Road to Toad
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
There are many stories that are nothing more than… pastiches, written by unimaginative copycats and lazy writers, repeating word for word events in other stories and wasting the time of the one reading it.
And then there are many stories that are written by shallow greedy men pandering to their audience, not daring to break out of the cage they have built for themselves, to surprise them, to create something new.
And then there are those who blindly follow what is known as the 'cannon', not daring to break out of the mould that the original Creators gave us.
Yet, if they gave us such great gifts of imagination and the ability to exercise our free will, is it not a travesty for us to cling to stringent and arbitrary conventions, to write stories that make no effort to create something new, something inventive, something different?
And that is why, Author, realize the truth of these words.
Where other men are limited by the fear of their audience's backlash, by mainstream demand, terrified of breaking the mould and example set by society and their peers, remember: Everything is permitted.
To write what is right, right what is wrong. We work in the dark to serve the light. We are Authors.
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
Rise, Author. Join the ranks of your countless brethren, and go on to enchant your readers, horrify them, make them laugh and cry and fear and feel.
Then you will surely have changed the world for the better.
I have no idea where I got that. But it isn't originally mine. I just copied it onto my phone and I reread it from time to time. It's amazing, and well worth the read. I hope I didn't just piss off the original maker of it. But just so we don't fight, I really don't have any idea who wrote it.
Oh, and this chapter is going to feature two fights, one involving the fifty feet high shukaku and Jiraiya. The other, involving Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and a surprise guest. Naruto's kyuubi-fied fight will happen next chapter.
And I'm thinking there's too much action. But then I remind myself. That it's supposed to happen, because the aftermath will be heavily emotional and the backlash of the war is greater then in canon. And to think, this all happened because of Naruto summoning. Ah well, butterfly effect right?
Anyway, time to start. Enjoy the show.
XxX
"Mommy, I'm scared." A little girl quietly told her mother. The mother gripped her daughter and held on, her shoulders shaking and tears running down her face.
"Shh, it's alright, mommy won't let anything happen to you. I promise you, so don't worry, ok?" The mother said, though her voice was calm, her shaking shoulders and quiet sobs were telling the child otherwise. But, the child, being the innocent little girl she was. Nodded her head and quietly said yes.
"Thank you, now, I want you to close your eyes and don't open them until I say so ok?" The mother said through bated breath. Her child nodded again, following her mother's instructions.
"Good, good little one. Don't worry ok? Daddy'll be waiting for us." The mother's voice was strained, as if she had given up and was accepting what would happen. The mother closed her eyes as well, and then hugged her child tightly, as if the world was going to take her away. And then, a loud crash, the sound of shattering glass, wood being broken down, sand gushing in, and a blast of wind swept past them both, and suddenly, the world stilled. They felt no pain.
XxX
"Damn it! The Shukaku is running around like a loose 50 feet tall chicken!" Jiraiya shouted in alarm as it destroyed another building. A civilian building. He only hoped that the civilians evacuated and went to the war shelters. The last thing he needed was causalities. He carefully jumped on top of another building and started furiously stroking black ink on sealing paper. Though he was in a hurry, his calligraphy was still amazingly well done. And he needed it to be well done, lest he unknowingly give the Shukaku a power boost.
"Jiraiya-chan, we can't keep steering him away from the buildings. We need to get it to an open area! We can't fight here!" Jiraiya growled and turned around and shouted his response.
"I know Pa! But right now we got no choice! I can't just lift that thing up and chuck it across the village!" Jiraiya shouted as he turned back to his writing, stroking the brush even faster.
Pa dodged another swipe of the Shukaku's tail as he used a silent water jutsu to bombard it and make it heavier. "Now Ma!" Fukasaku shouted as he watched Ma appear in front of him and then use her tongue to wrap around the thick tail, before she squeezed hard and split the tail in two. The tail fell on the streets and didn't bother to reform, as it was too heavy to really be useful.
"Good work Ma!" Fukasaku praised as he landed on another building with Shima beside him. Shima turned to Fukasaku let out an exhausted sigh.
"This thing ain't no Kyuubi, but it doesn't let up on the attackin'. Pa, why don't ya just grab it and throw it outta the village?" Shima asked, her voice laced with weariness. Fukasaku only sighed and shook his head.
