Hey guys, so here's the next chapter-
Chapter42- Art is a...?
"Kabuto...Tayuya and him, kill both of them," Orochimaru spoke in a low tone making the silver haired chunin's eyes widen.
"Naruto-kun too? But you wanted his body," he said making the sanin glance at him.
"I can still do with transplanting the Rinnegan, but I want to get rid of that boy. Guren-chan here will help me fight the others," he ordered making him nod along with Guren.
"So Naruto-kun, I heard that Itachi-" Orochimaru started when something white, particularly a large spider fell on the ground between the two groups. Jiraiya, Naruto and the others too were surprised when the toad sanin noticed the nature of the material.
'Clay?' his eyes widened in realization when Orochimaru yelled.
"Guren! Crystal wall, quick!" nodding immediately, Guren went through a few hand seals as she slammed her hands on the ground.
"W-What's going on?" Tayuya asked in surprise.
"Everyone, stay close to me!" Jiraiya yelled when they heard someone yell above them.
"KATSU!"
BOOM!
Amegakure: Unknown Location
"It's always raining here...," an orange haired man, sitting on the tongue of a concrete face connected to a very tall building murmured to himself. A hitai-ate was wrapped around his forehead, sporting the insignia for the village hidden in the rain. He was currently gazing outside absent-mindedly, his eyes having four concentric rings (the fourth ring visible at the corner of his eyes) which surrounded a dot-like pupil, its iris and sclera being light purple in color. Another distinguishable feature were the black rod piercings on his nose and ears along with two spike studs on both corners of the underside of his lower lip.
"Nagato...he's here," a soft voice reached his ears despite the pitter-patter of the rain. Turning his head a bit, he glanced at the blue haired woman standing behind him.
"Very well..." standing up slowly, his black robe with red clouds already wet, the orange haired person started to walk towards the door of the chamber.
"Let's go Konan," he spoke in a monotone voice making her nod as the kunoichi, wearing the same robes followed him.
Entering a chamber, both of them noticed a masked man sitting on a chair, humming to himself.
"Ah, long time no see Nagato," he spoke, his orange spiral mask completely covering his face except his one eye.
Sharingan met Rinnegan as the deva realm sat in front of him, Konan quietly standing behind him with a neutral look on her face.
"We've mobilized the other members and have started to look for the kyuubi jinchuriki in Hi no Kuni as per your orders Madara-sama," Nagato spoke making the Uchiha nod.
"I see, so Itachi did his job?" asked Madara making the Rinnegan user nod.
"Hai, as you expected, when the kyuubi jinchuriki was pierced with the kunai coated with Sasori's poison, Konoha's hokage sent the jinchuriki along with Jiraiya of the sanin to search for Tsunade for his treatment. We dispatched all the members in groups of two to find Tsunade, they shouldn't have much problem in finding her though," the orange haired person uttered while Madara squinted his one visible eye a bit.
"I see...he should be captured soon then. A jinchuriki and the Rinnegan is a very dangerous combination, we couldn't have possibly let him on the loose for years. It's a good thing we made our move earlier," the Uchiha verbalized when Nagato spoke seriously.
"What I don't understand is that why you didn't let me handle this alone. I could've just invaded Konoha, captured the jinchuriki and destroy it in the process. That village is already weak, we easily could've accomplished our objective."
"No...you would've failed," Madara muttered making Konan narrow her eyes.
"How can you say that? Nagato is the strongest member of the Akatsuki, he easi-"
"Right now, even in its weakened state, Konoha is strong military wise. Hiruzen Sarutobi is still alive, he's an S-rank nin and known as the God of shinobi. Jiraiya the toad sanin is also very strong. Then we have recently resurrected Uchiha Mikoto, known as the Kawarimi no Kami, also an S-rank Uchiha. And finally, white Zetsu probably didn't tell you this, but Uzumaki Kushina is also somehow alive," this caused the duo to gaze at him in surprise.
"Uzumaki...Kushina?" Nagato asked in a foreign tone making the masked Uchiha nod.
"Hai, one of the strongest shinobi the Uzumaki and Uchiha clan has ever produced. She alone is a force to be dealt with. It also doesn't help that she awakened the Sharingan recently," Madara articulated making the orange haired shinobi sigh.
"I see...these many S-rank nins surely would've pushed me to my limits, even with my secret here," he murmured when Konan spoke.
"There's still one thing I don't understand. White Zetsu informed us that during the attack on Konoha a week ago, Uzumaki Naruto's Rinnegan was upgraded during his battle with the yonbi jinchuriki. It seems that the kyuubi jinchuriki's Rinnegan is a much weaker version of Nagato's here," she spoke making Madara look at her, staying silent as she continued.
"Nagato's Rinnegan always had four rings, and he never had to level up his doujutsu here. He can even use the six paths of pain along with the seventh path while that jinchuriki has shown no such ability yet. Is his Rinnegan different?" she asked while Nagato stayed silent whereas Madara stood up.
"Hai...his Rinnegan is different from his Uzumaki predecessors who have awakened this doujutsu in the past, but so is Nagato's," this made her look at him in confusion.
