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.
The epilogue for the previous arc was really well received, got the highest amount of hits on the story so far with 6.6 K hits from the day I released the chapter. While some of you did manage to guess I would make Naruto the Alliance's Leader, it was still a nice surprise for the others who didn't.
Someone was confused about the activation of Naruto's wind bloodline true Ultimate form so I will briefly explain how it works. The State of Perfect Unity is the combined activation of both the Pinnacle of Great Work and the Pinnacle of Great Wisdom. This is all based on the fact that he unlocked the nine tails of youki from Natsuki.
Naruto first activates the initial gate called the Muga no Kyouchi or State of Self Activation, consuming one tail of youki and allowing him the access to his youki reserves. Then he performs a single Kage Bunshin, equally splitting the remaining youki he has left between his clone and him, that's four tails each. In doing so, he decreased the control needed to achieve the last level by a half and separately activates the Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami or Pinnacle of Great Work and the Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami or Pinnacle or Great Wisdom. (It doesn't really matter which one the clone is performing, as long as Naruto opens the other one)
Once done he simply dispels the clone, transferring back the secondly activated mode from the clone to his true self, just like Classic Naruto "recharges" his sage mode with the clones from the Toad's land. And once that's done, there you have it, the Ten'i Muho no Kiwami or Pinnacle of Perfect Unity is achieved and the Kaze no Kami is unleashed :)
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 40 : Octopus and Kidnappings
Iron Country – Meeting Room
"Why not damn it ?" Roared the Raikage from his seat.
"There is no evidence that your brother is in Amegakure, Raikage-dono. It is unwise to charge in an unknown territory, even with the combined forces of the Alliance's villages. We don't know for sure who is leading that Village nowadays, if it's not Hanzo then someone even stronger than the man who could take down the Konoha's combined sannin in their prime is in charge, and that's definitely troublesome news." Replied Tsunade, remembering the man who fought alone and won against her team during the war.
"What are your opinions on Amegakure, Tsuchikage-dono, Kazekage-dono ? Wind and Earth Countries share borders with the Land of the Rain, what can you tell us about your neighbor ?" Asked Naruto.
"It's the same as with you guys, their borders are completely closed. They won't allow any outsider to come into their lands so I'm afraid we don't have any other information about them." Replied Kurotsuchi. Gaara gave a similar answer, much to the Raikage's disappointment.
"With everything we have so far, it is my opinion that we should not act only based on suspicion. Do not misunderstand me Raikage-dono, I also have issues with Amegakure, my sensei was murdered there after all, but it is also true that he illegally crossed their borders." Naruto said.
"Everyone has to understand that the Alliance's and my goal is solely to bring peace to this world, we cannot and will not start a war without the good reasons, otherwise we aren't any better than the Akatsuki and this is not the message we want to pass on to the world." He added.
"What do you propose we do in that case, Naruto-kun ?" The Mizukage asked, not caring that everyone heard the suffix she added to the blond's name. Naruto had to once again calm the vixen in his mindscape down, as Natsuki was really not fond of Mei and her teasing on Naruto.
"Well, I suppose we could ..." Naruto could not finish his sentence as he suddenly stood up, mirrored by Gaara and Yugito. Everyone else in the room was surprised by their synchronized movements.
"What is it, Naruto ?" Tsunade asked with concern for her blond subordinate.
"Youki, lots of it, I can sense a gigantic source of youki, not far from our current position, jinchuriki sized youki and still rising. It must be your brother, Raikage-dono, and he's fighting someone. We should depart right away and investigate." Naruto said.
Yugito and Gaara also felt the youki explosion and nodded their agreement to Naruto's assessment.
"I'm going, that idiot brother of mine will only listen to me, plus I'm the fastest one here." The Raikage said as he stood up.