"Believe me Ma. I would try it. But the sand and this webbed feet'a mine just don't mix. I won't be able ta get a good grip on it." Fukasaku explained, gaining a small nod from Shima. But before they could go back on the offensive. Fukasaku stopped Shima.
"What is it Pa? We don't have the time to be stoppin'. We need to get this thing under control." Shima said, her voice filled with newfound confusion. Fukasaku shook his head and turned around.
"Ma, I think we should just sit back and observe. I gotta bad feeling, call it a hunch, but I just felt something explode from the stadium. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it felt the same as the Kyuubi's." Fukasaku explained. Shima narrowed her eyes and looked toward the stadium, she had a feeling as to who or what it was. But she didn't know if it was an it, or if it was a him. And that thought scared her, not just for her health, nor for Jiraiya's and Fukasaku's. No, she was scared for the boy.
"I have a feelin' Pa," She began, garnering Fukasaku's attention as he turned and looked at her. "that you'll be meeting Naruto-chan. But, not the one that you'll like."
XxX
Ino was in pain. Extreme pain, she tried to move her legs, and thankfully, they were still moving. She tried to move her arms, and they too were moving. She carefully wiggled her body, trying to assess the damage. She let out a sigh of relief as she didn't feel anything broken. She was lucky, lucky that the brunt of the damage was blocked by…
"Sakura!" Ino cried in horror as she moved under the rubble, trying to look for her friends face. Trying to find any part of her body. Wanting to see if she was alright. She wiggled, and tried to push the rubble off of her body, but the rubble was too heavy and she only tired herself out. She cursed and tried wiggling again, but this time. The rubble seemed to move and start to slowly move down. Ino stopped abruptly, cursing as she did.
"Damn it. I can't move or this rubble'll crush me." She said to herself, her strained and tired. "Ok Ino, you'll be fine. Sakura's fine, you're fine. All I have to do right now is control my breathing and hope rescue comes sooner. Breath in, hold, and breath out, hold." She chanted to herself as she followed her own instructions. She carefully breathed in and out as she waited for rescue, but a sudden sound to her right managed to elicit a gasp from the girl. The sound was a pained groan, and she only knew one person who could be right beside her on the other side of the rubble.
"Sakura! Are you there! Sakura answer me!" Ino shouted desperately as she saw a small gap to the side she heard the groan.
"I-Ino… Wha-what happened?" A weak reply came from the other side of the rubble. Ino cursed at how weak it sounded, but managed to recollect herself as she turned her head some more, trying to see the other side of the gap. But it was useless, as it was too dark to see two feet in front of you.
"We were hit by rubble Sakura. Naruto transformed again, he exploded with power, and the rubble around him was launched away from him." Ino explained. "Sakura, tell me. Is anything broken? Are you alright?" Ino asked, her voice strained as she asked that question. Ino heard Sakura groan in pain, and her worry skyrocketed.
"I-I think I have a f-few broken ribs. My le-left arm is broken too, b-but my legs are fi-fine." Sakura stuttered in pain, small gasps were heard by Ino from the other side of the gap. And she hated those gasps.
"Ok Sakura, try to hold out, we'll be rescued eventually. Right now though, try to control your breathing. We don't know how long'll we'll be under here. So try to conserve as much oxygen as you can, ok?" Ino tried to sound reassuring, but her voice was strained and she was having a hard time believing what she had just said. She heard Sakura chuckle through the gap, she turned her head and waited for another sound coming from Sakura. But Sakura didn't say anything else, instead she tried to breath in and out, her labored breaths echoed for Ino. And during that time, she hated it, she hated being useless. Hated being useless when her friend was hurt and possibly dying. She hated being under those concrete slabs of rubble. And most of all, she hated Naruto for doing this to her and Sakura.
XxX
Hiruzen was many things. Silent, strong, caring, patient, and intelligent. So the moment he saw Naruto began to transform, he immediately called for the boy's restraint and went to get the emergency back up seals in case anything like this would happen.
He left the stadium, but not without ordering several ANBU and jounin to evacuate the civilians and to spread the order around the others. He was thankful for their immediate response as they evacuated the building as he left it.
