some tenketsus in that shoulder and upper arm had been painfully shut.
This motion, however, while it harmed Neji greatly, exposed Hiroto's back to Kiba. The wild nin's speed would have been more than enough at this range to cause some considerable damage before a countermove could be made.
Hiroto did not have any need to make a countermove. All he had to do was turn his head and glare menacingly at Kiba, reminding with blazing silver eyes what the consequences of any attack would be. Kiba stayed put.
That bastard, bringing a kid into this mess! Neji's losing the fight in front of me, and I can't do a damned thing without hurting his prisoner! Damn him!
Neji, now without chakra in one arm, stepped up his offense with the other. He used his already-sealed arm to block further Hakke attacks while assaulting with his good arm and legs. Feinting to the right side, then ducking under a retaliation, he made a snatch for the captive child.
Hiroto would not give up his human shield, however. Swiftly, he brought out his kunai again and held it in the path of Neji's hand, pointed at the child. If Hiroto did not spear the captive on his own, Neji's grasping hand might. Neji was a skilled Jounin and able to stop himself in time, but he only barely missed the reverse thrust that Hiroto made as the knife flipped over and cut a gouge in his side.
But if I don't do anything, Kiba told himself, then Neji could die here, and Hinata and everyone else could follow. I have to do something!
Hiroto flashed him another maniacal smile while Neji stumbled backward, clutching his side. "You cannot win like this," he said. "Give up the battle now, and I will make the Hyuuga clan's death quick and easy."
The lives of my friends, or the life of someone who was forced into this and has nothing to do with it. Kiba's fists clenched and shook, and sweat beaded on his forehead. How the hell do I make this choice? What would Akamaru want me to do?
A solid kick sent Neji's back careening into the stone wall opposite the open cell door. Hiroto now stood over him, a chakra-imbued kunai poised to disembowel the younger Hyuuga. Neji's Byakugan disappeared, struggling against the pain in his side and arm even as he thought of how he might get out of this.
Suddenly, Kiba's eyes widened, and his clenched fists stopped trembling. The only choice, he realized, reaching for a kunai and a smoke bomb, is to choose both! He charged, hoping that Hiroto's apparent focus on Neji would buy him a sliver of precious time.
It didn't. Hiroto's three-hundred and sixty-degree field of vision easy noted his approach, and the knife and the unconscious child were both held up in his direction. Kiba scowled, and threw his smoke bomb at the enemy's feet. The enemy had superior sight, but that could be clouded for a while. The wild nin, in the meantime, would rely on his nose.
He sped toward the fight, resolved to save both the innocent and his friends and, if that wasn't possible, to save at least one of them. Either way, he knew that inaction would save nobody.
As the smoke spread, the last visible thing was the glint of torchlight on a moving kunai. The last sound was a panicked mother's screech.
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"Damn it," Naruto said, listening to Haruka talk. "She's not even close to right..."
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata, "This is bad; they still don't recognize us, but now they know our abilities. They know that they are fighting people with the same capabilities that they have."
Naruto nodded and grunted affirmative, showing his understanding. Now that Haruka and Keisuke realized that they were up against another Byakugan-Reiude team, subduing them long enough to try to explain things was going to be far more difficult. He and Hinata were going to have to be extremely cautious.
Unless...
"Hinata," he said, an idea suddenly striking him, "Our jutsu are definitely a lot like theirs, but there are plenty of differences in style. If we use less of their jutsu and more of ours, it should prove that they aren't up against carbon copies of themselves. That might get them thinking that it's actually us!"
"Okay, you cheap imitations!" Haruka yelled, cutting off Hinata's response. "Get yourselves ready! Black puppets are nothing compared to the real deal!" The confident, cocky grin was returned to her, and the stance that she took barely held under the weight of contained excitement. She clearly intended to enjoy this test of her skill.
Beside her, Keisuke made preparations for battle in silence, letting his partner do all the talking. Through the Byakugan's vision, Hinata and Naruto watched his Ghostly Arms coil around him, sinking into his skin and forming an elaborate pattern, one of jagged lines and straight edges, wrapping and criss-crossing until it covered his entire body. Naruto recognized it as one of Keisuke's Insotsu Kokuin, the Commanding Carved Seals that he could form to harness the worldly elements. This particular one glowed a sharp yellow-white, and that glow promised electric shock to anyone who grazed the affected skin.
