Opening - Uragiri no Yuuyake by Theatre Brook

"Well, what's your answer?"

Tsunade remained where she stood for several painfully long seconds, then finally spoke without turning to face Orochimaru. They were alone on a dirt road between two cobblestone walls, with no one, neither civilian nor shinobi, to witness the following events, or at least it seemed that way.

"I will heal your hands," she began, "But in exchange, you keep them off the village."

Orochimaru chuckled darkly. "Very well," he purred. He grinned, just as a gust of wind blew by, catching a few still-green leaves scattered on the ground. "Shall we?" He stepped forward, and at the same time Tsunade turned to approach him as well.

She passed by a hole she'd blown in the cobblestone, glanced at it, and smirked sadly. That brief expression of amusement quickly faded, however, when she turned her attention back to Orochimaru. The old snake was still grinning in the vile way only he could.

Shakily, he raised his arms and held them out to Tsunade, who noted the bandages covering his hands. She reached out to him and focused her chakra.

A kunai landed between them with no warning at all, and the two Sannin leapt apart. Both of them turned their attention to where Kabuto was perched atop one of the walls, his face betraying no emotion whatsoever.

"...What is the meeting of this?" Orochimaru hissed, his grin completely gone. "Am I to understand you've really come here to betray me?" His eyes narrowed with fury, but Tsunade kept her expression as blank as Kabuto's. "Tsunade!?"

The Slug Princess's face cracked into a cold smirk.

"So that's your answer, Tsunade? After all I've offered you, you would repay me by trying to kill me?"

"I can see how you could think that," she replied evenly.

"Fortunately I can depend on Kabuto's loyalty," the snake remarked. "A good thing he arrived in time to see the evil intent hidden in those healing hands of yours."

"She and I are both from the Medical Corps," Kabuto agreed. "I could tell she was building up her chakra for an attack."

"Ah Tsunade," Orochimaru sighed. "And I was going to restore your loved ones to you-"

He would have said more, but Tsunade cut him off. "You still are," she replied silkily, her voice betraying none of her inner turmoil. "By now, you've probably come to the conclusion that you'll have to capture me, and force me to heal your hands. It's ironic, since I've already come to the same decision. I'm going to capture you alive, and wring those secrets out of you! You'll tell me exactly how to bring back Nawaki and Dan!" She balled her fists and glared at him. "I'm disappointed that I couldn't take you down with my medical ninjutsu right now, but if you really think that's the only plan I had here..."

A slice of the earth between Tsunade and Orochimaru rose into a rough stone wall, then smoothed out into a polished tan surface. Six circular pieces of stone then clicked out of place, falling away from the wall to reveal a glistening blue Rasengan under each one. Jiraiya landed atop the wall with a grin, and roared, "Earth Release: Rasengan Blockade!"

Orochimaru's eyes snapped wide open in shock, and he dodged over the cobblestone wall to his right. "Kabuto, with me!"

The six Rasengan fired, striking the ground where Orochimaru had stood. In an instant, that section of the earthen road was torn to bits. "Not so fast!" Haku and Shizune shouted together, appearing before Kabuto and pushing him back with a synchronized taijutsu onslaught. Orochimaru continued to run, and Jiraiya followed him.

"What is all this!?" Orochimaru snarled. "You planned to betray me!" he shouted. "This was prepared in advance!?"

"Of course it was," Tsunade called back, but rather than following Orochimaru she stayed near Shizune and Haku. I tried... I tried so hard to overcome my fear of blood this past week, but I couldn't... I can't do it. I can't fight like this. "You're a snake, Orochimaru. Not a particularly trustworthy image you've made for yourself, now is it?" she smirked, quoting Naruto. "I'll never heal your hands, which means you can't bring back Nawaki and Dan. Instead, you'll just have to tell me how to do it myself."

Gaara and Tenten landed next to Jiraiya, and the Toad Sage clasped his hands together in a seal. "You two, keep your distance. I'm going to summon Gamabunta to fight him, and he might step on you if you get too close. If you want to help, use sand and explosives to fight from a distance."

"I can do better than that," Gaara declared, and drew the katana hanging on his right hip. "Bankai." sand exploded from the blade, rapidly shaping itself into a pitch-black tanuki, easily the size of a boss summon and covered in swirling gold markings. "Kuroshi Tanuki!"