"I'll go too, I'm the one with the most experience against Akatsuki and you'll need me to locate the source of youki. Furthermore, I wouldn't be so sure on the speed matter, I'm pretty sure I could give you a run for your money in a speed contest, so I won't slow you down." Naruto replied with a grin, not phased by the Raikage and his claim to be the fastest.
Before Yugito could even move a muscle, A told her to stand down and that she wasn't coming. He left no place for any argument, telling his adoptive daughter that his decision was final.
Naruto turned his head towards Tsunade, he may have been placed at the top of the Alliance's forces but she was still the Hokage and someone he truly respected. He wasn't about to disrespect her in front of everyone like that.
Tsunade really wanted to prevent him from leaving as well, just like A stopped Yugito from joining them but she knew that Naruto was different. Trusting his judgment, she simply nodded her head and with a heavy sigh let the Namikaze Clan head follow the Raikage.
The two men immediately left after that, with the Raikage following behind Naruto. The young jonin simply followed the trail of youki as they moved at high speed towards the source. A had to admit that Naruto was very fast and didn't show any sign of being tired, even after his previous battles.
With Killer Bee - Earlier
The Hachibi jinchuriki was visiting a friend of his, coincidentally inside the borders of Iron country where the Kage meeting was being held. They were discussing various topics, seating inside a forest, covered in snow as the rest of Iron country at this time of the year.
The friend he was visiting was a enka music shinobi named Sabu. Sabu was a short, middle aged man. He wore a cream-colored robe adorned with a purple belt and two purple fuzzy balls hanging in the front. He also wore a purple garment underneath the robe and has a mesh shirt under his robe as well. He had dark brown hair which is done in a traditional Japanese manner, but with a punch perm bun on top of his head. He wields a huge axe and has a giant raccoon following him everywhere by the name of Ponta.
Bee was taking tips on how to develop his enka style when they were interrupted by the arrival of two visitors, wearing black robes with red clouds …
"It's you again, Fish-Man. I guess the little present I left you wasn't good enough for you and your friends." Bee said as he felt Kisame and Itachi.
"Don't worry, Octopus, we will thoroughly verify the body we're taking in this time." Replied Kisame with his usual smirk while Itachi remained silent.
Before they could trash talk any further, the giant raccoon charged towards the Akatsuki pair. Sabu was too slow to stop his partner as Kisame unsheathed his sword and countered the charging beast with a swing. Ponta was easily overpowered by Kisame's strength and the poor raccoon was now on the floor, unconscious.
Sabu was about to charge in to avenge his partner when Itachi suddenly activated his Sharingan, quickly catching the enka master in a mid-level genjutsu. Bee immediately ran towards his fellow enka comrade but Kisame stood in his way, he could only watch from afar as Itachi slowly walked towards Sabu and knocked him out with a chop at the neck.
"Now that the interference is gone, shall we start ?" Kisame asked, as he slowly unwrapped the bandages covering his sword.
"I can't fight the both of them here, well I'm their target so they will follow after me. If I go ballistic on them with Hachibi, Sabu and Ponta will get caught in the destruction." Thought Killer Bee as he decided to run in the opposite direction, trying to put some distance with Sabu before the fight starts.
Itachi and Kisame showed no interest in the enka singer or the giant raccoon and immediately chased after Bee. The jinchuriki managed to get pretty far from his original position, in fact he could have run for a lot longer but he suddenly decided to stop and turned back to face his enemies.
"Are you ready to come with us ? We will not put you through unneeded pain if you follow us without resisting." Itachi said in his usual emotionless voice.
Instead of answering, Bee took out the seven swords he had and took a strange stance. B held his seven blades in between the joints of his arms, left armpit and both elbows, right leg, stomach, the right side of his neck, and the last one in his mouth.
Seeing Kisame itching to take a bite at the jinchuriki in a sword fight, Itachi decided to interfere.