"None of the previous Uzumaki who had this doujutsu could control the six paths...but neither did they possess white chakra," Madara paused when the orange haired shinobi lifted his head.
"White chakra?" he asked, a surprised expression on his face making Madara nod.
"As you know, when an Uzumaki awakens the Rinnegan, his chakra temporarily turns into that of a white color. But in case of Uzumaki Naruto, the change was permanent," the Uchiha spoke with a grave expression.
"But does that make any difference?" Konan asked making him shake his head.
"I don't know yet...we haven't been able to collect much info about his chakra. But one thing was clear to me the moment black Zetsu informed me of this," he paused making the deva realm look at him curiously.
"Rikudou Sennin was said to possess white chakra as well as was able to control all seven paths. Nagato, your Rinnegan had four rings from the beginning unlike any other Uzumaki in the past and you can control all the seven paths just like the Rikudou Sennin. You've inherited a very strong spiritual essence of that mythical being, hence your Rinnegan being extremely strong. Uzumaki Naruto however, gained a considerably strong physical essence of the sage of the paths, hence his white chakra and its healing properties. It seems both of you are the prodigies of the nearly extinct Uzumaki clan," Madara spoke in a heavy voice while Nagato stayed quiet, a solemn expression on his face.
"In the past, activating the Rinnegan was a rare case among the Uzumaki clan and even before that, those who did activate it, they had to level up the Rinnegan just like Uzumaki Naruto. However, none of them could ever reach the fourth level like you Nagato. Also, not one of them possessed the white glowing chakra or the ability of the six paths, both of you are special in your own rights. That's why, its better if we capture the kyuubi jinchuriki immediately instead of allowing his power to grow," he finished, silence filling the dark chamber while Konan stood there with an expressionless look on her face.
"Nagato, have you found that summoning contract I told you about?" Madara asked in a grim tone as the Rinnegan user shook his head.
"No...not yet. I just can't locate it. But are you sure that it exists Madara-sama? That's a summoning contract of Rikudou Sennin's era we're talking about after all," Nagato spoke in a skeptical tone.
"I'm sure it exists. Uzumaki clan found the elemental dragons summoning contract years ago. Kinryu (Golden Dragon), who was a personal summon of Rikudou Sennin, belonged to that summoning contract. The contract I've told you to find, that was used by sage of the six paths too. If we get that contract in our hands, no one should be able to stop us," the Uchiha spoke in a serious tone, clenching his fists in a bit of anxiety.
'Then again...that contract hasn't been heard of since the Rikudou Sennin died.'
Outskirts of Tanzaku Town: With Naruto and Others
Large amount of dust was currently covering the area while a large white bird was hovering over the dust screen. Two men were standing on the bird, wearing black cloaks with red clouds imprinted on them.
"Art is a blast hmm?" one of them spoke amusingly when the other grunted in annoyance.
"We are not supposed to kill the jinchuriki Deidara," a person of very short stature uttered to his blonde partner, his voice rough in nature.
"Relax...that was just one of my larger C1 bombs. If the jinchuriki dies by that, then he isn't worth my art," Deidara uttered with a gleam in his eyes as the bird descended towards the ground while Sasori kept quiet, not in the mood to correct his partner about 'real' art- they had some serious work to do.
Flapping its wings, the dust around the duo was blown away as the large clay bird landed on the ground.
Thup!
"Nice change of landscape, don't you agree hmm?" Deidara asked with a smirk after landing on the ground with Sasori following him.
"Shut up and concentrate Deidara. We are standing among sanin and the jinchuriki of the strongest bijuu. We have to be at our guards," the puppet user spoke seriously making the blonde's smirk widen as the dust now started to clear up.
Deidara scrunched his eyes a bit, trying to see through the dust as a silhouette of a large strange figure made itself visible, where Naruto and others were present.
"Did I kill them already?" the ex-terrorist bomber asked in an amused voice making Sasori grunt who turned his head back a bit, staring at the crystal dome behind him through the corner of his eyes.
"It's been a while...Orochimaru," Sasori uttered in a rough voice as the crystal dome slowly disintegrated, small crystals falling to the ground to reveal Orochimaru staring at them with a frustrated expression on his face. Guren was crouched in front of him, lifting both of her hands off the ground while Kabuto was standing behind the snake sanin.
"Oh, a crystal element user? Never seen one of those, and to think she withstood one of my largest C1's, she's a worthy opponent hmm," Deidara commented with a confident smirk making Guren glare at him, not saying anything as she stood up.
"I presume you're here to get the jinchuriki?" Orochimaru asked with a grim expression, clenching his fists while Sasori glanced at Kabuto for a moment.
"And what do we have here? Some sort of a gross summoning?" Deidara said in a loud voice making his partner turn back to gaze at a strange slimy structure, where Naruto and others had been standing.
It slowly started to vanish into thin air to reveal Jiraiya and Naruto standing beside each other, both of them having grave expressions on their faces.
Standing behind them were Tayuya and Hinata, their eyes wide for they had recognized the pair in front of them the moment they had set their eyes on the cloak.
