A/N: Like it says in the summary, if you're not caught up to the latest chapters of the Naruto manga, you're going to get spoiled. You've been warned.
Chapter 11: The Mountain
In the skies, an intense battle with the Kaiba Craft 3 and the Bebop is in progress. The Kaiba Craft relentlessly opens fire on the Bebop as the latter takes steady shots at the former.
From below, Ichigo and the rest of his traveling companions watch the dogfight unfold.
"Okay, since when did the Bebop actually have weapons?" Inuyasha complained.
"I don't know. Maybe they just installed some to handle this situation?" Shinji tried to handwave.
As the fight continues, it becomes apparent that the Kaiba Craft is gaining the upper hand.
"This doesn't look good. At this rate, the Kaiba Craft will win for sure," said Ichigo.
"You may be right, Ichigo. If only if there was a way we could help," Yami added.
Without saying a word, Sasuke transforms into his Cursed Seal Two Form and flies off to a nearby mountain.
"Hey, wait for us!" Ichigo pleaded.
But Sasuke was already far up the mountain. He reverts back to his normal form and looks up, noticing that two other people were already scaling the mountain. One of them was a ten-year-old boy with red hair and brown eyes wearing a pair of round glasses and wielding a wooden staff that was longer than he was tall. His name was Negi Springfield. Traveling with him was a fourteen-year-old girl with orange hair and two long ponytails, a blue left eye and a green right eye, and wearing a pink Japanese school uniform. Her name was Asuna Kagurazaka.
Sasuke quickly ascends the mountain by leaping from to rock, passing the duo.
"Hey! Where's he off to in such a rush, I wonder," Negi spoke with a Welsh accent.
"Beats me. Maybe he wants to race or something," Asuna assumed incorrectly.
"A race?" Negi repeated. Asuna jumps ahead, trying to catch up to Sasuke. "Hey, wait for me!" he pleaded, chasing after her.
A trek up the mountain later, the three of them make it to the top of the mountain, with Negi and Asuna narrowly beating Sasuke to the punch.
"Ha! We won!" Asuna cheered while jumping up and down.
"Yes…we…did it," Negi panted, completely out of breath.
Sasuke looks at the two, confused as to what they're talking about. He then looks ahead and sees someone else standing on the very tip of the mountain. It was a brown haired and blue-eyed man in his teens wearing a black outfit and a white badass longcoat, along with a Duel Disk strapped on his arm.
"So, this is where you've been, Seto Kaiba," said Sasuke.
Kaiba snaps his eyes open and stares down at Sasuke, Negi, and Asuna.
"Oh, great. Company," Kaiba said sarcastically. "But at least it's not Yugi and the nerd herd". He jumps down from the tip, landing in front of the three of them. "So, what do you want? And make it quick, I don't have all day!" he demanded.
"Actually, Kaiba, we were wondering what was going on with you and your airship," Negi answered.
"Yeah! Your ship flew over our school and then those weird creatures poured out and attacked everyone!" Asuna added with a more accusing tone.
"Well, obviously, I had nothing to do with that!" Kaiba explained. "Those creatures that you were talking about stormed into KaibaCorp headquarters and hijacked my ship. Even worse, it looks like they're using the weapons that KaibaCorp developed before I took over the company." He points to the ongoing dogfight to indicate what he means. "I've been standing on this mountain waiting for the Kaiba Craft 3 to pass by so that I can jump aboard, but that other ship is delaying things." He complained.
"Well, they're just trying to help," Negi assured him.
"Then they should've just stayed out of this!" Kaiba barked. "And besides, their efforts are futile. Those weapons were developed by my stepfather, Gozaburo Kaiba, and his little goonies, The Big Five, and if there was one thing they were good at it was making weapons for war."
Negi lowers his head, disheartened. But then an idea comes to him.
"Of course! There is a way we can help them! I can just fly over there with my staff, and…"
"…You'll do no such thing!" Kaiba cut him off. "I am perfectly capable of handling this myself! In fact, I would have stopped them from taking my ship in the first place if it wasn't for that guy in the black cloak with red clouds on it delaying me!"
