Their fifth day of traveling, the Alliance team finally arrived in the Land of Swamps. Higure, as well as Anko and Rin, found it odd that they hadn't met any kind of resistance from a Ghost Army, or anyone else for that matter. The group decided to make camp, as they traveled over night without any rest. Higure stood atop the tallest tree and looked out at the large forests surrounding their campsite, wondering how far it all stretched. He also wondered why nobody had attacked them yet, especially since now they were in enemy territory.
The Commander sighed as he stayed at the top of the tree before he heard someone coming up to check on him. "Uncle, are you alright," Sakura's voice asked. Higure nodded, his eyes still gazing out into the distance. Sakura stared at her uncle in worry, knowing that something had to be bothering him. "What's wrong...?"
"I'm just wondering why we haven't been attacked yet," Higure admitted. Sakura's eyes lowered as she realized she didn't consider that much. In the end, she was just so grateful to go almost a whole week without fighting that it never crossed her mind as suspicious.
Higure kept staring, as if searching for the answer. "We've been traveling for five days since we left the Land of Fire's shores, and we haven't encountered any enemy resistance. None of this Ghost Army, no other enemy shinobi from the Land of Demons or Swamps...I don't understand what's going on..." Higure's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fist tightly, as if anxiety was gripping his whole being. Sakura grew a bit worried that maybe her uncle was looking for a fight, heaven forbid.
The next words her uncle spoke sent a chill running down her back, "Unless they're already close to releasing Moryo..." Sakura gasped softly before Higure turned to her. "I'm going to scout on ahead. You and the others rest here for awhile before following me, understood?"
"Wait, Uncle!" Before Sakura could protest further, Higure was already gone. The pink haired girl immediately jumped down the tree to rejoin the group. 'Damn it Uncle...why do you have to go and pull a stunt like this?!' When she landed on the ground, all heads turned towards Sakura. "Uncle Higure went on ahead! He thinks that the enemy may already be reviving Moryo!"
"Damn that man," Rin scowled while the others simply stood up in shock. The brunette medic wasted no time in taking command, "Fu, go on ahead and try to find him!" The Jinchuriki nodded and then grew a pair of chakra wings before flying off above the trees. "The rest of you spread out in a line to cover more distance! If we find him, call out, and stay close enough for contact!" The rest of the team nodded before they all sprung off into the forest. 'What're you planning Higure...?'
Higure continued forward, scowling angrily as he headed in a particular direction. He didn't want to get anyone else involved in his own personal mission, which is why he left so suddenly, hoping that the rest of the team would just continue with the objective. It wasn't the fact he was entirely worried about Moryo, but more about the fact he sensed a particular person's chakra within the nearby area. 'Madara...'
Naruto slowly awoke groggily as vision came back to him slowly. He looked and saw a young man with glasses sitting next to the young blonde girl he saw earlier. "Oh, you're awake," a kind voice replied. Naruto groaned and turned his head towards the woman's voice, seeing a kind, gentle looking woman with glasses and light hair smiling at him. "I'm sorry about knocking you out, but you kind of took us by surprise, and I was only trying to protect the Priestess."
"Ugh...what," Naruto asked slowly as his memory came back to him. "O-oh, sorry about that...wait..." Naruto's eyes widened as he cried out loudly, memories of his current location and mission flooding back to him. "YOU'RE THE PRIESTESS?! WE NEED YOU!"
The woman laughed a bit light kindheartedly, causing Naruto to look at her in confusion. The older woman wasn't really what he truly expected from a priestess. "I-I'm sorry," the woman said as she wiped a tear away from her eyes. "I'm afraid the Priestess is that beautiful young girl over there." The woman pointed to the pale blonde, who looked back at Naruto with a firm stare. Naruto stared back at the actual Priestess. To her credit, Naruto did find her attractive, but the Jinchuriki couldn't help but think of Neji's creepy cousin from Konoha.
"My name is Miko Nanigashi," the older woman said, recapturing Naruto's attention. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Y-yeah, thanks," Naruto groaned again as a dull thud registered in the back of his head. The blonde looked back at Miko, wondering how such a gentle woman could hit so hard. "B-but we need to get the Priestess to seal Moryo's body! She's the only one who can stop it!"
"Yes, we know," Miko said with a worried look. "We were attempting to find our way to the Land of Swamps until the Ghost Army attacked..."
"Well come on, I'll escort you guys! Me and uh...oh..." The realization that he broke off from the rest of his team dawned on him. He wondered how the others were taking his absence, but shook it off, reassuring himself that they were looking for him.
Naruto turned back to Miko, keeping his mission objective in mind. "Well, screw it, if we go now, we can get a head start on the bad guys and get the Priestess to the Land of Swamps asap!"
"Even then it's pointless," Miko muttered with disappointment in her voice. "The Ghost Army was far stronger than we imagined unfortunately...not even our heaviest weapons could slow them down I'm afraid..."
"Well don't you worry about that! Cause Naruto Uzumaki is here to help you!" Miko expressed her shock at that name, while the Priestess and her other guard turned towards the loud blonde haired boy. Naruto quickly stood up to his feet and looked over at the Priestess before rubbing the back of his neck and laughing softly. "Oh, right, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm a shinobi of the group known as Akatsuki."
"Looks like you were right Miss Miko," the other young guard spoke. Naruto looked over at the woman as she stood up next to him and smiled.
"Wait...what do you mean?"
Miko smiled softly at Naruto, "Well, news of the Alliance's war as well as the group of rogue ninja known as the Akatsuki has just recently reached the Land of Demons you see. I judged by your robe and lack of headband that you were of the Akatsuki." Naruto's eyes widened a bit before he looked down at his black, hooded cloak with red clouds on it. The blonde laughed and rubbed the back of his head, again embarrassed.
"Oh, yeah, I guess I'm not too subtle after all?" Naruto's eyes opened again as a realization hit him. "Wait...you guys know I'm from a rogue organization, but you're not scared?"
"The Land of Demons has never been allies with Konohagakure, or anyone from the Alliance," Shion stated with a bitter tone. "Not after they tried to attack our country long ago during their founding..." Naruto tilted his head with confusion. Miko sighed at the boy's very obvious slow wit.
"During the founding time period of Konoha, a man named Madara Uchiha sought to become the country's Hokage, the village leader," Miko explained. Naruto turned to the aide and listened intently to her as she explained a bit of the country's history. "He branched out west, forcing the Land of Earth to submit to his and his village's will, and sought to go beyond that, all the way to the Land of Demons." Naruto gasped softly as the image of the masked man came into his head. The boy scowled a bit in anger before crossing his arms over his chest. "Because of Madara's attempt to control our land, the Priestess at that time, Shion's grandmother, fought with him in a legendary battle that devastated much of our people's land. Finally, the Priestess managed to bring Madara to a stalemate, and he left the country, never returning again."
Naruto's expression grew more thoughtful as he wondered why Madara Uchiha would come so far out to the west just to take over a country like this. As if reading his thoughts, the male escort answered, "Legend has it that Madara Uchiha was after Moryo's Ghost Army, in order to secure his position as Hokage, and to control the demon itself." The young man turned to Shion, who was clearly disinterested in the conversation. Despite this, he continued his explanation. "But only the Priestess of the Land of Demons has the power to stop such a monster..." Naruto stared at Shion, his eyes focused on her as if analyzing her over. The Priestess turned to the blonde, catching his gaze before turning away, trying not to be affected by his stare.
"I'm afraid Naruto might be right though, Taruho," Miko stated as she looked to Shion. "If we want any chance of stopping Moryo...we're going to have to head to the Land of Swamps immediately." Taruho sighed and nodded in agreement.
"I understand...but risking Lady Shion's life like this..."