"That's odd," Orochimaru commented, then bit one of his thumbs and swiped the blood onto a tattoo on his other forearm. "I don't see little Naruto-kun here. Come to think of it, where's that Hyuuga girl who fights with him?"

"Don't concern yourself with that," Jiraiya replied defensively. "We're your opponents right now!"

"Summoning Jutsu!" the two Sannin called together, and the grassy battlefield was covered in an explosion of smoke.

"Hm? Jiraiya, what is it this time?" Gamabunta peered through the smoke, spotting his nemesis. "Ah. So this is serious, then."

"We're going to stop Orochimaru for the last time," Jiraiya replied, "but no matter what, we have to take him alive."

"Orochimaru," Manda growled. "If we can kill Gamabunta today, I might not make my usual demand of a hundred sacrifices."

"I've never had a problem with feeding you, Manda-sama," Orochimaru answered with an evil smirk. "Why, there happens to be a civilian village within sight of this field. You can eat as much as you want there, help yourself."

"Has no one noticed the giant black tanuki over here?" Shukaku whined. "I'm kinda hard to miss!"

"Shukaku..." Gamabunta murmured.

"And whose side are you on?" Manda asked in a low, challenging hiss.

"Uh..." he glanced up at Gaara, who subtly pointed to Gamabunta. Shukaku repeated the action much more visibly, and declared, "His."

"It's a shame you aren't edible," Manda shot back, and opened his jaws wide. "Lightning Release: Lightning Bullet Volley!" Six balls of lightning ten feet wide struck Shukaku's head, causing the black sand to sizzle and glow a dim orange from the heat.

"Eh, nice try, but this sand is fireproofed by fuinjutsu, so you're not gonna ignite it with lightning either." Shukaku grinned. "Now it's my turn! Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!" the tanuki pounded his chest to expel a blast of wind from his mouth, and Manda dodged with a hiss. "Gaara, I've got enough chakra for a Bijuu Dama. Can I use it?"

"No," the Jinchuuriki replied. "Conserve your strength and draw this battle out. More importantly, we're too close to Tanzaku for you to use it, not to mention the presence of our human allies nearby."

"Fine," the One-Tail grumbled. "I'll just beat this snake to a paste, then."

"Shukaku," Gamabunta interrupted. "I don't fully understand how we've ended up on the same side, but how can I help?"

"Take any oppurtunity you can to chop up this fleshbag," he pointed to Manda. "Open him up and let me make a nice big mess with his blood."

"I have always wanted a snakeskin wallet," Gamabunta mused.

"...Why?" Shukaku turned his attention completely away from Manda. "You're a giant ninja toad, what the hell do you need a wallet for?"

"Uh..." Gamabunta considered this as he drew his tanto. "That's actually a good point. I'd be better off making a snakeskin scabbard and hilt for my blade here."

"Get on with this!" Manda roared, "Lightning Bullet Volley!" Shukaku was again struck in the face by several blasts of lightning, and Manda attacked Gamabunta with the Snake Clan's equivalent to taijutsu, dodging the toad's sword and trying to wrap his body around Gamabunta to squeeze him to death. The great toad deflected Manda's attempts and counterattacked with his tanto, but only scored a shallow cut through Manda's tough scales. The snake boss countered by spinning and whipping his tail into Gamabunta's face with tremendous force.

Gamabunta grunted as he was thrown back, and Shukaku followed him back. "If we double-team him with taijutsu, we might fare better," the toad observed. "As it stands, he's always been able to outmatch me at close range."

"Can't we try ninjutsu first?" Shukaku replied. "I wanna blow something up!"

Gamabunta blinked. "That could work. I'll use my toad oil, and you'll add your wind to it, and Jiraiya can ignite both with his Fire Release. Let's do it!" the toad's cheeks swelled, and he spat out a torrent of golden liquid. "Toad Oil Bullet!"

"Drilling Air Bullet!"

"Flame Bullet!"

Manda and Orochimaru simply watched the inferno approach for a moment, then began to move.

X

"Exactly the result I'd hoped for," Haku declared, and pressed his kunai harder against Kabuto's blocking hands. "These chakra scalpels you're using can block a real blade, and you're willing to use them for this purpose."

"So you hope to fight me with bukijutsu, then?" Kabuto smirked.

"Not quite. You see, this position gives me two advantages over you. The first is that I've occupied your hands, preventing you from using any more jutsu. The second... did you know that there's water in the air around us almost all the time?" Haku's left hand began shaping seals, and he gave a cold smirk. "One Thousand Killing Needles."

