We'll Get Home, I Promise

by Takeshi1225

A lot can change in the little moments creating a vastly different future. A lot more can happen when two worlds collide. Shinachiku, the son of Naruto and Sakura, and Arata, the son of Sasuke and Hinata, are transported to the world of Boruto where the problems of their own world is now shared. This isn't the same Konoha, but they will defend it all the same. That they promise.

20. They Walk at Night

We'll Get Home, I Promise

Chapter 20: They Walk at Night

With the week over, the teams of genin who had survived the ordeal within Kusa's borders were finally back to do missions again.

Now they had less time to train like before, but they truly got to see the results of their efforts as they returned to their duties as shinobi.

Like for Team 5, who were currently working at a construction site.

"Doton:Chidōkaku!" (Earth Release: Moving Earth Core) Iwabe slammed his hands into the ground as he made a large square radius for a large building that was went pretty deep, but he also willed it to have some raised parts within it in a pattern for the foundation. "Your turn, Denki!" Iwabe called out to his teammate.

"Right! Raiton: Yubisaki no Inazuma!" (Lightning Release: Fingertip Lightning) Denki unleashed lightning bolts from his fingertips that struck metal rods. He raised them up high and brought them down where they stabbed into the foundation Iwabe made. "Now you, Metal!" Denki said as he then used his jutsu of the girders and brought them up into the air.

"Yosh!" Metal shouted as he rocketed upwards. "Konoha Daisenpū!" (Leaf Great Whirlwind) Metal delivered a series of airborne kicks that struck the girders and sent them rocketing downward, where they slammed into the foundation, stabbing into it to secure their position. "Done!" Metal declared as he came back down to ground level.

The construction workers were in shock at this display.

"I don't believe it. We just started and these kids just did just about a day's work of progress in like twenty seconds!" One of the construction workers said in utter shock.

"Kids these days are getting crazy strong! I'm actually kind of scared." Another said in shock and awe at the team's skills.

"Heh, heh. You guys hear that? They're super impressed with us." Iwabe said with a cocky grin as he rubbed the under area of his nose with his finger.

"It truly shows how far we have come thanks to all our efforts and through the support we had been given as of recent." Metal said with a proud smile.

"And to think, this is just a week's worth of training." Denki said with an amazed smile by his, and his team's, new capabilities.

"And we'll keep getting stronger, but first, let's finish this job like pros!" Iwabe announced, thrusting his fist up.

"Hai!" Denki and Metal agreed, mirroring Iwabe's action.

From a distance, Udon had been keeping an eye on his team, and safe to say, he was impressed at how much more skilled they have become since their return to the village.

'Well, I'll be.' Udon thought with a proud smile.

.

.

Team 15 was outside the village walls, chasing after a group of bandits.

The bandits tried to run away, but the two kunoichi and samurai easily caught up with them each time.

"Boy, you guys are stubborn. Can't you already tell that you're leagues outmatched?" Wasabi rhetorically asked with a smirk and her arms crossed.

"If we can't shake them off, let's send them packing!" One of the bandits shouted out as the rest hand battle cries and were ready to attack with their weapons.

"Let me handle this for now." Wasabi said, continuing to smirk as she started walking forward while making hand seals. "Chakura Hige." (Chakra Whiskers) Wasabi said under her breath as long whiskers made of chakra grew from her cheeks.

This caused the bandits to laugh at how stupid they thought she looked.

"Look at those ridiculous things!" One exclaimed, laughing.

"What's that meant to do!? Get us to laugh to death?!" Another exclaimed with an amused grin.

"Come at me and find out." Wasabi said, her smirk never leaving her face.

"If you want to die that badly, then we'll grant your wish! Right boys?" One of the bandits said with a grin as the rest agreed with shouts of their own.

The bandits rushed towards Wasabi, who just continued to smirk as she then closed her eyes.

"Idiot!" One bandit shouted out as he stung an axe down upon Wasabi, but she easily dodged to the side, before ducking in time to avoid the swing of a club, which struck the first bandit in the head, knocking him out. "Whoops." The bandit said before Wasabi leaped up and pushed off of his head.

Wasabi landed upon the ground, followed by ducking to avoid a pair of swings from weapons and delivered a sweep kick that sent both bandits off of their feet. Wasabi then proceeded to dodge and at times counterattack the bandits.

The cat enthusiast easily made fools of the group, who were now growing tired, all while never opening her eyes. After a bit, Wasabi moved away from the now tired group.

"Hmph. Now check this out." Wasabi said, finally opening her eyes as she then formed her long chakra claws, causing the bandits to flinch, now shocked and feeling threatened. Wasabi grinned as she got on all fours, ready to attack. "And now… Neko Hikkaki-netsu!" (Cat Scratch Fever) Wasabi suddenly appeared on the other side of the group as they all were then scratched with claw marks all over them with an afterglow of chakra.

The bandits all fell to the ground in pain, holding their wounds.

"Wow, Wasabi-chan! You did great!" Namida said, greatly impressed by her best friend's newly honed skills.

"Nice job on making sure you didn't go too deep." Tsubaki complimented.

"Thanks. It's all about control." Wasabi said with a smirk as she rolled her wrists. She and the others suddenly started to hear one of the bandits chortling. "What's got you in giggles?" Wasabi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Them." The bandit answered, pointing in a certain direction, causing the girls to turn to see a new threat which actually shocked them. Oni Zetsu. Three Jinmenken to be precise, and they were growling with green drool oozing from their fangs. "Didn't you wonder why we were held up in this area for so long? It was because of them. We already lost a couple of men to them, so we figured we kill two birds with one stone by leading you to them. One for each of you." The bandit said with a sadistic grin.

"Oni Zetsu, eh?" Wasabi said with a frown as memories of these creeps through Shinachiku's eyes flashed in her mind for a moment. "I hate these things." Wasabi said, giving the Jinmenken a hateful glare.

"Have at 'em! Chew them down to the bones, you mutts!" The bandit shouted out as he and the others managed to get back to their feet.

The Jinmenken growled before letting out savage barks as they rushed towards the kunoichis and samurai.

"How unsightly." Tsubaki said as faster than one could blink, she appeared behind the Jinmenken, who halted in place afterwards. "Chakura Shōhazan." (Chakra Shockwave Slash)

The Jinmenken were suddenly slashed to insignificant bits as a powerful shockwave made up of strong forces of chakra from Tsubaki's blade shot out in all directions, sending bits scattered.

"EH?!" The bandits screamed out with bulging eyes and their jaws dropped greatly.

"Wasabi, would you mind?" Tsubaki asked her teammate, rhetorically.

"No need to ask twice." Wasabi said with a smirk as just as the pits of the Jinmenken dispersed into pollen, she unfurled three separate scrolls and faster than the eye could see, she wrote sealing formulas on them with a charcoal pencil. "Fūin!" (Seal) Wasabi shouted as she made a ram seal as then the pollen was sucked into the scrolls via a vacuum.

"Run!" A bandit screamed out.

"These kids are monsters!" Another screamed out as they all bolted as fast as they could.

"Namida, you mind?" Wasabi asked her best friend, rhetorically.

"Oto Awa no Jutsu!" (Sound Bubbles Technique) Namida fired out sound bubbles that bullets towards the group of bandits, all spaced out as once making it within the group's radius, unleashed strong sound waves that knocked them out with their own screams being silenced by the jutsu's own. "Done! I just hope I didn't do any permanent damage to their ears with that jutsu." Namida said.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Wasabi said with a smirk as she finished sealing away the pollen.

"Bandits were rather easy before, but now, it almost feels like babysitting is a tougher task." Tsubaki said as she made her way back towards her team.

"If those memories I gained are right, then that's a very true statement. Especially if it's that other Wasabi's little sister." Wasabi said with a bit of a tired grin as she scratched the side of her head.

"Why do I feel like that's not an exaggeration?" Namida rhetorically asked as she and Wasabi laughed, while Tsubaki smiled in amusement.

Hanabi had been watching her team's progress from a distance and safe to say, she was more than satisfied with the results.

'Looks like I'll have nothing to worry about from them for a very long time.' Hanabi thought with a smile as she leaned against a tree with her arms crossed.

.

.

Team 10 was back in the village and in hot pursuit of a criminal.

Shikadai was currently in the sky, riding on his fan, now being the eyes in the sky for his team.

"The guy is focusing on taking the alleys of the backstreets. Chocho, he's making his way towards the potter shop's nearby one. Cut him off there." Shikadai said through an eircom.

"Roger that." Chocho replied.

The criminal, a man with spiky black hair and purple tattoos upon his cheeks, was running down the alleyway when a heavy-set girl appeared at the end of it, causing him to halt.

"Going somewhere?" Chocho 'asked' with a smirk. The criminal tried running the other way, but the Akimichi appeared on the other side, shocking him again. "Don't tell me you're running from little ol' me?" Chocho 'questioned', still smirking. The criminal then ran up the walls of the alleyway, but one nearing the roof, Chocho had appeared over the edge of it, crouched over and looking down at him. "Usually I like shy guys, but you're really not my type." Chocho playfully teased with her ever-present smirk.

"How in the hell?!" The criminal spoke out in shock. He then noticed a black arm with an eye on the palm appear out of the wall beside him, causing the criminal to scream and fall towards the floor. He groaned in pain as he sat up, only to find more eye-handed appendages appear all around the alleyway walls. "What the hell is this?!" The criminal screamed out in fear.

The arms reached over and wrapped around the criminals' form, not taking the shape of black ropes, restraining the criminal.

"The end of the road." Inojin said as he appeared with the alleyway with a smile as Chocho landed beside him.

"How the hell did you two do all this? How did that fat girl move so fast?!" The criminal asked, still very much in shock over the ordeal.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Chocho said as she flipped her hair with his hand, only to brush her fingertips against Inojin, accidentally zapping him with some lightning chakra.

"Ow! Chubs!" Inojin whined with a frown as he rubbed shoulder, which had been zapped.

"Sorry. Guess I'm still a bit too excited." Chocho said, still smiling.

Shikadai flew down towards the other end of the alleyway, leaping off of his fan and closing it. He smirked at the job well done, as then their team sensei, Moegi appeared beside him.

"You three have improved. Really puts my mind at ease." Moegi said with a smile as she kept her eyes on Inojin and Chocho.

"That whole week was troublesome, but it did help out." Shikadai admitted with a smirk. "I just wished that it wasn't so painful."

"You'll have to get used to that sort of deal if you ever want to advance." Moegi said with her hands on her hips.

"What a drag." Shikadai said in annoyance but retained a smile as Moegi giggled at his behavior.

.

.

Team 7 was making their way towards the Hokage tower with Shinachiku holding a white kitten in his hands. The same they caught some time ago when they first started as a newly formed six-man cell.

"You know, it really does feel good to be back on missions again." Shinachiku said with a smile.

"You're only said that because you're a naturally active person, onii-chan." Boruto said with a teasing smile and his hands behind his head.

"And you're not?" Shinachiku retorted as he and Boruto laughed.

"I have to admit though, this little guy right here gave us some real trouble today." Sarada said with a smile as she gently scratched the kitten's cheek, making it purr in delight.

"Guess we weren't the only ones who improved over the break." Arata commented.

Shinachiku started to chuckle with a grin on his face before starting to laugh.

"It wasn't that funny." Boruto said.

"No, no, that's not it. I'm still laughing about the other day at the restaurant. How shocked everyone was, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku said with a grin.

.

.

"Everyone, dig in! It's our treat, dattebaro!" Shinachiku said to all his friends with a huge grin.

"Yare yare." Arata said with a frown.

"Arigato Gozaimasu!" Teams 5, 10, 15 and the rest of 7 thanked the pair with grins on their faces.

They had all just finished their Chakra Ball game and as a reward for such a well-played experience, they all were being treated to Yakiniku Q.

"Man, that was a great game." Iwabe said with a huge grin on his face as he put some meat on the grill.

"Riding high on that success of yours, aren't you?" Wasabi said, taking a jab at the taller teen with half-lidded eyes and a smirk on her face.

"Well, he isn't exactly wrong. It might have taken a loss at the end, but I think we all did pretty well." Sarada said with a smile as she put some meat on the grill as well.

"You can say that again! I felt like a badass today! Especially from that first round, 'ttebasa!" Boruto said with a huge grin.

"Thanks for treating us, Shinachiku-onii-chan." Sarada thanked her maternal half-brother.

"No worries. I just felt bad that we didn't get to do this before, so I'm making up for it now. You all did really well, and I'm proud of your progress. So, I'm showing my appreciation for all your hard work here." Shinachiku said with a proud smile on his face.

"Though are you sure you didn't want to pick a different restaurant? Considering a certain chubby kunoichi's track record here and all." Inojin pointed out with a small, teasing smile.

"I don't feel like eating that much anyway. Not after losing that round that I wanted to win so badly." Chocho said with a frown as she rested her head on the table, but still had the energy to take a piece of cooked meat and eat it. "I really wanted to win that date so badly!" Chocho cried with anime tears.

"You really didn't hold back on that one, Arata." Shikadai said, looking towards the Uchiha-Hyūga.

"I didn't feel like it." Arata said, placing some more meat onto the grill.

"I'm sure it's only because he wanted Chocho to actually work for it. He wants her in top physical condition and really earn that date, eh, Ara-ta-chan?" Shinachiku teased with an Uzumaki grin, making his teammate frown.

"Yosh! Then I Will Continue to Grow Stronger and Earn That Date!" Chocho shouted as she sat up straight with fire in her eyes.

"That's the spirit, Chocho!" Wasabi said with an amused and proud grin.

"Yeah! Get that pumped for next time!" Namida agreed with a bright smile and eye smiles.

Arata looked towards Shinachiku as he then did sign language under the table, saying: Sometimes I really hate you.

Shinachiku just smiled cheeky and responded back under the table with: I know.

"Hmm~." Metal was rubbing his chin in thought, catching Denki's attention.

