27 Hrs Later, Land of Sand:
Out of a still cooling patch of desert soil overlooking the top of a small canyon a tiny pink creature clawed its way to the surface before zipping into a patch of sage bush. The creature stayed still a few moments before climbing halfway up a bush and lifting its nose in the air taking in the surrounding area. "Todo despejado"
As soon as it thought those two words a larger creature, seemingly made of hardened earth surfaced as well before its 'skin' started to crack and fall away revealing a human child sized armadillo and four masked persons in tan cloaks. "Arumaeri, Arumaiko tunnel back across the border before you return to El Dorado. Arumaemi stay with me I want to stay in contact with El Dorado for as long as possible" At the summons nods and their departure the Crane masked speaker extended his arm so the tiny armadillo could crawl up his sleeve.
"Scorpion, release the bikōchū. Eagle cloak us as best you can, you're our rear guard so stay alert" Naruto commanded. The four Anbu took up a Y formation around the tracking insect with Ami on its left, Naruto on its right, Scorpion in the middle and Sasuke in the back. As they started to move Naruto was glad he was able to put off the start of the mission until now. Since he was in charge he decided to go check in at the Root base to see if Danzo had any advice. Danzo wasn't there but Kichida, who'd been told what happened during the Raikage Rescue mission, had given Ami and Sasuke special soldier pills. When told how Ami's crystal shield was shattered by Jirōbō's punch Kichida prepared a set of soldier pills containing Uzumaki chakra generating enzymes in order to strengthen her abilities until he could get another chakra bath ready. For Sasuke he created soldier pills designed to generate more physical heavy chakra so that Sasuke would be able to use more Ninjutsu and have more physical stamina in a pinch.
After they'd been equipped they met up with Scorpion and traveled to the Grass/Rain Country border where they camped and waited for the rainstorm to end and the bikōchū to hatch. Once it did they made sure to place it in a special container on top of a massive bra that apparently belonged to Tsunade (they didn't ask how it came into Jiraiya's possession). The bikōchū quickly went through its metamorphosis and Scorpion informed them that it had the scent. They then calculated how long it would take to tunnel under the Land of Rain and timed it so that they'd get to Sand Country just after sunset.
"I just hope she's somewhere close by and not on the other side of the country"
Konoha, Market District, 2000Hrs:
"So what are we doing?"
Confused at the out of nowhere question Asuma turned and looked down at his companion for the evening. "We're walking to your place and finishing up a date?" Asuma said to a now slightly annoyed Kurenai Yūhi.
"I know that. I'm asking what are we doing? Are we just hanging out, are we dating, are we exclusive? I've been meaning to ask you this for months but this war started and… hey do you feel that?" she asked referring to the low levels of unfocused killing intent being generated in multiple directions.
"Yeah, someone wants the streets clear" Asuma said as he noticed unnerved merchants and civilians closing up their shops/stands early and picking up the pace on their way home. Feeling a small spike of chakra behind them the two turned around to see a Cat masked Anbu with black hair.
"Yūhi-taicho, Operation: Controlled Burn will begin in 45 minutes. Hokage-sama has asked that you bring Asuma-taicho up to speed as he will be acting as your partner in Gai-taicho's stead. Here is his equipment and this is your target" the Anbu informed while handing over a scroll and a sealed envelope.
"They're clearing the streets for this, Operation: Controlled burn? The old man's ordering an in village black op while the Kumo delegation is here? What the fuck is…" Asuma started to think to himself before being interrupted.
"Asuma, lets head to my place ASAP" Kurenai said before leaving in a shunshin.
"Wait Kur…ow hell. I've got a feeling I'm not gonna like this at all" Asuma said to himself before flickering away as well.
Upon reaching her home Asuma walked into Kurenai's bedroom and saw that she'd already stripped down to her sports bra and panties and had one leg in a pair of black shinobi pants. "So you want to tell me what's going on?"
"Danzo has crossed one too many lines. He and a hand full of his lieutenants are about to be dealt with, permanently" Kurenai informed him while slipping on a black, long sleeve, turtleneck compression shirt and then going into her bathroom. "Hurry and change into the gear in that scroll. All black everything and make sure there are no identifying items on your person. Get rid of the cigs too" Kurenai called out to him.