Sasuke perks up with intense interest as Kaiba's words register in his mind.
"This man in a black cloak with red clouds on it. Did he have eyes like this?" Sasuke activates his Sharingan eyes for Kaiba to see.
"Yeah, he did. What's it to you?" Kaiba answered.
"ITACHI!" Sasuke pulls out his sword and points it straight at Kaiba. "What was he after!? Where is he now!? Speak quickly!" Sasuke demanded.
"I don't have time for this nonsense!" said Kaiba. He tries to sidestep Sasuke, but Sauke continues to block his path.
"You WILL answer my questions! Or else!" Sasuke insisted.
"Or else what, you'll cut me down with that little sword of yours?" Kaiba mocked.
"If that's what it takes!" said Sasuke.
"If you want to play that way, fine. This won't take long at all," Kaiba smirked confidently. "I hereby challenge you to a game of Duel Monsters!"
"I don't play around with a stupid children's card game! I have REAL problems to deal with!" Sasuke informed him.
"Well this 'stupid children's card game' is about to give you some REAL pain!" Kaiba threatened.
Negi looks back and forth at the two, afraid of the heated argument escalating into an all-out brawl. He decides to intervene, his teacher instincts taking over.
"Now, now. There's no reason for us to be fighting. After all, we're all on the same side…"
"STAY OUT OF THIS, KID!" Kaiba and Sasuke both shouted at Negi in unison.
Both Negi and Asuna gulp as the back of their heads produce large sweat drops. Sasuke gets into a fighter stance as Kaiba inserts his deck into his Duel Disk.
"Let's duel!" Kaiba declared.
Kaiba draws some cards from his deck and smirks evilly. "This must be my lucky day," he announced. "I place onto the field my X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Dragon!" The holograms of the three different Duel Monsters appear in front of Kaiba. "Next, I COMBINE all of my monsters to form the XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" The three monsters leap up and connect together, forming into the new Duel Monster. "In the first turn of the duel, I've already assembled one of my strongest monsters! I'd like to see you beat that!" Kaiba dared.
Sasuke merely rolls his eyes and slashes the XYZ-Dragon Cannon, causing it to explode. Kaiba cringes in frustration as the dust blows into his face and his Life Point counter decreases.
"It seems he's stronger than I thought," Kaiba thought to himself. He then draws another card and smiles at what he gets. "But with this card, it'll be all over for him."
"I play this card face down! And I also play Saggi the Dark Clown in Attack Mode!" Kaiba commanded.
"A clown? I'm shaking in my boots," Sasuke replied sarcastically.
"Well you should be! Saggi, attack his Life Points directly!" Kaiba ordered.
Saggi obeys and relentlessly attacks the ninja. His attacks connect, and Sasuke yells out in pain…until he suddenly disappears with a puff of smoke, being replaced by a log.
"What!?" Kaiba gasped. "What kind of cheap trick is this!?"
Sasuke reappears and cuts through Saggi, destroying him. Kaiba loses some more Life Points.
"That was the Body Replacement Jutsu. It's one of the basics of the basics of ninjutsu training," Sasuke answered. "But I guess you wouldn't know that, would you?"
"No, I wouldn't," Kaiba admitted. "But what I do know is that I activate my trap card!"
"But how?!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"Easy. I just call out its name dramatically and it pops up. You really should play this game because it's a common occurrence. Watch. I reveal my Crush Card Virus!"
"Crush Card…virus!?" Sasuke mouthed. Not a moment afterwards, Sasuke feels a sharp pain in his chest, causing him to clutch it tightly. "Uh oh!" Sasuke breathed. He creates a Chidori Current from within his body, hoping to neutralize the virus.
"Sorry, but that won't work," Kaiba ensured him. "Once the Crush Card virus is unleashed, it will infect all but the weakest monsters. But you're pretty strong, aren't you? Well, too bad!"
Sasuke doubles over and falls face first into the snow. He glows a bright light and a second later, Sasuke lays there in trophy form.