"We don't have the time to lose around here, Kisame. The Kage Meeting is being held not far from here, we can't risk exposing ourselves for too long. We'll both attack him at the same time, you take the front, I'll capitalize on any opening he leaves." Announced the Uchiha prodigy, getting a nod from his partner.
Kisame lost no time and charged at Bee with his Samehada drawn, very confident about his kenjutsu skills since he was once a member of the Seven Swordsmen of Kiri. Far from being impressed by Kisame's fame, Bee remained calm and waited for the Akatsuki swordsman to come.
Kisame's swings were more powerful but Bee was unpredictable with his seven swords, even Itachi had troubles to follow him and predict his attacks. The Uchiha found no openings so far in Bee's stance.
After another high speed kenjutsu exchange, Bee was finally able to take the advantage and Kisame took a deep cut on his left shoulder before Bee kicked him away. The jinchuriki was surprised though, he expected his katana to go right through his opponent's body but Kisame somehow managed to soften the blow. Bee theorized that the enemy had a way to absorb his chakra during their fight since his swords were charged with lightning chakra.
While Bee was thinking about his previous fight, Itachi with his Sharingan activated managed to get in front of the jinchuriki who forgot about him for only a spit second and launched an attack.
"Magen : Kasegui no Jutsu !" Called Itachi as he looked into Bee's eyes.
The jinchuriki found himself in the illusion world created by the Sharingan user, tormented with the sensation of having spikes driven through his limbs, taking away his body's freedom.
In the real world, Bee dropped his swords and lost his kenjutsu stance. Seeing this Itachi ran towards him and he was about to knock him down when Bee suddenly moved at the last moment before Itachi's attack.
"Lariat !" Yelled Bee as he suddenly shifted from his previous position to attack Itachi with his right arm, encased in youki.
With Bee's speed and his own momentum, Itachi took the attack almost straight on. It was only years of training and fighting that allowed the Uchiha to not take a critical hit, he managed to slightly move at he last moment in order to not take a mortal wound from the Bee's counter.
"H-How were you able to move, I'm sure I caught you in my genjutsu …" Asked Itachi.
"I'm a host with a perfect control over my jinchuriki powers, therefore I'm immune to genjutsu, now die !" Roared the Raikage's younger brother as he took a sword from the ground and slammed it down towards his injured opponent.
Before Bee could drive his sword through Itachi's heart, he was kicked out of the way by Kisame. The former Kiri nin was bleeding from his shoulder, he had taken off his coat and was now topless. He took a look at his partner and knew he wouldn't be able to flee if he had to carry the now useless Uchiha with him. His only choice now was to fight and defeat the jinchuriki.
His decision made, Kisame went after Bee and launched a jutsu.
"Suiton : Dai Bakusui Shoha !" Yelled Kisame as he expelled a massive amount of water from his own mouth. The water took the shape of a giant bubble, trapping Bee and Kisame inside it.
"Time to get serious, the stronger my opponent, the stronger I become." Said Kisame before he somehow fused with his sword, taking on the new appearance of a hybrid form between a human and a shark.
Bee watched the scene from his position inside the water prison, with his youki cloak still activated from the moment he countered Itachi's attempt to attack him with genjutsu.
"His transformation and the sword's powers, he intends to fight me in this water prison. He most likely has the ability to breath underwater, I won't last long if I stay inside." He thought as he started to gather more youki from his bijuu until his cloak was composed of all the eight tails.
Present Time
Seeing the explosion of demonic chakra, Kisame immediately rushed to Bee's position and started to attack him. The jinchuriki tried to escape the water bubble only to find out that it was following its caster's movements, consequently as long as Kisame could follow him, he would never be able to get out of the prison.
This time, the Kirigakure no Kaijin completely dominated the fight, he had the advantage of fighting under water and every wound he suffered was instantly healed by absorbing more of the chakra from the Hachibi. Soon Bee had to dispel the youki cloak as his reserves were now critically low. He was also close to his physical limit after holding his breath during the whole fight inside the Suiton prison.
