Naruto Shippuden -H-: Chapter 020: Welcome to the Land of Roses
Andarius stood in the center of the Brine Release: Protective Shield of Atlantis Jutsu, shielding him from Mei's Boil Release technique.
"It looks like some kind of orca or dolphin, surely he does not plan to defend against my Skilled Mist Technique with something like that." thought Mei to herself as she increased the PH level of the jutsu to start corroding the outside of Andariu's aquatic shield.
"I am sorry to tell ya' this my friend, but wit' this jutsu, your kekkei genkai is not going to harm me." said Andarius as the large orca made of green-like mineral water started to produce steam of its own, further multiplying the near by temperature.
"If he thinks that he is safe in that stationary water dome, he is mistaken." said Mei as she performed more hand signs and used the Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique to shoot large acidic mounds of Lava atop Andarius' jutsu.
"What is she up to now, heh, Brine Release: Countering Sword of Atlantis!" yelled Andarius as the sphere that surrounded him produced a large cutlass sword made of scalding green water, which dissolved Mei's jutsu and came very close to hitting her as well.
"My lava, it was eaten up by water, but how?" thought Mei to herself as she gained some distance between herself and Andarius to plan her next move.
"You don't want it to get too hot, now do ya', those two over there might not like it." said Andarius as he pointed to Inari and Chojuro who were barely outside of the PH levels of the Boil Release Jutsu.
"Shit, I will have to lower it, so they don't get hurt." said Mei to herself as she started to cool down the surrounding area.
"Face it girl, you cannot win with what you have presented here, Brine Release: Charging Orca of the Pacific!" yelled Andarius as the Sphere of green-scalding water he was in morphed into a larger orca and started to swim at great speeds atop the wet and misty grounds of the surrounding area, approaching Mei.
"Brine Release, I never heard of it, but it seems to revolve around a complete change in the texture and effects of a standard Water Release jutsu." thought Mei to herself as she was able to narrowly dodge the first attempt of Andarius' jutsu to ram directly into her.
"Hehehehe, you were lucky that time Mei, but now, I will multiply the amount of orcas into four, you will not escape this time!" yelled Andarius as the orca made of his Brine Release water turned around and separated into four different parts of equally sized orcas.
"Lava Release: Skilled Behemoth Apparition!" yelled Mei in a last ditch effort as she spat out a large quantity of white, acidic lava-like substance that formed into a large otter-like creature.
"Hehehe, so, you are combining the best of both of your abilities, not bad, the Lava and Boil release jutsu used in one, but will the effects be any different?" asked Andarius as he and the other three orcas charged once again towards Mei.
"Like I will just stand here, my Skilled Behemoth Apparition with destroy all four of those aquatic spheres." thought Mei to herself.
"Now!" yelled Andarius as he released his jutsu, causing Mei's jutsu to also be cancelled out, and quickly ran over to her location.
"So, that whole jutsu was just a feint, to try and lure me into an ambush, well it did not work, I am the Mizukage after all, this is the village that gave birth to the art of ambush." said Mei as she pulled a sharp kunai out of her pocket and thrusted the tool towards Andarius' face.
"I know, the art of ambush runs well in these veins, honey!" said Andarius as he parried back out of the reach of Mei's kunai and prepared a few more hand signs in rapid succession.
"Damn, is this another one of his feints?" asked Mei as she tried to prepare more handsigns for another Boil Release Jutsu.
"Too late, Brine Release: Crushing Hand of Poseidon!" yelled Andarius as a large scalding mineral-green hand of water erupted out of the ground and rapidly lunged towards Mei, catching her before she could finish her own jutsu, and began to burn her.
"Hehehehe, the effects of the Brine Release are similar to your own Boil Release in terms of pain inducement." said Andarius as he stood next to the large construct of Brine and stared at the captured Mizukage in the eyes.
"You will be the first to die, and then I will own this fuckin' village." said Andarius with a malevolent grin.
Night approached Naruto and his team as the third day of their journey to Lazarus was reaching it's end.
"We have made it passed the Land of Roses border, and should be in Ishigakure by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, after that, it should not take us too long to get to the border of the Land of Earth and reach the destination in that scroll." said Shikamaru as he sat beside a fire place with a cigarette, reading one of Jiraiya's old novels.
"Good to know, it seems we have not had any more trouble ever since Sakura was able to fight off that old geezer's jutsu, so we should have a smooth ride to Ishigakure." said Sai as he finished drawing a picture of Ino beside a Camellia.
"I don't know, that old man seemed like he would not be the type to just retreat and never bite back, we have to be careful in the event of another attack from these guys, maybe next time, all three of those men could show up." said Sakura with concern.