"Tsunade-sama, are you alright?" Shizune asked in a shaken up voice, knowing fully well that just what kind of danger they were in.
The blonde sanin, who was still trembling, didn't say anything as she stared at the newly arrived duo with wide eyes.
'So these are one of the Akatsuki members that Jiraiya was talking about. Black cloaks with red clouds, there's no mistake...and they are here to take Naru-chan,' she thought in anxiety, trying desperately to stop her shaking.
'C'mon...I have to stop shaking! I have to do something!', the slug princess thought, clenching her fists.
"Now look at that. One sanin is already out of the game, too bad," Deidara mocked with a shake of his head while Jiraiya clenched his fists.
'This is bad...no, extremely bad. We are facing off against three S-rank missing nins here and Tsunade here is in no condition to fight. I'm the only one who can take one of them one on one but...what about the others? Naruto, although strong, is nowhere near their level. We have to somehow retreat...but how?' glancing sideways, Jiraiya noticed the nervous expression on Naruto's face- the blonde knew what kind of a situation they were in.
Gazing at the Akatsuki duo in front of him, the toad sanin's lips curled down upon noticing Deidara smirking confidently.
'And they wouldn't just stand and watch us retreat. According to Itachi's reports to sensei, this guy here is Deidara from Iwa, previously a terrorist bomber and hosting the explosion release bloodline. He's a long range fighter and with that clay bird, he'll just follow us,' he thought as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his forehead.
"Alright, blonde hair, whiskers on the cheeks, he's our pal Sasori-sama hmm!" Deidara exclaimed with a smile, a crazy gleam in his eyes.
This got reactions out of almost everybody while Sasori turned his stare towards Naruto, making the whiskered blonde's eyes widen a bit.
'Those eyes?' Naruto thought in what seemed to be primal fear, staring into those eyes filled with bloodlust...and experience, something which he lacked terribly here.
He gulped in nervousness as beads of sweat traveled down the side of his face, taking a slow step back.
'I...I can't take these guys on, these are S-rank nins, experienced veterans. I'm nothing against them,' he thought, his fists trembling as a feeling, much denser than what he felt against Zabuza came back surfacing. It was the feeling of being completely intimidated, knowing that you had no chance against your opponent whatsoever.
"Calm down Naruto," Ayumi's stern voice suddenly broke in making him snap out of his thoughts.
"Ayumi-chan..." his voice trailed as Sasori continued to stare at him with cold eyes.
"Don't lose your cool, stay calm and maintain your focus. You have Jiraiya and others with you. Don't think that you're alone in this," this made him turn his head as he came to the sight of Hinata and Tayuya rooted to their spots, their eyes wide with fear as both of them had felt the monstrous killing intent from the duo. Tayuya however seemed to be controlling herself better.
Shizune too had a torn look in her eyes, although her expression was that of a cold kunoichi ready to fight at any moment.
"Oh, I just remembered something, Orochimaru was your partner before hmm," Deidara spoke with a smirk, turning back to stare at the sanin while Sasori kept his eyes on the group in front of them.
"Orochimaru-sama, I think we should retreat," Kabuto whispered from behind when the snake sanin stepped forward.
"We want Tsunade, and you want the kyuubi jinchuriki. We can fight alongside each other, just like old times. What do you say Sasori?" Orochimaru spoke loudly with a smirk.
"We can do our work by ourselves. Besides, after we catch the jinchuriki, you're my next target Orochimaru hmm," Deidara verbalized while Orochimaru kept staring at the puppet user's back whereas Guren glared at the blonde Iwa shinobi for threatening her master.
"I think I gave you our answ-"
"I accept Orochimaru," Sasori interrupted making the sanin smirk while a tic mark formed on Deidara's forehead.
"WHAT THE HELL SASORI?" he yelled in annoyance while the Suna puppet user stood there unfazed.
"You can hunt down Orochimaru later Deidara, but I want to catch the jinchuriki as soon as possible. I hate waiting," he verbalized making his partner 'hn' in annoyance as he turned towards the leaf shinobi.
"Well, I guess you guys are having a bad day," Deidara commented with a chuckle as he started to walk forward.
"Naruto listen...," Jiraiya began, a grim expression on his face, catching the blonde's attention.
"I'll take on Orochimaru and Kabuto. That blonde guy coming over here, as sensei probably informed you is Deidara. You being strong in ninjutsu can at least defend yourself against him. You should have enough time to do the handseals considering he's a long range fighter," the toad sanin spoke making Naruto's eyes widen as he snapped his head towards him.
"You're expecting me take on a S-rank shinobi by myself?" he asked in disbelief.
"That's the reason Kushina trained you into the ground during the previous month. She went all out on you in taijutsu to increase your endurance, speed, reaction time and reflexes. She trained you for exactly this moment. You only have to defend yourself and not go on attack. Don't fail her Naruto, she wouldn't be able to live without you," he articulated in his dead serious voice making Naruto nod, a serious expression on his face.
'I don't know if I can but...'
