The Curse
Chapter Twenty-Six: Hell (Part I)
Yoshida Souta clenched his jaw tightly as his fingers curled and uncurled – using the action to control his rising frustrations. He wanted so much to squeeze his hand into a solid fist before throwing it forward in aggravation. The violence of that simple act and the sweet contact of his attack would undoubtedly help release some of the built up anger that was piling up inside of him. Instead, he settled for cracking his knuckles as his scowl deepened, chocolate irises glaring at the figure suspended a few feet above him.
The young woman's eyes were closed and her pale lips were curved in a perpetual frown. Her ebony hair was caught in the branches of the tree she was tied against, white webs tangling in her eyelashes and winding thickly around her petite frame from the neck down. Her cheeks were drained of color and her left arm ended at the elbow, dried blood surrounding the wound.
Several other bodies were in the same condition at the start of the eastern side of the Cobwebbed Forest – as Isamu had so creatively labeled it – quiet in their haunting necropolis, but the particular female cadaver had caught his attention. He stared at it with a mixture of emotions – anger, sadness, bitterness, and resolve.
"Hey," Movement was noticed in Souta's right peripheral vision but he didn't make a gesture of acknowledgement, "…You okay there, Souta?"
The Rain Ninja's deep baritone was laced with obvious concern. Isamu scratched a hand through his shoulder-length blonde hair as he examined Souta's surly disposition, switching his grey-blue gaze between the younger shinobi and the cadaver he wouldn't stop staring at.
"You're kind of creeping me out, kid," Isamu admitted, crossing his arms over his chest, "…Do you know her or something?"
Souta's brows furrowed upon hearing the question, "No, I don't…But someone did." His brown eyes suddenly darkened and a sneer curled his lips, "It's not fair. None of this is fair." His hands clenched tightly and his knuckles turned white with the pressure.
Isamu looked down at the boy, eyes softened with sympathy, "…You know, I haven't seen you smiling much lately – you're usually pretty cheery; the cheeriest of this bunch actually. I kind of miss it," His lips twisted thoughtfully; "This is really getting to you, isn't it?"
"Of course it is!" Souta snapped, finally shifting his head to glare at the taller male, "How can it not get to me, Isamu-san? For the past couple of years I've seen my teammates – my friends – die one after the other because of this stupid Curse! And seeing her–" He pointed at the cadaver before shutting his eyes tight and shaking his head from side to side, "Seeing this girl…She just reminds me of my sister. She reminds me of what my sister will become when time finally runs out."
"Hey – you can't think like that, Souta," Isamu placated gently, wanting to lay an encouraging hand on the boy's shoulder but afraid that the action would produce unwelcomed results.
"What do you know?" The Bird Chuunin responded harshly, spinning on his heel and stomping away, "You've got nothing to lose."
Isamu could have retorted after the retreating boy – could have yelled out that his own life was on the line; that he wasn't obliged to help; and, yeah, maybe he didn't carry as heavy a burden as everyone else. But Takeshi Isamu wasn't that kind of man. He solemnly watched Souta kick a rock out of his way with a harsh grumble. Sighing, Isamu twisted his head to find Daisuke watching him, paused in the act of inspecting a few bodies.
"…I apologize for him," Dai finally expressed as he stood up, dusting stray webs from his clothing, "He–"
"He's a kid," Isamu shrugged lightly; "I get it. He's worried and he's upset; I won't fault him for it."
"And how are you holding up?" Daisuke hesitantly inquired, walking along the tree line with Isamu beside him, his navy eyes still keeping aware of his surroundings and Souta, who walked a few yards ahead of them.
"Pretty well, all things considered," Isamu answered honestly, "You know, a lot of you might think that I stayed here for my mission. At first I only stayed with your group to help because I thought I would get some answers – and a part of me wanted to give back at least a little for saving me. I was wandering the forest for clues without the knowledge of what happened in the Tri-Point at night. If you guys hadn't shown up and taken me in…I would have been a dead man." He walked around a ribcage and a litter of other bones, hiding a grimace from his sharp features, "I could have left after a few days but the more I stayed and got to know you all the more I wanted to genuinely help. You're my friends…" He shrugged, as if the casual statement didn't hold weight, but Daisuke easily heard it in the tone of his voice, "So you can say, I guess I do have something to lose now. I have sixteen very strong reasons to stay and help," He laughed lightly before meeting Daisuke's confused expression, "Takeru-san and his sour behavior included."
