Big thanks to Son Kenshin for beta-reading! Don't miss his next chapter, it should be coming out fairly soon now.
Legacy of the Rasengan III
Chuuten
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Chapter 8: Overwhelming Power!
Akatsuki hideout, River Country
2:52pm
With only a second to dodge, Deidara and his bird took an abrupt turn. The large stalagmite that had been plummeting towards them blew past and crashed powerfully into the cave floor. Seeing that it had formed a slight mound, Deidara got an idea and dropped off his bird to hide behind it.
As soon as he set foot on the ground, a loud explosion went off behind him. He didn't need to look to know that his bird had just been destroyed. Reaching into his satchel, his hand-mouths greedily devoured a significant portion of the clay inside. Spreading his hands out, he quickly spat the reformed clay out.
Rather that continue using his Suna Harimedo, Gaara leapt forward. Landing in a crouch on top of the former stalagmite, he peeked over of the rock. Just as he did, a literal tidal wave of clay-colored animals like tigers, boars, dogs, and even a tanuki, came rushing up at him. Letting out a roar, he crossed his arms and thrust them forward. The sand of his mutated arms morphed and became severed edges, slashing the animals to pieces.
As the animal pieces fell to the ground, they began to reform themselves and resumed their attack on him. Growling angrily as even more began to charge up at him, Gaara leapt away from the stalagmite and landed several dozen meters.
Loud laughter erupted from behind the stalagmite as the animals formed a defensive line around it. Emerging from behind the rock, his hated enemy rode atop a large elephant of clay.
"Don't think that this battle is over just because you beat my birds, boy," Deidara called over, sneering cockily as his animals began to charge forward.
A deadly growl was all the response he got.
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"Since I dislike waiting or making people wait," Sasori said as he lifted his left arm. "I'll end this right now."
Knowing full well that that arm was a puppet and probably contained hidden and most likely poisonous weapons, Kankurou was already well prepared when it suddenly shot forward. For once thanking his father for all those lessons in taijutsu and speed training, Kankurou dodged to the side. He had hidden behind a nearby tree when there was a loud crash of loud followed immediately by hundreds of smaller ones. He quickly recognized the sound as senbon impacting their targets.
Gut instinct caused Kankurou to jump away from his hiding spot. A second later, the tree was sliced in half by the scorpion tail, right where he'd been standing. Landing lightly on another tree, he withdrew a several kunai and discreetly attached some chakra strings to them. I need to destroy his armor, Kankurou realized as he jumped away with Sasori hot on his tail. Then it should be much easier to defeat or stall him.
"I was right," a voice to his left said conversationally. Kankurou tried to not tense up when he realized that Sasori had caught up to him without him even realizing it. "You are quite skilled for a brat. You're one of the first to dodge that first attack."
"I'm flattered," Kankurou grunted as he threw the string-tagged kunai at Sasori. Predictably, the scorpion tail lashed out and blocked the weapons. Kankurou restrained his smirk expertly as he transferred the strings from the kunai to the tail. "But I only date pretty girls."
"How very immature," Sasori remarked idly at the weak barb. "Are you in that much of a hurry to die?"
"Depends," Kankurou answered, putting on a forced grin. Jumping back to the ground, he faced his opponent and pulled out his last two explosive notes and kunai. As he was gently winding the notes around the hilt of the kunai, he continued, "but let's let the fight decide who's going to die and who's not."
"Indeed," Sasori said. "I do have some rather pressing business with your brother." Eyeing the kunai that Kankurou was tinkering with, he let out a weary sigh of annoyance. The boy just refused to learn didn't he? Kunai, shuriken, and even explosive notes had little effect against his Hiruko's armor. And though Hiruko had its own weaknesses, like every other puppet, they were easily hidden and protected.
"Well, I'm sorry to inform you that your appointment with the Kazekage has been cancelled," Kankurou said, putting on a false show of bravo as he readied himself for his next attack.
"We'll see," Sasori answered, bringing his tail forward as he saw Kankurou prepare himself.
Dashing forward with all his speed, Kankurou felt slight satisfaction as he saw Sasori's eyes widen fractionally in surprise at his speed. This was Kankurou's biggest advantage and disadvantage when he was forced to fight in taijutsu. His speed was formidable by itself, but because he was so accustomed to using his puppets, it quickly taxed his stamina and body. He could only run at top speed for two minutes before he collapsed from exhaustion.