"What's wrong, Metal?" Denki asked his green clad teammate.

"There is just something that I am feeling like I forgot, and not only that, but I just realized that when I was playing the game… I felt off. Like there was more I could have been able to do but was not able to." Metal shared catching everyone's attention.

"Now that you mention it… I kind of felt the same way." Namida spoke up.

"Yeah. Me too." Wasabi said surprised that she wasn't the only one.

"Same." Inojin said rubbing his chin in thought.

"I did too! I just thought it was only me though." Chocho said in surprise.

"What the hell is that all about?" Wasabi wondered in confusion.

"By any chance… did any of you put on your weights before leaving home?" Arata asked, albeit rhetorically as he had already deduced the answer.

Everyone looked towards Arata, as then all their eyes, except Boruto and Sarada's, widened in shock.

"Eh?!" Teams 5, 10 and 15 looked towards their wrists in shock, pouring in their chakra to reveal the sealing formulas containing their specially made weights still contained inside them.

"I don't believe it!" Shikadai exclaimed.

"I didn't even notice!" Inojin said in shock.

"No wonder I felt so heavy!" Chocho said in shock and awe.

"You're always heavy." Inojin pointed out.

"I meant more than usual." Chocho retorted.

"All this time… I completely forgot about it." Iwabe said, looking towards his hands in shock.

"Same. I was so used to putting them on before leaving the house now that I totally forgot about them once we started playing the game." Namida said, staring at her wrist.

"I guess they've just become second nature to us now." Denki pointed out.

"The second time." Wasabi said, catching everyone's attention.

"Huh?" Namida looked towards her fellow brunette with confusion.

"That's the second time I totally forgot about these weights… and yet I was still able to move as fast as I did." Wasabi said, staring at her hands. "And to think… I don't even know how fast I really am."

"That is true! We not only played an exhilarating game that requires constant movement along with quick reflexes and on the fly strategy, but we also used strong jutsu that cost a decent to good amount of chakra! And the whole time we were restrained from our full power! That is a clear sign of how far we have truly come in the span of not even an entire week!" Metal detailed with much vigor.

"He's right. You've all progressed wonderfully at an unprecedented rate. It's truly incredible. You should all be proud of it and yourselves." Arata said, causing everyone to smile.

Suddenly they all heard Shinachiku laugh, making them turn towards the green beanie wearer.

"What's so funny?" Shikadai asked with a small frown.

"Nothing. It's just that… I go through this all the time! It's funny how easy it is to forget you're being limited by so much, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku said with an amused, toothy grin as he continued to laugh.

Everyone blinked their eyes in surprise before laughing along with him.

"Yeah. I guess it is kind of funny." Iwabe said with an amused smile and rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey, that just leaves one question now! How strong are we without the weights?" Wasabi brought up, causing all her friends to widen their eyes at the idea.

"Good question. Let's see!" Iwabe said with a new excited grin as he was ready to undo his seals.

"Don't do that!" Shinachiku shouted out, causing everyone to flinch in surprise at his sudden outburst. "Just trust me. Speaking from experience, that's not what you want to do. Not in a public place like this. Unless you're okay with paying for the damages." Shinachiku warned.

"Message received, Shinachiku-kun." Denki said as he and the others had worried smiles on their faces.

"Then when is the right time?" Namida asked.

"That should be simple. When that which is precious needs you to. Then don't hold back, got it?" Shinachiku said with a smirk, earning nods from everyone. "Now, I think our meat is just about done. So let's dig in and quick before Chocho starts taking several plates worth before we can fill one."

"She's already more than halfway done with one!" Inojin pointed out, noticing Chocho was filling up her plate quick.

"What? They said they're treating us, and real men keep their word. Not my fault I'm taking them up on their hospitality. And besides, I got to make up for robbing myself of this yesterday." Chocho said with a smile as she proceeded to eat some barbeque. "By the way, Sarada, that was really cool what you did earlier. With that purple lightning and all." Chocho said as she chewed on her BBQ meat.

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Boruto asked his teammate.

"I had noticed that as well. Was that part of a new jutsu you have been studying?" Metal asked the bespectacled Uchiha.

"Hell yeah it is. It was the Hachimon." Shinachiku answered for his sister with a proud smile, causing everyone to stop what they were doing as their eyes widened.

"Wait, seriously?!" Chocho asked in shock.

"Papa's technique? The same that was passed onto him by Gai-sensei? You know it now as well, Sarada?" Metal asked with awe at the idea that the Uchiha female now used the same technique his father and his father's mentor had made their own.

"Well, not to the same extent as you or Shinachiku-onii-chan. So far, I was only able to open the first gate to amplify my abilities." Sarada elaborated with an embarrassed smile and her cheeks tinted pink.

"That was only the first gate?!" Boruto questioned in utter disbelief.

"That's crazy!" Shikadai said in shock.

"Yeah! You actually managed to match Arata-kun with that and you haven't even unlocked the other ones yet? That's amazing, Sarada!" Chocho said, still in awe at her best friend's achievement.

"I happen to agree." Arata said.

"I guess it is pretty impressive. Had to work hard for it, so I'm glad it was all worth it, even for a moment." Sarada said with a bashful smile and eye smiles as her cheeks reddened with heat.

"One hell of a moment. I think I even saw at the beginning of the second match that you went into Raiton Chakura Mōdo (Lightning Release Chakra Mode) for a moment thanks to it." Shinachiku pointed out.

"She did?!" Boruto questioned as he and the others were in shock.

"She did." Arata said, recalling the moment as well.

"Whoa~." Everyone said, looking towards the Uchiha-Haruno with awe, causing her to chuckle with embarrassment at all the praise.

"Although, I would rather you learn to activate it without the need to activate one of the gates. It'll turn into a hindrance that way." Arata added.

"Agreed. Take it from a guy with experience. Snapping them open for a quick boost doesn't bode well considering the aftereffects." Shinachiku backed up his teammate's advice with one of his own.

"Understood." Sarada said, nodding with a more serious and determined expression.

"Even still, it shows how great you managed to become Sarada. I'm proud to call you my teammate." Boruto said with a huge grin, causing the Uchiha girl to smile once more with a blush.

"You know… that almost sounded like you were flirting there, Boruto." Tsubaki said, eating a piece of cooked meat and causing the original Uchiha and Uzumaki of this world's Team 7 to flinch in response.

"What?! Ew, gross!" Boruto exclaimed.

"Hell no! Don't be stupid! Only in his dreams!" Sarada shouted with an exaggerated pissed look.

"Even then, no way in hell!" Boruto added.

While the two were denying the claim, I mean, arguing against it, Shinachiku's eyes had now been on Boruto as another memory from today came to mind.

'Sarada wasn't the only one who changed for a moment. I could have sworn… I saw Boruto transform… just like me.' Shinachiku thought with a stoic expression, continuing to stare at his half-brother, who was still arguing.

.

.

'I swear, that's what I saw. I couldn't have imagined it, could I?' Shinachiku wondered to himself. 'No. I couldn't have. I… I felt it.' Shinachiku recalled the sensation as he furrowed his brow. 'But that doesn't make any sense! Boruto doesn't even have a tailed beast and as far as I know, he doesn't even possess a sliver of Kurama-sama's chakra! No way it was passed down without ever being noticed, right?' Shinachiku thought to himself, trying to make sense of this new mystery.

"Maybe it's not tou-chan's chakra that was within him." Mamoru spoke up, catching Shinachiku's attention.

'What do you mean?'

"Don't you remember? I shared my chakra with him, and not just once. I gave the kid a decent amount back on that mission with the iron bastard. I sensed it back then too. Something different. A change." Mamoru shared.

'A change? What kind of change?' Shinachiku mentally asked with his eyes widening in surprise at this claim.

"Onii-chan, are you alright?" Sarada asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, just a little occupied with my thoughts is all." Shinachiku responded.

"Well, don't zone out on us for too long. We're almost at the tower." Boruto pointed out. Shinachiku's eyes were then fixated on the golden blonde, who noticed the stare a moment afterwards. "What?" Boruto asked.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just in an observing mood." Shinachiku said.

"You know onii-chan, you can be pretty weird." Boruto said.

"I don't want to hear that coming from you!" Shinachiku retorted, causing Sarada to giggle.

Arata glanced towards his friend, taking into account his 'observing' mood.

'He's as curious as I am about that transformation. It's odd but…' Arata then looked to his gloved left palm. 'I have my theories. And I'm not a fan of them.'

.

.

"Thank you again for bringing him back to me." The beautiful brunette woman thanked Team 7 for rescuing her kitten, again.

"Don't worry about it." Shinachiku said with a smile.

"We're happy to help." Boruto said with a grin.

"I really am sorry though. You guys are the ones who always bring him back to me. I'm sorry for the burden." The woman bowed apologetically to the team.

"It's okay. We don't feel mad or anything about it at all. I'm honestly happy to do it each time." Shinachiku said, surprising the lady along with Boruto and Sarada.

"Huh?" The woman questioned.

"What I mean is, that little guy is precious to you. How can I ever be mad about bringing back someone who means that much to someone?" Shinachiku said with a classic Uzumaki grin.

'Of course.' Sarada thought with a smile while Boruto grinned as well.

"That… is so sweet!" The pretty lady said with a huge smile as she then leaned down and kissed Shinachiku on the cheek, causing the boy's eyes to widen while Sarada and Boruto flinched in surprise. Arata just blinked his eyes. "You are such a sweet boy. Thank you." The brunette woman said, smiling at Shinachiku as she leaned back. "I'll try even harder to make sure she doesn't cause you trouble again, but I'm happy this village has someone as kind as you to look after it, and its people. Along with their pets, like this little one right here." She said, petting her kitten making him purr. "Thank you again." She bowed to the team with gratitude with her kitten meowing to them. "Now let's get you home and make sure you don't cause any more trouble for today." The brunette woman said to her kitten as they headed for him.

"Whoa~. Look at you onii-chan. You got quite the reward, huh?" Boruto teased with a grin.

"Guess chivalry does still have its place here and there." Sarada said with a playful smile.

The two did not get a response, making them raised their eyebrows.

"Uh, hello. Onii-chan~." Boruto said as he and Sarada walked over towards his front, only to see their brother in a stupor state with his eyes widened.

"He's completely frozen!" Sarada said in surprise.

"Now what do we do?" Boruto wondered, grasping his chin in thought.

Arata just stared at his friend for a moment before finally saying a thing.

"Hey, look, it's Mirai-san."

"Huh?! Where!?" Shinachiku asked, looking around for the Sarutobi girl.

"Made you look." Arata said, making Shinachiku flinch and causing Sarada and Boruto to laugh.

"That's not funny." Shinachiku said with a pout.

"Then why am I laughing?" Boruto 'questioned' with an amused grin.

"Because you're an idiot!" Shinachiku retorted, only to make it worse for himself as Boruto and even Sarada laughed harder, making Shinachiku groan with a pout and shoulders slumped.

Suddenly, they heard more laughter coming their way. They turned their heads to see it was both Teams 5 and 15, making their way out of the tower.

"Never took you for a flirt, Shina." Wasabi said with a smirk.

"Yeah. That whole 'I'll always bring back your precious someone' thing really caught that woman's attention." Iwabe added with a grinning smirk.

"Hey, hey! It's not like that, 'ttebaro!" Shinachiku quickly said, waving his hands in front of him.

"What's not like what?" A new female voice asked, causing them all to look to see Mirai.

"M-M-Mirai-san!" Shinachiku was surprised to see the Sarutobi.

"Huh. She really was here." Boruto said in surprise.

"Did you notice that she was?" Sarada asked Arata.

"No. Pure coincidence." Arata answered.

"Oh, uh, well, you see, uh…" Shinachiku was darting his eyes around, having a hard time looking Mirai in the eye with his cheeks burning red.

"Shinachiku earned a kiss for being a noble shinobi." Metal answered with an oblivious smile.

"Metal, Shut Up!" Shinachiku shouted with an annoyed anime expression.

"Oh~, so that's it. Well, aren't you lucky?" Mirai teased with a smirk.

"It isn't like that! I swear!" Shinachiku quickly said, waving his hands in front of himself with his face completely red.

"I believe you." Mirai said with a smile. "So, what missions were you all up for today?" She asked, looking towards the rest.

"Oh, you know. Just helped build an entire building in less than half the day." Iwabe gloated with a proud smirk.

"Wait… and entire building?" Mirai asked with widened eyes.

"Well, we didn't do the paint job, but we helped with essentials like the foundation, structure, scaffolding-"

"In less than a day?!" Mirai exclaimed, interrupting Denki.

"That's right." Iwabe said, his smirk widening as he crossed his arms.

"Pfft. Please. Like that's as impressive as what we did." Wasabi said with her own proud smirk.

"Oh yeah? What did you guys do?" Iwabe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Took down a group of about twenty bandits." Wasabi shared, still smirking.

"Pfft." Iwabe scoffed.

"And took out three of those Oni Zetsu things in the blink of an eye." Wasabi added as her smirk widened.

"Nani?!" Iwabe looked at the cat enthusiast in shock.

"Well, actually that was Tsubaki. She killed three Jinmenken, chopping them to pieces in an instant after Wasabi took down the bandits with her claws all in an instant… after she humiliated them by dodging them with her eyes closed." Namida explained.

"Never down the chakra whiskers." Wasabi said proudly with her head held high.

"That's amazing!" Denki said with awe with a bright smile.

"Yes. It looks like we have all improved greatly over the course of the week." Metal said with an equally bright smile as his teammate.

"Well, color me impressed." Mirai said with a smile before looking back towards Team 7. "And what was your mission today?"

"Saved a kitten." Shinachiku simply answered, earning silence for a few moments.

"That's it?" Iwabe asked.

"Yeah. Why? Isn't that important?" Shinachiku questioned with a shrug.

