As Fujin and Raijin stared at their destruction with huge grins, they were convinced that they had killed Zabuza. The man's sword was stuck into the ground, partially damaged, nicked and cracked all over from the blast. Fujin snickered deviously, proud at having his foe defeated while Raijin stepped next to his brother, his heavy footsteps sounding like thunder almost.
"Puny little man," Raijin stated with a grin.
"He couldn't have survived that brother!"
Behind the nearby trees, Zabuza sat on the ground, leaning back against the base of his hiding spot. He had his Akatsuki cloak opened, and was wrapping up his arms in a half-assed medical treatment attempt. His injuries from the chakra blast weren't fatal, but his arm had been cut opened from one of the pieces of his sword flying off. Thankfully, Zabuza managed to shield himself from the blast with his sword, and the force of the chakra cannons carried him back into hiding.
The rogue gently bonked his head against the tree after he finished patching up his arm. 'What am I going to do? Their Curse Marks make them stronger, insanely strong. I can hardly make a dent in them...'
"Hey, Fujin, do you smell that?!" Zabuza closed his eyes, knowing the Stupid Brothers had picked up his scent by now.
"Yeah! Smells like...blood!"
"The puny man is still alive!"
Zabuza sighed quietly, his mind searching for answers as to what he was supposed to do to defeat the Stupid Brothers. They were stronger and more powerful than ever, and Zabuza could hardly scratch them in this state. Zabuza felt powerless in his current state, and that he would likely die against these idiots.
"Weak! Get up and do it again!"
Zabuza slowly opened his eyes halfway, staring off into the distance as his mind took him back to the far reaching past.
The young boy lied on the ground, bleeding from his right arm, a slash across his stomach, blood running from his hairline, down his face and over his left eye which was swollen shut. The child coughed up blood as well, leaning on his right leg, as his left leg had a serrated kunai sticking into it.
Standing above the child was a tall, muscular, imposing monster of a man. He had long, spiky green hair, a few light battle scars on his face, and dark blue, endless eyes staring down at the boy without emotion or feeling of any sort. The man's most noticeable feature though, was the cloth mask he wore over his mouth. Razor sharp, demonic looking yellow teeth ran from both the top and bottom of the mask, pulling up into a twisted smile with a dark, blood red maw, giving the man the appearance of a demon.
"You're pitiful! You slaughter an entire class of children trained to be ninjas, yet you can't even last five seconds against your Mizukage!"
Zabuza started to cry as the pain wracking his body was the only thing he felt. He had heard of the cruelty of Saizo Hideyoshi before, but for some reason, the Mizukage wanted to take it upon himself to train the legendary boy for himself. Zabuza didn't understand why. He only knew he wanted to kill the Academy children who made fun of him all his life.
That's all he wanted. That's all Zabuza knew, was that he wanted those kids dead. And he did that, he killed them all within minutes. All because his blood boiled when he saw them. When the kids taunted and tormented him, Zabuza imagined them dying by his hands. Fighting had almost come second nature, second only to the art of murdering his fellow children.
Within the hour, Saizo had arrived and taken Zabuza from the streets, and brought him to the Mizukage's Palace, where the green haired demon spent the past few minutes fighting and torturing him. Zabuza suspected that it was because he had killed many of Saizo's potential ninjas.
"Get up," Saizo shouted. Zabuza lied on the ground, panting and whimpering in pain as tears rolled down his bloodied face. "Get up or else you'll meet your end with my blade." The young boy looked up quickly, seeing a huge, impossibly large broadsword raised high over Saizo's head with one single hand. "You have five seconds until I use this sword to kill you, child."
Fear gripped Zabuza's body, preventing him from moving. The cold grip of death was merciless and unflinching, the exact same as the demon standing before him.
"Five..."
Zabuza attempted to crawl away, but his injured arm and leg, he only succeeded in squirming more on the floor.
"Four..." Saizo tightened his grip on the handle of his sword.
The kunai in Zabuza's leg greatly affected his ability to get away. The boy gripped the handle and made an attempt to pull it out, but the slightest nudge sent a powerful, burning sense of pain course through his leg.
"Three..."
Tears ran down Zabuza's face, stinging his already burning cheeks. His mind and body screamed at him to survive, but anytime he moved the kunai, more pain shot through his leg.
"Two..."
Zabuza looked up in terror, realizing from Saizo's position that he was fully ready and willing to slaughter the child. Zabuza's head raced with thoughts, possibilities or options to survive.
"ONE!"
In one swift motion, Saizo swung his sword down onto the ground. Zabuza reacted, his body moving on auto-pilot. The child had, just as fast as Saizo brought his sword cleaving through the floor, rolled out of the way, yanked the kunai out of his bleeding leg despite the pain, and went to stab Saizo in the stomach.
The Mizukage had caught the boy's hands that clung to the knife before it went into his gut. Saizo stared down at the blade, the very tip of the kunai barely piercing his stomach. The wound was hardly anything to worry about, but the fact that there were a few drops of blood that came out was notable.
Saizo looked down at Zabuza. The boy's face was mixed with fear and rage, a drive to kill in order to save his own life. He looked at the child's leg, that early had prevented him from even crawling away. Saizo saw blood gushing, pouring out of the open wound caused by his kunai. His small leg trembled, struggling to even keep Zabuza standing, but despite that, the boy stayed firm. Saizo looked into the boy's eyes next, and saw that the young Zabuza was driven by murderous intent, beyond just simple survival.
"Do you know what they call me child," Saizo questioned. Before Zabuza could respond, verbally or physically, the Mizukage wrenched the kunai out of Zabuza's hands and shoved the boy onto his backside with a pained howl. "They call me the Demon of Kirigakure." Saizo threw the bloody kunai across the room. As the blade clattered against the floor, Saizo walked up to Zabuza, his sword in hand. "Do you know what the people have been calling you after you slaughtered the children in the Academy?"