Following instructions Asuma unsealed the contents of the scroll and saw an entire outfit and weapons set laid out on Kurenai's bed. Stripping he quickly put on the black socks, pants, sandals, compression shirt, black Kakashi-style face mask, all-black flack vest, black latex gloves, black fingerless cloth gloves with dark grey metal plates and a black skull-cap. Picking up the all black, tip-less tanto he sheathed it in the vests built-in sheath and looked at himself in the mirror. "This is the most intimidating I've ever looked but why this get up instead of issuing me Anbu gear?" Asuma thought to himself as a similarly dressed Kurenai walked out of the bathroom, her hair pulled up into a tight sock bun and her eyes a murky brown instead of their normally striking red.
"Your eye's…"
"Contacts, colored lenses placed over the eye. My hair style is SOP (A/n: standard operating procedure) for more than shoulder length hair for this op, everybody else is in stocking caps. Everyone involved in this operation and all Anbu whose loyalty the Hokage has validated will be wearing this uniform tonight. Our objective is to terminate the target in that envelope and then arrest any Anbu we find not dressed as we are, any resistance is to be met with lethal force"
"I…shit. We're doing this now, with the Raikage and his delegation in the village?" Asuma asked incredulously. What if the Raikage got hurt or something?
"The Raikage's presence makes this the perfect time to strike. The enemy would never expect Hokage-sama to pull something like this with him here. Don't worry, as we speak the Raikage and his delegation are being moved to the tower in area 44 for safe keeping" Kurenai informed while taking out a small black box that was the same length as a pack of cigarettes and half the width. She pulled the three-inch antennae out, sat on the bed and picked up the envelope, looking back and forth between the black box and the unopened document.
"You're nervous" Asuma observed.
"This wasn't supposed to happen so soon. Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama and Kakashi were supposed to be here for this but they're not even in the village. Whoever's in this envelope is one of Root's heaviest hitters and I'm pretty sure he/she was supposed to be Kakashi's target. Then the plan got changed and it was supposed to be Gai and I's but now it's us and you aren't even a gardener"
"A what? Look Kurenai what…" Asuma started but took the cue to be quiet when a small yellow light lit up on the box in Kurenai's hand.
"The get ready light. We can find out who our target is now" Kurenai said as she opened the envelope and let out a small gasp before handing the paper over to Asuma.
"This can't be right. We've known him practically our whole lives. We graduated from the academy with him. He cried after he saw the first Princess Gale movie for Kami sakes!"
"It was all a façade. Our orders are to eliminate him and that's what we'll do" Kurenai said while burning the paper with a small fire jutsu.
"Asuma, come on we need to get into position before the execute light lights up"
Same time, Otogakure, Land of Rice Fields base:
A young man, seemingly in his early twenties with white, neck length hair and bandages covering his hands, chest, neck and lower face sat in his snake themed throne like chair as one of his secret agents went through her report.
"I was able to confirm your suspicions Orochimaru-sama. The Kiri rebels are receiving supplies from one of the other four great shinobi villages however despite the Mizukage's obvious mental instability they are still outnumbered 2 to 1. As of now the Mizukage's forces seem to have the upper hand. They're better organized and more experienced do to the majority of Kiri's older shinobi remaining loyal to the established power structure. The rebels are mainly made up of Chunin and Genin level ninja with only 3 dozen or so Special-Jonin and 9 full Jonin. The Rebels saving grace has been the couple hundred kekkei genkai wielders that have come out of hiding to aid them in the conflict. Apparently quite a few of them have been training in secret, honing their skills with their bloodlines. Unfortunately besides their bloodlines and chakra control their other shinobi skills are somewhat lacking. They…"
"What bloodlines have you observed so far?" Orochimaru asked the scantily clad woman kneeling before him.
"Boil Release and Lava Release are the most common and Mei Terumi, the rebel leader, holds both of them. I tried to get…close to her but she seems to be firmly hetero and turned down all of my advances. Shame too, she has quite the body on her…"
"Kotohime, focus" Orochimaru said calmly letting the woman's attention slip go due to the alterations he'd made to her hormone and pheromone production.
"Hai, I've seen people with Sakon and Ukon's bloodline, a few with the Explosion Release and a boy and girl from the Yuki clan that have the Ice Release. I've seen seven people with a bloodline that seems to mimic the Soft Physique Modification and a set of 40-year-old, redheaded twins who are probably of the Uzumaki clan. The man seems to have a sensing ability of some sort and the woman can manifest chakra chains that are very effective at binding targets and absorbing their charka. The chains seem to have purifying properties as well. Also there is this 9-year-old kid named Ranmaru, that is being trained to wield the legendary sword Nuibari, who has some kind of new dōjutsu. I was only able to confirm the dōjutsu's ability to see chakra, through walls and through Genjutsu although I got the impression there was more to it. I tried to find out more but Raiga Kurosuki showed up and threw a fit when he saw a 'harlot' like me talking to 'his kid'. Anyway, people seem to believe my pheromone bloodline is legit and my cover is still good so I…" Kotohime was cut off by an Oto-Anbu that leaned forward out of the shadows beside Orochimaru's throne-like chair and whispered into his ear.
