Yeah, I know I'm behind my deadline, but they say it's better late then never. My free time got drastically cut lately and although most of the chapter was done like a week ago, I couldn't dig out enough time to finish it until today. Possibly the next chapter will also come late, but I do hope I'll manage to update at least once before Christmas, so… we'll see.
Here's the usual 'thank you for reviewing the previous chapter' paragraph, which basically states the same things I write in review replies and I do believe most of you skip it anyway, but still I wanna thank you all, especially those who did not receive my review reply (coz they didn't log in or for any, other reason). It means a lot.
Now, before going further, I just wanna announce that I'm planning a surprise next chapter (due to Christmas coming and all), though not sure if I'll manage. It's probably nothing special, but perhaps some of you will find it interesting. However what it is, I'm keeping a secret… for now XD
And now, all that's left to do, is to invite you to read the newest chapter of N:NG!
Chapter #104: Assault on the Tanken Estate
Title Page: Kai is standing in a lake with an elephant that's giving him a shower
"Lets wreck this place!" yelled Kai, cracking his knuckles, carefully watching the two guards before them. The one with the gelled-up hair narrowed his eyes at this and tightening his grip on the spear, he charged forward, ready to attack. In a flash threw his weapon forward, aiming to pierce the blonde, but the young gennin managed to strife left in the last moment.
Seeing an opening, Takaru decided to take action and somersaulting forward, he placed his left hand on the stretched spear, using it to balance. In a blink of an eye he began spinning in the attempt to kick the Tanken guard in the face, yet the man managed to duck under the assault, leaving a clear way for his partner.
Immediately the other guard pushed his spear forward, aiming to pierce the son of Tsunade. Takaru however managed to get out of harm's way by bending his elbow and thus twisting his body to the left. Instantly Kusari took action and picking out several kunai, tossed them at the Tanken guard, yet all were either deflected by the spear or struck its handle as the wielder spun it before himself.
At this time the first guard swung his spear, thus throwing Takaru off it, and spinning on his feet, he aimed to chop Kai's head off, only making the blonde duck under the assault. As the weapon went over his head, the gennin acted immediately, grabbing the stick and tossing it over his shoulder, taking the Tanken member, whose grip on it was still firm, along for the ride.
While in mid-air the guard flipped, still not letting his weapon go, and landed on his feet with his back almost parallel to the ground. His eyes narrowed as they stopped on the blonde. In a fraction of a second the Tanken member let go of his spear and came at Kai with a slide. Instantly he spun on his foot, delivering a powerful punch in the boy's stomach, forcing him to bend forward, right for an opened palm of the man's other hand.
Kusari quickly came to the rescue, picking out his Fuuma Shuriken without opening it. Swinging it like a katana, he attempted to cut the Tanken in half, yet the man instantly bended back and threw his legs up, smashing them against the chain master's chin, thus sending him flying back, while he flipped several time and grabbing his spear when his hands landed in the place it laid on the ground, he came to a stop, getting back on his feet.
"Boy, without your chain you're really useless" stated Kai, sweat dropping, as he gazed at his teammate who now stood beside him. A vein began pulsing on Kusari's forehead as he only said 'shut up', while the Tanken guard charged straight at them.
As the distance between them disappeared, the man swung his spear parallel to the ground, forcing the two gennin to take evading actions. Immediately Kusari ducked under the assault, while Kai jumped over it, both spinning in the process. Acting on instinct, the chain master threw a kick in the man's chest, but the Tanken managed to block the attack by quickly retreating his spear and placing its handle in the boy leg's way.
The guard's eyes widen however as he noticed Kai initiating a kick of his own. Incapable of dodging in time, the man received a powerful blow in the face which tilted his head and made him loose balance.
His partner immediately took action and charged forward, aiming to pierce right through the blonde gennin, who was still in mid-air. The blade was pushed towards Kai, who only managed to widen his eyes in shock, but surprisingly it was the Tanken's eyes that widen a moment later as he realized he pierced merely air.
"What the…?" he wondered, turning his head a little to his right, where he saw Kumiko with her hands shaped in a hand seal. "Genjutsu!" he realized instantly and turned forward, noticing Takaru also forming a chain of hand seals, while his hands got engulfed in fire.
In a flash the son of Tsunade threw his hands forward, calling out "Insei Tooriame!", making tens of small fireballs shoot out from the tips of his fingers and come right at the Tanken. As the blazing bullets neared, the guard jumped back, avoiding certain death, coming to a sliding stop few meters away, out of the attack's range.
---Meanwhile---
"Are you going to… greet the intruders, father?" asked Funbo with a playful smile as Satsu picked his katana and attached it to his belt. The man did not response and only gazed at Ibuki, who still hung on the chains with her head down, finally speaking up: "Watch her. I won't be long" and with that he began to walk away.
"Wait, father, don't!" the kunoichi plead, barely managing to lift her head and settle her eyes on the head of the Tanken. "Please, don't hurt them. They… they came here for me. I… I won't be able to bare if they'd die because of me. Please, let them leave. This is not their fight…"
"They invaded my household" Satsu replied simply in an emotionless voice, his back turned towards his daughter. "In the long history of our clan, those to do so that left alive… there has been none" and once more he resumed his walk, exiting the dungeon. Ibuki could only lower her head again, gazing at the floor, as a single tear escaped her eyes. As a strange pain shoot from her chest, she only let out a weak 'no', while Funbo's smirk widen as he glanced after their father.
---Back to Kai and others---
The Tanken guard with gelled-up hair threw several shuriken at the intruders, forcing them to jump back in order to avoid the assault. That is all except Kai, who just charged in blindly, completely ignoring the shinobi stars that cut his skin and in some cases even sunk into his body. As he got out of the blade rain, he jumped into the air spinning, once again aiming a spin kick into the face of the man with a ponytail.