Dai smiled, "We're lucky to have you, Isamu-san. Thanks."
Another chuckle escaped the Rain Ninja's lips, "So…about my payment and other fees concerning my extended amount of time with lending my services…"
Daisuke rolled his eyes in feigned-exasperation, a slight smirk tugging on his lips. He was about to respond with a witty comeback of his own when the area was suddenly plunged in darkness.
"The sun couldn't have set already," Isamu stated with heavy concern, looking up at the branch covered skies where light failed to shine through.
"…No," Dai shook his head, "Passing clouds."
Rustle. Rustle.
Both Daisuke's and Isamu's heads snapped to their right side, towards the Cobwebbed Forest, narrowing their eyes with suspicion and any signs of the origination of the sudden noise.
"Souta!" Dai called out in a concerned whisper; wanting to know where the younger boy had gone, "Souta, where are you?"
"Over here!"
Light suddenly returned to the area and revealed Souta's distant form as he crouched beside a pile of bones. Isamu and Dai moved towards him, still wary of the strange noise they had heard just a minute prior, and stopped a foot away from their youngest companion. Souta reached out to touch, what looked like, a bloodied femur where blood stains and torn skin were still present. The particular area was filled with the scattered, half-eaten remains.
"It's a feeding ground," Souta realized with dread and a hint of morbid fascination.
Isamu bent down to examine the bones, brows furrowing when he noticed that webs also covered the particular clearing, coating some bones and splotched with blood. He shifted his stare to examine a nearby corpse which was wrapped against a tree with similar webbing.
"…These aren't recent," The Rain Ninja noticed, "These bodies are more decayed than what we've witnessed from the Corpses; and their clothes – they came from Earth Country."
"It's spilling over the Borders," Daisuke stated with a deepening frown.
"Not only that," Isamu continued as he connected serious grey-blue eyes with his companions', "It's like these particular bodies have been stored for eating. And if these bodies are the food…then where are the Corpses that are going to eat them?"
Click. Click. Click.
"Hello? Hello, can anyone hear me?"
Click. Click.
"Come on, damn it! Does anyone copy?"
Skrzzzzzt. Skrzzzzt.
The answering static caused Akiyama Raiden's frown to deepen. The chakra he pumped into his legs allowed him to fly through the lengthy corridors, dark eyes darting around with wariness as one hand held a lantern to light his way and the other curled tightly around the hilt of his broadsword, slicked with sweat as adrenaline pumped through his veins.
When he reached the turn of the hallway in the Northeast Passage he skidded to a halt, breathing heavily as he scanned the area with urgency before landing his sights on the set of doors at the end of the corridor. Locking his jaw, Raiden moved forward, sheathing his broadsword before reaching out to curl his hand around the rusted handle of the entryway.
He pulled and the screech of the shifting iron echoed around him. His brows furrowed steeply when the action of opening the wooden door was met with resistance. Grunting, Raiden pulled even harder, muscles tightening with the amount of force that he utilized, his heart pounding loudly in his chest when positive results weren't gained. Setting down the lantern, the Bird Jounin used both hands; using as much chakra control he could attain to increase his strength.
"Come on," Raiden growled as he lifted his right foot to press against the frame for extra leverage, "Open, damn it!"
The rusted iron and old wood groaned with protest before giving in with a loud crack, the inner portion of the door breaking with the amount of vigor Raiden expended. Breathing out in relief, Raiden swung the door open and retrieved his lantern once again, cautiously moving forward into the darkness of the stairwell.
The blue-white glow illuminated the space and Raiden felt his body grow hot with panic and frustration.
"Damn it!" His curse echoed and he stepped further in, inspecting the obstruction that was a broken staircase and debris that disallowed him an easy route either up or down. He lifted his lantern to allow better lighting, searching the rubble of broken wood and rock to discern whether or not he could move it aside in some way to create a suitable passage. However, using a Katon or shifting the slightest piece of wreckage could cause the precarious pile to collapse and make the situation worse.
