You guys are fantastic!
As per the poll, the 'All Three' option won by a massive landslide. While I caution everyone that the poll results don't guarantee a harem pairing, it is nice to know that many of you believe it could work.
AU Changes: Minor ones that should be self explanatory, but the main change was the Akatsuki projection meeting jutsu. In canon, it was more or less a real time communication device that (had the Akatsuki used it correctly) would have enabled them to win in rather short order. It was also more or less PFM. I changed it to be more fitting the idea of the Rinnegan, and is now a specialized and focused Astral Projection. It takes effort, so the Akatsuki can't just communicate across the continent any time they please.
And without any more delay, here's the next chapter. Chapter 43: Addictions
"This place will do." Itachi decided, motioning to the partially buried rock in the small clearing several feet in front of himself and his partner. Kisame nodded and headed towards the edge of the clearing to set up a barrier. It wasn't an intricate barrier by any means, but it would serve it's purpose to hide his and Itachi's chakra signatures while they were...unavailable.
The shark faced man grimaced slightly as he thought about how fun the Akatsuki meeting would be. Having learned that Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Demon fox, was here in Kiri, there was a fairly sizable chance that Naruto had somehow learned of their plans to capture the Three Tails. And while there was also the Sound ninja trying to find and presumably capture the Three Tails as well, Kisame didn't believe that they would be able to prevail if Naruto was forced to stop holding back.
And that wasn't including that Pain's plan ideally had all of the other Jinchuriki already taken care of by the time it was Naruto's turn to be captured. So to say that Naruto's presence put an extra wrinkle in their plan for the Three Tails was a massive understatement. Pulling out a small black rod from a sealing scroll, Kisame pushed his chakra into it before shoving it into the ground. Crossing the clearing, Kisame sank another rod into the side of the clearing directly opposite the first. Moving to the right, the missing nin placed the third rod. Crossing the clearing one last time, he placed the fourth rod across from the third. Moving into the center of the clearing, he placed the final rod directly in the center of the clearing.
Itachi blinked, turning his Sharingan on with a practiced flicker of chakra. Squinting slightly he made out the almost invisible lines of chakra that connected all of the black chakra receiver rods. Pain had given each pair of Akatsuki several dozen of the mysterious rods, claiming that they had enough chakra to power any barrier. The strength of said barrier would depend on how many rods were used, how knowledgeable the user was in the art of sealing, and what type of barrier the user was concentrating on while setting up the barrier.
The Uchiha let out a silent grunt as he watched Kisame make his way over to the boulder where Itachi currently sat. Itachi, for all his skill and intelligence, was terrible at sealing. He could follow a pre designed seal easily enough, but creating his own was always frustratingly out of reach. The strange abstract logic that sealing required always eluded him, and now it was far too late to learn. Pulling himself up on the boulder's flat top, Itachi wove through the specific handsigns to activate the special ring he wore on his ring finger on his right hand.
Most people who saw the distinct scarlet ring with the Akatsuki symbol on it viewed it as some kind of status symbol, denoting membership to the powerful group. However, the ring was in fact a powerful item that allowed its wearer to astrally project their minds to a specific location. Other Akatsuki members who also wore their rings could do the same, allowing for real time communication over any distance. Its secondary function was to alert all Akatsuki members if they needed to attend a meeting using the rings. Normally Pain was the only one to call for a meeting - as was his right as leader of the Akatsuki - but given the presence of Naruto...Itachi had felt it was necessary.
Closing his eyes, the Uchiha placed his left hand over the ring and formed the last hand sign. Feeling his chakra drain slightly, there was a tug on his mind for the briefest of moments. When it subsided, Itachi opened his eyes.
Surveying the area around him, Itachi noted that Pain had chosen a cave for the meeting place this time. There were five ledges overlooking a large pit in the center of the room, and one of the Akatsuki teams stood on four of the five ledges. Directly across from Itachi's ledge was Kakuzu and Hidan - designation: Team Zombie - and to their right was the ledge with Sasori and Deidara - designation: Team Scorn -. Across from Team Scorn was Team Pain, consisting of Pain and Konan. However, there was a new ledge just slightly off of Pain's right, holding a man with an orange mask that had a single eyehole, and even more strangely,there was a spiraling pattern on the mask that started at the eyehole and rotated outwards in a counterclockwise design.
The new man bounced slightly on his toes, seemingly unable to keep still. Familiarity edged at Itachi's mind, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen the man before. A moment later Kisame appeared by Itachi's side, and Pain stepped forward, calling the meeting to order, drawing Itachi's gaze away from the strange man.
"Before Itachi explains why he called this emergency meeting, I have news regarding our ongoing effort to replace the two members that are no longer with us." Pain's emotionless voice gave no indication to his feelings about Orochimaru who had betrayed the group in an effort to take Itachi's eyes, "This," He gestured with one hand, "Is Tobi." The orange masked man seemed to beam from behind his mask and waved enthusiastically to the other members of the Akatsuki, the slate blue ring of the Akatsuki flashing slightly from its position on his left little finger.
"Tobi has managed to take Orochimaru's Akatsuki ring, showing that he has the talent to join us." Again, Pain showed no indication of the slight satisfaction he felt on taking the ring back from the traitor, "However, given that he is new to our organization, he will be shadowing Team Moon and Team Scorn for a duration to learn how we operate."
"Tobi looks forward to working with you all." Waving at the two teams with separate arms, Tobi practically radiated excitement.
"Now Itachi," Pain gestured to the Sharingan user, "Explain why you called this meeting."
"Naruto Uzumaki is in Kiri and seems to be searching for the Three Tails." There was silence.
"...Does he know of our mission?" Pain finally spoke, unsure of the slight emotion he was feeling.
"Unknown." Itachi shook his head slightly, "But there are indicators that he is searching for the Sound team that is searching for the Three Tails." Itachi blinked."Logically speaking, Naruto Uzumaki is searching for the Sound Team, and given that his teacher is Jiraiya the Sannin, we cannot dismiss the possibility that he knows of our involvement."
The leader of the Akatsuki pondered the issue that lay before them. Naruto Uzumaki, while not considered S-Rank by any means, possessed an almost unnatural rate of growth in the ninja arts. It had been almost six months since their spy, Zetsu, had given him an update on Naruto's progress. It was foolish to believe that Naruto had obtained S-Rank in that time, but it would be equally foolish to take him lightly. In addition, they could not kill the Uzumaki least the Kyubi be unleashed. Glancing at the orange masked man to his right, Pain had a flash of inspiration.