"Compared to making a building or fighting bandits and Oni Zetsu… no, not really." Wasabi said.

"Well, I didn't say we didn't have an encounter of any kind." Shinachiku admitted as he lightly scratched his cheek.

"What do you mean?" Mirai asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well~…"

.

.

Team 7 was looking around in the forest for the little white kitten, with Arata leading the pack.

"Got to say. Even when there's monsters out here now, he sure is a brave cat." Boruto said as they walked deeper into the forest.

"Or she. I've never checked the gender." Shinachiku said.

"And you never will, because that's no professional of us shinobi." Sarada said.

"Shinobi can be curious." Shinachiku retorted.

"More curious than a cat?" Sarada questioned with a joking smirk.

"I walked right into that one." Shinachiku said with a frown and gently palming his forehead, while Boruto laughed.

"He's close." Arata said, noticing the tiny wads of paper on the grass.

The team continued following the path of paper wads, when Shinachiku suddenly stopped for a moment, catching the others' attention.

"Onii-chan, is something wrong?" Sarada asked with concern, instantly knowing something was up.

"Fear." Shinachiku answered before speeding away.

"Onii-chan!" Sarada called out as she, Boruto and Arata followed after Shina.

Shinachiku hurried forward until he found the kitten, who had his front paws tangled in a vine, meowing with pain and fear.

"There he is!" Boruto called out as they arrived. He was about to hurry over to save the kitten, but Shinachiku stopped him with his arm out. "What's wrong?" Boruto asked, now being a bit worried since Shinachiku is always ready to save a life.

"We should jump back." Arata ordered, catching Boruto and Sarada's attention, as they all leaped back in time to avoid being sent flying upwards by a large arm made of wood.

"What the heck?!" Boruto exclaimed in shock.

"What is that!?" Sarada asked, now worried as she and Boruto got into battle stances.

The ground started to shake a bit as rising from the grass was a round being covered in it.

The kitten meowed with fear as whatever it was, the vine it was tangled up in was attached to this mysterious beast.

It was a large, round, and pudgy being covered in fuzzy grass with a pair of long arms made of wood with claws, had beady white eyes, and wooden spikes running down its back, but what was most eye was it wide, large mouth which was made of metal while some kunai woven in there with some weeds and roots connecting them together and coming off of the center of its face looked to be stirrup.

"Abumi-guchi." Shinachiku said with narrowed eyes.

"It's huge!" Boruto exclaimed in shock.

The Abumi-guchi was just mindlessly chewing on whatever was in its large mouth. In fact, it more focused on whatever ended up in its mouth that it paid the genin no mind. It then started to crawl away, all the while the scared little kitten was meowing for help as the vine it was tied to was attached to the beast's mouth, and the more the Oni Zetsu chewed, the closer the kitten was getting to its mouth.

"The kitten!" Sarada called out in worry and fear for its life.

Shinachiku glared at the creature that was absentmindedly going to eat the innocent kitten. He grabbed a rock from the ground, and flicked it towards the beast, striking it on the side of the head.

The Abumi-guchi halted, registering that something had hit it on the side of its head area, right near its right eye.

"Hey! Zipper Mouth!" Shinachiku called out, causing the Abumi-guchi to finally take notice of the group, with the one with green eyes marching his way forward. "Put the kitten down." Shinachiku said with a glare as his eyes turned slit for a moment.

The kitten meowed, causing the Abumi-guchi to take notice of it as well with its beady eyes. It growled, now wanting to eat the kitten, but its eyes went back to the beanie wearing boy who was still marching forward. The Abumi-guchi could sense the hostility from the youth, so it hunched over a bit with a growl, before opening its mouth super wide with the sound of an undone zipper as then vines and long ropes with kunai attached to the latter, shot forward and aimed for Shinachiku.

The sunshine blonde was unalarmed, as he just then took out a three-pronged kunai and threw it towards the Oni Zetsu. It whizzed through the spaces between its vines and ropes of kunai and sliced the vine holding the kitten, freeing it. Shinachiku then flashed over, grabbing the kitten and released wind release from a kick of his foot, gaining some distance from the creature.

Shinachiku landed on the ground and started applying medical ninjutsu to the kitten.

The Abumi-guchi turned around to find the boy, tending to the kitten in his arms. It lurched over and fired more vines and roped kunai towards him, but the minute they got close, Arata and Sarada cut them to pieces at lightning-fast speed.

"Yare yare. Good thing we saw this outcome coming." Arata said as he sheathed his chokuto.

"You really are too predictable, onii-chan." Sarada said, keeping her kunai firmly gripped.

The Abumi-guchi growled at the new interlopers and was ready to fire out more vines and roped kunai at them, but the moment it unzipped its mouth, it was struck in the side of the face by an invisible force, causing it to fall onto its side a bit.

It was none other than from Boruto using his Kieru Rasengan (Vanishing Spiraling Sphere), who then landed in front of the others.

"Yeah, he is, but he just does what we're all thinking, dattebasa." Boruto said with a grin, readying for what's to come.

Shinachiku then took out a tiny scroll, sent in chakra and out came a clone of his.

"Take him away from this, and guard him with your existence." Shinachiku said, earning a nod from the clone, who then took the kitten from his progenitor. "We'll come get you in a moment after we handle this. I promise." Shinachiku said to the kitten, giving him a smile as he scratched his chin, earning an appreciative and cooperative meow from the kitten.

The clone hurried off with the kitten, leaving the original Shinachiku to face the Abumi-guchi with the rest of his team.

"You know, I pictured an Abumi-guchi being smaller than this." Boruto said.

"They can be, or they can be this size. It depends on how many deceased shinobi it is born from." Arata explained.

"That brings about some morbid questions about where it came from exactly." Sarada said with an upset frown.

"Regardless, what matters is that it's here and now, right by Konoha and willing to eat anything it comes across. It's a wrong we got to make right, and we got to bring peace for those who gave this thing life." Shinachiku said as started putting on his studded fingerless gloves.

The Abumi-guchi growled at them, sensing their intent to destroy it. It gritted its sharp zipper-like teeth as it lurched forward.

"So, how long are you willing to bet this will take us? Five minutes?" Boruto asked as he and the others got ready in their fighting stances.

Shinachiku slammed his fist into his hand and cracked his knuckles.

"Not even." Shinachiku said with a golden gleam in his eyes before the Abumi-guchi fired its vines and roped kunai again. "Cha!" Shinachiku screamed out as he and his team charged forward.

.

.

"Seriously?! You fought that in the forest!?" Iwabe exclaimed as he and the others were in shock.

"Jealous?" Boruto asked with a knowing smirk.

"I mean… it's something… i-impressive." Iwabe said, turning away with a jealous pout on his face.

"Man… who knew even rescuing a cat would be so dangerous." Namida said with a worried frown.

"Honestly, I'm disappointed in myself for taking cat saving so lightly." Wasabi admitted with her shoulders slumped.

"Wow. You all really have improved. Though, I'm not surprised that you were able to destroy something like that, given how strong you were the last time I saw you." Mirai said, genuinely impressed by the team and especially the boy before her.

"Yeah, well, that was secondary anyway. It wasn't as important as saving the kitten, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku admitted as he lightly scratched his cheek, surprising his friends.

"Really? You put saving a kitten above destroying a monster? I don't blame you, but I'm surprised you're prouder of that." Mirai said with an amused but genuinely delighted smile.

"Well, yeah, any day. I mean, he had someone waiting for her to come home after all." Shinachiku said, causing Mirai to flinch a bit.

Mirai's eyes widened for a second before they had softened as she recalled a memory.

.

.

A young Mirai was walking through Konoha with her mother, Kurenai Sarutobi, née. Yūhi.

Young Mirai was holding her mother's hand as she went shopping with her. The young Sarutobi had a smile on her face as she enjoyed the walk, but then was surprised when her mother halted. She looked up with a curious expression to see her mother looking in a certain direction.

Young Mirai looked where her mother was looking to see her staring out in the distance towards the village gates. She looked back at her mother with confusion as her mother had a certain sadness to her expression. Poor girl at the time was too young to understand that it was longing on her mother's face.

"Kaa-chan, what's the matter?" Mirai asked her mother, causing the elder, red-eyed woman to flinch.

"It's nothing, sweetheart." Kurenai said, forcing a smile upon her face as she looked down towards her daughter. However, the moment she noticed Mirai tilting her head with more confusion written upon her face, she knew that the girl would prod about it later. "It's just…" Kurenai was contemplating whether to tell her daughter or not. After a moment, she decided to come clean. "Sometimes… when I look at those gates… I keep expecting… hoping… that your father would walk right through them." Kurenai confessed with a somber look in her eyes.

"But I thought papa was in heaven." Mirai said with even more confusion.

"He is. I just wish that he wasn't." Kurenai said with a pained smile on her face as she looked back towards the gates.

Mirai blinked her eyes, surprised by this yet having a calm expression on her face. She did what any child would have and just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, I'll keep walking through those gates." Mirai said, causing her mother to look down at her in surprise. "When I become a shinobi, every time I'll leave, I'll just keep coming back right through those gates, kaa-chan. Just like papa would have." Mirai said with a bright smile.

Kurenai's eye widened upon her daughter's proclamation. Her heart trembled with pain and warmth as tears shed from her eyes.

'Mirai…'

"Kaa-chan… did I say something wrong?" Mirai asked, now worried that she made her daughter cry.

"No, sweetie." Kurenai knelt and hugged her daughter. "You said the right words. Arigato."

Mirai blinked her eyes, still very confused, but she decided to forget all of that and just smile as she returned the hug.

.

.

As Mirai got older, she now understood the feelings her mother felt that day, and now had the same habit. Hoping her father would come through those gates one day.

"Making sure someone comes back home… that is important." Mirai said with a soft smile. "Although not everyone's going to think that. The mission tends to be more important to them."

"Well then, I won't be getting along with them." Shinachiku frowned.

"You saying you'd rather fail the mission in order to save a single life?" Mirai asked, still smiling.

"No. I'd rather do both, but if I can't do that, then yeah, pretty much." Shinachiku answered.

"You're sounding so naïve." Mirai said with a faint chuckle.

"I'm just saying what I believe. I know missions are important, but there's always another shot to get it done most of the times… bring someone precious back… there's no room to fail it once."

"Onii-chan…" Sarada spoke in surprise.

"I'd rather fail a billion missions and more than fail someone waiting." Shinachiku said, looking towards the side, lightly scratching his cheek with his finger.

"Waiting?" Mirai questioned.

"Yeah… someone is always waiting for someone to return home. That's a normal feeling, dattebaro." Shinachiku said, causing Mirai's eyes to widen as she recalled her mother. "My tou-chan always said that he sees the village as his family… I didn't like it when I was younger, but after a while… I started to get it, 'ttebaro. Family is always waiting for you to come home and have a meal with them, and stuff. The thought of that never happening… I just can't live with that. So… as a medic, I'll keep fighting to bring someone precious back home and like family, I'll support those waiting by doing what they can't, and work to make sure they smile again."

'Shina…' Mirai looked to him with surprise.

The rest of his friends were surprised by his claim as well, but known more than Boruto, who heard 'the village is my family' more times than one has fallen in their lives.

"I know, I know, a lot of talk considering I risked my life for a kitten and all." Shinachiku said with a bit of an embarrassed grin and rubbing the back of his head, but then his expression softened. "But even a single kitten is precious to someone. It doesn't matter how small. A life is still a life, and no matter how far they are or how dangerous doing so may be… I'll do everything I can to bring that precious someone back to the people who still hold them dear. Even if I have to give up my life while doing it, so they can share theirs together once again."

Mirai's eyes widened as suddenly, she pictured her father coming right through those gates and back home to her mother's arms.

The others just stared at Shinachiku in shock, while Arata just smirked with his eyes closed.

'Hn. Ever so predictable.'

"You'll do it even if you have to give up your life? What about the people waiting for you?" Tsubaki questioned.

"Yeah, isn't that kind of defeating the purpose since you're precious to someone too?" Wasabi questioned with a small frown and half-lidded eyes.

"Yeah. In a way, it sounds pretty selfish, onii-chan. Making people like say, your parents worrying about you." Sarada said with a frown.

"Sorry… that's just how I always think, dattebaro." Shinachiku said with a bashful grin as he rubbed the back of his head once again.

"Shina…" Mirai spoke catching the green-eyed blonde's attention as she knelt and gently placed her hands on his shoulders. "I really wish… that you were around back when my father was." Mirai said with a soft smile, shocking everyone by her claim.

"Mirai-san…" Shinachiku spoke her name in surprise.

Just then, Mirai leaned in and kissed Shinachiku's cheek.

"EH?!" Everyone screamed out in shock and shocked anime expressions, all except Arata, who just looked on with widened eyes.

Shinachiku's eyes were wide as Mirai pulled back.

"Don't ever change." Mirai said with a smile as she released her hold on the boy and stood up again. "Well, I still got my own missions to handle. So, I'll be seeing you around." Mirai said as she gave the young medic a wave goodbye and she walked away.

"I… uh… wai… huh? Huh?" Shinachiku's whole face turned completely red and glowed neon as steam came out of his ears.

"Keep an eye on this one, you guys. I don't think the world is ready for him to leave for a very long while." Mirai said to the others as she passed them by, continuing to smile all while they were all still flabbergasted.

They all watched Mirai head towards the Hokage Tower before turning back towards the still glowing Shinachiku.

"WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!" Iwabe screamed out with jealousy.

"I agree." A new male voice spoke making them all look to see Team 10 heading their way. "I'll die so someone else doesn't have to and they can be with their families? That's insanely noble, but was that really enough to warrant you a kiss from Mirai-san, Chō Mayu?" (Super Brow) Inojin teased with a smirk.

"Of course it did! Did you not hear the passion and honesty in his voice? That's the kind of thing girls want to find in a man! I say, well played." Chocho said with her head held high as she had an impressed smile while enjoying some more of her chips.

