Higure grabbed Naruto and ran towards the exit, "Go! Run now!"
"Come milady," Miko said, grabbing the Priestess's arm before running the opposite way. Shion cried out, having suddenly been yanked away from standing still. Taruho ran with Miko and Shion, though the Priestess's aide was much faster.
Higure got to the exit of what was left of the prison before a large explosion from within sent him flying out. The Commander flipped around and landed on his feet, facing the destroyed area where the demonic clone stood, staring blankly at its surroundings. Higure ensured that the clone wasn't looking before placing Naruto in a safe location and then rushing towards the clone.
He got the clone's attention as soon as he came into sight, and it immediately pursued Higure. 'So that thing is a copy of some sort, of Naruto, and it somehow got some of the Kyuubi's chakra. That means it doesn't have a seal on it anywhere...meaning stopping that demon chakra is going to be a serious pain...'
The clone growled deeply before launching its arm forward. Higure turned his head and saw a chakra arm flying towards him. The Commander pressed both of his feet against a tree and shot backwards, just above the chakra arm. The Naruto clone snapped its head up with a surprised grunt before Higure flipped backwards and kicked it in the top of the head with enough force to send it crashing into the ground. Higure landed on a tree branch and looked down at the dust that was raised by the clone crashing down below.
Within seconds, another chakra arm shot up at Higure. He jerked his head back, narrowly avoiding the attack before jumping backwards. The clone sprung out from the ground, shocking Higure with a small Tailed Beast Bomb in its mouth. The Commander gasped loudly before the clone launched the chakra bomb, which tore through trees and branches with ease before detonating.
The Naruto clone growled as it looked at its destructive jutsu eat away at the forest before it stopped expanding into a violent explosion. The clone's head snapped to the side when it saw something breaking out from the blast. It lunged forward as Higure came into sight, roaring angrily as it pulled back its arms to strike. The Commander flipped backwards as the clone swung both of its arms inward, narrowly missing the Alliance shinobi. Higure looked up at the clone, hanging upside down, before throwing both feet in the air at the clone's chin. The hit landed with a loud boom, releasing a bit of a shockwave from the force alone. The clone growled as it swung again at Higure, who spun around to the side and slapped a paper bomb on its arm. The tag almost instantly exploded, sending the clone spinning and crashing into a tree.
Higure landed on the side of a tree, standing straight up, parallel from the ground. His clothes were a bit tattered, and his hair was more unsettled as he looked at the clone scrape itself out of the tree slowly. 'Physical attacks do next to nothing to it...even explosions don't seem to affect it. This thing is obviously durable...but it's dumb and behaves like an animal...could that be because of the fox's influence?'
Kin's eyes snapped open as she felt an overwhelming power spike suddenly. She felt a bit of sweat run down the back of her neck as she wondered where the power came from exactly. Kin turned her head towards the makeshift map she had set up in a grid, wondering what could have caused the power spike.
'The only ones should be Alliance...they...they wouldn't have sent a Jinchuriki...would they...?' Kin scowled and then formed a hand sign. The clone of herself arrived, staring mindlessly ahead. "Go find this power source..."
"There's no need," a voice echoed. Kin turned her head to Yomi sitting in his seat at the front of Moryo's seal. The dark haired man groaned a little as he looked up at Kin, sitting up as a light sweat covered his face. "Moryo tells me the source of the power is a Bijuu..."
"So...the Alliance did send a Jinchuriki," Kin muttered. The black haired girl scowled and clenched her fists a bit. 'Why didn't Orochimaru tell me...?'
"No..." Kin's eyes narrowed a little more as Yomi closed his. "You said the Kyuubi wasn't in possession of the Alliance, correct?" The black haired girl gasped loudly as what the dark man said clicked in her head.
"The...the Kyuubi Jinchuriki is here?! Akatsuki is here too, damn it!" Kin turned back to her map and formed a hand sign. She waited for a moment and nothing happened before she performed the seal again, exhaling sharply. "What the...where the hell are my wood clones?!" Kin's eyes widened before she looked back at the grid, "They...they couldn't be all destroyed already, could they?!"
"I don't sense the First Hokage's chakra signature anywhere," Yomi stated. Kin scowled, but contained herself, mentally wondering with a bitter tone why he didn't share it sooner. She also couldn't help but wonder what destroyed her clones; Akatsuki of the Allaince. "The Priestess's chakra, reminiscent to that of Miroku's, was used a while ago. Moryo used his powers to see what had happened..."
Kin turned her head, narrowing her eyes a bit as the man's words sparked her interest, "He can...see what happened...?"
"The Priestess's ability allows her to predict the future...those who bear the name Yomi, have the ability to see what is transpiring within a certain range of their location. As such, I've witnessed the destruction of your wooden puppets at the hands of a blonde boy, the Priestess Shion, and a man from the Alliance...a Commander apparently." Kin lowered her head, growling angrily that Naruto and whoever the Commander was defeated her twelve clones. Though it answered her question at least. Yomi sighed, the sound echoing throughout the empty mountain. "As such...there is also a masked man with five shinobi, most of them specializing in the art of the sword...they're from Kirigakure..."
'The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist...they're here too? How in the world did they get here so quickly...?' Kin's mind began to sift through information before she remembered the mention of the masked man. 'Could that be the man Orochimaru warned me about? If so...' Kin scowled, clenching the cloth of her pants as everything began to fall apart around her plan. The black haired woman turned to Yomi, who met her gaze calmly. "Could you use your Ghost Army to keep the enemy away...? I'm afraid I didn't calculate such...resistance."
Yomi smirked with a smug look before huffing dismissively. Kin could feel the man's condescension flowing off of him, despite the terrible condition he was in. Yomi opened his eyes as they began to glow red for a brief second, startling Kin ever so slightly. As Yomi's eyes returned to normal, he let out a soft sigh. "The Ghost Army has been sent out as a first line of defense. If you're so worried about your Alliance friends finding out about your involvement, I'll send my forces to stop them so that your forces may attempt to stop this Akatsuki group, and the masked man."
Kin growled a little before trying to think of how to divide her forces before looking back at Yomi, "I was hoping we could handle the masked man and the Kiri forces together...the masked man is allegedly Madara Uchiha..."
Yomi's eyes widened before crying out loudly, once again startling Kin. The man screamed for awhile, his veins bulging as dark chakra shrouded his body. As the man stopped screaming, he lifted his head up, looking panicked and in pain as a dark voice that didn't belong to Yomi spoke through him, "Madara...Uchiha..." Kin shuddered a bit, concerned for her safety before Yomi looked up at her and spoke through his normal voice, "Moryo...will send the Ghost Army to stop them..."
