Jinchūriki in the Shell

by Darth Selendis

Naruto had worked hard to prove himself as an organic shinobi and gain the acceptance of the village, only for his dream to be ripped away from him. With Naruto struggling with what he has become, his friends try to help him reestablish his humanity while a mysterious woman encourages him to free his ghost and become something greater. Which way will his ghost lead him in the end?

8. Beta v1,6

Disclaimer: Naruto and all associated characters are a property of Masashi Kishimoto. Motoko Kusanagi and all associated elements and characters of Ghost in the Shell are properties of Masamune Shirow.

Jutsu: Original (Translation)

Bijū/Summon/Android Speaking

Bijū/Summon/Android Thoughts

Mental Communications

[Chat Box/Text communication]

A/N: Sorry for the delay, but work has kept me busy. I hope to have enough time to finish the next chapter before the end of this month, but I won't promise anything.

Beta v.1.6

February 18th2248

Outside of the Poseidon Global Dome - Ame

---

Heavy rain falls down from the deepening sky, hammering lightly on the cloak of a huddled figure standing beneath a massive stadium light. The falling raindrops and saturated walkway all shimmer under the luminescent lights, revealing an empty pedestrian bridge that leads from the heart of the village to the stadium entrance. Most of the streets and walkways around the stadium are strangely empty for a Friday night, a reflection of the village itself as most of the inhabitants are safely within the stadium or various bars and viewing areas to watch the finals. With most of the village distracted by the finals, several shadowy groups have begun seizing control of several key points around the village in a massive covert operation that has been planned for some time.

The cloaked figure seems impatient as it fidgets underneath the bright circle of light, swiveling its head around as if searching the darkness around it for something in particular. The figure stiffens briefly as the sound of footsteps echoing against the paved walkway reach its ears. A short time later, another cloaked figure emerges from the shadows and stops a short distance away from the first.

"Nagato-sama?!" the first figure greeted the second nervously. "I wasn't expecting you to meet me."

"Why hasn't the signal been sent yet?" the now named Nagato questioned in a monotone voice. "We were supposed to begin the operation during the middle of the first match."

"There is trouble at the power relay station. The team sent to take the station has met with heavy resistance and progress is slow." the first man replied quietly. "The guards were successful in sealing off the main control center and have fortified their position, but our comrades have managed to sever communications in that area so our actions should remain undetected- for now."

"What of the other key points in the village? Have they been taken on schedule?" Nagato asked.

"The broadcasting tower, the dam controls, and the barracks are all sealed off and under our control. All demolitions and emitters have been planted as instructed and simply await the master signal to be sent." The man rattled off. "All that remains is the power relay station and we can begin securing the arena in order to broadcast our message to the world."

Nagato was silent for a moment as he looked over the Ame skyline. The contact shuffled nervously but remained silent as his commander gathered his thoughts. After the silence stretched on for several minutes, Nagato gave his orders.

"While the power station is vital to controlling the village, our operation will fail if the backup generators at the stadium aren't triggered as planned. If necessary, we must destroy the station to ensure our plans succeed."

Nagato glanced at his watch before looking at his subordinate. "The damages caused to the field during the first match have bought us some extra time, but Yahiko will not tolerate any more delays. The longer we draw this out, the more likely our operation is to fail."

"Should I order the men to fall back and set up the contingency plans?"

"No," Nagato replied quickly. "We still have 27 minutes before the second match starts. If you don't believe they will succeed in taking the station before then, I want you to send the signal early so we can detonate the explosives at the right time."

"As you command, Nagato-sama." The man replied before dashing out of view.

"Today the Akatsuki will be known and our message will reach the world," Nagato mumbled to himself before disappearing in a swirl of water.

With Naruto and Sakura

---

Sakura had just finished dressing in a fresh set of casual clothing when Naruto burst into her room. Startled, Sakura hurled the first thing within her grasp at Naruto.

A clang rang out as the metal bed pan bounced off the blond's head and clattered to the ground. Luckily, for Naruto, the pan had been unused or the small welt on his head would have been accompanied by even more unpleasantness.

"Ow! What was that for, Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined as he rubbed his head and pouted at her.

Sakura growled. "That's what you get for bursting into a woman's room without knocking you idiot! I could have been naked!" Sakura said while raising a threatening fist towards her teammate.

Naruto blushed before looking away. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn't think you would be repaired so soon."

"Yea, well, the damage I sustained wasn't that bad," Sakura replied her anger cooling. "Besides, I installed and tweaked a new nanite repair system before the exams. With those little guys and the help of the Poseidon cybernetic technicians, it didn't take long for me to get back to 100%! Even the techs were impressed by my modifications." Sakura said with a hint of pride.

"That's- great, Sakura-chan," Naruto said half halfheartedly.

While he was confident in Sakura's technical abilities, he wasn't comfortable with the thought of tiny machines running around inside of her body. While machines, in general, made him somewhat nervous, it was AI controlled machines that bothered him the most. Like his past fear of ghosts, the lifelessness of AI and their mockery of reality disturbed him on a deeper level. In his mind, they were abnormal, unnatural, and something to be wary of at all times.

Nanotechnology was particularly frightening to the blond because no other field of robotics had as many "rogue" events documented for public consumption. Because nanotechnology required the most sophisticated and advanced technology and AI programming, nanites were often far more intelligent and adaptable than anticipated. As a result of this top of the line technology, it was common for nanites to behave in unexpected ways.

One of the scariest examples Naruto had seen, was an experimental immune system that had been developed for people with compromised or diseased immune systems. The nanites were designed to latch onto the foreign and dangerous tissue and break it down on a cellular level before absorbing or disposing of the targeted material. This was not only the first nanite system to be used in an organic body but the first nanite system that had a limited intelligence not directly controlled by an external computer.

At first, the nanites had performed their duty well and the volunteer was plastered all over the media as an example of the benefits and safety of using nanotechnology within the human body. At the time, manufacturers were pushing for the removal of the restrictions placed by the Nehan Empire on micro machine treatments in regards to organic bodies and prosthetic limbs. Only fully prosthetic bodies and androids were allowed to make use of nanotechnology and the intelligence on the AI had strict regulations and limits imposed on them.

After a few years, however, the volunteer ended up dying a slow and painful death when the nanites suddenly began altering the healthy tissue of the host. The nanites had, somehow, altered their directives and intelligence blockers on their own before evolving themselves to a level where they could begin modifying the cells on a genetic level; even building cybernetic structures within some of the organs and brain of the subject. As a result of the changes, the host suffered from constant debilitating pain and nausea as necrosis began to set in around the converted tissue. Any tissue that wasn't dying from the changes was behaving erratically because of the genetic alterations made by the nanites. Naruto didn't fully understand the changes that were explained, but the end result had been enough to make the message clear to him.

It was never explained why the nanites suddenly deemed the healthy tissue a threat, and the scientists claimed that the nanites were never even programmed to convert normal tissue into cybernetic tissue in the first place. The AI for the individual micro machines was supposed to be very limited with a very direct focus, but instead, the nanites had developed a form of swarm intelligence, chaining together their limited processing power and memory to increase their collective intelligence far beyond what was anticipated.

While it was a breakthrough in terms of advanced AI and nanotechnology, the project was shut down and the company that had funded the project went bankrupt due to the bad publicity. The micro machine industry had tried to quell the public's fear by writing the outcome off as incompetence on the part of the project scientists, but the damage had been done. The public began calling for greater controls and restrictions on nanites, androids, and even AI technology in the fear that other artificial lifeforms could go rogue and disobey their creators.

The Nehan empire responded to the public outcry by increasing regulations on AI and android intelligence limits and enforcing stricter emergency shutdown protocols. They also began clamping down harshly on nanites and micro machines in general.

Nanites were banned from being applied to, or used on, organic tissue or body parts. Heavy restrictions were placed on nanites affecting cybernetic limbs and parts that were used in conjunction with organic body parts.

Only nanites with an intelligence regulated by a central control system, like a cyberbrain or non-AI controlled program, were allowed in prosthetic limbs and organs but they had to be restricted to interacting with inorganic limbs and tissues. The only exception to that rule were nanites made from organic materials like amino acids or minerals that were intended as nutrient distribution for cyborg digestive systems. Food nanites were also required to be fully digestible by organic digestive systems, without causing any ill effects, in order to be approved by the Central Drug Evaluation Council. This was strictly enforced to ensure that any non-cyborg wouldn't be adversely affected by the food nanites if they accidentally consumed food designed for cyborgs.

Sakura merely sighed at Naruto's lame attempt to hide his fear of nanites. She knew it was due to the Naturalist websites he often visited. While Naruto was far more open minded about cybernetics than those extremists, his tendency to visit their websites had only made his phobias grow worse.

She knew the only reason he continued to visit those sites and post on their forums was due to his attempt to find people he could relate with. Sakura didn't know why Naruto was never cyberized and asking about it always caused Naruto to clam up or make some lame excuse to avoid the subject. She knew that many people looked down on him and treated him poorly, but she could never understand why. The animosity was too widespread and targeted to simply be a result of his lack of augmentation. Not even the most outspoken Naturalist bigots were treated with such contempt.