"What! How could they get so close without the sensors noticing them!?" Orochimaru yelled as he grabbed the Anbu by the collar and yanked him down to his level.
"I don't know Orochimaru-sama however Jiraiya of the Sannin is with them" the Anbu reported, managing keeping his voice even in spite of the killing intent he was being slammed with.
"Fine, pull back our elite ninja to the floor directly above this one and be ready to release the failed curse mark experiments on the floor above that. Have the fodder standing by on the upper floors. When you're finished Mamba I want you and Kimimaro to return to this chamber. Tonight I deal with Jiraiya permanently"
"Hai, Orochimaru-sama" the Anbu said before leaving in a shunshin.
Standing up Orochimaru pressed a button hidden under the throne's cushion causing the whole thing to slide back revealing a secret passage way. "Kotohime, this escape tunnel leads to a hidden outpost east of here. Go now"
Kotohime bowed her head respectfully and jumped down into the tunnel before taking off in a sprint. Sliding the chair back into position Orochimaru made himself a promise. "I'll kill that bastard Jiraiya if it's the last thing I ever do!"
20 Minutes Later, Residential district, Konoha:
An all-black wearing Hiruzen looked through the 6 foot Iron Gate and into the Shimura family gated community. Back in the founding years of Konoha the Shodai and Madara Uchiha set-up a handful of semi-secluded one way streets with 10 to 20 medium-sized homes and large, interconnected back yards that could double as training grounds. They set up these gated communities to attract certain ninja families that didn't quite meet the qualifications for clan status. The Hatake family known for producing prodigious 'jack of all trades' shinobi, the Gekkō family known for their amazing Kenjutsu skills and the Shimura family known for their unique Wind Jutsu. At around 80 Chunin-level and above ninja, the Shimura had been just 20 ninja away from being considered a clan.
"And now were about to kill the last member of a family that gave this village all they had" Hiruzen thought sadly.
"Leader-sama?" asked a temporarily dark haired Kunoichi.
"Signal the attack, it's time to begin" Hiruzen ordered while unsealing a nearly six feet long, Fūinjutsu engraved iron staff.
"Knock, Knock" he said before slamming the staff into the gate causing the gate to glow green and reveal a green Fūinjutsu barrier that covered the entire community. As soon as the barrier failed, black cloaked Anbu jumped out of their hiding places and attacked the Hokage and his near platoon of ISS officers. "These are the most fanatical of Danzo's followers, leave no survivors!" the aged Hokage shouted before vanishing in a shunshin, his ISS preventing the Root Anbu from following him.
He hadn't really spoken one on one with his old friend in quite some time. It was time for one last reunion.
2130Hrs, 300 yards outside of Kuroishi village, Northeastern Land of Sand:
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked his Scorpion masked subordinate who nodded in return.
"Hai, judging by the way the bikōchū is behaving we are very close, the target is definitely in that village"
"Remember the target may flee after we get her out of enemy territory if we don't read the Hokage's orders to her from the jump. Alright, Scorpion and I will change into civilians and make contact with the target. You two remained cloaked and shadow us from the roof tops, radio us if you see trouble" Naruto ordered while taking off his tan cloak and Crane mask revealing his dyed brown hair and lower face mask. Taking off his Anbu issue flack vest, arm guards and gloves, he reached down and unbloused his pant legs so that his boot styled sandals just looked like normal ones.
He then took out a scroll and unsealed a dark blue track jacket with black stripes along the shoulders and sleeves and put it on. Applying a small henge over his lower face so that he looked like an average blue eyed (since blue eyes weren't uncommon for this country) teen boy with no mask or whisker marks he looked at Scorpion seeing that she'd done the same, taking up the facial structure of a girl that was obviously meant to be his disguise's plain looking older sister.
What they were doing was and old Anbu trick that they'd learned during their first days at the pit. The normal Henge Jutsu is great for fooling civilians but skilled shinobi, especially sensor types can feel the chakra the technique emits and tell that something's up. The Anbu uniform minus the animal mask and armor is rather plain looking and after some slight modifications can readily double as regular clothing and the lower, secondary face mask is made out of a special fabric that absorbs small amounts of chakra. So when an Anbu was on a mission and needed to not look like an Anbu all they had to do was make a slight change of clothes and apply a small, chakra emission shielded, henge to one part of their body before continuing the mission. This was only one of many 'less is more' stealth techniques the White Fang passed on during his time as an Anbu instructor at the pit.