"I'll take him," Naruto said. He did work with his own Ghostly Arms, twisting and tying them together to form shorter but thicker appendages. The "Tails of Light" took form, glowing with bright blue incandescence. All nine of them waved about behind him, awaiting his command.
Hinata nodded in agreement; against the lightning-infused skin that Keisuke had given himself, any attack that wasn't a direct hit—especially the Jyuuken, which could cover a lot of surface area—would generate friction that would trigger an electric shock. It was best to let Naruto, whose detached "tails" would not suffer great damage or pain from being shocked, fight the other Reiude user. Her job would be to keep Haruka from attacking Naruto and to try to disable Keisuke.
Against their expectations, however, it was Haruka that charged first rather than Keisuke. Normally, when the Reiude user made use of his Kokuin ability, it meant that he was planning to take the front of the battle. It seemed that the older team was trying a feint of some kind.
Naruto flipped his hands rapidly through seals and aimed one of his free Ghstly Arms at Haruka. Simultaneously, he sent a pulse of chakra through the Synch connection, indicating the direction that Hinata should take—towards Haruka. He planned to jolt the older Hyuuga off-course, allowing Hinata to intercept her.
Keisuke, however, saw Hinata start running out to meet his partner, and had similar thoughts. His own hands made identical seals, and one of his Reiude took aim at Hinata in the same fashion. Naruto noticed this just barely in time, and made a last-second correction in aim. Together, the two Reiude users released the same attack.
"Reiude Ninpou: Raitsuchi Daigeki!" (Ghostly Arm Special Art: Lightning Earth Strike)
The two bolts of rock-solid chakra slammed into each other in midair at the speed of lightning, rippling along the paths set by their users' Arms. The resulting concussion blew a shallow hole in the ground and knocked both Hyuuga backwards, returning the balance of power to equilibrium.
However, the element of surprise was now in Naruto's hands, and he made use of it. As quickly as he had let off his blast, he was mobile, charging Keisuke with his tails blazing behind him. He waved a few of those tails in front of him, both to prepare to deflect a counterattack and to shove his unique style in his confused brother's face.
Keisuke apparently had been neither surprised nor unprepared, however, and Naruto's first punch was blocked with seeming ease. His hand was pushed aside to make room for Keisuke's own swing, aimed straight at Naruto's face. Naruto reached down with one of his tails to deflect the blow, wondering why Keisuke did not seem to be surprised by the appearance of nine glowing tails, a technique that only he had ever used. The older Reiude user leaped backward two meters, staring at him.
"That black aura of yours is a useful thing," Keisuke said. "I can't see what your Ghostly Arms are doing at all. That gives you a distinct advantage." He released his lightning seal, shifting the Reiude around on his body to form a different Kokuin. "Let's see how strong this defense of yours is. Reiude Ninpou: Ryoku no Kokuin!" (Carved Seal of Power)
The attack was renewed, Keisuke coming at him with two kunai this time. Naruto knew what this Kokuin did as well, but that didn't make the job of defending against it any easier; there was now more than four times the physical strength in Keisuke's muscles, and the Tails of Light had to work hard to push the blows aside. Keisuke pressed this new advantage, attacking relentlessly in an effort to keep him on the defensive.
It was a typical tactic for Keisuke and Haruka to have the Reiude user occupy a strong opponent until the Hyuuga could land a crippling or killing blow. Naruto realized quickly that he was vulnerable to outside attack while busy in this fast-paced taijutsu melee, and felt through his Synchronization to find out what Hinata was doing.
She had recovered from the concussion quickly enough, and was maneuvering around him and Keisuke, looking for an opening to strike. This was difficult for her because she not only had to look for an opportunity to get inside, but also to make sure that she could strike without harming Keisuke too badly; the objective, after all, was to neutralize rather than kill.
There was also the fact that both she and Naruto had to be wary of Haruka. Their combined senses picked her up on the opposite side from Hinata, looking for the same kind of opening. If they were not careful, she could easily injure or kill either one of them.
Both teams had their advantages and their disadvantages. Naruto's Reiude was somehow hidden from Haruka's Byakugan, so that they had surprise on their side in that area. Unfortunately, since killing Haruka and Keisuke was absolutely out of the question, they had to be especially careful to pull their punches, and the "black aura" that hid the Arms also ensured that their confounded friends would never recognize the difference in Reiude styles. Haruka and Keisuke had no compunctions against hurting or killing, since they did not yet understand who they were trying to defeat. What was more, they were fresh from a long, if unwanted, rest. However, Keisuke was still tender in certain places, and he had yet to get used to his new eyes; Naruto noticed that they twitched and squinted constantly, often as though in surprise.
