Clash in the Snow Country: Legacy Version

Chapter 24–Beneath the Surface!

A few things to clear up. First and foremost, about how quickly the end is coming. Are we on the home stretch? Absolutely. Is it going to be quick? No. As noted with the story thus far, I take my time on all scenes and have inserted a lot of original material, from Bakeru, to the expansion of Snow Ninja, to elaborating on Team 7's plans and actions. The same is going to be with the end here with fights around, secrets revealed and ultimate resolutions on how this is all going to wrap up.

So how many more chapters are there? Best I can give you is a rough estimate: 10 chapters, making this story come around 34 chapters. Which is still shorter than Legacy Part 1 ^_^

As to who the ear-less Ninja is, revealed in this chapter!

Black Fang Castle Control Room

8:15 pm

Bakeru gave a small smile to himself as his eyes darted across all the screens, seeing the shinobi and samurai forces scattering about the castle like the idiots they truly were. It didn't even occur to them to try and contact the other teams in order to coordinate instead of relying entirely on a central source.

And these fools clearly thought they could conquer the Shinobi World? They couldn't handle even one minor village! Yes, on the surface, they did appear intimidating, skillful and tactful, but that's all they had: Appearance. They relied far too much on their technology and this was just another example of how it was their Kunai's Curse.

The Kunai's Curse was a story from the old days preceding the Ninja Villages. There was a tale of a legendary shinobi whose skills and reputation would have put Hanzo the Salamander and the Sannin to shame. He was simply known as the Ryuuki Hoshi. The Rising Star. The guiding light of his clan, leading them to such great promise and prestige, they threatened to overtake even the almighty Senju and Uchiha clans. He appeared to have no equal, no weakness. That he would even go so far as to mock the Gods themselves.

Some people said that's what went too far with the Rising Star. During a battle with several of his rivals, a stray kunai struck his wrist. That simple action ended up rendering the Rising Star completely unable to use his arm, and as a further consequence, make him incapable of forming any seals for his ninjutsu. It was then learned that he had a weak bone structure, which explained why the small injury caused so much damage to the Rising Star, though some claimed it was due to being well into his fifties rather than a brittle bone condition.

In the end, that mis-thrown kunai ruined everything for the Rising Star. He lost the battle with his rivals and his entire clan was driven back. They were ruthlessly pursued over and over until the clan was decimated, the Rising Star himself disappearing from the world's eyes into legend.

All because of one little kunai. People still debate on who threw it. Some say it was one of the rivals, some say one of his own clansmen. And a few would say the Gods themselves did it.

In Snow's case, their technology was their curse. Because wreck even a little, and their entire society would crumble. Even if Bakeru actually did have the information he promised, it wouldn't help them. Oh, he had little doubt his master had all that intelligence, but he personally did not. He had absolutely no idea what the ANBU patrol routes were, or anything else he had promised. As they had captured the Kyuubi brat already, all he had to worry about was the girl, plus a few choice words and hints and the Snow Ninja would be so occupied with the Jinchuuriki they wouldn't notice him withdrawing with the Uchiha. All he would have to do is let the Snow Ninja find the remaining two from wherever they went after the big melee.

Then the two had attacked the castle directly. This wasn't entirely unforeseen, but his examination of their memories told him they would have gone the subtler route of breaking Koyuki and Naruto out, rather than a full-on attack. Admittedly, this did work more in his favor as it was putting the Snow Ninja on the defensive and disorganizing them, but at the same time, he had to make sure the two didn't kill themselves in the attempt. There were simply too many for the Leaf genin to deal with. Looking at the palace gates monitor, he saw that reinforcements were already arriving.

His eyes glanced downward to a special seal on the desk. The activation seal for those hidden exploding tags in the Great Hall. He looked at the screens picturing the movie crew and their watchers, all of them still completely in the dark due to all the festivities that were going on. He briefly toyed with the idea of just carrying out Doto's orders and eliminating them, then dismissed it. Bakeru would need an ample distraction for the Snow Ninja when he moved to grab the Uchiha and flee, and letting Makino's group take the fall to cover for him would be ideal.

That's when he noticed several Snow Ninja, including Sankaku, heading in his direction. It seemed some of the Yuki-nin had brains after all and realized something was horribly wrong in their Control Room. And quicker than he thought.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted," Bakeru said as he stood up. Time to get to work.


A few minutes later

The door to the Control Room blew up from a series of Ice jutsu and several Ninja ran inside, followed closely by Sankaku herself.

The Special Jonin looked around and her suspicions were confirmed. The four operators were dead on the floor, broken like twigs. Her eyes moved upward to see that every single piece of equipment was destroyed, like some wild animal had been set loose. Every single monitor screen was broken; the control boards had been ripped out and the radios smashed. Even the activation seal had been destroyed. There would be no way to activate their hidden bombs now.

Who could have done this was the question each of the Snow Ninja had on their minds and the answer came to Sankaku almost immediately: With the Kyuubi brat trapped, his two teammates fighting in the halls and the movie crew still in the hall, there was only one possible culprit left.

"Orochimaru." She said the name like it was a curse. She then punched the wall in fury. "We were fools to have trusted that Snake!"

Looking at her fellow Loyalists, she barked off a series of orders. "You! Go alert the San Eihei! They're our best bet to dealing with that bastard; you two go find Doto-sama, make sure he's safe! You, stay with me, we need to get this place back up and running; the rest of you, fan out and alert our comrades what happened! Make sure everyone sets their radios to channel four! Anything else is not to be trusted until further notice!"

A series of 'hais' and fists thumping on chests was heard in response as all but one dashed out of the room to relay her orders. Immediately, she and the sole remaining ninja began trying to fix their equipment, as she created an Ice Clone to watch the door.

With that, she began working on a long-range radio to contact Yukigakure and have them begin to prepare for the worst. Until she did, Black Fang Castle was cut off from the rest of the Country!


Lower Levels; Prison Level

Same time

"Sasuke and Sakura are attacking?" Naruto repeated as the man put his hood back on and stood up. Before either one could respond, Naruto did a small little giddy dance right there, happy tears streaking down his face. They weren't frozen alive in some forsaken lake after all! They had survived and come to get him, crashing the party like true pranksters at heart! Oh, he could just kiss them, he was so happy!

The Snow Ninja just nodded. "I suggest we – "

Koyuki interrupted, still standing behind Naruto. "Hold it. How do we know you're trustworthy?"

The blond gave his own nod, his own mind already working on how an 'escape' attempt could be played into Doto's hands. Namely, he could 'protect' his niece from the invaders and draw sympathy from those that still sympathized with Koyuki.

Hisomu just rolled his eyes then promptly drew two shuriken from his pouch and hurled them at the two unconscious jailers on the ground, the weapons burying themselves in their necks. "Any questions?"