Sprinting straight for Sasori, Kankurou smirked as he saw the puppet master bring his tail up to counter him. Utilizing the chakra strings he'd attached the tail, he brought the tail to an instant halt. His hold on the tail didn't last more than a half a second before Sasori realized something was wrong, but that half a second was just enough time for him to pass the tipped portion and jump into the air over him.
Throwing the tagged kunai, Kankurou's aim was spot-on. It lodged itself firmly inside the small opening on the back of the puppet from where the tail had emerged. Landing behind Sasori and sliding in a slight spin, he watched as his enemy was engulfed in a large fiery explosion.
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Letting out a roar of rage, Gaara threw back his head and body. The amount of youki he was calling upon was astronomical. With a literal explosion of sand and youki, the true form of the Shukaku emerged inside the cavern. The sand that had been called forth had also sent Deidara and his clay army flying to all corners of the cave.
"That was unexpected," Deidara commented quietly to himself from where he lie facedown in the mud. He and his elephant had been blown clear out of the cavern entrance and across the small pond outside.
Picking himself up off the ground, he stared up into the darkness of the cavern. A large pair of golden eyes stared at him from inside the gloom. The overpowering killing intent that was directed upon him from those monstrous organs was enough to have sent an entire village of shinobi running for their lives. But Deidara just returned the gaze steadily, his less-than-sane mind was quite capable of ignoring the fear-inducing glare he was receiving.
"I WILL NO LONGER PLAY WITH A FOOL LIKE YOU," Gaara's voice rang out from the lips of the Ichibi at thousands of times louder than any normal person could reach alone. "IT'S YOUR TIME TO DIE!"
Sand burst out of the ground around him and ensnared Deidara with extreme ease. Struggling to reach his satchel of clay, Deidara found his attempts were all in vain as the sand quickly tore it away from him and hurled it a great distance away.
"Why you little brat!" Deidara managed to yell out before the sand flowed over his face and silenced what other obscenities that he was screaming.
Just as Gaara was about to lovingly crush the crazy blonde, a sound inside the cave caught his attention. Then a black-clothed figure appeared between Gaara and his captive prey. The figure wore the traditional Akatsuki cloak and hat, completely obscuring any identifying details about who the person was.
"I'm afraid that's enough, Kazekage," the man said, raising his head just enough for the opening to show a pair of deadly red eyes. They were glaring up at Shukaku, radiating a massive amount of killing intent. Inside Gaara, the Shukaku, who'd been eagerly battering against Gaara's defenses, suddenly withdrew at the feel of the killing intent directed upon it.
Before Gaara could react to either his demon's unexpected fear or the man, the man suddenly launched himself forward. With a speed so immense, the man jumped straight at the Shukaku, arm forward as though he was going to dive into a lake. Chakra began circling wildly around his body as he shot inside the sand monster, burrowing to the center of the beast. Gaara had just enough time to look down in surprise before a small red glow began to emit from the hole the man made.
With a massive explosion of pure chakra, shockwaves from the center of the sand demon ripped its body to pieces. Gaara let out a cry of pain as the chakra waves tore him out of the crumbling monster and sent him flying out of the entrance of the cavern. The shockwaves didn't just destroy the Shukaku however. The sheer pressure of the chakra also triggered a massive rockslide and blowing out the thinnest portion of the cavern, showering Gaara and Deidara with pebbles and dust. The sound waves of the explosion could be heard echoing for miles around.
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Idly dusting himself off, Pein stood up from where he'd erected a protective barrier around himself and surveyed the damage. Walking forward, he came to halt next to his leader. With a hidden note of amusement, he said, "I think you overdid again, Arashi-kun."
His partner glanced at him for a moment before replying. "Just making a point, Pein-san."
Pein graced that remark with a small grin as he glanced at the debris surrounding them. Making a point? Well, it was certainly made.
Together, they began to walk forward in search of their target.
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The sudden unexpected explosion of sound and chakra sent Kankurou and Sasori flying several dozens of meters. With a painful smash, Kankurou came to a halt after crashing into a tree. A low moan of pain escaped his lips as he slumped forward before he painfully reached back and extracted the large branch from his lower back.