Kabuto's eyes widened and flickered around, noting the flock of water senbon surrounding them on all sides. Haku leapt backward to safety, leaving Kabuto alone in the circle of needles just before they closed in. Kabuto spotted an escape route just in time, and jumped up into the air while the senbon crashed together where he'd stood, splashing apart into mist.

Haku threw his kunai while Kabuto was still airborne and unable to dodge, so the older ninja swatted the blade aside with his right chakra scalpel, landing on his feet in a taijutsu stance. "So you use the Water Release," he observed. "You can keep up with me using taijutsu, but the fact that you know how to draw water from the atmosphere tells me that ninjutsu is where you really excel. Hm..." he allowed the chakra scalpels to fade away, and made a hand seal. "I suppose I can deal with you, if water jutsu are your specialty. Water Dragon Bullet!"

"I've been seeing this jutsu a lot lately," Haku remarked idly, and formed a seperate seal with each hand before meshing them together. In this environment I don't have enough water to make my Demonic Ice Mirrors, but I know what I can use instead. Kabuto's water dragon exploded apart at Haku's command, and the water coalesced into a pool beneath the ice user's feet. "Ice Release: Fractal Ice Lotus!"

Ice Release? Kabuto blinked in surprise, and retreated to a safe distance when he saw the ice rising into the shape of a giant flower at Haku's feet. Is it a kekkei genkai? he scowled. Even if I can melt that ice with a fire jutsu, he's already shown that he can control water as well. So what do I do?

Haku sank into the center of the ice lotus, and his image appeared on all of the petals surrounding it. "Now scatter," he commanded, and the petals broke away from the core of the flower. They floated randomly around Kabuto, still with Haku's likeness visible within each petal.

Kabuto's eyes darted from petal to petal, awaiting an attack. "Is this some form of clone jutsu?" he asked curiously. "I've never seen anything like this before. Tell me about it."

"If these petals were still attached to the core of the lotus, I would be able to attack you by throwing kunai or senbon from within, but with them seperated like this, that's beyond me."

"Oh? So you're saying this is all for show? Or are you just trying to distract me from Shizune?"

"I never said that," Haku replied evenly. "I'm unable to interact with you from within the petals, but that doesn't mean the petals themselves can't interact with you." The petals, dozens of them, tilted their edges toward Kabuto and closed in with great speed. Kabuto retreated away from them, but his eyes snapped wide open when he felt a hand closing around his left shoulder.

Shizune opened her mouth wide behind him, breathing out a stream of dark purple mist. Kabuto flinched momentarily, but managed to hold his breath in time to avoid breathing in any of the mist. He jabbed his elbow into Shizune's belly and she cried out, releasing his arm. He spun and flared his chakra scalpels over his hands, aiming for her heart. She blocked his jab with her left forearm, and retreated deeper into the poison mist with that arm hanging limply at her side.

Kabuto leapt backward out of the purple cloud, and glanced around in search of Haku. He glanced to his right with wide eyes trained on an ice petal flying toward his throat, and he dodged backward before turning around to look for any more attacks.

Haku's fist slammed into his jaw just as he turned, and the ice petal that had narrowly missed him then crashed into the ground and skidded along it without breaking. Kabuto was thrown backward by Haku's punch, and he tumbled a short distance along the ground. He groaned, but picked himself up in time to dodge Haku's next punch. He jabbed forward with his right scalpel at Haku's heart, but the younger ninja dodged and grabbed his forearm near the elbow, locking his other arm around Kabuto's neck.

With his far greater strength, Kabuto could have broken free of this hold in an instant, but by the time he decided to try, there were five poisoned senbon in his gut. He coughed, and Haku released him. The younger boy leapt away to the nearest ice petal, which then floated upward as he fell into it instantly. "P-Poison," Kabuto croaked, and pulled the needles out of his flesh. "Does that mean...?" He peered into the thick poison mist, and saw Shizune glaring at him within. On her right arm was a set of five senbon launchers, all of which had been fired. "How? Your arm," he coughed, "I cut the tendons in your arm!"

Shizune lunged forward out of the poison cloud, but chose not to explain that she'd pulled the string to fire the senbon with her teeth. With her remaining usable arm, she pulled a kunai from her pouch and moved to stab Kabuto with it.