But as he left it, he was suddenly aware that most of the village buildings were rubble, and burning in the background. He cursed colorfully as he took in the sight of his village in chaos. But he had bigger problems then the attack that was happening.
He knew about the attack of course, Jiraiya had warned him about it, and he went over multiple counter-measures to see to it his village wasn't destroyed in the end.
What he did not take into account however, was Naruto summoning Shima and then using Sage chakra to beat Neji. He did not take account that the Kyuubi wouldn't want the foreign chakra source in its host's body. That the Kyuubi would try to force it out with its own chakra.
He didn't take into account that Neji, in a fit of desperation. Would suddenly push his chakra through Naruto. Trying to remove all the chakra he had, trying to tie the match, to salvage it and win.
That was when it all went to hell.
Naruto, having held down the Kyuubi's chakra deep into his coils. Was engulfed by the Kyuubi's sudden flow of chakra. All his previous chakra was out of his system, which meant that the Kyuubi's chakra was free to take over.
That was all he saw as that was when he was on his way to the kage mansion. While he was inside however, he was met with the bandaged visage of Danzo. Who had been waiting for him apparently.
Danzo let out a frustrated sigh as he relayed the information to Hiruzen. How the north and east gate was close to falling. How the west gate had already fallen. And how the Shukaku was busy ripping apart the center of the village. Hiruzen knew what he was going to ask, he just knew it. And he denied him.
"Damn it Hiruzen! We're being massacred out there! Allow me to send out my ROOT! If we don't we may as well surrender!" Danzo shouted at the Hokage. They were both walking briskly through the corridors of the Hokage's office complex. And every few steps they took, the ground shook from the explosions and fights happening outside of the complex.
Hiruzen quietly growled as he made his way towards the main entrance of the building. He didn't have time for Danzo; he needed to get the seal to Naruto, lest the village really be destroyed. He didn't give any indication if he really was listening to Danzo, he only kept walking straight and towards the exit.
Danzo clicked his teeth in frustration. Right now, his village was being ravaged by two enemies, one inside, the other outside. He wanted nothing more than to mobilize his ROOT squad. Secrecy be damned if there was no one to keep the secret from.
"I don't have time for your second guessing Hiruzen, I love this village as much as you do. But without your orders, my ROOT may as well be enemy shinobi the moment they step out of the shadows! I need your express permission to send them out!" Danzo reasoned to the still unresponsive Kage. He growled as they finally stepped out of the complex, but the moment they did. They had to jump out of the way as a literal river of snakes crashed through the entrance and gave a gaping hole to it.
Hiruzen landed to the right of the Snake River, and Danzo to the left. They readied themselves for a fight, Danzo disregarding his cane, and Hiruzen removing his robe and hat to reveal black battle armor under it. They heard chuckling as they finally registered who the snakes belonged to. And Danzo swore he heard Hiruzen growl in anger at the sight.
"Oh? Is that any way to greet your old student sensei? I'm hurt; do you really hate me that much now?" The voice was almost snakelike, with the S's lingering in the air as they seemed to come from the hissing voice.
"…Danzo, I approve of your previous request. Have your ROOT mobilized, but before you leave…" Hiruzen tossed a scroll over towards Danzo, who deftly caught it. He stared at it and carefully examined it; it was nothing to eye catching. Save for the letters written on it, they spelled 'Emergency Seal'. He noted the singular use of the word seal, and filed it in for later.
He turned his head over to Hiruzen, who hadn't taken his eyes off the person that had attacked them. "Can you handle him alone Hiruzen?" Danzo asked, his voice sounding with the least amount of concern, but nonetheless. There was still concern for his previous team mate in there.
Hiruzen only nodded swiftly, giving Danzo the answer. Danzo returned the nod with his own, before he channeled chakra to his feet and propelled forward, hoping to hop over the wall and towards the village.
He saw a sudden flash of purple however, and stopped on top of the separator wall, and it was a good thing he did. As he finally noticed the purple wall of malicious energy surrounding the entire complex. He clicked his teeth in frustration and turned around, looking at Hiruzen with a frustrated look.