Both princess and Leaf nin just stared at the casual killing of the two men. While Naruto could believe that Doto would willingly throw two men away, it was the laid-back reaction the man had to doing it that shocked him. There was no regret in his eyes, no reluctance. It was the action of a gravedigger finally moving past dealing with corpses and now able to mingle with society again.

Koyuki, however, had a very different reaction. "Was that really necessary? They weren't even – "

"Your father and many of those loyal to him suffered far more sinister means when they met their unfortunate ends, Koyuki-hime," the man replied in a flat voice. "Two dead here means two less pursuers. And there are several hundreds. I failed your father and many of my comrades for years… I don't intend to fail with you."

"And just what have you been doing all these years?" Naruto asked, collecting himself from what he just witnessed. "And why do you wear that – "

Hisomu cut him off. "As much as I would love to dump my life story, we really need to get out of here. Once we're out of Black Fang, I'll tell you my past all the way to the death of my little doggie over a cup of tea, but we need to go now."

Naruto felt Koyuki's eyes on him and a moment later, Hisomu's own joined them. So they were leaving it to him to trust the Snow Ninja or not. He took exactly three seconds to make his decision before giving his consent. "Alright, we trust you, Hisomu-san." He gestured to the Chakra Restraint Device still latched onto his stomach. "Any ideas how to get this damn thing off?"

The man knelt down and began expertly examining the Device. "I heard that Doto was crafting something like this, but to my knowledge, you're the first real test subject." He put one hand on it and began feeling around for a switch or release catch. Finding none, he took out a kunai and attempted to open the seal portion only for the weapon to snap. "My apologies," he said, finally backing off. "Best I can tell off hand is that you need the DNA of the one who put it on you in the first place."

Naruto just gave a dramatic sigh and shook his head. Of course it did; nothing could ever be simple, oh no! "Oh well… I've been meaning to introduce Nadare to my fists anyway." He turned around and started heading to the staircase.

"STOP!" Naruto froze on the spot and Koyuki jumped about a meter into the air. In a flash, Hisomu hurled a shuriken past them and into the stairway up. Once the projectile was inside, a large boulder came crashing down, collapsing the entire passageway as debris fell, blocking the entrance.

"Booby trap," Hisomu stated. "The castle is being attacked, so the traps to the Prison Level are active."

"Then I suppose you have a secret exit?" Naruto inquired.

"Something like that. There are three ways out: This one, the one I used, and the one you really don't want to know about."

Naruto had a mental image of being flushed out of the castle with all of the… waste contents. "Um… probably not."

With that, the trio took off down the hallway. As they left, Naruto pondered something. The Loyalist symbol was that of a metal fist on a silver insignia… and the one Hisomu just showed to prove he was one of the Guardians was a metal fist on a gold insignia. Exactly identical.

Why would Doto's insignia mirror that of the old regime?


Sasuke

Sasuke lowered his head as an ice blast sailed over him. Three Ninja were in hot pursuit of him and Sakura, with many coming from further behind. He gave a small leap in the air, rotating his body a hundred and eighty degrees to face the incoming enemy, his hands flying through the six familiar seals.

Six fireballs flew from his mouth towards the incoming ninja. One of them formed seals of their own and expelled a chilling wind from the mouth. Sasuke watched as his fireballs became smaller and smaller until they vanished into small poofs of smoke.

But it stalled them just long enough.

During this small exchange, Sakura had whipped out one of her kunai with the small pouches and hurled it to the ceiling. When it struck, the impact caused the pouch to explode, releasing dozens of tiny paper bombs throughout the air.

A Faiatama appeared to life in Sasuke's hand, which he then hurled towards the falling mini-explosives. The other two Yuki-Nin reacted with surprising efficiency by using two jutsu of their own – the Ice Tiger and the Ice Orb – to counter Sasuke's attack. The two attacks intercepted Sasuke's attack, extinguishing it just like his previous Katon, whipping out a kunai to deal with the incoming ice shards.

Acting on that moment, Sakura launched her own Faiatama, having used Sasuke as a block so the Yuki-nin couldn't see it. Sasuke watched confidently as the looks from the three enemy nin went from one of triumph to one of shock as Sakura's attack hit the first of the small papers.

A roaring explosion came next, shattering the stone all around them. Huge chunks of rubble fell from both the walls and the ceiling as debris began filling up the hallway as the Snow Ninja scrambled to get out of the way. Sasuke couldn't tell if they made it or not from the falling chunks of stone, but the passageway was sealed off for now and that's what mattered.

"At least until they blow away the debris," he muttered to himself.

Sakura's expression gave no hint to her thoughts about that statement as both of them turned around and hurried down the hallway, already hearing sounds of ninjutsu being used against the barricade.

The two continued onward, coming within sight of the two large oak doors of the Great Hall. Leaping as one, they kicked opened the doors, landing in the room with the grace of a cat that just jumped from a tree.

They had decided to try and get the movie crew out before heading down to Naruto, not knowing how many they could save (or the more likely fact of how far they would get before they got killed) escorting the group back to the trucks, but they were determined to try nonetheless.

The Great Hall had been exactly as they left it. The festive mood was going on, no one having heard anything from all the loud music and activity. People were still sprawled out all over the place, eating at the tables, conversing loudly as they stuffed themselves. Small shows were still going on, including that very annoying, damnable skit the two Leaf Genin had been forced to partake in.

All heads jerked in their direction due to the doors violently swinging open. While some people simply blinked and stared in confusion, shouts and sounds of detonations now began filling the room, making even the half-drunk Samurai realize what was going on.

Several things happened at once. Michy elbowed the samurai nearest to him, then palmed the guy in the chin, sending him to the ground. Hidero grabbed a plate from table and slammed it on another warrior's head. Ken spun around and threw what looked like a white ball at the face of the nearest Snow Ninja, who immediately began rubbing his face in a frenzy as tears streaked his face. Several Snow nin began forming seals to fire at the two teenagers, but were hit with various items by other members of the movie crew whom they had briefly forgotten about, including Kaijo of all people who grabbed the camera near him, turned it on the middle of the room and turned up the light way past the safety limits, blinding many.

Other Samurai had already drawn their weapons, but the movie crew – panic allowing them to react slightly faster – were already throwing everything they could at the snow soldiers: Food, cups, chairs… Sasuke swore a rat was hurled in all that mayhem.

The two leaf ninja acted themselves, rushing towards the enemy and combating as many as they could. Sakura all but tackled three samurai and two Chunin who were about to cut down some of the movie crew, while Sasuke used his Shishi Rendan on one of the Jonin, kicking him on a table, where he then rolled along said table and sprung back to his feet, kicking a pitcher at the nearest samurai.

Another of the Jonin in the room was calmly knocking aside all the makeshift projectiles. He pulled out a sword that would have made Zabuza proud and swung at the nearest crew members. Sasuke already felt himself running in that direction but knew he was too far away and braced himself for what he would see next. Except it didn't come as that was when Makino moved, as swift as a wolf, calmly shoving the three grateful men down and spinning around as the sword narrowly missed the old director as it slammed into the ground, cutting down. Makino looked like someone had won a poker game rather than someone who just had a brush of death.