"Let's hurry back to the contestant box so we can wish Sasuke luck before they send him into the tile room," Sakura said with a smile.

Naruto grunted in affirmation before following after Sakura as she left the room.

"So, Sakura-chan, what did you think about my fight?" Naruto said with his arms folded behind his head.

"I think you did a very good job of proving you deserve the rank of Chūnin until you ruined it all by going overboard at the end." Sakura scolded mildly. "If you fool around like that in the final match, they will definitely hold you back."

"Perhaps." Naruto admitted, "But after they so obviously saved his ass the first time, I wanted to make it just as obvious that he was outmatched by my awesomeness."

"And in the process, you revealed a valuable secret that others might exploit in the final battle," Sakura said with a scoff.

"So?" Naruto said flatly. "It's not like they will remove all that water from the stadium before the final fight."

"It doesn't have to be water, Naruto," Sakura said in a mildly chastising tone. "A Raiton user might realize that they can harness all the electromagnetic energy within the tiles to augment their jutsu. In fact, I would speculate that a skilled Raiton user would be able to generate enough power to render all your Fūton jutsu useless." Sakura explained in exasperation.

Naruto paused for a moment before he muttered "Shit." seeing Sakura had continued walking, he rushed to catch up to her.

"That means Sasuke will probably try that in the finals, doesn't it," Naruto grumbled.

Sakura merely nodded her head with a smirk on her face.

"Whatever, I still have plenty of surprises for that bastard. He won't have it so easy when he faces me next." Naruto said confidently before smacking his fist into his hand. "I'm gonna win this whole damn thing!"

"Both of you are just lucky that they saved you from us kunoichi." Sakura teased before flipping a lock of her long hair over her shoulder.

Now that she didn't have to worry about a fight, she wore it loose like she preferred.

"I guess we will just have to settle that in our next sparring match," Naruto replied with a smirk.

As the duo tried to enter the contestant box, they were stopped by a guard.

"We can't allow you back into the contestant box at this time." the guard stated firmly.

"What? Why not?" Naruto asked loudly.

"To ensure that no cheating or contraband is smuggled into the contestant box, no one is allowed to enter or leave until their match is concluded." the guard replied.

"Then just search us again." Sakura snapped. "We want to support our teammate and wish him luck."

"I'm sorry, young lady, but only the competitors are allowed entry at this time." The guard said before looking at Naruto. "As a finalist, you may enter the box now, however, you will not be allowed to leave once you have been cleared to enter."

Naruto scowled at the guard but before he could argue further, Sakura laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Just forget it, Naruto. I'll just go sit with Kakashi-sensei instead," she said softly. "Just tell Sasuke-kun that I will be cheering for him."

"Alright," Naruto said with a sigh before he felt his stomach rumbling. "I think I'll go with you, for now, Sakura-chan. I'm kinda hungry and there is still plenty of time before my next match."

"I could go for some Takoyaki myself, actually," Sakura noted. "Let's go get our wallets from sensei."

Naruto and Sakura turned away from the guard and began making their way up the stairs towards the Jōnin box. As they neared the closed off section of seats above the contestant box, a distant rumble sounded and the stadium began to shake slightly.

"Was that an explosion?" Sakura thought out loud as she watched the light fixtures swaying overhead.

"I dunno," Naruto said as he looked around curiously.

Many of the spectators were also talking amongst themselves and wondering what that noise was. Since the match hadn't begun yet, there were a significant amount of people milling about or making their way to or from the restrooms/concessions stands that were located on the outer ring of the arena.

Another rumble sounded out; much louder and closer this time, and the stadium started to shake more violently. There were a few panicked cries from the people in the stands around them. More people began to talk loudly, questioning what was going on while a few were gathering their belongings and making their way towards the exits.

"Attention Guests. Please remain calm at this time."the loudspeaker blared. "There is no need to panic as the stadium is completely secure. Please remain seated while our security forces investigate the disturbances."

The crowd began to settle down after the announcement, for the most part, but Naruto couldn't shake the sense of foreboding he was feeling.

"Come on, Naruto," Sakura said, drawing him out of his thoughts. "I don't know what is going on but the best thing we can do is meet up with Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura and Naruto quickly made their way up the steps towards the section that housed the sensei for the finalists. Spotting Kakashi, Naruto waved at his sensei before picking up the pace with Sakura by his side. Before they could reach Kakashi, however, a louder boom rang out throughout the stadium and the stands began to shake violently once more.

Naruto and Sakura were forced to latch onto the ground with chakra and grip the handrails to avoid falling over. The cries of panic and fear from the audience grew rapidly as parts of the dome and lighting fixtures shook loose and fell on the audience causing injuries. Some people tried to get up and flee, only to trip over their feet and fall onto other people. Other people, who had been out of their seats during the break between fights, lost their footing and tumbled down the stairways. A few unfortunate victims fell from the upper levels, causing more panic and cries of horror to ring out as the audience members saw then fall to their deaths.

While the stadium continued to shake violently, Naruto felt a strange wave of energy flow over him. The energy made his hair stand on end and goosebumps appear on his skin. Naruto turned his head towards Sakura to ask her if she felt that energy as well; only to watch in horror as her body began twitching out of control with a look of shock on her face. Her limbs began to spasm and her grip on the railing slipped causing her to start falling backward.

Naruto was quick to dash forward and grab her twitching arm, but the flailing was making it difficult to maintain his grip on her. Reaching out with his other arm, he wrapped it around her waist and lifted her over his shoulder like a sack of rice. Her arms and legs were still twitching wildly but he was able to get a firmer grip on her by hooking one of her legs through his arm while gripping her forearm.

As Naruto looked around, his heart dropped at the sight of everyone around him suffering from the same thing. Even all the jōnin sensei and security guards were twitching and flailing about as if being electrocuted. There were a few cries ringing out to the Kami while other people were shouting out names of their friends or family members, but the majority of the people were suffering from this strange affliction.

Naruto was at a loss as to what he should do in this situation.

At first, he thought about taking Sakura back to the medical ward, but seeing as practically everyone else was affected by this strange phenomena, he didn't think it would do much good. Right away he suspected it had something to do with that strange energy wave having an effect on cyborgs. It was a startling realization for Naruto to see just how many people were augmented in comparison to him. Out of the hundreds of people in this section alone, there were less than a dozen people who appeared to be unaffected by this strange twitching.

Were there really so few people who remained completely normal? Could he really consider himself normal when it was abundantly clear that the majority of people around him were now cyborgs?

Before he could gather his thoughts, the stadium lights all went dark. Aside from a few cries of shock, the massive stadium was eerily silent. A large clicking sound rang out through the arena and slowly the lights began to turn back on, section by section.

As Naruto shot his gaze towards the illuminated section, that was when he spotted them.

Groups of black cloaked figures began repelling down from the ceiling. He heard a few muffled thumps nearby and felt the chakra signatures of several people appear around him.

Acting quickly, Naruto allowed himself to fall to the ground before his own section was illuminated by the lights; taking care to ensure that Sakura's head didn't hit the ground. Shuffling Sakura's body onto his back in a piggyback position, he began to crawl closer to where he last saw Kakashi before the lights above him clicked on and he was forced to lie still.

Naruto saw the groups of blacked cloaked figures disperse while speaking quietly amongst themselves. Soon they began planting black metal cases that were about the size of a cereal box at the top and bottom of each seating section. There were also groups of these cloaked individuals making their way through each row of seats to subdue and capture people who weren't paralyzed by that energy wave. The captured people were being tied up, gagged, and appeared to be injected with something into their necks before the cloaked people dragged them away towards the arena exits.

Naruto glanced up when he felt two signatures converging on his location. He watched as a pair of the cloaked figures made their way towards him, stopping only to plant the strange case before moving down the stairs towards the next section. They all had combat visors on, probably to help them see in the dark and maintain communications while that strange energy shorted everything out. As they drew closer to him, they stopped to plant one of those cases at the bottom of the seating section directly above the Jōnin box. Naruto watched as they pressed a series of buttons on the small keypad before moving towards him again.

Calming his breathing, he made to feign unconsciousness as they began to draw closer to him. He could tell that there were, at least, two dozen signatures within his sensory range. Most of them had genin level reserves with a few chūnin and jōnin sprinkled amongst them.

Taking them out wouldn't be an option. While he was confident in his skills, there were far too many of them in the area for him to eliminate silently. The only way he could safely take them down would be to make a large amount of Kage Bunshin. Even if none of the people in his area were sensors, the amount of clones he would need to make would draw plenty of attention to him. He may be able to fight them off for a decent amount of time, but then reinforcements would arrive and he would be captured or killed. No, he needed to lie low for now and try to figure out how to get Sakura functional again. She would be the only one capable of disabling those things and getting everyone back on their feet.

As the duo made their way closer to him, Naruto heard them engaged in a conversation and listened closely.

"It looks like Kaminari group didn't make it." a female said sadly.

"It's for a good cause, sister. Today we drive all these filthy foreigners out and cure the plague of cyberization that has afflicted humanity." a man replied vehemently.

"I know," she replied. "It's just... seeing the stadium like this makes me realize just how few of us humans are left." the woman paused before raising her voice. "How can people embrace the elimination of their race so easily? How can people open their arms to these foreigners after everything our people have fought and died for?"