"Tobi." The man perked up at the sound of his name, "You will join Itachi and Kisame. Use your abilities to take the Three Tails when the opportunity presents itself."
Tobi straightened, his hand snapping up in a salute. "Sir. Yes, Sir." Turning to face Itachi and Kisame, Tobi clasped his hands and bowed. "Tobi looks forward to working with both Itachi-Senpai and Kisame-Senpai."
Kisame couldn't help but chuckle at the man's enthusiasm. "Well, unless you're already in Kiri, it's going to be a long walk to our location."
Tobi straightened and clapped his hands excitedly. "No, Senpai, it won't take Tobi long." He nodded to himself. "Tobi has…" His lone visible eye widened, as his arms spread out as far as he could make them, "...super powerful eye powers." He threw up his thumb. "Tobi will be there as soon as the meeting ends."
As the meeting moved on to other topics, Itachi couldn't help but carefully scan Tobi. He was almost certain that he knew Tobi from somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. The knowledge danced just out of reach, and it was highly vexing. Soon the meeting ended and Itachi cut the chakra connection to the ring, still pondering the issue of why he felt that he knew Tobi.
"Something going on?" Kisame leaned backwards to look up at Itachi who was still sitting on the rock, "You got that look on your face again."
Slightly annoyed that his emotions were visible enough that Kisame could pick up on them, Itachi explained the feeling he had about Tobi. "I cannot help but feel that I know our newest member from somewhere."
"Hmmmm…" Kisame tapped his chin, "Are you sure? Tobi doesn't seem like the type you would have associated yourself with when you were still a Konoha nin." Itachi raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Tobi seems to be not very bright."
"Perhaps you are right." Itachi conceded, "But I will still watch him."
"I wouldn't expect anything less."
Any further conversation halted as the air near the right side of the clearing began twisting into itself. Itachi activated his Sharingan with a blink as he dismounted the boulder, while Kisame pulled himself off the rock as he pulled the bandaged form of Samehada, his massive greatsword, off his back and rested it on his shoulder. "Think that's Tobi?"
"Perhaps." Itachi didn't take his eyes off the twisting air, "Perhaps not." Kisame grunted as he also kept his eyes on the strange phenomena. The air began swirling into a recognizable pinwheel pattern that was spinning in a counterclockwise motion. Orange and black bled into the pattern, and a moment later Tobi whirled into existence.
"Hi." Tobi waved happily, "Tobi found you." Skipping forward as the air stilled behind him, the masked man stopped in front of Itachi and Kisame. "That's a big sword." Stepping forward, Tobi phased intangibly through the confused Kisame to peer closer at the weapon. Seemingly satisfying his curiosity a moment later, Tobi took a step back, phasing through Kisame again. "Samehada looks very powerful Kisame-Senpai."
Kisame couldn't help the slight surge of pride on behalf of the sentient sword. "Thanks."
Tobi beamed from behind his mask. "Welcome." Swinging himself to face Itachi, Tobi looked positively thrilled. "You have a Sharingan too, Itachi-Senpai?" Squinting his eye shut, he eased it open a moment later to reveal his own Sharingan. Enthusiastically pointing at his eye, Tobi leaned closer to the obviously uncomfortable Itachi. "I have one too. See? See?"
"I see." Itachi took a step back, his initial dislike of the masked man growing at Tobi's childish behavior.
"Ohhhh…" Tobi cut chakra to his eye as a thought seemed to occur to him, "Does this mean we could be related Senpai?"
"No." Itachi's face could have been carved from granite. "It does not." Pausing to nod in the direction they would be traveling, the Uchiha continued, "We have to get moving. Along the way, explain how your...abilities work." Itachi refused to call them 'super eye powers'.
"Roger Itachi-Senpai." Tobi saluted as the three began moving, "Tobi's first power it teleportation." Adjusting invisible glasses, the masked man continued, "Using Tobi's eye, Tobi has access to a special dimension. Tobi can enter that dimension and exit anywhere…" He waved his arms to illustrate, "in the whole world." He nodded vigorously, "And Tobi can take other people and things to that dimension as well."
"That seems useful." Kisame glanced over, half amused at Tobi's explanation and half amused at Itachi's lack of response to it.
"Tobi is proud of his super eye powers." Tobi's lone eye squinted slightly as he smiled, "And Tobi's second ability is intangibility." Running towards the nearest tree, his form grew slightly transparent as he neared the tree. Instead of slamming into the tree, he passed directly through it, as if it didn't exist. Spinning around to race back through the tree again, he resumed his explanation. "Tobi can phase himself, parts of himself, and other people at the same time."
"And how will you deal with Naruto Uzumaki?" Itachi spoke, his emotionless tone cutting through some of Tobi's enthusiasm, "Your powers don't seem offensive in nature."
"Don't worry Itachi-Senpai," Tobi's voice was light and optimistic, "Tobi has an idea." Unseen under his mask, a malicious smirk bled onto his face, but his happy tone never changed, "But it's a secret~" Nodding, Tobi waved his hand disarmingly. "You'll see soon Senpai, and you'll be so proud of me…"
"Just give me a moment." Yukimaru tiredly mumbled as he almost collapsed to his knees after searching another pool for the Three Tails' dimension, "I just need to rest for a minute."
Guren took five steps in his direction before she caught herself. "Right." Spinning on her heel, the blue haired kunoichi briskly ordered the rest of the sound ninja, "We'll wait until Yukimaru is ready to move again." Clenching her hands at her sides at the sound of Yukimaru's ragged deep breaths, Guren stalked off to survey the next area, lest she give in and help Yukimaru; lest she become weak. She had seen what happened to the weak and had sworn to never become like them.
Still, as she moved off, she couldn't help the thought that drifted in, "Why does Orochimaru-Sama want to do this?" Shaking her head to clear those thoughts, the kunoichi quickened her pace.
"Ah...Guren…" Rinji smirked to himself, "You're starting to care too much for the boy." Pushing off of the tree he had been leaning against, the sound ninja and part time medic nin made his way to the still recovering Yukimaru. By Rinji's estimates it would be at least ten, with an outside guess of fifteen, minutes until Guren returned. "More than enough time."
"How are those pills working out?" Rinji seated himself next to the exhausted boy, "Keeping your energy up?"