"I understand, I'll try my best. What about that crystal user and Sasori?" he asked when Jiraiya shifted his gaze towards the trio standing behind him.
"Hinata, I'm afraid you have to take on Sasori all by yourself," he said, dropping the bombshell.
"Are you crazy?" Naruto whispered harshly with narrowed eyes while the Hyuuga heiress stood there in shock. She, a recently promoted chunin, was supposed to take on an S-rank missing nin?
"Oi, what are you babbling about?" Deidara shouted as neared the group, walking casually towards them with a smirk while Sasori, Orochimaru and his companions stood there ground.
"We've got no choice, Hinata...you too Tayuya, take on Sasori while you Shizune, you have to take on that crystal user," Jiraiya ordered in a stern voice making them nod while Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration, they were at a severe disadvantage here.
'If only kaa-chan was okay too,' he thought before shaking himself out of his musings, still a bit shaken up as he gazed at the blonde walking towards them with a confident smirk.
"Remember, just concentrate on defending yourself. We all have to wait for the right moment to retreat," he warned making them nod.
"Naruto...I-I believe in you. Don't d-doubt yourself," Tsunade spoke with a grim expression, still shaking while the whiskered blonde nodded as he took a deep breath.
"So kiddo, it seems you have caught the leader's attention. It seems he's quite afraid of your 'hidden potential' as he says. Your doujutsu, he's afraid of your Rinnegan," Deidara spoke as he stopped several meters in front of them as he put both of his hands in the two bags around his waist.
"I however, wanting to confirm what he saw in you, sought you out with passion equivalent to that of my art. Now that I've found you, I find myself...disappointed hmm," he paused, his hands still in his pouches making Naruto narrow his eyes.
"Don't listen to him Naruto, keep your focus," Jiraiya reminded him in a stern voice as the blonde Iwa shinobi continued.
"Disappointed in leader's fears, disappointed in you. You lack the eyes that leader has, even though you have the Rinnegan, you lack a motive. All I see in your eyes is a mere shadowed child, hiding all his pain and loneliness behind that fake tough exterior hmm," Deidara stated with a smirk making the blonde's eyes widen.
"No power, no will...I see only fear in them," he continued with a cold smile.
"These fake expressions, why so? Are they for the sake of your...comrades? So much self doubt...you, no matter how strong you are; have already lost the battle kid. So why not just come here quietly, and we'll leave your friends here alone hmm~," Deidara offered with a chuckle, now taking out his hands to reveal a small spider, made of clay.
"Naruto...calm down. He's just playing with your emotions," Ayumi said while Naruto just stayed quiet, now lifting the index finger of his right hand to point it at Deidara.
"You...," he started in a calm voice making the Akatsuki nin gaze at him in mild curiosity.
"Keep your mouth shut," this made Deidara smirk wider as Naruto glared at him while Jiraiya found himself a bit surprised at Naruto's answer.
'Banshou Tenin!'
"Now that's wha-ungh!" Deidara exclaimed in reflex when he found himself being pulled towards Naruto by an invisible force.
Whoosh!
'What the...?' Deidara thought in surprise, gritting his teeth when he found his body sail at blundering speeds towards Naruto who pulled out a kunai making him smirk.
'He thinks he can kill me with a kunai? He's more naïve than I thought,' he thought when...
DHRKSH!
"Chidori!"
SQUELCH!
"Arghh!"
Guren's eyes widened upon seeing another Naruto suddenly burst forth the ground to pierce his lightning encased right hand into Deidara's heart.
Hinata and Tayuya's eyes were widened too at the sudden attack.
'Naruto...'
Sounds of chirping birds echoed throughout the area as Naruto stood there, his hand on the other side of Deidara's chest as he met the Akatsuki nin's eyes with his own cold ones.
"I don't fear anything," Naruto spoke in an icy cold voice when the pained expression on Deidara's face turned into that of a smirk, taking the blonde aback.
"Oh, but I can still see fear in your eyes. You can't cover all your emotions kid...why so scared of me hmm?" he mocked making Naruto grit his teeth in anger while a white ball of rotating chakra started to form in his other hand when he noticed Deidara turning into clay.
'A clay clone?' he thought in surprise, now staring at the white clayish Deidara.
POOF!
The clone puffed into smoke, having cancelled the Rinnegan while the clay fell to the ground.
The real Naruto however, was standing beside Jiraiya, his eyes narrowed when Deidara's head popped up from the ground beside Sasori.
"He's good, and that pull attack specially took me by surprise hmm," Deidara uttered as he jumped out of the earth to stand beside Sasori, a smirk on his face.
"Using lightning and earth element in conjunction with each other, not bad kid. You're worthy of my art," the blonde Iwa shinobi spoke loudly. Jiraiya however was getting a bit confused.
'Why aren't they attacking? Aside from that Deidara just mocking Naruto, they haven't done anything yet...' the toad sanin thought with a grave expression.
CRKKSH!
"Surprise!"
All of them snapped their heads when Deidara's head popped out of the earth from in between them making Hinata and Tayuya's eyes widen in shock.
'Shit!' Naruto thought as he pointed his right palm towards Deidara.