The two walked out from behind the rock they were all hiding behind and looked back noticing that their two teammates had seemingly vanished. They made their way into the small non-gated village and asked for directions to the village hotel. After being directed towards the small five room Inn they walked inside and Naruto looked at his 'sister'. "It hasn't settled down yet. She's not here" she whispered while feeling the bikōchū jumping around in the pocket of her fleece jacket.
"Let's look for a bar" he whispered back.
It only took ten minutes for them to find the only alcohol selling establishment in the village. Conveniently the place was also the only restaurant in town so the presence of a girl of questionable age and her definitely underage little brother wouldn't raise too many eyebrows. Walking in to the restaurant they were greeted by a pretty 20 year-old hostess with a blonde bob and green eyes. "Hi, welcome to Kuroishi Bar & Grill how may I help you?"
"We're supposed to be meeting up with our cousins; two women, one's my sister's height the other a couple inches shorter. They may have a girl my age and a pet pig with them?" Naruto asked while 'smiling' kindly at the girl.
"Ah the Ayono party, they booked their own private booth in the back of the restaurant shall I let them know you're here?" she asked politely.
"No, we told them we weren't sure if we'd make it, do you think we could go surprise them?" Naruto asked while reaching into his jacket.
"I don't knooow. We're not supposed to let other customers just walk up to the private booths it kind of defeats the perp…" she started but fell silent as Naruto discreetly slipped a few hundred Ryo onto her podium. Swiping the cash with incredibly fast reflexes for a civilian the girl quickly pocketed the money and took out a stamper. "Alright now all we have to do is give you two non-drinker stamps and you can be on your wa-ay" she sing-songed while stamping the backs of their left hands.
"Have a good night!"
Nodding to the girl they made their way to the back right side of the restaurant that she tilted her head towards and walked around the privacy wall. They saw a black-haired and very drunk Tsunade, the kunoichi Shizune holding a sickly looking Tonton and a 12-year-old girl wearing brown glasses over her crimson eyes. What struck Naruto about her was her red, spiky on the right side, longer and straight on the left side hair and the familiar feel of her chakra. The feeling was even stronger than what he'd felt from that Oto-kunochi however unlike the Oto girl this one apparently she felt it too. While Naruto was sure Tsunade had picked up their presence (despite facing away from them) it was the red-head who gave the first sign of noticing the two Anbu.
"Hey, do I know you?" she asked in confusion as she looked Naruto in his eyes.
"No miss but we're here to help you" Naruto said as non-threatingly as he could.
"So they finally sent some body, about (gulp, gulp) damn time" Tsunade said after downing half a cups worth of sake.
"Hai, Tsunade-sama, may we sit down? There is a small matter to discuss before we leave" Naruto asked.
"Sure, kid" Tsunade said still not looking at them. As they slid into the booth and Tsunade got a good look at them she shook her head and finished off her cup. "You really are kids. Release those henges for a second and let me get a look at you" she ordered all signs of intoxication suddenly absent from her tone.
"Tsunade-sama that is hardly approp…" Scorpion started but was cut off by Tsunade's forced whisper.
"I'm not about to put these girls lives in the hands of some wet behind the ears, no name, child Anbu now drop the henges and let me see who and how old you really are or I'm not going anywhere"
"We don't have time to argue. Scorpion my face should suffice, keep your hendge going" Naruto ordered while dropping his henge and pulling down his face mask revealing his whisker marks.
"So you're 'that' child. Tell me, are the other 'imitation' Sannin with you?" Tsunade asked mockingly, having heard of the new Team 7's exploits even in Sand country (although that was only due to having some access to the Daimyo's spy network). For some reason the fact that these young upstarts were already being held as her old team's second coming plucked her nerves. It wasn't like she ever enjoyed the title, Jiraiya might but every time she heard it she was reminded of the greatest ass kicking of her life. Hanzo wasn't trying to honor them; the spiteful old bastard was placing targets on the backs of 3 young ninja that he couldn't kill.
"They're around" Naruto said recovering his face and reestablishing his henge.
"Who is this guy Tsunade-sama?" the redhead asked trying to get some answers.
"Oh, I forgot about that resonance thing you purer blooded Uzumaki's have. The fact that you feel it means you two are related"
"What?"