"Yeah." Yukimaru took several seconds to tiredly reply, "But they seem to be lasting for less and less time."
"Ah." Rinji nodded, "It seems that you are adjusting to your current dose." Sighing to himself, the medic nin seemed to be weighing a few options before speaking again. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but the mission has more than just one objective." Carefully angling his face away from Yukimaru's curious gaze, Rinji continued, "Orochimaru-Sama has been growing displeased with Guren these last few months."
Hiding a smirk at Yukimaru's worried expression on behalf of Guren, Rinji continued with his carefully crafted lie. "It's not her fault." Reaching over to pat the boy on the shoulder, the medic ninja continued his explanation. "You see, they've been noticing how Guren treats you differently. With everyone else, she's the scary badass kunoichi who was almost Orochimaru-Sama's host, but with you, she's...softer."
"Which wouldn't be that much of an issue, but…" Rinji shrugged, "This is Sound we are talking about." He let out a heavy sigh. "Guren saved me while back, did you know that?" Yukimaru shook his head, "She needed a squad, and chose me out of all of the prisoners. So when Orochimaru-Sama started talking about Guren, I convinced him to give her a chance." Rinji grimaced. "That chance was this mission."
"If this mission succeeds, Orochimaru-Sama assures me that Guren will be free of suspicion. But," Rinji shook his head grimly, "If it fails…"
"Oh no…" Yukimaru looked down, his fatigue forgotten as his mind conjured all of the terrible things that could happen to Guren if the mission failed. "I can't let the mission fail." Turning to Rinji with a determined expression on his face, he pleaded with the medic nin, " Rinji-San, is there anything you can do?"
"Just as planned." Outwardly, Rinji adopted a serious expression. "There is one thing, but...are you sure you want to do this?"
Yukimaru nodded. "Yes. Guren-Chan protected me from the others in Sound and I know she cares about me, even if she doesn't show it."
"In that case," Rinji pulled a pill bottle from his pocket, "Take two of these whenever you are feeling tired." Yukimaru popped the bottle cap open without hesitating. "Now Yukimaru," The boy turned to Rinji again, "Remember that Guren can't know about her evaluation. And she can't know about the pills either."
"Right." Swallowing the pills, Yukimaru felt his energy returning. Pushing himself to his feet, he offered a hand to Rinji. "Thanks Rinji-San."
Taking the offered hand, Rinji allowed Yukimaru to pull him to his feet. "Anytime."
Almost making it away from Yukimaru before Guren returned, the medic nin was accosted by the blue haired kunoichi. "What were you doing with Yukimaru?" It wasn't a request.
"Calm down." Rinji smiled disarmingly, "I was just giving him a pep talk." He smiled winningly. "And it seems to have worked."
Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Guren turned away from the innocent looking Rinji to move over to Yukimaru. "I'm watching you...Rinji."
"I don't mind." Rinji smiled, before the expression dropped when Guren turned her back. "Just as planned." Pausing a moment to glare at one of his guards, the medic nin couldn't help by adding mentally, "Now if only everyone would stop breaking those ceramic sealing pieces we got, everything would be perfect. We don't have dozens of extras to just break."
"Welp." Naruto surveyed the area he and his team had just searched, "It looks like the Sound group wasn't here either." As he turned back towards the center of the clearing, a small clump of dirt caught his eye. Bending down, he carefully brushed the dirt aside and revealed a small broken ceramic shard that had been mostly buried. Carefully turning the piece over in his hand, Naruto traced the dried sealing ink that still clung to the shard. On the one corner of the intact side was a small engraved number of 'Forty-Seven'. Tilting his head at the part of the seal that still remained on the shard, the Uzumaki quickly reviewed the possible seals that made up the symbol.
Picturing the various sealing symbols, Naruto paused for a moment to consider theoretical sealing array. He had been wondering the past few days on how exactly Sound planned on sealing the Three Tails, given that the village lacked any real seal masters. But...if a small portion of the larger sealing array was placed on many different tiles, it would be possible for anyone to, in theory, place all of the numbered pieces together to recreate the proper array. Granted, it would take a lot of chakra using that method, but it was possible...In theory.
Either way, Naruto felt fairly confident that the shard was from the Sound team. And given that the sealing ink hadn't been completely washed away, the Uzumaki judged that the Sound team was less than twenty-four hours ahead. And now that he had the shard, the Uzumaki figured he could work with Honoka to design a counter measure.
"You might need it." Kurama muttered, "Isobu, the Three Tails, is rather timid when it's not angry. It would probably just let itself get sealed...again." Naruto sent his mental thanks to the Nine Tails for the information and headed back to the clearing where everyone was gathering.
As the group converged, Sakura also had something to report. "I found a discarded pill bottle near the pool edge. It still had residue from the pills that had been inside. I would need to do more research to confirm, but from what I can tell from my limited diagnostic jutsu, it seems to be based on an old formula for chakra pills that is no longer used."
"An old formula?" Naruto tilted his head, "Why isn't it used anymore?"
"The old formula, now known as Warui Seishin, was discontinued after it was discovered that it had severe side effects." Sakura slipped into her lecturer's tone, "Unlike the current formula, Warui Seishin provides a chakra boost by leeching away a portion of the body's life force in order to instantly regenerate a portion of the person's chakra. The problem is that the body needs a minimum amount of life force in order to function properly. The pill could perhaps be taken once every ten to fifteen missions to avoid any potential health issues. Eventually, the pills can kill the user, having leached away all of their life force."
"You found all of that out with a technique?" Naruto grinned proudly at his friend, "That's amazing Sakura-Chan."
"W-Well," Sakura flushed prettily, "I already knew the formula from Tsunade-Sama's training. I just used the diagnostic jutsu to search for the chemical compounds."
"That is still very impressive." Honoka commented, "
"Anyway," Sakura hastened to bring everyone back on track, "This confirms that Sound was here. No other village uses Warui Seishin anymore due to the potential side effects harming their ninja."
"I believe we are less than twenty four hours behind them." Naruto consulted the map, "It looks like the next pool on their list is…" He oriented himself before pointing to the northwest, "...This way. We have a few hours of sunlight left, and should make decent time if we hurry." The group headed off, determined to stop Sound from achieving their goals.