"Art is a...," the Akatsuki nin started with an evil grin as he formed a half ram seal.
'Damn it! Not enough time! I can't use Shinra Tensei after having used Banshou Tenin just now!' Naruto thought as Deidara's body started to glow.
KHRRK!
"Argh!"
Tayuya's eyebrows lifted in surprise when another Jiraiya burst from the earth, grabbing the glowing Deidara's throat as the duo went high in midair due to Jiraiya's momentum.
'What are those...toads on his shoulders?' Hinata thought while Tsunade's eyes widened in realization.
"Throw him away Jiraiya-chan!" one of the toads yelled as Jiraiya threw the blonde in his hands with monstrous strength towards the standing Akatsuki duo.
Deidara, currently standing beside Sasori had his eyes widened in surprise as his own clone neared them at blazing speeds.
"Katsu," the blonde muttered when...
BHOOM!
His clone exploded in midair, wind flowing around them as their cloaks flapped due to the wind. Jiraiya landed on the ground in front of a wide eyed Naruto while the other Jiraiya, who was earlier standing beside him- puffed into smoke indicating himself to be a shadow clone. A yellowish tint covered their forms due to the blast while Tayuya and Hinata shielded their eyes.
"E-Ero-sennin...?" Naruto asked with wide eyes, now gazing at the back of his godfather, two small toads sitting on his shoulder.
'I see...so the Jiraiya standing before was a shadow clone all along while the real him was beneath us, summoning Fukasaku-sama and Shima-sama. He was buying time for his sage mode,' Tsunade thought in realization, inwardly impressed by her teammate's quick assessment of the situation.
"Naruto, stay on your toes," turning his head back a bit, he spoke to his godson making Naruto's eyes widen when he noticed the altered facial features of Jiraiya.
"W-What happened to you?" the blonde asked in surprise.
'This is the same thing I saw with him before, but back then...these toads weren't present,' Tayuya thought with a serious expression while Shizune too had her eyes widened in shock. She had heard stories of the sage mode from Tsunade, but this was her first time seeing it in action.
"Is this your godson Jiraiya-chan?" Shima asked as she glanced at Naruto while Jiraiya nodded in response, now staring in front of him with narrowed eyes.
"I see...clearly he's Minato-chan's son," the female toad muttered, taking Naruto by surprise while Shizune walked to stand beside him.
"Ah, Jiraiya the gama-sennin, not a surprise at all. Each of you sanin seem to have something special in them hmm?" Deidara's voice came from within the dust when Shima, forming the ram sign, blew some chakra enhanced wind from her mouth- clearing the dust away in the process.
"That's a jutsu I've never seen," Sasori spoke, both of their forms now visible as the rag over his mouth flapped with the lightly flowing wind.
"Who are these fella's Jiraiya-chan?" Shima asked in curiosity making Deidara smirk when Orochimaru came out of the earth beside Sasori.
"My my...it's quite rare of you to use sage mode Jiraiya, I'm surprised that you're taking something serious for once," the snake sanin spoke with a smirk while inwardly he was frowning.
'Damn! This is bad...Jiraiya is extremely powerful in sage mode and with my arms useless here, I'm no match for him. Even Sasori here will have a hard time matching up to him. Sage mode takes time to activate, but he tricked us and was already preparing for it. I wouldn't have let him stay still if I knew he would be using this.'
"These two are the members of an organization called Akatsuki, and their goal is to obtain all the nine bijuu. As you know, Naruto is the jinchuriki of kyuubi and hence is one of their targets," Jiraiya uttered in a grim tone while Guren's eyes widened.
'He's a jinchuriki, then he must be the one Orochimaru-sama was talking about before,' the crystal thought in surprise.
"Man that makes us sound cool, doesn't it Sasori-sama hmm?" Deidara asked with a smirk when a metallic tail suddenly came out from Sasori's cloak, pulling of the clothe rag off his face making Naruto's eyes widen along with others.
'His face...' the blonde thought as he noticed Sasori's mouth, looking completely artificial as if he was...a puppet?
"Time to get to business, I've waited long enough," the Suna shinobi uttered making Deidara sigh in exasperation.
"Yeah yeah, you hate waiting hmm."
"Waiting? What were they waiting for?' Jiraiya and Naruto thought simultaneously when Deidara pulled several small spiders from his pouches while Kabuto landed beside Orochimaru followed by Guren.
"Alright, you guys know what to do, stay on the defensive and try to conserve your chakra. Don't do anything reckless," Jiraiya ordered when he and Naruto exchanged glances. Both of them nodded at each other before they blurred out in a burst of speed, dashing towards the group.
Shizune, realizing what they were doing, dashed behind them as she yelled over her shoulder.
"Hinata, Tayuya!" this made the duo snap their heads towards her, their eyes meeting momentarily as Shizune relayed the silent message. Although the black haired medic knew it was too much to ask of these two, especially Hinata, but they had no choice in the matter. Besides, Hinata with her Toyotama Byakugan and her clan's techniques was suited for defense against a puppet master such as Sasori, and Tayuya's experience would help her.