Kin nodded, relieved that Madara was taken care of. Yomi sighed as he leaned back in his seat, placing a hand over his face as he let out a low sigh. Kin turned back to her grid, eyes narrowed and calculating the information presented to her. Namely, Moryo's fear of Madara Uchiha.
Higure narrowly avoided the Naruto clone's arm as it tore through a tree behind him. The Alliance Commander jumped down to the ground from the treetops, trying to break the clone's line of sight to him, which worked for a few short moments.
"Damn him," Higure cursed. He was nearly out of kunai and other weapons, minus his scrolls, and was running out of ideas quickly. A sphere of light appeared around Higure suddenly, much to his confusion and surprise. "What in the world...?" While Higure was distracted, a powerful force impacted the barrier, pushing it and Higure into the ground, unharmed, a little ways. The Commander looked back as the Naruto clone sprung away, growling angrily at him.
The clone looked around, trying to clearly find the source of the barrier. Higure sensed the chakra signature being similar to Shion's, and began carefully looking for the Priestess. Suddenly, a large purple design appeared on the ground around the mindless clone, startling both it and Higure. Both of them turned and looked towards the side, seeing Shion standing there with her arm outstretched as she began performing a series of odd, one handed ninjutsu seals.
"Sealing Ritual: Commence!" A powerful, invisible chakra then forced itself down on the clone with enough force to restrain its movements. The clone growled menacingly, its glowing red eyes burning on the Priestess who remained firm as she exerted a large amount of chakra to seal the clone. "If you're truly a demon, then I will seal you away forever!" Shion panted heavily, her face covered in sweat as her chakra flowed visibly around her.
Higure narrowed his eyes as he studied Shion, 'She's pushing herself...has she never practiced this jutsu before or what?'
Several beams of light shot up from the seal below the clone and bound its arms and legs and body. The chakra shroud began to wane, much to the clone's anger as it roared loudly. Shion became startled at this, the sealing jutsu weakening ever so slightly. The clone felt this and then charged a quick Tailed Beast Bomb, faster than Higure or Shion expected. The demonic clone then launched the ball towards the Priestess, which broke the barrier around the seal immediately.
"Shit," Higure shouted as he rushed towards the Priestess.
Shion stared in pure terror as the Tailed Beast Bomb came flying towards her. The Priestess was suddenly grabbed and shielded by someone. She looked up, seeing Naruto holding her with his back turned to the Bomb, much to her shock. The blondes braced themselves before the jutsu went off, exploding in their proximity.
Higure stopped in his tracks, staring in horror, "No..." Miko appeared nearby, looking on in horror.
As the smoke began to clear, Naruto and Shion were revealed to be alive, the latter being completely unscathed. They both seemed shocked that they were both in one piece however, expressing their surprise to one another through silent stares before turning around and seeing a smoking pile of remains behind Naruto.
Shion gasped loudly before moving out of Naruto's arms and running towards the remains, "NO! Taruho!" Naruto's face changed into one of sorrow and regret, watching as Shion sobbed and screamed over the pile of ashes. "TARUHO!"
The Naruto clone growled, seemingly grinning as the Sealing Ritual Shion stared was waning, almost fading completely. As the clone readied itself to attack, the seal suddenly restarted itself just as strong as before. The clone, Miko, Shion, and Naruto turned towards the source of the power surge, seeing Higure holding a hand sign as he pumped his own chakra into the seal.
"How in the world..." Miko muttered in confusion. After examining it quickly, Miko managed to see how he had done it. 'He was able to understand the basics of the Sealing Ritual...and with it, he managed to use his own chakra to hold and strengthen to seal. However, the Ritual can't be finished with anyone but the Priestess's chakra. Surely he must have realized this...' Miko turned towards Shion, her expression firm. "Lady Shion! You must finish the Sealing Ritual if we're to have a chance to stop this monster!"
The blonde woman became teary eyed before staring down at the ashes with remorse and longing. A firm hand was placed on Shion's shoulder, causing her to look up at Naruto. "Come on Shion," Naruto muttered, expressing his own sadness towards Taruho's sacrifice. Shion bit her lower lip to keep from bawling as Naruto tightened his grip. "Do it for Taruho!"
Shion stood up and continued her hand signs from before without another word. Naruto stepped back and stared at her while Higure released his chakra from the jutsu. The demonic clone roared angrily in defiance, but could do nothing as the Kyuubi's chakra slowly started to become sealed up within its body. Shion screamed angrily as she put all her might into the Sealing Ritual, completely sealing away the Kyuubi's power.
What remained was a naked clone of Naruto, with darkened, scaled skin, and an odd tail coming out from its lower back. The clone stared at the Priestess angrily as the Sealing Ritual faded from the ground. Defenseless and powerless, the clone immediately turned around and fled into the woods. Shion fell to her knees, again staring at the pile of ashes that was Taruho, and cried softly.
Naruto looked down at the Priestess with sadness, while Higure stared in the direction the clone ran off, and Miko staring at the Priestess. Naruto knelt next to Shion and placed a hand on her back, "I'm sorry Shion..."
The Priestess smacked Naruto's arm away and glared furiously at him, "Don't apologize! It's your fault damn it!" Naruto looked at the Priestess with bewilderment and confusion as she stood up and glared at the Jinchuriki. "You're the one that thing spawned from! You're the one with the demon inside of you that gave birth to that thing! It's your fault you...you son of a-,"
"Lady Shion!" The Priestess was snapped out of her anger as she looked over at Miko, who approached them both. "Please...restrain yourself. Taruho meant a lot to me as well, but that's no reason to blame Naruto."
Shion looked up at her aid with teary eyes before turning away, clenching her hands into fists, "I can't...I just..."
"Naruto, as well as the rest of Akatsuki has only good intentions for you Lady Shion." The Priestess scoffed before glaring back at Naruto. Miko looked at Shion and turned the young lady towards her, making the Priestess look up at her. Miko gave a wary sigh and embraced the Priestess in a firm hug, to which Shion returned, sobbing quietly into Miko's shoulder.
Naruto looked down quietly, his heart weighing heavily with regret as Shion's words and anger struck a cord with him. He felt guilty that he let himself get caught by those wooden clones, and that those weird snakes cloned him and the Kyuubi to create the monster that killed Taruho. Despite the fact that in the back of his mind, Naruto knew that he had no real control over any of those events, the guilt was eating away at him. The blonde clenched his fists and then turned and ran off towards the direction his doppelganger went towards.
Naruto was stopped partway by a firm hand catching his shoulder. The Jinchuriki looked up to Higure who had stopped him, giving a questioning gaze to the younger shinobi. "Where are you going exactly?"