"It would be the same as if we let Moryo become unbound into this world," Miko stated firmly. The nun smiled warmly. "Besides, it's not as if the Priestess ever could die, right?" Taruho again nodded, unconvinced at the statement as his worry for the Priestess outweighed his conscious. "Come on, I know the way. Young Uzumaki?" Naruto looked up at Miko with a curious expression. "Would you mind watching Lady Shion as we move? I would be very grateful."
"No problem Miss Nanisami!"
Miko giggled and patted the boy's head, "It's Nanigashi, Naruto."
"Oh, sorry..." Miko ruffled the boy's hair before taking the lead, running at what Naruto considered to be a slow pace. The blonde picked up Shion in his arms, causing the Priestess to cry out in shock, blushing madly before she began screaming at Naruto, who followed Miko. Behind them was Taruho, who looked around the woods cautiously.
"Put me down you stupid brute! This isn't any way to be carrying someone of my stature!" Shion flailed and kicked angrily, pushing against Naruto's face in frustration. The Jinchuriki groaned and mentally cursed himself for being stuck with such a terrible job all of a sudden.
Kin sighed in annoyance, tapping her foot on the ground while Yomi and his whole cult remained inside the mountain, attempting to study Moryo's seal without her. Standing with Kin were the Serpent Five, as well as the twelve Yamato clones, all wearing black, hooded robes that usually ANBU wore when on missions. Kin found it easier to look at the wooden clones with some form of clothes on, rather than them standing naked with no features to show.
Finally, the four servants of Yomi walked out with the rest of the cultist grunts, and the three mercenaries Yomi hired, walked out of the cave without their master. The de facto leader of the group, Kusuna, stepped towards Kin, "I'm afraid Lord Yomi's body is too weak now to undo the seal..."
"WHAT?!" Kin shouted in outrage. Her body trembled with anger, having the nearly uncontainable urge to kill the lot of them. The Serpent Five also seemed to tense up, expecting some sort of fight to occur. "What do you mean?! He can't undo the seal now with Moryo's power inside of him?!"
"I'm afraid so," Kusuna stated. "Moryo's spirit dwelling within his lordship has dwindled his power and chakra down to nothing. It's all he can do to keep himself alive with Moryo in him."
"So what now," Kin demanded to know. "We just let Yomi die in there with Moryo's spirit in his body?!"
"No," Kusuna replied, keeping his calm despite Kin's abrasive attitude. "Lord Yomi has a plan that involves using the Priestess." Kin raised her brow questioningly before shifting her weight to one side. She couldn't help but become intrigued by said plan, and whenever she became curious she needed to know the answers.
"Alright...I'll bite. What's the plan?"
Konan, Itachi, and Obito all came into a clearing together, panting heavily as they had been running at top speeds for miles now with no trace of Naruto. Konan grew angry, and impatient as she had the strong urge to punch something. She was more furious at Yahiko's little stooge than the orange haired man himself. Konan wasn't sure herself if that was a good or bad thing.
"Maybe we should take a break," Itachi suggested calmly. He noted Konan's anger, and guessed that running around blindly would get the trio nowhere. "If we haven't found even a trace of him so far, then there's no use in wasting our energy. Besides, Deidara has an eye in the sky. He'll definitely find Naruto." Konan closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh, knowing that Itachi was, as usual, correct.
"Hey, what's this," Obito asked. Itachi and Konan turned to the spiky haired Uchiha as he lifted up a piece of paper and began to unfold it. "Heading to the Land of Swamps," Obito read aloud. "Urgent, Moryo is being revived. The Priestess is on her way there now. Backup would be much appreciated..." Obito showed the letter to Konan and Itachi both as they approached. "It has an Akatsuki seal on it...you think it's Naruto?"
"No," Konan replied, shaking her head. "If Naruto found the Priestess, he would've just hauled butt to the Land of Swamps without thinking to leave a message behind."
"It could be a trap," Itachi stated.
"It's also our best lead," Konan finished as she turned around. "We'll grab Yahiko and head to the Land of Swamps. Set off a flare for Deidara." Obito nodded and pulled out a small rod, which he twisted the top off of and aimed it as the sky before a green, fiery smoke bomb went up into the air, high above the trees. 'Naruto...please don't do anything stupid on your own...'
Madara and company arrived in the Land of Swamps several hours ago, and followed their masked leader towards the location where Moryo's body resided. The masked man stopped, causing the others to stop as well. "Ahhh..." Madara sighed as his Sharingan burned with anticipation before a lone figure landed before him. The five swordsmen gasped in shock as the Konoha shinobi stood up, and stared each one of them down. "Now this truly is a surprise. What might I do for you, Higure?"
"Well, not showing up everywhere I go would be a nice starter," Higure replied truthfully. The Alliance Commander had sensed the other five chakra signatures and had correctly guessed who was accompanying Madara. "Why are you here? Surely you know better than to think that Dark Chakra is something you can control Madara!"
"Control is what you think I'm after? Foolish man, you've been under Danzo's thumb for too long." Higure scowled a bit as Madara held up his hand and clenched it tightly into a gloved fist. "I'm after a small sample of power that will be necessary for my plans...the resurrection of Moryo, the ambitions of the Yomi Clan, none of that matters to me. All that matters are my goals." Madara lowered his arm and shook his head. "But enough of that..." The man threw his arm out to the side, causing his five swordsmen to scatter quickly.
Higure scowled as he readied himself with a single kunai. His head snapped upwards as Jinin came bearing down upon him with a hammer. Higure sprung backwards and dodged the attack, sliding across the ground as Jinin's attack made a small crater. The Alliance Commander spun around and blocked a direct strike from Kushimaru's sword. Higure quickly kicked the slender swordsmen in the stomach, sending him flying backwards before a giant, serrated chakra blade came swinging down on him. As the sword hit, a large amount of rock and dirt flew up into the air, and from the point of impact there was no body. Mangetsu scowled angrily before Higure appeared at his side in a blur. The young swordsmen gasped before Higure kicked him in the side, sending him crashing into the ground.
Higure ducked as another sword came at the back of his head, in the form of the blast sword Shibuki. The Alliance Commander ducked and kicked Jinpachi's wrist, causing the sword to drop of of his hand before he spun around and kicked the swordsman's feet out from under him. The Commander then quickly sprung away on all fours as the sword and Jinpachi hit the ground simultaneously. On impact, the sword exploded near its wielder, consuming them both in a cloud of smoke. The sword went flying into the air out of the smoke from the resulting blast. Ameyuri sprung into the air, grabbed the sword and then threw it back into the smoke cloud, where an unscathed Jinpachi caught it with his hand.
As he came to a stop, Higure looked around and saw that he was surrounded by the five ninja swordsmen. 'As expected, their teamwork is unmatched...' Higure looked at Ameyuri and then at Mangetsu. 'And those two are the only ones I didn't encounter in the last War...and why doesn't that one have her swords with her...?'
"He's a fast little bugger," Mangetsu stated.
Jinpachi chuckled as he gripped his sword tightly, "Just like I remember him being. Still not as fast as ol' blondie though."
"He's still a formidable opponent," Jinin snapped, "Stay on your guard Jinpachi!"
"Fuck that! Let's just go wild and kill him already!" Jinpachi charged forward at Higure. The Konoha shinobi turned and back flipped onto his hands, coiling his body inward as Jinpachi swung at him again. The swordsman gasped and looked down at Higure before he shot both feet upward, connecting them to Jinpachi's chin as he shot straight into the air.
"Mine," Mangetsu shouted as he launched himself after Higure. The young swordsman spun his sword about with both hands, gathering up his chakra for the next attack. Higure spun around and threw a kunai at him, which Mangetsu narrowly blocked with his sword. The young man gasped when he saw a paper bomb at the end of the kunai, and could do nothing about it before it exploded in his face.