Yukimaru awoke with a gasp, some part of him screaming that something wasn't right. A moment later he became aware of the sweat that practically soaked his sleeping shirt, and with that realization came the cold. Hugging himself to stave off the cool wind that seemed to chill him to the bone, Yukimaru felt nausea bubbling up inside. Fighting the feeling down, helpless tears gathered at the corners of his eyes as he curled up into a ball. "What is happening to me?"
Miserably, some distant part of him noted that he was feeling exhausted again. Reaching out for his bag, Yukimaru fumbled for the pill bottle, the feverish feeling leaving his fingers clumsy and weak. Eventually wrapping his hand around the plastic bottle, he pulled his hand and arm back towards his chest, hugging them close in an attempt to keep warm.
Time seemed to crawl along as the young man fought off the shivers that wracked his entire body. "Guren…" His voice ghosted out in a painful whisper, "Please help me." The pill bottle slipped out of his sweat slicked grip and rolled out back onto the ground.
"...Orochimaru-Sama has been growing displeased with Guren these last few months…"
Yukimaru shook his head violently, "No! I can't keep calling out to Guren whenever I'm hurt. I can't let Sound hurt her." Determination hardened his features, and he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his ...he reached for the bottle.
It was early evening the next day when Naruto and his team reached the edge of the clearing that they suspected that the Sound team would be at. Peering out from behind one of the trees, Naruto spotted a young teenager with light green hair standing at the edge of pool of water. Given that he matched the description Amachi had given, Naruto was almost certain that the teenager was Yukimaru. Pulling back, the blonde Uzumaki turned to the rest of his team when Kurama's voice boomed in the jinchuriki's head.
"Naruto, Isobu is here. I could only sense the dimension it was hiding in," There was a sneer in the Kyubi's tone as it thought of how the Isobu hid from it's problems, rather than confronting them. "When you grew close enough to it. I was able to sense it's chakra from where it was hiding."
Naruto quietly relayed the information to his team. After a moment of deliberation, it was decided that they would wait to see what the Sound team did. Mentally doing calculations with Kurama, Naruto was almost certain that he could seal the Three Tails into his biggest sealing scroll for about twenty minutes before the sheer amount of chakra Isobu emitted would burn out the scroll, hopefully buying them enough time to figure out a more permanent solution. Naruto didn't want to seal any of the Biju, but letting the Sound team get their hands on Isobu would be far worse…
Yukimaru felt like he could take on the world. Feeling like he was almost floating, the light green haired teen moved to the water's edge. Stretching out his hand, his purple eyes fluttered shut as he cast out his chakra like an invisible net, searching for the sensation that he had read about in his personal mission brief.
Purple eyes shot open as he felt something different than just an empty riverbed. There was something resting on the bottom of the small lake. Focusing his chakra on the sensation, Yukimaru felt a thrill of excitement shoot through him as he realized just what he was sensing: The Three Tails. "I'll save you Guren. Just like you saved me." Not taking his eyes off of the water, Yukimaru spoke up, his voice carrying to all of those nearby.
"I found the Three Tails."
Guren almost let out a quiet noise of success, but managed to keep the sound from vocalizing. Still, she began directing the other Sound members to start placing the small ceramic tiles around the area. Some of the spare tiles had been broken by Rinji's guards' carelessness, but they still had the complete set with a few spares. From what Guren had read from her briefing, Yukimaru needed to maneuver the Three Tails into the center of the clearing and then the tiles would go in numbered order around it. The constructed sealing array would have to be activated using the numerous chakra scrolls Orochimaru-Sama had given them. The sealing array was supposed to pacify the Three Tails, taking the burden off of Yukimaru.
Closing his eyes again, Yukimaru focused on the bubble that was the entrance to the Three Tails' dimension. Pushing his chakra through the bubble, he felt the Three Tails' sleepy mind, and prepared himself. Taking two deep breaths, Yukimaru breathed out and issued a mental probe to the Three Tails, coaxing it to the surface.
"Come to the surface. We are friends."
"Friend?" The feeling blossomed in his mind, the Three Tails' seeming confused by the sudden mental communication.
"Yes. We are friends. Come to the surface."
The Three Tails seemed to consider the request for a long moment before shy happiness flooded their mental link. "Meet Friend." The water began to bubble as the Three Tails shuffled forward towards the real world. The water began to rise as it stepped out of its dimensional bubble. Waves began to chop the lake's surface as the Three Tails swam it's immense bulk towards the world above.
With an almost thunderous splash the Three Tailed Giant Turtle rose from the depths below. The three story tall turtle had an impenetrable grey shell that was forty feet long and covered in wicked looking spikes. More of the gray armor covered it's head and clawed limbs. Small red eyes with white pupils peered out from behind its spiked armored helm. Dull red muscles flexed and contracted beneath its mighty armor with even the slightest bit of movement.
Water flowed off it's back like a river as it strode forward onto the lake side. "Friend?"
"Yes," Yukimaru smiled, reaching up to place a small - small when compared to the sheer size of the Three Tails - hand on Isobu's leg. "I'm your friend." Somehow Yukimaru felt complete, as if his entire life had been building up to this moment. Directing the massive turtle to seat itself the best it could next to the lake, the purple haired teenager basked in the simple and warm feeling of contentment and friendship emanating from the Three Tails.
"Friend."
"Sound ninja." Naruto stepped from behind the trees and into the clearing, drawing all attention to himself, letting the rest of his team circle behind the Sound group. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. Please surrender."
"Oh Fuck." And just like that, all of Rinji's plans fell apart.
The Sound ninja reacted instantly, forming a semicircle around Naruto, but keeping at least twenty feet from him. They all knew what he was capable of. "What are you doing here?" Guren demanded as she cycled chakra through her limbs, preparing for the grueling fight ahead. She knew he was powerful, but he was just one man. "How did you find us?"
Naruto grinned slightly as he kept careful watch on all of the sound ninja. "Would you believe me if I said that I was on vacation?" The looks that the other Sound ninja gave him informed Naruto that his explanation hadn't been believed. "In that case," His blue eyes hardened, "I'm going to guess that you won't surrender." Dropping into his favorite stance, Naruto prepared to rush the ninja called Rinji. Having gotten all of the Sound ninja's names and basic fighting styles from Amachi, Naruto and his group had devised a strategy to combat them, taking full advantage of the Sound ninjas' weaknesses.
Rinji, for example, specialized in long range sound attacks, using sound waves from his summoned bats to deal damage. However, he was not the best at hand to hand combat. The plan was for Naruto to engage Rinji in combat until Hinata arrived, and then he would move onto attack Kigiri, one of the other Sound ninja who specialized in manipulating gases.