I see, Kabuto thought through the situation carefully. She's still attacking me, which means this poison isn't fatal. But then, what does it do? Paralysis, disorientation? It could blind me, throw off my balance, knock me out after a set time... it could be anything! he retreated away from Shizune quickly, keeping an eye on Haku's ice as he did. I have to cure it, and fast.

"Earth Release: Hidden Mole Jutsu!" Kabuto fell straight down into the earth, narrowly dodging Shizune's kunai as he did. Deep underground, he created a cave just large enough to curl up in, and laid his hands on his wounded stomach. First, find and isolate a sample of the poison. Now analyse it, find it what it does and how it's composed. Paralysis, I thought so. The dose in my blood is enough to knock me out if I don't neutralize it quickly... he grinned in the pitch-darkness. Fortunately, I can do just that. It's as simple as creating a new chemical from the existing materials in my body using chakra, the same way Shizune made that mist. There!

Once he was finished curing himself, Kabuto created two chakra scalpels again, faintly illuminating the cave. His grin faltered when he saw a web of frost creeping around the top of the cave. Trying to track my movements, hm? Well it's too late for that to matter. I've already cured myself. So now... the earth under his back melted away into fine sand, and he descended deeper underground before heading diagonally upward, toward the surface but away from Haku's frost.

X

"I think that got him," Shukaku observed. "Fire, wind and that oil all together... that was a nice little explosion."

"Nah," Gamabunta puffed on his pipe idly, "Manda's a tricky one. We wouldn't be able to take him out that easily, so be on your guard."

"Noted," Gaara answered for Shukaku, still perched on the One-Tail's head with his arms crossed. He watched the roaring inferno dispassionately, and observed, "There's something in there. Shukaku, use more wind."

"Right," Shukaku replied, and pounded his gut again to fire another Drilling Air Bullet. The flames were forced down by the wind for a moment before they flared up even brighter than before. Shukaku's golden eyes narrowed. "That's just a burnt shed skin in there," he growled. "So where did the real Manda go?"

"Lightning Bullet," Manda snarled as he appeared behind Gamabunta, spitting a ball of electricity at the toad's back. Gamabunta roared in pain and shook as the lightning passed through his body. He turned and whipped his tanto at the snake angrily, but Manda flexed away from the blade easily before lunging forward again, sinking his fangs into Gamabunta's extended arm.

Just before Gamabunta exploded into smoke, returning to Mount Myouboku for treatment against Manda's poison, Jiraiya leapt from the great toad's head onto Manda's snout, moving to engage Orochimaru with taijutsu.

"Great!" Shukaku exclaimed gleefully, and moved to attack Manda. "Now that he's gone, I can rip you to shreds all by myself!"

"Shukaku," Gaara intoned calmly but loudly. "Stay put."

"Aw, but why?" the One-Tail moaned pitifully.

"Jiraiya and Orochimaru are fighting atop Manda's head," Gaara replied. "He can't engage us without throwing both of them off, but at the same time we also can't attack him in return."

"But we could fight him before, when it was just Orochimaru on his head," Shukaku grumbled. "Why does it matter if there's one little fleshbag up there or two?"

"Orochimaru was staying still and keeping his feet stuck to Manda with chakra control. Neither he nor Jiraiya are focusing on that now; instead they're preoccupied with fighting each other. If we attack Manda, they'd be thrown off of him and fall to their deaths." Gaara drew his sword in a reverse grip, and commanded, "Stain, Kuroshi." his own reserve of black sand surged forth and swirled around him, carrying him through the air toward Manda. "Stay where you are, Shukaku."

Far below, Tenten watched Gaara land on Manda's head, wide-eyed. This wasn't part of the plan! Gaara, what are you doing?

"Hm. Two against one, and you even have a sword, Gaara." Orochimaru sneered. "This is rather unfair... let's even the odds a little." he opened his mouth wide, and from it emerged the hilt of a jian. He drew the Sword of Kusanagi and pointed it at Gaara. "Much better."

Gaara lunged forward and slashed his katana downward toward Orochimaru's jian, while Tenten watched the confrontation with increasing worry. Damn it, that's the Sword of Kusanagi! It can cut through almost any weapon, so if Gaara's offense falters for even a moment... Hold on, Gaara, I'm coming! She whipped a kunai toward the battle, and focused her vision on it carefully. I've never tried it from this far away before, but I have to do this! "Substitution Jutsu!"