Dropping the bloodied tree limb, he looked up at where the explosion had originated from. The large cliff that had been used as the Akatsuki hideout was now missing easily half of it's mass. The entire side that he could see had completely been blown out and there was a series of rockslides tumbling down from higher up as the dust was settling. If Kankurou had to guess, the Shukaku was not to blame. Never had he heard of the youkai being able to do such a thing as that!
Where's Gaara? Climbing to his feet, he quickly ran forward. If his brother wasn't the source of that, then he was in big trouble. It was time for a rapid retreat!
Reaching out with his chakra senses, he quickly located four respectably large signatures and a fairly weak one. Quickly looking around for enemies, he raced for the weaker one. It was flock of dirty red hair that drew Kankurou's attention. Gaara was trapped under a small pile of boulders. It appeared that only last second usage of his Suna no Tate had saved his life. But his Suna no Yoroi was cracked all over and there was a gathering red pool collecting on the ground under one of his shoulders.
Pumping chakra through his muscles for added strength, Kankurou managed to lift the boulders off of his brother and quickly picked him up.
"Where do you think you're going?" a dark voice demanded from not too far away. Two Akatsuki stood not even thirty paces away from them.
"Away from here," Kankurou answered, discreetly digging a special item out of his pocket. "Isn't it obvious?"
"You're not going anywhere, boy," the taller one on the left snapped.
Rather than respond, Kankurou dropped his bomb to the ground. The Akatsuki didn't notice it until the last second but by then it was too late. A blinding flash of light ignited from the sphere. Using their disorientation to his advantage, Kankurou carried Gaara bridal style as from as he could.
We are in deep trouble, he realized as he sprinted into the nearby forest. He could only hope that either Gaara recovered quickly or somehow someone friendly had managed to track them. At the moment, both options seemed rather bleak.
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River Country, 15 miles from the border
3:15pm
"Did you guys feel that?" Naruto asked suddenly.
"Hai," his three teammates answered.
They been running nonstop for several hours. And now as they neared the border, they'd been able to sense a rising foul chakra in the distance. After several exposures to this type of chakra, Team 7 had quickly been able to realize that this chakra was actually youki. That meant only one thing: Gaara was fighting someone, and he most likely wasn't holding back.
Then they'd spotted a large mushroom-shaped dust cloud rising into the air on the far horizon. A sudden massive tsunami of chakra had washed over them just a few moment afterwards. To the common civilian or lesser trained shinobi, it would've seemed to be nothing more than a fierce wind that gave them shivers of fear. But that had been no wind, not in the least.
"That must've come from about dust cloud up ahead," Sasuke commented from the rear. "And I get the feeling that nothing good is coming from it."
"We need to hurry then," Chiyo said.
In response, Naruto suddenly channeled a greater amount of chakra into his legs. With a sudden burst of speed, he went sprinting ahead them at speeds that only Sasuke could've caught up to or matched.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled in annoyance.
"I'll get him," Sasuke said before sprinting after his wayward friend.
"…He must be eager to get started," Chiyo observed quietly to Sakura, which drew an almost embarrassed shrug.
Unbeknownst to them, a shady figure emerged from a tree and watched them vanish into the distance.
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River Country
3:20pm
Sprouting out the ground, Zetsu turned to face his two superiors as they turned their attention to him.
"Enemy shinobi are rapidly approaching this location," the plant-man said shortly.
"Who are they?" Pein asked.
"I believe it's Itachi-san's little brother, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and two kunoichi," as soon as his words had left his mouth, Zetsu knew he'd acquired at least two of the gathered nuke-nin's attention.
Turning to face the astral projections of his underlings, the hooded man growled out, "Someone go play with them!" Turning back to Deidara who was just now pulling himself out of the debris that had buried him, he continued, "Deidara, you and Sasori will go and retrieve the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. And this time, don't fail me!"
Without waiting for a reply, the man turned and abruptly vanished. Sighing quietly at his partner's impatience and short-temper, Pein turned back to the others. "Who will be going to delay Team 7?"
"I guess I'll go," Kisame spoke up, wearing a shark-like grin. "I've been itching for a good battle anyway."
"I want you to use that jutsu, Kisame," Pein said pointedly. "We cannot afford to lose anymore of our members due to their overconfidence."