Mangetsu went plummeting to the ground and landed in a large splash of water, his sword clattering next to him. Higure landed on a nearby tree branch as he witnessed Mangetsu's sudden transformation. "A member of the Hozuki Clan..." Higure turned his head as he saw a narrowed object flying at him.
He sprung out of the tree as the sword pieces the thick wood effortlessly. Kushimaru pulled on the wire, and in effect yanking himself up to where Higure was before taking his sword out of the tree. "You can't keep running like this forever you know!"
Higure flipped around before landing on the ground in a crouch. 'I need to think of how I can beat them...they're a lot more disorganized than when Saizo or Fuguki were directing them...' Higure turned to Madara, who simply watched the fight unfold. 'And he doesn't seem to be too interested in leading them either...' Higure dodged yet another attack from Jinin while keeping his eyes on the masked Uchiha. 'I need to find a way to beat all six of them somehow...' Higure spun around another strike as Jinpachi swung his sword in a downward motion. He grabbed the swordsman's wrist, and spun Jinpachi in a circle before throwing him at a tree. 'I can't just keep dancing around like this forever...'
Higure turned his head when he saw the only kunoichi of the group throw something into the air. He looked up at the object, seeing a simple kunai above him, somehow pointed down at him. Ameyuri performed a hand sign and cried out with effort. A bolt of lightning came down from out of nowhere, using the kunai as a attraction rod to aim at Higure. The Commander narrowly dodged the attack, staring at Ameyuri in pure shock at her technique.
Madara turned his eye towards the young kunoichi with a certain glee in his eye. 'This is why you were chosen to live...though Raiga could have proven to be a more useful pawn than you, your mastery over the Kiba swords were unparalleled at the time, and you can even use their ability to draw lightning in from nature without the swords themselves.' Madara then turned his attention back to his old foe, who skidded to a halt.
'Damn...now this is going to be more difficult...'
"I'm surprised your reflexes haven't dulled with retirement Haruno," Kushimaru stated. Higure turned his head towards the tall man as he slowly approached him. "Honestly, I thought Danzo was going senile when I heard you were coming out of retirement to be a Commander."
"Well, Danzo being senile is still up for debate," Higure stated with no hint of remorse. "And what about you? Got all lost and confused without Saizo Hideyoshi leading you, and you decide to follow this sorry excuse for a leader?"
"Funny how you attempt to draw out my anger," Kushimaru stated as he readied his sword, pinching the thread with his free hand. "That's always been your tactic though hasn't it? Agitate the enemy into attacking in a blind rage and leaving them open to attack...tell me though, how do you plan on doing that with each one of us?"
Higure sighed and looked around at the five swordsmen who surrounded him before turning back to Kushimaru. "You really want me to try? Cause I can if you want."
"Kushimaru," Madara called out with an impatient, lecturing tone. The tall man nodded and readied his blade.
"Forgive me master..." Higure once again prepared himself for the next assault as his eyes shifted from one swordsman to the next.
Sakura became increasingly worried as the group continued to look for her uncle, but found no trace whatsoever of him. The team met in a clearing, with the young kunoichi showing a highly worried and concerned face.
"Where the hell could he be," Anko asked in a soft whisper to Rin. The medical ninja sighed and shook her head, unsure of how to answer. "Well...do we just continue the mission then...? Leave Higure to fend for himself now...?"
Rin looked over at Sakura with pity and sadness, "I hate to do that to her...but we can't let Moryo be revived...and even then, if he went after the demon himself, we're bound to run into him, right?" Anko nodded in agreement, her lip tugging upward in a slight smile.
"Well, what have we here," a voice called out. The whole of the Alliance team looked up, seeing seven strange figures standing on the hill above them. One man with long white hair and a mask cackled, "Fresh meat for when Moryo is revived!"
"These clowns are the ones we were so worried about," Zaku muttered quietly to Dosu. The masked Chunin huffed before rolling up his sleeves.
"This won't be a problem at all..."
"You're right," Kusuna stated. "For us. Ishidate, you and your group occupy them!" Kusuna threw his arms out as three shinobi with similarly styled hair charged down the hill, the small girl and the brute-ish looking one laughing. Kusuna grinned maliciously as several odd, snake-like creatures came out of his skin, and then latched themselves to the other three, burying themselves inside of their necks.
"That's what I'm talkin' about," Gitai, the muscle bound one, shouted as his chakra exploded around him.
The Alliance team gasped and stepped back as they felt the three enhanced shinobi's chakra shoot through the roof. The three shinobi in white then charged behind the three mercenaries. The three mercenaries all pulled out kunai with odd sacks at the end of them and then threw them forward.
The Alliance shinobi all dodged, except for Fu, who was surrounded in smoke before rushing through at the enemy head-first. The muscle bound mercenary threw his fist forward, and Fu caught it with an open palm, much to the man's surprise. Fu then headbutted the man with enough force to send him smashing into the solid stone ground.
The little girl stopped in shock and stared at her comrade, "Kongo!"
Fu grinned with delight before her entire head was gripped by the man's oversized hand. Kongo laughed, grinning back at the Jinchuriki, before slamming his fist into her stomach. Fu coughed forcefully as all the air was pushed out of her stomach, and her strength suddenly taking a nose-dive. Blood flew out of her mouth and trickled down her chin before Kongo slammed Fu into the ground as she did to him earlier. In a rage, Fu grabbed the man's arm and then slammed her foot straight into his face. Kongo groaned as he was pushed up from the force of the kick, and stumbled backwards on his feet. Fu got up, growling angrily as she spat out a wad of blood and glared at Kongo. The man, also now bleeding from his mouth, grinned a bloody grin before the white haired man, Gitai, sprung up above Kongo and threw his fist out of his overly long sleeve, revealing it to be a pillar of rock. Fu sprung back, avoiding the first strike before Kongo slammed into her with his shoulder, sending them both crashing into a very thick tree.
"Fu," Sakura cried out. The pink haired kunoichi gasped as she turned her head to an orange haired woman, shorter than her, as she unleashed a ring of fire towards her.
Sakura jumped forward through the open ring and rolled across the ground, preparing to defend herself. Behind Sakura however, was one of the white dressed men with long blue hair as he unleashed a powerful gust of wind on the weak fire circle. Sakura turned her head when she heard a crackling roar of fire, seeing the giant wave of flames coming at her. Before she could move away, Zaku appeared between her and the fire, arms outstretched as he unleashed a concentrated burst of air that punched a powerful hole through the fireball.
Out from the cinders of the fire came the man with the orange spiky hair, darting right for Zaku. The young Konoha shinobi sprung backwards as the man attempted to grab him with an odd looking gauntlet. The man's fingers dug deep into the ground before he spun around, closer to Zaku, as he tore out a giant chunk of ground and used it to bash Zaku over the head. Ishidate grinned before swinging the earth again at Zaku, only this time it was destroyed by a super-powered punch from Sakura. Zaku groaned, half delirious and disoriented from the powerful blow over his head as he tried to regain his senses before being sidelined by a powerful gust of wind, that smacked him into a tree.
Ishidate grinned before stepping back away from another of Sakura's attacks, holding out his gauntlet hand before drawing another rock into his fingers. "That still won't work," Sakura shouted as she threw her fist forward. Ishidate held the rock out as Sakura's fist crushed it effortlessly. The mercenary however caught Sakura's fist in his hand, and the gauntlet revealed an unusual, menacing eye that began to glow as Sakura's arm started to become heavy, and slowly started to transform into petrified stone. "Wh-what the hell?!"
Ishidate grinned before something caught his attention and he had to avoid a kunai from Anko, who landed and immediately rushed Ishidate with a flurry of kunai and shuriken to keep him away from Sakura.