With the bursting sound of a cloud of chakra smoke, Tenten appeared where the kunai had been, and grinned. Just a moment later, Orochimaru managed to parry one of Gaara's strikes and counter in an attempt to cut through Gaara's katana and kill him with a single blow. Tenten lunged as fast as her body could move, and tightened her fingers around the blade of Kusanagi with her barrier activated.

She expected the shock and pain of having her fingers deeply cut if not severed entirely, but instead she was pulled along by Orochimaru's swing. Gaara chose this moment to dodge backward, and Tenten was dragged into the spot where he'd stood. She used her free hand to throw a fistful of shuriken at Orochimaru, who was forced to release his grip on the sword to dodge her attack. The last traces of momentum from Orochimaru's swing were enough to throw Tenten off-balance, and she shrieked as she plummeted off the side of Manda's head.

"Tenten!" Gaara cried out, reaching for her with his sand but just barely missing.

"That bitch took my sword!" Orochimaru snarled, and peered over the side of Manda's head. He spotted Tenten holding the Sword of Kusanagi with the blade stabbed into Manda's flank to stop her fall. She glanced down at the ground below, decided it was a safe distance to fall, and planted her feet on Manda's scales before kicking off of his body, pulling the sword free and landing on her back. "She's got my sword! Damn you, brat!"

She's alive, Gaara realized, and directed his sand to attack Orochimaru. "Stay away from her. Your fight is with us!"

Tenten wheezed, catching her breath as she sat up. Although she was dazed from hitting the ground, she was able to recognize the legendary weapon she was holding in her right hand. I'm holding the Sword of Kusanagi. Holy shit, I am WIELDING the Sword of Kusanagi! She stood, and ran her fingers over the crossguard giddily before pointing it at Orochimaru in the distance. I've gotta try this! At a simple mental command and a pulse of her chakra, the blade extended to a titanic length, narrowly missing Orochimaru who dodged it along with a blast of Gaara's black sand.

"You little bitch, that's my sword!" he snarled, and snatched the blade with his left hand. To her surprise, the sword refused to cut its master, and he yanked it from her grasp. This also caused the blade to retract to its normal length.

"Gaara!" She screamed up at him, just loud enough for him to hear. "That sword can cut anything, don't block it!"

"Understood!" he called back, and swept a torrent of sand toward Orochimaru. "That's a shame," he told the Sannin. "Your kenjutsu is horrendous. I've only been training with a blade for less than a month, and I could beat you in swordplay."

"You're the second Jinchuuriki to tell me my kenjutsu is terrible," Orochimaru growled. "I should make it a point to kill you with this blade, rather than using any of my other weapons."

Jiraiya lunged forward in a flurry of taijutsu strikes which Orochimaru just barely dodged and parried. "You're not fooling anyone, Orochimaru. That's the only weapon you have. Without your hands, ninjutsu and genjutsu are out of the question, and your taijutsu is beyond useless!"

"I'll still kill you both!" Orochimaru snarled back, and whipped his sword wildly at Jiraiya. "I don't even need my ninjutsu to end you, Jiraiya, much less this failed experiment you brought with you!"

Jiraiya opted to ignore this in favor of declaring, "Summoning: Toad Swords." In twin clouds of smoke, a pair of stone longswords with absurdly wide blades of slate appeared. The handles were fashioned in the style of hugely oversized kunai, and there were patterns like veins running along the blades. With the sword in his right hand, Jiraiya blocked one of Orochimaru's attacks, leaving the sword in his own hand without so much as a scratch. "...Ah... You can't channel your chakra through your hands, so you can't extend Kusanagi's blade or use its supernatural cutting power. You probably didn't even know you weren't flowing chakra either, judging by the way you were attacking us," he summarized. "If you could, this sword would at least be sliced a bit, but as it stands... this is a golden oppurtunity for me to show you how much of a fool you've been."

"What are you talking about!?" Orochimaru spat. "How have I been a fool? I'm the greatest ninja Konoha has ever produced! I will live forever, and unravel all the secrets of ninjutsu!" All the while, Orochimaru kept attacking like a madman.

"You never took any training in kenjutsu, and you neglected your taijutsu ever since we graduated from the Academy." Jiraiya deflected another angry swing of the Kusanagi, and sliced forward with the Toad Sword in his left hand, cutting a deep gash in Orochimaru's left upper arm. "Your skill with both is Chuunin-level at best. Without your ninjutsu, you're a minimal threat."

