A/N: I said that I won't abandon my stories, and I keep my word. Work and life's s**t can't stop me from writing, can't extinguish the fire of inspiration in me. There will be some time until the next update, but for now, enjoy...

PS: For those who are waiting for the next update, I apologize, and thank you for your divine patience...

Raphael tightened his hold on Tenten's waist as the Daimyo's castle came into view. Mikey must have been excited as well, because he abruptly sped up toward where his brothers were. The sooner they got Raph and Tenten to recover, the sooner they could start searching for those shadow creeps.

- Wake up Tenten! - Raph lightly shook the kunoichi - We're almost there!

Tenten gave her eyes a good rub before taking in the sight of the castle, along with the arena and the people who were fighting in it. She didn't have a chance to tell her turtles companions how happy she was to be back when Mikey's roar drowned her word, and a gush of wind blew behind her empty back. Tenten looked over her shoulder to see Raph had abandoned his seat and was diving toward the ground below.

- Raphael-san! - She cried, but her voice couldn't rise above the deafening roar.

Another roar from afar tore her eyes from Raph for a moment, and Tenten's breathe hitched at the sight of a blue dragon floating above the arena ring, as well as another purple one rising from a castle's building. But now wasn't the time to be shocked, her friend was falling. She looked down again and to her relief, the emerald turtle had started changing. His body grew toward every direction, legs melted into two scaly dragon tails. A pair of wings protruded from his back and halted his fall. The short turtle neck sprouted his head away from the shell, and the shape of his skull changed into a sharper form of a dragon.

The red dragon looked up to the kunoichi above, his golden orbs reassured her a little. Suddenly a set of explosion and a painful cry drew their attention away from each other. Raph darted his head over to see the dust subsided, revealing the shadow clan troop surrounding the Daimyo, his sensei and the other. In the clan leader's grip was a helpless Ue, a blade over his throat.

- Stop whatever you are doing, kame! Or this boy will die!

All four dragons loomed over the castle, making the shadow assassins quivered in fear. The clan leader though had no trouble holding his ground. As long as he had the Battle Nexus ruler's son, he could ask for anything. Tightening his hold on Ue, the assassin pressed the blade deeper:

- Revert back to your kame form immediately, or his blood will spill! - He demanded.

Too distracted by four gigantic reptiles, he didn't notice that in the ring, Neji had regained consciousness. He pressed on a button on his neck, activating his radio.

- Lee! If you can hear me, do whatever it takes to make Donatello carry out the plan!

His Byakugan could see clearly a boy in green dangling on the purple dragon's tail, completely ignored by it and the assassin he's staring at. Lee focused chakra to his hand and leg, gluing himself to the scaly skin. Maneuvering on a flying dragon wasn't an easy task, not to mention avoid being seen by the shadow monsters, but Gai's proud disciple made his way to Don's head in record time. While the four turtles in dragon form still hesitated to comply with the demand, Lee lightly punched his friend by the head, calling:

- Donatello-kun! Do you remember our secret plan? DO IT NOW!

Don still had no idea how he turned into dragon against his will, but if the mystic force didn't fail him while he fought Lee, it sure couldn't fail him now. Concentrated with all his might, the purple dragon summoned hoses of water from thin air, blasting right into the shadow assassins' faces. None of them was fast enough so they took the attack full force, even the clan leader didn't see it in time to react, he only had enough to put his hands over his face to block the water jet that threatened to drown him, releasing Ue.

- NOW DONATELLO-KUN! - Lee yelled.

Don immediately dove down over the assassins, his brothers swiftly followed as if on cue. Leo spread his jaws wide and engulfed Ue, carefully rolled him over to avoid the razor sharp teeth, then slammed his head hard against the panic shadows. Raph was so large he couldn't join in, so he let his tails did the whooping. Master Splinter and Usagi quickly jumped over to cover for the Daimyo, bringing him out of the destruction's way. The assassins weren't so lucky. Some of them vanished into smoke and fled, the rest was either being squashed or torn into pieces. The assassin leader furiously avoiding the onslaught, his eyes shot to the Battle Nexus ruler. With a cry from wrath, he turned into smoke and shrouded over him. The Daimyo and his guardians were blown hard with a lungful of smoke, and he felt something snapped at his hand, where he was holding his War Staff.

With all his might, the dark being yanked hard on the staff. It came loose with an angry roar from the Lord.

- Return what you have stolen, vile one! - The Daimyo bellowed.

- And waste all my effort? Never! - The assassin shot back. to his brethren, he yelled - I have seized our prize. Retreat!

His minions couldn't be happier to obey, as long as they could get away from the vicious dragons threatening to crush them. Raph pushed his brothers aside for easier maneuvering, launching his head over the shadow assassins, teeth baring. But he clamped his jaws on nothing but air. The red dragon let out a roar in frustrate, deafening the people around him. Mikey was about to get close to calm him down when suddenly Raph went limp, his wings stopped flapping and he plummeted to the ground, his body shrinking back to turtle size. Leo and the others dove down to save him but a wave of dizziness and exhaustion flooded over them, and each followed Raph's step in reverting back to their original form. Neji saw all that happened with his eyes, calling immediately to his teammates.