Sakura immediately began to use her healing jutsu to stop the petrification from spreading, which surprisingly worked. The pink haired kunoichi turned her head when she heard two sets of chuckles, seeing a short, young girl with spiky long hair, and the same orange haired girl from before.
'Oh...damn it...'
The two kunoichi were forced back when Dosu and Kurotsuchi both threw a handful of kunai at them, forcing the enemy away from Sakura. Dosu looked back at Sakura over his shoulder, "You take care of whatever the hell that is, okay?" Sakura nodded as both Dosu and Kurotsuchi launched an attack on their two enemies, keeping them away from their teammate.
Rin launched herself from above on Kusuna. The pink haired man dodged the attack and slid backwards to a halt, grinning at the brunette medic who glared back at him. "Almost had you there..."
"So you think." At Kusuna's words, Rin became confused before she felt a light, gentle cut form across her cheek. Kusuna chuckled before throwing his arms outward, unleashing several dark snakes from his body at Rin.
The kunoichi swung her arm out while jumping backwards, her chakra forming a blade over her hand to chop the snakes apart while dodging them. She continued this for a few more steps, until she stood her ground and began swinging at the snakes wildly. After a few quick moments, Rin realized that they had a hydra effect, that two would grow back as soon as she killed one.
"Damn it," Rin sprung backwards as one of the snakes managed to bite her ankle. She cried out in pain before landing out of the snake's range. Her whole leg felt as though it weighed a ton. She knew she had been poisoned, and immediately pulled out an antidote to inject into the wound.
Rin then turned her head and was forced to dodge a very powerful blade of wind, that managed to cut through the ground itself. She looked to the source, seeing the blue haired shinobi coming to Kusuna's aid.
"Are you alright brother," the blue haired man asked.
"I'm fine, Setsuna," Kusuna replied. "I don't see the Priestess with these clowns anywhere..."
"Me either," Setsuna said. "Shall we just kill them all then?" Kusuna nodded before whistling loudly.
Gitai slammed his stone fists into Fu, sending her flying to Kongo. The Jinchuriki hit the tall man's chest, bouncing off of it before Kongo slammed himself down on top of Fu, pressing all of his weight down on her. Fu let out a muffled cry into the stone before passing out. Kongo and Gitai both turned their heads to the sound of Kusuna whistling before heading back up the hill.
Ishidate dodged a flurry of snakes Anko released from her sleeves, and bounced off a tree, heading towards Kusuna and the others. As the other five shinobi joined on the hill, Kusuna motioned towards the enemy. Gitai slammed his palms together, cackling as he did.
The Alliance shinobi looked around in shock as the earth began to rise up and encase them in utter darkness, forming a large, maze-like complex around them. Gitai opened up an entrance for them as the orange haired kunoichi, Shizuku, unleashed another ring of fire into the entrance. Setsuna formed a hand sign and then unleashed a powerful gust of wind after the ring of fire, causing the simple jutsu to become a giant, wide-spread destructive jutsu. As Gitai began to close the entrance, the cave was suddenly blown open by a giant, white chakra serpent-like entity.
The seven shinobi narrowly avoided the attack and stared in awe before turning back as the caves Gitai built around the enemy began to crumble. Standing at the head of the group, Dosu stood panting heavily with his left arm extended with a clenched fist, and his odd serpent device smoking as he took a bit of fire damage.
"What in the world was that," Setsuna questioned.
"Brother," Gitai muttered, "I'm running low on chakra now!" Shizuku and Setsuna also nodded, implying they were low or out of chakra as well. Kusuna nodded, keeping his eyes on the enemy.
"Alright...we'll withdraw for now..." Kusuna turned towards the enemy and extended his arms, "If you wish to progress further, your lives are forfeit! Ahead lie even greater dangers, and the closer we are to Moryo and our master Yomi, the stronger we will be! You have been warned, shinobi of the Alliance!" In a flash, the seven shinobi disappeared from sight.
Sakura stared at Dosu in awe before the masked boy fell onto his hands and knees, groaning and panting heavily. She stood up to go help him, but a firm hand to her shoulder forced Sakura to sit back down. Anko stared intently at Sakura's stone arm. The young medical ninja shook her head and then focused back on healing it, having nearly forgotten all about it.
Up on the hill, Rin cursed herself before injecting the poison antidote into her bite wound, feeling a painful relief coursing up her leg. She turned and looked ahead to where the enemy fled towards, seeing a mountain far in the distance. Rin nodded, concluding that their objective must lie ahead.
Sakura thankfully finished undoing the stone petrification of her arm with medical treatment, and looked over as Kurotsuchi dragged Zaku over, and Fu came stumbling onto the scene, bruised, broken, and bloodied.
"Oh god, are you alright?" Fu waved her arm at Sakura dismissively, holding her side painfully.
"I'm fine girlie, sheesh," the Jinchuriki groaned. Sakura still looked worried as could be. Fu disregarded the look, and simply took the old 'walk-it-off' solution to her injuries. Rin rejoined the others, staring over as Anko helped Dosu to his feet, before heading over towards Fu.
"You need medical treatment Fu," Rin stated with an air of authority. Fu stared at the medical ninja with a firm glare. The Jinchuriki then huffed, conceding the point that Rin was her superior and senior before turning her head away. Rin's hands began to glow as she started to heal a few of Fu's wounds before looking over at Sakura. "Help Zaku if you can, okay Sakura?"
"Right," the pink haired girl nodded as she went over to her teammate and began to heal the bleeding wound at the top of his head.
"So what the hell were those guys," Kurotsuchi exclaimed loudly. "Those guys in white just bombarded us with ninjutsu, and those bastards with the funny hair used nothing by taijutsu?! How the hell are they that coordinated?"
"It's not that hard after analyzing their abilities," Anko stated as she carried Dosu over to the others. "The enemy in white were eager to throw their jutsus about, like a kid who got his first kunai." Anko set Dosu on the ground, sitting him up against a tree, facing the group. "The three funny looking ones seemed to be the more...seasoned shinobi. They knew how their allies would attack, and left openings for them."
"So they're not in the same group then," Sakura said, concluding that much from her sensei's statements.
"They're apart of the same team, but even an idiot could tell that the guys with the funny hairdos aren't with the Yomi Clan," Fu stated. The Jinchuriki drew in a sharp breath as Rin moved over to a fresh wound, but did her best to block out the pain. "Those three might just be mercenaries of some sort..."
"But why did they leave," Dosu asked. "I used the Eight Branches Strike to save all of our lives. And in the end, the burst I used ended up eating up all my chakra...in the heat of the moment, I didn't exactly have time to worry about how much chakra to use..."
"You still saved our asses, so thanks," Fu replied, staring over at the immobile Chunin. Dosu let out a slightly intrigued breath, feeling a bit of pride for being praised by one as cold as Fu. The Jinchuriki then looked back to the rest of the group. "So the four in the white robes use super powerful ninjutsu...maybe they ran out of chakra?"
"Maybe..." Rin muttered. She stopped healing Fu for a moment, causing the green haired girl to turn her head in curiosity. Rin pulled out an empty vial and then stabbed it into her calf muscle, much to Fu's shock, and eventually everyone elses after they saw what she did. Rin seemed unaffected as her blood was drained into the tiny glass container, as well as some dark essence. Rin pulled the vial out of her calf and quickly stopped the bleeding with some minor healing ninjutsu. She stared at her blood, and saw the dark poison that was in her body swirling around without any movement required. "Dark Chakra..."
"You're joking," Anko muttered.
"The leader of the white robed band, he injected Dark Chakra into me with those snakes of his," Rin stated. A cold chill of fear ran through Sakura's body as she remembered her uncle's description of Dark Chakra.
