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.
It seems most of the readers were satisfied with the way the siege went last chapter. Don't forget to activate your private message function in your profiles if you ask a question in a review.
Now to answer someone who asked about the long range kenjutsu attack and why it didn't kill both Onoki and Kurotsuchi, well let's just say that Naruto has enough control to retract it once it reaches its target. That, and I have plans for Kuro-chan so she cannot die just yet :)
I'm glad you all enjoyed the Dragon King's participation, this won't be the last of him you see. Someone wondered about Amaterasu when I used black flames for him, but no, those aren't the famous flames that burn for seven days and seven nights. Those are just more powerful type of flames than the classic ones.
Finally, I will concede that true Samurai would not run away from a battle like that, and all the stuff about their code of honor and all. I'll ask those offended by how I portrayed those Samurai to get past that, this is an alternate universe after all and not feudal Japan and they were greatly outmatched in both numbers and skills.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 37: The Immortal Brothers
With Naruto
Naruto watched as Onoki was living his last moments, held by his granddaughter.
Onoki raised a hand trying to reach Kurotsuchi's face, the kunoichi lowered her head in order to help him. The Sandaime Tsuchikage slowly caressed her cheek as he used to do in her childhood.
"Kuro-chan, you need to lead our people now, be ..." He had to stop in the middle of his sentence as he started to cough out blood, "Be careful of the masked one ..." said the old man.
"What are you talking about, Jiji ?" Asked a confused Kurotsuchi, trying to repress her tears and completely ignoring the fact that he just named her his successor, as the Yondaime Tsuchikage.
"It all started with him, … , the Sharingan ..." Said Onoki with his last breath, as his hand slowly fell to the ground, he closed his eyes to never open them again.
Naruto slowly made his way towards them, trying to understand what was going on. They had gone quite far away from the fortress during the fight, and with Naruto taking down most of Onoki's personal guards, the only ones left were Naruto and Kurotsuchi.
"I'm sorry for your loss but he left me no choice ..." Naruto said once he was near enough for Kurotsuchi to hear him.
"It wasn't Jiji, he would have never acted like this. This battle … this war, it doesn't benefit Iwagakure in any way, I just don't understand." Replied Kurotsuchi.
"Did he say something to you ?" Asked Naruto.
"He told me to be careful of someone wearing a mask, and it also has to do with a Sharingan wielder. I'm not sure what he meant by that." Kurotsuchi said, still holding the body of her grandfather in her arms.
Naruto began to form theories in his mind about this strange turn of events, though he needed to confirm something else with Kurotsuchi first.
"Did he always want to have his revenge against Konoha and its allies or did something change recently ?" Asked the blond.
"Jiji never liked the Leaf or its allies, that much is true, but he wasn't someone who held grudges either. Everything changed just after he received the summon for the Kage Meeting. I couldn't recognize him anymore and he didn't listen to anyone, he was determined to destroy the Leaf from that moment." Replied the brunette.
This reminded Naruto of Yagura and the way he abruptly changed from a peaceful leader to a tyrant. The two situations were so similar that it couldn't be a coincidence.
"I believe you ..." Naruto started and watched the Iwa kunoichi in front of him whose name he still didn't know.
"Kurotsuchi, jonin of Iwagakure. The Tsuchikage was my grandfather. Well I guess I'm no jonin anymore since he named me his successor." She replied.
"I am Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, jonin of Konoha. What happened to your grandfather strongly reminds me of the events that took place in Kirigakure. Yagura's behavior also changed overnight and I think that both of them were being controlled by someone else." Said Naruto.
"How could that be ? We're talking about two Kage level shinobi here, one being a jinchuriki and the other one, my grandfather, was a very experienced fighter." Kurotsuchi countered, not believing Naruto's assumptions.
"I don't know who, but it most likely has to do with the Sharingan. Those eyes hold great powers and I wouldn't be surprised if one of those powers was about mind control or something close to that." Replied Naruto.