Guren's hand twitched, and Naruto moved. Hurling himself forward and out of the way of the pink crystal spikes that shot out of the ground, the blonde Uzumaki dodged the continuously erupting spikes while he charged Rinji. Rinji, almost instantly recognizing Naruto's intent, threw himself backwards while weaving his hands through the handsigns for his summoned bats. Opening a small cut on his hand with a chakra scalpel, the medic nin slammed his hand on the ground, causing white smoke to envelop his location.
Naruto skidded to a stop and quickly formed the hands signs for the Fire Wall Technique. Sucking in as much air as he could, he then breathed out all of the accumulated air in a massive exhale. With a loud FAWHOOSH, a thirty foot wall of blazing fire ignited into existence, lighting up the area. Continuing to feed the technique with chakra, the Uzumaki hurled glowing kunai at the other members of the nearby Sound team.
Four bats rocketed out of the smoke caused by Rinji's summoning, only to be forced to beat their wings frantically to avoid being incinerated by the blazing wall of fire in front of them. Screeching loudly, the small creatures informed their summoner what they had encountered. With a mental command Rinji sent two of the creatures towards opposite ends of the firewall, seeking to bypass it and attack Naruto directly. The other two were sent to scout the area to see if they could find the rest of the fabled Team Eight.
The answer came back almost immediately, the shapes that the bats saw transmitted directly to their master. There was a female human who was shorter than average and had - to the bats' simple vision - large mounds. That human was rapidly approaching Rinji.
"Shit." Rinji prepared himself to fight Hinata Hyuga, who was said to be one of the most powerful Hyuga of her generation, if not the most powerful.
The bad news kept rolling in. Another female, slim and average height - Rinji assumed it was Sakura Haruno -, was charging towards Nurari, Gozu, and Kiho. There was another female - Rinji wasn't sure who it was -, was moving towards Guren. And yet still another female was moving towards Yukimaru and the Three Tails. "Fuck!"
Feeling Hinata's chakra signature rapidly closing in on Rinji's location, Naruto surged wind chakra to his hands and raised them towards the wall of fire in front of him. Blasting the wind chakra towards the wall, Naruto cut the chakra to the fire wall just before the wind hit it. The wind chakra slammed into the blazing wall, causing it to burn even hotter and sending the blaze rolling forward. Spinning on his heel to avoid Guren's crystal spikes, the blonde Uzumaki hurled himself at Kirgiri, the gas mask wearing nin.
Kirgiri barely had time to react before Naruto was within striking distance, and the Sound ninja hurled himself backwards while launching a smoke bomb at his previous location. The smoke bomb exploded, sending thick, choking smoke rushing outwards to envelop Naruto. Concentrating, Kirgiri sped through the handsigns for his next technique. Long finger-like tendrils twisted into existence, the hardened smoke appendages grasping for the blonde Uzumaki. Smoke bellowed out of the Sound ninja's enlarged sleeves as he wove the signs for the multi smoke clone technique,as he felt his chakra reserves take a significant drop as a dozen clones formed in the smoke, Kirgiri felt the wind pick up.
The smoke choked Naruto, his enhanced sense of smell balking at the rotten egg smell that emanated from the smoke, and the fumes irritated his eyes. Concentrating, he manifested wind chakra, suffusing his forearms and hands with the whitish-blue chakra. Snapping his arms outwards, Naruto pushed. The smoke blasted away, dissipating into nothingness as it disperse into the open air.
Ducking a small fireball sent his way courtesy of Kirgiri, Naruto unsheathed his swords, charging them with wind chakra. Meeting the unit of smoke clones halfway, Naruto spun dodged the first attack, his left sword tearing through the clone. Despite being made of smoke, and thus immune to physical attacks, the wind chakra disrupted the smoke that made up the clone, temporarily removing it from the battlefield as it reformed. A moment later it reformed, but it was not as solid as before, having part of itself blown away. Ducking a fireblast, Naruto rammed his swords into the next clone.
Guren snapped her head from fight to fight, unsure of which fight to join. Naruto Uzumaki was pressing Kirgiri hard, the gas mask wearing ninja's smoke attacks almost useless against the Uzumaki's powerful wind techniques. Rinji was fighting Hinata Hyuga, and from what Guren could tell, Hinata seemed to be using lightning chakra to enhance her already dangerous strikes. Sakura Haruno was combating Nurari, Gozu, and Kiho. Despite being outnumbered, the pink haired kunoichi was holding her own against the three.
Rinji, Guren decided, was the one she needed to help. While she personally didn't care for the laidback medic nin, he was the only one who knew the entire plan. Given her obvious dislike of him, it honestly hadn't surprised her that he was the only one given the complete picture, if for no other reason than to ensure that she kept Rinji alive. Given how much ground he was giving, Guren figured that he wasn't going to hold out for much longer.
Something flickered at the edge of her vision, and the crystal user spun around, raising a shield made of pink crystal by unconscious reflex alone. That reflex was the only thing that saved her from being perforated by a dozen ice senbons.
"Good evening." Haku's tone was polite, "I will be your opponent."
There was a brief moment of stillness before the two bloodline users moved. Lifting up her hand in a deceptively gentle gesture, Haku suddenly spiked her chakra speeding through the hand signs for the water bullet jutsu. Guren reacted by raising a shield with one hand while conjuring a mass of pink shards with the other. Haku finished the last seal. Guren snapped her hand downwards, sending the jagged crystal shards hurtling at the ice user.
Flowing around the lethal projectiles, Haku spat five water bullets and then froze the water, turning the already dangerous attack into a far more deadly one with a single gesture. With a practiced flick of her wrist, Guren sent a dozen crystal shards to intercept the ice bullets, and another dozen towards Haku. The girl didn't even have a headband on, the Sound kunoichi saw, "This will be over in a moment. She was never trained to fight ninja."
A spike of ice shot out of the ground, intercepting the crystal shards, and the ice bullets barreled through the barrage of crystal, the crystal pieces lacking the mass to stop the rapidly moving projectiles. Spreading her arms out, Guren created a shield of crystal to protect herself from the ice bullets. Her arms vibrated from the impacts, and then the crystal user heard Yukimaru cry out in alarm for the briefest of moments. Snapping her eyes past Haku, the blue haired kunoichi spotted the boy tied up by what looked to be golden chain-ribbons. A red haired young woman unsealed a sealing brush and moved up to Yukimaru, fresh ink dripping from the brush.