He walked closer to the mound of destroyed lumber that blocked the stairway to the lower floors before peering up at the broken stairwell above, which was also congested with pieces of old furniture.
"Why would furniture be in a stairwell?" Raiden muttered with growing suspicion. He tried to look through the cracks that led towards the underground but only found darkness.
"Sakura-san?" He called, "Akemi? Are you there?"
When no response was given, Raiden sighed, running an aggravated hand through his white hair, before reluctantly stepping away from the northeast staircase and back into the main hallway.
"Can't go through there," He decided with growing irritation, "Alright, I got two more choices left." He recalled when he, Sakura, and Akemi had first stumbled upon the Southeast stairwell – the one Sakura had suggested he check before she willingly – bravely – went underground to help Akemi. That too had been blocked off completely, so much so that they could barely enter a few feet into the space. They had initially believed that the stairway only led to upper levels – they weren't aware of the underground floor until they discovered the elevator chute. Decidedly, Raiden turned on his heel, intent on checking the northwest stairway – since it was closest to the elevator shaft – before his last and final option – the southwest steps.
Click. He pressed into the radio device at his collar, "Hello? Does anyone hear me? Please respond!"
Pumping chakra into his legs, Raiden took off. His heart beat rapidly – painfully – in his chest, hearing the crack of Akemi's fall echo in his ears without end. Leaving his comrades behind was the last thing he wanted to do. He should have gone down to help, he should have waited to explore the lower levels, and he couldn't believe how quickly things had gone wrong.
He just had to get Akemi and Sakura back to the safety of the ground floor as soon as possible, especially with Akemi's injury. He had to find a way to get to them…
…Before something else did.
Naruto twisted his lips thoughtfully as he gazed up at the tree in front of him. It was a lot bigger now that he was right beside it, towering at least seventy to eighty feet high; and its trunk was thick, with a fifteen foot radius. The canopies high above were full of green leaves, breezing with the wind's soft currents. At the base of the tree, its roots protruded slightly before digging deep within the dirt of the island that the massive foliage occupied.
"…So weird…" Naruto muttered as he eyed the rough bark before looking around suspiciously to find that the tree was the only thing that inhabited the landmass in the middle of the lake.
The area dimmed of light for several seconds and Naruto looked up at the natural roof of crisscrossing branches. Clouds had been passing by more frequently and, Naruto noticed, as the light returned once more, that the cracks above, where the sun's dying rays broke through, were now spotted in an orange-red glow that signaled the arrival of sunset.
"Uzumaki-san."
Naruto shifted his attention away from the tree to glance over his shoulder. Kasumi stood behind him, ice-blue eyes regarding him patiently before gracefully taking a step beside him to examine the tall foliage with silent curiosity.
She was always a quiet one – Naruto noticed. Ryou Kasumi was a peculiar presence. She wasn't one who spoke as freely or as comfortably as her teammates Raiden and Shin did. She was a silent yet strong presence that knew the right time to take action – as if working in the shadows, the support or pillar that provided guidance or aid when it was most needed.
Her demeanor, always so neutral that it almost came off as icy, was actually underlined with sadness – one that Naruto couldn't pinpoint the reason for.
"We followed the tracks," Kasumi finally said, her almond-shaped eyes still trained on the enormous tree, "They led to a small, underground compartment beside the castle." She turned to face him, her lips tugging downwards, "Takeru-san used his Earth Jutsu to open the chamber." Her frown deepened, "We found a boat."
Naruto's eyes widened, "A boat?"
Kasumi inclined her head in confirmation, "Yes, Naruto-san; a small, rowing boat." Her eyes sharpened, "I do not believe we are alone in this Valley."
"We should let the others know," Naruto responded, brows furrowing with contemplation, "If someone else is here…"
"Did you find any other clues?" The Bird kunoichi inquired, "Where the tracks led, perhaps?"
The Leaf shinobi shook his head, "Nothing. You think there's somewhere else around this lake that a boat could be docked?"
The platinum-blonde tucked a wavy strand of hair behind her right ear, "We should begin to head back to the rendezvous point. The sun is setting and everyone should be informed of our findings. I will see you at the shore."