Zabuza cringed in fear as Saizo raised his arm and sword up into the air. The sword was then stabbed into the ground, much to the child's surprise. Saizo knelt down in front of Zabuza, his hand glowing with chakra as the Mizukage began to heal the child's wounds.
"They started calling you a little demon..." Saizo's dark blue eyes shifted up to a confused Zabuza. "I had to see your potential for myself. You didn't let me down. You have the potential for being a demon. My successor. However, like me, you must give up everything in order to accomplish this. Earthly possessions, feelings, dreams, hopes, love, all of these must be given up in order to obtain the power of the demon, absolute power. You must be driven by your own will, your ambitions, your own goals. Set forth on your path, stop at nothing, and leave behind a pile of bodies and rivers of blood if you must. The way of the demon is not to be given up and abandoned. As soon as you walk down this path...should you falter even a little, the fires of hell itself will consume you."
Zabuza simply stared at Saizo in awe. The child's mind, gut, and instincts told him that being Saizo was what he wanted. He wished to be this demon, seeing Saizo as nothing short of a god that he wished to become someday. Zabuza set his mind to being stronger than Saizo, to become a worthy successor to the demon lineage. That would be his goal.
That would be one of the few moments that Saizo would have shown mercy to Zabuza. The next few years of training put Zabuza through countless near-death experiences, all of which hardened him, conditioned him to fight to the death. The Mizukage would show Zabuza as much mercy as any enemy, but a young Zabuza would always push himself well beyond his limits to achieve one step closer to his goal of becoming the next Demon of Kirigakure.
Zabuza could practically hear the ridicules and shame of his teacher now. The demon clenched his fists, determined that he wouldn't die at the hands of a pair of bumbling buffoons.
As Fujin and Raijin stumbled about, sniffing through the air to try and find their target. Zabuza ran around the pair, back to his sword. With one hand, he pulled his weapon out of the ground and shouldered it across his arms. Zabuza then rushed towards the Stupid Brothers, eyes narrowed and focused on their deaths.
Haku slid against the side of the wall, having been pushed back by Mizuki's unique ability. The Oni Guard somehow managed to unleash a small shockwave that would push and repel anything within its range around the user. Haku was reminded of Nagato's Shinra Tensei, though much less effective and powerful. The only problem was that Mizuki's ability didn't seem to have a moment between uses he could exploit. Even the boy's impressive speed seemed to be useless, and Mizuki's ability seemed to be a constant affect.
"What I wouldn't give to have the Byakugan right about now..."
Haku stared at the odd protrusions from Mizuki's back, suspecting that the barrier around the Oni Guard might be originating from those points. It was the only thing that made sense, do to the lack of hand signs, or any noticeable chakra output from Mizuki. Due to the narrow hallway of the prison however, it was difficult for Haku to maneuver the way he wanted to, or to get around behind Mizuki even if he wanted to.
Haku quickly reexamined the area, seeing nothing but brick and a few steel plates for the lights to be screwed into. The young ice ninja acted quickly and threw his needles with precise accuracy into each of the lights. Glass shattered and darkness slowly overtook the hall, much to Mizuki's surprise.
"Do you honestly think this is enough to slow me down?!" Mizuki laughed as he fumbled about in the darkness, swinging randomly in hopes of hitting his target. "Come on out you little fly!"
Haku remained close to the ground, pushing himself as far as he could into the side of the hallway, out of Mizuki's reach. He tried to think up a plan to get behind Mizuki, but unfortunately he lacked Zabuza's skills. His mentor would be able to get behind Mizuki in a second without him even noticing, even in such a narrow corridor. Haku had a little more trouble with that unfortunately. While his senses were heightened from Zabuza's intense training, they were nowhere near the same level as the Demon of Kirigakure.
Haku knew that he had to try however, and quickly and quietly rushed towards his foe.
Mizuki turned his head, grinning as he heard the soft footsteps rapidly approaching him. The Oni Guard's arm began to morph into a razor sharp blade, causing him to cackle with mad glee, before he swung in Haku's general direction.
The ice user heard the blade cutting through the air, and quickly fell onto his knees, propelling himself forward as he slid between Mizuki's legs. Haku heard the sound of a hardy blade slicing through stone before he hopped onto his feet, behind Mizuki, and threw a powerful kick. The blow landed directly on Mizuki's spine, causing him to cry out in pain as he stumbled forward a little.
Haku quickly moved away, further down the dark hall to put some distance between him and Mizuki. Haku's mind began to work, noting specifically that he slid between his legs without any problems from the barrier.
'So...it's not like Nagato's jutsu. This one has a specific range. Or perhaps it has to cool down like Nagato's. Perhaps I should test this more...'
Haku reached into his pouch for more needles, realizing that he was very low on the thin weapons. He took a moment and counted exactly how many he had left. With only eight needles, Haku knew he would have to make this next test count.
An Oni Guard was sliced across the chest, his wound deep, and fatal as he fell backwards onto the ground. Blood poured from the wound, mixing in with the other dozens of blood pools from the other dead bodies.
Orochimaru stood in the center of a large circle of dead, mangled, and bloody corpses, with several more Oni Guards stood around him, weapons at the ready. The Sannin looked down, realizing just how many bodies there were and noted the slight risk they posed to his maneuverability.
Taking the brief moment as an opening, the Oni Guards launched themselves at Orochimaru, screaming loudly as they planned to take the traitor down. Orochimaru barely batted an eye to this before he made a single hand sign.
A powerful gust of wind shot out from where the Sannin stood, slamming against the opposing forces of the Oni Guards. The jutsu's force was powerful enough to send the corpses lingering on the bridge off, and into the flaming abyss below. The living Guards were simply thrown back, some of them into the lava with their dead or dying comrades, others on the bridge still.