"It's because the foreigners have been subliminally brainwashing our people with their fancy technology. The TV stations and media are all paid to insert their messaging into all the broadcasts and streams that we watch. They even started putting those miniature robots in our food! For all we know, they have been implanting us with mind control machines this whole time." The man said vehemently. "What you see around us? It is just proof that drastic action was needed before the foreigners wipe us out completely. All we can do is send our message to the world to save who we can and eliminate all of the collaborators. Then the foreigners will see they aren't welcome in Genso no Kuni and we can offer a safe haven for the rest of our Naturalist brethren. This will be the dawn of humanity's salvation!"

"If only there was a way to fix what has been done to them all." The woman paused to set a case down next to the Jōnin section. After pressing the keys, Naruto heard a small beep and felt a small pulse of energy that was similar to the first one he felt.

"I mean, bastards like these shinobi could all die for all I care." she stated before kicking a disabled Iwa jōnin "But what about the children that were forced by their parents? What about the people that needed to get implants so they could keep their jobs? They don't deserve to die like this."

"It's too late for them now." The man said coldly. "In times of war, sacrifices must be made, and This. Is. War."

"I know all that, but it's just- so much death. Didn't we join Akatsuki to stop all the senseless killing? Didn't we join because we believed in Yahiko's vision of peace? How does declaring war on the foreigners accomplish that? Shouldn't we just focus on driving them out like all the other times?"

"Don't back down now that the difficult task is in front of us! These cyborgs are trying to eliminate humanity! It's nothing more than genocide!" The man spat. "We might have been able to ignore them in the past because they fought against each other, but now they are beginning to band together against the rest of humanity. If the empire completes its task of enslaving them all with their technology, it will only be a matter of time before they eliminate humanity with overwhelming numbers!"

"You're right. I wasn't thinking properly." The woman relented. "This isn't just about Ame, this is about humanity."

"Right!" the man said encouragingly. "We have a greater mission to uphold! Once Yahiko gives his ultimatum, Ame and the rest of Genso no Kuni will be at peace. The empire will have no choice but to remove all the damn tin brains from our lands and only humans will flourish here."

The pair of Naturalist members moved out of Naruto's hearing range and he allowed himself to let loose a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Being no stranger to Naturalist views, he couldn't help but frown at how zealous this particular group was. He couldn't deny that many of the Naturalists he hung out with online would actually agree with the man's arguments. Many of the people he chatted with online were activists who constantly sought out and fought against organic discrimination and were of the belief that the Empire was deliberately indoctrinating people through cybernetics. An even larger number believed that humans should segregate themselves from cyborgs to risk the "contamination of humanity". Many of the Naturalists wanted to form their own country where cybernetics were heavily restricted or outlawed completely.

Testing his surroundings with his senses, Naruto deemed it safe to lift his head and study the box nearest to him. He might not be technologically savvy, but any little detail he could pick up might provide him with some clue on how to disable the thing. Besides the most obvious characteristics of being black and made of metal, there was a small keypad and LED screen that was attached to the side of the device.

On top of the box was a small gray box with an antenna that had a pulsing, blue light at the tip. At first glance, the device looked similar to some of the bombs he had seen on TV shows. There was no way he was going to meddle with something like that considering how poor his technology skills were and he wasn't confident enough in his observation skills to try and replicate whatever sequence they had inputted into the device earlier.

Naruto looked towards his left shoulder where Sakura's head was currently resting. Her face was still frozen in that shocked expression, but Naruto could see her eyes moving. She locked her gaze onto Naruto for a moment before looking up at the case. It looked like she tried to speak, but all that happened was her jaw twitched slightly and a low moan escaped from her lips.

Looking around carefully, he saw all of the terrorists were starting to make their way to the lower levels of the current deck. Looking back at Sakura, he saw her make the same gesture with her eyes once more before moaning louder. Her arm twitched slightly and he felt her finger start to tap against his chest lightly. It took him a few moments to realize she was tapping a message, but after she repeated the pattern, he understood.

"Okay, Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered.

He sensed a few people moving around above him and risked a glance in their direction. Seeing that they were facing away from him and distracted, he began crawling towards the device while keeping a careful eye on his surroundings. He risked a glance down towards the bottom and saw that the chatty terrorists were still absorbed in their discussion instead of keeping a watch on his section.

As he drew closer to the case, as Sakura had instructed him to, she tapped out a message for him to lay the case flat with the keyboard facing her. Quickly checking his surroundings, Naruto managed to tilt the case over quietly before sliding it closer to Sakura's arm. With her being on top of him, however, it wasn't possible for her to reach the device or the keyboard.

Checking his surroundings one more, Naruto slowly pulled Sakura off of his back and tucked her body into the nearest row so she was partially underneath a seat before rolling her onto her side so her back was facing the stairway. Quickly snatching up the case, Naruto tucked it underneath the seat in front of her face. He gently took her arm and placed it so that her hand rested directly on the keyboard. As he moved himself to cover her body to conceal her movements, he sensed agitation in the nearby chakra signatures and risked glancing up.

One of the members was pointing directly at him and speaking to the others which caused the entire group to focus on him.

"Shit. I've been spotted." Naruto whispered to Sakura before looking into her eyes. "I'm sorry about leaving you like this, Sakura-chan, but I'll lead them off so you can stop whatever that thing is."

Sakura was looking at him with watery eyes and let out a grunt. Naruto gave her a small smile and small nod. He knew she was worried and was telling him to be careful in her own way. It made his heart grow warm and helped relieve the guilt for leaving her while she was vulnerable. While he hated it, he knew he had to give her the chance to undo whatever was harming everyone. If he could lead enough of them off, they might forget about her and the device.

Besides it had been quite some time since he had led people on a merry chase. It was time to get wild.

As the group began rushing down the stairs towards him, Naruto leaped to his feet and sent a volley of shuriken to slow the group down. He popped a food pill to replenish some of his chakra before bolting away from the group. As he neared the chatty guards, he debated killing them instead of injuring them.

His training said to kill them, regardless of the threat to the hostages, but if those devices also had bombs built into them, these people might not hesitate to detonate them in retaliation. Considering that all the hostages were cyborgs, Naruto was certain it wouldn't bother them in the least to blow up a few dozen just to make a point.

They were also actively capturing and removing people who weren't cyborgs, so that meant his odds of being captured instead of killed were high if he didn't piss them off too much. They would be less willing to chase him for a long period of time if they wanted to kill him, so it was best if he remained a target for capture instead of elimination.

With his mind made up, he pulled out two kunai and ducked under the chatty terrorist's attempts to grab him before jamming his kunai into their thighs. It would slow them down but wouldn't be a fatal wound unless they left it unattended for too long. He continued dashing down the stairs before making his way towards one of the tunnels that led towards the outer ring of the stadium. Looking over his shoulder, he was happy to see that all of the cloaked people in this section were currently chasing after him. Now he just needed to keep them occupied long enough for Sakura to work her magic.

"Stop him! He took one of the pulse emitters!" someone shouted.

Naruto had to keep the smirk off of his face when he heard that. If they thought he took the device then Sakura would be free to tamper with the device as long as he kept up the charade. As he neared the tunnel towards the concession stands, he saw a group of four terrorists emerge with various weapons in their hands. Forming his trademark seal, Naruto summoned as many Kage Bunshin as he could.

A large cloud of smoke engulfed his form and he quickly ordered one clone Henge into a copy of the device. Tucking the device clone into his gi top, he made certain to leave the blue flashing antenna peaking out so his pursuers would notice the thing. With that task done, the blond quickly reversed his current direction and began to take off towards the lower section of the deck. His clones scattered in various directions making for the different tunnels and stairwells to force the pursuit team to split up. As he ran, he noticed that more of those cloaked terrorists were appearing from the stairs and tunnels, but his clones were doing a fine job of luring many of the reinforcements away from his position.

For several minutes, his clones ran rampant and evaded all attempts at being dispelled. It was only after a few of the cloaked men began yelling out instructions that Naruto began receiving feedback from his dispelled clones. Fortunately, his intuition had been correct. All of his clones had been dispelled with non-lethal attacks that were meant to hinder or subdue him instead of outright killing him. While evading the attacks sent in his direction, Naruto kept glancing back towards Sakura's location and was happy to see they left her completely unattended. Now he needed to fool them into thinking he got rid of the device so they wouldn't go back to search the area when they did catch him.

Naruto began flipping through hand seals as he neared one of the exit tunnels ahead. He could sense there was a pair of people lurking within to try and cut him off or catch him by surprise. Drawing on the moisture in the air around him, he used Suiton: Mizu Shuriken to create several volleys of aquatic shuriken and sent them flying down the tunnel as soon as he turned into the entrance.

The group of terrorists blocking his path scattered to the sides to avoid the attacks, giving him a window to Shunshin (Body Flicker) towards the staircase. Naruto began hopping down the stairs one flight at a time before he was forced to duck into the hallway to avoid a large group of terrorists rushing up the stairs to cut him off.