'We have to make sure they don't get to Tsunade-sama...' Shizune thought as she turned her head forward in her mid dash, activating her chakra scalpels.
"Hinata! Let's just fucking go...if you want to protect Naruto, then have to show some guts!" Tayuya spoke loudly with narrowed eyes as she too bolted forward. Shaking her head a bit, on impulse, Hinata too sprinted forward.
'For the sake of Naruto-kun's protection, I have to do it somehow,' she thought, activating her Toyotama Byakugan on the way.
"Oh, they're charging head on, this is gonna be fun," Deidara muttered to himself as she stood there along with Sasori, Orochimaru, Kabuto and Guren.
"We have to separate them first!" Jiraiya spoke in a low tone to the elder toads on his shoulders making them nod.
"Leave it ta' us!" Fukasaku exclaimed as the toad duo went through a few hand seals.
"Senpou: Fuuton Kyokusui! (Sage Art: Wind Release Meandering Stream)"
"Senpou: Katon Gekiryuu! (Sage Art: Fire Release Raging Stream)"
Shima yelled followed by Fukasaku as both of them fired sage chakra enhanced intense streams of wind and fire from their mouth, the fire stream increasing in intensity due to the supportive nature of the wind as the attack sailed at mind boggling speeds towards the Akatsuki duo and others.
'Such ferocious attack...' Guren thought sub consciously, her eyes widened as the powerful attack neared them.
Deidara smirked as he jumped in time along with Sasori. Orochimaru's body sunk into the ground followed by Kabuto while Guren too leaped into the air, barely managing to avoid the high speed attack as she shielded her eyes from the glaring heat and illumination caused by the radiant fire.
'There!' Jiraiya thought as dashed towards his ex-teammate and Kabuto, sensing their chakra while in sage mode.
Naruto however cursed his own luck when he noticed that both Deidara and Sasori were still close in midair, now descending towards the ground.
'Shinra Tensei wouldn't be effective at such distance,' the blonde thought as he formed a half ram seal.
'All gravity seals...release!' he inwardly exclaimed, channeling chakra through the seals on his upper body and legs as he released the seals. The effects were immediate as his dashing form became more blurry, now bolting towards the descending Akatsuki duo.
"Oh look, he himself is coming to us," Deidara uttered with a smirk when he threw the clay spiders towards Naruto while Sasori opened his puppet mouth.
"Shikomi Kugutsu: Shinshin Happa (Prepared Puppet: Eight Waves of Needles)"
A rapid stream of countless senbon fired from its mouth as they sliced through the wind, nearing Naruto's approaching form at blazing speeds.
"Naruto! Activate your Rinnegan!" Ayumi spoke in alarm, knowing that he wouldn't be able to dodge such high velocity senbon with just his naked eyes. Not only dodging, fighting with an S-ranked nin demanded for the blonde to go all out.
'I need to close the distance a little more,' he thought, taking some of Ayumi's chakra as he jumped towards the approaching attacks making Deidara's eyes widen at the unexpected move.
'What is he...?'
Just as the spiders and the needles were nearing him, he pulled both of his palms out in mid air.
'Shinra Tensei!' he inwardly exclaimed, gritting his teeth as he controlled the technique, intending to aim it only at Deidara.
An invisible shockwave of mechanical force protruded out from Naruto's palms, repelling the clay spiders as well as the needles making Sasori's eyes widen.
Deidara's eyes widened even more when he felt the similar force as before, only in the opposite direction.
"Ungh!" he exclaimed as his body was pushed back by a strong force making him sail away from Sasori and Naruto in mid air.
"Separating us would do you nothing good boy," the Suna nin growled as he landed on the ground while Deidara skidded on the dirt several meters away from his partner, an annoyed expression on his face.
Sensing Hinata and Tayuya nearing Sasori from behind him, Naruto shunshined out towards Deidara using lightning natured chakra.
Sasori's eyes widened when he noticed the blonde literally burst into sparks of lightning, vanishing from his sight to appear in front of Deidara, leaving some visible static currents in mid air.
'That jutsu...he used lightning to increasing his speed, but...it almost seemed like a space-time technique. If it weren't for the slight traces of his chakra in mid air, I surely would've mistaken this as a space-time ninjutsu,' the puppet user thought in slight surprise. Just when he was about to follow the jinchuriki, Hinata and Tayuya landed in front of him- blocking his way.
"Move out of my way you pests, I don't want to waste my art on you two...and I don't like waiting," Sasori spoke, leaking high amounts of killer intent as he glared at the newly arrived duo.
Hinata visibly stiffened under the blood thirsty gaze of Sasori, her heart beating rapidly as she struggled to control herself.
"Hinata...don't waver. He's trying to intimidate us into just giving up like some dick loving sissies. Remember, we have to just keep defending ourselves to prevent these fuckers from getting Naruto and Tsunade," Tayuya muttered, putting a hand on the Hyuga's shoulder as she kept staring into Sasori's eyes, not intimidated by the crazy gleam in them. Living in the streets of Oto, alone all her life, being an orphan and having to fend for herself, and most importantly- after having worked for Orochimaru, she was used to this.
