First off, I had an issue yesterday, somewhere between editing the doc and adding the chapter, the formatting got (for lack of a better word) Fucked. You weren't hallucinating when you were notified of a new chapter, but I refuse to put up anything but my best quality work, so here it is! Welcome back, this is going to be our first action packed chapter since the chunnin exams, so strap in! I'm very pleased with the abilities I've given Naruto, Zaiaku, and Gaara. Believe me when I say, "I have a whole new respect for realistic OC writting," it's so easy to make them stupidly powerful. I racked my brain for hours on end for Zaiaku's "Second" and "Third" level of his swordsmanship, also on Naruto's "Tail" abilities, the only one that was simple was Gaara's. OH! Zaiaku's move will be a bleachish type of skill, if you attempt to point that out to me I will laugh and there may or may not be pointing as well.

I do NOT own Naruto - If I did there would be more swordplay!

-Chapter 29: Beyond Your Limits-

"You have your assignments," stated Tsunade to Gai, Kakashi, and Zaiaku, "Your job is to slow them down, remember, you are NOT trying to beat them yourselves."

"Keep in contact with each other at all times, we don't want to cross paths," added Kakashi as he signaled for his team to move out, "Good luck."

Zaiaku looked at his team. They all recognized the hard look in his eyes, the slightly erratic and warm young man was gone, replaced by the calm and merciless shinobi from the pass, "Move out."

Naruto's perminant smile was gone as he looked at Gaara, one thought permiated both their brains, 'Truely the old blood has begun to flow, through all of us.' They knew that this battle would show more than they wanted, but it had to be done, there was no place for hesitation when protecting one's home. "From this point on," said Naruto to his three older teammates, "we hold nothing back, give everything you've got, and tomorrow I'll buy you all a round of drinks." He gave a slight grin and scratched the back of his head, "Only one round though, you guys drink like fish."

"No uncertian risks," said Gaara to Yumi, Neji, and Shino, "if you do not believe you are at an opponents level, do NOT engage that person." He frowned at Neji's glare, "That is an order." After an announcement from Tsunade, all the squads began to move to the main battleground, where the three armies would collide.

Zaiaku was calm and collected on the outside, but inside he could feel his insides churning, 'Fighting two armies, this is suicide,' he thought.

'It will work out, little one,' replied Shiva

Rittou let out a low growl, "They are close," he sniffed the air, "a four man scouting squad, fifty meters."

Zaiaku pointed to Momiji and Shinto, "With me, everyone else hold back in case of an ambush," he recieved a nod from his two second in command.

The four sound shinobi were perched on the branch of a large tree, "I don't see anything besides a small armament of traps," said the leader, "they'll probably be using the walls of Konoha to try and stem the flow of attackers," he had no idea that the leaf nins were more than prepared to meet the enemy head on. Landing on the ground, they began to mark down the trap areas so that when they reported to the main force, they could avoid uneccessary casualties, "Alright, let's mo-" he cut himself off as he heard a small rustling of leaves. With a quick hand sign his men drew their weapons and prepared for an attack, after a moment a small squrriel came out of the woods with an acorn in his hands. The sound nins immediately calmed before they realized their fatal error, they had dropped their guard.

The form of the squrriel exploded into a grey cloud. From the cloud charged the blurred form of Rittou, his crescent shaped blade clutched firmly in his jaws. The silver metal glinted in the sunlight before it was covered in the blood of one of the nins, the rest had scattered and were now observing the animal while formulating a plan of action. As their quick plan was about to be executed, the wolf let out a spine tingling howl. All three nins paled as they sensed three forms appear behind them, "Shit," hissed one as Shinto impaled him on a kunai.