Looking left and right quickly, he saw an open air balcony designed for smokers and made his way towards it. He heard the echoing of footsteps behind him and more shouting as more terrorists began to converge on his location. Three more terrorists came around the corner of the hallway in front of him, forcing the blond to engage them in taijutsu or be caught.

He ducked under a cross and countered with a jab to the man's groin before spinning away from a lunging grab and planting a spinning hook kick into the grappler's ribs. Dive rolling away from a rising kick intended for his abs, Naruto grew closer to the balcony and pulled out the "device". Certain that the terrorists were watching him, he threw his Henged clone off the balcony before leaping up onto the rails and running down the side of the arena while gripping to the wall with his chakra.

The rain-slicked surface was difficult to cling to and he began to slip a bit. Not wanting to risk falling to his death, he leaped towards a nearby LED sign. Running across the sign, he spotted a small overhang that covered another smoking area on the lowest deck of the arena. With a chakra laced jump, he sprung towards the overhang, using chakra to grip to it with his hands and swung himself into the smoking area.

Seeing the coast was clear, for the moment, he quickly dashed towards the far side of the arena, hoping to draw the attention of terrorists on the far side of the arena. The more of these guys he pulled along on his merry chase, the more time Sakura would have to free the rest of the cyborgs.

Naruto heard the distant echo of footsteps and voices coming from the stairwells behind him. As he rounded the corner, however, he ran straight into a group of four terrorists that seemed to be caught off guard by his sudden appearance.

Taking advantage of their surprise, he jumped into the air and sent one flying with a side kick before launching himself off of his first target to land a chakra enhanced spinning hook kick to send a second man flying towards the wall. Landing in a low crouch, he immediately lashed out with a low sweep to the third man, but the other pair were ready for him and jumped back out of range of his kick.

Naruto stared the two men down while mentally debating which stance he should take up. Crane was usually the go-to style for defensive forms, but Naruto felt that he was better off lashing out with some debilitating attacks so he could run away instead of hanging around to be overwhelmed. He wasn't fully versed with Snake form yet since it was one of the later forms to study in his scroll list so Naruto dropped into the defensive form of Dragon stance for now. It would give him the strength to lash out with powerful attacks while still having a good amount of maneuverability to evade when the opportunity arose.

The two terrorists stared at him menacingly in an attempt to intimidate him before they began equipped themselves with weapons and dropped into a standard taijutsu stance. One of the men pulled out a pair of stun gloves and quickly pulled them onto his fists before testing the shocking capabilities by clashing his fists together. The small spark indicated that the gloves were fully operational, and Naruto knew that one hit from those gloves would likely paralyze him. The second man pulled out a simple shock baton and flipped the switch on the handle causing the baton to light up a dull yellow color.

The glove-wearing man rushed in first, delivering a jab, hook combination towards Naruto's face to distract the blond from his follow up uppercut aimed at his solar plexus.

Naruto parried the first jab before ducking the cross and deflecting the uppercut. He then went on the offensive, lashing out with a jab, low cross, and another jab to the face. The man managed to block all of the attacks but before he could counter, Naruto followed up with a left hook, spinning back fist and a low cross.

The hook was ducked, but the man rose back up and tried to throw a straight cross that was deflected by Naruto's pivoting body. The back fist landed, striking the man in the jaw and the low cross struck the man in the solar plexus forcing him to cough up spittle as he stumbled back. The man with the baton charged at Naruto from his flank and was pushed back with a chakra enhanced back kick that sent him flying back a few feet before he tumbled across the ground.

The gloved man charged back in with his fist cocked back for an overhead cross, but Naruto pivoted on his heel and landed a jumping spinning back kick just as the man committed to his punch. As the man stumbled backward, Naruto charged forward to try and finish him off but was forced to lean back when a third man tried to nail him in the jaw with an overextended cross.

The third man pushed Naruto on the defensive with rapid combinations of jabs, crosses, and the occasional hook. Naruto ducked and weaved between the punches while trying to lash out with counter attacks but the man's guard was too good. The whiskered teen tried to block a hook and counter with a straight cross to the man's gut but underestimated how strong his opponent truly was. The hook was powerful enough to send him stumbling to the side, breaking his stance and concentration. Before Naruto could get his feet under him to evade the next attack, however, he took a strong shot to the jaw which caused his vision to falter under the force of the strike.

The man followed up with another powerful shot to Naruto's gut, forcing the blond to crumple with the blow or risk losing his breath. The man lashed out with a cross aimed at Naruto's jaw once more, but Naruto managed to recover in time to block the attack.

Naruto quickly lashed out with an uppercut as he blocked the cross, catching his opponent off guard and driving his fist into the man's diaphragm. With a brief opening to attack, Naruto was quick to capitalize on the moment, sending out a flurry of punches to the man's abdomen before leaning back to avoid the retaliatory hook.

Planting his hands on the ground as he nimbly evaded the powerful hook, Naruto brought one of his legs up to drive a front rising kick to the man's unprotected jaw before doing a back walkover to get back on his feet. With his focus on the man in front of him, he was unprepared for the low kick to his knee that forced him to drop to his knees. Naruto barely managed to bring his hands up in time to block a shin kick to his face, but before he could roll away or strike back, his luck ran out. The baton wielder he had kicked away at the start of this skirmish had finally recovered from the chakra powered kick and had managed to charge forward and drive his electrified weapon into Naruto's back.

A stunning jolt of electricity traveled through his body, causing his muscles to lock.

Naruto cried out in pain as the baton shocked him, falling face first on the ground paralyzed from the attack. Any attempt at moving was only met with small muscle spasms or twitches from his limbs, causing Naruto to inwardly curse at his failure to keep track of his enemies. He should have sensed the man approaching him from behind, but he had been too focused on trying to break his opponent's guard that he tuned out his senses.

A fatal flaw he had been trying to fix for quite some time.

The men wasted no time in binding his hands and feet together with chakra blocking cuffs before slapping a piece of tape over his mouth to gag him. Naruto knew there would be no further resistance on his part and let himself go limp for the moment. The only way he would get out of this mess now was to cooperate until an opportunity presented itself.

"We got you now, you little bastard." one man taunted.

The man with the stun gloves took a quick cheap shot by striking Naruto in the ribs causing another jolt of electricity to run through his body. Naruto let out another garbled cry of pain as his body started to twitch again. The man gripped Naruto's hair roughly and pulled his head up to look him in the face.

"You caused us a lot of trouble, stupid brat." The man said with a smirk. "Led us on a merry little chase, didn't you? Too bad it was all for nothing." The man spat. "You think getting rid of that pulse emitter solved anything? We have layered this entire stadium with hundreds of them. I don't know how you resisted the EMP, canned meat, but it's the end of the line for you."

"Hold it." another man called out. "He's not one of them."

"What?" The smirking man shouted. "There is no way this little shit could have that kind of strength and reflexes without a prosthetic body. I've been training longer than this kid has been alive!"

"I guess that means you need to train harder, Toshiro, because the scanner doesn't lie. The kid is completely organic." the other man retorted.

"Tanaka is right." Another man stated with a chuckle. "The kid is just better than you are. Hell, He even put up a good fight against me and you know that I always kick your ass in a spar."

The man glared at Naruto before releasing his grip on his hair. Naruto heard the man growl in anger before storming away. He felt someone grip the back of his gi before being pulled to his feet. Looking up he saw the man who had overpowered him in hand to hand. The man was studying him with interest.

"You're not bad, kid." the man complimented. "I haven't seen that kind of style before. If you had faced me in a few more years, you might have given me trouble."

Naruto merely glared at the man, unable to really say, or do, anything.

"I know you think what we are doing here is bad, but soon you will see the truth and realize that we are trying to save you." the man said sincerely. "Because I like that fire in your eyes, I'll give you a bit of advice. When Nagato comes for you, don't bother resisting. It will only cause you a great deal of pain and suffering for no reason. Everyone succumbs to him in the end. Everyone."

The man looked behind Naruto and said. "Hit him with it and don't let any of those idiots take out their frustration on him. If Yahiko learns you guys have been beating on kids, he will have all our hides."

Naruto felt a sharp pinch in his neck and grunted. It didn't take him long to feel light headed as the drug raced through his system. His limbs felt heavy and he gave no resistance when he was slung over someone's shoulder and carried out of the arena. He managed to fight the drug long enough to see them taking him towards the large tower in the center of the village before his vision grew dark and he slipped into unconsciousness.

With Sakura

---

Sakura watched with trepidation as Naruto leaped up to lure the attackers away from her. She heard several different sets of footsteps chase after him while two people stopped next to her. Her heart began to race in fear that she would be discovered, but she heard a man yell out: "Stop him! He took one of the pulse emitters!"

"Damn that brat! Isn't he one of the semi-finalists?" a woman said.

"Yea. He was that Konoha brat with the crazy Suiton manipulation." a man replied.

"Why would he take the pulse emitter?" the woman asked.

"Maybe he is going to try and take it as evidence?" the man said in an uncertain tone. "Don't worry, he won't get far."

"Do we need a replacement emitter?" the woman asked with concern.

"Nah. They will catch that brat and replace it soon enough. Let's continue scanning the rest of these rows so we can give the all clear on this section. We need to move back to the basement and ensure the generators are guarded within the next 15 minutes if we want to remain on schedule." The man said.