"Hiruzen! We're trapped! He had a barrier set up, I don't know what kind, but it's fairly potent. I can feel malice oozing out of it." Danzo gave Hiruzen the heads up, which he duly noted.
Hiruzen didn't take his eyes off his previous student however; as he just stared into the cold unfeeling snakelike eyes of his would be opponent. His opponent smirked at the careful eye his previous sensei was giving him.
"Oh my, with those eyes of yours sensei, I think you're actually thinking of killing me," The man began. Chuckling as his voice trailed. "And I do hope you're actually planning on doing it, I would hate to fight a frozen senile old man stuck in the past." His voice took a sharp turn, and the air grew cold as he finished his sentence.
It was then however, that a slight gust of wind, and the shuffling of robes made the man look away from Hiruzen, and into the calculating eye of Danzo. He allowed a small smirk as he felt the cold touch of a tanto pressing into his back.
"He may have some compassion for you Orochimaru," Danzo began as he spat the name of the man he held at sword point. "But unfortunately for you, I do not share his feeling." He finished as he drove the sword through Orochimaru's spine. The sword pierced the Sannin from the back, and swiftly exited through the man's front stomach. But to the surprise of Danzo, blood didn't erupt from the wound. He looked up, one clearly surprised eye looking into the slit iris of the Sannin. Who was smirking at the surprised reaction.
In the next number of instances, several actions happened that would have clearly been a blur if they were observed by lower level ninja.
In the first instance, Orochimaru grabbed the blade protruding from his front and yanked it out, Danzo's grip slipping as he did that surprised move.
In the next instance, Hiruzen channeled chakra into his feet and erupted from the ground, making it crack and depress as he kicked off the ground.
In the third instance, Orochimaru spun around and tried to slice Danzo's head from his shoulders.
In the fourth instance, Danzo leaned back. The blade that Orochimaru had snatched from him grazing his bandage over his covered eyes. The blade passed through the bandage mere millimeters from his covered eye. The blade ran through the bandage, and gave it a cut that left the previously covered eye open for the world to see.
In the fifth instance, Hiruzen had appeared behind Orochimaru. Hand open and sideways, intent on pushing it through the Sannin's now wounded back.
In the sixth and final instance, Hiruzen struck and blood finally erupted from Orochimaru's body. Except, it wasn't his body anymore. Hiruzen had pierced and probably killed an Otogakure genin that had participated in the preliminaries. It was the boy with the urban camouflage scarf and the sound headband, his black hair not really standing out from his clothing. It was the sound genin Zaku.
Hiruzen was surprised to see the sound genin suddenly in the place of his former student. But his surprise soon turned into anger as he realized what his student had done. He quickly pulled out his hand, and caught the still boy. He saw that the boy's face was frozen in shock; he was probably alive when he pierced the boy's body. He carefully laid the boy down on the ground, closing the boy's eyes as he did. His stoic face did not show his disappointment at taking a life as young as this.
He turned around as he heard Orochimaru chuckling. Danzo had taken to standing on his right side, clutching at his covered eye as he glared daggers at Orochimaru.
"My oh my, I did not expect that Danzo-ojisan. Who would have guessed, that under all those bandages, you were harboring a Sharingan." Orochimaru said with a smirk at the now scowling Danzo. Of course, Orochimaru knew about the Sharingan, but Hiruzen knew nothing about it, and seeing Danzo squirm was too much fun for the Sannin to pass up. He never saw Danzo lose his cool, he was always the no-nonsense drill sergeant type of guy. But right now, Danzo was close to losing it entirely.
He watched with a superior smirk as Hiruzen turned his gaze over towards Danzo, who was growling at Orochimaru's smirk. Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, and returned his gaze to Orochimaru. "We'll discuss this later Danzo, right now. We have bigger problems." Hiruzen stated as he started to form hand seals. As he finished his seals, he promptly slammed his hand on the ground. Intricate seals spread forth from the ground, and a puff of smoke erupted from the center. As the smoke cleared, the previously empty space was now occupied by a tall white monkey. The monkey was wearing a white vest with a pair of black pants. And it was curious to note that the monkey had a Konohagakure headband on its forehead.
The monkey stood in the middle of the seals that had appeared previously. The monkey eyed his surroundings carefully, before finally turning around and looking at the aged Hokage in the eyes.