"Tayuya, a-aren't you scared? He's an S-ranked internationally wanted criminal, one of the Akatsuki. And we are...I'm just a recently promoted chunin, do we have a chance to even defend ourselves successfully against him? Blind bravery aside, this is beyond logic for us to face an experienced shinobi like him," Hinata spoke quietly, her voice shaky as she clenched her fist.
"So? What are you gonna do about this shit? Just stand here and fucking complain that how it's not fair, beyond logic for us to face this asshole?" Tayuya muttered with a frown, keeping an eye on Sasori the whole time as she took out her flute while Hinata's eyes widened.
"Are you going to keep bitching that how we are too fucking weak? So you're just going to run like a soar fucked up pussy and not help your friends, your comrades who are in danger?" the red head spoke with gritted teeth, bringing the flute to her mouth. Hinata however stood there, processing what her friend had said as she gulped nervously, lifting her eyes to stare into Sasori's deathly cold ones.
"Fine then, just keep standing there like a pansy, I'll do this myself! You need more than just a fucking dose of S-ranked killing intent to defeat me you cock sucking sand puppet!" Tayuya spoke loudly with a scowl.
"You've got guts talking to me like that puny girl, for that, you deserve a place in my human puppets collection," Sasori articulated roughly making Hinata's eyes widen while the red head smirked to herself.
"In your dreams motherfucker!" she exclaimed, flipping the birdie as the killing intent increased further, making Hinata stumble back a bit.
"An advice for you girl, don't annoy me. That's the last thing you want," the Suna's puppet master warned while Tayuya scowled.
'Well the fucker's right, I have to abandon my usual battle tactics and just concentrate on being defensive here. Kamasutra knows...eh...I mean Kami knows how strong this son of a puppet bitch is,' she thought in slight nervousness.
'I wonder if my genjutsu is going to work on him. I have to try, all we have to do is stall for time and hope that Jiraiya finds a way out of this shithole we have gotten ourselves into.'
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
KHDDDDHH!
"Should've known that I nor Kabuto would be any match for you in sage mode huh?" Orochimaru verbalized with a smirk, skidding on the ground backwards after just having dodged a wind enhanced fireball from Jiraiya, Kabuto standing beside him.
"The confident smirk on your face says something else though. I know you Orochimaru, even without your arms, you're the most troublesome one here. That's the reason I chose to fight you instead of any of those two Akatsuki members," Jiraiya spoke seriously with Fukasaku and Shima nodding with him.
"Besides, snakes are our natural predators, we toads can't miss a chance to get back on you now can we?" Shima spoke with a smirk making Kabuto frown, who shifted his gaze to notice Guren and Shizune facing off each other.
'We have to find some kind of an opening to retrieve Tsunade. She's sitting there alone, the only problem is that all of us are busy in our own battles. If somehow Orochimaru-sama can keep Jiraiya busy for a bit, I can do it,' Kabuto thought with a serious expression on his face.
'Even though I told the others to fight defensively...but to find an opening, I have to defeat these two first, and quickly at that!' Jiraiya thought as he crouched a bit, going through several hand seals.
"Senpou: Kebari Senbon! (Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon)" Jiraiya exclaimed as his hair turned into hardened spikes before shooting off thin hair needles rapidly towards the duo.
Orochimaru's eyes widened at the velocity of the wide range attack. Kabuto, having no time to dodge, leaped behind the snake sanin who just stood there with wide eyes.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"Ninpou: Dokugiri! (Ninja Art: Poison Mist)" Shizune exclaimed after going through several handseals as she exhaled a purple gas from her mouth, shooting it at Guren who frowned as the crystal user jumped back, but to no use as Shizune followed her before emitting more gas from her mouth.
'This smoke is not ordinary,' Guren thought while coughing a bit, having taken a whiff of it accidentally as she started to go through several hand signs at a fast pace.
'To use such a jutsu, one requires precise chakra control and detailed knowledge of chemistry and advanced abilities in medical ninjutsu. This kunoichi is strong...I can't risk underestimating her,' the crystal user thought as she slammed her hand on the ground.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"You know, now I'm getting pretty annoyed with that pulling and pushing technique of yours," Deidara spoke with an annoyed expression on his face which slowly turned into of a smirk.
"SASORI!" he yelled making Naruto raise his eyebrows while the Suna's missing nin glanced at Deidara from the distance.
"Are you crazy? What were you thinking firing those poisoned needles at this guy! We're not supposed to kill him remember?" the blonde Iwa nin yelled with a frown. Sasori didn't say anything as he returned his focus to the two kunoichi while Deidara turned to Naruto.
"Oh well...not that it matters. Sasori does have antidotes to his poisons, so we just could've poisoned you first, kidnapped you and then healed you, got it kid?" the ex- terrorist bomber spoke with a cold smile as the serious expression on Naruto's face remained stoic.