If either Naruto or Keisuke gained the upper hand in the middle, that person's partner would be better able to move in for a disabling strike. At that point, if the other's partner was unable to protect him, he would find himself in grave danger. Currently, the battle was at a stalemate, and neither Hinata nor Haruka seemed to have a good angle to attack from.
Naruto refused to lose this fight. How could he, when it had been the whole reason for his coming here? He set his feet into the ground and grappled furiously with his adopted brother, using his tails to wrap Keisuke's arms and slow down his attacks. Though Keisuke's power seal gave him the strength to rip free of them and keep attacking, the tactic severely reduced his momentum. Naruto began to push him back.
"You're damned tough," Keisuke grunted as he blocked a straight punch with his arm. The Kokuin glowed a brighter white, and Naruto knew that he was putting more chakra into it to counter the loss of momentum.
That's good, Naruto thought. He's wounded, and the faster he burns up chakra, the better the odds are that we'll end this peacefully.
He felt a sudden pulse in the Synch, indicating that Hinata had chosen this moment to attempt an attack. Almost an instant later, he saw Keisuke's eyes widen as the older man detected the danger. Naruto's tails made a grab for his right arm a little too late, however, and the threat of a defensive backhand forced Hinata to abandon her attack.
She sent him a second pulse, however. This could only mean that she was going to try again—that's my girl, he found himself thinking—which had him scrabbling to complete the restraint that he had attempted last time around. There was just a small problem: Keisuke's offending arm was already extended beyond his reach, and the other arm was up defensively to ward off any attack from Naruto.
Well, there's a remedy to that! Naruto thought. He made use of his extra limbs by grabbing hold of the hand facing him with his physical hands, hauling him into the reach of his tails, with which he siezed Keisuke's opposite shoulder. This left the older Rieude user staring wide-eyed at the onrushing Hinata, his back to the triumphant Naruto.
Now Hinata had a clear shot, which she took advantage of with haste. Her middle and index fingers grouped together, she rapidly pressed three points before Keisuke recovered himself and retaliated. Though she had to retreat from the heavy two-legged kick, the damage had already been done. Her Hakke manipulation of those three tenketsus triggered what Naruto liked to call the "ramrod reflex," forcing the Ghostly Arms sprouting from those points to tear free of Keisuke's skin and straighten themselves like iron bars. It was only an instant before he had them loosened up again, but the white glow of the Kokuin vanished, the pattern disrupted. Keisuke's power seal had been negated.
With this, the balance of power in the middle had tipped to Naruto. Though he hated to harm a friend and brother, this was the perfect opportunity to knock him out, and taking it would help end the battle quickly and without terrible injury to Keisuke.
"I'm sorry, niichan," he said. His arm raised up...
Only to come down once more as Haruka attacked him from behind, striking at his tenketsus. He realized, too late, that his focus on disabling Keisuke and the use of all of his tails for that purpose had led to him leaving himself momentarily open to attack from the rear. All of his back tenketsus were hit before Hinata had time to come around and chase Haruka off, and the "ramrod reflex" caused five of his tails to disappear.
Among those tails that were dispersed were those that held Keisuke. This enabled Haruka's partner to twist easily free of Naruto's physical grip and run off to a safer distance. He did not bother to re-form his Kokuin, and Haruka followed after him. It seemed as though they were regrouping and about to change their strategy, which was smart of them; at this rate, Keisuke could not have continued to keep up with Naruto without exhausting himself rapidly.
Hinata came up next to him, in a ready stance to counter whatever new tactic they might try. Seeing her, Naruto took the chance to say what he couldn't say in the heat of the fight.
"To anyone else, it would be obvious that our styles aren't identical," he explained, "But whatever's making us look different to them is hiding the Reiude. They can't even see my tails."
Hinata guessed what he was going to say next, and replied, "But, Naruto-kun, the only techniques that I have that Haruka-san doesn't are Shugo Hakke and Nibai Kirite. She didn't seem to recognize Shugo Hakke when we started, and Nibai Kirite is too dangerous..."