"I don't know what to think anymore ..." Said a confused Kurotsuchi.
"It's not that hard, really. Do you want everyone to remember your grandfather for his actions during that meeting and as the one who doomed Iwagakure or will you come back with me and help to clear his name and honor ?" Asked the Namikaze as he held out his hand to her.
Kurotsuchi hesitated for a moment, but then she remembered her time with her grandfather during her childhood, the one who was nice and gentle with her, just like he was during his last moments. She decided to accept Naruto's help and took his hand.
"I really hope you're right, Naruto-san. Jiji made me his successor but I don't know how to lead. I'm not sure the men will follow me or if they will believe in your story." Kurotsuchi said, as she stood back up with Naruto's help.
"Our first priority is to stop this meaningless battle, enough blood has been spilled already, don't you think, Tsuchikage-dono ?" Asked Naruto with a smirk, trying to ease the atmosphere.
"R-Right, let me take my grandfather's body first." Replied Kurotsuchi, slightly blushing as she quickly let go of Naruto's hand that she was still holding.
The Iwa kunoichi made her way to Onoki's body but before she could lift it up, she was pushed to the ground by Naruto.
"W-What do you think you're doing ? Get off me, you pervert !" Yelled the brunette, before noticing that Naruto wasn't looking at her.
"Well well, what do we have here ? Must be our lucky day, Hidan. The Sandaime Tsuchikage's dead body, his granddaughter and the Kaze no Kami, quite a collection of high bounties." Said a man Naruto didn't recognize, though he knew he was from Akatsuki, with the clothes he was wearing.
"You can have the girl and the old man's body, Kakuzu. However the blond is mine, so don't get in my way." Said a second person, again wearing the Akatsuki gears.
"Damn, I didn't expect to run into Akatsuki members. She obviously won't abandon her grandfather's body but I need her cooperation to end this war … There's no other choice, I'll have to deal with those two. I hope my training will be enough, never tested the new technique in a real fight yet." Analyzed Naruto as he stood back up and prepared his next move.
"Keep your guard up and protect your grandfather's body, I'll take care of them." Announced the blond jonin as Kurotsuchi thankfully nodded back.
"Aren't we cocky, I will be your opponent. I'll send your soul to Jashin-sama, the only true God." Said the man identified as Hidan.
"Jashin ? Where did I heard about it already ?" Thought Naruto as he formed a Reinforced Kage Bunshin loaded with half of his remaining chakra and then placed it in front of Kakuzu. Not taking any risk, in the event the second Akatsuki member changes his mind and decides to participate in the fight.
Naruto versus Hidan
Naruto focused his attention on Hidan and then released one of his ultimate bloodline form with his real body.
"Futon : Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami !" Yelled the blond as the first coma of his bloodline tattoo disappeared, the circle around them had already been activated when he opened the Muga no Kyouchi.
The silver haired Akatsuki member charged at him like a mad man, extending his strange weapon towards the blond, a triple bladed scythe. Naruto decided to use kenjutsu too and unsheathed his own katana as they clashed.
With his perfected body enhancement mode activated, Naruto had no trouble evading every thrust of Hidan's weapon. Moving twice as fast as his original speed while his opponent was twice as slow as his usual speed made the fight quite easier for the blond.
After a few minutes into the fight, Naruto came to the conclusion that either his opponent was really weak or he was hiding something else behind his random attacks. The fact that the Akatsuki member did not use anything else than his weapon was also really strange, so Naruto decided to test a little bit more of his opponent's abilities.
Taking a step back, Naruto unsealed a kunai and launched it towards Hidan then went through hand signs as he called his move.
"Futon : Tsubame Gaeshi !" Yelled the leaf jonin. The kunai missed Hidan by a large margin, then abruptly change its course before multiplying itself into ten more kunai, all aimed at the back of the unsuspecting Akatsuki member.