"Hiruzen, I take it we'll actually be fighting this time? No talk over tea?" The monkey asked with a small smirk. Hiruzen let out a dry chuckle as he answered. "I'm afraid not Enma, I need to your strength to finish what I should have done a long time ago."
The monkey – Enma – nodded his head before forming the tiger hand seal and erupting in smoke. Hiruzen quickly reached inside the cloud, and pulled out a thick black staff with gold rims. Hiruzen started twirling the staff as he tested the weight of the staff. Satisfied with that weight, he stopped the spinning and settled on holding the staff on his side while upright and facing his opponent.
Danzo meanwhile, was busy removing the bandages from around his eye and arms. He needed to get out of that cage, and knowing Orochimaru, he needed everything he could throw. Orochimaru was a slippery bastard, and without the proper mindset, he'd kill you while you were busy forming up a plan.
Orochimaru smiled as he looked at his opponents, his smile turned into a laughing fit as he saw his opponents in all their glory. Danzo bandage-less, pale arm exposed with ten sharingan eyes spinning. And Hiruzen, black armor and staff by his side.
He let his laughing die down however as he glared at his opponents. "It seems you do not have time to play games. Well, neither do I. Thankfully, I'm not alone." Orochimaru said cryptically as he started forming hand seals. But before he could finish what he intended to do. Danzo was behind him, arm arched back ready to strike.
And he did. Orochimaru's back arched into a curve as the force from Danzo's punch was enough to send him airborne and into the divider wall. The wall crumbled into him, but he managed to jump out of it in time so it wouldn't crush him.
But as he was airborne, he felt someone behind him. He turned, and was met face to face with Hiruzen's staff. The staff hit him on top of his head, and pushed him towards the ground. The staff pushed against Orochimaru's head and towards the ground. As Orochimaru's face met the ground. He suddenly erupted into smoke. And the previous form of Orochimaru was now the form of a piece of wall rubble where he crashed earlier.
Hiruzen cursed as he jumped back and settled into a defensive position. He closed his eyes and listened for anything that would alert him of Orochimaru's position. He let his heartbeat slow, as he waited, and waited, and waited…. And then he heard it, the whizzing. It meant that something was coming at him, something that was cutting the air.
He leaned his head to the left and managed to avoid getting his face impaled by a sword. He turned around, and was met with the form of Orochimaru holding an intricate Chinese sword with snake designs on its handle.
"Kukuku, as expected from my sensei and his previous rival. It's good to see that old age hasn't let your skills drop one bit." Orochimaru complemented his opponents as he laughed. Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, and then jumped towards Orochimaru's laughing form. He struck with his staff's edge as he thrust it forward. Orochimaru stopped laughing just in time to deftly parry it to his side. But he couldn't parry the next strike suddenly hitting his face.
Hiruzen had used the other end of his staff and twisted it so as it moved forward, the backside would move forward with the front side as well. The now sideward staff hit Orochimaru's face, and Hiruzen used the momentum and spun around towards Orochimaru's backside.
As Hiruzen spun, he used his staff to hit Orochimaru one more time from his back. Which elicited a pained gasp as the air escaped from Orochimaru's lungs. Hiruzem used more force to push back Orochimaru, and held the end of his staff like a baseball bat. Before finally, Orochimaru's momentum gave in. He was launched into another part of the wall divider, and rubble landed on top of him.
Hiruzen let out a sigh as he readied back into his fighting position. Danzo too had readied himself as he stood side by side with Hiruzen.
"… You're still good I admit. Even if your methods of leading the village make us look weak." Danzo praised in his own way. With which Hiruzen only smirked.
"I could say the same to you. Though that arm of yours probably did all the work for you." Hiruzen said, eliciting a small smirk from Danzo.
The rubble started shifting, and pretty soon, Orochimaru resurfaced his clothes slightly tattered and dirty at being crushed by rubble. "Kukuku, no wonder you two are the strongest shinobi of your time. That would have killed any normal person. And your mastery of analyzing the situation sensei will be irksome." Orochimaru laughed as he readied back into position, his sword still gripped in his left hand.