The screams of the dying Oni Guards below were barely audible to those on the bridge. Orochimaru stared at the remaining Guards, six total left.
"I must hand it to you all. Anyone else who just watched one man slaughter so many of their comrades would have ran away like cowards by now. The fact that the Oni Guard still stand, ready to fight is...quite impressive indeed." Orochimaru lifted up a single hand, moving his fingers towards himself. "Come on. Show me how you boys die with your misplaced honor..."
The six Guards charged at Orochimaru. One of them threw a pair of kunai at the intruder. Orochimaru caught the blades and threw them at two of the Guards in front of him. One deflected the knife, but the other took the blade straight through the throat. A wet gurgle came from the man's throat before blood ran down from the bottom of his mask, and he fell to the ground dead.
Orochimaru grabbed another's arm as the Guard attempted to stab him with a sword. The Sannin brought his leg up high, kicking the Guard across the face, shattering his mask and wrenching the blade from his hands. The kick sent the man stumbling off of the edge of the bridge and into the lava below.
Orochimaru deflected the swing from another Oni Guard's naginata, easily managing to guide the foolhardy shinobi off the bridge. One of the Oni Guards attempted to ambush Orochimaru from behind. The Sannin simply turned his body slightly, extending his arm out and impaling the shinobi before he simply threw the sword and body into the lava below.
The final two were just as easy to finish off. With two blazing strikes from his sword, the final two Oni Guards fell to the floor with blood pouring from their chests. Orochimaru tossed the sword over the edge of the bridge and continued towards the Inner Sanctum of Hell's Palace.
The Inner Sanctum was completely open, and not guarded in the slightest it seemed. Orochimaru simply walked through hallway after hallway in one giant circle. Finally, he reached the center of the Sanctum, which was blocked by two Oni Guards.
The doors practically exploded into the room as two corpses flew into the room like sacks of potatoes. In the center of the room, Ibiki stared at the doors in horror while Higure barely managed to drift his eyes to see what had happened. In the back, Tenga sat perfectly still, her posture lazy and carefree in her chair.
"Ah, so our honored guest has finally arrived..."
Orochimaru stepped into the throne room, standing in the center of the tower of light that illuminated the entire room. His golden serpent eyes rested on his prized target, the source of his secret rebellion. Higure Haruno stared back, eyes half shut as his chest heaved up and down with wheezing breaths of air. Orochimaru flashed a smile as his eyes met Higure's.
Zabuza bounced between the two Stupid Brothers, kicking one in the face before swinging his foot back around to land his heel on the back of the head of the second brother. The two giants stumbled a bit and Zabuza made a break for his sword.
Fujin threw out his entire set of right side arms, causing them to extend rapidly in pursuit of Zabuza. The swordsman quickly dove forward and grabbed his sword, flipping around and slicing one of Fujin's four hands off, and managing to get a few fingers off of the second one. The giant screamed out in pain as his arms began to retract.
Zabuza landed on the ground, crouched down before he skidded to a halt. He stared at his injured arm, seeing that his makeshift bandage was already loosening up as red liquid trailed down his limp limb.
Raijin bellowed with rage before aiming his chakra cannons at Zabuza. The swordsman immediately snapped his attention forward, just as the powerful blasts of energy were released, punching a hole straight through the trees and bushes.
The two brothers grinned again, feeling that they had finished their opponent for good. The smoke began to clear, only to reveal something dark waiting for them.
"Wh-what is that Raijin?!"
"I...I don't know Fujin!"
The smoke and dust then blew outward from the darkened center. The Legendary Stupid Brothers took a step back with fear. Standing perfectly unharmed from the most recent blast, Zabuza clutched his sword as a dark chakra began to flow around his body in a menacing fashion.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
"I'll blast him again brother!" Raijin lowered his body, and readied his cannons once again.
Zabuza screamed with rage as he hurled his sword forward, sending it flying around and around at break-neck speeds. The blade cleaved effortlessly through Raijin's toughened skin, removing the cannons made from his own skin from his back.
The giant howled with pain and flailed in agony as his cannons landed on the ground. Zabuza's blade managed to stick into a tree, with the handle sticking out. The Demon of Kirigakure landed on the handle of Kubikiribocho before quickly pulling it out of the tree and vanishing in a flash.
Zabuza reappeared between the Legendary Stupid Brothers, catching them both off guard. "You want to see what a real demon can do...?" Zabuza lifted up his head and howled loudly with rage, causing his chakra to practically explode out from him. "Then come on! I'll show you the gates of hell!"
The two brothers screamed as they made an attempt towards Zabuza. The rogue quickly swung his sword, bringing his demonic chakra around around the blade, and effortlessly cleaved through Fujin in one swing. Following the motion of the swing, Zabuza implanted Kubikiribocho's tip into the ground behind him. He vaulted himself upward into the air, bringing the sword with him as he dodged Raijin's powerful fist that shattered the ground. Zabuza spun around and brought his blade high above his head before he swung down right through Raijin's head, and the rest of the giant's body.
As Zabuza landed on the ground, the two halves of the Legendary Stupid Brothers erupted in a fountain of blood before they hit the dirt. Zabuza's dark chakra faded before he glanced at his sword to make sure that it was repairing itself with their blood.
As soon as Kubikiribocho was fixed, Zabuza quickly fell to his knee and let out a heavy groan. He clutched the sword to keep himself from falling face first into the dirt, but panted heavily with exhaustion. The blood loss had made Zabuza a bit light headed, and he had spent up most of his chakra using his demonic aura.
"You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Zabuza let out a loud, annoyed groan as he slouched over.
"Haven't I had enough suffering you tyrant?"