That's when the old man grinned, his pipe sticking up as a result as he put his hand together, forming the seals for Inu, Hare, Tatsu, Ushi, then Inu again. "Ninpou…"

Sasuke and Sakura just looked on in pure shock. No way… there was no way in hell he could…

"Shounetsujigoku," Makino shouted, abruptly cutting off his "handseals" and merely blowing hard on his pipe. Two small smoking cinders flew out and hit the Snow Nin right in the eyes, resulting the man screaming as his hands covered his face in agony.

The Uchiha heir nearly tripped over his own feet. I should have known…

A yell of anger and humiliation escaped the shinobi's throat as he grabbed his massive sword and swung widely at the director, at the same time trying to clear out his eyes with his free hand. Makino calmly shifted his stance back and forth, avoiding the large katana with pathetic ease. When the sword came downward at him, he hopped to the side, then actually jumped on the blade forcing it out of the man's hand.

Makino quickly hopped off the sword and slammed his other foot into the stone cold floor. To Sasuke's utter amazement, a piece of the stone floor kicked up into the air, slamming right into the forehead of the other man.

He crumpled to the floor at once.

Everyone's heads drew to the sight of some old fossil toying with a Jonin like he was some fresh academy student. Sasuke was glad no one was looking at him because he did not want to explain his own gaping expression at what he just witnessed… whatever the hell it was!

That's when everything began changing. The room began swirling in three different directions as he was hit with several different lights in rapid succession. First black, then green, then red, then white, then black again. He clutched his head to try and get a grip on reality as his Sharingan activated, trying to pinpoint the source.

His dojutsu helped some. He was able to make the room only spin in one direction and the rapid light show slowed down considerably. He managed to look around and saw that everyone – including the Snow personal – were reacting just as he had, gripping their heads and screaming like they were going insane. Sakura herself was barely standing, making the Tora seal, shouting 'Kai' every few seconds as sweat dripped down her head, her face visibly strained by the effects.

Sasuke found the source at the other side of the room just as everything flipped upside down and he was hit with an intense flash of red, making him keel over. Trying to compose himself, he saw that the user was this ridiculously old snow ninja hag, who was standing with her arms spread out as though she were praying to the gods, glowing like a rainbow. His Sharingan then analyzed that this woman wasn't casting just one genjutsu, but many. They were happening so fast that by the time his eyes locked on and registered one, two new ones replaced it.

How the hell was she casting so many illusions at once? She wasn't even moving, let alone making handseals!

"Akufu-sama, please stop!" several of the Yuki-nin called out. One was actually clawing his eyes out to try and get all the visions to stop. "We're here too!"

This Akufu responded by crossing her arms in front of her, gesturing with her hands inward as if she were yanking something out. This time, the room began flipping up and down while many floating death heads began flying everywhere. Every time they hit a person, they would clutch their chests and fell to the ground.

Is she literally scaring us to death? Sasuke wondered as a death head thing came at him. He attempted to use his Sharingan to dispel it but the second he did, it split into three different variants. The first one hit him dead him on, followed quickly by the second and third. Each one made him feel like he had swallowed molten lead while at the same time he was bombarded with intense images of that night. No! He was NOT going to succumb to this again! It would NOT happen –

BHRRRRRR!

It was like someone slapped Sasuke. A split second later, it then felt like cold water was dunked on him as the room was once again bathed in intense light. Only this time, it remained the same color and merely grew in intensity. Due to his Sharingan's sight increase, Sasuke found himself closing his eyes by reflex.

And when he opened them, all the visions were gone. He picked himself off from the floor (when the heck did he fall anyway?) and looked around in complete astonishment. The room was no longer spinning, lights weren't flashing and there was no sign of those death head things. He wasn't the only one amazed as Sakura just had her jaw hanging open and slouching, the movie crew as well as the Snow forces – both Samurai and Shinobi alike – were slowly regaining their bearings, a small truce declared as everyone was trying to figure out what stopped the attack.

That's when everyone saw Makino himself standing in the middle of the room, his sunglasses over his face. In one hand was a foghorn and in the other was a light from the top of one of the cameras.

Okay… no… just no! You have GOT to be pulling my leg! You're saying MAKINO stopped that attack? MAKINO? With SUNGLASSES AND SOME COMMON PLACE TOOLS? Everyday items did BETTER than my Sharingan? No, no, no! There has to be some mistake!

In what crazy loony reality did this happen? Where a senile movie director who claimed to be perfectly ordinary was able to outperform ninja like this!

This guy was as ordinary as a three-headed goat! This guy HAD to be some sort of ninja legend! Gari of the Rock's Blast Unit, Fuguki Suikazan the previous owner of the Samahada or even the legendary molten user, Roshi!

"In the end, it's all just a fancy light show, my dear," Makino said regarding the other senior in the room. "Which just happens to be my area of expertise."

Light show my ass! Sasuke screamed mentally.

"Is that what ya thinks it is, ya hunk?" Akufu asked. She spread her arms out and green – that's right green – fire burst to life in her hands. Sasuke found himself looking at it hard with his Sharingan. The flames looked… twisted and sick, as opposed to a healthy, roaring fire. The Loyalist threw her arms forward, hurling the green flames at the aged director.

Makino simply stood his ground, tapping his foot as the green flames of death came at him. About four seconds before impact, he darted off to the side and pulled off a tablecloth. He twisted the cloth in front of him as the flames struck it. He began spinning around in a circle with the grace that would had made professional dancers envious as he began bundling up the now burning cloth in his hands, expertly touching the none flame portions. He came to a stop, holding up the bundled cloth the size of a basketball. A green burning basketball in his hands that emitted so much heat Sasuke could feel it from where he stood nearly ten meters away, yet Makino seemed perfectly fine! The director then lobbed the burning makeshift ball right at back at Akufu with an astonishing amount of strength in the throw.

Akufu merely narrowed her eyes in irritation. Without warning, a slab of stone shot up in front of the old crone, forming a protective pillar. Makino's homemade projectile collided with it, the flames now slowly consuming the stone wall.

The Snow Ninja snapped her fingers and the green flames vanished, the tattered remains of the tablecloth falling to the ground. She then picked up her right foot and stomped down hard. Suddenly her stone pillar broke apart into three pieces as they began floating around her and then launched themselves at Makino as Akufu crossed her arms.

This time Makino didn't wait as he jumped forward, grabbing two nearby chairs. He spun around once and tossed them at the first stone. The chairs hit and shattered, but in a bizarre domino-like effect, the first stone then crashed into the second one, both of which collided with the third one. Makino leaped up right at the three stones, set his hand upon them and shoved them to the ground. They hit hard, kicking up a fair amount of dust that covered the man completely.