"I don't think he can hear us." Shikadai pointed out, as Shinachiku was still frozen and glowing red.

"You Bastard!" Iwabe shouted out as he ran over to Shinachiku and grabbed him by the shoulders. "What the hell, huh?! How did you get two kisses in a row like that from two pretty women, huh!? Tell Me! What kind of lucky bastard are you!?" Iwabe shouted with anime tears pouring as he shook the still stupor Shinachiku back and forth.

"Real mature, Iwabe. That's definitely the kind of man that women are just looking to kiss." Wasabi said with a dull yet sarcastic tone with an expression to match.

"You shut up!" Iwabe retorted, still crying with jealousy.

Mirai heard this commotion from a distance, which caused her to giggle.

"I wish you were around back when my father was, eh?" A male voice spoke, causing Mirai to stop as leaning against the nearby wall of the tower with their arms crossed was her cousin, Konohamaru. "From the tone in your voice… you genuinely believe that, don't you?" Konohamaru asked with a smile.

Mirai's expression softened as she recalled something just about two weeks ago.

.

.

"EH?! NANI!? Another Reality?!" Mirai screamed out in shock.

She and the others managed to come back alive from their mission of retrieving Suna's scroll delivered by Team Shinki. Currently she was sitting in a hospital bed wearing a hospital gown, and was in a conversation with the Hokage, Sakura Uchiha and her cousin Konohamaru. Along with a blue frog with a green gem stuck to its back which was apparently a sort of God-like artifact that happened to be the sort of guardian of their reality.

"That's right." Naruto said with a nod.

"It's crazy, I know. I still can't believe that it's all true myself." Sakura said with her arms crossed.

"Well it has been around half a month, so not that hard to understand." Konohamaru said to Sakura.

"So… so, Shinachiku is-"

"My son." Naruto answered. "Well, at least another me from a different reality where-"

"Is his mother Sakura-san?" Mirai quickly asked.

"Right on the money." Kyoko said with a dull frown.

"Every time! God!" Sakura shouted with an annoyed anime expression, causing Mirai and Konohamaru to flinch with nervous looks while Naruto just chuckled with a sweat drop.

"How'd you guess?" Naruto asked Mirai with a nervous smile.

"Um… I remember some conversations between kaa-chan and Hinata-sama. Your wife was always scared that you would end up with Sakura-san instead of her when she was younger." Mirai confessed, avoiding eye contact with her head hanging.

Naruto was surprised by this news. He kind of already knew that idea since Arata and Shinachiku showed up, but he didn't think Hinata was so worried that she'd confide in her sensei. That said a lot.

'I should really do something nice for her.' Naruto thought to himself.

"So… Shina is your son… and Arata?" Mirai asked, managing to look up.

"Is Sasuke and Hinata's." Konohamaru answered.

"How did that work?!" Mirai asked in shock.

"We don't even know." Konohamaru answered.

"Mirai. This is an S-class secret. Do not divulge any of what has been said here to anyone. Do you understand?" Naruto said with a stern expression.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Mirai said with a nod before her eyes looked downward. "So… how is he?" Mirai asked.

"Hmm?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Shinachiku. Is he okay?" Mirai asked, glancing up for a moment.

"Are you kidding? He suffered the worst of it along with Arata, and yet he's more concerned about your health." Naruto shared with a grin.

"Mine?! You just said he suffered the worst of it! Why the hell does he care so much about mine and so little of his own!?" Mirai questioned in surprise.

"That's how he is, apparently… and unfortunately." Sakura said with a shrug.

"Shinachiku's a medic, and a medic always worries about the team." Konohamaru said. "And thank Kami-sama he was there."

"Huh?" Mirai looked to him in confusion.

"The truth is Mirai, the rest of us were practically on death's door with even risk of permanent damage. Some of us would have to quit as shinobi had it not been for Shinachiku healing us up. If he wasn't there… we wouldn't be here right now." Konohamaru shared with his cousin, shocking her.

"He… he did all that?"

"At the risk of his own life. He practically drained all of his chakra so yours didn't." Sakura said.

"Thanks to Shina, you all made it back in one piece." Naruto said, smiling proudly from talking about the boy.

Mirai's eyes were wide as she then looked to her hands, which still had feeling in them unlike before she went unconscious.

'He brought us back home… I see.' Mirai thought as she now gained a huge sense of appreciation for the trans-dimensional Uzumaki.

"Are you blushing, brat?" Kyoka asked with a smirk.

"I-I am not!" Mirai shouted with her cheeks turning red.

.

.

Mirai couldn't help but softly smile before giving her response.

"Yeah. I do." She answered. "I know it sounds odd… but something inside me is telling me that it's true. That if he was there… tou-chan would have come back home to kaa-chan. He would have made it possible. I… I just know it." Mirai said with a soft smile.

Konohamaru stared at his cousin for a moment before looking back towards Shinachiku, still being shook by Iwabe.

"You might be right." Konohamaru said.

"I know I'm right." Mirai replied as she then walked into the tower.

Konohamaru watched her walk in before looking up towards the sky.

'Asuma-ojisan… look after us. The ones who inspired the enemy who took you away from us are practically here at our doorstep. It's scary to know what the future is going to hold, but we'll make sure it doesn't lead to the same road it left you on.' Konohamaru's eyes then looked back towards the genin before him. 'We'll protect the future… just give us a little bit of that flame of yours to help us out.' He then noticed the children laughing, playing and spending time with their friends and/or families. 'For the King.'

"Come on~! Answer me!" Iwabe practically begged as he continued shaking the dazed Shinachiku.

"Forget it. No words are going to reach him at this point." Arata said.

"Great. Then how are we going to knock him out of this?" Sarada asked with a frown.

"By taking drastic measures." Arata said, catching everyone's attention. He then walked over and stopped behind Shina. "Not a fan of this, but we can't leave you like this, and in front of the Hokage Tower no less." Arata said as he unsheathed his chokuto, catching everyone by surprise.

"Uh, w-w-wait… you're not going to…" Sarada couldn't even finish her sentence as then Arata gently stabbed Shinachiku in the rear.

The right glute to be precise.

"ITAI!" Shinachiku screamed out as he flew upward into the air while holding his rear with an exaggerated expression and a river of tears.

'He Actually Did It!' Sarada thought as she and the others had shocked anime expressions with their jaws dropped.

.

.

Ehō was currently in one of the training grounds, panting with a kunai in hand. He was standing in front of a tall tree that not had scratch marks on it.

"One more time." Ehō said as he then let out a battle cry and ran up the tree. He dashed all the way up, nearly reaching the top before having to leap away but not before leaving another scar upon the bark with his kunai. Ehō landed on his feet, looking up towards his newest record on tree climbing. "Yeah! I'm so much closer! If I keep this up, I'll be a great shinobi like Shinachiku-onii-chan soon enough!" Ehō said with a proud smile.

Suddenly, Ehō heard something. It sounded like claws scratching the bark of a tree.

Ehō turned with widened eyes, facing the direction where he heard the scratch. Ehō instinctively got into a battle stance with his kunai raised up and ready. Ehō was riding high on his progress, feeling like he's already a shinobi, ready for anything to come at him.

Ehō slowly started to make his way closer towards the direction of the sound. He furrowed his brow and held his kunai's grip tighter. However, as he got closer, he started to feel uneasy. His lights tightened and a bead of sweat went down his head as he continued to move, feeling some sort of sensation as he did. One of a not so good feeling.

Ehō suddenly stopped as noticed in the distance, a tree with deep claw marks on it. Whatever scratched it had five fingers with sharp claws. As Ehō stared at the marks, he slowly started to succumb to an ominous feeling.

Feeling as if he wasn't alone… and that he was being watched.

Ehō tightened his stance with his lip tightening more and his eyes reflected both fear and determination for whatever was out there. He was then struck by a strong gust of wind… and it smelled awful! Ehō covered his nose as he realized that there was a whistle accompanying the wind… and it sounded eerie. Ehō couldn't help but stiffen and it got worse as he could have sworn that he had heard someone exhaling at the end, causing his eyes to widen.

All this was followed by silence, which unnerved Ehō even more. He fought to keep his nerves of steel, but in an instant, they were all gone as a pair of red gleams came from within the woods causing Ehō to flinch as he looked on in horror.

"Ehō!" A girl's voice called out to him.

"Eh?!" Ehō quickly turned around to see Himawari and Yuina.

"We've been looking everywhere for you. We were getting kind of worried, but I should have realized you were out here training." Himawari said with a smile, but then she noticed the startled and even scared expression on the brunette boy's face. "Are you okay? Did something happen?" Himawari asked with concern for her friend.

"I… I don't know." Ehō admitted, confusing his friends.

"Maybe you shouldn't train all the way out here. I heard there are weird creatures roaming around the forests." Yuina said.

"Yeah. If you want to train, we should do it somewhere closer to the village." Himawari suggested.

"Y-Yeah… I'll do just that." Ehō agreed, not wanting to stay in the area any longer, regardless of his progress on the tree.

"I think I know a training spot we can try." Yuina suggested with a smile.

"Okay. Lead the way." Himawari said with her own smile. The three then headed off, but after a bit, Ehō stopped and looked back towards the forest. "What's wrong, Ehō?" Himawari asked, noticing he had stopped.

"… My imagination, I guess." Ehō said as he resumed following his friends.

As the trio of children headed off towards the distances, a hand with long fingers and sharp claws reached out from behind the tree and scratched it again, leaving more marks.

"Ehō~…"

.

.

It was now nighttime.

Shinachiku and Arata were making their way back towards the Uchiha Compound, with the blonde of the two rubbing his rear.

"You can be a real pain in the ass, you know that?" Shinachiku said to the Uchiha-Hyūga with a pout.

"Look who's talking." Arata retorted.

"Yeah, but you took it literally!" Shinachiku shot back with annoyance. Shinachiku just continued to grumble with an annoyed anime glare as he rubbed his still sore spot. The wind then blew past him, causing him to stop as his eyes suddenly widened. He turned and looked towards the starless sky. He had a strong look on his face with a stern glare, as if he was expecting something… but he didn't know what. "Hey… did you get a weird feeling just now?" Shinachiku asked, turning towards Arata.

"Hn." Arata agreed as he too had stopped. "The air feels… rather ominous." Arata said with a frown on his face.

Shinachiku looked back towards the night sky with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't think I can sleep tonight." Shinachiku admitted with his arms crossed.

Arata just continued on his way, but silently agreed with his teammate.

.

.

It was that time of night when everyone was going to bed. The streets of the village barely had anyone on them, with only a few stores still open.

Right now, a middle-aged woman was making her way back home carrying large grocery bags.

"Of all the times that husband of mine had to forget something thanks to that bad memory of his. There was barely anything in the fridge, even for breakfast." The woman complained as she then stopped and let out a tired sigh. "These bags are so heavy. I need a break." The woman said as she sat down on a nearby bench with a large open umbrella over it. "My arms are killing me. I'm not sure if I can make it home before I collapse." The woman complained with a pout, but then she heard a low growl making her flinch. "Huh?" She looked around but found nothing nearby. "Hello?" She called out, before she felt a warm wind coming down on her, causing her to cover her nose from the smell.

The smell of… someone's breath? The woman looked up towards the large open umbrella overhead. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that its inside was moving up and down in a rhythmic pattern.

Similar to… breathing.

The woman started to sweat with a worried and unnerved expression on her face. She suddenly got the urge to keep moving again, and this time no stopping until she got home. She reached over and grabbed her bags, but the moment she did, she heard the growl again with what sounded like movement accompanying it. She looked up, only to finally notice the ends of the umbrella looked like sharp teeth with tiny spikes forming all around the inside as that same breathing-like air was let out from it as well.

The umbrella then growled, causing the woman's eyes to widen in horror as then the umbrella started enclosing on her.

The woman screamed in terror as the umbrella snapped closed on her, consuming her and keeping her tightly contained like a cocoon. The woman's muffled cries for help and whimpering were heard from inside, but no one was around to hear them, nor when they were silenced when the umbrella closed in more, tightening its hold on her.

Nothing but silence remained with dropped grocery bags littering the floor around the bench.

The umbrella remained still for a moment, before turning around on its own as it then started to hop away on a single wooden foot, with the silenced woman held within in tow.

.

.

A shinobi was doing patrol around the cemetery, essentially doing a graveyard shift if the term was more literal. He walked around carrying a lantern that to light his way around.

"Man, why am I always stuck walking through the cemetery on patrol? Couldn't they switch up my route? What a pain." The shinobi complained with a frown. He suddenly halted when he started to hear a noise. "Huh? Who's there?" The shinobi called out but earned no response.

All he was hearing was the noise. It sounded like… digging. He pulled out a kunai and followed after that noise at a hastened but cautious pace. He wasn't share who or what was making that noise, but his instincts were telling him to be careful.

As he got closer, the more he could hear the digging clearly.

The shinobi gritted his teeth in anger.

'Grave robbers. Scum!' The shinobi hastened his pace some, but as he got closer, he also noticed a small light in front of him.

At first, he thought it was a lantern but upon closer inspection, he could tell it was a small flame. A green colored flame. He'd never seen fire of that color before. At first, he thought it was a jutsu, but as he got closer, he saw that the green flame was actually connected to something. He thought it was a long white rope, but as it suddenly moved, he realized… it was a tail.

The shinobi stiffened with a worrisome look as he broke out into a minor sweat. He saw the tail starting to coil and curl, moving away from the light of the shinobi's lantern. Though a part of him was telling him to retreat, the shinobi pressed on and raised his lantern, trying to catch a glimpse of the perpetrator.

However, as the light started showing more and more of the form before the shinobi, the more it dawned on him that what was before him… was not human.

The creature was large, taller than him and was pure white with fur. It had a long tail with a green lit flame at the tip, claws that looked to be made of wood, and row of wooden spikes along its back. Its head was hunched over as it was digging into a grave, only to cease when its form was bathed in the light of the shinobi's lantern.