"I'm going to finish that clone of mine," Naruto growled furiously. "There's no way I'm letting it get away with what it's done!"
"It's gone. And Shion sealed the Kyuubi's chakra inside of that...thing. Judging from the complexity of the seal used, that chakra is sealed off permanently." Higure turned his head towards Shion, catching Miko's eye instead as she simply nodded.
"Not unless the Priestess undoes the seal herself...and that clearly won't happen."
Higure nodded then turned back to Naruto, who looked torn between chasing after the clone or not. The Alliance Commander sighed before kneeling down next to Naruto. "Look...I understand what the Priestess said got to you. But she's just upset right now, okay?"
"Right..."
Higure sighed before standing up and crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head to the side, "Hey, I saw that you risked your own neck to save her. That's gotta count for something, right?" Naruto huffed, his expression more dismissive than torn. Higure patted the young man's back, trying to raise his spirits before looking at the two Land of Demon natives. "Come on, if we're going to stop Moryo, we've gotta escort the Priestess right?"
Naruto huffed, his smile growing a bit as he looked up at Higure, "What's this? Alliance and Akatsuki working together on a mission?"
"Oh don't give me that," Higure replied jokingly, poking the boy's forehead. "We worked together before, remember?"
"You were retired then, remember?" Higure huffed before chuckling with a smile while Naruto smiled teasingly at the older shinobi. The Jinchuriki turned and looked towards Shion, who had stopped crying and was whispering with Miko. "I'll make sure that Taruho's sacrifice wasn't in vain...Shion will definitely stop Moryo for good."
Higure smiled and looked down at Naruto. The determined face the boy wore was reminiscent of his mother's, and his eyes were that of his father's. Higure closed his eyes and looked up at the sky above as a breeze picked up, blowing gently against him and Naruto. 'Minato...Kushina...I know that this kid carries your will now...and he'll pick up where we all left off...'
"Come," Miko's voiced called out as she put her arm around the Priestess. The two shinobi turned their heads towards Miko as she and Shion began to walk. "Moryo isn't far ahead now, we can still end this!"
"On our way," Naruto called out as he ran to catch up with the two girls. Higure put his hands in his pockets before lowering his head and following after the three at his own pace.
Yomi sighed as he held his hand over his face, eyes closed while Kin watched. The man eventually opened his eyes, staring off into the distance. "The battle is done..."
"So the Jinchuriki was either been captured, or controlled his inner demons," Kin stated. Yomi shook his head and turned towards Kin. He found it pathetic that the girl who prided herself in knowledge in fact knew so little.
"Your little snakes managed to clone the original Jinchuriki." Kin's eyes widened in shock at this. Yomi turned his eyes away and hummed thoughtfully. "It took some of the Kitsune's chakra as well...creating a mindless killing machine in the process."
"The what exactly," Kin asked, raising a curious brow. Yomi sighed before turning his body towards Kin.
"Kyuubi, Kitsune, the demon fox with nine tails carries many different names," Yomi stated. "In the Land of Demons, it is known as the Kitsune. But to Moryo...he's known by a much different name entirely. A more...personal name..."
Kin once again grew curious and crossed her arms, "Do share..."
"Not now," Yomi sighed as his body became relaxed. "For now, I must ensure that all the pieces are in set..." The dark man closed his eyes and sighed, focusing his powers on the Ghost Army and sensing himself how the battles progressed.
Kin realized that from the man's continued sweating, and features shown on his body, that he was in constant pain. What impressed her more was Yomi's ability to accurately foresee events that had transpired. The young girl concluded that Yomi used the ability to see what the enemy was doing, and where they would be heading, and based his tactics off of where the enemy was moving. The only downside Kin saw, was even if Yomi's predictions on where they would be heading was correct, it was still a gamble as to whether or not they would actually show up where they were supposed to.
The young girl's eyes narrowed, glinting as she saw potential with such an ability. She kept herself from using the Body Creation Technique, as she didn't know enough about the clone's potential to haphazardly risk Yomi's anger, and then put him down. In the back of her mind, Kin kept in mind she could also use the Edo Tensei as well, once Yomi eventually died from exhaustion from carrying around Moryo's spirit.
Yahiko, Itachi, and Kiriya all moved through the forest, before Itachi looked down at something running across the ground. "Naruto!" The Uchiha immediately shot down from the treetops, followed quickly by Yahiko and Kiriya both.
As they landed, they saw a naked boy with spiky blonde hair and a tail running between the trees on all fours. The three Akatsuki members looked confused for a moment before the creature came to a stop. It turned and ran in the opposite direction, showing that it had looked exactly like Naruto.
"What in the world," Yahiko muttered to himself. Just as the boy started running, five figures sprung out into view, all converging on Naruto. Yahiko quickly shot into action, pulling out his sword from on his back and swung at the enemy.
Skillfully, Yahiko managed to block three attackers at once and pushed them all back while the other two moved right past him towards Naruto. Itachi moved towards one man with long brown hair and an unusual sword covered in explosive tags. As the man swung, Itachi rolled around the strike, grabbed the back of the man's shirt, and threw him back away from Naruto. The man stumbled around and stood straight, facing off against Itachi. The last was, wielding a trench knife and a Kiri kunai, blocked and dodged the advanced attacks of Kiriya, before kicking the Akatsuki assassin away a few feet.
"The Seven Swordsmen," Yahiko muttered as he squared off against Kushimaru, Jinin, and Mangetsu. "I'm guessing that Kisame is busy leading the battle on the shores?"
"Well, well, looks like this group is so well informed," Mangetsu replied sarcastically as he held his sword firmly in both hands. "Did Zabuza tell ya that?"
"Mangetsu, be silent," Jinin ordered. "Do not take our opponent lightly."
"Indeed," Kushimaru agreed softly. "To be able to block three of us with one attack...truly you must be a formidable opponent."
"I guess we'll find out, won't we?" Jinin and Mangetsu both charged Yahiko as the Akatsuki leader braced himself.
He ducked under Jinin's strike, and rolled the man over his back before jumping into the air to avoid Mangetsu's chakra hammer, formed from Hiramekarei. Yahiko snapped his head up, seeing the longsword Nuibari coming at him. He effortlessly deflected the blade with his own sword, performing a back flip at the same time to block a basic swing of Hiramekarei from Mangetsu. The young swordsmen scowled before Yahiko's foot came down on top of his head, sending him crashing towards the ground. The Akatsuki leader turned as Jinin came at him again from the ground and swung the axe end of Kabutowari at Yahiko. The orange haired man bent backwards, narrowly watching as the axe passed over his face. Yahiko came around and planted his feet on the blunt side of the axe and shot towards the ground, slamming the tip of his sword into the ground as he knelt down.