"Man, it is about time we close in on Ishigakure, I know it has only been three days, yet it seems like an eternity to me." said Naruto as he was about to fall asleep leaning on a tree.
"Just be a little more patient, and keep any troubled thoughts out of your mind, we will find out what those bastards really want soon." said Shikamaru as he was reading through various strategies that he had written himself on traversing long distances, having finished the Icha Icha Tactics novel.
"Heh, those books you wrote about traveling have been selling well in the Konoha Library, and it would seem for good reason." said Sai reading through one of them as well, having finished his picture.
"I would read one of them too, but to hear an order from Shikamaru directly would be more efficient for me." said Naruto as he drifted asleep and laid against the tree seemingly peaceful.
"He really was worn out, I think most of his tiredness comes from the mental stress of being married as well." said Sai with joy.
"Yeah, he sure has a lot on his shoulders, I mean, look at how far he has came." said Shikamaru.
"Maybe so, but also look at all of the freaks that have tried to hurt Naruto and the rest of us, all because of what Naruto had sealed inside of him, and now it is because someone is his biggest fan, I will personally deal with this boss myself, mark my words, there is no reason for Naruto to bear this burden alone." said Naruto as she stood up with a grin on her face and a look of fire in her emerald green eyes as she clenched her fists and thought of her teacher, Tsunade.
"Man, Sakura has been on fire this mission, no wonder the village is considering her for Jonin Commander, too bad you already have the position, eh Shikamaru?" asked Sai who was impressed with Sakura's resolve as of late.
"Well, she could be our motivational speaker, that is for sure, but I am going to rest for a while, you two be sure to get some sleep as well." said Shikamaru as he fell asleep reading one of his own books.
"I will keep watch for a while, then we can all sleep through the night." said Sai.
"Agreed." said Sakura as she had too much energy currently to lay down.
Andarius held Mei in his Brine Release jutsu as she was screaming due to the scalding water that was brushing against her skin.
"Ahhghhhhhh!" screamed Mei as she tried to break free but was unable to slip out of the jutsu.
"It would seem the rest of Kirigakure assumed you would be victorious, there appears to be no help for you in the horizon, and with nightfall, no one will be missing you or these other two low lifes." said Andarius as his jutsu gripped Mei even tighter, causing many skin burns to appear all over her, and burning away some of her clothes.
"Ahhghhhhhhhhhhh!" yelled Mei as he skin started to turn red and boils were beginning to appear all over her body.
"Yaahahahhhhhhh!" yelled Andarius in response as he strengthened the jutsu further, planning on boiling Mei into a pile of mushed bones.
"Lariat!" yelled a voice from directly behind Andarius as he was slow to turn around when Killer Bee clothes-lined him directly into the lake nearby.
"Susanoo." said Sasuke as one of his Susanoo's hands grabbed Mei and brought her down to safety.
"That .teji..whatever the hell it is called came in handy after all." said Killer Bee as Gyuki facepalmed again within the man's consciousness.
"Mizukage, just rest here for a while." said Sasuke as he laid the injured shinobi on the ground.
"Bee, get those other two Mist shinobi and lay them next to the Mizukage, so that way they will not be caught in the crossfire." said Sasuke.
"Alright, they will be safe as can be, things will be so calm, they will be able to breathe, o'yeah!" yelled Bee as he produced the tentacles of Gyuki and grabbed Inari and Chojuro and quickly placed them beside Mei.
"It seems we were slightly late, someone was already killed here, and those other two shinobi are also critically wounded." said Sasuke as his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinnegan focused on the lake where Andarius was launched.
"I got that bastard with the Lariat, but who know what he is doing now, fool, ya, fool." said Bee as he pulled out Samehada in case of a retaliation.
"Susanoo, prepare yourself." said Sasuke as the skeletal Susanoo grew into the complete form without the Armour.
"Water Release: Six-Headed Tyrant Leviathan Homing Evangeleon!" yelled a slightly shaken Andarius as six large serpentine heads of water formed out of the lake and split up, with the two sets of three aiming for Bee and Sasuke respectively.
"This should be a good diversion, I will just try to kill Mei, and at the same time avoid being bested by these two fuckers." said Andarius as he was bleeding from the chest where he was caught by Bee's Lariat.
"Heh, petty jutsu, Susanoo, destroy this!" yelled Sasuke as his Susanoo grew two extra arms and smashed the three water serpents that approached him.
"Hey Eight-O, give me a hand-o, oh yeah!" said Bee as he formed a protective covering of tentacles that shielded him from the impact of the three water serpents that also attacked him.