Tsunade knelt down next to Zabuza and began healing his wounds while scowling at him, "If you don't shut up, you're going to be put through a lot worse." Zabuza simply grunted before seeing both Nagato and Itachi arriving on the scene. Zabuza also noted Itachi's new cloak, exactly the same as the other leaders of Akatsuki.
"Oh, so they finally promoted you eh?" Itachi gave a polite smile and shrugged. Zabuza shook his head as he looked at his injured arm beginning to heal up. "You deserve it kid."
"Where's Jiraiya," Tsunade asked, bringing her hazel eyes up to the swordsman.
"Inside Hell's Palace...with Haku and Sakura both."
Tsunade turned to Nagato and Itachi, "It's probably too late to stop him then. At this point, all we can do is provide backup. You two go on ahead and we'll catch up with you." Both of the dojutsu users nodded and then quickly ran into the shack that harbored the entrance to Hell's Palace. Tsunade turned back to Zabuza, who cringed a bit at the pain.
'That chakra...covering his body like that...he knows how to use Saizo's signature jutsu...'
Haku cried out as he was thrown through a brick wall, rolling out onto a metal walkway in front of countless prison cells. Breaking out from the same wall a few feet away, Mizuki came barreling towards his target. Haku slowly tried to get up, but was quickly kicked in the face, and sent flying high and crashing into the metal scaffolding above. Mizuki then sprung into the air, grabbed the boy, spun around, and then hurled him into the center of the chamber.
Mizuki landed on the ground, his weight shattering the concrete beneath his feet as he cackled. "This power is incredible! You don't stand a ghost of a chance against me you little brat!"
"Actually..." Haku spat out a mouthful of blood and smiled. "I've got you where I want you." Mizuki looked confused for a very brief moment. Haku then formed a hand seal, and opened his water pouch attached under his cloak. "Demonic Ice Mirrors!" The water rocketed out of his pouch and formed a large series of mirrors around Mizuki that kept him caged in.
The Oni Guard simply laughed and held his arms out for show, "You think this can stop me boy?!"
Haku stepped into one of the mirrors, slowly casting an image of himself on every last ice mirror. "Well, you see I managed to deduce how your jutsu works. The one that repels me back? It has a limited area of affect. Meaning you have to project it in certain areas to protect yourself, but you leave other areas of your body completely exposed."
"So what?! I know which one is the real you!" Mizuki charged towards the mirror Haku originally stepped into and cracked his fist against it. The mirror shook slightly under the force of the blow, greatly surprising Mizuki.
"See, that's another problem..." Haku launched his foot out from the mirror, cracking his heel against Mizuki's jaw. The Oni Guard cried out in pain and stumbled backwards before charging at the mirror again.
An invisible force hit the mirror before Mizuki even touched it, but then he grabbed the mirror and tried to shatter it. The jutsu, combined with Mizuki's raw strength from the Curse Mark, cracked the mirror slightly.
Mizuki cried out in pain as another kick landed against the back of his knee, bringing the Oni Guard down, and disrupting his jutsu. The white haired man swung backwards, but Haku sprung out from his reach and melded into another mirror, projecting his image on all of them yet again.
"I can move between each of my mirrors seamlessly. Wherever you leave an opening, I can exploit it in the blink of an eye. I can react faster than you can think."
Mizuki grinned and chuckled before folding his arms over his broad chest. "Very impressive! You're a smart kid, I'll give you that. However, now that I know what you're up to, you don't know where I'm keeping my guard up."
"I think it's fairly easy to guess..." Haku's images disappeared in a flash before he was in Mizuki's face with his leg drawn back.
The Oni Guard wore a visible expression of shock before the Akatsuki shinobi brought his foot crashing across Mizuki's face. The white haired shinobi stumbled around, groaning angrily before he realigned himself, and his jaw.
"You see, I have a comrade with a similar style of jutsu that repels anything coming towards him. The drawback of this jutsu is that it has a five second period before he can use it again, giving a very small window of opportunity before he can use it again. You have a similar jutsu, and hence, a similar problem. You can't move your defense around as quickly as you want. And your mind is so simple, it was easy to guess that you thought I would head for your back."
Mizuki gave an angered grin before he clenched his fists tightly, "Alright smart guy...where do you think I'm putting it now?"
"That takes time to figure out," Haku admitted.
Mizuki chuckled as his eyes shifted back and forth, "You know, you really are a smart kid. Talented too, with a special kekkei genkai..." Mizuki turned around, his eyes still darting about. "You'd have a place with Orochimaru..."
"In the Alliance? No thanks."
"Not the Alliance! Orochimaru has...larger plans. Grander schemes that Danzo's simple wars." Haku kept his face expressionless as Mizuki ranted. The ice user remembered hearing about Orochimaru's involvement with the Takigakure incident, which had all of Akatsuki wondering where the snake Sannin's loyalties lied. "You'd be a fool not to be curious...come now, surely you want to hear about what they can offer you..."
Haku shot out from his mirrors, and went for the neck. He cried out as he hit the barrier and flew back. Mizuki shot his head in Haku's direction and grinned wickedly. There was a few seconds before Haku shot out again towards the same position, striking a punch right across Mizuki's face. He stumbled, his grin changing instantly to a scowl before Haku was once again in his mirrors.
'Didn't think I'd see him trying to attack me in the same place twice...clever boy...'
"What is Orochimaru's plan?"
"To unlock all the mysteries of this world! To bring about an age of peace through knowledge! A world in which he would rule!"
"And he seeks to overthrow Danzo to do that," Haku guessed.
"Danzo restrains us! Keeps true knowledge from us in order to keep Lord Orochimaru in check! Because Danzo knows the truth, that Orochimaru is more dangerous, more powerful than he is! If Lord Orochimaru had all the knowledge he wanted, he could easily take over Konohagakure, the Alliance, the whole world!"
"Surely Orochimaru can't be doing this alone...he must have allies within the Allinace to help him..."