The guard managed to duck under the attack however and quickly threw his spear up, making his blade go right into the blonde's chest, only to have the boy's body turn into a wooden pale a moment later. "Kawarimi?" the man's eyes widen as a sizzling sound reached his ears. A moment later he saw an explosive tag attached to the wood and acting on instinct he shook the pale off, jumping back and yelling to his partner: "Yaiba, get back!"
In a flash the gelled-up haired man complied, avoiding the explosion that ripped the wooden pale into bits, but as the guards' feet touched the ground, they both noticed a large fireball now soaring right above them, like the second sun.
"Gougi Insei Tooriame!" Takaru called out, performing a single hand seal, thus making the fireball explode into tens of smaller ones, all coming down upon the two, Tanken guards. The two men barely managed to avoid the flaming bullets as they jumped around between them, but as the meteor shower ended, they saw Kumiko and Kusari coming right at them with their fists ready, while they both were still in mid-air.
Incapable of dodging, the two received a powerful blow in the face which send them flying back and skid on the ground for a few meters until coming to a stop. The duo of gennin smirked, while the men slowly got back to their feet, their faces twisted in an angry expression as their grip on the spears tightened. They never got to charge at their opponents however as a sudden interruption occurred.
"Enough!" Satsu yelled calmly, making everyone turn their gaze at him. the head of the Tanken walked slowly out of the estate with his clansmen following him close behind, each armed in a weapon of their choice. The cold blades deflected sunrays as they all pointed at the four gennin and the two guards. Suddenly they all stopped, allowing the clan's leader to march ahead alone.
He narrowed his eyes as they scanned the battlefield. A cold stare made both Tanken guards shiver for a moment, before they bowed deeply towards their leader, who now gazed at the four, rookie shinobi: "So you're the ones causing such a ruckus?" he more stated then asked, his voice still as calm and emotionless like before. "How disappointing of Surudoi and Yaiba, to not be able to bring down four children, having so much time to do so…"
"Forgive us, Satsu-sama" asked the one with the ponytail, still not rising his head. "We will be finished in a moment. There was no need for you, to…" but he was cut off by the clan's head raised hand. He kept on starring at the intruders, his face still made of stone: "If my guess is correct, you came here in hope to get my daughter, is that right?"
"You bet!" Kai shoot back, pointing his finger at him. "And we ain't leaving until you give her back to us!" but Satsu merely smiled at that, placing his hand on the handle of his katana: "Well, you are right about one thing… you ain't leaving…" and with that he charged forward, releasing his sword.
In a flash he appeared behind Kusari, while blood sprayed from the chain master's back. The boy let out a yell of pain as he collapse to the ground with his face first, giving Satsu enough time to freeze before Kai, whose shoulder instantly got pierced by the man's swords. The blonde only managed to open his mouth from shock, incapable of screaming for some reason.
Seeing this sweat began running down Takaru's body, while he reached for his kunai hostels, yet never managed to complete that action as Satsu slide behind him, leaving a huge slash across his chest and an expression of both shock and fear on Tsunade's son's face. Kumiko could only take a step back at the sight, terrified: "I can't even follow him with my eyes! In a moment he brought down all three of them with no trouble at all! They couldn't even react! This guy… is a monster! I… I can't beat him! None of us can!"
"Looks like you're the last one" stated Satsu calmly as his eyes settled on her. Silence felt between them for a moment, broken by the Tanken head as he gazed at the fallen gennin for a split second: "Fear not, they are alive… for now. Invading my household is a crime that I will not allow to go unpunished. They'll suffer for this insolence, but first I'll take care of you. Being the only girl, I'll be generous and spare you… quick and painless death. I'll chop your head off with one, smooth motion. I promise you will not feel a thing…"
"Screw you, asshole!" Kumiko yelled, gathering all the courage she had in herself. "You think I'm just gonna stand there, looking while you try to kill me and my friends? We came here to get Ibuki! If we're suppose to go down, then we'll go down together!" and with that she picked out her kunai, aiming its tip at the man: "Come at me, coz I ain't running away!"
"I respect that" was the Tanken's head only reply as he charged forward. The kunoichi only managed to shut her eyes as she couldn't follow anyway, awaiting for the hit, but instead she only heard a loud 'clank'. Slowly she opened her eyes, seeing a familiar, orange outfit standing before her.
"And you are?" asked Satsu calmly as he gazed into the new arrival's blue eyes, pushing his katana against the man's kunai that blocked his way towards Kumiko's neck. The blonde replied just as calm, standing his ground: "Uzumaki Naruto. I came to even the chances a bit…"
---the arrival of the Kyuubi… expect the unexpected!---
And this concludes this chapter. Hope you had fun reading it and that you'll leave me a review before finishing. I gotta confess that my first idea was to make this split into two chapters (with the first being the fight with the guards and the second sacrificed to show Kai and corps trying to beat Satsu). Main reason for that was showing the four's determination during the battle with Satsu, but I figured Kumiko's words in this one spoke clear enough, so in the end I just shortened the fight and squeeze it at the end of this chappie. That way I don't feel that I stretched it unnecessary and it also gives Satsu much more justice as he is the head of one of the strongest, Konoha clans and supposedly one of the strongest shinobi in the Leaf (in the longer version neither of the gennin managed to land a blow on him anyway). And finally, I do believe that most of you are more interested in the Final Exam then the one-month break, so this maneuver just moved the beginning of it a chapter closer XD
No, new techniques this time around either, but rest assure that when the Final Exam comes, there will be some (after all, the participants are preparing for the final round), so the jutsu encyclopedia will be coming back soon.
And now I believe there's nothing left for me to do then thank you for tuning in and I do hope to see you with the next update. Take care and until then!