"Are...are you going to be alright...?" Rin nodded before tossing the vial to the side, the glass breaking and releasing her blood and the poison on the ground.
"That's not pure Dark Chakra, but more of a poisoned form, most likely for killing opponents, rather than beefing up his own comrades," Rin explained. "I injected myself with an antidote, so the toxin will be neutralized, and the Dark Chakra will fade on its own after the poison is gone." Sakura let out a sigh of relief, feeling a heavy weight of worry lifted off of her shoulders. Rin continued to heal Fu, which the Jinchuriki silently appreciated greatly. "The three mercenaries though...that smoke bomb that they threw, I recognize it as a performance dulling powder..." The group, namely Fu, looked at Rin in confusion. "It's a powder that affects the brain and reflexes...it slows down reaction time and perception, making you slower in speed and response time." Rin turned to Fu, directing the comment specifically to her, "Next time, don't just sit there and let them poison you."
"Yeah, yeah," Fu muttered, secretly feeling ashamed.
"Hopefully next time we'll be able to put up a better defense," Dosu stated. "Now that we know the enemy's tactics and all."
"I'm still worried about what they said though," Sakura admitted as she finished healing the wound on Zaku's head. "What if they are stronger? Or there are more shinobi just like them? Just because we understand an enemy's tactics, doesn't mean that we can fight an army of shinobi enhanced on Dark Chakra, or mercenaries more skilled than those three..."
"Then we'll just have to plan our next approach carefully," Rin said with a smile on her face. The team turned to their new, makeshift leader as she continued to heal the Jinchuriki.
Higure panted heavily as fighting his five opponents started to become taxing on him. The swordsmen surrounding him also seemed a bit winded, but the Alliance Commander knew that he would be done for if he didn't do something quick.
'Alright...I've studied their attack patterns enough now. I know I can't escape because of Madara's Sharingan, and I've gotten it down to a science how these other five fight...if I'm off just a little bit in my timing, I could end up dead...'
"While this is all fun and games, I must insist that we wrap this up," Madara stated, staring at Higure. The Uchiha nodded to the swordsmen, who in turn readied to pounce.
Higure's eyes shifted back and forth between his enemies. Before he knew it, he felt a hand on his shoulder that forced him to turn around. Before his mind could register what happened, Madara gripped Higure's throat, preventing him from breathing as he lifted him off of the ground. Madara stared up at him with a single, burning red eye while Higure stared back down at him.
"I'm afraid I have no more time to play," Madara stated. As Higure kicked about weakly to try and break free from Madara's iron grip, he didn't notice as several roots from the ground slowly came up and began to twist and turn, heading up to meet at a singular point. Madara dropped Higure as the roots all tightened around him, holding him in place as they wrapped around him. "In time, these roots will drain you of your chakra, and then your life force. It's a little jutsu I developed over time. I hope you have a good time to rot there while I go claim what I need."
Higure tried to mouth and curse Madara, but roots constricted too tightly around his body. The masked man turned and continued into the forest with the Swordsmen of the Mist following behind him. Higure closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as he imagined that his air would be short once the roots finished closing around him. When the roots all connected, they solidified into a tree, looking odd only in the fact that it was shorter than the other trees in the forest.
"Is it wise to leave him like that," Kushimaru asked as Madara started sprinting. "You know he'll be able to escape that!"
"There's enough chakra in those roots that it will take him some time to break free from them," Madara stated. "Besides, he's more valuable to me alive than dead." Kushimaru sighed and nodded reluctantly in agreement.
Mangetsu looked confused for a moment before turning to Jinin, "Wait, how exactly is that guy gonna break free? He was bound by those root things! Isn't that the First Hokage's ability anyway?"
"Shut your mouth," Jinin stated before moving ahead of Mangetsu. The prodigy groaned and rolled his eyes before Ameyuri joined alongside him.
"I've only heard of the ability," the kunoichi stated, briefly shifting her eyes to Mangetsu. "But Higure is known as the Chakra Leech, in the sense that he can absorb chakra."
"He can what?! You mean like Samehada?!"
Ameyuri shrugged briefly, "To be completely honest I'm not sure. I don't think he can absorb chakra based attacks, but rather he can absorb chakra out of physical objects. As I said before, I haven't seen this ability in person, and have only heard brief whispers about it. But it's an ability that's recognizable enough that it's earned him his moniker."
Mangetsu groaned as he looked ahead, "Damn it...why do we always get the freaks...?"
The Akatsuki team moved through the forests quickly through the Land of Demons, heading towards the Land of Swamps while keeping an eye out for Naruto and now the Priestess. The entire time was spend in silence, which tore Yahiko apart. He knew Konan was upset, and he couldn't blame her for breaking his promise to keep Kiriya under a watchful eye. In truth he was most upset with himself more so than Kiriya. Though he knew an apology to Konan would be pointless, he still hoped to apologize to Naruto whenever they found the blonde Jinchuriki.
While in his own thoughts, Yahiko was interrupted when he heard some leaves rustling from above. Everyone looked up and saw Deidara descending from the sky, flying next to the group of five. "Alright, from what I can tell, our target is a few miles ahead."
"Moryo or Naruto," Konan asked.
"The bigger pain in the ass," Deidara curtly replied. Konan scowled a bit while the artist turned his head forward. "I couldn't see anything noticeable, no army or fortifications, so we might luck out and only have to deal with minimal resistance."
"That wouldn't quite be our luck, now would it," Kiriya mused thoughtfully.
Konan scowled at the young assassin before turning to her more trusty blonde ally, "Deidara, take Obito with you and move on ahead without us. If there are any traps or resistance up ahead, you have free range to let loose!" Deidara grinned eagerly and nodded. Without an order needed, Obito jumped onto the clay bird Deidara rode before they took off high into the sky and shot forward along the winds. 'Be careful...'
"Konan, if you want you and Itachi can move up ahead," Yahiko offered. The blue haired woman turned her head, narrowing her eyes at her fellow Akatsuki founder. "We could cover more ground with your paper wings, and it could help to divide the enemy."
"So then you and Kiriya can just piss off Naruto even more if you find him," Konan accused harshly. Yahiko sighed, knowing he deserved as much.
"Look, I know you're upset by all this, but you can't honestly believe I told Kiriya to agitate Naruto! You know I was in support of hiding his origins from him, to better keep his emotions under control, as well as the Kyuubi." Konan's eyes narrowed as she sighed softly. Yahiko knew the look Konan gave, knowing that she agreed with him for better or for worse. Without saying a word, papers flew out of Konan's cloak and formed a pair of wings on her back. "Thank you for trusting me Konan..."
"I trust you, but I don't trust him," Konan snapped, glaring at the silver haired assassin. "Itachi stays with you. I'll move on ahead by myself." Konan turned to the young Uchiha, who simply nodded before she needed to say anything. Konan smiled at him with appreciation before flying up into the sky before Yahiko could protest her going alone.
"Damn it," Yahiko muttered.
"You can't blame her really," Itachi stated, turning to Yahiko with a half-apologetic look. "I mean, I don't even trust this kid."
"I'm right here," Kiriya said, looking at the older shinobi.
"And I'm just being honest with you." Kiriya huffed bitterly and turned away from Itachi. Yahiko sighed and nodded before looking at Itachi, whose eyes stayed forward to the mission.
'This guy...maybe we should consider giving him a promotion...' Yahiko knew that Itachi was wise and skilled far beyond his years, but he had very few chances to actually work alongside him. It was odd, but even with the limited interaction he had with Itachi on this mission, he couldn't help but feel as though the young man was his peer, rather than a subordinate. Yahiko made a mental note to consider Itachi for the leader status he, Konan, Nagato, Jiraiya, and Tsunade held when they returned home.
Yahiko turned his head forward, eyes focused and determined to finish the mission, and to make amends with Naruto when they found him.