"I'm not sharing information like that with the likes of you. Not unless...you wished to join the revolution!"
"I'm good, but thanks." Haku emerged out of the mirror on the other side, leaving Mizuki in the center. The Oni Guard whipped his head around and grinned. "If that's all the information I can get out of you, then prolonging this is unnecessary."
"What are you going to do, huh?! Try and leave me trapped in here forever?!"
Haku simply formed a hand sign. All of his mirrors shattered, leaving hundreds of tiny, razor sharp pieces of ice floating in the air. Mizuki stepped back and trembled as he looked around to all sides, trying to see some sort of opening.
"Remember when I stuck your back? That was a time delay sealing ninjutsu," Haku explained. "In a few seconds, your chakra flow will be distorted, leaving you unable to protect yourself from this."
"W-wait! I'll tell you everything about Orochimaru!" Mizuki trembled as he suddenly felt a powerful surge on his back. The seal activated and disrupted his chakra flow, also causing him some pain as he fell on one knee.
"A Thousand Needles of Death!" Haku clasped his hands together as the ice shards all flew together and converged on Mizuki, impaling and piercing the man from all angles as he screamed in pain briefly before dying.
Haku shrugged off his injuries before leaping back up to the hole in the wall Mizuki created, and ran down the hall to get deeper into the prison. "Out of needles and now water...I don't know exactly what good I'll do against a Sannin..."
Despite his doubts and the odds against him, Haku continued to race forward to the Inner Sanctum.
Orochimaru stood still and silent for several moments, staring at the chains that held Higure captive. Tenga and Ibiki both allowed the silence, wondering what was going through the Sannin's head, or why he hesitated.
"Well, I'm surprised you're not simply jumping the gun to try and complete your mission," Tenga finally proclaimed. "Aren't you here for Higure Haruno?" Orochimaru didn't respond, and simply followed the chains that kept Higure held up. Tenga grew slightly annoyed before standing up at her full height.
"Tell me something...how did you restrain him? Torture him?" The two seemed taken aback by the question. Orochimaru finally turned back to the two mask wearing shinobi, waiting for his answer.
"We did many methods of torture," Ibiki explained. "Cutting, burning, bludgeoning, psychological-,"
"How many times did you...use chakra?" Higure's eyes flickered a bit at this. Ibiki looked back at Tenga with confusion before looking back at Orochimaru.
"With electrocution we did...why?"
Orochimaru then grinned and started to chuckle while shaking his head. "Do you idiots even know why they call him the Chakra Leech?" Orochimaru looked back at Tenga, the obvious head of Hell's Palace. The Sannin got a distinctive feeling that behind her mask, the woman was smiling at him. "He absorbs the properties of chakra at will..."
"Any shinobi with the right training can do that," Ibiki stated before smacking the back of his gloved hand against Higure's cheek. "Which is why we bound his hands, and ensured that he could access his chakra reserves with these chains!"
"He couldn't use his chakra, I'm sure...but I did say he absorbs the properties of other chakra..."
In a moment, the loud sound of metal breaking was heard, causing Ibiki to turn his head. The injured, bleeding Higure broke his hand loose and was throwing his fist right at the Oni Guard's head. Ibiki attempted to cast a hand sign, but Higure had his two fingers extended outward, enhanced with lightning chakra. His fingers easily broke through his mask, and dug right through Ibiki's skull, and into his brain.
The mask split in half, shattering on the ground. Ibiki's eyes were rolled up in the back of his head, drool and blood trickling from his mouth. Higure pulled his fingers out of Ibiki's skull, and swiped his hand across the other chain to free himself.
The tortured shinobi collapsed to the ground in a heap, panting heavily, drenched with sweat and blood. Both Orochimaru and Tenga stared at the man lying on the floor. The warden of Hell's Palace snickered and rose up from her seat, slowly approaching Higure.
"I was wondering how long you could last," Tenga spoke. "I knew you had been siphoning off chakra from our torture devices the entire time. The only reason, I would assume, you didn't absorb it all was because then we'd resort to more...blunt methods."
"Yeah...not sure which I prefer more..."
Tenga chuckled at Higure's strained comment. "Even after that injection directly into your brain, you somehow managed to keep it all together. Though I know for a fact, that your pain is excruciating, isn't it?" Higure's body shook in response as he tried to push himself up on his feet.
Tenga then stopped and looked up at Orochimaru, who had been glaring at her the entire time. "Oh don't stand on ceremony, if I'm such a threat, feel free to eliminate me now Orochimaru."
"As you wish," the Sannin replied. The pale shinobi quickly threw his arm outward, releasing a horde of snakes from his sleeve. Every single snake bit down on Tenga, who didn't even try and struggle. It took a few seconds, but eventually the snakes stopped moving. Orochimaru showed alarm to this, realizing that his snakes had all died.
"Really? Petty little snakes to try and take me down?" Tenga swiped her arm out to the side, cutting through the snakes that bit into her as they crumbled into dust. "I'm insulted."
"Interesting...poison in your bloodstream? Strong enough to kill snakes...I've never heard of such an ability...perhaps it's a kekkei genkai?"
"Something along those lines," Tenga stated. "I was simply created this way." Orochimaru's eyes narrowed quizzically at this comment. The bird masked woman quickly started to perform hand seals. "Ninja Art: Poison Torrent!" Tenga extended her arms out, performing an odd looking gesture with both of her hands. Before Orochimaru could question this, a giant stream of purple smoke shot out from Tenga's arms, and hit Orochimaru in the gut with the force of a punch. The purple smoke hten expanded, completely engulfing the Sannin as he cried out as the smoke suffocated him.
"Oh come now, I know that wasn't nearly enough to deal with you either..."