"Sorry Karin-chan but there's no time to explain right now. What's the plan kid?" Tsunade asked.
"Does your room at the Inn have a window?" Naruto asked getting nods in return.
"Then please return there, pack your things and be ready to go as soon as possible. My teammate Eagle will enter the room, give you a quick brief and take things from there"
Nodding Tsunade and company left and Naruto and Scorpion waited a couple minutes before doing the same.
Upon reaching their room the kunoichi quickly packed their gear and opened the window. After a few seconds of nothing happening they were surprised when they heard a voice behind them. "Tsunade-sama, by order of the Hokage you are to return to Konoha with Anbu team Crane. If it is reported that you fled from the Anbu to avoid returning to Konoha or are for whatever reason separated from the Anbu once in friendly territory and do not return to Konoha on your own you will be marked as an missing ninja and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Do you understand these orders?" an Eagle masked Anbu asked.
"Aw hell, there goes that plan. Yes kid I understand my orders now get us out of here"
Making a few hand signs the Anbu said "Yin Release: False Surroundings Jutsu" as he did, illusionary copies of the pig and three women shimmered into existence, seemingly sleeping in their beds.
"If anyone looks in through that window or breaks in they will find these illusions. Hopefully we'll be long gone by then, let's go" the Anbu said before jumping through the window followed by the three kunoichi.
Four rooms over a bandage wrapped teen's honey colored eyes snapped open and he suddenly sat up on his bed. "Tetsuo, what's up" Hirutsuchi asked looking up at his teammate from his floor mat.
"I…its weird, I think one of the iron particles I slipped under the door of the room at the other end of the hall picked up a shunshin but it was a pretty weak chakra spike, so weak I might be mistaken. The particles I placed on the door didn't move so unless I sensed someone that can run through walls I must have dosed off and been dreaming"
"Hey, I remember seeing that room from the outside. It had a window" Maiko said while looking up from the screw she was tightening on her armor.
"It might be nothing but I better go tell Roshi-sensei" Hirutsuchi said standing up and going next door to his sensei's room followed by Tetsuo. Not getting an answer after knocking on the door he nodded to Tetsuo who pulled a hand full of sand from his pocket and forced the particles into the room underneath the door.
"He's not in there"
"What? Damn it, what are we supposed to do now?" asked Maiko who'd donned her armor and followed them.
"I'll create a couple of earth clones to look for sensei. While I'm doing that you two head to the tallest building in town and work together to spread Tetsuo's sand as far as you can while being discreet about it. With any luck we'll find sensei and get a better idea of what's going on" Hirotsuchi ordered.
"What if we can't find sensei in time?" Tetsuo asked with an expectant grin.
"Then we investigate ourselves"
Konoha, Residential District, Kamakura Apartment Complex:
After climbing through the window of his fourth floor apartment Mantis released his original camo jutsu and removed his black cloak and mask. He was about to press the hidden button under his bed so that he could place his gear in its hiding place when, despite his fatigue from his team's failed attempt to assassinate the Suna Jinchūriki, he double checked his chakra network for Genjutsu. "Release"
CLANG! CLANG!
After he'd released the illusion his body moved with speed that even he found surprising allowing him to draw his tanto and a kunai fast enough to block attacks from both sides. Looking at his attackers, one male one female he saw they were wearing all black versions of the Konoha Chunin/Jonin uniform. "Looks like Danzo-sama wasn't as cautious as we'd hoped and now the ISS is making its move. I must escape to the deeper well"
Using his tongue to open one of his false molars, Mantis swallowed a small Root approved variant of the Cerberus drug and felt a rush of revitalizing artificial chakra flood his chakra coils that forced his first two Hachimon open. Activating his bloodline and looking at his attackers again he saw that they were now both male and although their faces were both covered their eyes were exactly the same. "A Genjutsu covered clone, which means…" Feeling an attack coming from behind he let go of the kunai in his left hand and released a burst of raw chakra blasting/dispersing the shadow clone before making a quick one handed seal.
The moment Kurenai's Tanto pierced through her targets back she knew that something was wrong. A puff of smoke revealing a stabbed wooden chair confirmed her suspicions. "Damn it! How'd he catch on so quick, was he faking his fatigue?" Kurenai thought to herself as she and Asuma moved into a back to back defensive position. They'd lost the element of surprise and now their stealth specialist target was doing an excellent job of hiding from them.