Seeing his opponent's transformation fading away, Kisame undid his water prison jutsu. Bee was now laying on the floor, out of chakra or stamina and was starting to lose consciousness.
"So close …" Said the jinchuriki as a smirking Kisame was slowly walking to him.
The Kiri missing nin was about to take Bee's body when he saw the smile on the face of the jinchuriki, his eyes widen as he finally understood Bee's last sentence …
"Lariat !" Yelled a new voice as a lightning covered arm suddenly appeared in front of Kisame's throat.
A split second after that, a bright white flash illuminated the area.
"Futon : Shin'Zou Hakai !" Called another voice as Kisame felt two arms pressed behind his back.
Naruto used his new taijutsu technique to hold Kisame's body while destroying his internal organs from the inside and A used Naruto's "block" to chop off the Akatsuki member's head with his Raiton charged Lariat.
"So close indeed ..." Were Kisame's last words as he lost his head and felt his body explode from within.
Not caring for their victim, the Raikage immediately went to check on his brother. He was relieved to see that the jinchuriki was just unconscious.
Naruto took Kisame's head and sealed it away as he did for Hidan's and Kakuzu's heads.
"I'll take this for my increasing collection if you don't mind, Raikage-dono." Said the leaf jonin.
A only chuckled at the light joke and took his brother's body over his shoulder. They left shortly after that, in the direction where they came from towards the Samurai's Fortress, not caring for Kisame's body or his sword.
They traveled for a short time when the Raikage suddenly stopped. Turning his head towards the ground, Naruto saw a strange looking man on top of a giant bear or rat creature.
"Raikage-sama ! Thank god you found Bee, I was starting to fear those two had defeated him, when the youki slowly disappeared a while ago." Said the man as Naruto was still trying to find out from what kind the creature was.
"Sabu ! I should have guess that idiot would have come to see you ..." Mused A with a scowl on his face.
"Wait a minute, what do you mean those two ?" Asked Naruto as he finally snapped out of his thoughts.
"Yes, the fish-like one, and the Uchiha ..." Replied Sabu, however, before he could end his sentence, Naruto was already gone.
As the blond came back at the place where he killed Kisame not too long ago, he cursed as he immediately saw that the body disappeared, along with the sword. Furthermore, after following the footsteps that were left on the snowy ground he also found out that a second body, profusely bleeding, had also been dragged away not too long ago.
"What the hell ?" Thought the blond as he tried to understand what just happened.
Rice Country Borders
A group of shadows was tree jumping within the borders of Ta no Kuni.
"Hurry up, Suigetsu. Why the hell did you even bring that huge ass sword with us anyway ?" Asked an unknown feminine voice.
"Do you want me to carry the body for you, Sasuke-kun ?" Asked another female voice.
"Don't you dare, he's mine, no one is to lay a finger on him !" Roared a familiar voice, as Uchiha Sasuke and some of his subordinates came into light.
A/N : What do you think ?
Tweaked Bee's fight a bit, a mix between his encounter with Taka and his fight against Kisame.
Oto is back in the game and they got some nice bargaining chips too now.
I was really tempted to end the chapter with a cruel cliffhanger, making you guys guess who took Itachi's body away but decided against it :)
You can still guess who is currently traveling in the group ;)
Well, some of you may think that the window was too short for Sasuke and his group to steal the bodies and then run back home but nobody really knows where Iron Country is. In my opinion, if the five great villages had to find a true neutral ground to hold their meeting the closest place to every village would be inside Fire Country. So I decided to locate it a little bit higher to the north near Rice Country where Oto is located.
Anyway next issue will deal with the aftermath of all this and finally cover a part of Naruto's prophecy. Read the next chapter to find out how :)
As usual, please Read and Review.
Alright, with this chapter I'll go over the 500 Favorites and Alerts for sure, I hope to reach that limit in the review number too, thanks everyone :)