"Earth Style: Earth Dome!" The earth came up and surrounded Yahiko completely in earth. Jinin landed on the ground and then ran towards Yahiko's defense.
"Meaningless! Kabutowari will break through your dome with ease!" Jinin jumped into the air and brought down his hammer, shattering the thick earth like it was made of glass. Inside, Jinin saw Yahiko holding the same pose as when he landed, much to the swordsman's confusion. He soon noticed that there was a hole in front of Yahiko before looking at the one in the dome. A bright light erupted before Yahiko's clone exploded, sending Jinin flying through the air.
Yahiko then came up out of the ground behind Kushimaru and swung his sword at him. The taller man turned and blocked Yahiko's thicker, sturdier sword surprisingly well with his thinner sword. The two swung at one another and blocked the other blow for blow with little to no effort.
Itachi's eyes focused on his opponent's sword as he continually dodged it, slipping back and forth between strikes as his opponent became increasingly frustrated. Jinpachi spun around and surprisingly threw a round-house kick at Itachi. The Uchiha swiftly raised his hand and caught the man's foot before shoving him away. Jinpachi grinned before he slammed his sword into the ground, catching Itachi's immediate attention. He saw the roll of paper bombs unraveling from the sword and into the ground, and immediately started stepping backwards, trotting at a quickening rate.
Itachi was shocked when explosions started happening behind and in front of him, both moving towards him. He quickly jumped to the side, narrowly dodging a large explosion. Itachi looked over and saw Jinpachi in front of him as he swung a kunai at him. The Akatsuki shinobi jumped back, barely missing the strike as it cut across his chest, leaving a faint bit of blood before he distanced himself further. The swordsman laughed as he twirled his kunai around, flicking Itachi's blood off of it as his sword started rolling the roll of paper bombs back up. Itachi glared at the man as he began to perform hand seals. Jinpachi put his sword on the ground, leaning against his hip as he began performing his own hand signs.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
"Water Style: Water Explosion Jutsu!"
Itachi quickly inhaled and then shot out a fireball from his mouth, sending it towards Jinpachi. The swordsman himself slammed his hand into the ground and then forcefully pulled it upward. Itachi looked down as he felt the ground cracking underfoot. Before he could react, a powerful torrent of water exploded from the ground, launching Itachi into the air. Jinpachi slammed his hand into the ground again, blasting another torrent of water up from the ground to quickly extinguish the fireball Itachi sent.
Jinpachi looked up, seeing a pair of kunai coming at him. He effortlessly blocked them with his own and looked back at the torrent of water that hit Itachi. Before he could get a good look at the water, he felt the presence of someone behind him and swung his sword with all his might. Itachi ducked under the strike and then moved to stab the swordsman. Jinpachi sneered before he brought his own kunai up and stabbed Itachi upward through the skull. He chuckled darkly before Itachi scattered into a flock of crows, surprising Jinpachi greatly.
"Fuckin' genjutsu!" He swung his sword back, sending the whole role of paper bombs flying towards the water torrent where Itachi had just broken free from. Itachi jumped out of the water explosion just as the roll of paper bombs came inside. Jinpachi formed a hand sign, "Blastsword Technique: Cataclysmic Explosion!" A huge explosion went off, managing to catch Itachi in the blast even, and throwing smoke around Jinpachi, and most of the immediate area.
Ameyuri dodged one of Kiriya's hook swords before grabbing the boy's wrist and kicking him in the stomach with two swift movements, forcing him to drop the sword. Ameyuri quickly took the sword and twirled it around mockingly as Kiriya scowled and then charged. The two then moved about in lightning fast movements, striking and blocking the others attack with speed and precision.
Kiriya managed to hook the swords together and then yanked it out of Ameyuri's hand. The kunoichi stood calmly as the boy came back to attack her. She pulled out a Kiri kunai and started dodging and blocking all of the attacks that came at her, keeping his eye on the boy's body movements to predict his attacks. Despite not landing a hit, the young assassin remained calm, attempting to either fake out his opponent, or predict their movements to land a successful strike.
Ameyuri finally swung her kunai, striking it against both of Kiriya's swords. The assassin's eyes widened briefly as his arms went numb, causing him to drop his swords. As soon as they left his hands, Kiriya regained feeling in his arms before he was kicked in the chest by Ameyuri.
The rogue rolled back onto his feet as Ameyuri kicked up both of the hook swords to her hands. She looked at them curiously before twirling them both around in her hands, "Not bad...not my old swords, but they'll do I suppose."
"Those are both mine," Kiriya stated. Ameyuri huffed before placing the hook swords on the ground and leaned forward against them with an indifferent look.
"Well, they're mine now for the time being." The boy scowled before pulling out two tantos, both attached with a thin, leather rope. Ameyuri laughed before twirling the swords around, grinning with eagerness. "You're fairly skilled for not being a shinobi, kid. Maybe if you were an actual ninja, then you could have had potential to be a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist."
Kiriya charged forward, releasing the tanto in his right hand before whipping it around his back. Ameyuri spun around and blocked the tanto with her hook sword before thrusting the other one backwards. The rounded, hook end of the sword slammed into Kiriya's stomach, causing him to cough out blood. Ameyuri then spun around and slammed the dense rod of metal into his back, causing Kiriya to slam into the ground. Ameyuri casually walked around the boy, keeping herself at enough of a distance to not be within striking distance.
"These aren't bad tools...though the only lethal end would be the very tips...useful for tearing an enemy open." Kiriya groaned as he started to push himself up. Ameyuri stared at him for a moment before swinging the sword around at the rogue, with the tip aimed towards his chest. Kiriya saw this and quickly pushed himself away, spinning around as the hook simply tore his cloak a little bit. Ameyuri laughed as she twirled the swords around once again. "You're quite the jumpy little bugger. You've got reflexes for a normal person."
"What makes you think I'm not a ninja," Kiriya snapped defensively. Ameyuri laughed softly before examining the swords in her hands before glancing back at Kiriya.
"Well, you couldn't tell the kunai I hit you with earlier was infused with lightning chakra to make your arms go numb..."
"I realized afterwards-,"
"But a true shinobi would have clearly sensed it regardless," Ameyuri stated. "Not only that, but you've yet to use a single jutsu this entire fight. You do realize, I hope, that I've been going easy on you so far." Kiriya scowled before he pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. Kiriya narrowed her eyes skeptically, 'Hm...now what could be sealed in there I wonder...'