- Tenten, get Michelangelo! Lee, take care of Donatello! Gai-sensei, save Leonardo and Ue-sama!

Closest to the falling Raphael, Neji made a beeline to where he would land and propelled himself up to catch the oversize turtle. With all his might, Neji unleashed his chakra and attached himself firmly to the emerald turtle's shell. They both touched the ground gently as a feather. Without bothering to look up, Neji could see that all of his friends were safe. Mikey was clinging to Tenten, who was standing completely horizontally on the castle's wall, her foot gluing to it with chakra. Lee had a good grip on Donatello's belt, his other hand dug deeply into the brick wall. Leo and Ue rested safely in each of Gai's arms, while the Taijutsu master caught a branch and used it as step to meet the ground unharmed.

Up high above, both the Daimyo and Splinter had regain composure after the sneak attack. The Battle Nexus ruler grunted:

- Unbelievable! How could they manage to slip through my reinforced barrier? Quick, Splinter-san! We must retrieve the War Staff before it could cause damage.

- I agree, my friend. - Master Splinter frowned deeply, for this wasn't the first time one of the most powerful weapons in the multiverse was stolen - Let us discuss this matter thoroughly with my students and our allies.

:::

- Would it kill ya if ya got a better hold on that walking stick? - Raph fumed the moment he saw the Daimyo.

- Raphael! Manner! - Splinter snapped - Could you have expected that their goal in the first place was to steal the War Staff?

The hothead was silenced after that. It was likely, but even if they knew it in advance, the shadow clan leader could still ask for it in exchange for Ue's life. They had all gathered after the commotion and the tournament suspended. Neji squinted his eyes:

- I see a group of dark ki moving away from us. They're heading South-West from here, toward Tenten's coordinate at where she was captured. Whatever the plan would be, we should plan it quickly because they'll be out of my range soon.

- The first thing would be retrieving the staff before they figure out how to use it - Leo said - We'll need Neji's eyes to track them. Don and I will go, since we have first-hand experience with these assassins, and...

- Wait just a moment! - Ue halted him - I must join the retrieving team.

- No can do, kid! - Raph cut him off - Those guys are way above your level. Yer gonna get yourself killed.

- I won't deny that they took me by surprise - The red hair boy glared at him - But I haven't been training restlessly under my father's guidance for nothing. It was me they wanted to take advantage of at the first place, so I will show them that they took much more than they bargained for.

Raph had prepared a good comeback when both Leo and Lee held up their hands to stop him. Lee looked at Ue straight in the eye:

- There will be booby traps, bloodshed and merciless enemy. They would use your father's staff against us if they have the chance. Do you think you are ready for that, Ue-sama?

- I am - Ue stared back at him defiantly.

Turned back to the blue clad turtle and his teammates, Lee held up his fist:

- I believe he is indeed ready. This is the chance we've been waiting for, to eradicate these filth from this honorable place. I suggest we all go and, as Raphael-kun would say, 'kick their asses' once and for all. What do you think, Gai-sensei?

Gai didn't reply, but simply glanced at his genius student, waiting.

- Gai-sensei and Hokage-sama entrusted me with this mission - Neji said - I won't make a decision that would fail them. We all go.

:::

Having rested up and his hunger sated, Raph was more than eager to run after his brothers, one hand griping his sai. The Konoha team chose to leap from branch to branch, while the turtle followed suit on ground. Don had modified their shell cell as well to connect with the ninja's radio. He's still deep in thought while following Neji's direction.

- Something on your mind? - Leo slowed down to his pace, allowing Mikey and Raph to pass up.

- Yeah, I'm still thinking about what happened back then - Don mused - Their timing of an ambush was one thing, but we turning into dragons at the same time is way too much for a coincidence.

- I've been thinking about that as well - Leo leaped over a rock - When that happened, I felt like I was hit by a dose of adrenaline. I couldn't even control my ki and almost killed Neji.

- I felt that too, and the next thing I know, I was drilling through the infirmary's roof.

- It was around the time Mikey came back with Raph and Tenten. What do you think of it?

- Well, I have a theory, and it's about your mystic power - Don wasn't too sure of what he's about to say next - It was... you who caused all of us to transform.

- Come again? - Leo widened his eyes.

- Your mystic force is probably the spirit type, which would amplify ours and connect us to each other. That's why Raph was able to transform even when he was hungry. It also explains why when he's exhausted, we felt it too.

Leo couldn't quite believe what he just heard right away, but Don made a very good assumption. Each of them had their own unique personality, and as Kon Shisho once said, the mystic power gave them the ability that fits them most. A free spirit like Mikey would go as fast as the wind allows him, while Raph, the guardian of the team, would take all the damage and therefore possessed the most resilient power of all. Leo didn't have to ponder about Don's ability. His creative mind could only work at its full potential if he's allowed to control the environment around him. As for Leo himself...

- Everyone! - Neji called up from above - We're almost there...