She heard footsteps moving away from her and allowed herself to sigh in relief. She waited a few more minutes to ensure that no one was returning before she started to make her move.

It had taken her a large amount of effort to even move her finger and tap out a message on Naruto's chest. She was glad Naruto managed to remember the tapping code and was impressed that he had the foresight to tuck her away in a position where she could manipulate the keyboard while keeping the device concealed. Hearing the man's shout as Naruto led them away confirmed her suspicions of an EMP device being used by the attackers. Thankfully she had been in the process of shielding the vital components of her prosthesis due to her encounter with the Kumo-nin, so she had been partially protected from EMP pulses as well.

While she had heard theories about EMP devices being used in the past, she had never seen one in action before. Not even on videos posted on HAEvN.

Most electromagnetic technologies were too low grade to be considered a risk or outright banned due to the growing amount of cyborgs in the world. With many vital systems running on computers and machinery, it was also counterproductive for rival nations to use such weaponry. With the damage and setbacks done to humanity from the previous wars, the nations of the world had unanimously agreed to eliminate and ban such weaponry.

When she had been hit by that first EMP blast, her control software had been knocked offline and her limbs started twitching violently. Her vision had faded temporarily until her backup systems kicked in and began rebooting all systems in autistic mode to ensure that there were no external systems causing the disruption to her cyberbrain. Despite her shielding, however, that first blast had been powerful enough to overwhelm her security measures.

Thankfully her modified carbon-based nanite repair system was completely unaffected and was already repairing any damage she had received. She would have been permanently disabled from that shockwave if it weren't for those nanites. She was glad that she shelled out the extra ryō for the reinforced housing unit for the little guys since their central processing cores had been completely protected from the pulse.

The only problem now was disabling the continual pulses being emitted by these devices. While they were lower in strength, Sakura believed they were designed to simply disrupt motor movement and wireless connectivity. Even with her control software coming back online, the pulses were enough to severely hamper her motor functions and prevent her from connecting to HAEvN or TRELLIS to transmit a distress signal.

She would have to look into some type of induction shielding for all her components in the future, but first, she had to disable these pulse boxes and find a way to work around the effects. Once she could get herself and the other shinobi back in action, she could save Naruto and stop these damn Naturalist zealots.

Maybe now Naruto would listen to her about staying away from those sites and to stop trying to associate with those idiots!

With great effort, she managed to start typing into the keypad with slow, deliberate movements. It didn't take her long to bring up the debug shell menu and begin parsing the information she needed: The technical details of the wavelength being used for the pulse and how to safely disable the device. She spotted a low-tech monitoring program that was installed to report the device's status to a remote terminal.

'What a simple code base. They didn't even change the default admin passwords or access codes.' Sakura thought with a scoff. 'It's a good thing these terrorists are all Naturalist idiots or this would have been far more difficult.' Sakura mused as she quickly used the administrator access to change the access codes and reprogrammed the monitoring software to report false positives for all the devices in the arena.

Unfortunately, the deactivation software was far more sophisticated. She would need a computer, remote terminal, or a very powerful data pad in order to hack the software and disable all the devices. The only other way to shut them all down would be to deactivate them all manually.

As she worked on disabling this particular device, she pondered the fallout from the first EMP blast. From the last statistics she had seen online, the majority of Genso no Kuni opted for minor nanoscale implants or partial cyberization instead of full cyberization like she had. Their brains wouldn't be encased in shielded metal like her own and were far more vulnerable to EMP damage.

While the odds of them having vital bodily functions tied to their cyberbrain would be low, the metal components in their implants may have caused the electromagnetic field to become concentrated enough to cause significant damage to their organic brains. If that were the case, the continual pulses were only causing more brain damage to those people as time elapsed.

If they had survived the initial blast of course.

Sakura forced herself to push that thought aside as she continued to work. She could only hope that the standardized shielding included in all implants had been enough to prevent such damage. Otherwise, the death toll would be staggering.

Sakura finished her work and managed to shut the device down. Breathing a sigh of relief as she felt some of her basic systems coming back online now that the device was disabled. From her estimates, half of the Jōnin box and the seating section next to it should recover functionality of their bodies and limbs in a few moments.

She briefly tried to establish a link with HAEvN or TRELLIS, but it seemed that all wireless signals were being jammed or had been shut down entirely. As she scanned the different frequencies trying to find a possible connection she could use, her thoughts drifted towards her team.

'Poor Kakashi-sensei.' Sakura thought. 'To think he only recently augmented himself to help with the chakra drain of his Sharingan only to suffer from something like this. He is never going to let me and Sasuke live this down.'

Releasing a sigh, Sakura closed her eyes and allowed herself to rest for a moment. She was worried about Sasuke and how his body was affected. Knowing that the Uchiha weren't very tech savvy and despised cybernetics, it was likely they had only outfitted him with the bare minimum or low-quality prosthesis. If his cyberbrain wasn't properly shielded...

She cut that thought off right away. She had to remain positive if she was to find a way out of this situation and stop... whatever was going on.

Next, her thoughts drifted to Naruto. She doubted the Naturalists would do anything harmful to him because he was fully organic, but if he struggled too much they might kill him. When she figured out he had been spotted, she knew that it had been a smart move on his part to lure them away. However, the longer he believed she was in danger, the higher the chances of him doing something stupid would become. The only way to prevent him from doing something rash was to remain in sight so he could be certain she was safe.

She knew full well how Naruto felt about her and while it was flattering, she still held strong feelings for her raven teammate. While time and proximity with the Uchiha had helped to dim her idolization of him, she was still partially infatuated with Sasuke. She mused that old habits truly did die hard.

At first his cool and stoic demeanor had been refreshing to her. The rest of the boys in the Academy had seemed so immature, brash, and uncouth when compared to his mature and smooth demeanor. Now she could see how frustrating that personality could be in a relationship. Getting Sasuke to express his feelings would be difficult, rare, and subtle. While it might be slightly different if Sasuke found a woman he truly loved, the Uchiha clan, by in large, were not known for displays of affection. Even when they were behind closed doors.

Naruto was the complete opposite of Sasuke. He was warm, caring, and very free with his emotions. She could easily see Naruto being very affectionate with his woman. In public and in private, the knucklehead wouldn't really care about his surroundings. In fact, the odds of Naruto doing something sweet in public were just as likely as him doing something stupid and embarrassing. He could be such a dense idiot at times, but other times he was amazingly perceptive.

'Please don't do anything stupid, Naruto.' Sakura thought.

VIP Box

---

When the first explosions rang out, Hanzō's guard went on immediate alert and began contacting various checkpoints and guard stations around the village. As they called for situation reports, the final explosions hit and the EMP shock wave disabled them all. Only Ōnoki, A, Yagura, and Hiruzen were unaffected by the blast.

As the four leaders stood to take some sort of action, they were halted by the orange haired bartender and the blue haired waitress.

"If I were you, I wouldn't move." The man said while raising his hand to reveal a strange detonator of some sort. "This here is called a dead man's switch and it is connected to a network of bombs planted around the stadium and throughout the city. If you so much as move wrong, everyone dies. If you kill me, everyone dies. If any foreign chakra were to land on my body, everyone dies. So don't even bother with genjutsu because I would prefer to live and spread my message. If you guys play it cool, everyone will walk away from this unharmed once my demands are met."

The blue haired woman moved towards the entrance of the VIP box and dragged the twitching guards inside, admitting a handful of terrorists dressed in black cloaks and carrying broadcasting equipment. As the men began to set up the equipment, Hiruzen decided to take a risk and ask the man some questions.

"Why you are doing this? What you hope to achieve?" Hiruzen asked calmly.

"All teams have reported in, Yahiko." The woman interjected. "We have detained thirty humans and are relocating them to a safe area. The teams report that 12 of them are shinobi and there is a single ninken with them. One of the finalists managed to snatch a device and toss it into the waterway, but the patrol teams managed to capture him before he alerted anyone."

The orange haired man had a grim expression on his face after listening to the woman's report.

"So few?" He said quietly. "Well, at least that means we will have 12 new brothers in arms once Nagato makes them see the truth," he added in a suddenly cheery tone. "Make certain you tell them to treat the prisoner's well until Nagato gets to them."

Hiruzen suspected he was bipolar.

"As for your question, Hokage-sama." The man named Yahiko turned to him with a sneer. "What I plan to do here is spread our message to the world and drive out the foreign invaders to protect humanity."

"Why threaten to blow up your own citizens then?" the Sandaime asked with his typical stone-faced expression. "How does that stop the foreigners from spreading their influence?"

Yahiko studied Hiruzen with a calculating gaze for a moment before responding.

"Because they have already been infected by our enemies. With their implants and connections to HAEvN, their minds have already been twisted and enslaved to the goals of the Nehan empire." Yahiko said flatly. "As long as they are around, they will continue to spread the corruption to others and humanity will die a slow death."

