A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
Let's start as usual with some feedback on the reviews for the last chapter. It's nice to see that a lot of readers are happy with the return of Zabuza, a special mention to Melkor44 for remembering my little joke on him the first time he met Naruto. This is the first time I really deviate from the canon storyline, I hope this will meet your expectations.
Now for the reviews asking me to spare Jiraya, I believe I already stated my position on the subject. There's also a request for Fuu the Nanabi jinchuriki container, I'm afraid to say she also needs to die but not for the same reasons. Akatsuki needs to achieve some victories too for the plot to advance, it gets repetitive if they keep losing to the 'good side'. Hope you get my point.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 28: Rebellion
Southern Island – Rebel Base
The tension was at its peak when Naruto saw Zabuza making his way out of the building. The ex Kiri shinobi just walked calmly towards the blond and stopped when he saw Naruto putting a hand on his katana.
"Relax, there's no need to blast your KI (Killing Intent) all over the area like that, it will only serve to alert Yagura and his forces that our base is here." Started Zabuza.
"So we finally meet again Momochi Zabuza. Don't think for a second that I forgot the wonderful present you gave me three years ago, after I went through the trouble of sparing your life on that bridge." Replied Naruto still in a defensive stance.
"You didn't complain at the time, I believe I said something like : Your generosity and your skill shall reach your enemies, even before you have had the chance to meet them on the battlefield young man. And that's exactly what I did. You on the other hand, still letting me leave after I said that, kinda gave me the authorization to proceed." Zabuza said with a mocking tone.
Naruto's eyes widened as he was replaying the scene in his mind. He relaxed his stance and moved his hand away from his katana before speaking again.
"Alright, I will concede with you on this. However, you guys can keep on dreaming if you think for a second that I will let you seal off my chakra. Speaking of that, I sure hope you aren't the mysterious rebel leader Zabuza, or this war won't be a long one." Naruto said in his own mocking tone.
Zabuza chuckled at the jab, but let it slide. The tension was finally going down and that was a good achievement. The last thing they needed was to fight someone of Naruto's rank right now, if the hit list in his bingo book profile was a good indication.
"I see you're still cocky as ever, but don't worry, I may be of high ranking in the rebellion but I'm not the leader. Come with me, I'll introduce you to the real leader and you don't need to put the chakra restriction cuffs on either." Replied Zabuza.
"I cannot allow this Zabuza, we don't know anything about him, you can't be serious about him meeting the leader with no restriction !" Yelled Ao.
"I will vouch for him, don't worry. We're the ones asking for a favor after all, unless you want their meeting to happen here in the open, I could always bring the leader here instead ?" Zabuza baited knowing in advance how to push his comrade's buttons.
"That would be even worse ! Alright fine, he can go inside without the cuffs but I still want the katana gone." Ao put his foot down this time, Zabuza knew it and turned his head to Naruto who sighed.
Naruto took out and tossed his katana to Haku then finally followed Zabuza inside the building.
Main Island
Two shadows were slowly walking through the thick mist, on the main island of Water Country. They both wore black robes with red clouds, signaling their allegiance to Akatsuki.
The first one had medium length silver hair and purple eyes, his robe was slightly opened around his neck, revealing a forehead protector he wore as a choker with the slashed emblem from Yugakure on it. He was carrying a triple bladed scythe on his back.
The second was tall, dark skinned and had a muscular build. He wore a white hood with a black face mask, only his eyes were visible on his face. Those eyes had a strange coloring, green iris with no pupils and red sclera. He wore a forehead protector with the scratched emblem of Takigakure.
"Who are we going after first ?" Asked the first one.
"If you used your head for a moment Hidan, you would realize that one of the target will be way easier to get that the other one." Replied the second.
"Which one is it ? Wait ! Did you just call me an idiot, Kakuzu ?" Hidan yelled at his partner.
"You think ? Anyway the easier target would be the Rokubi, since he is isolated while the other one is the Mizukage and has a personal army at his disposal to protect himself." Replied Kakuzu, ignoring his associate's rants.
"I'll kill you one day, you hear me ? Where are we going to find him ?" Hidan said.