The captain and his last teammate had reacted faster and were now facing off against Momiji and Zaiaku, "You can't win," stated the sound captain, "We have you outnumbered!" He then launched his chained Kama, Momiji dashed to the side while Zaiaku merely stood there. As the weapon neared the white-haired captain, he unsheathed his sword and shifted his posture, allowing the weapon to pass by him. "Bastard!" hissed the now enraged sound nin, he wasn't about to be beaten by a kid. Jerking his arm back, he attempted to retrieve his weapon for another strike.

As the Kama began it's return path Zaiaku glared, "You sound bastards never learn." In a flash he had the chain of the weapon positioned in between the opening in Shimotsuki's sheath and the point of the sword. With one quick motion, he slammed the blade back into it's scabbard, shattering the link in the chain. "You should've left well enough, alone," he turned his back and began to walk away, "Now you'll all die."

"Don't you-!" his ranting ceased as he felt something warm hit his hand, "What?" He looked to the side and saw the raven masked ANBU glaring at him, his sword unsheathed. "How?" he sputtered as his blood flowed from his severed jugular vein.

Zaiaku looked down at the man, without an ounce of pity, as his life blood watered the Konoha trees, "because you're eyes only see a weak Konoha."

Momiji smirked and sheathed her sword, utterly confusing her opponent, "What are you-?" he was cut off as a mono-wire was wrapped around his neck, cutting off his oxygen supply. As his life slipped away he saw his opponent explode into a cloud of smoke.

Pakkun stopped and looked to the east, "That was Rittou-sama," he stated, "they have started their assault."

"Well then we shouldn't leave them to do all the work," replied Kakashi with a grin. His jovial expression was cut off as Pakkun came to a sudden stop, "What is it?" He crouched behind a rock, his two ANBU teams emulating him. What he saw was the most terrifying thing to have crossed his vision since the second great shinobi war. Two villages, moving as one giant force, there had to be at least twice what the original estimates predicted.

"Kami-sama," whispered one ANBU member, "there's so many of them."

Kakashi pulled out eight kunai, exploding tags attached to each one, "let's rectify that then, shall we?" With a nod, all his teammates emulated him, "let's begin."

Orochimaru glared as explosions rocked down the center of his forces, "FIND THEM!" he cried. Several jounin sprinted towards the direction the explosions came from, finding only slightly disturbed earth and faint traces of chakra. The snake sannin frowned as one man reported to him that no one was found, "Such tricky little leaves." Without another word he signaled for his forces to press forward

Naruto was gritting his teeth, waiting was never his thing, "This is taking too long!" he grumbled. He recieved a whack to the back of the head from Shikato, "Itai! OI! You can't hit your captain!"

"I can if he's making enough noise to alert the enemy," replied the jounin as Inoishi and Chomaru snickered.

Naruto snapped from glaring to serious, in the blink of an eye, as several explosions echoed through the landscape, 'They're getting closer.' Kyuubi let out a dark laugh, he loved a battle. The blonde's hands twitched in anticipation, "It's about to start, be ready."

At the Konoha hospital the preparations had been made and now everyone was gathered on the rooftop, husbands, wives, lovers, friends, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. "Kami-sama keep them safe," said a doctor, clutching her stethoscope tightly, as smoke billowed from the treetops.

Zaiaku and his squad were currently engaging a break off squad that had pinned them down, preventing retreat. "Zaiaku-Teicho, we have to get out of here before we get overwhelmed!" cried Momiji as she launched several tagged kunai into the attacking nins. The whole team was hiding inside a small ravine and currently lauching kunai and shuriken at each other, neither daring to close the gap for close combat

"The problem is that they are inbetween use and the main force," replied Shinto, "only way is to go through them and we don't know how many there are." He flinched as a kunai sliced into his arm, "Shit! We gotta do SOMETHING!"

Zaiaku looked down at Rittou who now had a large gash across his shoulder, "You've done enough Rittou," he said, "can you tell me how many?"

"Hai," growled the arctic wolf, picking his head up slightly he began sniffing the air, "twelve, straight ahead...maybe less, there's too much blood in the air, I can't pick out the different scents." He turned his piercing grey eyes on his summoner, "Gomenesai, Zaiaku-sama, I cannot be of more help."