The shinobi stared at the creature in shock as he then gulped. This was a fatal mistake however, as the creature stopped its digging, causing the shinobi to flinch with fear and dropped his kunai.

The creature slowly raised its head and then turned to reveal it was an enormous cat with green glowing slit eyes and flames sticking off of its eyebrows.

The shinobi's instincts roared for him to run but he was stricken by so much fear that he was frozen in place.

The cat creature stared at him in silence for a few moments, before its tail stabbed into the ground, shocking the shinobi. Seemingly, nothing was occurring as the cat creature continued to stare at him.

The shinobi finally found the nerve to reach for his kunai pouch to retrieve a new one, but suddenly, something grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him down to the ground. He yelped as he fell on his rear only to then notice a hand sticking out of the ground had a hold of his ankle. Then, a head started to slowly emerge and ceased, revealing the top of its head as rotten, dead eyes stared at him but the pupils were glowing with a green gleam.

The shinobi couldn't hold it in anymore. He let out a horrified scream as the eyes burned with green fire as the corpse beneath shot out and attacked him.

.

.

A pair of officers of the Konoha Police Force, both male, were travelling down the road upon patrol.

"Is it just me or is this night creepier than all the other nights?" The taller of two, who had shoulder length brunette hair said, looking around with a creeper out frown.

"Regardless of if it is, our duty as policemen to patrol these streets remains our top priority." The short of the two, who had a shaven haircut, said with a look of resolve.

The wind then blew by as the taller of the two then shivered with a bit of scared expression as he hugged himself.

"The wind shouldn't be this cold this time of season." The taller officer said as he rubbed his arms for warmth.

"You're right. Guess we're in for an early change then." The shorter said, remaining vigilante, despite the freezing temperatures from the wind.

"I dunno… it's eerie. Something's off about tonight." The taller one said, looking around as if something was lurking around the corner. He suddenly bumped into his partner, which surprised him. "Huh? What's up?" He asked. Noticing he was looking ahead, he looked in the direction to find a woman in a kimono, standing under a flickering light, her head hanging and obscured by her long dark hair. Instant red flags immediately ran through his brain. 'Oh, hell no!' The taller man thought with a look of fear.

"That woman… why is she out so late?" The shorter officer wondered.

"A better question is, why is she just standing there and under the light like that." The taller officer said with an unnerved frown.

"We should see if she needs some assistance." The shorter officer said.

"Are you crazy?! Have you never seen a horror movie before!? This is a scene straight out of one!" The taller officer exclaimed, showing his fear on his sleeve.

"You shouldn't compare life to movies." The shorter one said, looking towards his partner.

"I shouldn't… are you not seeing what I'm seeing?! Even in real life, this is something that screams run the other way!" The taller one retorted.

"Looks can be deceiving. If we leave now, we might be leaving an innocent citizen alone and helpless." The shorter one countered with a stern and resolute expression.

"I'm not going anywhere near that woman." The taller one said, standing strong by his rational cowardice.

"Fine. Then you can just stay here. I'll go talk to her." The shorter one said as he started walking away.

"H-Hold on." The taller officer said, reaching out for his friend, but he had already gotten out of his reach as he marched right over towards the woman. Halfway over, the woman started to hum, causing the shorter one to halt in surprise while the taller one stiffened and shivered and fear. "Oh, hell no, hell no, hell no, hell no! Get back here, Yūma! She's clearly suspicious!" The taller one called out towards his partner, but the shorter officer recomposed himself and continued over towards the now humming woman. "B-Baka." The taller one said with a scared frown.

He just stood there, shivering with fear as he started glancing around for any potential danger or better yet, some help because he was clearly not safe.

All of a sudden, a light shined over him, causing the officer to flinch. He trembled as he slowly looked up to see a lantern overhead… followed by darkness.

The shorter officer, Yūma, arrived towards the woman, who remained still but the moment he entered her personal space, she immediately stopped humming. This threw him off for a second, but he managed to regain his nerve to address her.

"Excuse me, madame… is everything alright?" Yūma asked.

"… Hmm?" The woman perked her head up a bit. "Oh… forgive me… I'm just a little lost." The woman said in a soft-spoken voice.

"I see. I can guide you home then." Yūma offered. "What's your address?"

"Oh, no, you needn't worry about that. I'm used to this feeling. Being lost… it's normal for me." The woman said. Her words made the officer feel uncomfortable. "I just wander all the time. I always find a place. No need to worry. I've been through this many times." The woman said.

"So… you have no problem in need of assistance?" Yūma asked.

"Problem?" The woman repeated as she was now in thought. "Oh… I think I do have one of those." The woman said.

"I see." Yūma said, relieved that his instincts were correct. "See? She did need help." Yūma said, turning back towards his partner, only to see him no longer there. "Riu?" Yūma was surprised to see his friend had vanished without a trace. "Madame, please wait here a second. I need to inspect this for a moment." Yūma said to the woman as he then walked back to where the taller office, Riu, once stood.

Yūma failed to notice the woman slowly turning her head to gaze at his retreating form with a gleam in her eye as a small growl came from her belly.

Yūma walked over towards the spot, looking around for any sign of his partner.

"Where the hell…? Riu, where are you? You can't just abandon your post like this!" Yūma called out to his partner, scolding him for his seemingly cowardly action. He halted when he suddenly heard a drip. He looked forward as he heard another drip. He looked down to see a small puddle… entirely of blood. Yūma silently gasped as he slowly looked up to find a lantern overhead… with a leg sticking out of an opening on the side of it. "R… Riu?" Yūma spoke his friend's name in fear for his partner's life.

A spot appeared on the lantern over the legs. It was a spot of light. It then lowered a bit, and aimed at Yūma, as if it were an eye.

In fact… it was.

The 'cut' on the lantern's side holding the leg, suddenly snapped open to reveal sharp teeth as it let out a scream. It then lit up aglow with the leg suddenly catching on fire, causing it to start burning into a crisp.

"RIU!" Yūma screamed out his friend's name in horror with fresh tears in his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. A cold, cold hand that made him flinch.

"My… problem…" The woman said, causing Yūma's teary eyes to widen in fear. "Yes… I do have one of those… you will help… right? You offered." The woman said in her soft tone. Yūma slowly turned his head towards the woman, only to cry in terror. "Will you feed me… with your soul?"

The woman's face contained a split open mouth creating a pair of Glasgow smiles, with the left being longer, wider and curved upwards from the shorter, straight right one. Her mouth had rows of jagged teeth made of black wood and her eyes were wide with a green gleam.

Yūma screamed in horror only for his mouth to be stuffed with hair.

The 'woman's' hair started to raise up and moved as if they were alive, like they were octopus tentacles, and all the while the 'woman' was laughing wickedly. The hair then latched onto Yūma's form, coiling around his body and suspending him in the air.

Yūma tried to fight back, but his struggle was pointless. The wicked woman's hair was strong as iron. It was akin to a spider's web. Smooth as silk, but extremely durable and stronger than steel wires. Every follicle held onto him tightly, spreading his limbs apart from one another to keep him from fighting back, especially with jutsu by restricting usage of his hands. Yūma continued to scream, but they were muffled by the 'woman's' hair, that tightly constricted itself around his mouth.

The 'woman's' hair then immediately constricted Yūma's entire body in a cocoon of hair.

His body was lifted up high over her head, with him still releasing muffled screams, begging with all his might for help as tears of terror and pain poured from his eye.

Yūma suddenly heard a sort of snapping noise, causing his eyes to dart downward to notice the back of the woman's head was starting to split open with follicles separating as the cranium opened wider and wider with sickening snaps and cracks.

Suddenly, it snapped open completely to reveal a wide, split open mouth with sharp wooden teeth and a purple tongue within.

The sight made Yūma's eyes widen, almost bulging in horror and fright as he now knew he was in the hold of a Futakuchi-onna. (Two-Mouth Woman)

"Help me… heal my hunger." The Futakuchi-onna said with a terrifyingly wicked tone, causing Yūma to deliver a muffled blood-curdling scream of terror as he was inching closer towards the mouth. "Itadakimasu~." The creature chimed with delight as the screaming Yūma came closer towards her wide open second mouth, before he was silenced.

The only sounds now made with sickening crunches and splatters as the ground below the 'woman's' feet were being painted red.

.

.

Within the Konoha Barrier Team base of operations, the sensory teams had noticed something had just occurred. Something off and very much alarming.

"Sir! There's an emergency!" One of the sensory division shinobi spoke up with a worried tone in their voice.

"What is it?" A shinobi with pale blue eyes, and hime-style blonde hair reaching to his midback and tied into a ponytail asked as he made his way over.

"There's been a disturbance within the barrier! Four chakra signatures have been intercepted by some unknown force, all around at the same time! One is a civilian whose signature is fading, and the other three are a shinobi and a pair of Konoha police officers… they're signatures have died out!" The sensory officer said, shocking his superior officer.

"What in the world? And you didn't detect any foreign sources of chakra within the village walls, let out the same locations of these occurrences?" The hime-cut blonde questioned, shocked and disturbed by this turn of events.

"No, sir. When trying to focus on it, we're finding no other sources of chakra. There's no other person or animal that was in the same vicinity." The sensory shinobi said.

"No other person or animal…" The hime-cut blonde mulled over the thought as then something dreadful came to mind. 'Is it possible…? If so…'

"Another signature has been lost!" Another sensory officer called out, causing the others to flinch with the pale blue-eyed shinobi gritting his teeth.

"Kohan-san, what are your orders?" The sensory officer asked.

"We are officially in a state of emergency people! We have to inform the rest of the village of this problem! We need shinobi ready and patrolling the streets! We might even need to start evacuating citizens!" Kohan said, causing the others to stiffen with worry and fear of what this could mean. "We need to immediately alert the Hokage of this immediately! Send the message out, now!"

"Yes, sir!" The sensory team shouted out as they quickly got to work.

They had to work fast, otherwise the whole village will be in grave danger.

For there was a storm brewing and the winds were the first indication of its looming presence.

.

.

A little girl with strawberry blonde hair was sleeping in her bed, having just said goodnight to her parents. Her room had a balcony which was securely closed.

Everything seemed peaceful… until a hand with sharp claws grabbed onto the edge of it.

A scratch echoed into the night, causing the little girl to groan as she turned in her bed.

The creaking noise of something being opened followed, which finally made the girl stir awake.

"Mm~…" The strawberry blonde girl groaned as she tightened her shut eyes, before she felt a chill run through her from a sudden breeze. "Huh?" The girl finally opened her eyes.

She then sat up in confusion before another breeze hit her, causing her to wrap the covers around her body some more. She turned to her balcony window door was opened. She blinked her eyes in confusion, wondering how that happened so suddenly. She got out of bed and trotted over to close it, and once she did, she trotted back to her bed and went back to sleep.

The little girl gave a cute little yawn as she rested comfortably back into bed and rested her eyes to enter dreamland again.

"Little one~…"

The girl gasp as she sat up again with widened eyes. She brought her covers up to her mouth from unnerved instinct.

"Kaa-chan?" The little girl spoke as she looked around but found no one there. The girl then flinched when she started hearing the creaking of the floorboard. As if someone was taking steps with each squeak, but as established, there was no one there. "Otōsan? … Kaa-chan?" The girl spoke with rising fear as then the creaking suddenly stopped, causing her to flinch once more.

Her eyes looked around the room from side to side. She looked from left to right, then when she looked back to left, she saw a flash of red at the foot of her bed. She gasped in fear as she looked back to find nothing there. She could have sworn to have seen a pair of gleams along with a pair of horns.

Too scared to even keep looking, she pulled the covers over her head. Her heart raced as she was hyperventilating a bit out of fear. She kept her eyes closed with tears starting to run down as she shook like a leaf, holding onto her covers tightly as she prayed for someone to help.

She then heard a new creaking noise that made her shake more in fear as she whimpered with tears pouring down. The sound suddenly stopped with silence taking its place, before the sound of scratching was heard, making the little girl gasp.

All of a sudden, her bed was lifted up high with it being slanted by an angle, causing the girl to fall. In that instant, she that horned, red-eyed beast that had fangs, was bulky and wore a mino (straw cape), which was holding her bed up in one hand and an open sac in the other which she was falling towards.

She couldn't help but scream out one last thing as she fell towards the empty abyss of a pouch.

"Kaa-chan~!"

And then… darkness.

.

.

"Sir! We have a situation! This one more dire!" Another sensory officer shouted out.

"What is it now?" Kohan asked, with a stern yet worried expression.

"N-New chakra signatures are just vanishing! As if they've been teleported somewhere!" The officer said with urgency.

"Who are these signatures belonging to?" Kohan asked.

"They're… they're children, sir!" The sensory officer announced, causing Kohan's blood to run cold as a look of horror was etched upon his face.

"More are disappearing!" Another called out in fear and worry.

'What… what is going on here?' Kohan thought with widened, horrified eyes.

.

.

Ehō was currently sitting cross legged on his bed, focusing on that same exercise that Shinachiku had issued him when he first asked to be his apprentice.

Focusing on moving a tiny pebble with his chakra network and getting familiar with his tenketsu.

He recalled the reason for why he was doing this which happened not too long ago.

.

.

Ehō was groaning with a frown as he focused on the same exercise that he started with to begin with. He moved the pebble from the back of his hand to the palm, then he focused it up his arm beneath the sleeve, crawling up his limb then his neck followed by face where it then stopped at the tip of his nose.

"Excellent work." Shinachiku said with a smile and his arms crossed.

"Why am I still focusing on this, Bosu? I thought I was going to learn something more today." Ehō complained, while never losing focus on keeping the pebble on his nose.

"It's always important to go through the fundamentals as much as possible, Ehō. Disregarding that is a quick path to consistent failure, datte- is the truth." Shinachiku explained.