"You wish you could, Zetsu spotted him on one of the Eastern island of Water Country." Kakuzu reminded him.
"I'm sure I'll find a way, Jashin-sama will have your head." Said Hidan.
"We lost enough time on this island, let's go." Finished Kakuzu as they disappeared in the mist.
Rebel Base – Meeting Room
Naruto was led to a room that looked like the one they had in Konoha for the council meetings. Haku and Chojuro were still with him while Zabuza and Ao were following just behind them. In the center of the room stood a woman who immediately caught Naruto's attention.
She was a slender woman, apparently in her thirties. She had ankle-length, auburn hair. Her eyes were light green. She was dressed in a long-sleeved dark blue dress that fell just below the knees. Underneath, she wore a mesh shirt that covered more of her upper body than her dress, but stopped short of covering her shoulders and still leaves a sizable cleavage. She also wore shorts in the same color as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Finally, she had high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees.
"Mei-sama, we brought back reinforcement from Konoha as discussed." Said Haku as he bowed to the woman.
"I trust that there was no trouble during your mission to bring him back here ?" Replied Mei while looking at Naruto.
"Well, we encountered no problem in Konoha nor on the road to get here but ..." Started Haku but he was hesitant to relate the heated conversation they had at the gates earlier.
"Cyclops here, wanted to force me to wear those lovely handcuffs of yours, though I politely declined. I was about to force my way back to Konoha when Zabuza arrived and kindly invited me in, on the condition that I surrender my katana, which I did." Naruto cut in as he looked back at Ao.
Receiving a nod from Zabuza, Mei sighed heavily and turned back to Naruto.
"I'm sorry for his behavior but he was only thinking about my safety. In the past three years, Yagura sent countless assassins to kill me. He managed several times to come close to achieve that objective, planting his agents in my army. The only ones I fully trust with my life are in this room. My name is Terumi Mei and I am the leader of the rebellion." She replied with a smile.
"I understand, I'm also sorry for overreacting like that but I had no reason to trust any of you guys. For all I know this could be a very elaborate plan from Kiri or Akatsuki to take me down. Let's work on that trust thing then, my name is Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto. I am also the one named Kaze no Kami in the bingo book, courtesy of our common friend Zabuza here. I'm here on a mission to assist the rebel forces to take down Yagura the Mizukage." Naruto announced.
Everyone in the room was stunned by the 'Namikaze' name, Mei was the first to regain her composure.
"Namikaze as in Namikaze Minato ?" She asked.
"Yes, the Fourth is my Father. Not many people outside Konoha's high council are aware of that but I'll trust you with that information on me." Naruto replied.
The people in the room were surprised he would openly trust them with such a sensitive information. Now that they were told, they could all see the face of the famous Yondaime Hokage while looking at Naruto.
"Haku, give him his katana back." Mei ordered and Haku was about to hand over the katana back when Ao protested.
"Is it really prudent Mei-sama ?" Asked the man.
"Yes it is, he trusted us with his real name and lineage, the least we could do is to trust him back." Replied the red head as Naruto got his weapon back.
"Now that it's settled, why don't you tell me how we're gonna take down Yagura." Naruto said with a smile.
Mei gave him the statu quo between the loyalists and her rebel army. In the last three years, Yagura lost control over most of the islands around Kirigakure. Only the main island remains fully under his control. The final assault has been planned for weeks now but they needed a trump card in order to win the final battle. They needed someone powerful enough to match the power of a jinchuriki fully in control of his tailed beast.
"So that's where you come in Uzumaki-san." Finished Mei.
"I see, I do have a way to deal with a jinchuriki but I'll need your assistance." Replied Naruto.
"It will take a couple of days to gather the troops and equipment needed for the final battle. You can stay and rest in this base while the preparations are in progress." Mei said. She was about to leave the room when Naruto interrupted her.
"Just one last thing, I thought Kiri also had the Rokubi jinchuriki, what about him ?" Naruto asked.
"Utakata escaped years ago, all we know is that he's hiding somewhere in one of the islands surrounding Kirigakure. We tried to find him and make him join our cause but we never encountered him." Mei replied and then left the conference room.