Yahiko began to pace in front of the Kage while he went into a rant. "I dreamed of forming the Akatsuki when I was a starving child orphaned during the height of the Second War. Seeing all the death and devastation wreaked by both Konoha and Iwa in a war that we had nothing to do with enraged me. At first, people thought it was a silly dream and simply wanted to forget the pain of the past, but it didn't take long for you bastards to turn my country into your playground of destruction once more. With your actions, my dream became a reality, so I suppose I should thank you for that." the man said facetiously. "With the help of Hanzō, my group grew stronger and gained more followers. Every time we helped evacuate the civilians and protect our lands from you invaders, our influence and numbers grew. We fed and clothed all the homeless and orphaned children using whatever resources and donations we could scrounge up and earned the respect of our people. After witnessing so much suffering and death, I was glad that Hanzō decided to isolate us from the rest of you warmongers." Yahiko spat.

The orange haired man paced away from the Kage and looked out of the window towards the village.

"After the Third War was over, we concentrated on healing the trauma of endless wars and helped to rebuild our country. We finally had peace and safety from the rest of the world and our people started to flourish once more. Everything was going fine until Hanzō betrayed us all by admitting those foreigners into our lands." Yahiko said with a growl as he turned to glare at Hanzō's twitching form. "We considered you our hero! We trusted you to put the best interests of Ame before anything else! But as soon as those corporate bastards come in, you spread your arms to them like a whore spreads her legs. As you continued to get bloated on the wealth they funneled to you, our people were systematically being enslaved and indoctrinated to the damn foreigners."

"What does this have to do with us?" The Raikage cut in.

"Just like Hanzo, you bastards are guilty of letting the foreigners gain a foothold in our lands. We know that they first set up shop in Konoha because of the Yondaime. We know that Kumo was soon to follow as well. And while the Sandaime here did take efforts to limit or curtail their influence, you still allowed your people to be enslaved by their technology." Yahiko said before moving to stand in front of the Hokage.

"I know you don't like them interfering in our lands and are trying to undermine them at every turn. So, I have to ask you, why? Why did you allow them to continue converting your people into their pawns?" he asked with a genuine look of curiosity.

Hiruzen sighed. "You are right that I don't like or trust the foreigners or their technology, but the Daimyō approved their entry into the village. With his decree, there wasn't much I could do to stop them. I never understood exactly why Minato also agreed to the allow them into the village, but I suspect he saw the benefits of the technology and wanted to learn to utilize it for ourselves. Once we had learned all there was to know, we could implement that technology without the influence of the outsiders."

"And that is why my group is taking this action. All of you, along with the Daimyō, are the cause of this infection spreading. We will use you to send a message to the empire. Once we are done here, it will be clear to them that we are not interested in their idealism or meddling. With the Daimyō and all of you under our control, we will effect change across our nation and take back our lands." Yahiko said passionately.

"What about Iwa? Iwa has done nothing to support the foreigners and we have even tried to drive them out." Ōnoki said indignantly.

"Don't treat me like an idiot." Yahiko snarled at him. "I know you are only trying to play both sides to benefit your own village. I know you have been fostering diplomatic ties with Hanzō in order to gain access to the technology without having to deal with the foreigners themselves. Did you really think you could just establish trade with us and allow that technology to spread freely without the foreigners gaining some influence over your people?." Yahiko said with a huff.

"The fact of the matter is that no outsiders can be tolerated. Their technology is all rife with mind control and indoctrination elements that can not be allowed. There can not be half measures or compromise when it comes to this. Cyborgs, AI, and all that technology must not be allowed." Yahiko stated firmly. "And while we hold all the cards, we will also end the corrupt shinobi system and bring peace to our lands by ending the rule of the Daimyō and eliminating the Kage system. The people will be in charge of their own fate and will no longer be forced to bow and serve to the entitled few who feed on the backs of the starving and poor."

'This guy is an absolute nutcase.' A thought.

'This will not end well.' Hiruzen thought. 'There can be no discussion or compromise with him. Either it is all or nothing and in the end, it will be nothing at the cost of so many innocent lives.'

"If that is all, please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable," Yahiko said with a cheery tune that Hiruzen now saw as false. "There is still plenty of drinks and food for you to enjoy the upcoming show. Remember, as long as you don't make any hostile moves, your people in the stadium will remain safe and unharmed. Try anything and I won't hesitate to send all of us to the pure lands.

The four Kage stood uncertainly for a moment before Yahiko waved the detonator in his hand in a mocking manner. After that, Hiruzen decided to simply settle back into his seat and begin trying to find a way out of this mess. The Raikage, Mizukage, and Tsuchikage followed him shortly afterward, all lost in thought as well as they considered a possible way to stop the madman from fulfilling his goals.

'I hate to admit it but he does have us all by the balls.' A thought. 'With the Daimyō and all of us trapped in here, there isn't any leverage against him.'

'If I had an opening, I am certain my Jinton (Dust Release) can eliminate him without setting any bombs off.' Ōnoki thought. 'All I need is a distraction.'

'It might be wise to just sit this out.' Yagura thought. 'The Sanbi will likely protect me from the blast but if I live through this while everyone else dies, the survivors will likely try to blame the "demon" for this mess. I already have to deal with enough of that crap back home I don't need the entire nation blaming me.'

'There must be some way to stop this zealot, but how?' Hiruzen thought to himself as he tried to plan an escape. 'If Ōnoki hits him with Jinton (Dust Release) it might eliminate the threat, but the Jinton is easy to spot and slow moving. He could set the bomb off in retaliation. A could probably rush him with his Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Armor) but the shock from his armor will trigger the bomb if the man doesn't manage to detonate it after being struck.'

Hiruzen sighed and pulled his pipe out. Considering the situation they were in, he doubted anyone would complain about him smoking anymore. Lighting his pipe, he studied the cyborgs who lie twitching on the ground and wondered how long they could remain in that state before permanent damage would be done.

He recalled Yahiko's earlier statement about the organics and couldn't help but feel concern for Naruto. He didn't know what they planned to do with those unaugmented people or how they planned to "make them see the truth" but he could only pray to the Kami that Naruto didn't force them to kill him.

He could only hope that he didn't lose too many people to this whole mess.

With Sasuke

---

Sasuke shook off the numbness and tingling in his limbs as he rose up from the ground. He didn't know why that sudden power surge had such an effect on his body, but he was glad that his mother had the foresight to test his affinity before his body parts were replaced. He didn't know how long he had been out for, but now that he was fully operational he was going to find out what the hell was going on.

Knowing he had a strong affinity for Raiton instead of Katon meant that his prosthetic limbs and cyberbrain needed high-quality induction shielding to withstand some of the stronger jutsu he would learn in the future. His father was going to simply get him the simple, run of the mill, body parts, but Itachi had blown most of his Anbu savings to help Sasuke get the full state of the art combat package and lifetime replacement package. This ensured that his limbs would be automatically upgraded, repaired, and resized as he grew older without having to pay extra.

Any additional customization would have to be paid out of his own pocket, but he was satisfied with what he had to date. Sakura was constantly suggesting certain tweaks and recommendations but he didn't want to void the warranty and replacement package by getting upgrades or customized parts from unauthorized dealers. When he found something interesting, he would just return to Kyokutō and have them install the modifications without worrying about the details.

Looking around, he noticed that all of the other contestants inside of the box were also on the ground unconscious or twitching from that mysterious overload. The only genin that was unaffected was one of his own opponents. The one name Minoru from Ame who was currently gaping at him with a shocked expression on his face.

"How the hell...?" The Ame genin shouted at him. "You tin brains were supposed to be eliminated from by the EMP."

Sasuke scowled at the boy before activating his Sharingan.

"So, your village is responsible for this?" Sasuke said coolly, seamlessly trapping the boy in a genjutsu as the fool stared into his eyes.

"The Akatsuki is and we are going to purge all you implanted filth from our lands." The genin shouted before drawing his ninjato.

"Hmph. You're just a pathetic, narrow-minded, zealot." Sasuke said with a sneer. "It won't take long for me to eliminate an idiot like you."

Minoru roared as he charged forward, leaping over the other immobile genin in the contestant box. Sasuke met his charge with an angular block to allow his opponent's blade to slide off to his left before bringing his blade around to slash at the genin's neck.

Minoru countered by dropping low to the ground and slashing at Sasuke's limbs. The Uchiha merely hopped over the blade before lashing out with a snap kick to the Ame genin's face. While his head was rocked back, Sasuke landed on top of the enemy's ninjato, snapping it into pieces.

With a snarl, Minoru tried to lunge towards Sasuke and tackle him to the ground, but instead of making contact with the raven's body, he phased through it instead. Before he could realize what had happened, Sasuke ended his life by jabbing his chokuto into the genin's skull.

Sasuke kicked the body off of one of the Suna shinobi that was laying on the ground disabled so he wouldn't have to deal with a corpse bleeding on him. Other than that, he wasn't really sure what he could do to help them. He decided his best course of action was to try and find Sakura and Naruto.

As he stepped out of the contestant box, he felt a little disorientation and buzzing along his sense receptors on his arms and legs. Applying a quick transparency genjutsu over himself, he studied the arena and saw that most of the audience was disabled like he had been earlier. He also took note of the strange black boxes that were systematically placed throughout the arena while pairs of guards in strange black cloaks were guarding every entrance and exit to the various seating sections.