Out of the cloud of purple smoke, an incredibly long blade shot out towards Tenga. The warden simply moved to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade with ease. Tenga chuckled before the smoke blew apart as Orochimaru stepped through it, the sword that extended from his mouth slowly retracting.
On the ground, Higure simply watched as the two fought one another. 'Great job...stuck in a battle between monsters...and I can't move. How do I get stuck in these situations...?'
"Strange, this poison is one of Sasori's specialties."
"Which would imply that you're immune to it," Tenga pointed out with a certain glee in her tone. "Perhaps you and he are working together behind Lord Danzo's back?"
"You're quite the nosey little snoop, aren't you?"
"Coming from the real traitor in the room." Tenga's eyes narrowed a bit, entertained before they turned to Higure. "Danzo knew for a fact that Sasori wouldn't have shared an...interesting hypothesis as Higure turning traitor with Danzo, before contacting you. Danzo predicted what your course of action would be if he labeled Higure Haruno a traitor." Tenga's shining eyes turned back to Orochimaru as she let out a soft chuckle behind her mask. "That you would come here, and attempt to kill Higure so that you may use him for the Edo Tensei, and then assassinate Danzo, making it appear as Higure had gone rogue. This would in turn, allow you to use five of the Six Paths of Shinobi..."
Orochimaru's face grew stern, and his body tensed during the entire explanation. 'That damn old fox! He couldn't have predicted this!'
"Shall we get on with this then?"
Knowing that the cat was out of the bag, Orochimaru lunged forward, and quickly slithered past Tenga, much to her surprise. The Sannin went right towards Higure, eyes wide with murderous intent.
Orochimaru was suddenly stopped. His eyes snapped downward, seeing a series of snakes wrapping around his body. The Sannin couldn't understand what was going on before he was pulled back forcefully and throwing into one of the stone walls.
The snakes then slithered back to their source, Tenga's sleeves. Higure stared in horror at having witnessed the warden using the Striking Shadow Snake jutsu. Tenga simply stood in place and stared at where she threw Orochimaru last.
A fairly large snake shot out from the dust and rubble, shooting itself towards Tenga with its mouth wide open. The warden simply blurred herself to the right of the serpent, forming the last hand sign for her jutsu.
"Poison Fang!" Tenga extended her fingers out to the snake, launching a purple dart of smoke that pierced through the snake's scaly skin. The serpent shrieked in pain before it fell on its side, mouth opened and dead. The smoke started to come out of its mouth, and the entry wound started to corrode and decay the skin.
Tenga then snapped her head to the side and raised up her arm, using the forearm protector of her uniform to block Orochimaru's sword. The two glared into one another's eyes, with Orochimaru sneering a bit.
"Quite the impressive poisons you have. They might even surpass Sasori's. And those serpents..." Orochimaru pressed harder against Tenga, causing her to give way a bit. "Where did you learn my techniques...?"
"From you, of course." Orochimaru's eyes flickered with shock before Tenga shoved him back. The Sannin flipped around and slid against the floor as he glared at the woman curiously. Tenga flipped her dark hair back over her shoulder and placed a hand on her hip. "I don't expect you to know about me. Lord Danzo simply kept me for his own, and left me in charge of hell itself."
"Who exactly are you child...?"
Tenga threw her head back and laughed at how clueless the Sannin was. She brought her head back down and placed her hand over her mask, closing her eyes, but making sure that her fingers were parted so that the holes in her mask were visible.
"I don't have a real birth name you see...Danzo simply gave me the code name Tenga..." Orochimaru and Higure both stared at her intently as they listened.
'A codename...so she's apart of Root?' Higure wondered to himself.
"I have many talents, and abilities, none of which are mine, and all of which were given to me by Lord Danzo..." Tenga barley cracked open her eyes, staring at Orochimaru only. "To say my surname would be Shimura would be a ridiculous claim."
"You were...given your abilities," Orochimaru questioned. The Sannin narrowed his golden eyes at the warden. "What...abilities were you given?"
Tenga giggled softly and then threw her arms out at Orochimaru. From her sleeves, a horde of snakes shot out towards the serpent Sannin, who quickly countered with his own Striking Shadow Snakes. The two masses tangled together, biting, tearing, and ripping themselves to shreds until both Orochimaru and Tenga ceased their jutsus.
"Yours clearly," Tenga stated in response to Orochimaru's earlier question. "The poisons of both Sasori and Chiyo, which I have expanded on and improved."
Orochimaru simply glared at Tenga, infuriated with her presence. She carried herself so calmly in the face of a Sannin, and practically laughed in the face of Orochimaru's power. What seemed worse to the pale shinobi was that she seemed to be toying with him. Orochimaru was holding back as well, but for someone to toy with one of the Three Legendary Sannin was an impressive feat.
Orochimaru shifted his eyes slightly, reminding himself of his target lying on the ground. Without a second of hesitation, he shot towards Higure. Tenga moved to cut him off, but Orochimaru's body extended and coiled around out of the way like a true serpent. The warden turned her head where Orochimaru now stood right above Higure.
"It's simply business Higure, I'm sure you understand." Orochimaru reached down, his palms opened and read to kill the former Commander.
In a flash, a powerful fist came across Orochimaru's face, causing his head to twist around as though his neck were made of rubber. The attacker then came back around, screaming at the top of their lungs as they landed another power-packed punch directly against Orochimaru's face. The Sannin skidded back a few feet, but showed no signs of pain as he stared directly ahead at his assaulter.
Sakura panted softly, sweating with fear and adrenaline as she stood over her shocked uncle. It took a moment, but Higure then noticed Sakura was wearing an Akatsuki cloak.
"S-Sakura?! What are you..." Higure groaned a bit as he tried to move, "doing here?"
"Trying to save you," Sakura whispered. The way her body trembled, it was clear to see that attacking Orochimaru head on had shaken the young girl.