"Fuck, that did not do as much as I would have liked, c'mon Dreatoen, where the fuck are you?" thought Andarius to himself as he emerged from the lake, holding his chest and seeming to be under great stress.
"So, you are another one of those losers who are after Naruto Uzumaki, Knights of Dawn, working for the Apathetic Judge, right?" asked Sasuke as he recalled back to what Orochimaru told him.
"Heh, I don't know how in the fuck ya' know that but hear me out now you two fuckin' bitches, I am not afraid of either of you, I don't give a fuck who ya' think ya' are, nor do I give a fuck about any of this shit, don't expect me to be intimidated by pussies like you two!" yelled Andarius with a smile of much adrenaline and anger.
"If you are finished ranting like a child, then we will be obliged to kill you now." said Sasuke as Bee quickly darted towards Andarius.
"Not enough time to use the Brine Release." thought Andarius to himself.
"Lightning Straight!" yelled Bee as he created a vortex of lightning around his body and charged directly into Andarius.
"Shit, fuc...k." said Andarius as he was knocked into the air and was unable to move.
"Chidori!" yelled Sasuke as he pierced Andarius' heart with his hand and pushed the injured Knight of Dawn to the ground.
"Since he was still wet from being knocked into the lake, those two Lightning-based attacks were even further lethal." said Sasuke as he and Bee turned to mend the wounds of Mei, Chojuro, and Inari.
"Nice work on the Water Clone." said Andarius, who was running low on chakra from using the Brine Release with such intensity.
"Well, it seems are friend is still amongst us, he cannot have much energy left though." said Sasuke as Mei, Chojuro, and Inari rose to their feet.
"Sakura made these herbs, they are fast acting, and can heal just about any type of injury." said Sasuke to Mei.
"You were the one who saved us, uhh, I..." said Mei as she remembered back when Sasuke attacked the Kage Summit.
"Sasuke, you mean the Sasuke that helped fight off Gatou's thugs all of those years ago." said Inari with joy.
"Huh, I guess these people know you, but we have a friend over here who is probably blue, fool, ya fool." said Bee as Andarius slowly lingered towards their location.
"Seriously Dreatoen, any fuckin' time now, I am too tired to fight all five of these fuckers." said Andarius who was surprised to see Inari, Chojuro, and Mei stand up again.
"That bitch should have been roasted, I guess those two fuckers had some kind of ointment or medicine." thought Andarius as he kept his distance from Sasuke and Killer Bee.
"I will use Amaterasu and finish this now." said Sasuke as he surrounded his sword with the black flames and ran towards Andarius at great speeds.
"Water Release: Two-Headed Water Dragon!" yelled Andarius with desperation as Sasuke easily side-stepped the two large aquatic bullets and jumped right in front of Andarius, lunging the black-flame sword towards the man.
Before Sasuke could connect his attack, he struck what appeared to be an invisible wall, resembling a glass mirror of sorts, protecting Andarius from the attack.
"What the fuck is this?" thought Sasuke as he shot more of the black flames at Andarius, only for them to hit this mirror-like wall again.
"What is this, another jutsu of this Andarius?" asked Mei to herself.
"Lady Mizukage, sorry for falling on the job." said Chojuro as he bowed to Mei.
"I was also beaten, in other words, I failed my people." said Mei as Chojuro appeared to be saddened from this statement.
"I told you Andarius not to venture out alone, but since you disobeyed that command, you shall be punished for it." said Dreatoen as he appeared in the air above Andarius and landed next to him.
"Who the heck is that?" asked Inari with confusion.
"Mothafucka, the Apathetic Judge told me I could do this, I was entrusted to kill the Mizukage, but thanks to Jesei and those others, these fucks here must have been notified and spoiled my plans." said Andarius with anger.
"Hey, relax Andarius, we do not need to kill Mei, but I do want to test Sasuke's compassion though." said Dreatoen as he created a sharp shard of crystal and shot it with his eyes glowing yellow, towards Inari, and before anyone could react, the young man was pierced from the neck, and fell to the ground, unable to let out a sound.
"Inari, no!" yelled Mei as tears started to fall from her face.
"Fuck, this is bad." said Chojuro.
"Good work Ishi, it seems Yonareta helped you out as well." said Dreatoen speaking of the swords that all of the Knights of Dawn had in their scrolls.
"No, I will not let this go on!" yelled Sasuke as his Susanoo formed into a fully stabilized form, standing miles above Dreatoen and Andarius.
-To be continued next time with Chapter 021...-