'I should have enough chakra from her attack to undo the seal...' Kiriya placed his hand on the seal and let out a brief surge of chakra into it, causing a cloud of smoke to appear around him.
Ameyuri waited until the smoke cleared. The boy broke through the smoke, armed with what Ameyuri assumed were two swords. She readied herself to block them, until she saw the swords, and barely pulled her head to the side to avoid the strike. In a rage, Ameyuri hooked her swords around the boy's arm, and the back of his neck before throwing him into a nearby tree. Kiriya bounced off the tree and landed on his feet on the ground, twirling two lightning imbued swords in his hands.
Ameyuri grinned, though in reality she looked downright outraged. Her eyes were wide, and one of them twitched as her trusty swords, the twin Kiba blades, were within her reach once again.
"I figure it's only fair," Kiriya said, looking at the two swords in hand. "You take my swords, I take yours."
Ameyuri chuckled lightly, her grip tightening on the handles as her body shook with rage, "You have to the count of three to give those back to me..."
Kiriya twirled the swords around before slashing both of the swords at Ameyuri, releasing two bolts of lightning from them. Ameyuri's eyes widened suddenly before she took both of the blots of lightning with the hook swords in hand. Kiriya seemed shocked that she managed such a feat while Ameyuri simply glared at him.
"Now this is interesting," the swordswoman spoke. "Here I thought you couldn't use chakra...and I didn't sense any lightning affinity in you before...most interesting..."
Kiriya scoffed, trying to keep himself calm as something in his chest gave a slight tingling sensation. 'As long as I've got the Kiba swords, I should be able to keep up and use lightning ninjutsus. I've just got to make sure that my absorption device stays active...'
Kushimaru, Jinin, and Jinpachi turned their heads when they heard lightning, seeing the young silver haired Akatsuki assassin wielding the Kiba blades. Mangetsu landed next to Kushimaru and Jinin, letting out a soft sigh before turning to his two comrades.
"Hey! Helping out would be nice you know?!"
Kushimaru scoffed before turning to Yahiko and rushing him with his sword in hand. Jinin scowled before following the makeshift leader. Mangetsu then noted that the Kiba swords were in the hands of an outsider. Restraining himself, as he knew his comrades had just done, he turned and followed his two comrades against the Akatsuki leader.
Jinpachi huffed before shouldering his blade and turning towards Ameyuri's battle. "Well, I guess I could join in...no reason for that outsider to have our damn sword after all!"
Before Jinpachi could move forward, Itachi cut him off. The swordsman looked astonished that his enemy survived with little more than some dirt thrown on his face. Itachi moved in close as Jinpachi stumbled backwards, locking eyes with him. Jinpachi tensed up for but a moment before his entire body went limp and he fell to the ground unconscious and drooling.
"That takes care of that..." Itachi narrowed his eyes, looking out into the distance to try and find Naruto. A few dozen meters away, Itachi saw something moving and headed towards that direction, keeping the main priority in mind. 'Just hold on Naruto...'
In the skies, Deidara, Obito, and Konan all turned when they heard a piercing sound of crackling lightning. Konan looked worried, knowing that nobody in the group was a lightning user, but she couldn't see where the attack was. "Damn it...what's going on...?"
"Yo, Uchiha, see if you can tell us what happened!" Obito looked at Deidara for a moment before nodding and activating his Sharingan. He looked around the miles and miles of treetops, but had difficulty pinpointing anything unusual. Deidara sighed before looking around below to try to help. The blonde saw something break out of the trees and was rocketing towards them at an alarming rate. "SHIT!" Deidara moved his clay bird out of the way, only for its wing to be pierced. Konan turned her attention to them quickly as Obito went flying off of the bird by the sudden movement.
"Damn it," Konan shouted as she dove after Obito.
Deidara growled before diving towards the area he saw the projectile come from, readying some clay in his hand. The artist saw another projectile flying at him. He rolled around to the side, narrowly avoiding what he saw was an arrow of some sort. Deidara then pulled out a handful of clay, molded it into dozens of tiny birds, and then threw them forward. The birds flew down towards the ground quickly and spread out over a wide radius. Just as Deidara started closing in on the treetops, several explosions went off around the immediate area the arrows were coming from. Deidara landed on a tree branch, groaning as it shook under his weight before he looked around, fire crackling around the trees and leaves in the area.
"Well, well, this guy is really accurate," a voice stated. Deidara turned his head, looking back over his shoulder as he saw a large young man standing on a tree branch away from him, next to a boy suspended by what appeared to be webs or ropes. "You nearly got me with those explosions..."
"And one of the two of you shits almost hit me with those arrows...twice."
The boy suspended in the air laughed before turning to his companion, "Jirobo, take care of this guy!" The heavyset chunin shot towards Deidara, roaring loudly as the blonde artist readied himself for the two opponents.
Konan reached for Obito as the two went falling towards the ground. The Uchiha looked down, terror gripping him as the ground seemed to be coming closer much faster than he could have imagined. Konan finally managed to grab Obito's hand, and pulled up quickly to avoid crashing through the trees. As they glided over the leaves for a bit, both Konan and Obito dropped down into a safe clearing, both of them letting out a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright," Konan asked. Obito nodded before turning his head towards a soft rustling sound. Three figures walked into the clearing, a tall, pale white haired man, a shorter redheaded girl, and a averaged height young man with dark grey hair. "Great...company."
"Those three are the Serpent Five if I'm not mistaken," Obito muttered softly to Konan. The blue haired woman huffed, looking at the three dismissively.
"Then they shouldn't pose much of a threat then...let's finish this quickly Obito."
"I'll handle it," Obito offered, stepping forward in front of Konan. The blue haired woman looked at her comrade in shock, before Obito merely turned around and smiled at her, goggles resting over his eyes. "We've still gotta find Naruto and stop this Moryo thing, right? Can't do that if we spend all our available manpower fighting kids, right?"
"What the fuck did you just say," Tayuya shouted angrily, clenching her fist as her eyes bored through the older man.
"If you're sure you can handle yourself," Konan replied. "They may be young, but they're dangerous enough as it is. They've killed many more people than either of us when we were their age..."
"Are you gonna go look for Naruto, or not?" Konan smirked and then nodded before flying off above the trees with her paper wings. Tayuya and Sakon watched as one of their enemies flew away, while Kimimaro kept his eyes on Obito.
"Are we really going to let her get away," Sakon asked, questioning their leader. "She's a member of Akatsuki!"