They each stared into their opponent. Each trying to see who would move first. The silence was palpable, almost to the point of choking. Finally, after a few more seconds of stillness. Orochimaru lauched himself, leaving an indent in the dirt as it pushed back into a mound.
Danzo couldn't react in time as he was impaled by Orochimaru's sword. The sword having been impaled through his heart. He choked as Orochimaru twisted his sword, his twisted smile shook Danzo's soul. But, his smile soon faded into a frown as Danzo suddenly started slowly dissipating. And before Danzo's body fully dissipated, he was hit with Hiruzen's staff, which went through the now gone body. Orochimaru twisted his body to avoid the staff hitting his face again, but he was met with Danzo's enclosed fist. He closed his eyes as he was hit and launched into the Hokage's building, slightly shaking it and destroying a part of its wall.
Hiruzen didn't react at seeing Danzo again, he only nodded his acknowledgement as he readied himself for Orochimaru's counter attack. Likewise, Danzo didn't say anything as he readied himself.
Orochimaru's form was seen exiting the building, his hand on the damaged wall to support his body. Orochimaru was no longer smirking, and he now had a grim face on.
"That was dirty Danzo. Using Izanagi to escape death. You only have a limited number of Sharingan's. And you would use one just to live? I am deeply disappointed in you." Orochimaru chided, hoping to get a reaction from Danzo. But Danzo didn't bite as he just stared at Orochimaru. Orochimaru clicked his teeth in frustration at the lack of reaction.
"I will not be treated as an obstacle! Ninpou: Kakushi kemuri! (Ninja art: Concealing Smoke!)" Orochimaru shouted as his stomach suddenly inflated. And then he exhaled, black smoke erupted from his mouth and covered the battlefield. Danzo and Hiruzen jumped away from the advancing smoke and landed on the divider wall. Where they had covered their noses and mouths with their hands. After all, it may sound like a harmless gas cloud jutsu, but a person can lace his body with poison so that anything he expels from his body may be poisoned as well.
Hiruzen turned to Danzo, and quietly spoke. "Danzo, this smoke is likely used to buy the user time. Try to blow it away. Knowing Orochimaru, he has more than one trick under his belt." Hiruzen told Danzo.
"Fuiton: Ten kara orite fukukaze! (Wind release: Wind blowing down from the heavens!)" Was Danzo's immediate response. Almost immediately after Danzo uttered his technique. A strong gust of wind blew past Hiruzen and Danzo, blowing away the black smoke and revealing Orochimaru, who was standing besides two men clad in red and blue armor.
Hiruzen and Danzo couldn't believe their eyes as they registered who the people standing beside Orochimaru were. "N-no…" Was all Hiruzen could say.
XxX
"Hey! Aren't you the ANBU lady that called me?" Jiraiya asked but didn't look up as he just continued jotting down on the sealing paper. Neku, who had just arrived in front of Jiraiya, nodded her head.
"You're lucky I can see you or else I would need to look at you and take my eyes off this seal. Anyway, right now, the Shukaku is quarantined in this area. My two summons' are busy trying to make it stay here. But I don't know how long they'll last, you think you can provide backup for them long enough for me to finish this seal?" Jiraiya asked, and this time. Neku did respond verbally.
"Hai. I will try my best in Tenzo's place." Neku said as she jumped and went over towards the Shukaku's rampaging form.
Neku twister her body as she dodged a stray piece of building rubble that shot past her body. She landed gracefully on top of a building and carefully assessed the situation.
Currently, the small male toad was busy trying to get the Shukaku's attention at the front. While the female toad was trying to steer the giant raccoons attacks from hitting anything remotely showing life. Note the key word, tried.
The giant raccoon refused to bend any which way. Swiping its huge tail and toppling building after building. The screams of a few civilians died as each building toppled. Neku cursed as she heard the distinct sound of silence. Save for the toppling buildings, no voices were heard. And that meant one of two things. One; the civilians had all evacuated, or two; the civilians died by the falling buildings. And from the screams earlier, Neku knew the latter was true.
She jumped high into the air and readied her short sword, deflecting multiple rubble pieces from hitting her main body. She jumped from building to building, dodging, blocking, and evading each piece of rubble as she got closer to the giant raccoon.