Several items came firing out of the dust cover that Sasuke saw were plates from the tables. About ten of them, heading towards Akufu as accurately thrown as kunai. The old woman merely growled in annoyance as she raised her arm –

BHRRRRRR!

Makino's foghorn went off again, louder than ever as even Sasuke felt himself jerking and covering his ears from the unexpected noise. Akufu herself also flinched for a split second as the plates neared her. Being a Jonin, she managed to avoid all but the initial one as a small cut appeared on her face. Her eyes began blazing red – yes, literal red – to match the blood seeping down her cheek.

The dust cover began spinning around as though Naruto's Kaze Tate had activated. It then dispersed itself, revealing a towering Makino, the foghorn in his left hand. With his other hand, he began wiggling his finger like a disapproving parent with a cheeky grin on his face.

Everyone was just staring completely dumbfounded at what was going on… indeed, WHAT was going on? Could this battle even be called ninjutsu?

A loud shout erupted from the Snow Ninja. Suddenly the entire area began shaking as shrapnel, sharp wooden splinters, ninja weapons and equipment began picking themselves up into the air. Everyone gulped slightly as they backed up as far to the wall as they could. It was a rather strange sight to see individuals who had just been fighting minutes earlier now tolerating each other as this duel of the fogies continued, each one just hoping to get out of this with their heads intact.

Akufu gave a small nudge with her head as every article went flying directly at the old man. In a flash, Makino tossed aside his foghorn and reached into his pockets. When he pulled them out, he was wearing what looked like joy buzzers on his hands as he slapped his hands over his head. Once again, there was this loud shrieking noise erupted from them. Each of Akufu's projectiles stopped in midair, then clattered to the ground.

Makino quickly reached into his pocket again and held his arm up high, now holding a small lighter. With a flick, the small flame came to life. Then Makino opened his hand and let it drop to the ground.

The floor exploded at his feet. These small explosions snaked towards Akufu, with each explosion building off the previous, growing stronger and stronger. Sasuke was just flabbergasted at what was happening when he noticed that it wasn't the stone exploding, but several lines of black powder on the ground. That must had been on the plates he threw, depositing this… blast powder… on the ground as a setup for this… attack! Sasuke realized.

From the Loyalist leader's reaction, she recognized this as well. With a loud 'Kuso', she repeated Makino's action and clapped over her head. Stone from the walls, floor and roof all came to her aid, forming a protective dome around her just barely ahead of the exploding powder.

For the first time, Sasuke saw Makino's eyes narrow. He no longer wore that confident smile he had previously, his stance was more on edge and even the hairs on the back of his neck seemed to stand on end. His gaze was carefully searching around as the stone dome crumbled… and Akufu was nowhere to be seen.

"That is low, honey," Makino said unexpectedly. Sasuke started to ask what the hell he was talking about.

"DO NOT MOVE, SASUKE!"

Sasuke felt like a hand clasped around his throat from the sheer shock from the order. He had heard Makino yell before, but this was completely different. There was a notch of panic in his voice now. Actual PANIC! None of that lighthearted tone he had used, or his easygoing insanity that he was so fond of in his directing. Even those situations had a touch of fun; this was entirely different as Makino's tone spoke of complete seriousness. Sasuke had trouble wrapping his brain around this fact. Makino being serious was like… like… like Orochimaru dressing up in a dog suit, doing a single handstand and using his free hand to play his tongue like an instrument. It simply DID NOT HAPPEN.

That's when Sasuke gasped out loud, clutching his stomach. How could he describe this? It felt like someone had taken a dagger, completely bypassed his skin and stabbed his stomach, sadistically twisting it. Each of his organs now felt like they were being shuffled all over the place. Out of the corner of his eyes (his damn USELESS eyes that didn't tell him at all what the hell was going on!) he saw everyone else reacting the same way. Makino himself was violently reacting, but he quickly grabbed a discarded kunai from the table and stabbed himself in the upper arm.

"EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO LIVE GET BEHIND ME NOW!" Makino shouted at the top of his lungs in an authoritative voice that would have made every single Kage obey without question as he tossed the shinobi knife to the side.

Everyone on the movie crew and Sakura obeyed immediately and, to Sasuke's surprise, a handful of samurai and three of the Snow Shinobi did as well. No one questioned them or stopped them as they all fell behind Makino, horror etched on the faces of those warriors and ninja that had not acted in time. Makino put his hand to his mouth and whistled. It sounded much like the low hum of a whale. Sasuke felt the evil sensations fade away as they all looked on helplessly at those on the other side.

They were raving like lunatics, grasping their heads and shouting out pleas of mercy to Akufu, begging for their lives and not to hurt them. Their screams would pierce Sasuke's skull and if he lived to be a 150, he would still remember them with perfect recollection.

"… the black death…" one of the Snow Ninja spoke, sounding sick.

"The what?" the Uchiha heir demanded.

The man gulped. "It's… well… it was always a skill that Akufu," Sasuke noticed the deliberate lack of an honorific on the name. "Boasted about. Imagine a black hand hanging over your head… then that hand completely bypassing your flesh and bones, to where it could reach the very recesses of your brain itself… imagine that hand taking hold of it and tearing out pieces. Memories. Aspects of your personality. Even down to basic reactions. Reshaping your mind into a small fraction of what it was. A very small, broken and ill-built fraction."

"She demonstrated something very similar to this once before. On a group of pigs. Made them all stand up on their hind legs and dance. But that was nothing compared to this, so we all thought it was just some fancy trick she pulled to justify her status," another Yuki-nin spoke. He looked at Makino as though he were a god. "How are you protecting us?"

"That's not the question you need to ask, son," Makino said, pointing at the other side of the great hall. "What you should be asking is: What happens now?"

Sasuke couldn't find it in himself to call these creatures men and women anymore. Their eyes were completely blackened out, much like paint splashed down on them. They did not walk, they stumbled. They moved about like a broken puppet, their limbs out of place and moving about in unnatural ways. As they took steps, their entire body would slouch only to jerk back upright with the next step.

"Was there really a need to result to this, sweetheart?" Makino asked out loud, a small hint of his previous demeanor slowly returning.

"I HATE to lose." The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. "Though it has been a long time since anyone could see through my art, my pretty."

"Oh, I'm hurt. I thought we were having fun on our date."

"The time of my life, honey. But sadly, all good things must pass."

Sasuke found this little banter rather disturbing.

Makino didn't reply to this as he looked at the two dozen or so Snow personnel behind him. "Well, what will you all do? If you are loyal…" He pointed at the Broken Horde slowly lining up and ready for a charge. "You might as well strike us now and join your brethren."

The Shinobi and Samurai looked at each other, then their comrades. "One… could argue that Akufu has gone too far and needs to be removed…" a samurai said slowly.

"… I always thought she lost her mind. That's not the kind of person Doto-sama needs in his command," one of the Chunin spoke up.

"All pass along your resignations to Doto then," Akufu's voice said. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell him you all perished in the line of duty."