The ice-nin scratched him behind the ears, "Nonsense, you've done your part, go home." At that the animal looked at him like he had been thoroughly insulted. "Your shoulder's all cut up and you need to heal," stated Zaiaku, "I am commanding you to leave immediately." With a reassuring nuzzle of the hand, the wolf vanished in a poof, "Now," said the white-haired teen as he unsheathed his sword, "let's get out of here. Is there anyone that isn't mobile?"

The raven masked ANBU raised his hand, "The tendons in my ankle are cut, I think." He gave a solemn nod of the head, "Get out of here, I'll hold them off."

"Oi! Don't talk like that!" yelled Shinto as he gripped the man's collar, "You've got a hurt foot, that's no reason to leave you behind." He hoisted him up and held him in a fireman's carry, "We're all getting out of here."

Zaiaku smiled at the older man, 'I can do this, they have faith in me,' standing up he deflected two kunai as they came at him. "Stay behind me and do not for any reason slow down, understood?" he questioned his team as his glacier blue eyes began to glow. 'I need your help,' he whispered to the sword and began to channel his chakra, 'let's get this right.' He then extended his blade out to the side, "Itsuru, Shimotsuki!" (Freeze, Frost Moon). After the sword had taken its awakened form, Zaiaku held it above his head and forced his chakra to mingle with the sword's immediate atmosphere.

"BE READY TO MOVE!" cried Momiji, 'he's giving us an opening.'

As the Sound and Mist were about to break into their assault again, the fridged wind increased in strength, "Kill them!" cried one sound nin, trying to move against the brutal storm. On cue all the nins launched their weapons, but to no avail, the cyclone had picked up to the point of sending any projectiles horribly off course. "Move in!" cried the sound captain as he commanded his forces to press forward

As the cold wind continued to howl, two glowing blue eyes, fixated themselves on the enemy nins. "Z-Zaiaku-Teicho, w-what are y-you d-doing," chattered Shinto as he carried his teammate.

He turned his glowing gaze on his teammates, "Remember what I said?" he questioned, they all nodded, "Good, let's move!" He then spun his body and launched the, now concentrated, wind funnel, "Hyouton: Kogarashi no Mai!" (Ice Style: Dance of the Withering Wind). "GO!" he cried as it impacted the enemy forces

The sound and mist nins could only stare in horror as advanced hypothermia caused their muscles to seize, "I-Idiots! You w-will be k-killed!" yelled the Sound leader as he made an attempt at sealing.

Before he could finish he felt something cold cross his neck, opening his eyes revealed Momiji retracting her leg, a small hidden blade portruding from the tip of her shinobi sandal, "This is as close as you get to Konoha!"

Zaiaku slashed across a mist-nin's chest, causing his body to become encased in ice, "Almost there," he whispered.

Shinto crushed a knee into a nin's gut, doubling him over. Momiji then ran the enemy through, "Keep running!" she shouted as they continued through the trees. "You're going to have to teach me how to do that!" she exclaimed to Zaiaku who was grinning.

"I just concentrated the chakra into the wind around my sword, then fired it," he replied as his team was now clear of the attackers, "I didn't expect it to work that well," he added sheepishly. As they came over the hill to the awaiting battlefield Zaiaku let out a sigh of relief, "We're clear," he looked to Shinto, "Get him to the hospital, then get back here!"

Shinto gave a quick nod, "Sir!" he replied and vanished

Jiriaya nearly face-faulted at the ANBU's over-enthusiastic compliance, but disregarded it for the moment and added it to a growing list of things to ask the boys at a later date, "Report."

Zaiaku retold his team's encounters with a little help from Momiji, "...we then broke through with Zaiaku-teicho's jutsu and made it here," finished the eagle masked woman with a hint of pride, "we didn't lose anyone."