"Hmph! Looks like I win!" Kaiba declared.
However, in an unexpected move, Kaiba walks over to the trophy and taps the stand, reviving Sasuke.
"Don't think you're getting off that easy! I haven't finished gloating yet!" Kaiba decided.
"I…I lost! To a children's card game!?" Sasuke muttered in disbelief.
Before anyone can say anything more, they hear a rumbling sound.
"Sorry to interrupt you two's dick measuring contest, but it looks like we have bigger things to worry about!" Asuna interjected. "Look!"
She points to something emerging from the clouds. They all turn to see the Kaiba Craft with its crane wrapped around the Bebop and preparing to ram the other ship into the mountain that they're on.
"Uh oh!" Negi gasped.
"This is my chance!" Kaiba announced happily.
"Here it comes!" said Sasuke, readying himself.
The Bebop crashes hard into to mountain, shaking it tremendously. Sasuke and Kaiba both manage to leap onto the Bebop and scale upwards until they aboard the deck of the Kaiba Craft 3. Negi and Asuna however…
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" they both yell as they're thrown right off the mountain.
Down below, Ichigo and the others look up and see the avalanche of rocks falling from the mountaintop.
"Everyone, get back!" Inuyasha warned his traveling companions.
They all jump back to avoid getting crushed by the rocks.
"Incoming!" Shinji points out Negi and Asuna falling towards them.
"OH NO!" Yami panicked.
The four of them look away, expecting Negi and Asuna to impact the ground hard right in front of them. However, Negi pulls out the staff that inexplicitly hangs on his back and points downward.
"RAS TEL MA SCIR MAGISTER, SPIRITUS VENTI!!!"
A gust of wind blows beneath both Negi and Asuna, slowing their descent. They land gently on the ground unharmed.
"Man, I thought you guys were dead for sure," Inuyasha admitted.
"Hey, don't sell Negi short like that. After all, he is a western mage," Asuna pointed out.
Negi embarrassingly smiles and scratches the back of his head. "Gee, uh thanks, Asuna," he replied.
But the group then notices the huge wave of Mass Monsters forming right next to them. Yami clenches his teeth and cringes in frustration. "More of these monsters?" he lamented.
"Nothing we can't handle," Asuna stressed while stepping forward from the group. She pulls out her copy of her pactio card. "ADEAT!!!" Asuna called forth. Her card transforms itself into a giant harisen fan. She then slaps several Mass Monsters with it, causing them to dissolve into the air. As she attacks, it allows Negi time to cast a spell.
"SAGITTA MAGICA!!! SERIES LUCIS!!!"
Negi launches several magical missiles of light at the remaining enemies, obliterating them. However, another wave of Mass Monsters quickly replace their fallen comrades.
"What? There's more?" Negi said in disbelief.
Negi continues to launch various wind and light spells at the mob of Masses, with Asuna as his support. The others also join in. Shinji shoots as many as he can with his pallet gun. Yami attacks them with numerous Duel Monsters. Inuysha and Ichigo both slash many of them with their swords. But no matter how many they defeat, more just keep coming.
"There's just no end to these guys!" Ichigo complained.
"Looks like you guys could use some help," a voice called out.
They all turn their hands and see Goku, Yusuke, Kenshin, Naruto, and Luffy all standing on a nearby cliff, all of them standing in dramatic heroic poses. They all leap down and join the others.
"You all have done a great job so far. But you guys should sit back and rest while you let the five of us handle it from here," Goku suggested.
"No way!" Shinji objected. "You see how many of them they are! We all should fight them togeth…"
"No Shinji, he's right," Yami interrupted. "As tired as we are right now, we'll just be in their way. It is best if we just have faith in our friends."
"Well, this definitely sucks, though, getting saved by a bunch of Shonen Jump heroes," Inuyasha snorted.
"Hey! What's wrong with Shonen Jump!?" Ichigo and Yami both yelled in unison.
"Um, nothin'!" Inuyasha quickly retracted.