Naruto sneezed loudly, causing a flock of birds to scatter from the treetops, crowing loudly as they did. Taruho, Miko, and Shion all turned and stared at the young man for his loud outburst as he rubbed his nose. "Aren't you ninjas supposed to be quiet," Shion asked angrily, shaking her arm angrily at Naruto.
"Sorry about that," Naruto muttered, having grown impatient with the Priestess's snobbish attitude. Naruto held his tongue though, having been taught to do so when dealing with some members of Akatsuki, and also because Shion reminded him of a certain princess, now Daimyo, he helped not too long ago and how she changed by the end of their adventure together. Naruto simply hoped that Shion could change as well by the end of their encounter as Koyuki did.
"Lady Shion," Miko asked as she carried the Priestess on her back, "have you had any visions lately?" Shion shook her head, narrowing her eyes softly as she seemingly tried to ignore the question.
"Huh? Visions?"
Taruho nodded as he looked to Naruto, "Lady Shion, as the High Priestess of the Land of Demons, has an inherit ability that allows her to foresee other people's deaths." Naruto blinked as he stared at the bodyguard with a blank gaze. Taruho looked over to Shion being carried on Miko's back and continued. "It's a way to protect herself, as she can foresee her own death, and in turn change it from happening. This way, someone else can die in order for Lady Shion to live."
"Wait...so just because some little girl tells you she might die, other people throw their lives away for her..." Naruto turned and looked at Shion, who wasn't even paying attention to him. The Jinchuriki scowled angrily and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well that's really fuckin' stupid!"
"Naruto, please," Taruho said, stepping forward a bit more, now in front of the blonde a little ways. "You must understand Lady Shion's importance. We all have pledged an oath to lay down our lives for Lady Shion. Surely you must have someone important to you as well who you would lay down your life for."
Naruto turned his head away as several important people came to mind, before turning back to Taruho. "Well yeah, but that's different. I wouldn't risk my life just because one of my comrades is afraid to die or something because they had a bad dream."
"Lady Shion's predictions..." Taruho sighed, staring down at the ground. Naruto gave the man a confused look before the bodyguard moved his eyes back to him. "Lady Shion has predicted over one hundred, accurate, specific deaths for people she knew. And has been right on how it will specifically happen every single time."
"E-e-e-every time," Naruto asked, a cold sweat running down his face out of fear.
"That's right," Miko replied with an all too cheerful tone. "Lady Shion's gift is truly an amazing thing when you think about it!"
Naruto's eye twitched nervously at Miko's chipper attitude towards such a morbid ability. "Yeah, amazing isn't exactly the term I'd use..."
A loud rustling in the leaves caused everyone's attention to turn upwards, and their voices to become silenced. Naruto's eyes scanned his surroundings while Taruho unsheathed his sword, running next to Miko and Shion's side. The Priestess clung to Miko fearfully while frantically looking around at the tree tops, while Miko remained surprisingly calm, eyes unfocused and staring down.
A man in a black, hooded robe shot out of the bushes and rushed towards Miko and Shion. Taruho immediately moved in the way and swung down with his sword. The man lifted his arm up, as his limb became an enlarged, slid block of wood that took the sword with no effort or pain shown. Taruho gasped in shock before he was thrown to the side by the man.
As he hit the ground, Taruho slid across the wet ground before looking up at the attacker, "Wh-what the...?"
The man took the sword out of his wooden arm while Miko attempted to run with Shion. As she did, the two women were cut off by another man in an identical cloak, hood and mask covering his face. "Oh no," Miko murmured.
A furious cry was heard as the masked man turned and received a powerful blow to the face from Naruto's fist. The man was thrown back like a rag-doll and slammed into the nearest tree, splinters and chunks of wood flying out from impact. Naruto turned to the original attacker, now armed with a sword, and growled.
"You bastards aren't gettin' anywhere near the Priestess, ya hear me?!" Miko and Shion both looked on in shock at Naruto's statement, before many more cloaked, masked men arrived out of the woodwork, making nearly a dozen of them. Naruto looked around, undaunted from his anger as he was vastly outnumbered. The Jinchuriki grinned and huffed, "Good...I was hoping to take my anger out on something!"
The attacker Naruto punched into a tree stood up, revealing to be unscathed, though his face was deformed as if Naruto hit a dent into solid wood. The Jinchuriki created a small mob of shadow clones before charging at all the enemies.
Shion gasped softly as she became paralyzed, her eyes lighting up as an odd geometric pattern spun around her eyes. Miko turned her head, recognizing the tenseness of Shion's body as well as the blank look on her face. "Oh not now..."
A few of the Naruto clones were defeated within a few short seconds by the highly trained cloaked ANBU looking shinobi, but a few of them were forced onto the defensive from the blonde attackers. The real Naruto managed to take on two of the enemies at once, holding his own fairly well. Naruto slammed his fist into one of the shinobi's gut, throwing them across the clearing before seeing a pair of them heading towards Miko and Shion.
"Damn it!" Naruto ignored his original opponent and rushed towards the other two to save the Priestess. The blonde wrapped his arms around one of the opponent's waist, bending backwards to slam the ANBU's neck against the ground with a loud crack. Naruto quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed the last attacker, who now turned to him. Naruto created two shadow clones, both grabbed the real Naruto's arm with both of their hands. The clones then threw Naruto forward, giving him extra momentum as he rocketed towards the ANBU opponent. "Uzumaki Slingshot!"
Naruto slammed his fist into the man's face, shattering his mask and breaking something else. The man flew backwards, landing on his shoulder before bouncing on his face and back a few times and then rolling to a stop. Naruto grinned cockily before the man he just punched started to stand up effortlessly. The man's face was revealed to be dented, and slightly discolored like that of wood. Naruto gasped before turning to the man he was sure whose neck he broke with a suplex, only to see that one get up and crack his head back into position.
"Wait a second..." Naruto looked to the other ANBU opponent whose mask he broke, and realized that the two maskless shinobi had the exact same face. "What the hell is going on here?!"
"They're all the same opponents," Taruho questioned as he reclaimed his sword. "Could they be shadow clones...?"
"No, they're made of wood," Naruto exclaimed angrily. "But...I know this guy...these guys, whatever! He died during my last mission in Takigakure! How is he still alive?!"
"Cover me while I try to get the Priestess out of here," Miko shouted as she started moving towards an opening.
"Where the hell is she going," Naruto screamed angrily. "Why does she think splitting up is helpful now?!"
"It must have been one of her visions," Taruho shouted as he swung his sword at one of the ninjas, who side stepped and avoided each strike simply. "It's Miko and my duty to protect Lady Shion's life, even a the cost of our own!"
Naruto's frustration with the situation grew before he formed a Rasengan in his hand, and then slammed it in the stomach of one of the wooden puppet, blowing it away into a tree. The clone slowly began healing its damage, much to Naruto and Taruho's shock.
"Damn it! What does it take to kill these things?!"
Miko gently jumped over a few obstacles with Shion on her back, eyes darting around from place to place, "I don't see what you're talking about Lady Shion..."
"There," Shion shouted, pointing to a tree. "That's what I saw in my vision!" Miko nodded and turned her head towards the sound of the enemy's pursuit. Four of the cloaked enemies sprung down from above. Miko spun around on the ground, gently throwing Shion off her back. The Priestess cried out loudly as she hit and rolled across the ground. "What the hell Miko?! You couldn't be a little more gentle?!"
"Do what you need to do milady," Miko shouted as one of the attackers threw a fist at the Priestess's aid. Much to Shion's shock, the older lady blocked the strike, spun the enemy around and threw it stumbling away from the Priestess. The next two began their assault on Miko, who managed to avoid and block their attacks one at a time, keeping them at bay.