The Toad Sannin gave an appreciative nod and gestured for them to take up their positions within the forces, "Oi, frosty," whispered Naruto, "you alright?" Then he nodded slightly as his friend smiled. After a moment he reached into a pouch holding six kunai, "here," he handed one to Zaiaku, "just throw it as hard as you can."

"I still think you're out of your mind, but I'll do it," replied the ice-nin. With nothing left to say, Naruto returned to his team, "Psycho," muttered Zaiaku.

"Kakashi-san's team is back," whispered Momiji as she pointed over her captain's shoulder. True enough, the copy-ninja's squad landed in the underbrush just outside the clearing, next to Tsunade. "It's almost time," she stated gravely

A loud crash was heard as Gai's team came into the clearing, preparing to face off against the forces, seemingly one on one. After some debate it was decided that the Blue Beast of Konoha and his team would be the ones to pull the sound into the clearing, and the prepared ambush. Another crash and three huge snakes erupted into the clearing, a human form riding atop each: Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke. The snake sannin's maniacal laugh echoed through the clearing, "Come out, come out, whever you are. I know this is an ambush, so please stop attempting to surprise us, we have walked right into your ploy. I did this so that when we crush you, it is entirely and without question."

Jiriaya smirked and stepped out of the woods, "Should've known that trying to out slither a snake was impossible. After all, you crawled on your belly long enough to know the grounds of Konoha perfectly."

Orochimaru only laughed harder, "Such biting words Jiriaya, is that all you have to say to me? Here, at the end of Konoha?" He snarled at his former teammate's ever present look of disinterest, "The sand won't save you now, they're too busy worrying about if we'll attack them as well, too bad that we've concentrated all of our forces here! Now, even if you sent your fastest messenger, they would never arrive in time."

"So," interupted the toad sannin, "What are you offering the Mist village now that you've killed their Kage and taken their honor?"

Several mist-nins shifted uncomfortably, this was not a comfortable discussion, "We've given them a treaty, to be allied with the most powerful shinobi village in all the great countries," replied Kabuto

As he was about to press on another voice overwhelmed him, "We have not lost our HONOR!" cried a large man with a broadsword strapped to his back, "Konoha has taken the greatest swordsmen in existance, we are here to honor him! I can imagine how many of the leaf he killed before he fell! The real dishonor is on Konoha, for I still wonder how many of you it took to stop him!"

In the trees, despite his serious face, Zaiaku was blushing, "He wasn't that great," he mumbled. Naruto was gritting his teeth to fight back a burst of laughter. Across the clearing, Zabuza and Gaara were looking quite smug.

Jiriaya's laughter brought them back to the unfolding scene, "It took ONE konoha shinobi to bring down Fantomu, and he was a genin as well!" Several gasps and proclaimations were heard, "As was Yajuu! It seems that the weakest of the Konoha shinobi are greater than the strongest of elsewhere!"

"LIAR!" cried another mist swordsman as he drew his sword and charged in a blur, "Rasshu Auto, Dokueki Shippo!" (Lash out, Venom Tail). His sword shifted from a katana to a bladed whip, as he jerked his arm back and launched the weapon at the sannin, "DIE!"

"Shit," hissed Naruto as he sprinted from the trees, deflecting the attack with the flat of his blade

'Damn Naruto,' thought Zaiaku as he gripped his frost blade, "too close."

Jiriaya never flinched as the weapon neared his face, 'bout damn time!' he thought as Naruto appeared infront of him, his sword deflecting the blow effortlessly

"Who the hell are you?" questioned the unidentified attacker, whose weapon was effortlessly knocked away. No response, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" he reiterated a bit louder. He was met only by a burning red glare.

"Look at his weapon," whispered the larger of the remaining mist swordsmen. "You're holding Momochi Zabuza's weapon, are you not?" Not a sound, 'he's not giving anything away to us, a smart man.' He reached back and gripped the hilt of his bastard sword, "Well then we'll have to cut the information out of you."