"And fighting both of them at once would be more difficult than fighting them one at a time," Kimimaro stated. The pale leader raised his arm and then pointed his finger at Obito, directing his subordinates' attention towards the rogue. "That man is not only of Akatsuki, but he is an Uchiha as well. You're well aware of our Lord's interest in an Uchiha specimen for his own..."
Obito cringed a bit at Kimimaro's wording, "Yuck, make me sound like I'm just some weird lab rat why don't ya?"
"And what if they succeed in stopping Moryo, then what," Tayuya asked.
"As our orders were, Moryo isn't our problem one way or the other," Kimimaro replied calmly as he lowered his hand. "Our only objective is research, and the acquisition of Dark Chakra." Obito's eyes widened in alarm at this. Two white swords came out of Kimimaro's elongated sleeves before he nodded. Tayuya moved towards the back while Kimimaro charged Obito, with Sakon right behind their leader.
"Summoning Jutsu," Tayuya cried out as she bit her thumb and slammed her hand on the ground. A giant cloud of smoke appeared before her, drawing Obito's attention for a brief moment.
The Uchiha focused on the two charging opponents, and easily dodged Kimimaro's initial assault, and spun around Sakon's strike as well, noting that both of their weapons and blows came from an unusual ability of theirs. Obito then shot another glance in Tayuya's direction after the smoke began to clear and Tayuya played a melody from her flute. Obito's eyes widened when he saw three giants come out of the smoke and towards him. The Uchiha quickly launched himself out of the way and landed on a high treetop, looking down at the three chunin.
"Well," Obito stated with a sigh. "This is more difficult than I imagined..."
In the cave holding Moryo's body, Yomi let out another dark sigh. Kin rolled her eyes before turning towards the man himself, who opened his eyes halfway, looking tired, his body having become much paler since when Kin first contacted him.
"Your...subordinates have made contact with more Akatsuki vermin..." Kin hummed softly, uninterested as she thought quietly to herself. Yomi closed his eyes again, growing tired, "My time here will not be much longer...I...I cannot tell where the Priestess is..."
"That's most unfortunate," Kin stated uncaringly. She tapped her finger against her chin and looked over at her clone, which had been standing in the same spot for over an hour, unfeeling, unmoving, simply waiting for an order of some sort. "It must be nice to be such a mindless creature like that...my clone that is. No need to sleep, eat, or do to anything...a blank slate, so to speak."
"Do you have a point," Yomi asked, his eyes remaining closed. Kin shrugged and then smiled, looking over at Yomi.
"Well...you're not much longer in this world, as you said yourself...and that clone is simply nothing, so to speak." Kin sneered, placing a hand on the side of her cheek and stared at Yomi. The dark man opened his eyes, glaring intensely at the young woman. One look in the devilish woman's eyes, and Yomi knew what she was planning. "A perfect avatar for a dark being in need of a new vessel..."
"You dare to suggest that-," Yomi was silenced when his chest exploded open, as a large mass of darkness shot out. Yomi cried out in pain as the darkness came out of him and then went straight towards Kin's clone. The lifeless husk was completely covered by darkness as its body absorbed the darkness that washed over it, until the darkness was completely absorbed into it.
Kin smiled as she turned and watched Yomi's lifeless body hit the ground, eyes rolled up in the back of his head and mouth hanging open. Kin chuckled before turning to her clone, which took on a darker look, sporting odd markings and darkened eyes before looking around the cave before looking down at its hands.
"This body is...quite suitable..."
"Most interesting," Kin stated with a smirk. Moryo turned his new head towards Kin with his eyes narrowed on his identical counterpart.
"You're quite the gambler, little girl. How can you be sure I won't betray and kill you now?"
Kin held up her hand and shook her finger at the possessed clone, "Now, now, I have extra reinforcements on my side, which could help to prevent more intruders from reaching you, thus stopping your complete revival." Moryo huffed, relaxing a bit before turning to Kin with his arms crossed. Kin smirked, finding it a bit odd to be chatting with a copy of herself so casually.
"Very well...I would assume that there's something you wanted out of all of this..."
"Simply the body," Kin replied, motioning towards Yomi. Moryo chuckled as he looked down at the lifeless corpse before turning back to Kin.
"The Edo Tensei I would assume. Yomi wasn't much of a shinobi, but I gather you're after his Foresight ability..."
"I figure it could be a very useful ability," Kin admitted. Moryo nodded and motioned towards Yomi's corpse before he took a few steps forward towards the entrance. He looked straight ahead and then closed his eyes.
"I sense...him..." Kin knelt down next to Yomi's body as she unrolled a scroll next to the body. She assumed the demon referred to Madara, confirming her suspicious and worry. While she felt a certain sense of control before, knowing that a man Orochimaru himself feared was on the battlefield caused her to become a bit panicked. "He's...not close...he's chasing your little fox boy clone..."
"The Uzumaki clone," Kin muttered softly. "What in the world could he want with that...?" Moryo growled as his new eyes turned into a glowing red.
"Nothing good..."
Itachi caught up with Naruto, chasing the boy through the woods with much effort, "Hey, slow down! Naruto, it's me!"
Naruto looked back and barked loudly before turning his head back around, only to be caught forcefully by the throat. The boy gagged and coughed loudly as he was lifted off the ground, clutching to the hand that gripped him. Itachi stopped and gasped in shock, seeing a cloaked man holding his comrade by the throat.
"You're...quite the specimen," the man murmured. A pair of kunai flew at the masked man, but the kunai fazed through him harmlessly, as though he were a ghost. The man turned his head towards Itachi, who glared at him intensely with his Sharingan.
"Put him down..."
The masked man huffed before he looked up at Naruto struggling and gasping for breath. The man turned back to Itachi, "You do realize that this isn't the real Naruto, don't you?" The young Uchiha narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. He realized as much with the tail, and the fact the being was stark naked, but he couldn't be completely sure unless he got a closer look. "This is a clone...a copy of Naruto..." The masked man turned his head back up, staring at Naruto, "He's not the real thing...simply a mindless, uncontrolled beast...filled with nothing but pure, uncontainable anger, a side effect of the Kyuubi's power."
"Put him down," Itachi repeated. The masked man's eye twitched curiously before turning back to Itachi. He laughed softly with a dark tone before moving Naruto out to the side, giving Itachi a better look of the clone.
"I already told you, this thing is nothing more than a clone of Naruto. He has no value to you as an untamed beast."
"And I don't trust what you'll do with him, Madara Uchiha." The man's right eye blazed brightly with the Sharingan at his name, before he laughed softly. Itachi lowered himself as he pulled out a kunai and held it close to himself, keeping both eyes on his opponent. "I'm not letting you take him."