Shion stared in awe as she watched her aid move around gracefully, skillfully between the two foes, effortlessly keeping them on the ropes. In Shion's eyes, it seemed as though the older woman wasn't even trying. The Priestess shook her head before running over to the tree she saw in her vision.
Shion began beating her hands on the tree, "I know you're in there! Please, we need help!" The two remaining foes landed on the ground around Shion, causing the Priestess to gasp and fall on her backside. The two slowly approached her as the blonde trembled.
Miko turned her head, seeing the Priestess in danger. She blocked a strike with her open palm and then kicked one of the clones in the gut, causing it to stumble back before ducking under the second one. Miko threw a rope dart at one of the foes threatening Shion, penetrating its chest. Miko stepped back away from one of her opponent's strikes, then blocked a follow up strike with the rope before yanking it towards her.
One of the clones was forcefully jerked off its feet, being pulled to the side off the. The other clone paid no mind to its partner as it moved in towards Shion. The Priestess cried out loudly for someone to help. The tree next to Shion was broken open like brittle glass as a hand griped the wood clone's arm, preventing it from grabbing Shion.
A uniformed man with green eyes and light brown hair broke out of the tree and immediately slammed his fist into the wood clone's face, shattering the mask, and releasing a powerful burst of chakra that blew the clone's entire head off. Shion stared up in shock at the man she saw in her vision less than five minutes ago.
Higure groaned as he rolled his arm to stretch out his shoulder, "Sheesh...this is what I get for wanting to take a brief nap." The Alliance Commander sighed as he put both hands on his hips before turning to the Priestess Shion.
Shion gasped as she saw the man's headband, a detail she didn't remember in her vision. "Y-you're of the Alliance...?"
"Regretfully," Higure replied before turning to the headless wooden ninja. The Commanders' eyes widened as something shot out of the headless torso. "Watch out!" Higure grabbed Shion and jumped out of the way as a mass of white, tiny snakes shot at the two. "What the hell...?" The snakes turned back around and shot at Shion and Higure again. The shinobi cursed mentally as he pulled out a kunai, knowing he couldn't dodge.
Shion's eyes widened as she felt something overcome her senses. A bright flash of light occurred, creating a barrier of a strange chakra type around the Priestess and the Commander. The snakes hit the barrier, and were instantly incinerated on contact. Higure looked on in shock before turning to Shion who was just as surprised as he was. The Commander looked as Shion's bell, sensing the power coming from the small item itself.
'What in the world...'
Shion cried out while Higure blinked in shock as the barrier broke apart, shooting beams of light chakra into each of the other wooden clones, slicing them in half. Miko stared in confusion and awe as her enemies were cut down in front of her. Three masses of snakes came out of the wooden clones, and were once again wiped out by another blast of chakra from Shion's bell.
Higure landed on the ground with Shion in hand, eyes larger than before as he looked again at Shion's bell. "What the hell...?"
Before Higure could finish his sentence, he was forcefully smacked across the face by a blushing Priestess, "YOU PERVERT!" The Commander fell to the ground, groaning as he held the side of his now swelled face.
"OW! Jeez! I was looking at that bell, you psychotic girl!"
Shion huffed, covering her chest by pulling her jacket closed, turning her back to him and putting her arms over her bosom, "Yeah, sure, THAT'S your excuse!" Higure groaned as stood up, still rubbing the side of his face.
"Is that how you thank someone for saving your life? You were the one who screamed at me from outside that tree."
Shion huffed again, glaring at Higure, "What kind of freak hides inside of a tree anyway?"
"Not exactly my choice..." The Commander turned his head as Miko approached them. Higure stared the aid down as she stood next to the Priestess.
"Thank you for saving the Priestess," Miko said, staring hard at Higure.
"I take it you people really don't like the Alliance...would you believe that's something we have in common?" The two women narrowed their eyes disbelievingly at the Commander. Higure sighed, brows pulling together as he smiled warily. "Figured as much..."
"Lady Shion!" Miko, Shion, and Higure turned to the sound of Taruho's voice, seeing him and Naruto run onto the scene. Taruho gasped when he saw an Alliance shinobi and ran faster towards the Priestess. "Lady Shion!"
Naruto paused for a second and saw Higure, eyes widening with shock, "Hey, you're-,"
"Naruto," Higure exclaimed.
"Higure!" Naruto ran towards the Alliance Commander, shocking the three Land of Demons natives as they watched. The Jinchuriki grinned and looked up at him, "What the hell are you doing way out here?"
"Uh..." Higure stared at Naruto with an awkward smile on his face before reluctantly pointing up at his headband. "I uh...I was...brought out of retirement..."
"Forcefully too I bet," Naruto growled. The blonde crossed his arms, staring firmly at the Commander, "I don't believe for a second that you would have willingly come out of retirement! Not after what Jiraiya told me about you!" Higure blinked with a dumbfounded expression before rubbing the back of his head with a small smile on his face.
Higure looked up and quickly shoved Naruto out to the side, "Look out!" He threw a kunai with a paper bomb at the end of it, sticking into one of the wood clones before it exploded. "How many is that down so far...four on our end, thanks to the Priestess."
"Naruto managed to incapacitate most of the enemies on our end, about eight in total," Taruho said as he readied a bow and arrow, looking around for any other attackers. "And then you just destroyed that one..."
"So there were at least a dozen," Higure said as his eyes darted back and forth. "Which means there's still more than half of them left...be cautious when you kill one! They've got some weird snake creatures inside them that attack once the clones are destroyed!"
"Are you kidding me," Naruto muttered, just in time for the remainder of the cloaked enemies to circle them from above.
"Stay close to the Priestess," Higure advised. "She has an...odd jutsu that protects her from harm." Taruho turned to the Alliance Commander in shock that he somehow knew that. Higure's eyes looked over the enemy quickly, counting them in his head. "Six, seven...alright, there are exactly seven of them left..." Higure turned to Miko and Taruho, glancing at the Priestess before turning back to them. "If Naruto and I handle them, do you two think you can protect Shion?"
The blonde girl huffed and glared at Higure, "Why would an Alliance shinobi like yourself care about my safe being?"
"One, you're a little girl," to this Shion immediately became outraged and offended, "Two, you're the only one who can stop Moryo, and three, that bell thing of yours is quite useful."
"Here they come," Naruto shouted before readying two kunai.
"You cover one flank, I'll get the other," Higure ordered before he and Naruto shot off in two different directions.
The two shinobi ducked between their opponents' strikes and retaliated accordingly, drawing their attention away from their original target, Shion. Higure ducked and danced around his opponent's attacks, watching carefully as to how they attacked and their particular control over the Wood Style jutsu. Higure then sprung back from one opponent and then performed a series of hand signs.
"Wind Style: Razor Whip!" Higure inhaled and then quickly exhaled a compressed blade of wind that he send flying out of his mouth. The blade sliced one of wood clones in half, while cutting the arm off of another. The one sliced in half produced a large number of white snakes that came at Higure, who began performing another jutsu. "Wind style: Vacuum Great Sphere!" Again, Higure took a deep breath and then exhaled it with enough force to send a giant ball of wind out of his mouth. The wind collided with the mass of snakes that lunged at him, shredding a few of the snakes upon impact before Higure threw his arm downward with two fingers extended. The ball of compressed wind exploded, releasing several more, smaller balls of wind that tore through and ripped the remaining snakes to pieces. Higure looked at the clone that lost its arm, noticing the very slow healing process it was attempting. 'They can heal themselves too, like the First...'
"Wow," Shion murmured as she watched Higure. The young Priestess was in shock to say the least, never having seen a real shinobi fight in combat before. Shion then turned to Naruto, who was using brute force to keep his enemies at bay.