The sight would have been comical if the atmosphere wasn't so serious, two armies at a standstill, waiting for the first to move. The only attacks thrown had been harsh words and a weak assault, harmlessly knocked away. If these were armies of mercenaries, then bloodshed would have already begun, but that is not the case. These are armies of Shinobi, and above all things, a shinobi knows patience. The knowledge that the first person to attack was usually the first to fall, this was true for shinobi armies as well. It all boiled down to the fact that it is much better to gauge and counterattack than to strike out blindly.

Tsunade immediately realized what Jiriaya was doing, "he's stalling," she whispered to her captains, "Zabuza and Gaara, take your teams around to the flanks.Be ready to converge on the enemy." For once, her perverted lover's grandios antics may prove a pivitol point in this looming battle.

Zaiaku noticed Kakashi across the way, giving him hand signs, 'Move...flanks...wait...signal,' he was too far away to see clearly but he gathered the general concept. "Naruto's team," he whispered to the three men, "you will accompany my team to the enemies flanks, when we recieve the signal we will attack."

"Hai," replied Shinto, "let's go gentlemen."

"Naruto," replied the blonde as he recieved a nod from Tsunade, "my name is Naruto, and I am the person that killed Yajuu, Fantomu fell to my brother and teammate." He smirked, "he was a pitiful swordsman and an even more disgusting human being."

Jiriaya was fighting back a smile, 'he's taunting them.'

The toad sannin was correct, Naruto had realized that everything from Jiriaya stepping into the clearing, to insulting the mist to move first was all a part of some grand scheme. 'Ero-sennin has always been a tricky bastard,' he thought as he continued to press the prideful swordsmen into attacking first. He saw a gaping opening in the enemies forces out of the corner of his eye, 'well, looks like we go first.'

'Patience was never your virtue, Kit,' replied Kyuubi

"You know," he said as he assumed his kenjutsu stance, comically causing a whole army to flinch. He smiled as he recalled a passage from a book Jiriaya had forced him to read once upon a time, "All warfare is based on deception."

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he took in the implications, but by then it was too late, the two people in front of the army exploded into a cloud of smoke. Then a blonde blur shot across his vision and the head of the snake he was riding on was torn off, "Rasengan!" (Spiral Blast)

Kabuto commanded his summon to assault the swarm, of now, flooding in leaf nins. As fast as the serpent had begun it's movements, they were halted. The traitorous medic nin frowned, "What's going on?"

"Yomi Numa!" (Swamp of the Underworld) came the voice of Jiriaya, "No snake's going to cover your ass this time, you piece of shit." His ever jovial expression was now replaced with a hard look, "Betraying one's village is an unforgivable offence, for that, I'm going to kill you."

"I think not," interjected Sasuke as his black snake came crashing down on the form of the toad Sannin, "It's time for the weakest of the legendary three to die!"

"Sabaku Kangoku!"(Desert Prison) cried Gaara as a chain of sand lurched from the ground and snared the Serpent, "You have overestimated yourself and your village, Uchiha!" Extending both hands, then turning them in a clockwise motion, caused a sickening crack to echo across the battlefeild. The snake summon was dead.

'Take that you bastard snake!' cried Shukaku as he began releasing his chakra, 'This is just the start!'

"We've underestimated the vessels, Orochimaru-sama!" yelled Kabuto as he was doing his best to dodge Jiriaya's, surpisingly, impressive taijutsu assault. At the same time Sasuke was on his heels to stay out of the range of Gaara's sand, 'At this rate, just the Tanuki vessel along with the two sannin will overwhelm us, that boys mass combat abilities are unbelievable. To kill a summon without your own, amazing,' thought the sound medic

Zaiaku lept into the air and launched the kunai that Naruto had given him, it struck a mist nin in the sternum, "The rest is up to you Naruto." As he began his descent towards the ground he spotted the three mist swordsmen standing off against Zabuza, 'Let's go see if we can't give Zabuza a hand, ne Shiva-san?'