Madara shook his head before turning back to the Naruto clone. A strange power came out of the man's right eye-hole of his mask, that quickly sucked up the clone. Itachi gasped in shock as he watched helplessly as the clone vanished from sight, into Madara's mask. The man laughed and turned his head towards Itachi, motioning his arm outward. "The loyalty Akatsuki shares astounds me to be quite honest. But I've heard impeccable things about you, Itachi Uchiha. Perhaps you would like to show me how powerful you truly are, boy." Madara shot forward, throwing his hand out, and open towards Itachi who barely ducked under the man.
As Madara passed over Itachi, the two exchanged glances, both of their Sharingan burning brightly. Madara's eye seemed pleased, and somehow stared at him mockingly, while Itachi's were angry and defiant of his ancestor. Itachi spun around and faced Madara as he landed on the ground and turned half way to stare at the younger shinobi. Madara chuckled while Itachi clenched his kunai close and readied it once more. A gentle wind blew between the two as the Uchiha clansmen faced off against each other.
Sakura looked around the area nervously as she followed Anko and Zaku further into enemy territory. While she enjoyed being with her sensei again, she couldn't help but worry about the fact that Rin's idea was to split the entire squad up into two. She looked back over her shoulder as Dosu brought up the rear of the team. She smiled a bit, feeling at ease that at least she was with her old squad again, which was the reason Rin split them apart together. Despite that though, Sakura worried about how well Rin could get Fu to follow orders.
"Do ya hear anything Dosu," Anko asked with a soft, quiet voice. The masked boy shook his head, shifting his eyes back and forth.
Anko hummed quietly as she kept her eyes forward. Zaku shifted nervously, not trusting his sensei's quiet hum. The team continued forward before entering a clearing on the edge of a cliff. They looked out into the distance, seeing the mountain less than a stone's throw away. Zaku let out a low whistle as he examined the size of the mountain, his hands on his hips.
"Well I'll be damned," the young chunin muttered. "There's a demon corpse in there somewhere..."
"Great analysis Zaku," Anko exclaimed cheerfully, slapping Zaku on the shoulder. The young shinobi groaned as he rubbed his arm, pouting slightly as he knew his sensei was anything but sarcastic in her compliment. "It's weird that we still haven't encountered anyone yet..."
"Oh we can change that!" Anko and the rest of the team slowly turned their heads as they saw three men in white robes standing before them. On man wearing a bandana over his mouth with white hair chuckled gleefully while one short girl with orange hair grinned, and the last man with blue hair simply stared at his opponents. "You got a lot farther than we expected! I wonder how you got past all our scouts..."
"You mean those shit-trained militia you guys call shinobi," Anko asked, waving her hand about dismissively. "Please, we could take them out without alerting a single one of you bastards, and then keep moving." The three students all glanced at their sensei before looking back at their enemies. It never ceased to shock any of them that Anko could make light of any opponent if she wanted to.
The masked man cackled as he lowered himself a bit, "Really? Well, I'm getting all excited now..."
The orange haired girl chuckled before cracking her neck to the side, "Let's play with them for awhile brothers!" The three white clad shinobi charged towards the Konoha team.
Zaku and Sakura immediately jumped in front of Dosu and charged, with Zaku in the lead. "Freak is mine," Zaku exclaimed as he used his air tubes in his palm to propel himself forward. Gitai gasped loudly before Zaku delivered a powerful punch to his face, sending him flying back. The boy landed on the ground as the masked man went flying, causing both Setsuna and Shizuku go stop and turn to Zaku in shock.
Sakura grabbed the orange haired girl, and smirked at the frightened woman before forcefully throwing her into Setsuna, causing the two to be send rolling along the ground after colliding. Sakura readied herself against the two opponents while Zaku stood, waiting for Gitai to get up.
Anko turned her head, smiling softly at Dosu who had his eyes closed, "You gonna be alright on your own kiddo?"
"You taught me yourself, didn't you sensei," Dosu asked. Anko smirked and nodded before turning back towards her other two students. "Have some faith in them too. It's four versus four, remember?"
Anko laughed softly and nodded, putting her hands in her trench coat that she wore over her jonin vest, "Alright, but be careful if you locate their leader, got it?"
"He won't know what hit him." Anko smiled with pride before vanishing in a blur.
Setsuna and Shizuku groaned as they both started to get up before seeing Anko appear before them. The two were shocked to see her before Anko slammed her forehead into Setsuna's face, breaking his nose and causing him to cry out loudly in pain before kicking him in the chest, sending him flipping over and flying away. The jonin turned to Shizuku and winked before giving chase after Setsuna. The orange haired girl watched in shock as Anko left her alone before turning and seeing Sakura coming at her with a kunai.
Shizuku growled and pulled out her own kunai, clumsily blocking all of Sakura's powerful, forceful strikes. "You can't do much without your jutsus, can you," Sakura questioned as she threw a fist at Shizuku. The orange haired girl ducked and ran under Sakura's strike, trying to distance herself from the enemy. Sakura immediately spun around and gave chase, catching up with her in no time. "If you can't use those jutsu, you're dead on your feet! We got that much studying your lesser followers!" Sakura and Shizuku clashed blades as the former pressed hard against her enemy. "You abuse jutsus, using big, destructive techniques and run out of chakra, and you need to be replenished by your leader!" Shizuku's eyes widened as she gasped in terror before tripping backwards, and stumbling to stay on her feet.
Gitai cackled as he stood up, glaring madly at Zaku, who simply smirked. "So...you Alliance shitheads are good at gathering intelligence eh?!" Zaku shrugged, raising his brows as he did before lowering his shoulders. Gitai chuckled before slamming his palms together, causing the ground to shake beneath him.
Zaku stood calmly, holding his cocky smirk as Gitai built up his chakra, flowing into a dark aura around him. Dosu opened his eyes suddenly and turned towards Zaku as he watched his opponent. "Damn it Zaku, don't let him have a chance to attack!"
"Oh come on, the small fry were barely genin level," Zaku stated, holding his gaze on Gitai. "These guys can't be anywhere near jonin level. Meaning I can have some fun..."
"You idiot! You do know this isn't a game, right?! We're trying to stop Moryo from being revived, not have a pissing contest with the enemy!"
Zaku huffed and stood calmly as his enemy's chakra level increased dramatically by the second. Gitai formed several hand signs before cackling. "Earth Style: Assault from the Land Jutsu!"
The ground began to shake before Gita slammed his hands into the earth. Zaku shifted his eyes as a pillar of rock came towards him. The chunin jumped up and placed his foot on the rock before launching himself backwards, flipping over and looking down at the ground as a spiked rock came up at him. Zaku grinned before spinning to the side in midair, dodging the strike before landing back on the ground. Four slabs of earth came up on all sides of the young boy. His expression changed from smug to alert as the earth came in and crashed around him.