Kirigakure
It had been two days since Naruto joined the rebels, today was the day of the final battle. The rebel forces had been divided in four equal groups and would attack the main island from four different angles.
While the troops under Yagura set out to defend their borders, a smaller task force was supposed to infiltrate the village and go directly for Yagura himself. The plan was simple, take out the head and the rest would follow shortly after.
Naruto was in the advanced group that was infiltrating Kirigakure of course. Ao, Zabuza, Haku and Mei were also with him while Chojuro was leading the main army's attack. They were currently observing the battalions of loyalists Kiri nins getting out of the village to join the front lines.
"How is it going so far ?" Asked Mei to Ao who surprisingly had a Byakugan under his eye patch. Naruto decided to let it slide for now.
"Very good Mei-sama, Yagura is sending out most of his troops to defend the island, I estimate that only one tenth of his army is still within the village." Ao reported.
"Alright start the operation then." Mei ordered as their squad came closer to Naruto who activated his Maboroshi no Sekai genjutsu field, hiding everyone's presence.
They were nearly at the Mizukage tower when a voice stopped them.
"Suiton : Suiryudan no jutsu !" A gigantic water dragon made its way towards Naruto and his group. The size of the water beast had to be at least twice the size of the one Zabuza used against Naruto in Wave country.
The technique crashed right into Naruto's wind dome, washing away those who weren't fast enough to evade it. From the group of fifteen elite shinobi, only five remained, Naruto, Mei, Zabuza, Ao and Haku. The others had their neck broken by the power of the water current. Naruto's genjutsu was affected by the surge of water charged chakra and dispelled.
"How did you notice our presence ? No one should be able to see past my genjutsu." Asked Naruto, looking at the roof of a building, where the water dragon was launched from.
"Yagura ..." Zabuza said taking notice of where Naruto was looking.
"No matter how powerful your genjutsu is and how it affects my human senses, there's one thing you can't hide from me." Yagura answered.
"My youki ..." Naruto said with widened eyes.
"Exactly, what are you doing in my country … Kyuubi ?" Yagura replied.
The others were surprised at Yagura's revelation, none of them knew Naruto was a jinchuriki, much less the one for the most powerful demon, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. They had to keep their questions for later though, since they just lost the element of surprise.
"I came to kick some turtle's ass of course !" Naruto yelled as he took out his katana.
At this moment, a squad of Kiri ANBU arrived on the scene and directly attacked Mei and her guard while Yagura went for Naruto.
With Naruto and Yagura
Yagura was wielding what resembles a large, hook-ended staff with one end being larger than the other.
They were engaged in a high level kenjutsu fight, Naruto tried to use his genjutsu to confuse Yagura but it failed again, thanks to the slight youki present in each of Naruto's thrusts, Yagura could predict and counter them.
When close contact fighting seemed useless, Naruto tried to put some distance between them and pointed his blade towards his opponent.
"Futon : Kaze Shinsou !" Naruto said as his wind blade extended itself instantly to attack Yagura.
"Suiton : Mizukagami no jutsu !" Yagura said as a strange circle made of water appeared in front of him.
Naruto's jutsu was blocked halfway from its target, strangely enough by the exact same jutsu Naruto launched. The blond theorized that whatever Yagura did with his mirror jutsu reflected his jutsu or copied it.
Naruto tried another approach, he kept launching single kunai that were aimed at his opponent's vital organs but Yagura easily evaded them all. Naruto then purposely missed with the next one and did some hand signs while Yagura simply let the badly thrown kunai pass him by.
"Futon : Tsubame Gaeshi !" He yelled as the kunai suddenly divided itself into fifteen copies and changed trajectory towards Yagura's unprotected back.
"Suiton : Suinjinheki !" Yagura said as a enormous water column rose from the ground and protected him from the kunai.
Naruto cursed as another of his signature move was blocked by the Mizukage.
"He won't block what he can't see." Naruto then thought as he launched his next jutsu.
"Futon : Furyudan no jutsu !" Naruto called his wind dragon.