Naruto nodded his head, "Yeah, okay, I'll be right there."
Then, Naruto calmly watched as Kasumi began to disintegrate into a puddle of water, her water clone's existence disappearing in seconds and leaving the Leaf Ninja alone once more.
With his keen sense of sight, Naruto scanned the surrounding lakeshore, searching for any evidence of a dock or an area that looked likely for a small boat to moor. Unfortunately, all Naruto found was an empty shoreline where more forestry began, leading into further darkness and obscurity. Even from his recollection of standing on the hill, where he and his comrades first discovered the palace, they had seen no other structures or noticeable locations worth investigating.
Sighing, Naruto gave one last sweep of the quiet lake before shoving his cold hands in his pant pockets and effortlessly molding chakra into the soles of his feet once more. He watched as the still waters rippled under his nin-sandals, stepping across the opaque surface with a contemplative frown before something on his jacket caught his attention.
Curiously, he removed his right hand from his pocket to pluck a particularly large piece of webbing from his left chest, which had caught on his zipper. It was dry on his fingertips, easily broken by the rough handling of his calloused hands but the more he looked at the white substance, the more he noticed that it had stuck to several other places on his body. Frowning, he began to brush the webbing off his form, watching as it caught on his hands before fluttering uselessly to the waters below.
Another cloud passed by overhead leaving the Twisted Valley in a temporary darkness.
Naruto froze. His heart pounded loudly in his ears as his hands remained aloft from his self-grooming. The webbing on his fingers fluttered in the wind before falling free, floating down to the same waters Naruto's eyes were completely transfixed on.
It wasn't until the webbing faintly rippled the lake's surface that Naruto blinked, staring down at the face that stared blankly up at him.
And – no – it wasn't his reflection.
"…They're in the lake…" Naruto breathed.
Sunlight returned with the cloud's passing and Naruto could only watch as the waters beneath his feet returned to its shimmery, opaque-grey color.
"Uzumaki-san?"
Naruto looked up – noticed that he was about halfway to the lakeshore where Kasumi and Takeru waited. The former was looking concerned – rightfully so as Naruto's face had drained of color – and Takeru had his arms crossed over his chest, right foot tapping with obvious impatience.
"Are you going to just stand there all day?" Takeru grunted.
"…They're in the lake," Naruto repeated quietly and a sudden movement below him caused his eyes to widen before he gave out a shout of warning, "RUN!"
SPLASH!
"Uzumaki-san!"
A pale hand was now curled around his left ankle and long, dark hair was floating closer to the surface that caused Naruto's heart to constrict with fear. He only had enough time to meet his panicked royal blue with Kasumi's silently stunned features before he was forcefully dragged under, into the freezing darkness of the lake, and face-to-face with a blood-thirsty Corpse.
"UZUMAKI-SAN!"
Sasuke crouched down, brows furrowed as he ran a hand across the dusty floor, picking up a remnants of a slightly-dried trail of blood which were tracked along the floorboards. He frowned down at the smear of scarlet that had covered the tips of his index and middle fingers, staring down at it with quiet consideration. The light of the chakra-lantern Akio was holding provided little luminescence – as he was several meters ahead of the Uchiha – and left Sasuke to stand upright once more and follow after the teenager to gain better lighting.
"Why is it so bloody dark up here?" Akio muttered as he moved around the hallway, opening up doors to a few rooms only to find boarded windows, and the shoji doors, that led to the veranda, blocked off by furniture. Some were even caved in from the above floor.
Sasuke wiped away the blood on his skin against his shirt with a grimace, looking around the darkened corridor with mounting wariness, onyx eyes darting to every shifting shadow and his measured steps echoing loudly in the silence.
"Let's get some light in here," Akio grinned as he set down his lantern and eyed a candelabra hanging on the wall, a few meters above the floor, "Katon: Endan."
Akio blew tiny fireballs along the hall, aiming for the golden candelabras lining the ramparts and effectively lighting them with what little candlewax remained. His olive eyes glittered triumphantly but he quickly set to work in examining the area, well-aware that the wax may not last long.