"Damn you!" Orochimaru swallowed his blade and reached for his wound. "Jiraiya, you're the fool. My hands are cursed and sealed, I have no ninjutsu at all, and you had two weapons to my one, and I still kept up with you in kenjutsu just now! This pain in my hands... you can't even comprehend it, and I can still wield the Kusanagi properly."

"I'll say it again. You're a fool, Orochimaru. Your hands are sealed because you made an enemy of Konoha, you went up against the Will of Fire, and you lost. Gaara, get us out of here!"

"Right." Gaara gathered his sand into a cloud that swirled around them, carrying them from Manda's head to Shukaku's. "Shukaku, crush Manda by any means you choose except the Tailed Beast Ball."

"It's about damn time!" Shukaku laughed madly, and moved to punch Manda in the snout. The snake, however, smoothly dodged the punch with a hiss, and lunged forward to ram his snout into Shukaku's chest.

"Would you like my help fighting him, or do you prefer to work alone?" Gaara asked calmly, and folded his arms atop Shukaku's head.

"Huh..." Shukaku considered this for a moment while he declared, "Sand Coffin." Manda's head, currently buried within the One-Tail's chest, was suddenly crushed from all sides. Manda snarled and pulled his head free, shaking it vigorously. "Yeah, sure, you can join in if you want. But this is my kill, fleshbag, don't go stealing it!"

"...I see," Gaara replied, and sealed his sand away in Kuroshi's guard. "So you'd prefer if I left this to you. That's fine, I'll only step in if I feel it's necessary."

"Fine by me." Shukaku grinned, and reached toward Manda with his right arm. "I hope you don't mind if I try one of your tricks though. Third Incarnation: Oppression!" Gaara's eyes widened ever so slightly, and he watched Shukaku's fist extend and detach to punch Manda in the face. Then he smirked subtly, glancing down at Shukaku. "I can feel you lookin' at me up there, fleshbag. What's the big deal about me using it?"

"Nothing at all," Gaara replied. "I'm just flattered that you bothered to use the name I chose for it."

"Tch." Shukaku stepped forward. "It's my way of nodding to the jutsu's original creator. For a fleshbag, your control of sand isn't bad at all; you've even got a bit of creativity in that meaty little brain of yours. Truth be told, I've got a little tiny bit of respect for you... Gaara."

"Likewise," Gaara replied with a smile. "You've become much more respectable in my eyes, ever since our pact was sealed."

"Heh. Enough of this sappy stuff. I've got a giant snake to squish." Shukaku reattached his arm of sand and moved toward Manda, but blinked when the massive snake disappeared in a blur of movement. "Eh?" he turned and glimpsed the snake's purple scales behind him, but he was too late to react.

"Stain, Kuroshi." Gaara released his sand into a barrier between Shukaku and Manda, preventing the great snake from striking the tanuki. "You probably think that attack wouldn't have done any damage, Shukaku. I have my doubts." his sand wall dispersed into a thin fog, and Manda hissed at Gaara angrily. This revealed that his fangs were glowing neon blue with Lightning Release chakra.

"Ah. I don't want to know what that jutsu does, so begone. Sand Coffin!" Gaara's voice rose on the last two words, and he crossed his arms while reaching toward Manda and making two fists. Each grain in the cloud of sand shot toward Manda, and the monster attempted to slither away but he was too late. The sand constricted around the snake, and he roared in fury before exploding into smoke. "...My apologies, Shukaku. I hadn't expected him to cancel the summon to escape."

"...You're getting me another manga for this," Shukaku grumbled, then sighed loudly. "Ah, get on with it then." Gaara nodded, and began sealing the sand back into Kuroshi. Shukaku's body dissolved into a mountain of sand that shrank as Gaara sealed it gradually, and he was lowered to the ground in a matter of seconds, leaving only the black sand infused with his own chakra to make Kuroshi's first release.

He sealed away the One-Tail? Orochimaru stepped back away from Gaara and Jiraiya, spotting Tenten to his right and making sure not to move closer to her. Why? "What's going on here?" he hissed at the sight of all three of his enemies retreating.

Jiraiya took a deep breath and roared, "NOW!"