"Get away from him!" Not caring anymore about keeping the facade up, Guren slammed her hand on the ground, causing jagged spires of crystal to shoot up in the air, almost impaling Honoka as the Uzumaki sidestepped the lethal crystal that erupted out of the ground. A moment later the crystal user spotted the glint of sunlight reflecting off of the ice as Haku stopped holding back. Spires made of ice began to erupt out of the ground, and the two bloodline users began to wage a battle made of spikes, shield's and projectiles. Haku seemed to be almost dancing across the battlefield, weaving and pirouetting through the crystal user's attacks.
Massive spikes and spires made of crystal and ice clashed against one another, and wickedly sharp shards threatened to perforate their targets. Whereas Haku was a ice maiden standing in the center of a storm, Guren was desperately trying to overwhelm the ice user so she could save Yukimaru from the perceived threat.
"You won't stop me from saving Yukimaru." It was a snarl pulled from Guren's chest, and she surged her chakra even higher, the battle grew more intense.
"Why are you doing this?"
Honoka paused for a brief moment from where she was preparing the sealing array for the Three Tails to answer Yukimaru's question. "Because if Orochimaru obtained this kind of power, it would be disastrous." Taking her eyes off of the restrained Yukimaru, she continued explaining their reasoning as she corrected the poorly designed sections of Sound's sealing array. "Orochimaru has done terrible things with the limited amount of raw power he has. If he gained the power of a Biju…" The Uzumaki kunoichi shook her head, "The world would become a much darker place."
Naruto had explained to her that there was a chance that Yukimaru had no idea of Sound's true intentions. When he had talked to Isaribi inside her home several days ago - before they had confronted Amachi - she had explained how the purple eyed boy had attempted to help her, and Honoka hoped that he would listen now. If not, she would be forced to restrain him with a seal, given that she needed all of her chakra ribbons to help Naruto seal the Three Tails.
"Oh." Yukimaru looked down, before glancing back up. "I'll make you a deal." Determination flashed across his face, "I'll keep the Three Tails' calm if you stop that ice lady from hurting Guren."
"Hmmm…" Honoka spared a glance at Haku and Guren, "What guarantee can you give me that Guren won't attack us when our backs are turned?"
"I…." Yukimaru hesitated, having seen Guren attack other ninja when they least expected it, "I...I'll make sure that she doesn't attack." He nodded hard as he could from his prone position. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe."
"...Orochimaru-Sama has been growing displeased with Guren these last few months…"
"Oh no." Yukimaru couldn't believe that he had forgotten, "I just remembered. I can't let you seal the Three Tails. Guren's life depends on this mission's success." Fruitlessly struggling against Honoka's chakra chains for a few moments, Yukimaru let himself go limp as he tried to think of a way he could save Guren. There was several skilled Konoha ninja fighting, and it looked like the ice lady and Guren were evenly matched, given that Guren seemed more desperate than normal and her hasty attacks had nearly gotten her killed on a more than one occasion. But if he let the Konoha ninja take the Three Tails, the mission would fail and Orochimaru would kill Guren -or do something even worse -. Out of options, Yukimaru laid his head back and nearly despaired. Then the Three Tails shifted slightly from its' seated position, and the purple eyed teenager began to concentrate as a desperate idea began to form…
Sakura dodged out of the way of the large metal slug fired at her by Kiho with a lithe handspring. While in mid air, the pink haired kunoichi sped through the handsigns for a rock dragon. Slamming her palm into the ground as she landed, Sakura pushed her chakra into the dirt, willing it to complete the jutsu. The ground rumbled and a second later the larger than average earth technique burst out of the ground. Sending the dragon at Kiho to occupy him for a few seconds, she was forced to duck a flying glob of sticky goo launched by Nurari, another one of Rinji's men.
Having learned early on that the light grey bodysuit Nurai wore was coated in some kind of sticky viscous liquid, Sakura had opted to simply dodge his ranged attempts to pin her down. While she could have been more aggressive, Naruto had instructed that they use non lethal attacks if possible, reasoning that the Sound ninja would have information that Konoha could use. However, Naruto had stressed, if you felt that your life was in danger, don't hesitate to eliminate the threat.
The plan was for Sakura to occupy the three Sound ninja - Gozu, Kiho, and Nurari -, while Hinata worked on incapacitating Rinji and Naruto did the same for Kigiri. Haku would lock down Guren, and Honoka would begin preparations for sealing the Three Tails.
Catching a glimpse of Gozu's hulking frame charging in her direction, Sakura's hands blurred as she wove the handsigns for the familiar water blade technique. Slicing her left hand down in a slashing motion, the kunoichi sent a slightly blunted water blade at Nurai while simultaneously cycling chakra through her other limbs.
Gozu lept up in the air as he neared the pink haired kunoichi. Cocking his fist back, he surged chakra through his arm, and snapped his forward. His hand and arm expanded, growing to four times their normal size in an instant. Elation shot through him as his now massive fist closed in on the pink haired kunoichi. "Guren-Sama will be so pleased when I defeat this Konoha kunoichi."
Sakura slid to the side of Gozu's attack, chambering her fist back as she did so. Snapping her fist forward, she spiked her chakra through her muscles a split-second before impact. With a muffled snap three of Gozu's ribs broke, and he flew several feet back from the force of her hit. Unable to help herself, Sakura smirked slightly as she saw Kiho's grey face pale as he heard Gozu's ribs snap. Swallowing, the Kiho reloaded his multi-barreled gauntlet and preyed that one of his rounds would strike true this time.
Hinata snapped her hand forwards, striking the pressure point on Rinji's left arm. Rinji pushed himself backwards as his arm went limp. His hand glowed dull green as he held it over his disabled arm as he sent four more of his bats at Hinata. "Clever girl…" He breathed, impressed despite himself when he assessed the disabled pressure point in his arm. The Hyuga had coated the pressure point in chakra, making it twice as difficult to restore his arm. Given that she was going for disabling attacks rather than lethal ones, Rinji guessed that the Hyuga kunoichi was attempting to take him captive. And that was something he was going to avoid at all costs.