"But how are the fundamentals going to help me here? I want to learn a cool jutsu!" Ehō continued to whine.

"Man, you sound just like Boruto, datte- is a fact." Shinachiku said as he lightly scratched the top of his green beanie. "Look, like I said, the fundamentals are important. Hell, you're learning the first stage of a jutsu my tou-chan made without even knowing it." Shinachiku responded.

"The… the first stage? Of a jutsu?!" Ehō asked with shock and awe as the pebble finally fell off his nose from his sudden lack of concentration due to excitement.

"Yup. Getting familiar with your tenketsu and chakra network is the first key to this bad boy." Shinachiku said with a new smile. "Although, I haven't found the time to master it myself since it's an A or S rank jutsu, depending on how much power you put into it, but I have gotten the gist of it down for a miniature version at least." Shinachiku explained, as he grabbed his chin and glanced to the side in thought.

"An A to S Rank?!" Ehō screamed out in amazement that he was learning something so powerful, even if it might end up being a miniature version of it. "What is it? What is it?" Ehō asked in excitement.

"First, we have to resume focus on the basics. Do that same exercise five more times." Shinachiku ordered.

"Aw~." Ehō whined with a pout.

.

.

Ehō groaned as he just focused on that same exercise.

'Still wish I could do that jutsu… but Shinachiku-onii-chan trusts me with this. That says enough.' Ehō reasoned with himself. He suddenly heard a creaking noise, causing him to snap his head in the direction only to see his window open. "I… d-did I leave that open?" Ehō wondered aloud.

His instincts were telling him to be on guard. He looked towards the stand beside his bed to see the kunai he used earlier today for tree climbing practice. He slowly reached for it, just in case.

"Ehō~."

Ehō's eyes widened as he quickly grabbed his kunai and readied it. Ehō gritted his teeth as his brow broke into a sweat just from hearing this ghastly echo of his name.

The sounds of creaking caused Ehō body to stiffen with his eyes widening in fear. The creaking sounds much similar to someone taking steps within the room echoed within his room. Ehō gulped as it sounded like the steps were getting closer towards his bed. The instant they stopped put Ehō at unease, but he remained resolute and kept his guard up with his kunai ready.

After a moment of silence, Ehō noticed long fingers with ugly, black claws slowly reached up and gripped the foot of his bed.

Upon instinct, Ehō leaped forward and went for a downward stab, but the hand those claws belonged to grabbed him by the wrist before it could make any contact.

In that moment, Ehō stared into the face of his assailant with horror.

It was a being with the face of an oni. Bearing two pairs of fangs from both the bottom and upper jaw, its eyes shining blood red through the dark with long horns perched atop its head and a mane draped out from behind. The beast was wearing a mino with only muscular arms and legs with clawed feet being exposed, along with having straw sticking out of its wrist and ankles and in its free hand was a heft sac that was wide open.

Ehō was wracked in so much fear that he couldn't help but let out little scared whimpered with his mouth wide open in terror.

The creature lifted Ehō up and then tossed him into the sac.

Ehō felt like he was falling down into a deep abyss that somehow existed within the sac. As he was falling deeper and deeper, his thoughts went to the only person he desperately wanted to rescue him from this nightmare.

"Onii-chan~!" Ehō screamed out for Shinachiku as he went deeper into the void, before the creature closed up the sac.

The Oni Zetsu hoisted the bag over its back and disappeared out the window into the cold night.

.

.

Shinachiku had been lying in his bed, hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. He was having trouble going to sleep. He just had this ominous feeling.

It was really keeping him up.

'Come on, Shina… just close your eyes and keep them that way. It's got to result in something.' Shinachiku thought to himself as he shut his eyes tight.

It seemed to be working because he felt like his mind was instantly being pulled away from reality.

.

.

Shinachiku snapped open his eyes to find himself staring at a white sky. He heard the sound of rushing water, making him look behind himself to see a river nearby. Raising an eyebrow, he sat up and noticed he was sitting on grass and in the distance was a hill with a large cherry blossom tree surrounded in a field of golden flowers with sunlight bathing the tree.

"Wait a minute… I know this place… this is my-" Shinachiku stopped when he heard a dark chuckle coming from the other way. "Oh no…" Shinachiku said with a frown, unfortunately recognizing that laughter… and from who it was from.

Standing up and turning around, Shinachiku saw a Shinto shrine the size of a temple with a large torii gate in the front that had spiked chains wrapped around it that stretched out to form a net of spiked chains with a piece of paper attached between two sets of them in the middle with a sealing formula on it, and standing at the sides of the torii gate were a pair of kneeling statues, both having muscular human male bodies with loincloths but the one on the right had the head of an ox and the one on the left had the face of a horse. The statues both had weapons, with Ox-head having a kanabō, and Horse-face having a three-pronged yari, with both weapons held diagonally downward, crossing over one another to block the entrance of the torii gate.

Within the torii gate was nothing but darkness. A darkness that filled one's soul with a haunting feeling of menace that could instantly chill anyone's blood from fear. A cold feeling, worse than the chill of the night, emanated from it with a disturbing horror hidden within.

Shinachiku had an expression that displayed a level of seriousness, one more so than any he had when in the face of the disciples of Jashin.

And one needed to be serious and brave to be before this ominous darkness.

The dark laughter from before was heard within the void housed inside the shrine.

It made Shinachiku's brow furrow as he glared into the abyss.

"Poor young Uzumaki… so occupied with taking a good night's rest… that he isn't aware that he's only one getting it." A voice spoke from within the darkness.

"Huh?" Shinachiku's eyes widened in surprise.

"That's right~. Deep within the village streets there is horror~… there are tears~… and there is blood." The voice spoke, causing Shinachiku's eyes to widen further as he was now getting the gist. "Do you hear them? The cries of pain? The pleads for mercy… do you not hear them? Do you not hear… Them Screaming?!"

All of a sudden, the screams and voices of innocent people erupted all around Shinachiku, assaulting his eardrums like countless nails on a single blank chalkboard.

"Tasukete!" (Help Me!)

"Where's my wife?"

"My little girl… Where Is My Baby Girl?!"

"I'm scared…"

"Why do I smell something… burning?"

"Who's there?"

"What's happening out there?!"

"I'm scared."

"Do hear that?"

"Who's in my house?"

"What's going on in the village?"

"What Are You?!"

"Why are you here!?"

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

"I'm Scared!"

"HELP ME~!"

Shinachiku covered his ears, trying to block out the countless, painful roars and whimpers of people. Men, women… and children. He could hear them all.

"They're out there. Roaming the streets, feasting on frightened and leaving only blood and nightmares… and here you are, resting when they're calling out for someone to answer! Rest your head boy, continue to ignore them, if that's the path you wish to choose. Rest your precious head… AS THE MONSTERS ARE HERE TO BRING DREAD!"

Black flames erupted from within the darkness, surrounding the insides of the chains' barrier and torii gate, as a pair of purple orbs shined from within, and the laughter echoed louder!

Louder. And Louder! AND LOUDER!

"Dammit! Wake Up!" Mamoru screamed out from behind Shinachiku.

.

.

Shinachiku shot up from his bed, drenched in a cold sweat. He jumped out and ran over towards his window, looking out towards the village. Gaining a stern expression, Shinachiku closed his eyes and focused. As he expanded his senses, he finally noticed it.

The signs of fear and negativity… and it was growing.

Quickly getting dressed in his shinobi attire, Shinachiku ran out his room and over towards Arata, quickly knocking on the door loudly.

Arata answered, rubbing his eyes of the tiredness, to finally notice a panicked Shinachiku before him.

"We got work to do."

.

.

Within the home of the Hokage, young Himawari was lightly snoozing in her bed.

The young Uzumaki-Hyūga had gone to bed early after brushing her teeth like a good girl. Right now, she was having pleasant dreams.

Unaware that there was something staring at her through the window.

The window was slowly opened by this entity, which crawled in through the window, making its way in. The entity crawled along the ground, making small creaks with each step on all fours. It crawled its ways towards the foot of the bed. Slowly it reached its claws up and scratched the foot of the bed. It slowly raised its head only to see the girl was still sound asleep.

The creature started to climb onto the bed, causing Himawari to stir a bit, but remain sleeping. Unaware of the danger she was in, Himawari remained sleeping as the entity opened up a sack in one hand and reached for her with its other.

The creature's eyes shined red as its claws were close to touching her skin.

However, in an instant, a flash of gold burst through the door and grabbed the entity by the throat as it was then slammed into the wall, creating a large hole in the process.

Himawari instantly woke up as she sat up to see her father in his golden form right in front of a wall, holding a demon-like creature through it by the throat, hanging it over the edge of the house.

"No… and I mean no one… ever touches my kids." Naruto growled with his now slit eyes shining red as the Oni Zetsu was chocking in his grasp.

In an instant, Naruto crushed its neck, killing it. The Oni Zetsu in his grasp dispersed into pollen. Naruto just dispersed his chakra mode, then took out a paper seal from his pocket, tossing it up as the sealing formula activated and sucked in all the pollen. Finishing with a ram seal, Naruto burnt the paper seal into a crisp, riding the world of anymore of an infection of those creatures.

"Daddy!" Himawari called out her father's name as she rushed over towards his side.

Naruto suddenly knelt and hugged his daughter close to him. Himawari was a bit surprised by this sudden action, as it turned out Naruto had been in fear when he sensed the disturbance within his home, right in his daughter's room. He was so grateful that he was able to protect her in time. He couldn't imagine losing anyone one of his children.

He'll die before he lets anything happen to them. All of them.

Running towards the now ruined doorway, thanks to Naruto, was Hinata with Boruto arriving afterwards.

"Himawari!" Hinata ran over towards her daughter and husband, very much in worry.

"Oi! What happened?!" Boruto asked as he ran over.

"There was a monster! It was trying to get me, and papa rescued me!" Himawari answered, shocking the two.

"A monster?" Hinata questioned in fright at the idea of a boogeyman so close at taking away her only daughter.

"You mean an Oni Zetsu? Which one?" Boruto asked.

"A Namahage." Naruto answered as he released his daughter and stood up straight, allowing his wife to hug her next.

"Na… Namahage?" Boruto questioned, now filled with fright as a cold chill went down his spine.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded, as then alarms were being heard throughout the village, alerting the family. "And it looks like we weren't the only ones being paid a visit." Naruto said, looking out towards the village through the hole he made with a serious, stern expression on his face.

.

.

A bit before the invasion upon the Hokage home, both Shikamaru and Ino hurried into the sensory unit's division room. They were quickly alerted through mental communication and rushed over as soon as possible.

"Ino-san, Shikamaru-sama, thank you for arriving." Kohan thanked his two superiors.

"What's the situation?" Shikamaru questioned with a serious expression.

"We don't fully understand what is happening ourselves, but there is an epidemic going on. Chakra signatures are vanishing left and right. Some just vanishing like they just instantly teleported outside the village, some are slowly dying out and others have died out completely." Kohan reported.

"Who is doing this?" Ino demanded answers.

"That's the problem. We don't know who or what it is. We do know that whatever is inside the village's walls, they are disrupting the chakra signatures of numerous civilians, shinobi and police officers within the village. The real dilemma is, is that we can't sense them at all. We are aware there is an outside source within the village, but they do not have a chakra source we can detect and link to!" Kohan explained further shocking both Ino and Shikamaru.

"No foreign chakra signatures?" Ino questioned in shock. "But… how is that possible?" Ino asked as she looked towards Shikamaru.

Shikamaru took a minute to think it over, when a detail came to mind.

"Masking…" Shikamaru stated, catching everyone's attention.

"Excuse me?" Kohan questioned.

"It's possible…" Shikamaru pulled out a scroll from his coat. Unfurling it, he unsealed a large book from it that read the title "Oni Zetsu Encyclopedia" and scanned through the pages. "Right here!" Shikamaru stopped at a page.

"Huh?" Ino leaned over and saw the page for herself. "Masking… a technique of the Oni Zetsu where they can hide their own chakra signatures with nature energy?!" Ino read aloud as she and the other sensory-nin were in shock.

"Because the barrier team is only trained to sense chakra from individuals, these creatures were able to slip by and cause so much chaos by surrounding themselves in a layer of natural energy." Shikamaru said.

"But hold on, isn't nature chakra still chakra? Shouldn't the team be able to sense that regardless of its origin?" Kohan asked, confused by this turn of events.

"That's a common misconception. The truth is nature chakra is a separate pool created by a user to house the energy of nature itself, infusing it with their own chakra to utilize it in unique ways that no normal user of chakra could utilize." Shikamaru clarified.

"But couldn't we sense that separate pool then?" Kohan asked.

"You'd think that, but believe me, it doesn't work that way. I should know. The few times I sensed Naruto's chakra within his Sennin Mōdo (Sage Mode) state, I couldn't tell if it was nature based or not. The only thing I was able to detect was that his chakra was a little different, and even then, only by sharp instinct." Ino gave in detail her own personal experience.

"The Oni Zetsu are beings comprised of the lingering chakra of the deceased and natural energy itself, not unlike actual yōkai. For them, ability one would find in senjutsu is second nature, and unfortunately, one of those troublesome abilities is to mask themselves in an aura of natural energy, hiding the chakra they sustain beneath that layer, like a protective shield to keep them from being detected by anyone, especially sensory type ninjas. Only practitioners of senjutsu like Naruto can detect them since their power is sprung from the same source." Shikamaru explained.

"That would explain why they've been able to go on for so long, and why people only notice them after it's too late." Ino said, holding her chin in thought.

"Isn't there any way to sense them?" Kohan asked in fear of such a threat and the safety of the villagers.

"The only thing that comes to mind is to have Naruto use his connection with natural energy to expand our units' sensory abilities to detect these creatures, but we've never tried such a procedure before. There might not be a guarantee that we'll have it properly working before the night comes to an end." Ino said with a stern yet grim expression.