The serpent Sannin twisted his head back around and sighed before adjusting his neck, "If you're here young lady, then that means Jiraiya is as well..."
Having heard the comment, Tenga turned to the entrance to see a large man with his arms folded over his broad chest walking forward with a head of spiky white hair standing out in contrast to his black uniform.
"Well, well, if it isn't one of our old Oni Guards, Jiraiya returned to Hell's Palace," Tenga joyfully stated. "It's been quite some time, teacher."
"You learned nothing Tenga."
"I simply followed your examples set on how to discipline inmates."
"Is that why Danzo saw fit to create this Inner Sanctum of yours?"
Tenga giggled a bit and shrugged, "A personal request. I thought it really added to the name of Hell's Palace."
Orochimaru peered over to Tenga and Jiraiya's conversation, curious as to how his former comrade in arms knew the mysterious warden of Hell's Palace. He looked back towards Higure, with Sakura still standing to protect him. Orochimaru knew that the second it would take to bring Sakura down would be more than enough time for either Tenga or Jiraiya to stop him. Orochimaru also assumed that with Jiraiya and Sakura present, that both of the Legendary Stupid Brothers as well as Mizuki had failed him.
"Well...I suppose I have no choice in the matter..." Sakura looked confused, having been the only one who heard the pale Sannin. Orochimaru clapped his hands together and grinned, "Summoning Jutsu..."
Tenga's head perked up in alarm, feeling an unnatural chakra. She quickly moved to form her own hand signs as she spun around and faced Orochimaru's direction.
A pair of coffins began to rise up from the ground as Orochimaru chuckled sinisterly. However, the two coffins stopped rising, much to the Sannin's shock. Orochimaru clenched his hands tighter, trying to bring the summoning about. His only success was that the coffins started to sink down into the ground at a slower rate.
"This is impossible!"
Jiraiya saw what had happened, and knew instantly that Orochimaru was trying to use the Edo Tensei. He also pieced together that somehow Tenga managed to cancel the summoning after the jutsu had already been started. From the limited information they possessed on the forbidden jutsu, Jiraiya had no clue that there was a way to cancel the summoning technique before it happened.
"Oh, Jiraiya, that reminds me," Tenga spoke up. The white haired man narrowed his eyes at the warden, who simply turned her head slightly towards the older man. "You and I have something in common...we both want Higure Haruno alive." Orochimaru snapped his head around, instantly realizing what the treacherous woman was implying. "Our friend Orochimaru...wants him dead. Perhaps we could work together to bring down Orochimaru first...and then you and I can have it out." Jiraiya froze in place and stared at Tenga. They both knew that logically it made more sense was to take out Orochimaru, as he was the only one who wanted Higure dead.
"Summoning Jutsu!" All heads snapped to Orochimaru, who was quickly engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Out of the smoke came out four fairly large snakes that went for each shinobi in the room. Jiraiya and Tenga both jumped apart as the snakes tore through the stone floors.
Orochimaru ran between the other two snakes heading for Sakura and Higure. The pinkette stood her ground, ready to fight against the serpents and their master. Before they could reach the Haruno's however, a figure appeared in a blur, grabbing both of them and then vanishing again.
Orochimaru and his snakes stopped in place, with the former greatly surprised by what he saw. 'So fast...' The Sannin turned his head and whipped his arm to the other corner of the chambers, which his summons followed obediently.
Haku landed on the ground and saw both snakes slithering towards him and Sakura. The ice user placed Higure on the ground from his shoulder and looked at Sakura, "Sorry that I'm late."
"No problem," Sakura replied with a grateful smile. The kunoichi then stood up and faced off against the two snakes. "We can take them both on and guard Uncle Higure from Orochimaru."
"Um...about that." Haku rubbed the back of his head and gave an embarrassed smile, "I uh...used all of my needles and water in my fight against that one man from before. I'm afraid I'm all but useless right now."
Sakura cringed a bit, doubting her odds alone. "Alright, fine, just please guard my uncle!"
"No...Sakura," Higure groaned as his aching body trembled. She ignored her uncle's pleas and charged forward to face down the two purple snakes.
With a fierce, angry cry Sakura slammed her fist into the head of the first snake, smashing its face through the stone. The second snake shot towards her, roaring with its jaws wide open and ready to swallow her whole. Sakura turned her body in the air as the snake shot into her. She grabbed both of the snake's front fangs and slammed her foot into its bottom jaw, keeping its mouth wide open to prevent getting eaten. Sakura groaned with strain, using all of her strength to keep the serpent's powerful jaws from closing in on her.
On the other side of the room, Orochimaru watched Sakura carefully, his eyes narrowed carefully. "Her chakra control is impressive...as to be expected considering who her family. However, her strength is caused from the chakra control...much like how Tsunade does." Orochimaru reached up with his hand, cupping his chin as he pondered about the pink haired girl. "If she ever became as talented as her mother, or as powerful as her uncle...she could become a serious threat. Perhaps I should reconsider wiping out the rest of the Haruno family lineage..."
Orochimaru then realized that there was a simpler solution to eliminate everyone at once. "It's a bit wasteful...but," the sinister Sannin clapped his hands together then began performing various hand signs, "Earth Style: Sundering Quake!"
The entire Inner Sanctum shook violently, rocking the cavern entirely. Itachi and Nagato stood on one of the metal bridges, trying to maintain their balance. A quick look around the Inner Sanctum, the duo saw chunks of the cavern collapsing from the ceiling and splashing into the lava below.
"This is bad..." Itachi stated as he looked up, seeing the Palace starting to crack from the tops, threatening to collapse. "If that falls...this entire cavern is going to come down if that falls. And Jiraiya and Sakura-,"
"Are in there, I got it!" Nagato started moving his hands together in lightning fast speeds, preparing a ninjutsu.