Hinata side stepped out of the way of the condensed sound beam one of Rinji's bats shot at her. Initially Rinji had tried to disorient her using sound waves, but Team Eight - Hinata included - had trained themselves to ignore sound based disorientation. Rinji had stepped up his game, seeking now to kill. As the blue haired kunoichi prepared to rush Rinji again, a small group of ninja moved within the wide visual range of her Byakugan. Focusing on the newcomers, Hinata felt a momentary spike of fear shoot up her spine as she realized who they, or rather who one of them was. Itachi Uchiha. The man who killed his entire clan in a night. S-Ranked missing ninja. And he was moving in their direction.
"Naruto-Kun!" The controlled concern in Hinata's voice sent every sense Naruto had into overdrive, "I just spotted Itachi Uchiha and his teammates coming this way from Twelve O'clock!"
The blond Uzumaki instantly reacted to the news, a moment of concentration spawning four dozen shadow clones. Mentally directing half of the clones to subdue Kirgiri, no longer caring if the Sound ninja suffered any permanent damage. The other half was directed to spread out towards the direction Hinata had indicated. Swiftly moving back to rally point Alpha - near the Three Tails - Naruto spotted Sakura and Haku still fighting their opponents, eventually having not heard Hinata's warning. Hinata had broken off fighting Rinji, who seemed rather pale as he realized what Hinata's shout meant.
Weaving the hand signs for a fireball technique, Naruto spat the basketball sized attack at Nurai, who dived out of the way to avoid the attack. "Sakura-Chan." Naruto slammed his hands against the ground, summoning a wall of earth to protect himself and his girlfriend, "Akatsuki have been spotted coming our way. Move to point Alpha." Sakura nodded, her mind racing on what would be the best move to ensure that the Sound ninja didn't attack her while she retreated. Naruto rushed away to go warn Haku, and Sakura felt the earth wall shudder as several jutsus slammed into it.
Unsealing her strongest sedative, Sakura wove the single handed seals for the mist jutsu Haku had taught her. She didn't expect the sedative to take them out, but she calculated that it would slow them down. Sucking in the air around her until her lungs could hold no more, the medical popped up from behind the wall and flicked her wrist upwards, dispersing the poison into the air. Breathing out while holding the final hand sign for the mist technique, Sakura let the now sedative laced thick mist roll towards the worried Sound ninja while she broke off from combat to move towards point Alpha.
Guren cursed mentally as she saw the Three Tails begin to slowly stand. "Yukimaru needs my help!" Redoubling her efforts to kill or disable the ice user who was blocking her from rescuing Yukimaru, the crystal user launched herself into the air, seeking to get above the ice user. Charging her chakra, Guren was about to unleash one of her most devastating ranged attacks when a flash of movement caught her eye.
Creating a momentary platform to stand on, the Sound kunoichi rotated in the air to face the new threat. Spotting Naruto Uzumaki sprinting up one of her crystal spires with a look of determination on his face and then hurl himself towards her, Guren had just enough time to push most of her gathered chakra into a dense spiked crystal shield while using the rest to create a platform to leap away.
Chakra manifested on Naruto's hand as he neared the spiked shield Guren had left. Stretching out his hand, the Uzumaki slammed his palm in the open section of the shield and blew it to pieces with a flex of his chakra. Rolling as he landed, Naruto pulled out the shards of crystal that had embedded themselves in him when he had blown the shield apart. "Haku-Chan," Naruto kept a wary eye on Guren, "Hinata-Chan spotted Itachi Uchiha and his teammates heading our way. Fall back to point Alpha."
"Right away Naruto-Sama." The ice user sent three missiles of ice at Guren and followed Naruto who had just informed Honoka. When Haku had arrived, Naruto was returning from where he had spoken with Yukimaru, seemingly gaining the boy's help.
"Honoka-Chan," Naruto's eyes searched for the first sign of Itachi, "Please release Yukimaru. He's going to help control the Three Tails while we figure out a way to beat Itachi and his team. Yukimaru said that he'll stand between us and Guren if necessary."
"Think they saw us?" Kisame grinned at Itachi as he, Itachi, and Tobi walked out of the treeline. Three of the Sound ninja, minus the blue haired kunoichi, had grouped up in the western section of the clearing, and the Konoha ninja were near the Three Tails. A Sound ninja with a gas mask was unconscious on the ground in the middle of the clearing, and Yukimaru, the kid who could supposedly control the Three Tails, was standing behind the blue haired Sound Kunoichi. "Trouble in paradise for Sound?" The thought amused Kisame. "Dibs on the Sound ninja group."
"As you wish." Itachi inclined his head, "I shall complete the mission's plan."
"Heh." Kisame started to feel the battlelust pumping through his veins as he prepared to charge, "Come on, Tobi." The orange masked man perked up, "Let's go make some noise."
"Let's go Senpai." Somehow skipping at the same pace as Kisame's rapid charge, the two Akatsuki members moved towards the now extremely concerned Sound ninja. Itachi mentally scowled at Tobi as he left with Kisame. There was something...off about Tobi, and it bothered Itachi more than he wanted to admit. And that was to say nothing of the fact that Tobi somehow had a Sharingan…
Still, Itachi mused, Naruto Uzumaki would fight, and it had been a long time since Itachi had to take a fight seriously. Slowly walking towards the group, Itachi flared chakra to his eyes, activating his Sharingan. He wasn't so arrogant to believe he could safely fight Naruto without his bloodline, and he wouldn't let himself die until Sasuke was strong enough to kill him.
Taking a step forward, the Uchiha noted that all of the Konoha ninja were successfully avoiding direct eye contact, negating the ability to use Tsukuyomi on them. Still, Itachi was confident that he could best the Konoha ninja with minimal effort.
He took another step.
The ground began to explode beneath him, rock and dirt flying upwards. Itachi's Sharingan blurred as it spun, and he leapt out of the way even as the ground cratered from the buried explosive tags. Landing softly, the Uchiha's hair gently swayed in the wind and his straw hat shifted slightly. Tilting his head to the side, he dodged several small rocks that were thrown from the force of the explosion.
There was a slight tingle in the air as chakra was shaped, and Itachi snapped his head to right in time to see one of the small 'rocks' transform back into a shadow clone, a Rasengan halfway created in the clone's hand. The Uchiha's hand snapped forward to strike at the clone in its heart. Out of his peripheral vision, the Uchiha spotted a dozen shadow clones also transforming from rocks and other small things thrown in his direction.