As the shark-man snorted in annoyance, Itachi spoke up, "I will go too."
"Isn't Kisame enough for those little brats, Uchiha?" Deidara demanded, he was in foul mood after almost being killed by his target. "Or are you just going to toy with your brother?"
"My reasons…" Itachi said quietly, however there was definite iron to his voice. "are none of your concern, Deidara-san."
"Whatever, Uchiha-teme," the blonde grumbled as he went in search of his clay satchel.
Ignoring the muttering underling, Pein turned back to the others. "Return to your earlier activities. When the Jinchuuriki is captured again, we'll summon you."
"Just don't let him escape again, Deidara-kun!" the orange-masked Tobi called out cheerfully from where his projection was lounging carelessly on a boulder. "That would get a little annoying!"
"YOU'RE VERY ANNOYING!!" Deidara cried out. Before he could come rampaging over in an attempt to beat the snot out the image of his hated companion, the numerous projections vanished.
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River Country, 20 miles away from the hideout
3:25pm
"Hey, guys," Sakura called out to break the silence that they'd fallen into. "What do you think was happening when that chakra and explosion happened?"
"Gaara was beating the crap out of some of those Akatsuki!" Naruto answered, shooting a cheeky grin at her in order to hide his nervousness.
"I doubt even with the Ichibi that Gaara could generate nearly as much chakra as that wave," Sasuke remarked. The sheer amount of that chakra positively breath-taking. He doubted even the Yonbi Jinchuuriki could've produced that kind of shockwave!
"It wasn't Gaara-san," Chiyo said knowingly. "I have never heard of any of the Shukaku's prior hosts being able to produce that kind of attack or chakra amount."
"So Gaara probably picked a fight with the wrong person," Sakura said quietly. "Though I think it'd be a good bet to say that whoever it was is now out of chakra. If someone could do something like that and still have chakra…we'd be in serious trouble."
"Who cares!" Naruto snapped, gritting his teeth angrily. "That'll just make our fight all the more fun!"
"One of these days you're going to meet an opponent who's going to completely mop the floor with you, Naruto," Sasuke remarked idly.
"Yeah, well, at least we all know who it's not going to be, Kizuato!" Naruto laughed loudly as he saw Sasuke's face darken slightly.
Then the wind shifted.
"Look out!!" Naruto yelled, coming to an abrupt spinning halt. As he spun, he unsheathed the Seigi no Migite in one fluid motion and brought up to defend.
Naruto's warning was almost completely unneeded as the others also noticed the foreign scent in the wind. They had already leapt in different directions away from Naruto as he turned to face the threat.
Dropping out the sky with his bandaged Samehada ready, Kisame let out a loud battlecry as his sword and Naruto's clashed. The sheer force of Kisame's strike was enough to knock Naruto completely off his feet and crash into the ground with more than enough power to create a respectable sized crater. Through some strength of will, Naruto was still able to hold the Samehada far enough away from his body that the extended spikes didn't even scratch his body.
"Hello, boy!" Kisame said, sneering widely. "Remember me?!"
"Ha!..." Naruto groaned out around the massive strain it was taking him to continue hold the Samehada away from him. Was it just him, or did that thing weight a ton? "Like a frog…could forget…it's warts!"
"Ha! That's why I like you!" Kisame said, continuing to sneer. "Always a witty comeback!"
Sasuke watched as the Akatsuki conversed with Naruto. Though he wanted to, he decided to hold attacking him just yet. He had no idea who this guy was and what abilities he could do. Plus Naruto seemed like he wasn't in too much need of backup just yet either.
"Hello, otouto," an eerily familiar voice spoke up from behind him. Sasuke snapped around with his chokuto at the ready, coming face to face with a man he had not seen in person in almost eight years.
"Hello, Itachi," he said quietly.
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(Author's Note) Lucky me! I was able to post this on my birthday! I always did like July 21st anyway.
But unfortunately, that's the only good thing that's been happening to me lately. Why is that every time things finally settle into a general (comfortable) routine for me, something comes along and fucks it up?! As much as I disliked the place, I would give anything to be back there working again. But no!! I wasn't working at the desired pace (regardless that I only started like two weeks prior), so they FIRED me! Goddamn bastards!!
There, glad that's out of my system.