Naruto didn't try to avoid hitting vital organs as the kunai hit several of them. Hidan never expected the attack to hit him and was currently on the ground, cursing Naruto but other than that he didn't seem like he was going to die any time soon.
The Akatsuki member slowly stood up and took out every kunai embedded in his back. He then resumed his attacks on Naruto, still only using his scythe.
"It seems he has a very high tolerance to pain, though his surrounding awareness is quite lacking. Still no signs of ninjutsu or genjutsu usage, only light taijutsu and most of his attacks are based on his weapon." Thought Naruto as he tried to think of a new approach.
"Are you really an Akatsuki member ? Is there really such a lack of decent missing nin that they would feel the need to take in some idiot who can't even use any ninja arts ?" Taunted the blond, trying to gauge his opponent's reaction.
He wasn't disappointed as Hidan totally lost control of his emotions and blindly charged in, leaving his stance full of openings that Naruto immediately saw. The blond powered up a simple Futon Rasengan and slammed it into his charging opponent's ribcage. The wind powered chakra orb tore through Hidan's body, leaving a gaping hole in its path.
Seeing no point in wasting time any longer, Naruto channeled wind chakra through his blade and with a single swift movement he cut off Hidan's head.
With Kakuzu
The clone Naruto left in front of the second Akatsuki member watched the fight between the original Naruto and Hidan. Seeing no reaction from the missing nin when Hidan lost his head, Naruto's clone decided to win some time and started to power up.
"Futon : Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami !" Yelled the clone as he activated the ultimate wind control form of his bloodline and the second comma of his tattoo disappeared.
Noticing Naruto's clone powering up, Kakuzu, still not fazed by his partner's apparent death turned his head back to face the clone.
"I'm not sure it was wise to let your friend face me alone like you did. Do not to worry though, you will meet him soon enough." Said a smirking Naruto trying to get a reaction out of his new enemy.
Kakuzu remained strangely calm, not showing any sign of irritation from either losing his associate or from Naruto's taunts. The missing nin slowly took off his coat and threw it aside. His body was covered with stitches, Kurotsuchi who stood not far from there almost puked at the disturbing sight.
Kakuzu then crouched down, the stitches all over his body were starting to loosen and suddenly, another disturbing scene took place as four separate bodies jumped out of the Akatsuki member's back.
Each entity were held together by hundreds of thick black threads to form humanoid forms, with heads, legs and arms. The four bodies had different ANBU like animal masks that covered their face and each mask had a different design and color.
Leaving no time for Naruto to further analyze them, the creatures moved out in separate directions while Kakuzu started to go through hand signs.
"Katon : Zukokku !" Yelled Kakuzu as the creature wearing a mask with red markings opened its mouth to fire powerful fireballs in rapid succession towards Naruto.
With his ultimate sensory mode activated, Naruto could easily predict the direction, speed and amplitude of the jutsu and evaded every fireball sent to him. He also felt the other creatures moving around him while the first one was firing Katon techniques at him.
"Futon : Atsugai !" Called Kakuzu as the creature with blue markings appeared behind Naruto and released a huge blast of wind towards its target.
Feeling the wind charged jutsu, Naruto did not even try to evade. The blond simply extended his hands in his back and absorbed the wind technique, as his control over that element was far greater than Kakuzu's.
At the exact same time Naruto was blocking the previous wind jutsu, the two remaining entities appeared on both sides and Kakuzu called out two new techniques.
"Suiton : Teppodama – Raiton : Gian !" Announced Kakuzu as the creature with the light blue markings shot huge water bullets towards Naruto, creating a large puddle of water on the floor as the jinchuriki evaded them all. The last monster with yellow markings then fired lightning bolts all around them, taking advantage of the water puddle increase their ranges.
Naruto had to deploy his Dragon Wings in order to evade the death trap of those two combined elements.
"Very impressive, boy. You're the first one to have ever evaded that combination of jutsu, after your Shodaime Hokage." Said Kakuzu.