As his hand struck the first clone, the clone began glowing alarmingly. Itachi's eyes widened as he recognized the technique. Grabbing the brightly glowing clone, the Uchiha hurled it into another clone who was coiling its legs in preparation for a leaping attack. Then the ground shook as all of the shadow clones simultaneously exploded.
Kisame didn't hide the bloodthirsty grin that stretched across his face as he neared the Sound ninja with rapid, distance eating strides. One of the Sound ninja who had a grey body suit on stepped forward to hurl a glob of sticky liquid towards the shark faced ninja, but a water blade cut through the glue-like substance, cutting a thin line of blood down Nurari as he failed to completely avoid the sudden counterattack from Kisame.
Deflecting the metal slug that was fired at him by Kiho with a backhanded swing of Samehada, Kisame charged chakra to his legs and shot towards the Sound ninja. Arriving in front of the group, he distantly heard the sound of several explosions going off in the direction Itachi had went. Knowing that his partner would be fine, Kisame grinned and swung his sword, not particularly caring which Sound ninja he hit.
Gozu pushed himself to his limit and intercepted the bandaged greatsword, seemingly immobilizing the blade with his enlarged hands and arms. Kisame's grin grew even larger and his hand flexed. With a sound that was reminiscent of wet leather shifting together, blue-grey scales burst out of the bandages, impaling Gozu's arms. Planting his foot, Kisame pulled Samehada, tearing chunks of flesh from the Sound ninja's arms and hands as he tried to hold onto the Ataksuki's weapon.
Guzo sank to his knees, staring uncomprehendingly at his mutilated hands. A slightly blubbering cry rumbled out of his chest, and he slowly looked up at the one who had severely hurt him.
In response, Kisame cracked his neck and rested Samehada on his shoulder, a jagged grin flashing towards the Sound ninja. "Who's next?"
"Did you get him?" Guren glanced over at Naruto, "You must have got him." She hadn't planned on teaming up with the Konoha nin, but Yukimaru had begged her to, and to her eternal shame, she hadn't been able to resist his pleading eyes.
"No." Wind chakra began to cycle Naruto's arms, "Itachi wouldn't have been taken out by a weak attack like that. Prepare yourselves."
Itachi strode out of the smoke, his straw hat missing but looking otherwise unharmed. Naruto sped through the handsigns for his newest technique, wind chakra building. Sucking in as much air as he could, the blonde Uzumaki formed the final seal and slammed his hands on the ground while simultaneously pushing out all of the air he could out of his lungs.
"Kaze Ryu no Jutsu."
With a rushing roar, a massive white dragon rose from the wind expelled by Naruto. It's wings making a dull roaring noise each time they beat, and from its mouth issued a violent wind storm. Its body was made of countless razor sharp wind blades, and its eyes gleamed with focused maliciousness. It's four clawed feet tightened, seemingly finding purchase in the open air, and then its head swiveled to lock onto Itachi.
Then, within a moment, it shot towards the Uchiha. Reaching its target within a blink of an eye, the wind dragon slammed into the ground Itachi had just been standing on. There was a split second of stillness, then the dragon detonated. Gale force winds tore apart the ground, and wind blades sliced the trees to kindling. Dust, stone, and tree slivers blasted outwards, covering the area in a dusty smoke.
For a moment all was still and silent. Then...something moved inside the smoke.
Slowly the dust dissipated, revealing a giant red skeleton that looked to be made of fire. Standing inside it, Itachi couldn't help but murmur the name of the ultimate Mangekyo technique. "Susanoo." The curved three bladed wind mill of his Mangekyo spun as he glared at the Konoha nin. "Prepare yourselves."
So what did you think? Drop a review and let me know.
On Itachi: In canon, Itachi was basically an untouchable badass who was given plot induced ninja-aids so Sasuke could defeat him. However, I feel that giving Itachi a weakness (even if it's a small one) makes him more relatable. He's still very, very powerful, so don't worry. He hasn't been marginalized at all.
On the fights in general: Naruto and his team are fighting to knock the Sound ninja out, so they can't use most of their heavier attacks. And given that the next fights are going to be rather epic (and somewhat long), I decided to cut it here so I wouldn't be rushed to complete it.
To my reviewers direct questions:
Animaman: Once this part of the Kiri arc (which is the second of three parts) finishes, we will be checking back in with Konoha and a few other characters who we haven't seen in awhile.
Bearmauls: I originally wanted to have Isaribi make that call and turn herself in (making the conscious choice to own up to her actions), but it kept coming out as a kind of resigned ("This is just another step in my terrible life") tone. Eventually I scrapped it for later once Isaribi finally has something forward to look to in life, so her choice will be more meaningful and powerful.
Fury074: In HotE, the shadow clones don't transmit their memories. Mostly to avoid Naruto becoming super overpowered.
raw666: Amachi did offer information in exchange for his life. He's going to try to avoid to reminding Kiri that he was a scientist who did some really, really bad things in the name of science.
King Kroniiclez: I've been wanting to read the Seven Realms series for a while now, but my current D&D DM is using content from it, so I've been banned from reading them until the campaign ends. But I plan on reading them as soon as the campaign ends.
Red the Pokemon Master: While I'm still trying to figure out how to make a harem work (most people don't really want to share their partner), it is looking like more and more that's what's going to happen.
Starfire99: Naruto will be returning at the start of the next main arc.
Reapper: I...will have to fix that. Good catch.
Guest: The village (at the time in chapter 7) believed that Naruto was the powerless Kyubi itself.
Red the Pokemon Master: Kaemon was an Hyuga branch member who was an OC. Canon didn't have any Hyuga who had a personality close to want I wanted, so I created an OC for it.
Vilkath: Correct. Most villages can't afford to kill off their high ranked ninjas. However, the Anti Naruto group isn't always thinking logically. They fluctuate between hatred (hatred of the monster who killed their families) and fear (we did bad things and now we have to cover them up). The funny thing about Konoha is that it's not the strongest (on paper at least) but the Leaf (as of chapter 30 at least) is maintaining the illusion that they are the strongest.
Reapper: It's more of a shout-out than anything else. I have an idea for a multichapter fic for Neogenesis Evangelion, but given that HotE takes basically all of my writing time, I won't get to it anytime soon.
Nin-Guest: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. To be honest, Amachi was the first character I wrote that I legitimately despised. He makes this terrible kind of sense, but at the same time he is a super terrible person, who happily causes others pain while enjoying the power he has over others.