The blonde laughed as he made sport of his foes, easily avoiding their strikes and projectiles. Naruto formed two shadow clones, one on either side and pulled his arms back. In both hands, Naruto formed a Rasengan, which the two clones took from him by placing their hands over the orbs, turned and slammed the balls of chakra into the guts of two wooden clones.
Naruto stepped back as one clone, who sharpened their arm to a pike, attempted to stab him. Naruto grabbed the wooden arm and broke it off effortlessly before slapping the end of it and shoving it into the chest of the clone. He sprung backwards a few seconds before the explosive tag he placed on the pike went off, consuming the wooden clone and one other in the blast.
"I got two down over here! Two left!"
Higure twirled four shuriken on each finger of his right hand before throwing them forward, followed by four more shuriken in his left hand. "Wind Style: Vacuum Blade!" The shuriken then became encased with wind chakra, turning them into wide, deadly fan-like blades with a razor sharp edge. The first four shuriken sliced through and shredded one clone to multch. Higure pulled his right arm backwards and swung his left to the side. The four shuriken came flying back, slicing the surviving white snakes to pieces.
Naruto's eyes widened a bit as he wondered how Higure controlled the shuriken, before seeing a faint glimmer of sunlight off what he concluded to be razor wire.
Higure's left batch of shuriken shredded another clone before he sent the right batch to cut up the remains. He moved his arms about as the three remaining clones converged on him. One of them began performing hand seals while the other two defended.
"Wood Style: Smothering Binding Technique!" The wood clone's arm transformed drastically, ripping the sleeve and part of its cloak, taking the shape of a tree. The arm then sprouted countless branches which all shot towards Higure.
Higure's fingers twitched as the shuriken came back to him, and he spun all eight of them in front of him as a wall of defense. The wooden roots were cut away, leaving hundreds of wooden chips around the Alliance Commander's feet. Higure then inhaled a little, causing the two defensive clones to lean forward in confusion and shock. Then exhaled sharply, firing a single bullet of compressed wind chakra out from his mouth, past his wind shuriken, that then pierced the clone caster's chest.
Higure then took that moment to spin around as the Wood Style jutsu stopped, swinging the wind shuriken around, and even using the razor wire, to slice through the remaining three clones, and proceeded to continually whip them back and forth, slicing them to pieces to ensure that they and the snakes inside of them were destroyed.
After a few moments of swinging his arms, Higure retracted the shuriken and wire, letting out a sigh of relief as he gave his arms a break. Everyone else, Naruto included, simply stared in awe at what they just witnessed before Higure put his equipment back in his pouch.
"I haven't had to do that in awhile..."
Naruto laughed loudly before jumping in the air, "That was freaking amazing! You've gotta teach me that!" Higure smiled with a huff as he turned to Naruto. His smile vanished quickly, causing Naruto to look at him confused.
"Watch out!" Naruto turned his head and was quickly engulfed in darkness.
"H-hey, who the hell turned out the lights?!" Naruto started to swing his hands around in the darkness, unable to see anything. The blonde eventually hit something hard with the back of his hand, causing him to cringe and hold his hand. "Ow...that felt like...wood?" Naruto's body ran cold with fear before he started pounding on the wooden wall before forming a Rasengan in his hand. "Let me the hell out!" The blonde slammed the orb into the wall, chipping away at it slowly. A thought occurred to Naruto, as he suddenly recalled the white snakes inside of the wood clones. "Shi-," Naruto turned just as he barely saw the glimmer of a small horde of snakes fly at him with his mouth open.
The snakes dove right down Naruto's mouth, causing him to gag as hundreds of tiny creatures filled his body. Naruto fell to his hands and knees when it was done, coughing and hacking furiously, drool spilling out of his mouth as he felt as though the snakes were slithering all throughout his body.
"S-shit..." Naruto went into a coughing fit, curling up into a ball on the ground as he fell on his side, trembling as his strength started to leave him. "G-get the hell outta me!"
"Hn...it's always something with you, isn't it Uzumaki brat?"
"Oh sh-shut up," Naruto groaned painfully as his body twitched erratically.
"First the little sword boy gets on your nerves, now you swallow a horde of snakes. Consider my helping you here a gift," the Kyuubi said with a dark, brooding voice. "These things are...dangerous, and I don't want them killing you...after all, you die, I die remember?"
"Wh-what a cryin' shame that would be," Naruto said, forcing a pain ridden grin on his face.
The Kyuubi huffed before it started coursing its chakra throughout Naruto's body, causing his chakra to form a shroud around the boy. Naruto felt his strength returning, but he also felt the snakes still slithering throughout his body.
"What the...?! These things are taking my chakra!"
"Then stop feeding it to them," Naruto shouted angrily. Whether it was his own temper of the fox's influence he wasn't sure.
"Damn these things! What the hell are they!?"
Naruto looked up as sunlight hit him following the loud cracking of wood, unaware of his increasingly demonic appearance. Higure's face immediately shifted to worry as he ran towards the boy. "Damn it, now is not the time to be losing control of that!" Shion and Taruho stared in horror as their ally appeared, to them, to be a demon of sorts while Miko simply stared silently.
As soon as Higure stepped inside the wooden dome, several spikes shot towards him. He easily dodged the spikes and tackled Naruto to the ground. The blonde, now having lost control of himself again and seeing everyone as a thing to attack. Higure slammed his hand on Naruto's stomach, tearing through his cloak and undershirt, revealing his bare stomach. Naruto cried out a bit as something gripped his insides painfully.
"Stop him! He's going to hinder me from killing these snakes!"
'You're doing a shit job of it anyway,' Naruto angrily shouted back at the demon in his mind.
A seal appeared on Naruto's stomach, and Higure's hand began to glow with chakra, along with the seal on the boy. Higure grunted loudly as he surged his own chakra into the seal, repressing the Kyuubi a little bit. The Alliance Commander's eyes widened a bit as he sensed something else in Naruto's body.
'Damn it...did those snakes get to him?' Naruto roared angrily, catching Higure's attention. The boy threw his fist at the Commander's face, causing him to jerk his head to the side to avoid the strike. The chakra shroud extended its arm, punching a large hole through the top of the wooden prison. Naruto screamed loudly as the Kyuubi was trying to fight to stay in control and kill the snakes, while Higure tried to force the Kyuubi back into submission.
Finally, Naruto's body began shaking hard, as his eyes rolled back up into his head and the Kyuubi's chakra faded all at once. Higure looked on in confusion before the snakes forcibly shot out of Naruto's mouth, landing in a pool of what appeared to be liquid. As Higure, Shion, Taruho, and Miko looked on in disgust and confusion, the wooden dome began to collapse, collapsing away like brittle paper.
The pool of snakes began slithering about wildly before forming together, taking on one singular shape. Higure watched in awe as the snakes combined together from hundreds, maybe even thousands, of tiny creatures into one whole being. The creature took the shape of a young boy, naked with dark, spiky hair. Before its imagine could become complete, a burst of chakra surrounded it, like a brief lighting of a match, before engulfing the being in a dark red chakra shroud, much darker than Naruto's.
"Oh...crap," Higure muttered.
The being lowered its head, four chakra tails moving about behind it as it grew to large, glowing red eyes, pointed teeth, and two large ears, looking like a demonic fox. The creature's eyes narrowed as it let out a low, deep growl with smoke rolling out of its mouth.
So, I know I've told some people that I have the next few chapters already written out, just need editing, and whatnot, which is true. So, sorry about not updating more, but I figure from now on I'll try to put myself on a schedule of monthly updates. Shitty, I know, but at least that way I can get ahead of the game with this story.
Let me know what you all think of me trying to get a monthly schedule habit worked out. Also, let me know what you all think of the chapter. Hope you all enjoyed ^^