A seductive and sinister grin graced the face of the elegant elemental as she watched the battle through the eyes of her vessel, 'Of course, my little one.'

The largest of the mist swordsmen was glaring, "Are you the one that killed Fantomu, Zabuza?" He clutched his bastard sword, "ANSWER US, DEMON OF THE MIST!" All three mist shinobi shivered involuntarily as a freezing wind washed over them, then a white-haired jounin appeared next to Zabuza, a frozen nodatchi clutched in his right hand, 'Who is that?'

Zaiaku stood up and locked his eyes on the green haired man that had identified his weapon as Dokueki Shippo, the venom tail, "You're pretty hasty for a swordsman." Then he clucked his tongue in a disapproving manner, "And what were you attempting to do here, Zabuza-sensei?"

The three swordsmen flinched at this new bit of information, meanwhile Zabuza let out a dark chuckle, "Picking a fight." He turned his sadistic gaze on the enemies, "This is Zaiaku, the Fuyu Ookami (Winter Wolf) of the leaf. He's the person that killed your precious Fantomu, if you wish vengence then he's your target."

"YOU!" cried the woman of the group, "YOU KILLED HIM? THEN I'LL KILL YOU!" She sliced her finger over the intricately carved blade of her wakazashi, "Shakou no Sora, Kurokumo!" (Darken the Sky, Black Cloud). Her blade then shifted into a long whisp of, what looked to be, smoke.

"I hope you've prepared youself for death!" added the largest man, unsheathing his hulking monstrosity of a blade, "Dageki Daun, Shiroi Eihei!" (Strike Down, White Sentinel) If it was possible the giant sword increased in size, and altered it's shape into the form of a giant axe. White feathers decorating the ornate, double-sided, blade.

Zabuza frowned, 'this just became difficult,' he thought while eyeing the three awakened blades, "So you've all reached a basic release, impressive." Reaching back he unsheathed Sangemaru, "I can't do anything like that so-"

He was cut off by a low whistle eminating from Zaiaku, "That's pretty good," he stated. "Can you go to the second level?"

The woman glared, "Only the phantom of the mist seven could reach a second release," she hissed through clenched teeth. The cloud was now circling her body in a rapid pace, "Which is why it's beyond me how you killed him!"

'These guys are no fun,' thought the ice-nin as he finally decided to get serious. "Because he drove his blade into madness. I think the time for talking is over though, I'll show you my power," he stated as he inverted Shimotsuki and released it, causing the frozen blade to stab the dirt, "I'll show you, to protect my home and family, I'VE GONE BEYOND MY LIMITS!" He placed his palm on the hilt of Shimotsuki, released an explosive amount of chakra, and began forcing it into the ground. When the weapon became fully submerged, a deadly silence washed over the five figures, "Now, you'll see what happens when a sword and master fight for something other than slaughter." A stalagmite of ice shot from the earth, where the frost blade previously stood, and encased the leaf jounin's body.

"It seems his limits were overshot," chuckled the largest man as he hefted his axe onto his shoulder, "to kill himself with his own jutsu, how path-"

He was cut off by the ice pillar exploding, when the frozen dust cleared, there was nothing there. "My previous limits were beyond your current abilities, my current limits are beyond your comprehension," came a voice from behind the mist nin. Turning his head caused the swordsman to pale visibly. The man in front of him had glowing blue eyes, devoid of an iris or puipil. Each eye was bisected vertically by a glacier blue, fang-type, line. In each hand was a perfectly formed, hiltless, ice-katana. Zaiaku locked his brightly glowing eyes on the three stunned enemies, "Shimotsuki, Kire no Fuyuyoru." (Frost Moon, Slice the Winter Night)

Kabuto was still currently engaged with the toad sannin when a frozen wind swept over the battlefield, "That would be the elemental vessel, I assume?" he questioned in the midst of combat.