"Alright, let's hope this floor has got more answers than the previous ones," The boy stated determinedly as he ran a hand through his shaggy, red hair.
Sasuke nodded, moving further down the north hallway with cautious steps, following the continuously grisly tracks of crimson that seemed to be present on every level of the palace. He opened a wooden door on his right, the hinges giving a loud creak before he gazed upon a dark room – the shoji, on the opposite side of the room, was torn, allowing occasional thin beams of dying sunlight to break through. The fact that those lights were very soft and did not illuminate the room, considering the amount of torn holes in the shoji, only solidified Sasuke's assumptions that their time was almost up.
"We'll need to leave soon to meet up with the others," Sasuke observed as he closed the door and resumed his walk down the hall alongside Akio.
The red-head groaned as he shook his shaggy bangs from his face, "I'd hate to meet back up with the others without anything to share with them."
"You sound like Sakura," Sasuke couldn't help but observe dully.
Akio shrugged his shoulders, swinging the deactivated chakra-lantern in his left hand, "Sakura-san's cool. I wouldn't mind sounding like her," He slanted his head to grin at the Uchiha, "But let's take a page out of your book, Sasuke-san – let's lay out what we know and what we don't know."
Sasuke raised a curious brow at the teen, watching as Akio carefully shouldered a door open, poked his head inside the room in careful examination, before pulling back out with a frustrated frown, right-hand fingers twitching restlessly against the chains of his scythes still strapped to his belt.
Akio's brows suddenly creased with thought, his right hand coming up to rub at his chin, "We've got an abandoned palace in the middle of nowhere and, so far, we've only found circumstantial evidence that has anything to do with The Curse that resides here – that evidence being the creepy blood marks found in the interior of the castle and the amassed amount of disturbing bodies littering the forest outside."
Sasuke quietly listened to Akio, agreeing with the boy's observations as he opened another door to another dark room, noticing with a deepening frown that the thin crack that the shoji door was opened only allowed diminishing orange-red light.
"All these floors have been pretty much empty," Akio continued, opening his own door on his side of the corridor before another annoyed sigh signaled his lack of useful findings, "And these blood tracks seem to be leading nowhere. I mean, what made them? And what was its purpose to go bleeding around the entire palace?"
Sasuke's steps faltered slightly at his questions, dark eyes narrowing with thought as he stared at the hallway that lay ahead of them, lit by the orange glow of the low-wax candelabras, "…Perhaps these blood tracks are leading us into a trap."
Akio paused before switching his olive eyes back to the Uchiha, features hardened with suspicion, "You think so, Sasuke-san?"
"Possibly," Sasuke answered.
The response prompted Akio to tie the lantern back onto his belt and to equip his twin scythes into his possession, square jaw locked tightly as he looked at their environment with a more guarded stance.
"Alright, so there's that," Akio resumed, staring at the scarlet trails with eyes narrowed a fraction more than before, "What else? What about the cobwebs, Sasuke-san? Those had to have come from somewhere too. And why were those bodies tied up like they were? What's the point of that?" His lips twisted with even more thought, "I feel like this is the place we have to be to find answers. It's just…" He exhaled heavily, "I hate to say it – but I don't think we're going to find anything of true value until the sun sets."
Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but he agreed completely with the boy. So far, in the past few hours of searching for any clues in the upper levels of the castle, he and his team had found nothing that could help them. When it came to The Curse, everything circled around the night, when the horrors began. Unless the others found anything of use, Sasuke and his team had nothing to share – except for Akio's own logical questions.
Sasuke peeked into an already-opened door, noticing grimly that the torn shoji was flickering with the light of passing clouds – the sun's rays much dimmer than before. He pulled back, connecting his gaze with Akio's.
"We need to start heading back," the Uchiha suggested lowly, already looking down the hallway from where they came, the lit candelabras allowing him to see much further than with a mere lantern, "Has Shin come around the west hall yet?"
"Not yet," Akio answered as he looked down the opposite end Sasuke was staring – there were still a few more yards left before they reached the very end of the north hall, where the northwest stairwell was located.
Clank. Clank.