Just like the genin had shouted out earlier, it appeared that some sort of attack was occurring or had occurred on the stadium. Sasuke took note of the slashed Ame headbands of the closest guards before moving off towards the last place he had seen Kakashi. As he drew closer, he saw several guards emerge from a nearby tunnel who were all talking about chasing and capturing one of the finalists. When he heard one of them grumbling about clones, he knew immediately it was Naruto.

'So that idiot managed to get captured. I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise with how many people are here.' Sasuke thought as he waited for the group to move past him.

As the cloaked figures spread out, Sasuke saw two people with leg wounds being helped towards one of the tunnels. He scanned the area for any more patrols before turning his gaze towards the Jōnin box. Seeing the area was currently unguarded, the Uchiha cautiously made his way over while trying to spot Kakashi or Sakura. It took him several minutes to find the familiar spiky white hair of his sensei laid out on the ground in the sixth row, but he wasn't able to see Sakura until he moved past the third row.

Sasuke smirked to himself as he saw Sakura immobilized on the ground. 'After all that nagging and hassling to upgrade my body, it turns out mine is better protected than her own. I just know it's going to drive her crazy.'

It took him a few minutes to realize that the strange buzzing sensation he had been feeling from the devices was more subdued in the area. He also realized that Sakura was positioned in a way that was not possible to fall into naturally. Immediately he realized that she had been purposely tucked underneath the seats for some reason. Maybe by Naruto, before he was captured. Sasuke looked around quickly once more before approaching Sakura and crouching next to her and casting a subtle genjutsu over the area so he could reveal himself to her.

As soon as he dropped his transparency jutsu, he saw Sakura glance over towards him before she slowly rolled onto her back and began rapidly flowing through hand signs to communicate. While her hand movements were jerky and imprecise, Sasuke was able to understand the message she was relaying. Once she had finished signing out her message, Sasuke began updating her with what he had observed and overheard. The two of them began formulating a plan on how to wake up the rest of the Jōnin without giving themselves away to the cloaked shinobi.

After a few minutes of hashing out a plan, Sasuke told Sakura to wait before he moved over towards Kakashi's body. As he drew closer to his sensei, he could see that the Copy-Nin was still immobile but aware of his surroundings. Kneeling down, he relayed the plan to Kakashi before reaching into his sensei's pouch to find the silencing seals. Pulling out four tags, Sasuke went around the seating area, slapping a tag down at each corner before activating them. Soon, the entire Jōnin box was now sound proof and would be easier to conceal with a visual genjutsu. While he could mask sound as well as movement with his Sharingan fueled illusions, it was far more chakra taxing and easier to dispel than fūinjutsu seals.

With the area now relatively secure, Sasuke began a quick headcount of the area. Within the Jōnin box, he could see 18 Jōnin and genin. From what he had seen during his trek from the contestant box, he estimated that there were 30 – 40 of those cloaked individuals roaming around the stadium. Half of those people wouldn't be an immediate threat since they were clear on the other side of the stadium but it was possible that there were far more enemies unaccounted for. The Arena had several floors of covered hallways that contained gift shops, concessions stands, service corridors, restrooms, and smoking balconies. With Naruto drawing off a significant group of them with his diversion attempt, it was likely the final number was closer to 50 or 60 at most.

A brief scan of those closest to him revealed that most of these attackers had chakra levels at or below his own level. There were a few that had significantly larger chakra then he did, but none of them came close to the levels that Kakashi or Naruto had. If it came down to direct conflict against these attackers, Sasuke felt confident they could come out of the battle victorious as long as their numbers didn't exceed his current estimates. The only question in his mind that he couldn't form a satisfactory theory on was what the attackers wanted and why they went through such an effort to subdue everyone instead of killing them outright.

As time elapsed, he felt less of the strange buzzing and noticed more people starting to stir within the Jōnin section. Fortunately, the cloaked individuals seemed to be satisfied that things were under their control because the numbers of cloaked people patrolling the seating sections were starting to decrease steadily. Now there was only a pair of guards watching each tunnel entrance with a single guard posted to watch over three seating sections. If his calculations were correct, that left 12 guards on this side of the stadium that he could visibly see.

As he saw Kakashi stirring, Sasuke made his way over to his sensei to fill him in on what he knew. A few other jōnin were starting to sit up as well and low conversations were being held between those that were mobile. Sakura was busy tapping away at one of those strange emitters and a few curious jōnin were watching her as she worked.

Kakashi groaned as he rubbed his head before a half lidded eye locked onto Sasuke.

"Where is Naruto?"

Sasuke shook his head subtlety before moving to crouch next to Kakashi.

"Most likely captured," Sasuke replied in a whisper. "Sakura mentioned he was spotted and lured the guards away from her so she could disable one of the devices. As I was making my way here from the contestant box, I overheard the guards mentioning that they captured one of the finalists and there was mention of clones being used as a distraction." Sasuke concluded before looking at a groaning Ame jōnin with suspicion.

Sasuke raised a hand and began using hand signs to fill in Kakashi about the rest of the information he had gathered and his suspicions about Ame being behind the attack.

Kakashi merely nodded in response before his eye wandered over the surrounding Jōnin and students that were seated in this section. He knew that the pair of Hyūga and the bun-haired girl had left during the intermission to visit the concession stands while the Inuzuka had left to visit the restroom. Odds were they were either still disabled or had been captured along with Naruto.

That left him with Gai, Kurenai, Mini-Gai, the Aburame kid, Sakura, and Sasuke to fight off whatever attack was going on and make his way to the Hokage.

First, he would have to assess how much of a threat the other Jōnin were to them at the moment. Things could get difficult if all those hostile villages decided to team up and take them out while they had the opportunity. While the masked Jōnin was confident they would win that battle, he didn't want to draw too much attention to their group at the moment. Hopefully, these particular jōnin were professionals and would be willing to set aside their differences until they could reconnect with their village leaders.

Kakashi quickly scanned the faces of the Jōnin that were around him to see if he could identify any dangerous opponents.

The first person that caught his eye was Shakuton no Pakura (Pakura of the Scorch Release). If Ame was behind this attack, which Kakashi was starting to doubt, her bloodline wouldn't be very useful to them due to its vulnerability to Suiton based attacks. Still, her Bingo book entry did note her talent with Taijutsu, dispelling Genjutsu, and dismantling Kanseijutsu. If those skills were noted in the Bingo Book, it could only mean that she was extremely skilled in those areas.

Pakura had caught his eye as he looked in her direction and gave him a subtle nod before moving on to fuss over the puppeteer kunoichi. Kakashi wasn't surprised that she had immediately lent her support to him. While Suna might not be on the best terms with Konoha at the moment, their relations were civil for the most part. Iwa had been making moves on the northern border of Suna for years and Kumo refused to acknowledge the desert village as one of the major powers in Genso no Kuni.

The next biggest threat was the Kiri Jōnin, Zabuza Momochi. Master of the Silent Killing technique and wielder of the Kubikiribōchō, Zabuza would be tough to put down if it came down to a fight between them.

While Kiri wasn't openly hostile towards Konoha, they weren't very friendly either. If there was one thing Kakashi could rely on with his group, it would be the fact that they would hesitant to stir up trouble with another village at this point in time. Rumors have been circulating about a great deal of unrest coming out of Kiri and while a civil war hadn't broken out yet, all the intelligence pointed to a war breaking out within the next few years.

For now, he would consider them a neutral party that needed to watched carefully.

Next, Kakashi took note of the jōnin from the villages that were openly hostile towards Konoha at the moment.

The busty blonde from Kumo was definitely a kenjutsu specialist from the was she carried herself. He could tell from her build that she was also more of a speed and agility type of fighter since she carried a tantō instead of the usual katana or nodachi favored by the cloud ninja. Given the fact that she was a jōnin at such a young age, he couldn't rule out a potential blood line or proficiency in two elements. Either she wasn't dangerous enough to be put into the Bingo books or she was fresh enough to be an unknown quantity.

Kakashi watched her for a moment as she coolly studied everyone around her with a calm and detached facade despite the fact that her entire genin team was missing. He knew that one of her genin had been eliminated due to injury before the finals, but the other two genin should have been by her side. Hopefully, her missing students would make her amenable to working with each other until the situation was resolved.

Moving on with his analysis, Kakashi sought out the second biggest threat to establishing a cohesive team from this mixed group of shinobi. Iwa. As he scanned the seating area, he couldn't stop the frown from forming on his face when he only spotted a single genin from the Iwa group. The fact that the rest of the Iwa shinobi were missing was highly suspicious in his book. While it was possible they were all unaugmented and rounded up while he was disabled, it was just as likely that they were involved in this whole mess.

The genin was glaring at everyone with suspicion and ill-concealed fear in his eyes. Kakashi guessed he was no older than 14 making him a second-year rookie. At least the boy had the wherewithal to stick with the group and keep his mouth shut. As long as the boy didn't give him any problems, he would allow him to tag along with them instead of simply slitting his throat to eliminate a liability. No shinobi wanted to carry around dead weight and given their hostile relationship with Iwa, Kakashi had no qualms with killing the boy outright to save himself time and energy later on.

The only brats he would tolerate dealing with were his own and he had put in a great deal of effort in eliminating the childish traits that bothered him the most. He was glad that his genin were a few years older when leaving the Academy because the last thing he wanted to deal with was pre-teen angst and bravado.