As Ichigo's group stand on the sidelines, Goku's group confronts the Masses. Goku starts off by teleporting right in the middle of the crowd of Mass Monsters and raising both arms to his sides.
"DOUBLE KAMEHAMEHA!!!"
He blasts all of the Masses on both sides of him with energy beams. The Masses on one side are sent far and crash into a cliff a ways off. The Masses on the other side just disintegrate into nothingness.
"SHOTGUN!!!"
Yusuke destroys more of the Masses with bursts of spiritual energy bullets from his fist.
Meanwhile, another crowd of Masses gather around Kenshin, surrounding him. The former man-slayer looks around, analyzing his predicament. "So, it appears that I will need more than one hit to take all of you down. In that case..."
"...HITEN MITSURUGI STYLE: RYU SOU SEN!!!"
In a flash, Kenshin strikes each and every Mass Monster repeatedly so fast that the human eye couldn't register his movements. The barrage of attacks knocks all of them down, unable to get back up due to the pain.
"GEAR THIRD!!!"
Luffy bites into his mouth joint and blows hard.
"BONE BALLON!!!"
His hand inflates to a gigantic size. He then shifts the air in his body to one of his legs.
"GUM GUM GIGANT AXE!!!"
He raises his HUGE leg up and drops his foot on the army of Masses, crushing most of the remaining forces.
Oddly enough, during this whole battle, Naruto remains absolutely still with his eyes closed. Finally, he opens his eyes, revealing red rings around his eyes and slit-like pupils.
"Check out my new Sage Mode! Hot off the manga press!" Naruto bragged.
He makes three Shadow Clones appear right beside him just as the last remaining Masses charge at him. Naruto holds his hand out while gathering chakra into his palm. One of the clones help shape the chakra into a sphere while another clone inputs wind-nature chakra into it. Finally, Naruto raises his hand, holding up a shuriken-shaped sphere of wind giving off a loud screech.
But unexpectedly, Naruto doesn't stop there. The third clone also begins gathering chakra into his palm, and the other two clones repeat the process, resulting with the Shadow Clone holding an identical shuriken-shaped wind sphere.
"WIND STYLE: DOUBLE RASENSHURIKEN!!!"
Naruto and the third Shadow Clone both throw their Rasengans at the Masses simultaneously. Both attacks cut through rows of Masses before expanding into vortexes of wind chakra blades, tearing to shreds all of the Masses caught in the technique. As the two vortexes expand, they connect with one another, converging into one HUGE ball of destruction that lays to waste most of the landscape, ensuring that no Masses survive.
"Now THAT'S one hell of a way to crash a party!" Yusuke cracked.
"Well, there's only one thing left to do," said Luffy, except his voice was much higher-pitched than normal. Everyone looks at him and sees that he has somehow reverted into a chibi-like form. "Oh, this is a side-effect from using Gear Third. Don't worry, I'll be back to normal in a few seconds," the pirate explained.
"Anyway, we still need to stop that Kaiba Craft," Goku picked up.
"Actually, Kaiba's on the ship right now trying to regain control of it," said Negi.
All eyes except Asuna's turn to the young mage.
"He's right. Kaiba was waiting on top of the mountain when the Kaiba Craft slammed the Bebop into it. He was able to jump onto the ship during that moment," Asuna elaborated.
"Yeah, and Sasuke made it on the ship too," Negi added.
Naruto's eyes nearly bulge out of his sockets. "S-Sasuke!?" he blurted out.
"Yeah. He was traveling with us for awhile," said Ichigo.
Naruto's jaw hangs in the air as his head turns blue and his eyes become blank and circular. He then lowers his head in abasement. "I can't believe that I JUST missed him," he despaired. Luffy pats him on the back for comfort.
"Well, Kaiba and I may not always see eye-to-eye on things, but he is an excellent duelist. With him and Sasuke working together, I'm sure they won't have any problems retaking the Kaiba Craft 3," Yami acknowledged.
"Well I guess we'll just have to put our faith into them," said Goku, crossing his arms and gazing at the stolen airship in the sky.
A/N: Come back next chapter where the character playing Snake is finally revealed.