With that, the Broken Horde charged forward in their swaggering run. Sasuke and Sakura ran forward from their line to met the charge, the three Yuki-nin only a second behind them, then Ken, Hidero and Michy, followed by the Samurai, then the rest of the movie crew, picking up anything that could be used as a makeshift weapon, while Makino stayed where he was, his eyes still searching.

Battle cries were heard as the two groups clashed. Bodies were knocked over from the sheer force of impacts as sounds of combat rang through the hall. About seven of the movie crew tackled a Broken who was then pinned to the ground by one of the Samurai's katanas. One of the Broken Shinobi formed an Ice jutsu, hurling a good portion of the crowd into the air. The sole remaining sane Jonin was battling two of his former comrades at once, sparks flying from their clashing weapons. Sasuke was battling three shinobi at once, claiming a fallen katana. These Broken Men moved so strangely and awkwardly that even with his Sharingan helping him, all he could do was parry them off, never managing to form a single hand seal. Sakura was fighting alongside the actors, each of them covering and replacing each other as they tangled with Broken Samurai, allowing Kaijo to lob projectiles at them.

Makino was standing still, none of the Broken coming at him. And the reason was obvious: Akufu wanted him for herself.

That's when Makino spun on his heel just missing Akufu's materializing hand, black as the night and emitting a nauseating odor. Her hand missed Makino's head by centimeters as the old man grabbed a nearby pitcher and shoved it on the woman's hand, liquid spilling all over her arm. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out something that looked like a flash bomb while Akufu reared her other hand back.

They clashed.

There was a deafening explosion that momentarily paused all the fighting and when it cleared, both of them were gone.

Before anyone could say or do anything more, the Great Hall doors burst open and several more shinobi rushed in. Sasuke looked back just in time to groan before blocking another strike from the Ninja he was fighting. He shoved the arm back and kicked the Broken as he spun around, preparing to meet the new enemies.

The Yuki-nin went right past him and kicked the Broken Nin, hurling him into the nearest wall.

Behind Sakura, two of the newcomers dropped down on the group of Samurai, freezing them to the ground. Another one kicked a Chunin in the face as the two began rolling on the ground. A more robust Yuki-nin grabbed another Broken Chunin by the head, slamming it in the ground hard, followed by a spread of hair firing into the former ninja's chest.

Wait… hair?

Sasuke stole another look and this time recognized the man. The Hair User he fought previously in the big melee, Heaairon Oniikei.

Looking around further on, he realized he recognized each of the newcomers. The shinobi they had fought by the lakeside.

"Keep focused, Uchiha." Sasuke looked behind him to see another Snow Ninja entering as three more forms jumped past him into the melee.

"There is much to be done and your support is here," Suigen Kiganai said.


Black Fang Castle

All around the castle, Snow teams consisting of men and women, shinobi and samurai, were responding as efficiently as they knew how either in pursuit of the genin (they seemed to be everywhere!) or dealing with the damages to the armory, stables and blacksmith. A team of samurai ran along the battlements, having been informed that the genin had planted explosives there as a means of escape as a group of four Snow shinobi landed behind them.

Seconds later, that same group of samurai was frozen to the wall.

Four Snow ninja ran down the hall to the Warlord's chambers when two figures jumped from the ceiling and landed on two of them, knocking them out. The other two looked on in shock to see that Yuki-nin had done the dropping.

A powerful Chokushanikkou beam hit the two dead on, slamming them against the wall and off to slumber land as well.

In the north wing of the castle, two different teams of Snow ninja crossed paths. They quickly conferred with each other, then rushed off in opposite directions… for about five seconds before one of them blasted the other from behind.

All across the castle, Snow ninja were turning on their fellows, both Samurai and Shinobi alike. Yuki-nin blasted, tackled, or struck their fellows, either stunning or killing outright. While many were undoubtedly taken by surprise, the sheer number of Doto supporters running around meant that only so many would be taken down before the remaining forces realized what was going on. A Samurai commander snarled in disgust as what this meant.

They had been betrayed!

And that's when the stone wall exploded and a lightning blade burst through the man's chest.


Back in the Great Hall

-Flashback approximately ten minutes earlier-

Kiganai had been chatting with several of his fellows about the condition of the injured. The way station here was truly gifted. That's not to say the others around the Snow Country weren't, but this one was situated close to the Daimyo himself, so being up to date and efficient was mandatory. Any serious injuries – namely the ones Reigi sustained from the demon boy – were taken care of, leaving only a small number of bumps and bruises. Kiganai had been talking with those on the failed assault what to do in order to get accepted back into Doto's graces without becoming missing-nin.

And that's when the explosions happened.

Sure they had all seen the trucks enter the castle and suspected the Genin were sneaking in… but none of them actually believed they'd do anything!

Over fifty ninja jerked their heads in the direction of the castle as smoke was starting to rise into the cold, black night. "You have got to be kidding me," Kugi said. The bear summoner's chest was heavily bandaged as he put his outer shirt and jacket back on. "They're still at it? It's only been… what, half a day since they beat all of us?"

"Tell me about it," Murasaki spoke, huddling over. His left knee had a brace on it. "Don't they ever take a break? At least wait a day or so."

"I can tell you in my day…" Oyaji started rambling on and on about the 'glory days' and 'undignified young men' again.

Kiganai wasn't listening. He was just watching. One, two… at least three separate explosions. He couldn't hear anything, but he saw spotlights all over the place. These three little kids… ninja, he corrected himself… had infiltrated this land, fought again and again against overwhelming odds, survived, and continued to fight. And this wasn't even their country.

While they… what had they done? What had they accomplished? What had the Shinobi of Yukigakure in the Snow Country been doing during all this?

They obeyed the rules, followed their superior… and he left them to waste away in the snowstorm, not lifting a finger to help.

What did following the rules now mean? Doto was not a kind person. He would not welcome failures back. They'd probably be used as test fodder for his forces before striking the Five Great Nations.

A shinobi was supposed to follow the rules and be ready to give their life for their village and country… but what if the one doing the ordering wasn't acting in the best interest of the village or country or both? Did being a true shinobi mean accepting what was to come, even if death was a cause that you didn't believe in… or did being a true shinobi mean being willing to stand and say "This is not working, we need a change." ?

He didn't find an answer to that question; so he asked himself a much simpler question:

Did he like the way Doto did things?

That answer, perhaps not so surprisingly, came immediately.

Kiganai began walking towards the castle. "Going off to help, eh?" Tsukai asked, giving off his weird chuckle again. "Count me in, I want some payback."

"I am going to back up the Leaf Ninja."

Dead silence.

Fujiwara Sekimu broke it first, his right hand subconsciously rubbing his tender chest. "Say that again."

He came to a stop, his eyes resting on the castle ahead of him, the sounds of violence still escalating. "I said I'm going to help the Leaf Ninja. It's long past time we did."