The wind beast was aimed at the base of the water column and effectively hit its target, completely annihilating the spot where Naruto aimed. Unfortunately for the blond, no one was blasted out of the water protection.
"Did you really thought that I had to stay at the base of the wall to fuel it with my water chakra, like a sitting duck ?" Yagura said as he appeared on top of the column, his arms extended with chakra feeding the water jutsu while keeping him floating above the ground.
"Suiton : Suishoha !" Yagura then yelled from his higher position as a giant wave of water was formed and made its way towards Naruto.
"Senpo : Ryu no Hada !" Naruto said as his dragon wings shielded him from the water attack.
Naruto was getting tired in this fight, something that hadn't happen in a long time. He prepared for his next move.
Yagura was slightly surprised at the sight of the Dragon wings and their defensive power, his moment of hesitation cost him as he missed Naruto launching his next move.
"Futon : Kamishini no Yari !" Naruto launched his Divine Spear technique from a small hole in his guard between his wings.
The Mizukage used his experience to dodge at the last moment but took a hit nevertheless. He was quickly falling to the ground with his shoulder bleeding profusely. When he touched the ground, he was about to look up and put his guard on when he saw that Naruto's next move was already approaching him.
"Futon : Rasenshuriken !" Was all Yagura heard before all went blank.
The wind powered chakra shuriken tore through Yagura, cutting him all over his body in so many places that even a Sharingan wouldn't be able to tell how many hits it generated. When the jutsu died down, Yagura's body was on the floor, unmoving.
Naruto was about to reach out for him when he suddenly jumped back, after feeling a huge spike of youki. Yagura slowly got up and was covered with the Sanbi's chakra. He was in a hybrid form, a chakra shroud covering him while three tails of chakra were floating behind his back.
"What did you do to me, I can't regenerate as I usually do when I activate my youki ?" Roared the transformed Yagura.
"You really expect me to answer you ? Anyway let's kick it up a notch, shall we ?" Naruto said as he activated one of his ultimate form.
"He's finally drawing out youki, no point in battling a jinchuriki in a stamina contest, I'll have to use the other form." He mused as he called his jutsu.
"Futon : Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami !" Naruto said as a the wind violently picked up.
Yagura charged at him and engaged the blond in a taijutsu fight.
"Be careful Naruto, in this form everything he hits is instantly trapped into coral prisons structures from the initial point of contact with his Sangosho !" Yelled Mei as she and the other three just finished with their opponents. Naruto nodded to her and gave them a sign with his hand lifting three fingers. They understood what he wanted and moved from their position.
"It doesn't matter if they help you, no one ever came out of this alive !" Yagura roared as Naruto continued to evade his every hit with his eyes closed, the ground and walls around them turning into coral structures as Yagura kept missing. Naruto counted to three and suddenly leaped back and yelled "Now !".
As he did so, Mei, Ao, Zabuza and Haku appeared out of nowhere and positioned themselves around the transformed Yagura in a perfect square formation, with Yagura being the center. Naruto then called his jutsu as each of the four rebels suddenly took out a special looking kunai and planted it strongly into the ground.
"Uzumaki Hijutsu : Akuma Sokubaku Wana !" Naruto yelled.
Four dark chains appeared from the ground and instantly attached themselves around Yagura's body. The draining effect did its magic pretty quickly as Yagura could not move anymore. Naruto then launched himself in front of the Mizukage and prepared his final move, his right hand ready for an open palm thrust with his fingers radiating a purplish looking chakra.
"Gogyo Fuin !" He yelled as he slammed his right hand in Yagura stomach.
The result was immediate, the chakra shroud around Yagura's body dispelled before he fell to the ground unconscious.
Naruto deactivated all his techniques and laid down on the ground exhausted, "I guess the was is over ..." he said as he slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep in the middle of the street.
A/N : What do you think about the rebellion's battle plan ?
Did Naruto's fight with Yagura seem realistic enough ? Tried to make Naruto fight harder than usual by having most of his arsenal countered, including his supposedly indestructible genjutsu.
Tomorrow is the 31st so I doubt I will release a new chapter before next year. I wish you all a happy new year in advance.
As usual please Read and Review.