Gitai laughed manically as he brought his hands off the ground, "That'll teach you to take us lightly you stupid kid!"
One of the slabs was then blasted off and flew towards Gitai. The masked man widened his eyes before smashing the earth with this fist, growling angrily as he saw someone stepping out of the condensed earth slabs. "Sheesh, you guys really only do know one style of attack." Zaku stepped out of the earth, his face covered in black, flame like designs as he smirked. Gitai and Dosu both gasped at this, but for different reasons.
"Zaku...you..."
"Anko sensei taught me some tricks, and placed a looser seal on my Curse Mark," Zaku explained, flexing his arms with a grin. "I want to test the limits I can put that seal under."
'Is that...Dark Chakra like what Lord Yomi uses?!' Gitai growled before the earth around him lifted up and slammed together around him. Dosu glared at the enemy while Zaku stared calmly, keeping his mind focused on self control and how much the Curse Mark took over. The earth lowered itself from the small pillar, revealing Gitai covered from the neck down in earth-like armor. The man laughed before he threw his oversized arms forward. "Come on and face me now!"
Zaku lifted a single arm up and caught the rock pillar with one hand. Though he wasn't thrown back by the force, it was enough to push him back, grinding his feet against the ground as Zaku groaned with effort. Finally, he stopped, shocking Gitai that he hadn't taken any damage.
"Slicing Sound Wave," Zaku exclaimed loudly. The boy extended his arm and an odd shockwave was released between his palm and Gitai's earth arm. The pillar of earth then formed several cracks all along its length before exploding outward, revealing Gitai's bare arm closer to his body. The white haired man stared in awe while the black haired boy shook his hand loosely and smiled. "Come on, you can't tell me that's all ya got? Freakin' pansy."
Gitai growled before his armor exploded off, sending projectiles towards Zaku, none of which came close to hitting him. The boy stood still, eyes firm on his opponent as Dosu watched. The masked boy stared at his comrade in silence. 'That's what this is about...you know that although these guys lack any sort of real tactics, that they're powerhouses when influenced by Dark Chakra. You want to see how strong you are with the Curse Mark, and how much control you have over it. I've got to admit, Zaku, you're showing a different side of you than I'm use to. You're never this calm, nor collected...still, if you stay in this form too long...we may have to take some action against you.'
"Now this IS interesting," Gitai shouted, though more angry than his usual sadistic self. The man held up his bulky arm and narrowed his eyes. "But I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!" Zaku watched closely as something under the man's arm began to writhe underneath his skin. Zaku cringed with disgust before the writhing creature popped out of Gitai's arm. The man grabbed the odd snake creature and pulled it out, ripping it in half in the process.
"H-Hey, what the hell is he doing...?"
Gitai tore his mask off and held the snake above his head, tilting back and opening his mouth as a strange liquid dripped down his throat after he swallowed. The man laughed before as his chakra once again erupted around him. "Overflowing...overflowing with POWER!"
Zaku and Dosu stood by as Gitai's chakra released blasts of wind from where they stood, gently blowing against them. Dosu scowled before something in the distance caught his eye. In the trees, he saw a bright white spot watching them.
"Zaku...can you handle this...?" Dosu looked to his partner, who stood by silently. The masked boy looked back at the enemy, who began to transform into an odd creature with three faces and several more arms. Dosu scowled and turned back to Zaku, "Can you handle this guy or not?!"
"Yeah, I got it," Zaku replied, turning to Dosu as if he had only just heard him. "Damn 'mom' just go do what you need to do." Dosu huffed, but smiled underneath his mask before nodding.
"Alright...don't lose your head from this, got it?" Zaku rolled his eyes before turning back to Gitai. Dosu gave one last stare to his partner before vanishing in a blur.
The black haired boy watched as Gitai finished his transformation, cackling madly as his eyes focused on Zaku, "Well, come on little man! Let's see what you've got!" Gitai slammed his hands into the ground, sending several flame trails ripping through the ground, all converging towards Zaku. The black haired boy sprung back as they all hit the same area, causing a great, tremendous explosion.
Miko and Shion came into a clearing with Higure and Naruto right behind them. The four looked up at the mountain right before them, knowing that Moryo and Yomi were inside. Miko turned and looked at Shion, who had her eyes on the ground in despair, but her face was covered in sweat, showing that she was exhausted.
"Could we rest for a few moments," Miko asked, looking at the two shinobi. "Lady Shion is very tired, and needs her strength to seal Moryo..." Higure nodded, and as he did Miko barely caught Shion as the latter's legs gave out. "Lady Shion..." The blonde panted heavily, leaning against her aide for support. Higure motioned for Naruto to follow him as they took a few steps away, out of earshot of Miko and Shion.
"We'll have to watch the Priestess carefully from now on," Higure said to Naruto. "From here on in, I'm not sure what we're going to expect, but they have to have this place very well guarded in my opinion."
"Right," Naruto replied with a nod. The Jinchuriki looked back at Shion and sighed before turning to Higure. "What do you think we'll face up ahead? That Ghost Army?"
"To be honest, I'm surprised we haven't encountered that Ghost Army yet," Higure admitted, looking around the forest. "We're deep in the heart of enemy territory...you would think we would encounter something..."
"Well, there's a squad of Akatsuki members here, plus your Alliance team...maybe they're keeping the enemy busy. I mean, even if they had any contact with each other, they'd be fighting right? But no enemies means that they must be fighting the bad guys. Um...th-the Land of Demon bad guys, not the Alliance bad guys I mean."
Higure rolled his eyes with a smile before patting Naruto's head, "Always the observant one. I just hope that both of our teams can handle themselves without us around." Naruto grinned and laughed at the vote of confidence, before his eyes lowered along with his smile.
"Hey, Higure..." The Alliance Commander turned his head to Naruto, who looked back at him. "Is...is Sakura here...here with you on this mission?"
Higure sighed and nodded, "Yeah...she is." Naruto laughed softly, rubbing the back of his head.
"I guess I'm gonna miss her this time around, aren't I?" The Alliance Commander gave an apologetic look to Naruto and sighed through his nose. Before he could say anything, the two shinobi turned their heads as Miko approached them.
"Lady Shion had another vision..."
"Are we in danger," Higure asked, worried.
Miko shook her head, looking down as she spoke, "She saw...not her death, but rather, another's death..." The Priestess's aid lifted her head and stared straight at Naruto. "She saw your death...Naruto..."