"Are you NUTS?" several of them shouted. "That's TREASON!"

"They came here FIRST! Not the other way around!"

"They nearly killed us and left us for dead!"

"So did Doto," Kiganai interrupted.

That earned another silence, much like when one was kicked hard in the gut.

The Suigen clan member looked over his shoulder towards his fellows. "Yes, we fought and lost against them. And when we needed help, Doto abandoned us to the elements. We had to fend for ourselves. That is Doto's way… and I no longer like it. It's high past time we do something about it."

Eimin shook his head. "You'll just end up as a Missing-nin if you try this. There's only death for such a path."

"We're going to be on that path regardless." All heads turned towards the new speaker, Homare, as he walked forward. "We've failed in our assault on the genin and Doto will have no use for us. If we aren't rounded up and killed on the spot, we'll be hunted down."

"So you're going too, Honor-san," Tettsui asked, deliberately using mocking contempt. "You two won't change anything! The Saati Koukennin tried and lost."

"Oh, wake up!" Ikusa snapped. She pointed to the castle. "In case you forgot, THREE GENIN have caused all that ruckus!"

At the proclamation, the Ninjas' heads all glanced towards the castle again. It was still brightly lit from the active searchlights; the genin were still making an effort despite Doto's whole stronghold going against them. "Would Koyuki-hime even take us as supporters?" Gyokuei Hari asked. "Even if by some fluke all of Doto's supporters are taken down at Black Fang, he still has the rest of Snow to call upon, including Yukigakure."

Kiganai shook his head. "Look… I'm not trying to convince anyone. You can argue yourselves to death whether to act or not. I'm not making any big speeches, just going by what I see: Three young adults have stood up to Doto, no plan, and are winning. Leaf Ninja doing what Snow Ninja should have done long ago. Decide for yourselves on what to do… and if you want to stop me, I'll see you on the battlefield."

Without another word, Kiganai took off towards the Castle.

Seconds passed, then Ikusa and Homare took off as well. The rest of them just stood dumbfounded, looking at each other, wanting someone to say anything on what they should be doing.

"Don't worry, Hottie!" Everyone turned to see Yashinka dramatically running in place. "Yashinka, the Self-Proclaimed Prince of Snow, shall come save you, Pink Princess!" With a flamboyant gesture, he broke off into a run following the trio from earlier. Hari, Sekimu, and Kakeru soon joined them.

Followed by every single one of them.

-End of flashback-

Kiganai weaved in and out of the mass human melee going on as he made it to the Uchiha, kicking a Broken in the face and sending it sprawling across the wall. "I thought you said we didn't know what we were doing," the boy said, a small smirk appearing on his face. "That we could try for a hundred years and still never prevail."

"You can be surprisingly inspirational," Kiganai replied. "Listen, let us take over from…"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow to him. "You want me to leave our allies in your hands and run from this fight?"

"I want you to focus on the bigger picture. Focus on Doto and the San Eihei. Unless those four are defeated as well, none of this will matter. You guys have the skills to do it, you can't waste time fighting everyone here." He gave a small smile behind his mask. "Let us reclaim some dignity for our Country ourselves. Just take out Doto and his three stooges."

"That was always the plan," the Uchiha replied as he thought about it. It didn't take him long to nod in agreement as he signaled Sakura towards the door. "Where is our friend being held?"

Kiganai quickly told him of the prison level and the ways to get down, suggesting one of the lesser routes to get there. Before he could explain why, swirling black smoke gathered on one of the tables, revealing Akufu. Glaring daggers in their direction, she opened her hand, a misshapen piece of metal with sharp edges appearing. Throwing her arm back, she hurled it at the two.

Sasuke was already preparing to block, but Kiganai jumped in front of him and kicked the projectile with his shin guards, the device disrupting it as it hurled across the room into a Broken. "Go!" Kiganai shouted as he continued to block each shot Akufu fired at them as the two Leaf genin made their way toward the door.

The movie crew were slowly moving back into a supporting role as the Snow Ninja were taking over. Several of them clashed in the air like some ritualistic dance, kunai clashing in elegant patterns. One Yuki-nin was chasing a Broken by running on the walls, constantly firing ninjutsu in their direction. Another Yuki-Nin fired a Tiger Missile, hitting one Samurai through the chest into a second one before five Broken tackled him, ripping him apart like wolves.

Sakura and Sasuke just made it to the door when a large ice rhino was nearly on top of them. This time, Danmari appeared, using one of his great axes and cleaving the attack in two. He looked over his shoulder and gave the two a nod.

"Do not worry about us." All figures looked up to see Makino sitting on top of the door. His left leg was casually swinging off the side while he rested his head with his right arm. In his left hand he held something they couldn't make out as he stood up and calmly jumped down by the two Leaf Ninja. "Go rescue your teammate."

Before they could respond, Makino gave the big man a nod and Danmari not so gently shoved them out of the room. Using his foot, Makino gave a mighty shove on the oak doors to close them. "Go do what you must," Makino said, peeking past a fraction of a second before the doors shut the two outside. "We will not allow anyone to escape."

The doors closed on the Genin before either of them could utter a response. Makino walked gracefully in front of the two great oak doors. "They shall not pass!"


Lower Levels, roughly same time

At Naruto's insistence, the trio here did not start looking for an alternative exit. He had something else to take care of first.

So Hisomu lead him to Akufu's lab, where Naruto had first been brought and examined. When they got there, the old crone wasn't there. Or anyone for that matter. While it was probably a good thing given the blond still had the Chakra Restraint Device on him, he was nonetheless pissed at the fact that he couldn't beat the utter tar out of the old fossil. Instead, the three of them looked over the lab, hoping to find something that might be able to remove the infernal thing.

After several minutes of fruitless searching, it became apparent that they were finding nothing. So in a need to vent all his frustrations built up over the day, Naruto went ballistic on the lab. He smashed every vial he could find, wrecked everything he found on the tables, demolished that mirror thing that was used on him, destroyed every sheet of notes he could fine before ending it all with a well-placed explosion.

Seeing the place completely ruined lifted Naruto's spirits some and he did feel a lot better, with the blast echoing behind them. Hisomu had turned on his radio to the Yuki-nin's channel, so they were able to hear bits and pieces of the conversation. Seemed that Sasuke and Sakura really had the Snow Ninja stumped, making them believe the two were everywhere. Now they just had to find them and –

An explosion came from further down the hall and Hisomu muttered a curse. "That's where the exit was. Something's up."

Naruto uttered a word in response that made Koyuki smack him across the head. Both he and Hisomu pressed Koyuki against the wall as they drew weapons, Naruto a kunai and Hisomu a short sword he called a chokuto. Naruto took a few careful sniffs and growled in his throat as the cold was still making it hard for him to smell anything. In this case, he was smelling bacon and chicken!

The Guardian leaned towards the corner and held up a hand, silently counting down with his fingers. With the last one down, both Naruto and Hisomu sprung around the corner.