"Earth Style: Rising Dragon!" Nagato cried out as the cavern shook more, practically rattling them both as they stood in front of the collapsing metal bridge.
Shooting up out of the lava was a giant, coiling dragon made of solid stone that wrapped around the bottom of the Palace's Inner Sanctum. Though the cavern still shook, and the Palace shuddered and cracked from the ceiling, the Earth Dragon held the gigantic rock structure in place.
"Well what now," Itachi asked to a winded, panting Nagato. "We kept the structure up, but the bridges are all collapsed. There's no way we'll get inside."
"L-let me just...th-think on that for a s-second, genius." Itachi sighed through his nose, picking up the ironic tone Nagato was carrying while he focused on his Earth Style jutsu. The young Uchiha's mind started turning, trying to come up with some way to get across a lake of lava without getting roasted.
As the Palace shook, everyone except for Orochimaru himself struggled to keep balance. The Sannin grinned while Tenga and Jiraiya stumbled around, the latter glaring at his former teammate. One of the serpents slithered back towards Orochimaru, swallowing their summoner. Before the snakes could be reverse summoned away, the entire room violently shook. Every last shinobi in the room stumbled and eventually fell to the ground from the force, while Orochimaru lied inside his summon, curious as to what had stopped the cavern from collapsing.
Realization dawned on Orochimaru before he sent his serpents out towards Tenga and Jiraiya. The snake master then infused his chakra into the serpent carrying him, quickly changing its form into a three headed hydra-like creature, with each head sprouting a pair of horns that were pulled backwards.
Both the hydra and the second serpent darted towards Higure, Sakura, and Haku. The pinkette quickly moved in front of Haku and her immobile uncle. "Haku, get to safety! I'll hold Orochimaru off as long as possible!"
"I don't think that will last you very long to be honest," Haku stated truthfully. Regardless of his doubts, the ice user put Higure's arm over his shoulder and lifted the bleeding man off the ground.
Haku and Sakura both jumped apart as the hydra and serpent slammed into the ground, burrowing through the solid stone floor like it was softened dirt. The ice user landed on his feet, nearly doubling over with the extra weight he was carrying. Higure winced a bit, his sore and aching body burning with pain from the sudden movement.
"Sorry sir!"
"G-get me...t-to Jiraiya," Higure murmured. Haku looked over across the room, seeing Jiraiya and Tenga battling the slippery serpents.
"Sir, I don't think I can get you to Jiraiya safely."
"But you...can get me out of here in o-one piece...?" Haku smirked, knowing that the senior shinobi was right to question their likelihood of survival. "J-Jiraiya can...get me out of here...q-quickly and safely...but I need to get to him...and he needs an opening to summon his toads."
"I'll worry about getting you into hiding first, sir."
"Th-then you'll want to move right now..."
Haku then felt the ground beneath him shift, and he shot straight up into the air as a serpent's head broke out of the ground and attempted to swallow him and Higure. Sakura then suddenly appeared, gently taking Higure away from Haku as the latter lifted the wounded man above his head.
Sakura pulled her uncle up into her arms as Haku suddenly flipped around, and once again utilized all of his limbs to keep the jaws of the massive serpent held open.
The pinkette landed on the floor with her uncle, and quickly worked to heal as many of his wounds as possible. Higure groaned softly as his injuries started to mend themselves. The lighter cuts and openings began to stop bleeding, and close them up.
The ground began to shake lightly, causing both uncle and niece to look down. Higure shoved Sakura several feet away before he tucked himself up and rolled backwards. One of the hydra's heads shot out from the ground where Higure and Sakura were.
Though still injured, Higure managed to pick himself up on his feet, still crouching and clutching his side however. Another of the hydra's heads broke through the ground behind the injured shinobi, and let out a terrifying roar before moving to eat the man. Higure's hand lit up with lightning before he jumped into the reptile's mouth, and pierced a large hole right through the top of its head. As Higure landed, he held his bruised side and grimaced, though the hydra's head fell behind him, completely lifeless.
A scream from across the room caused him to turn his head. The other two heads from Orochimaru's summon had Sakura cornered. In the blink of an eye, the two hydra heads moved forward and began to tear a shrieking Sakura apart.
"NO!" Higure picked himself up, but was suddenly stopped.
He looked down where he felt a new, fresh sense of pain, and saw an opening in his chest. Blood began to seep from the wound, running down his bare chest and stomach, dripping onto the floor. Higure looked back up, and saw the scene before his eyes vanish like a mirage, replaced by the image of a man standing over him.
Orochimaru held his sword that pierced Higure's chest, and grinned triumphantly. Higure looked back up at the Sannin, a look of realization flashing across his dying eyes.
"You figured it out eh? I'm surprised you didn't realize you were under a genjutsu. Then again, with your blood loss I suppose it's not that shocking." Orochimaru pushed the blade deeper, his sword coming out of Higure's back now.
Higure screamed loudly as he was impaled with the sword, and slowly started to fall back to the floor. Orochimaru however, kept the man upright on his blade, grinning maliciously.
The scream echoed throughout the room, catching Jiraiya's attention just after he launched a fireball down the throat of one of the serpents. "No!"
Tenga, having caught the sight just as she dodge her scaly opponent, scowled fiercely before landing on the snake's head, preparing a jutsu as the beast roared defiantly.
Sakura punched one of the hydra's in the face, shattering half of its skull before the other one withdrew cautiously. The pinkette then looked across the room, and her heart stopped.
Orochimaru began chuckling quietly as the life slowly faded from Higure's eyes. Sakura stood by and watched, her green eyes fully enlarged and full of horror while her mouth dropped open in shock. She slowly shook her head, not wanting to believe what she saw. Her mind was blank for what felt like an eternity before her heart started to beat once more.
"UNCLE HIGURE!"