"Naruto...I'm telling you seriously now, use your Rinnegan! I don't know what's stopping you from using your full strength, but if you don't use it, you're gonna DIE!" Ayumi yelled from inside, her tone a mixture of anger, frustration and concern for him. Naruto however didn't respond as he kept staring at a smirking Deidara.
"You know, I'm pretty surprised you've got two sanin and some friends with you. Usually the jinchuriki are alone ne? I mean, aren't you guys supposed to be the stigma of the society? Having no family, no friends, everybody hating you right?" he spoke making Naruto clench his fists when he closed his eyes. Deidara would've continued if it weren't for the increase in chakra that he sensed from Naruto.
"Oh, got angry already? C'mon kid, I was only starting," he mocked with cool smile, waving his hand without any care when Naruto's hands began to glow blue before electric current started to cover his hands.
Deidara suddenly lost his smirk when he recognized the technique while lightning now covered Naruto's hands, sparks of electricity dancing wildly around the whiskered blonde's hands.
"Lightning...lightning is your weakness. That clay you're using consists of earth element. Earlier when I slammed a Chidori into your clay clone, you didn't make it explode...or rather, couldn't do it. The moment I hit your clay with lightning, they become useless...isn't it?" Naruto asked with a grim expression while Deidara's eyes widened in shock.
'Just from that one instance...' he thought in disbelief before narrowing his eyes.
"How did you know? Just from one accident you couldn't have-"
"I had my suspicions, but the way you just reacted gave it all. It means that whatever I just spoke was the truth, lightning is your weakness after all," this time Naruto found himself smirking slightly, a twelve year old genin like him having fooled an S-ranked nin sure was amusing to say the least.
"Teme..." Deidara growled as he took out his hands, revealing several clays in the form of dragonflies while Naruto dropped his smirk, a grave expression on his face.
"It doesn't matter if I'm scared or not, if I'm feeling fear right now or not, what matters is that I wouldn't let you hurt my precious people," the whiskered blonde uttered, his eyes growing icy cold when a smirk formed on Deidara's face.
"Fair deal then kid. Why not come with us and we leave your so called 'precious people' unharmed hmm?" he offered, secretly buying time as the mouths on his hands molded more clay. Naruto however smirked as he remembered Kushina's face, her smiling face.
"Let's rule the village together Naru-kun."
More faces started to flash through his mind- the fire queens, Hinata, Kin, Ino, Sakura, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Mei, Ayame, the rookie nine, his jiji...all of their smiling faces were deeply etched in his heart. He couldn't leave Ayumi too...he couldn't forget the slap he had received from her, that single slap held so much emotions- anger, concern, frustration, love, sadness...he couldn't make her fuss about his safety.
"This time Ayumi-chan...I promise you, just stay with me. I wouldn't leave you...so stop worrying about me so much, I'm not a kid anymore," Naruto spoke inwardly, that long lost determination creeping in his voice.
"Naruto..." Ayumi's soft voice trailed in concern.
"I can make my own decisions...Itachi-sensei taught me that," he spoke, shocking her greatly as her eyes widened while he adopted his lightning fist stance.
"Sorry, I refuse," Naruto answered making Deidara laugh coldly as he shrugged to himself.
"Just another shinobi with big words. Pathetic hypocrite, aren't you gaki? You say big and heroic words that you want to protect your 'precious people', but for their sake, their safety...you don't have the guts to put your life on the line, do ya hmm?" the blonde Iwa shinobi verbalized while the whiskered blonde shook his head, that old stubborn look of determination briefly crossing his eyes.
"You're wrong. If I die, my precious people will get hurt because I'm precious to them too. So to make sure they don't get emotionally hurt, I'll fight you bastards for them," this made Deidara's eyes widen as he stared at Naruto in surprise.
"I do not live only for myself or my dreams, I also live for my precious people! That's why I'll NEVER give up, remember that you asshole!"
Well, lol it was amusing how many people agreed with me being a 'cliffhanger whore' in the last chapter. :)
Anyway, there's something I want to address here. I see that a few of you have qualms with the current pacing of the fic- being that I've started updating after a 45 days break and that we're still in the Tsunade Retrieval Arc. Now I'm going to make this clear, I'm sorry but this is my writing style. That, and I like putting details in everything to completely nullify the possibility of a plothole because its you same readers who complain later down the road about the plot being weak. I know that I sometimes tend go into 'over-detail' mode...well, I will try to reduce it if it irritates you but my over all writing style isn't going to change. It took me a year to develop my own style, and I tend to go with it, of course improving it with your constructive criticism, but I wouldn't rush the fic just because you're waiting for an exciting event like 'when Naruto's going to return to Konoha' and all.
This arc is very important for the overall plot and I'm not just dragging these fights to make it look kickass. This is where Naruto, Hinata and Tayuya's character develop further, other interesting developments take place and something major happens, a major divergence from canon which you'll see in ch 44.
SO, I would appreciate if you stop saying 'Get over with the damn arc already!'. I'll just tell you that Naruto and others will return to Konoha in either ch 44 or 45 (most probably 44 though).
Anyway, the next update should be around 6th June. So see you guys next time! :D
And review too, my updates should improve drastically now considering its holidays time! XD
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