"SASUKE?"

"NARUTO?"

"SAKURA?"

"KOYUKI?"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

Each of the shinobi was frozen in place as these words left their lips. Hisomu's sword was at Sakura's throat, but blocked by a kunai in Sasuke's left hand, his Sharingan blazing. His right hand had a katana that was pointing right at Naruto's heart. Naruto in turn had his kunai clashing with Sasuke's sword and his hand slightly clasped around Sasuke's neck. Sakura, in turn, had a kunai in her right hand that had slightly dug into Naruto's hand and a small Faiatama in her other hand ready to throw. Koyuki was standing behind the Snow and Leaf Shinobi, clutching something rather tightly.

Slowly, everyone withdrew their weapons and the fireball in Sakura's hand died away. Sasuke gave a light chuckle as he rubbed his throat and deactivated his doujutsu. "Finally found you, Sekigan. You've – "

Before another word could be said, Naruto grabbed both of them into a tight hug. "YOU WONDERFUL BASTARDS! I THOUGHT YOU REALLY WERE DEAD THIS TIME! JUST LIKE WITH HAKU! YOU TWO HAVE GOT TO KICK THIS HORRIBLE HABIT!"

"Naruto! The hell!"

"Nice to see you too… LET GO YOU BAKA!"

Naruto's only response was to continue squeezing the living daylights out of them. Both Sakura and Sasuke's faces were beginning to turn blue, while tears of joy leaked out from Naruto's sole working eye. "THAT'S RIGHT! PARADISE! CALL ME A FEW MORE NAMES, HA HA HA! I COULD THINK OF TONS FOR YOU BOTH: SCAR BUTT, PINK FIST, FIRE RAVEN, WILD CHERRY BLOSSOM! DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN! SHEESH, WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE TO KEEP YOU GUYS FROM – "

All the while, Koyuki and Hisomu just stared in an awkward silence. Like they just walked into a marriage proposal from the biggest nerd you could imagine to the world's greatest geek. "Ladies and Gentlemen," Koyuki said in a deadpan voice, jerking all three heads in their direction. She held her hand towards them. "The Heroes of the Snow Country."

"… you know, we can just stand over here…" Hisomu said, jerking his thumb down the hallway a bit. "And stick my head in a furnace," he added under his breath.

In the time it took you to take a breath, Naruto quickly disengaged himself from his two teammates, composed himself (save for a slight red in the face) as he coughed into his fist and started to speak in a more natural, normal tone when both his comrades smacked him across the head, calling him several colorful terms of their own.

"Moving on," the Snow Ninja said impatiently as his eyes settled on the two newcomers. "What's going on above? What was that explosion behind you?"

"You go first," Sakura insisted. "Who are you and why are you helping them?" She pointed at Naruto and Koyuki.

"I'm Hisomu, I'm the last of the Saati Koukennin. I just helped Naruto-san and Koyuki-hime break out and I killed two Loyalists to prove it," the man replied carefully.

Sasuke and Sakura were still eyeing him suspiciously, then looked past him towards Naruto, their eyes asking the question silently. Naruto just gave a slight nod.

The two relaxed about three hairs.

Sasuke jerked upward with his thumb and gave them the rundown of what had happened during the last twenty minutes: how they snuck out of the kitchens and planted traps, that they were discovered and forced to act prematurely. Running towards the Great Hall, the initial clash inside as the movie crew fought back, and the arrival of backup from the defeated Snow ninja.

Naruto whistled. "Damn, you two've been busy. And all I've got to show for it is this stupid thing." He angrily indicated the Chakra Restraint Device. "And a whole lot of pent-up anger." He turned to Sakura. "You still have it?"

She gave a nod as she reached up and undid her headband. She pulled it off her head as her hair fell out of place. A small item fell as a result, which she caught with ease.

The Hex Crystal.

"So you three did have it," Koyuki said.

"Fubuki asked out loud at the Iceberg if you had the Hex Crystal," Sasuke said as Sakura handed it over to Koyuki. "It wasn't hard to figure out she meant this."

"I pulled it off you before we all started talking on the ship on what was really going on. I gave it to Sakura this morning when we split up looking for you after you ran off. The original plan was to keep passing it around between us," Naruto added. "So that only two of us would know at a time who had it. Plausible deniability. But that idea went out the window when we got separated."

There was a sharp whistle and the heads all turned towards the Snow Ninja once again as Sakura retied her headband back in her hair. "Look, I hate to break up this little reunion but we need to get out of here. Uchiha, what happened to the exit?"

It was Sakura who answered. "We were chased by some Snow ninja. Some of their jutsu missed us and hit the staircase down. We barely made it past before it completely collapsed."

Hisomu buried his face in his hands. "… they didn't miss."

"What?" the other four asked.

"They aimed for the entrance to trap us down here." Hisomu said. He started to look ill. "The main passageway is destroyed and now the backup is as well. Now we're stuck down here."

"Wait a minute," the Uzumaki snapped. His features hardened slightly as he glared at the Yuki-nin. "You told me there were three ways out! You better not be lying to us!"

"Because we don't want to use that other route," Hisomu started.

"Why?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. "Does it cut into a waiting trap? Or you going to try and tell us you don't want to walk through sewage?"

"Because it cuts through the Hell Asylum!" Hisomu interrupted.

The four other faces took on looks of confusion. "We've heard about that a few times," Sakura said. "Just what is that place?"

Hisomu just shook his head. "The key to Doto's power." He gave a sigh and turned around. "Come with me and pray for your souls."


Sasuke

As they follow the Snow Ninja onward, Sasuke felt himself more and more on edge. He knew exactly who this 'Hisomu' was. The chokuto itself was enough to give it away, the fact the man did not give his surname, the man's chakra signature, even the way he moved and gestured only further proved it. The only reason he wasn't blowing the man's identity right now was the fact that dozens of Snow Ninja had come and aided them and it was possible this man was doing the same. Foe or otherwise, Sasuke was positive the Yuki-nin was sincere in wanting to escape this level, so for the moment, they needed him. It was the rest of his intentions that were a mystery to the Uchiha heir.

What happened after that would be the Shinigami's own luck.

He carefully glanced to his female teammate. From just the way she looked, he couldn't tell if she also knew or not. He was certain Sakura suspected as she had been there during the encounter. Naruto, of course, hadn't run into this man before so he had no idea, though Sasuke was pleased to see the blond was nonetheless only trusting the Snow Shinobi so far and ready to act according if it came to that. Sasuke would had told Naruto already, if not for the fact he didn't want this man to overhear the conversation and put him on guard.

In response, the man tossed back his hood and lower his facial mask, revealing that he was missing the lower half of his left ear. "My name is Enrai Taigi." He put the chokuto in his... mouth?... as he pulled out a scroll. "You killed my lover." With that, he summoned two normal-sized katanas which he held in his hands in the reverse grip style. "Prepare to die."