Finally, after dodging one last piece of rubble. She was right behind the giant raccoon. She ran full speed towards the front of the beast, carefully taking in every last feature of the sand monster. From the intricate tattoos on its sand body, to the black eyes of a monster.
'Come on, give me something here, a weak spot, an exposed part, a hollow part. Anything!' She screamed in her mind as she took in the giant tanuki. Finally, after a quick glance up towards the forehead. She stopped dead in her tracks. There was the spot she was looking for.
On the forehead of the giant raccoon was a small speck. But on closer inspection, the speck was in fact the previous human body of the raccoon monster. The body halfway buried into the sand, and leaning forward as if he was dead. But her trained eyes noted the closed eyes and slight breathing by the nostrils. She was called 'Cat' for a reason. She had eyes like one.
"There!" She shouted as she channeled chakra into her feet and launched up from the ground and straight towards the monster's forehead. Sword poised and ready to strike.
She was close, almost there. '25 feet…..15….. Almost!' she thought as she approached the body. She drew her sword back, and readied her strike. But she made the mistake of looking towards the monster's eyes.
She glanced downwards, only to be met by the monster's furious irises. She swore the world was going in slow motion as terror spread across her body at the sight. She saw the irises dilate and, in a sudden instance. Her body was set ablaze with pain.
The giant raccoon had raised its hand and promptly swat her away, as if she was a fly. She was hit with bone shattering force as she sailed through the air and over buildings. It amazed her that she was still conscious. She let out a muffled scream. Muffled because her broken ribs had pierced her lungs, making her breathing labored and irregular as she sailed through the air.
She looked up, towards the rabidly approaching building, and shut her eyes. She wasn't going to survive this impact. She survived the small swat, but crashing in a building made of cement. Her chances were horrible.
But, as sudden as the swat came. She was suddenly grabbed from the air by an unknown source. She felt her body suddenly burn from the sudden grab, as if her chakra was being burned away. And then she remembered the laws of physics.
Her abrupt stop pushed blood towards her head, the g-forces having been cancelled by the sudden stop. And then she promptly fainted. But not without catching a flash of her Savior, a flash of blood red.
XxX
"Damn it!" Jiraiya cursed as he saw the female ANBU member swatted away like a fly. He didn't look over to where she was going, and only hoped that she would survive. Right now though, he was close to completing the seal. It was a rather generic seal that he had made. But nonetheless effective if used right.
He jumped into the air and towards the giant raccoon. Feeling two familiar weights land on his shoulder, he let out a dry chuckle.
"So, I take it that was a good workout?" Jiraiya joked, getting a slight apprehensive snort from his left shoulder.
"Not the time Jiraiya," Fukasaku lightly chided. "Is the seal ready?" He asked as he breather in and out raggedly. Tired from dodging and parrying the giant raccoon's attacks. Jiraiya nodded as he landed on a roof. He turned to his left shoulder, taking in the tired look of Fukasaku, and then he turned to his right, and saw Shima more or less the same way.
"Take a rest both of you, you've done enough. I can take care of the rest." Jiraiya told them, only to be met with shaking heads.
"Like it or not," Shima began as she breathed in deep, trying to steady her rapidly beating heart. "We're with you all the way. We have our own agenda, but that doesn't mean that we won't help you in full. Don't worry about us Jiraiya-chan, we've faced worse." Shima finished as she let out a small smirk and looked up at the giant raccoon as it let out another bellowing roar.
Jiraiya smiled at this, and readied himself. After taking a brief second to recompose his body. He launched himself at the giant raccoon.
He soared through the air, one arm behind with a swirling mass of chakra in his hand. He smirked as the giant raccoon raised a hand to defend itself from any attack.
"Rasengan! (Spiraling sphere!)" Jiraiya shouted as he thrust his hand with the ball forward. The attack connected with the giant sand arm, and promptly disintegrated it. The arm flew apart in millions of grains of sand. The giant monster let out a sharp cry and grabbed the stump of its broken arm.
Jiraiya however, wasn't finished as he continued on and landed on the giant raccoon's body. He channeled chakra into his feet, but he still slid down a bit. The moving sand and the millions of sand grains didn't exactly make it a single solid surface.