Naruto and Hinata leapt into battle, seemingly from nowhere with a Rasengan in each of their right hands. They hurled the spheres of deadly chakra at Orochimaru, who dodged with all the sinister grace of a venomous snake. "What is this!?" he roared. "What are you-"

"Earth Release!" Naruto shouted while making hand seals. Hinata slapped her palms to the dirt at the same time he did, though without making any seals. Together, they continued, "Swamp of the Underworld!"

"Damn this madness!" Orochimaru snarled, and leapt into the air. The lake of mud that replaced the land was, however, far too massive for him to land on its shore. Instead, he flared his chakra into his feet and landed as best he could on the surface. "What are you two doing? Didn't Jiraiya teach you that this jutsu is meant to surprise and trap an enemy? You've gone and altered the entire battlefield with it; why?"

"This is how we're going to capture you," Naruto replied simply. "Before we could make this move, we had to wait until Manda was neutralized in some way. If you had him with you, you'd be able to stand on him rather than this swamp. The other ideal conditions have also been met. You're seperated from Kabuto and wounded."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata began, "You were right; water-walking chakra control can allow someone to stand on the swamp if they're ready for it."

"That's no problem. All we have to do is knock him down, and he'll be completely incapacitated. Get ready, Hina-chan."

Orochimaru smirked lightly and cast his gaze at Jiraiya. "I'm beginning to understand your plan... But what reason could you possibly have to choose these two children as your ace in the hole? They're just Genin."

"You'll really be surprised what 'these two children' can do... and for the record, my students aren't Genin."

Naruto unsealed his sword and swept it upward in an instant, flinging an enormous blade of Asura Path steel that carved through the air and earth as it approached Orochimaru. The snake's eyes opened wide, and he threw himself to the side of the attack. "What was-"

"Banshou Karu." Naruto swung again, this time horizontally, and a steel blade carrying a single Rasengan appeared in the air he'd cut. Orochimaru jumped into the air over this one, and was forced to watch the Rasengan set into the blade detonate. The explosion tore the Banshou Karu blade apart and kicked up a massive circular wave of mud, destabilizing the surface of the swamp.

He knows how hard it is for me to stand on this terrain, Orochimaru realized, and by making the surface of the liquid flow wildly, he hopes I won't be able to keep up and I'll fall through. On water, that wouldn't work, but this mud is laced with his chakra and it's interfering with mine.

He opened his mouth wide and the tip of the Sword of Kusanagi poked out of his throat. He aimed his head downward and poured his chakra into the blade, extending it to a gigantic length enough to stab the earth and bedrock below the swamp. His neck extended, allowing the rest of his body to land on the surface while his head remained in the air. With the swamp now stable again under his feet, he smirked briefly and retracted both sword and neck.

Then he realized that Naruto and Hinata were nowhere in sight, and that smirk vanished. What!? He spun, searching around him in all directions. Filled with a sense of dread, he looked up and expected to see one or more Rasengan flying toward him, but the air above him was empty. Then... where...

Naruto and Hinata exploded upward from beneath the surface of the mud, in twin geysers of liquefied earth. Armed with only a single sword, Orochimaru couldn't react to both at the same time. Instead, he briefly froze before attempting to dodge.

"Guardian Sixty-Four Palms!" Hinata shouted, and dozens of glowing green threads appeared in front of her. They shot forward and entwined themselves around him, and although he cut many with the chakra-powered sword in his throat, the rest tightened around his body. Meanwhile Naruto sprinted forward and aimed a punch at Orochimaru's cheek. The Sannin hissed and whipped his sword at Naruto, who ducked and kept approaching, now with the intent to tackle him.

"Substitution!" Orochimaru called angrily, and opened his mouth horrifyingly wide. Naruto and Hinata's eyes widened at the sight of the Sannin crawling out of his own skin. He was just in time to escape Naruto's attack, and instead the Jinchuuriki tackled only the shed skin, disappearing under the surface with it. "Striking Shadow Snakes!" he continued, and reached toward Hinata. Out of his sleeve and past his useless hand, several violet snakes shot forward and hissed, wrapping themselves around her limbs and torso with lightning speed.

As Hinata struggled to reach her weapons pouch and cut herself free with a kunai, Orochimaru carefully kept his eye on the swamp around him. He ordered the snakes to tighten their grip, and Hinata cried out. Her efforts to free herself redoubled, and she activated her barrier ninjutsu. The snakes hissed at the sudden light of the barrier, but were otherwise unaffected. Orochimaru smirked at her, amused, and she spotted what remained of her Guardian Sixty-Four Palms on the surface of the swamp around him.