Naruto's eyes widened at this, realizing that his opponent had already faced Konoha's first Hokage in battle in his past. Furthermore; seeing Kakuzu's current body condition, he understood that the Akatsuki member most likely had an immortality technique like Orochimaru, if he seemingly remained this young while the Shodaime's era was almost a century ago.
The blond jonin also realized that during his fight with the creatures, each time, before they could launch a jutsu against him, Kakuzu had to actually go through hand signs and call the techniques himself before his pets could really fire them. Naruto continued to easily evade every attempts from the thread monsters against him while analyzing Kakuzu's movements to confirm his previous assumptions.
Seeing that he was indeed correct about Kakuzu's fighting style, he decided to slowly move around the Akatsuki member. He waited until Kakuzu was about to fire another jutsu to suddenly unsheathe his katana and called his own jutsu, "Futon : Kamishini no Yari !" and his blade started to glow.
However, before Naruto could launch his wind spear, he had to cancel it at the last moment to block an attack he was definitively not expecting. Behind him, stood Hidan with his head stitched back to his body and his scythe an inch away from cutting his head off.
The blond turned away to see the original as surprised as he was, certain that he had already finished off the silver haired shinobi by cutting his head off. He then saw what appeared to be the same black threads that came out from Kakuzu, sticking out of the ground.
"Damn it, so you're both immortal freaks … Hood Monster used his threads to stitch the Incompetent Moron's head back ..." Mused Naruto out loud, quite proud of the nicknames he gave them.
Before his enemies could team up against him, the real Naruto decided to go all out this time, he fell into a strange stance with his palm joined together in a prayer movement and called a new technique.
"You leave me no choice, time to get serious." Said the blond.
"Hidan let's go, we cannot afford to underestimate him any longer. Whatever he has in store we can't let him use it !" Yelled Kakuzu as they both ran towards the true Naruto.
"Too late ..." Said the leaf jonin with a smirk, "Futon : Ten'i Muho no Kiwami !" he yelled as a sudden explosion combined with a blinding flash of light erupted in the area.
As the dust settled down and the flashing light slowly faded, the two Akatsuki members, who had been pushed back by the violent explosion, could finally see their target again. The blond's eyes were now glowing, he had a thin green aura around his entire body.
"Now let's see you both fight against the Wind itself ..."
A/N : What do you think ?
Someone had already guessed how things would go with Kurotsuchi and Naruto, how he could figure out the similarities with Yagura's case.
Now onto the confrontation with Hidan and Kakuzu. There is no way in hell that someone like Hidan who doesn't have anything else than his scythe could hope to ever defeat the current Naruto in my story. The curse thing only work if he can touch him, not an easy feat right now …
Kakuzu had better chance but well against Naruto's wind "Sharingan", it will also be hard to connect with his ninjutsu alone. Next chapter is the both of them against Naruto with his last ultimate form, I'll let you guess what it does until next time :)
As usual please Read and Review.
New Jutsu :
Futon : Ten'i Muho no Kiwami , translates as the Pinnacle of Perfect Unity. Combines both advantages given to Naruto by opening the two other modes. Increases his control and understanding of the wind element to the limit, allowing him to become the wind itself.
Will be further explained next issue to not spoil the readers :)
As last time, not new moves but as a reminder:
Futon : Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami , translates as the Pinnacle of Great Wisdom. To use in combination with the Muga no Kyouchi, it allows Naruto to go deeper into his 'understanding' of the wind around him. In this state, Naruto can 'feel' the sightliest movement of air particles in his field of action around him, enabling for him to 'predict' his opponent's movements and then adjust his counters accordingly.
Futon : Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami , translates as the Pinnacle of Great Work. This is Naruto's second ultimate form. In this form, his control over the wind is amplified tenfold. This allows Naruto the use of the wind to increase his speed and power by reducing the air resistance to all his movements and jutsu. At the same time, it increases the wind resistance for his enemies, forcing them to double their effort while he only uses half of his strength to reach the same result.