Jiriaya ceased his assault and let out a hearty laugh, "Correct, that was Zaiaku, the leaf's greatest swordsman. Gaara was the one that killed the Uchiha bastard's summon, and just wait till you get a load of Naruto!" He grinned like an idiot and scratched the back of his head, "You guys really fucked yourselves this time."

"I think not," hissed Orochimaru from behind the toad sannin, "DIE, JIRAI-"

"HEY," cried Naruto as he charged the snake sannin, "CATCH! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Drawing back, he launched two red kunai. Unfortunately, Orochimaru had elected to parry the object. It wasn't a total loss, however, because Kabuto was staring at the object in his hand like an idiot.

The toad and snake sannin both looked at the dagger like it was an exploding tag, waiting to go off, "DROP IT YOU FOOL!" cried Orochimaru

Naruto snarled as he closed his eyes and focused his chakra and that of the Kyuubi's, 'Concentrate.' He cleared his thoughts as he began to focus on the kunai, 'I can almost,' the lettering of the Jutsu-Shiki appearind in his mind, shaped by crackling lightning, 'I see it!'

Outside his body, electricity was licking at the surrounding area, and even some enemy nins, "Naruto," whispered Jiraiya, 'First the rasengan, now this? I should've seen it sooner.' His astonishment quickly turned to rage, 'Why didn't anyone tell me!'

Orochimaru's reaction was a bit different, very few things caused someone that had mastered an immortality jutsu, to be afraid. A red-eyed, Cleaver wielding, fang-bearing, S-rank jutsu using, Kyuubi vessel just happened to be one of those few things, "This...this is impossible!" he cried, "I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!"

"Refuse all you want," came Naruto's voice, barely more than a growl, "You're still going to burn in hell you snake!" He gripped Kubikiri Houcho with both hand and released the crackling energy in a quick burst, "Hiraishin no Jutsu!" (Flying Thundergod Technique) In a flash of lightning, and a crack of thunder, he was gone.

"You should stop," jibed Sasuke, "You couldn't beat me when I was just a leaf gennin, do you think you could do so now?" He let out a harsh laugh as his eyes revealed a three point Sharingan, "I've obtained a power that goes beyond anything you can comprehend! I AM THE STRONGEST UCHIHA!"

Gaara landed in a crouch as his sand reformed his long coat, "I see," he replied, "if you are intent on using your bloodlimit then I will use my own special abilities." He cut his finger and spead his blood over a seal tattooed on his forarm, "Satetsu Kuchyose!" (Iron Sand Summoning) The ground exploded in a storm of, what looked like, a black mist, "This is the Iron Sand, it is faster than my normal sand, it is also impenetrable, and..." he flicked his wrist and a spike shot from the ground and peirced Sasuke's shoulder, "I control it with magnetic currents, created by my chakra. However, since my chakra is not flowing through the sand itself, your dojutsu cannot predict it's path."

In the Hokage's tower, Sarutobi looked out across the konoha trees and let out an amused chuckle. In the southern part of the battlefield a huge cloud of black sand was swirling. Northeast of that, the trees were frozen from the ground up, and the field of frost was still growing. Finally to the northern most area, lightning was licking at the air, ground, and trees, every now and then a crack of thunder was heard. "Our demons," he stated as he took a puff of his pipe and glanced at the picture of the Yondaime, "Are quickly becoming legends."

End Chapter 29

Read and Review - Shiat has hit the fan! The boys are about to cut loose on a biblical scale, but don't think the sound and mist are about to roll over. Zaiaku has made a strong first impression, but there are still three versus' one (Zabuza will have his own issues soon!). Also don't forget, Sasuke has yet to go CS2 and there is still the sound five...and what's this? New orders from Tsunade to the combat medics in the hospital?...OH THE SUSPENSE!

Chapter 30: Legendary Three