Feeling movement on her right Kurenai swung her tanto in time to block a tanto strike at her head but didn't realize the enemy blade was vibrating with lightning chakra until it cleanly cut through her normal one an nearly reached her throat. Luckily her partner, who was far more familiar with chakra enhanced blades, saw what was going on and spun around reaching over her shoulder and blocked the lightning tanto with his wind enhanced one. With both ninja facing the same direction they didn't see the real Mantis temporarily drop his camo jutsu, his hands glowing with chakra. "Two Palms" he said striking Asuma twice on the spine with Cerberus enhanced speed "Four Palms, Eight Palms, Sixteen Palms" at this point Asuma lost his ability to hold his tanto his arms dropping limply to his sides. "Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms" he announced calmly finishing the technique and dropping Asuma to the ground paralyzed. To Kurenai who'd been engaged in a short Taijutsu exchange with what she could only assume was an enhanced shadow clone (she'd managed to hit it in the jaw once and it was still going) this has all happened in seconds.
"He's a Hyuga? Why wasn't that in the file? He'll be able to see through my Genjutsu we…" her thoughts were cut off by being forced to dodge a glowing palm from the original.
"Give up and I will merely put you to sleep. It would be a shame for the leaf to lose Jonin needlessly, especially during wartime" Mantis said as he and his clone both took off their masks.
"So it really (pant) is you Ebisu, all these years and I never even suspected you were a Hyuga. Should've known, you never would take off those shades" Asuma said, straining to look up at his old friend.
"I am Root born, the Hyuga aren't aware of my existence"
"Ebisu, just turn yourself in you…" but he was cut off by Kurenai disappearing in a puff of smoke and Ebisu firing off a chakra blast at seemingly nothing, completely destroying the wall separating the room they were currently in and the bathroom. The blast caused smoke and debris to be blown all through the apartment obscuring Asuma's already limited field of vision. After a full minute Asuma saw a figure limp its way through the smoke and fall to its knees only a few inches away from him.
"He blasted me four steps into a shunshin, a fucking shunshin!" Kurenai said while reaching into her hip pouch and feeding Asuma a soldier pill hoping the influx of chakra would force some of his tenketsu open.
"He's the strongest Hyuga I've ever seen. We shouldn't have been sent after him, he's beyond us" Asuma said siting up with a little help from Kurenai.
"Hai, and now he's gotten away, it's almost guaranteed he'll be able to get out of the village. (Sigh) I hope the rest of the ISS fairs better than us"
Otogakure, Land of Rice Fields base:
"The package is now roughly thirty feet beneath us" a teenaged version of Yamato said while ducking under a kunai swipe and stabbing a ski masked Oto-kunoichi with a kunai of his own.
"Good job Kakera-san. Hiashi-san, can you see anything now?" Kakashi said while catching a sloppy punch and jabbing his attacker in the throat before knocking the man out with a chakra enhanced front kick to the chin.
"Negative these walls are shielded like the last two levels. I cannot see through them however this hallway is cloaked in Genjutsu and not as long as it seems. There is another hatch roughly 25 yards straight ahead of us" Hiashi said while releasing his chakra from his palms in controlled bursts. To the untrained eye it would look as if he was simply waving his opponents away.
"Is it me or this a little too eas…?" Anko started to say while disarming a 14 year old kunoichi and gutting her with her own curved kunai.
"Don't say the E-word you'll (cough) jinx us" Hayate Gekkō said while slicing through a heavy set ninja.
"These ninja are just cannon fodder but I have a feeling whatever's on the other side of this next hatch is going to be… monsterous" Jiraiya said feeling tainted chakra seeping up from beneath them.
Well then let's see what fine prizes are behind door number three!" Anko yelled while flinging two sticky bombs at the hatches' hinges while Jiraiya rose a large earth wall for them and the 30 Anbu they had with them.
BOOM!
As soon as the door hit the ground a wave of vile chakra slammed into the Konoha ninja and dozens of horned, purple skinned monstrosities leaped through the opening.
(Cough, Cough, Cough)
"See I told you Anko!" Hayate yelled drawing the attention of one of the larger things that had six black eyes and four arms. The creature independently trained each of its eyes on the swordsman, gave a malevolent smile and attacked.
A/n: So, I know I said this chapter would be action packed but I decided to alter my outline a little bit and had to set a few things that I hadn't had planned up. I/E: The gated ninja family communities, Karin and Naruto being related and Mantis being Ebisu and a Hyuga. These new factors will be important later on. Next chapter is all ready written and only has to be edited so it WILL be posted on May 8 or before. As always please review.