Kakashi's gaze drifted towards the Ame Jōnin and his kunoichi genin that seemed to be in a heated conversation with each other. Judging from their body language and facial expressions, the copy-nin suspected that they had a good idea who was behind this whole mess. It would be logical, considering this was their home turf, but the real question was. Were they involved?

He couldn't rule out the fact that they were planted in this section to ensure that this group remained subdued. If there was any threat to this mysterious group's goals, this would be the place to find it. Next to the Kage and Anbu bodyguards, this group would be high up on the list of troublemakers. He had no idea how skilled the Jōnin himself was, but the kunoichi genin had a very poor showing during her match against the Kumo kunoichi and the Suna puppeteer kunoichi. As he began considering various ways to interrogate the pair, the approach of the Nadeshiko group caught his attention.

It was obvious the Nadeshiko kunoichi suspected the Ame ninja of being involved with this mess, given their glares and tensed muscles. Kakashi slowly rose to his feet and began moving closer to the group so he could listen in. While he wouldn't interfere with their interrogation, he couldn't allow them to get too loud and blow their cover. If they threatened to reveal everyone before some sort of consensus could be established, he would intervene and put them down if necessary. Out of everyone in this group, he was the strongest by far with only Gai being able to put him down and he knew that all of them were well aware of this fact as well.

The rest of the shinobi in the Jōnin section stopped talking amongst each other to watch the confrontation with interest. A few of them were also moving closer to crowd around the Ame duo who were quickly becoming backed into a metaphorical corner.

"What the hell is going on here you Ame bastards!" Shizuka growled. "How dare you attack us like this!"

"It wasn't us! It was the Akatsuki!" The Ame genin shouted before being cuffed by the Jōnin.

"Keep your voice down Hitomi!" the jōnin hissed at his genin before facing the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry, Genjuro-sensei, but I won't be lumped into the same category as those naturalist freaks by some Nadeshiko whore!" Hitomi spat.

"Why you little bit-" the Nadeshiko Jōnin began before she was cut off by the Ame jōnin.

"Please remain calm, shouting and fighting amongst ourselves will not help us out of this situation. I'm sure you noticed that an organized group has taken control of the stadium and will likely not hesitate to kill us all if we are discovered." The Jōnin said in a placating tone. "The only way we can get out of this mess is if we work together."

"You expect us to believe you after the blatant acts of bias your village has been committing during these exams." one of the Nadeshiko genin accused.

"I have nothing to do with that." Genjuro retorted hotly. "My team was competing so I had no say or control over what happened during each of the exams. As for this attack, it would be extremely detrimental to our image to commit such an act while it is being broadcast across the fucking world"

"That might be true, however, this group didn't appear out of thin air. In order to pull off an attack of this magnitude, they had to be established in your village for quite some time." Zabuza interjected. "Now is not the time for village secrets. You want us to work with you? then you need to start talking. Otherwise, we will just cut you both down and figure this shit out for ourselves." Zabuza finished by placing his hand on the hilt of his massive greatsword.

There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the group, causing the Ame jōnin to start sweating as he eyes darted over the crowd surrounding him. Seeing as he was surrounded by suspicious foreigners, Genjuro knew he had no choice but to reveal one of Ame's dirty little secrets.

"Alright, alright!" Genjuro said in a resigned tone. "Look, Ame has been having trouble with two major Naturalist groups for the past few years. The first to cause trouble was the Human Liberation Front the second, more recent group, is the Akatsuki."

"I've heard of the HLF, they have a few members in Kumo as well but no one takes them seriously." The busty Kumo Jōnin replied. "I have never heard of the Akatsuki, though."

"Because, unlike the HLF, the Akatsuki was a respected group of local patriots. We would have never betrayed their secrets to foreigners such as you." Genjuro scoffed before his voice took on a sad tone. "Once the Akatsuki began to lend their support to the HLF, however, it didn't matter where the message originated from, the people began to listen. Many people began to realize just how quickly the foreigner's technology and influence had begun to permeate our culture. Once it was leaked that Hanzō, himself, was heavily cyberized, the conspiracy theories began to grow. The people began to lend weight to the outrageous beliefs that Hanzō was being controlled like a puppet. Civilians, nobles, and many of the shinobi began to abandon their previous jobs or duties and signed up with the Akatsuki full time."

"I find it hard to believe that Hanzō, of all people, didn't simply have them wiped out completely." Kakashi mused. "He isn't exactly known for his tolerance."

"It's not so easy to just wipe out the Akatsuki like that." Genjuro retorted. "Hanzō may be revered for all he has done for Ame, but the Akatsuki became the true lifeline of our people during the last war. While our forces worked to drive out you foreigners, the Akatsuki helped keep the peace. They kept our people fed, raided enemy supply lines so our shinobi could keep fighting, all the displaced families, and war orphans were clothed and sheltered by them."

The Ame genin huffed in contempt, earning a warning glare from her sensei before he continued speaking.

"To this day the Akatsuki fund and staff all the homeless shelters and orphanages without support from Hanzō or the Daimyō. They have been successful in turning popular opinion against Hanzō to the point that the people have been willing to look the other way when the group starts talking treason!" Genjuro said with gritted teeth.

"So, you are basically saying that no one in Ame can be trusted then," Pakura said coldly.

The genin couldn't keep silent any longer and glared as the green haired Suna jōnin.

"Shut up, you damn foreigner! We are not traitors to Hanzo-sama and anyone that supports those bastards should die!" she shouted.

"Hitomi be silent!" the Ame jōnin hissed.

"NO! I will not have us lumped in with traitors or hypocrites!" she spat. "All the citizens embraced this new technology! They all supported having lower cost goods and better working conditions! Now they choose to betray the man who saved us from annihilation for a few uneducated morons who have no real value to Ame? It's not his fault they are too stupid or unskilled to hold a real job!"

"Silence, girl. Do you want to attract their attention to us? Shizuka asked with a malicious tone.

"I think she is protesting too much." Kimiko sneered. "Maybe she is a plant to spy on us all."

There were a few murmurs of agreement while the rest of the group eyed Hitomi with suspicion.

"Enough of this petty bickering." The Kumo kunoichi interjected. "I don't trust any of you, and I am certain the feeling is mutual, but we are professionals. Our priority must be to reach our Kage and Daimyō so we can receive instructions on how to act. To do so, we must move as a group."

"I agree," Kurenai replied. "It is in all of our best interests to work together for the moment, regardless if we like it or not."

Kakashi nodded before he spoke. "As a gesture of good faith, I will inform you all of what intelligence we have gathered so far, and our efforts to free us from, whatever, disabled our cybernetics. After that, I expect you all to share some of your skill set so we can work on disabling the rest of those crippling devices and eliminating the threat."

Kakashi eyed the group and saw that none of the were openly disagreeing with his statement for the moment. When it was clear that no one would oppose him in taking command of the situation, he began to relay what information he had managed to gather from Sakura and Sasuke's observations and comparing it to what others had observed. Once that was done, they began a round of brief introductions with a basic summary of their skills included. This also helped them to identify who was missing from their current group.

Of the Jōnin, there was only the Iwa sensei missing. From the genin, the numbers were actually significant. Two from Iwa, two from Kumo, two from Kiri, two from Suna, five from Konoha, "two" from Ame.

Kakashi wasn't about to tell Genjuro that Sasuke had offed one of his brats already.

Kakashi made a mental list of everyone that remained and their revealed skill sets so he could use his fabled intellect to develop a strategy and group formations. It was a challenge, considering the amount of distrust the group held for each other, but it was necessary. They would need to split up to effectively eliminate the threat without attracting attention, but if they spread themselves too thin it would be easy for them to be overwhelmed. After studying the group for a few more moments, Kakashi felt he had a successful strategy to employ and began relaying his orders.

Kurenai, Shino, Mitsuki of Suna, and Haku of Kiri would use their special talents to scout ahead. With Shino's bugs, Mitsuki's ant puppets, and Haku's ice mirrors, they should be able to move undetected with Kurenai using her formidable genjutsu skills to conceal the movements of Teams 1 and 2.

Pakura of Suna, Sango of Nadeshiko, Sakura, Hitomi of Ame, and Mika of Nadeshiko would stick to the heels of the scouting group so they could disable any devices or traps before the entire group was rendered immobile again. Being the tech specialists, it was up to them to ensure that none of the group was caught by the pulse emitters.

Gai, Kakashi, Genjuro of Ame, Zabuza of Kiri, Sasuke, Lee, Kimiko and Shizuka of Nadeshiko would focus on eliminating all nearby patrols and guards under the cover of genjutsu or Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist). They would also be the first to engage an enemy if the second group comes under attack while trying to disable any traps.

Each group would steadily move to clear their current section and all the outer ring hallways, slowly making their way towards the VIP box. Once they neared their final destination, they would have to reassess the situation and formulate a new plan.

There was a bit of reluctant grumbling as the group assignments were disseminated, but no one put forth any other suggestions, so the group began preparing for their tasks.

Soon, the first group of counter-terrorists would spring into action and begin the battle to retake Ame.