Akio straightened on high alert as the sudden sound echoed in the corridor, bouncing off the walls, and causing the teen to flinch uneasily. Sasuke immediately unsheathed his Kusanagi staring down the north hall that he and Akio just traversed, sights set on the darkness of the northeastern stairwell.
Creak. Creak. Creak.
"The hell," Akio cursed, before raising his armed hand up – irritated, "Shin, is that you?"
Bang. Bang. Bang…Creak.
"Shi–?" Sasuke immediately held up his hand to gesture silence, which Akio obliged with brows drawn in concern.
"Listen," Sasuke instructed softly, "…Do you hear it?"
Akio craned his neck in an act to better hear what was coming from down the hallway; in the act of doing so, movement in his left peripheral vision – behind him and Sasuke – caused his body to tense, already quick to point his scythe threateningly at the newcomer.
"Don't be alarmed," Shin whispered, lowering Akio's armed hand as Sasuke's eyes flitted towards them once he witnessed Akio's aggressive movement, "I just arrived from the west hall. Nothing to report but…" His dark grey eyes slid to where the ominous sounds were coming from, "I saw that you both seemed ready for battle and did not want to startle you…"
"There are strange sounds coming from the northeast stairwell," Akio informed, "Movement and…" His olive eyes shifted to Sasuke, "…and breathing."
"Then I believe our time has run out," Shin responded gravely, removing a katana from the obi of his kimono, taking cautious steps backwards, "We will have to head back to the main staircase if we want to outrun whatever decides to follow us. Worst case scenario – we take shelter in one of the rooms and we raise an ofuda-barrier."
"And what about the others?" Akio questioned.
"Let us worry about ourselves first," Shin replied just as the far candelabras, at the other end of the hall, blew out.
Creak. Creak.
The northeast staircase's opening was barely visible and for a mere moment, as Sasuke, Akio, and Shin waited with coiled muscles, and bated breaths, a pale hand slowly emerged from the darkness, reaching out before clawing at the ground, pulling forward just enough for a head of long, black hair to gradually emerge – and the next set of candelabras went out with a whoosh, plunging their view of the terrifying scene into darkness.
Shrrrrrk. Shrrrrrk. Shrrrrrk.
The movements were gaining speed and all three shinobi took a step back. Right at the edge of the fire-orange light, the pale hand emerged once more – but only brief enough until the next set of candles went out. Each time, down the long corridor, the timing would pick up, the sounds steadily gaining proximity and haste. It was halfway down the hallway that a pale hand didn't emerge – but instead, pale feet. She was standing now, her waist-length black hair covering her face as she walked disjointedly into further view…
…Until another set of lights went out.
The next time she walked into the edge of the firelight's range – she wasn't alone.
"What do we do?" Akio hissed, olive eyes counting the three additional figures that had appeared with the first.
"All the rooms we've checked so far have been empty," Sasuke observed as they all took another step back – they still had about forty more yards of distance to strategize, "Which means these things will be coming from the staircases. Akio – make sure the west corridor is empty. Shin and I will check the stairwell behind us to make sure it's safe to travel through. We need to get back to the ground floor and meet back with the others."
"I already checked all the stairwells during my scouting," Shin reported, "The northwest stair, behind us, is locked up tight – and very peculiar. The southwest stair, just down the next hall, leads to the higher levels, and it also reaches the ground floor."
"Then we'll run for the southwest stairs," Sasuke decided.
"Well, what the hell's wrong with the stairs behind us?" Akio questioned as the Corpses ahead of them began to moan loudly, "What's so peculiar about it?"
"When I tried to open it with the use of chakra, I couldn't utilize my reserves," Shin responded, "In fact, when coming within feet of the locked door, I felt my chakra system weaken exponentially."
"Serious?" Akio growled, heart jumping when he viewed a blood-stained mouth hidden behind thick strands of unkempt black hair.
"I count twenty Corpses," Sasuke stated, narrowed eyes flitting across the visible bodies ahead of him before another set of candelabras went out, "We'll need a distraction."
"Leave it to me," Akio promised, quickly hooking his scythes back onto his belt before executing a series of hand seals, "Katon: Bokaheki no Jutsu!"
The firelight from the remaining candelabras began to brighten before Akio threw out his arms and the cackling orange light surged forward in respective streams, colliding right at the foot of the approaching hoard of Corpses, causing a unified cry of pain and outrage.