"Gah, so it has to be something of mine, then," Naruto said. "Something non-Reiude that Keisuke can't do..."
"What, you're out of 'em already?!" he heard Haruka yell.
"This will be the last one," Keisuke said. "The box only had a few in it to begin with, and I burned up everything that I got from the others with healing myself. We can't afford not to use it now, though; I'll be out of chakra soon... unless you had some stored away in the bag for later?"
"Of course not!" Haruka said, hefting a nearby sack. "I knew you needed them, so why would I... uh oh..."
Something fell out of the bag. It was small, but the detail had remained unmarred by its journey through the facility. The antique face of Yondaime Hokage stared up at the ceiling, the only serene face in the entire room.
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The wounds were beginning to trouble her, but Ayaka knew there was not much farther to go in this place. She had followed her plant's pollen trail back up to where she had conferenced with Hiroto and Orochimaru, and then let it lead her downward, following a dark trail that she remembered the Snake Sannin disappearing into. It was a dark place, one which felt soothing to her, and the pollen signal was getting stronger at every step now, so she knew that Orochimaru—and likely the dark one that had killed Kouhei—were very close. She could tolerate the pain a while longer.
Soon, the light disappeared altogether. Ayaka had to maneuver through the narrow passageway without the aid of her vision. Though it was a bother to not be able to see, however, the passage was clean, dry, made of what she guessed must have been some form of sedimentary rock, and small enough so that she could just barely touch both walls with her fingertips with her arms fully spread; guiding herself through it by feel was easy enough.
Suddenly, one of her wounds gave a terrible, painful throb, and she could not help but gasp in spite of her best efforts. Her good hand went to it, pinching and pressuring until the throb was suppressed. She strained her ears, listening to determine if anyone had detected her sudden burst of noise.
However, the voices that she heard when she calmed herself did not seem to be concerned with her.
"...trust that traveling here with Naruto-kun was pleasant for you?"
"More or less."
Ayaka recognized both voices immediately. The first was unmistakably that of Orochimaru, Hiroto's host. The second belonged to the dark one that had passed her in the hall after her fight with Aburame Shino. As she had thought, the two superpowers had come here to meet each other. Luckily for her, they were either too absorbed in each other or too uncaring to acknowledge that she was listening to them. She tried to determine exactly where they were in the pitch dark, and though she could not pinpoint them, she did feel what seemed to be a door handle on the wall next to her, which must have led into the room that they now occupied.
"Well, then," Orochimaru went on, "As you no doubt remember, my body has been growing steadily weaker in recent months. The time for my transfer to a new container has been approaching..."
Ayaka could hear shuffling sounds; it was likely that the Snake Sannin was standing up with some difficulty. He had looked very pale when she had seen him. However, what was this nonsense about containers and transferring?
"Orochimaru," she heard the dark one say, "There is something you need to know. Danger is waiting for you."
Laughter reverberated out into the hallway, as Orochimaru replied, "If you mean to warn me about the detachment of Akatsuki that has been nosing around the Grave, that is hardly necessary. I have known about them for a number of days already. By the time they have located this place and used their weapon, I will be far gone from here. All they will find is my former shell and some rubble."
What weapon? Ayaka wondered. She had heard about Akatsuki from someone in her village—apparently, the S-class criminals had been snooping around Kumogakure no Sato looking for something called a "Jinchuuriki"—but what weapon could they have developed that would give the dark one concern?
Even as she wondered, Orochimaru continued, "The time is now. With your strength, I will sieze the power of your old friend, Naruto-kun, and acquire all jutsu and ultimate power. With that strength, both your ambitions and mine will be attained."
Chakra was building up on the other side of the door, so powerful that it made Ayaka cringe. Something big was about to happen. Was it this "transfer" that the Sannin had sounded so eager for?
Suddenly, something in the upper levels of the facility made a large crash or explosion. The passage began rumbling, and in the struggle to catch her balance, Ayaka almost didn't register the huge expulsion of the chakra that had accumulated. The sound of the blast above drowned out the sound nearby, but she thought, for a fleeting moment, that she could hear someone screaming in agony.
Then all sound died and the passageway went cold and silent once more.
OoOoOoOo Late Update no Jutsu! End Chapter Twenty oOoOoOoO
Next chapter: As of yet, all battles have no clear winner. How will things end? And what, exactly, has Ayaka just partially witnessed?