"Actually, we might have another method that could work even better and with much less hassle." Shikamaru said, catching everyone's attention as he reviewed the same page he was on. "Send out a message to the Hyūga household! We need their assistance in this matter!" Shikamaru ordered.

"The Hyūga?" Ino questioned.

"Apparently, not all sensory ninjas are useless against the masking ability. Dojutsu users like the Hyūga or the Uchiha with their Byakugan and Sharingan respectively can look past it. The Hyūga clan's Byakugan is able to look through anything, even nature itself to detect the chakra system hiding beneath the surface." Shikamaru elaborated.

"I-I see where you're getting at, Shikamaru-san!" Kohan said, now seeing their new plan of defense.

"We need to deploy squadrons of teams throughout the village, each one having at least a single Hyūga with them. We also need to alert the Scientific Ninja Tools team to provide us with gear to fight against these forces." Shikamaru ordered.

"Yes sir!" The sensory officers shouted out as they quickly got to work.

"We better alert the village immediately. As far as they know, it's just like any other night." Ino added.

"We need to ring the alarms this instant. Wake up the whole damn village if we have to and get as many people evacuated as you can!" Shikamaru ordered before turning towards his old-, uh, former teammate. "Ino. Can you get me connected to the head of the Scientific Ninja Tools division. I need to make sure if those new changes to their equipment have been made."

"Roger." Ino said with a nod as she placed a hand on Shikamaru's forehead and focused on connecting him with the head of the division. 'We have to be quick, or else the whole village will be at stake.' Ino thought with a seriously determined expression.

.

.

The red alert was blazing throughout the speakers throughout the village, waking everybody up and alerting them of the impending danger.

There was much confusion and fear of what was happening.

Those of Boruto's graduating class especially, but they were more confused than fearful.

Each of them was looking out of their respective room windows towards the rest of the village with confused expressions.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Shikadai wondered as he looked out his window.

"Kaa-chan ran out in a hurry. Is something happening to the village?" Inojin wondered, now a bit worried.

"What's going on~? This seriously interrupting my beauty sleep!" A sleepy Chocho whined, rubbing her eyes as she looked out her bedroom window.

"Is something bad happening?" Namida wondered as she stared out her window with a worried frown.

"The hell is happening?" Wasabi questioned as she stuck her head out the window.

Tsubaki just stared out her window as she gained a serious expression.

"What is happening?" Denki wondered aloud as he stared out of his room's large row of windows.

"There's something that seems very off about this night." Metal said, stating the obvious, even if it was towards himself.

"Tch." Iwabe gritted his teeth as he stared out his window. 'There's going to be trouble.'

.

.

Shikadai went out of his bedroom and headed for the main room to find his mother, along with Shinki and his team.

"What's happening?" Shikadai asked, knowing that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"It's a red alert echoing all throughout the village. Which means we're being invaded." Temari answered with a serious yet worried frown.

"By whom?" Shikadai asked, now really not liking the situation.

They all suddenly felt a foreign sensation resonating within their minds.

"This is a call to all shinobi! The village is being invaded by Oni Zetsu! They are masking their form with natural energy to remain undetected by our sensory unit! Shinobi teams are being formed with at least one member of the Hyūga clan to detect the enemies. Only Chunin and Jonin are allowed out into the streets. Genin will assist with evacuating the civilians and guard them within the designated strongholds. Genin are advised to be quick and keep a careful eye on your surroundings. If anything seems like a threat, avoid it at all costs. Oni Zetsu can pose as humans and inanimate objects. Be aware and be prepared." The voice of a sensory officer rang within the minds of those under the Nara household.

"Was that…?" Araya looked up in surprise.

"The sensory unit." Temari answered with a stern expression.

"Those things are inside the walls of the village?" Yodo questioned with new worry.

"Apparently they have a way to camouflage themselves from average sensory units." Shinki said.

"That's just great." Araya said with a hidden frown beneath his mask.

"I'd say troublesome." Shikadai said, rubbing the top of his head.

"You heard the order. Time to get off our asses and get out there to do our parts." Temari ordered, earning a nod from the genin.

As Shinki's team hurried off to get ready, Shikadai remained in place, staring at his own wrists.

He was suddenly knocked out of his focus by his mother flicking the side of his head.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Just let me get my fan." Shikadai said as he hurried off to prepare.

'I hope whatever you learned over the past week will be put to good use tonight, Shikadai.' Temari thought, practically mentally praying for her son's newfound skills to succeed tonight.

.

.

Inojin was getting all his ninja tools and scrolls together, making sure he collected his art supplies for his jutsu. Staring at a scroll in hand with a serious and determined expression. He faced his window, looking out towards the village, ready to assist.

He leapt out of the window as he painted a large red bird from his scroll, brought it to life and flew out towards the night sky.

'I don't know if I'm ready yet, but kaa-chan and no doubt even tou-chan are going to be working hard tonight. I'll do the same!' Inojin thought with a resolute expression on his face.

.

.

Chocho got dressed quick in her kunoichi outfit. After giving herself a once over in the mirror, she gained a determined expression, ready for whatever.

'I don't know what's going to be in store for me tonight, but I do know that people are in trouble, and they need shinobi to defend them. It's time to see if I truly have what it takes now!' Chocho thought to herself with much fortitude. "It's time to shed this cocoon! Chō Mōdo!" (Butterfly Mode) Chocho screamed out as her mass decreased becoming slim and she grew butterfly wings with her chakra. She quickly flew out the window and flew out towards the village. "Look out, Konoha! Here comes Super Chocho to dazzle and rescue you from your awful nightmares!" The Akimichi declared with much gusto.

.

.

"Namida! Where are you going?" Namida's mother called out to her daughter as she watched her run for the door.

"I have to go help the village!" Namida called back as she rushed out the door. 'I have to give it my all tonight! Everyone else is going to… I can't let them down! I have to protect my village with all the strength I got!' Namida thought with powerful resolution and a strong determined expression on her face.

.

.

Wasabi quickly got dressed and headed towards the door to get her shinobi sandals.

"What is happening out there? I still don't know what Oni Zetsu are." Mazuma Izuno said with a worried expression.

"Whatever they are, I swear they won't have their way. I'll go ahead and help out into the streets, but first I'll make sure you get to the wherever the medical teams are for you to help out." Daruma said to his wife, gently placing his hands on her shoulders.

The two then heard the door being slammed open, causing them to turn in surprise.

"Wasabi? Where are you going?! Wasabi!" Mazuma called out to her daughter in fear that she might get hurt or worse out there.

Wasabi didn't care. She had to go out and help her village.

'I didn't train like hell all this week for nothing! I'm going to give everything that I can to take these things down!' Wasabi thought with gritted teeth as memories of her other self then come to mind. 'You'd be doing the same thing without hesitation like me, right, Wasabi? Well then, I'll rip to bits every single one like you would. I can assure you of that.'

Wasabi, no more motivated, ran out into the night on all fours, ready for what might be the fight of her life.

.

.

Tsubaki got dressed in her samurai gear. Currently, she was burning incense and giving a prayer, kneeling in front of a small shrine with her sheathed katana in front of her. A prayer for the safety of the village and that she would live through this night.

The night where she would have to follow in the footsteps of the many tales of her samurai kin. Those who have fought mysterious beasts and attained victory.

She prays that tonight will be her victory.

Failure is not an option. Not when her loss is the loss of everyone else.

After finishing her prayer, she snapped open her eyes, grabbed her katana, unsheathed it and with a speed too fast for the average onlooker, she immediately was on her feet, delivering a slash that sent a powerful gust of wind that blew throughout the room.

Tsubaki sheathed her katana, tied it to her hip and marched her way out of the room.

'It starts now.'

.

.

Denki got all his shinobi gear set up. Before heading out, he placed a case upon his bed.

"It's just a prototype, but maybe it'll work well enough." Denki said as he opened up a case to reveal a device similar to the shinobi gauntlet that Boruto used during the Chunin Exams, except it was beige with red lining and a red around the thumb and across the palm with the back of it being metallic red with a slot that had paper inside, under that slot was a smaller on and attached to the side in a compartment was a securely hidden paintbrush. Denki put on the gauntlet and then put on a nearby belt that had small scrolls attached throughout it. "Alright. Now I'm ready. It's time for a test run." Denki said with new bravado as he brought up his new gauntlet.

.

.

Metal got dressed in his green unitard, put on his orange leg warmers and scarf. He was finishing putting on his bandages when he turned towards a scroll atop his bed.

He gained a small blush before regaining a serious and determined composure. He reached for it and attached it onto his belt-like headband.

'I only practice this one just recently after our game. Hopefully, I can use it well. I shall use it as a last resort if anything.' Metal thought as he then faced his window. "As for now though, I shall use what I have learned from my rivals and defend the village! Just like papa and my sibling disciples!" Metal declared as he rocketed out the window and screamed out with gusto. "YOUTH!"

.

.

Iwabe was in a rush putting on his gear. He gritted his teeth as he put on his shinobi sandals. Once doing so, he grabbed his jō and smacked it upon the palm of his hand.

'This is it. This is the moment I was counting on! I really wish the village wasn't involved, but it's finally time that I get to put all that training to good use.' Iwabe thought, gritting his teeth more. 'You better get ready you pack of ugly bastards, because I'm the one who's going to be hunting you!'

And with that thought, Iwabe leaped out through his window and hurried off to face the threats in the night.

.

.

Shikadai hurried out of his home with his fan now strapped onto his back. He was met by his mother and Team Shinki.

"I'm going to go on ahead and see if I can assist with any of the groups. You four split up into pairs and work together to evacuate any civilians." Temari ordered. "Shinki, take Araya with you."

"Understood, obasan." Shinki obliged with a nod.

"Shikadai, take Yodo with you."

"Seriously?" Shikadai said with a bit of an annoyed yet tired frown.

"No talking back. Just do your job." Temari demanded, giving her son a stern glare.

"Don't worry. I won't bite." Yodo said to Shikadai with a smirk.

"Troublesome." Shikadai muttered with a frown and slumped shoulders before taking out his fan and opening it up as he then leaped onto it and hovered above ground thanks to his wind release. "Hop on." Shikadai said to the Suna kunoichi, who did just that.

"Good luck, everyone." Temari said, earning nods from the genin as they all hurried off.

Shikadai and Yodo flew off towards the night sky, both with serious expressions on their faces.

"Here's the plan. I keep us airborne while you use your sensitive hearing to pinpoint any citizens that needs rescuing. We'll inform any nearby troupes to help save them. That'll help cut the time needed before the village takes proper countermeasures." Shikadai said to Yodo.

"Gotcha." Yodo said as she pulled down her hood and took out her ear pods, which helped recess her abnormal hearing some. 'Shouldn't expect anything less from Temari-sama's son.' Yodo thought with a faint smirk.

'This whole night is going to be troublesome.' Shikadai thought with a serious yet annoyed frown.

.

.

Naruto got dressed in his Hokage attire and headed out the door of his home.

He had a serious look on his face, hiding a boiling rage at the idea that the village was in danger by these things, with his daughter almost being one of their victims.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata spoke her husband's name with concern, noticing his hidden fury as she kept her hold on her daughter's shoulders.

"Hinata. Take Himawari and Boruto and get them to safety. Keep them safe and away from the grasp of these things. Your Byakugan will help you locate them, just like the message said." Naruto told his wife, without turning to her.

"Daddy… what's going to happen to the village?" Himawari asked with much concern for the village and her father.

"Nothing is going to happen to it. Not anymore. Not while I'm here." Naruto said, never losing his stern composure.

"You mean 'we'." Boruto said as he walked out the door in his shinobi gear with his bokken strapped to his hip.

"Boruto, no."

"Tou-chan, they called for all the genin to save the civilians. I'm a genin, which means I got a job to do." Boruto said to his father.

"That's an order I need to rescind." Naruto said, shocking his family.

"But why-"

"You know why. I may not have seen these things, but I have seen what they had done to our survivors in the past few months, with you and your friends being prime examples, and I've read up on them enough to know that sending the genin throughout the village while they're walking around is suicide. I'm not going to let any of them die against a threat I know that they have no hope against." Naruto said with a firm tone.

Boruto stared at his father's back for a moment with a surprised yet somber expression. He tightened his fists as he gained a look of resolve.

"And that's why I have to go out there too." Boruto said, surprising his mother and sister.

"Boruto-"

"Tou-chan, it's like you said, I know what these things are like. I saw how dangerous they can really be. Just one alone can cause so much destruction. That's why I know that I have to be out there, to help the citizens of Konoha. This time, I'm strong enough to do something to stop them." Boruto said with a strong tone.

Naruto turned his head slightly to look at his son, seeing the firm expression and steely gaze on him.

As Boruto stared strongly into his father's gaze, a memory of earlier today ran through his mind.

"My tou-chan always said that he sees the village as his family… I didn't like it when I was younger, but after a while… I started to get it, 'ttebaro. Family is always waiting for you to come home and have a meal with them, and stuff. The thought of that never happening… I just can't live with that. So… as a medic, I'll keep fighting to bring someone precious back home and like family, I'll support those waiting by doing what they can't, and work to make sure they smile again."

Shinachiku's words echoed powerfully throughout Boruto's mind.

"Tou-chan… you said you see the entire village as your family. Well tonight… they're my family too! And I'm going to fight for them and make sure everyone who is waiting gets back those they are waiting for! They're family to me now, and like family, I'm going to support them and make sure they keep those that are precious to them, dattebasa!" Boruto shouted proudly, shocking his family, but none more than his father.

Never in his life did Naruto ever expect to hear Boruto say those words out loud.

The village is my family.

So many times has Naruto said those words to his son… he never thought that he would hear him say the same, thanks to him.

Naruto stared at his son in awe. Shocked to hear words he would have been against not too long ago.

When did his child grow up so fast to become a real shinobi?

After a moment, Naruto turned his head forward, keeping his back towards Boruto.