But nonetheless, he managed to recompose himself as he readied his body. He ran straight up the giant sand monster.
The Shukaku saw him and felt him coming up his body. He let out a low growl as he sent countless tendrils of sand connected to his main body shooting straight for Jiraiya.
Jiraiya cursed as he saw countless tendrils coming towards him. He dodged one tendril by jumping up, but he was met with another tendril coming towards him. He twisted his body and managed to let the tendril fly past his side. He grabbed the tendril and used it to pull himself upwards. Dodging another two tendrils that shot past him. He landed on the main body again, and was met with three tendrils coming towards him from all his sides. He clicked his teeth in frustration as he ducked and slid on the sandy surface. The tendrils hit each other and burst into a large cloud of sand. But as the cloud exploded outwards, it abruptly stopped. And then reformed into one massive tendril and flew towards the fleeing Jiraiya.
"Oh c'mon! That's not fair!" Jiraiya shouted in exasperation as he weaved left and right to dodge the tendrils coming towards him, while trying to shake off the giant tendril coming for him. He suddenly felt his shoulders feel lighter. And as he looked back, he saw both old toads grab the giant tendril with their tongues and held it in place.
"'o 'iya-shan!" Shima shouted, and Jiraiya nodded as he returned to facing and running up the giant raccoon. He carefully eyed the giant raccoon as he dodged smaller tendrils coming at him to his front. He was looking for a place to place the seal. A weak spot, most probably the kid's body. Most Bijuu awakenings leave out there jailors body in hope that they'll die. Since being awakened meant that you had your old body back. If their jailors died, they'd be set free instead of dying in the body of the host.
After a few more seconds of careful scrutinizing and dodging of tendrils, he saw it. The weak spot he was looking for.
He channeled chakra into his feet and launched straight up, seal flapping in the wind and his arm forward. He was close to the body, just a few more feet and…
The next thing he knew. He was swatted away like the ANBU before. He was shocked at how fast that hand was, he hadn't even seen it move. It was almost automatic, like it was built in to react to anyone coming close to the kid's body.
He looked left, and then right. And found that both arms were still by the sides, like they hadn't moved at all. He then refocused his eyes forward, and saw that the kid had a wall of sand separating them. With one giant arm where he tried to move towards the body. He growled as he figured out how he was swatted away. It wasn't the main arms that hit him. It was a secondary defense that activated when someone tried to get close to the boy's body.
He flipped his body and skid on the giant Tanuki's body. Crouching and using his hand to stop his sliding. The hit was hard, but he was used to harder.
But as he tried to recollect his breath, he sensed danger. He ducked and the previously giant tendril shot past his face and his front body. The tendril grazed him, but left no visible wound. He growled as he shot his hand forward and burst his chakra through the tendril. Cutting it in half and destroying it.
He straightened himself and observed the giant raccoon just laughed at him. He felt two familiar weights land once again on his shoulder. He sighed as he thought about the automatic defense that activated when he got close to the body. His mind was going in overdrive right now, and he really needed to find a way to get to the main body.
Before he could tell Shima and Fukasaku however, a sudden flash of red shot past his peripheral vision.
He looked upwards and to the flash of red. And was surprised to see Naruto in his red cloaked visage standing on the Shukaku's chest and looking at the monster. Naruto had his back turned to Jiraiya, so he didn't see Naruto's face.
He was about to call out to the kid, but he saw Naruto suddenly crouch down, and both of his tails moved forward, where he had his hand open in a palm. He paled as he felt wind pick up and come towards Naruto's body. Followed by the feeling of dread and power. He felt this kind of power before, and he knew what was going on.
The kid wasn't in control, he knew that now. The Kyuubi was in control, and it was so pissed it was going to use a Bijuu ball.
Only one word went through Jiraiya's mind as he finally took in the heaviness of the situation.
"Fuck."
XxX
You guy's have messed up my word limit.
Right, this chapter. More fighting, more action. But that doesn't mean there this story if always action. The aftermath, like I stated before, is greater, so bare with me here.
Anyway, nothing more to say. Except to tell you guys to tell me if the fights scenes here are good.
In other words. REVIEW! I really need the feedback, it'll help me as a writer.
C.O.Y.L out, peace!