"Above!" Shin called out urgently, grabbing Akio's shoulder and pulling the teenager behind him, just as a crawling Corpse on the ceiling jumped down with a scream.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke's face lit with a bright, orange glow as a large fireball blew from his mouth and connected with the Corpse, sending her flying back with a scream.
"Go!" Shin ordered, holding out his katana threateningly as wind started to pick up and swirl around him. Akio was quick to run off, removing his chakra-lantern to help him better scout the west hall. Sasuke cautiously shuffled backwards, prepared to lend Shin help as the older shinobi crouched low, long black hair shifting with the sudden air currents.
"Fuuton: Kaze no Suraisu!" Shin cut his katana in a horizontal slash and the results were immediate. The Corpse, still suffering from Sasuke's attack, had slowly been getting up. However, when Shin called his jutsu and made his move, she was immediately knocked to the side with an invisible force – a giant gust of wind that caused her to break through the north wall and out of sight. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if the body had even torn through the shoji and flew though the open air, outside of the structure.
"West hall is clear!" Akio shouted somewhere behind him, "Let's go!"
"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted. The fire ball blazed brightly, sizzling forward and impacting violently against the first row of Corpses, allowing time for him and Shin to turn around and follow Akio around the corner and down the west hall towards the stairwell at the end.
"You are certain that there are no adversaries at the southwest stair?" Shin questioned as he glanced behind – relieved to see no immediate followers.
"It was empty the first time I checked," Akio answered honestly, "No telling if it's been overrun since then."
When they reached the southwest stairwell the sounds of quick footsteps signaled the Corpses pursuit behind them. Some cadavers were still burning, lighting their appearance at the end of the hall and enough warning for Shin and his team to pick up their pace. Swiftly but carefully, Shin edged forward towards the opened doorway of the staircase, its interior pitch-black. He leaned further in, brows furrowed as he strained to hear noises coming from below – but it was difficult with the loud moaning that was approaching.
"What's the matter?" Akio whispered impatiently, fidgeting from one foot to the other as he darted his olive eyes between his team leader and the oncoming Corpses behind them.
Sasuke's Sharingan irises spun dangerously. He opened his mouth to order Akio to provide better light in the stairwell with his chakra-lantern –
– when two hands suddenly reached out from the darkness and latched tightly onto Shin's shoulders.
A/N: I'm SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER SORRY FOR MAKING YOU WAIT FOR THIS CHAPTER! Even when I said 5-7 Days. So I want to thank you all for your patience and support and for all the feedback for the last chapter! I was so excited for 850 Reviews and you guys really helped with the feedback by giving me 875 Reviews! Thank you so much!
So I really hope you guys liked the chapter! I know, all of you are probably wondering when Sakura and Akemi are going to show up, but honestly, because there's so much going on and there are so many teams to follow, we're going to take these next couple of chapters a little bit slower so you can enjoy the ride that is Hell in this 3-4 Part series. Also, I did get feedback that it is a little hard following so many characters especially in a long chapter, so, to help better understand and retain information, I need to cut these into parts. Though, I will be honest – when all the parts of Hell are published and updated, I'd advise you to read it all in one shot only because you'll understand the transitioning too – especially during a second read through, when you're a little aware of what's already going on. Just something to keep in mind, haha.
So because you guys have been SUPER AMAZING, I will be updating within 4-5 Days! Maybe 3 Days? What do you guys think? When should I update? AND if you guys can give me some feedback on the suspense of this chapter and what you think might happen with ANY OF THE TEAMS, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I'D REALLY LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
I'd like to know – Who's your favorite OC Character? I'm trying to give them all some spotlight so you can get a little more attached to them – and make them a little more believable. Next chapter will have some too. And will it be bad if I say that I have a mini crush on Isamu? lol I'm quite attached to his personality.
So again, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, REVIEWING, FAVORITING, ALERTING, AND SUPPORTING THIS STORY! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! THANK YOU!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Company. Only the Plot and OC Characters.
Next Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Seven: Hell (Part II)
Next Update: Within 4-5 Days
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~Len