She grinned, and reached for the chakra threads with just her fingertips. Orochimaru bared his teeth in a growl when he saw the green threads move toward her, slicing each snake in half. Freed, she aimed her hands forward and shouted, "Hollow Water Dragon Horde!" Seven water dragons shot from the air between her hands, and Orochimaru retreated away from them while readying his sword again. "Rasengan!" she continued, and each dragon opened its mouth to fire the Spiralling Sphere it carried.

Orochimaru's focus was pulled away from the Rasengan when he saw Naruto emerge from the swamp below and throw another Banshou Karu in his direction. The boy had surfaced a considerable distance away, behind Orochimaru. With a line of seven Rasengan approaching from the front, and a massive crescent blade from behind, Orochimaru dodged upward instead of to the sides, allowing the two attacks to strike each other rather than him.

"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"

Orochimaru blinked in suprise at the sensation of solid stone under his feet, before he'd even begun to fall back down to the swamp's surface which was currently still splashing from the explosions of seven Rasengan at the same time. "...Kabuto," he greeted after a moment. "Does this mean you defeated those two kunoichi?"

Kabuto appeared with a Body Flicker next to Orochimaru atop the wall. "No, Orochimaru-sama. I imagine it won't be long before they realize I came here underground... and the younger one is a boy, by the way."

"Hm... no matter; it's clear that only Naruto and Hinata are capable of managing this terrain. The rest of our enemies have decided to stay out of the way, so even if the two you were fighting follow you here... wait. Did you say 'the younger one is a boy?'"

Kabuto nodded.

Orochimaru moved to rub his forehead tiredly, but winced as he was painfully reminded of the injury to his hands. Well... this has certainly been a strange day... "Kabuto, I'm trusting you to capture the Nine-Tails. Hinata's life is of no consequence, so I'll deal with her myself."

He would have said more, but a flicker of blue movement far below caught his eye. He sharply drew in a breath when he saw a water dragon crash into the Earth Wall. "Water Release: Dragon Rasengan!" Hinata cried, and the wall gave way. Orochimaru and Kabuto leapt backward as far as they could, and landed far enough away from the falling wall that the swamp under their feet was stable.

Orochimaru peered through the crashing, spraying waves of liquid earth, and spotted Naruto swinging his sword to throw a Banshou Karu. The Sannin scowled, and crossed his arms over his upper chest to bite both of his thumbs. He slammed his bleeding, agonized hands down on the surface of the mud, and declared angrily, "Summoning: Rashoumon!"

A massive gate carved in the likeness of a titanic demon rose out of the swamp, and Naruto's crescent blade struck it. Kabuto gaped in disbelief at the damage; the attack had sliced halfway into the mighty defense. "Hm," Naruto muttered, and swung his sword again, harder. The second blade cut three-quarters of the way into the Rashoumon, and the Rasengan it carried blew a small crater in the demon's face.

"O-Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto began nervously, "I wouldn't say this without a very good reason... I believe it's in our best interests to retreat and confront these two later."

"Water Release: Dragon Rasengan!"

"Banshou Karu!"

Orochimaru grinned. "Yes, I agree." he chuckled darkly. "Watching these two mature will be entertaining... let's get going, then." Kabuto and Orochimaru's feet were engulfed in flames that winked out a moment later, leaving no trace of their presence. Naruto and Hinata's strongest pair of jutsu struck the damaged Rashoumon, obliterating it completely and revealing that their foes had vanished.

"Damn it." Naruto ended the jutsu that kept the swamp in its liquid state, and sealed his sword. "Forgive us, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade made her presence known by punching the ground, sending cracks throughout the newly solidified swamp and causing a minor earthquake. "Damn it!" she snarled. "Orochimaru, you bastard... this isn't over." she sighed, and massaged her forehead where her Yin Seal rested. "...Let's just get back to Konoha, damn it. There'll be another chance to capture him eventually. As for you two," she addressed Naruto and Hinata, "Don't feel bad that he got away. He was a Sannin, and you still had him on the ropes. Be proud of what you accomplished here."

Dan, Nawaki... Tsunade sighed again, quieter this time. I'm sorry. It looks like I won't get to see you again for a while... But I promise I haven't given up. Now that I know there's a way to bring you back, I'll find it somehow. Whether it's through Orochimaru or something like that, I'll make it happen. I'll hold you both in my arms again, so wait for me.

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