Enrai Taigi.


Ten minutes later

"You have GOT to be kidding me."

"THIS is what you're all so afraid of?"

"You Snow Ninja REALLY need to grow up here!"

Before them was a pair of large steel doors with Doto's grinning face in front of them.

"Come on," Naruto said annoyed as he waved off the entryway. "Sure, Doto is ugly as hell, but that's no…"

"It's inside, you nitwits," 'Hisomu' snapped back. He took a deep breath to steady himself then walked over to the doors. He waved his hand over Doto's mouth.

"Holy is Doto-sama, great is he! Magnificent one he will truly be! Lord of the Snow, Earth and more, we'll happily serve him here and for! Doto-sama, King Most High, surely he will reign beyond the sky! Beloved Leader of our great History, how anyone could displease him is a mystery! But somehow you have done so, so now you must reap what you sow! So beg and cry like the losers you must be, for now comes your judgment you pathetic little wannabe!"

This was all sung like a children's sing-along.

The three Leaf Ninja were just dumbstruck from hear this. Sakura's mouth was hanging open, Sasuke's scarred eye twitched irritably and Naruto just rubbed his ears over and over. Even Koyuki was taken back, not sure at all what to say.

"Get used to it. There are forty seven verses."

"FORTY SEVEN?"

"Excluding the choruses and bridges."

"And just when I thought my opinion of Doto couldn't get lower," Naruto said in disgust. "I think my ears are going to bleed."

Hisomu didn't respond as he waved his hand over the stone mouth again. This time a paper seal appeared with the Kanji "Supreme!" written on it. Locking mechanisms began turning as the steel doors slowly swung open.

The Yuki-nin went in first, followed by the three Leaf Ninja and Koyuki bringing up the rear. Once they were inside, the doors slammed shut and dim lights began illuminating the area.

Multitudes of people were in front of them. Endless numbers of them.

"What are they all doing in here…?" Sakura started, only for Sasuke's hand to appear in front of her.

"Look closer. None of them are moving."

True to his words, apart from them, nothing was moving at all. Half of these statues looked so lifelike, it was very easy to mistake them while others were more natural stone-based ones. All of them were set up like exhibits in a museum, each one depicting a different setting and scenario. The first one was a group of civilians tied to the group about to be decapitated by Samurai. The second one was a group of Snow Ninja tied to two bent twos to be torn apart. The third were a group of castle retainers tied to stakes with men about to light them on fire. In each case, the victims were the lifelike replicas with the executioners the stone counterparts.

At the base were small plaques, talking about each exhibit. The first read 'Rebels hiding Saati Koukennin'. The second was 'Mikata's Agents Brought to Justice.' The third was 'Plotting against the Rightful Ruler'. Several lines of text were below each labels, describing the encounters and how they were resolved.

"These… each of these…" Sakura said slowly, her brain working to comprehend all this. "They're your history…"

"That's right. Each time is document whenever someone tried to stand up to Doto. From the very beginning." Hisomu started to say, only to stop when he saw Naruto slowly walking towards the nearest one. His face had sunken in slightly, as his nosed moved.

"…I… I… smell them! Oh Kami… Hisomu… are they STILL ALIVE?"

"STOP!" Hisomu warned.

Too late. Naruto took that extra step towards the first exhibit. Immediately, horrible screams and pleas filled his mind. Images of Samurai using their katanas to slice through the necks of their victims and he swore he could feel the blades cutting through his own neck again and again…

The images and sounds vanished as Hisomu pulled him back. Naruto was deathly white as he began touching his neck all over, as if expecting his head to fall off his shoulders.

"This place is a tomb," Hisomu said quietly. "From the beginning, Doto has collected the bodies of all those that have opposed him. Young and old, adult and child, shinobi, samurai or citizen. Akufu will heal and restore the bodies to near perfect condition and then preserve them in a special jutsu, so in a way, yes, they are still alive. It would be more accurate to say they are trapped; neither fully dead nor alive. Doomed to stay frozen in the moment of their death, forever feeling the fear and terror as their lives are cut away. And to top it all off, special seals are placed to broadcast those last, fleeting memories upon those that come across them.

"This is the Hell Asylum: A giant maze of those that stood up to Doto and were cut down. People thrown in here have to navigate to the other side. With each step being hit by the memories of the dead, going all the way to the finale – a recreation of the night Doto took over with the death of Sousetsu-sama himself."

All four of the people took a step back and looked back at the steel door. "Don't try it," Hisomu warned. "Even if you do manage to break through it somehow, it'll just rig the entire place to collapse. We'll be dead and buried before we can even blink and the other ways are still blocked."

Koyuki was breathing hard, desperately looking down but seemingly incapable of looking at all those that had died in the name of her father.

And her.

That's when a sharp pain came to her neck as she crumbled to the floor. Hisomu looked to see Sasuke standing over the princess. "… if we have to go through this." He said quietly, picking up Koyuki. "No need for all of us to suffer this." He looked at the Shinobi of the Snow. "Is there a way through?"

"There is. It's impossible to go through without activating each of the exhibits. The trick is to head through the ones that'll least affect you. I know the path that's less damning." He looked on ahead. "So steel yourselves: there are 59 different exhibits, totaling one thousand, four hundred and seventy eight individuals who tried to do what you are doing and paid the ultimate price. We will be hitting thirteen of them with a hundred different deaths."

Without another word, the four Shinobi began making their way through Hell as that song started up again with the second verse.

It wasn't so laughable anymore.


(Author's Note) And so the next chapter ends! The Revolution is well under way, help has arrived in the vanquished Snow Ninja – and if any of you remember any of those characters from the Big Melee, extra congrats! – Makino shows off his stuff and Doto's a real ass. Quite the chapter, wouldn't you say? Be sure to throw some thanks Tellemicus way for helping fine tune several aspects here!

On another note, it's come to my attention that there are some readers out there who feel that this story uses far too much coarse language. Legacy Naruto here has always had a foul mouth on him and since I use a lot more dialogue that Tellemicus does, obviously such language is going to be more commonplace. I'm just trying to make sure I hold true to the character Tellemicus set up.

That being said, if there really is a problem with the harsh language in this, by all means TELL ME. That's what the Review section is for. I have no problems toning it down if some people think it's going to far. Just let me know and I'll act on it accordingly, don't make me discover this myself.

No jutsu list here, despite all the fighting going on. No real new jutsu are being used by the ordinary Snow ninja, and Akufu and Makino's moves are… well… fill in your own explanation on what you think they're doing. Good luck with that! ^_^

Yes, it's not supposed to make sense or be comprehensible. Will I give an explanation for them? Only if I feel like it. All I will say is that their methods are different from each other.

Shounetsujigoku – Burning Hell
Ryuuki – Rising
Hoshi – Star

I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, any jutsu that Tellemicus created that are used in this story belongs to him. Big thanks to Paintball-Gamer for beta-reading this!