"Nothing I say is going to convince you otherwise, is it?" Naruto asked, rhetorically.

"Not one word." Boruto answered.

"Stubborn little brat." Naruto said as he gained a proud smile. "Fine. Protect the village. That is your job. As your Hokage, I expect you to succeed in your mission, and as your father, I expect you to come back home, safe and sound. Do you understand me?"

"Hai!" Boruto exclaimed with gusto.

"Hinata. Watch over Himawari while we're gone. Make sure she's safely away from all of this." Naruto told his wife.

"Hai, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a nod and a look of determination.

"Boruto. Let's go." Naruto ordered.

"Hai, tou-chan!" Boruto replied as he and Naruto vanished into the night.

"Bye, papa, onii-chan. Good luck." Himawari said, showing worry for her brother and father.

'Stay safe, you two.' Hinata mentally spoke as she started praying for her family's safety.

.

.

Boruto raced into the night, keeping his resolute expression upon his face with an even more resolute thought.

'Don't worry, Konoha. Tonight, we'll take care of everything, and make sure everything will turn out all right. You can count on us.'

This thought was not only Boruto's. It was shared with all of his friends, who rushed off to save their home.

'We're going to protect the village! Count on it!'

All the genin thought with serious expressions.

.

.

A Namahage was stalking through the streets with its bag heaved over its back. It was breathing deeply, with subtle groaning heard with every exhale. It was focusing on walking. Walking towards either the border of the village or another child's bedroom. Whichever its instincts dictated.

Speaking of their instincts, they were blaring loudly of incoming danger.

It turned and brought up its bag, causing it to take a barrage of kunai, which now pin cushioned the side of it.

The Namahage growled, bringing its bag down some to glare at incoming shinobi.

"I'm seeing several chakra signatures inside its bag! No doubt the children it had captured!" The Hyūga of the group announced, using their Byakugan to see both the creature's own and the children's chakra signatures.

"Let's make this bastard pay for what he did!" One of the other Konoha-nin shouted with gritted teeth and a shaking fist.

As they closed in, the Namahage suddenly let out a roar that struck them all hard and sent them flying back with them spitting out some blood.

"Damn… nature chakra is no joke." One of the other shinobi said with gritted teeth and blood leaking down the side of his mouth.

"He's getting away!" Another called out, pointing towards the fleeing Namahage.

The Oni Zetsu was now focusing on escaping the village with its 'trinkets' in tow. However, it suddenly sensed an oncoming danger speeding fast towards it.

"Hien: Kurosu!" (Flying Swallow: Cross) Mirai suddenly sped over at blinding speed and sliced the Namahage into pieces of four with her chakra blades enhanced with elongated blades of wind chakra.

The Namahage let out a roar of agony as its body hit the floor, along with its bag. The creature started to disperse into pollen, but Mirai had tossed two sealing tags that sucked them up, sealing them away from spreading.

"Mirai-san!" One of the shinobi from the group called out to her as they all managed to get back to their feet and hurried over the best that they could.

"The children are in here?" Mirai asked, pointing towards the fallen bag.

"Yes, ma'am." The Hyūga of the group answered with a nod.

"Alright then." Mirai brought up her chakra blade, circulating wind chakra into it again and with a battle cry, delivered a slash towards the bag, but her wind blade was suddenly blocked by another's. A wind covered tanto, wielded by none other than Shinachiku. "Shinachiku? What are you doing?" Mirai questioned the boy with a surprised expression.

"I'm sorry, Mirai-san, but I can't let you do that. Not without dooming the children inside." Shinachiku said, shocking Mirai and the other shinobi.

"Wait, what?" Mirai asked with widened eyes.

"Arata." Shinachiku turned his head to see his teammate kneeling before the bag with his Tōmeigan (Transparent Eye) activated.

"They're in there alright." Arata answered as he stood up and shut off his dojutsu.

"Wait… those eyes…" The Hyūga said in shock by what he had just seen.

"I got this, everyone." Shinachiku said as he took out a paintbrush and bottle of ink. After dipping his brush into the ink, Shinachiku created a seal upon the bag faster than the eye could see, amazing the other shinobi, as now a large seal with a swirl in the center was painted on it. Shinachiku immediately went through super-fast hand seals to finish things up. "Kai!" Shinachiku shouted as he thrust his hand forward and turned it counterclockwise.

The seal then started opening up from the center of the swirl, similar to a spiral formed lock, as it revealed a haze of darkness from inside.

"What in the-?" One of the shinobi said in shock, awe and a sense of alarm.

"If anyone is inside, follow my voice. You're all safe now, so please, follow where I speak and get out of there." Shinachiku spoke.

After a moment, a hand came out from the darkness, shocking the nearby shinobi, as then out came a boy. None other than Ehō, who had a shocked and horrified look upon his face.

The boy then looked up to see none other than the older boy that he called out for help before he got captured.

"Shi… Shinachiku-onii-chan?" Ehō spoke his mentor's name with shock and a rising sense of relief.

"Ehō. I'm so sorry you got captured by that thing, but your safe now." Shinachiku said with a relieved smile, gently placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder.

Ehō started to tear up with relief and gratitude, overly joyful that his prayers were answered.

"Shinachiku-onii-chan!" Ehō hugged Shinachiku, who warmly returned it back. "I was so scared! It was so dark, and I didn't know where to go! It felt like I wasn't even moving no matter how much I moved my feet!" Ehō exclaimed as he continued to cry.

"It's alright. You're safe now." Shinachiku said with a gentle smile, tenderly rubbing the younger child's head.

"The rest of you follow. Everything is going to be alright. Just follow my voice." Arata said towards the open hole.

Soon enough, more children started coming out of the bag, all scared with tears in their eyes, but now were crying with relief.

"Unbelievable." One of the shinobi said in awe before one of the children ran to him and hugged his leg out of desperation and fear. "Hey, it's alright. You're safe now. We'll get you all back with your families." The shinobi said with a comforting smile as he patted the still scared child's head.

"Nice work, but… why did you stop me?" Mirai asked Shinachiku. "You said that I would have doomed them… did you mean…"

"If the bag of a Namahage is destroyed by anything powerful enough like a strong jutsu, then the separate dimension will meet the same fate, along with anyone or anything residing inside of it." Arata explained, shocking the others, but none more than Mirai.

"Oh my God." Mirai said with horror as she looked towards her chakra blades.

The poor girl was so close to actually wiping the children inside out of existence.

This… was definitely going to leave some scars.

"Is anyone here able to connect to the sensory unit keeping tabs on the village?" Shinachiku asked.

"I am." One of the shinobi said with his hand raised.

"Relay what you've just learned. If the rest of our forces remain unaware of this knowledge, then we're going to gain some heavy losses regardless of victory." Shinachiku ordered, earning a nod from the sensory type-nin, who quickly focus to relay the message.

Mirai continued staring at her blades, which trembled a bit in her hands, before then feeling a hand on her arm, making her flinch as she turns to see it was Shinachiku again.

"Mirai-san, it's okay. You know now. Nothing bad has happened, but there's still more work to be done. Don't lose focus." Shinachiku said with a firm yet comforting tone and expression.

Mirai blinked her eyes, amazed by Shinachiku's fortitude in the matter, before regaining herself and nodding in response with a newly determined expression.

"Two of you get these children to safety. The rest of us still have more ground to cover." Mirai said towards the other shinobi, earning nods from them.

"So, this really is happening all over the village, eh?" Shinachiku said with a frown and his eyes closed. "Arata." He looked towards his friend with a new resolute expression as he then took off his beanie, shocking Mirai.

"Hn. No point now. Our secret dies tonight." Arata said as he took off his headband.

"H-Hold on!" The Hyūga spoke with a shocked expression, and he wasn't the only one who was shocked. "You… you look just like-"

"Questions for later. Right now, we still have a village to save, dattebaro." Shinachiku said with a serious expression.

"Da… Dattebaro?!" One of the shinobi said in utter shock.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique) Arata slammed his hand down onto the ground as then in a cloud of smoke appeared a hawk, larger than the humans, with black and some vibrant green feathers. "I'll go high. You go low." Arata said to Shinachiku, hopping onto the back of the hawk.

"As usual." Shinachiku said as he watched Arata fly away into the air onto the hawk.

"Shina… are you really doing this?" Mirai asked, concerned for the younger boy's choice.

"This village is my home. It doesn't matter if I was born here or not, it's still precious to me, and so are the people. I'll endure anything after this, so long as they're safe. After all, the village is my family too, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku said, giving the Sarutobi a smile.

"Shina…" Mirai stared at the boy in awe at his conviction.

"Uh, nice speech kid, but there's going to be a lot of ground to cover." One of the shinobi said.

"Oh, I'm aware." Shinachiku said as he then crossed his arms over his front. "Kyūmon (Gate of Healing), Kai!" Shinachiku activated the second gate before bringing both hands together in a cross-hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Shadow Clone Technique) Shinachiku instantly created sixty clones.

"Whoa, what?!" One of the shinobi said in shock.

"He can make this many?" Another questioned in awe.

"That… that form just now… the Hachimon…" The Hyūga said under his breath in shock, managing to see both metaphorical gates opened thanks to his Byakugan.

The clones then leaped away, scattering throughout the village to assist in the rescue and clean-up.

"They're not much when compared to your Hokage, but… there still something that help, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku said with a smirk before he entered his Bijū Chakura Mōdo, shocking the shinobi even further.

"Onii-chan…" Ehō spoke breathlessly as he stared at the form with shock and awe.

"Stay strong." Shinachiku said before disappearing in a flash.

"That form… wasn't that-?!"

"Questions for later, remember? We still have work to do." Mirai said to the rest, regaining a serious composure.

"But-"

"We still have a village to protect! This is all far from over, so let's save it for when everyone is safe!" Mirai shouted with a stern expression. "You both take the children with you. Once you get them to safety, rejoin a group to continue the mission!" Mirai pointed towards a pair of shinobi from the group. "The rest of us will continue to patrol the streets for these things!"

"Hai!" The rest agreed with a nod.

"Have you relayed the message?" Mirai asked the sensory-nin of the group.

"Yes, Mirai-san." He answered with a nod.

"Good. Now let's do our jobs and protect the village at any costs!" Mirai said with much determination, firing up the rest as they vanished while leaving the designated two with the children.

"Alright, all of you kids stay close to us. Form a line and we'll guide you to safety." One of the shinobi ordered.

The children nodded in response as they started doing so, but Ehō, who was preoccupied with his own thoughts.

'Shinachiku-onii-chan is working hard to protect the village…' Ehō looked down to the palm of his hand. 'I got to too! Somehow…' Ehō thought with a new determined expression.

Ehō suddenly heard something pass by a nearby alleyway, making him turn to notice something running by. Instincts took over as he hurried off down the alleyway.

"Is that all of them?" One of the two shinobi said.

"I think so." The other replied.

"You think?"

"Okay, I'm sure! Let's just get these kids off the streets. I want them as far away from danger as possible."

As the pair guided the children away, they were none the wiser that one had hurried off in his own direction.

.

.

The sensory unit team was focusing on guiding their forces the best they could with Ino and Shikamaru supervising.

"I'm here." Naruto spoke as he walked into the room. "How bad is it?"

"Wish I could tell you, but these damn things hide their chakra signatures pretty well with natural energy. None of our sensory units can identify them since they aren't adept in senjutsu like you are." Shikamaru informed.

"That explains why only I was able to notice the Namahage that sneaked into my home." Naruto said, shocking everyone in the room.

"Namahage?!" One of the sensory officers exclaimed in shock and fear.

"They must be the ones kidnapping the children!" Kohan pointed out.

"That thing was trying to take away Himawari, so I'd say you're right on the money there." Naruto said with his brow furrowed in anger. "Listen, I don't want to risk the genin lives. These things are far too dangerous for them to risk their lives."

"Unfortunately, we have no choice. As much as we hate the idea as well, considering how dangerous one of these creatures is, we have to spread out our forces thinner than usual. We delegated the genin's assistance in this matter because we don't have much of a choice." Shikamaru said.

"There's always another choice, 'ttebayo." Naruto said with a serious expression.

"Instead of arguing, how about we make a proper solution to help keep those genin as far away as possible from those things while making sure we rescue the civilians?" Ino said, catching Shikamaru and Naruto's attention. "Naruto, you can sense these things with your senjutsu, correct?"

"That and with my other forms." Naruto answered.

"I need you to cooperate with me on this. Lay a hand on my back and I'll connect your unique sensory abilities to everyone in the village." Ino said.

"You're going to be doing that alone? But Ino-san, even you can't connect and guide all of Konoha by yourself." Kohan said with concern for the head of their clan.

"She won't be alone." Naruto said as he then entered Rikudō Sennin Mōdo. (Six Paths Sage Mode)

Ino made some hand seals and then gave a nod to Naruto.

The Hokage placed his hand onto Ino's back, causing her eyes to widen as she felt an incredible surge of power flow within her.

'Whoa! Okay, this is definitely going to get the job done.' Ino thought as she closed her eyes and focused.

.

.

The umbrella-like Oni Zetsu was hopping away without a care in the world. Its captive had finished struggling. It enjoyed the sensation of feeding off what was left of its prisoner as it aimlessly leaped around.

It suddenly sensed something, causing it to stop. It turned around as then an eye appeared on the side of its surface.

It noticed a girl with a ponytail, dressed in samurai attire and holding a sheathed katana which was tied to her hip.

The creature let out a silent growl, before the girl suddenly appeared right in front of it, causing it to flinch.

Before it could react, the girl cut it open, causing it to let out a scream in agony as its victim fell onto the ground.

The umbrella monster leaped back, screeching a bit in pain as it had a pair of itself cut open.

"Kasa-Obake. Didn't think this would be the first one I'd come across tonight." Tsubaki said before looking down towards the woman she had freed. The poor lady's body had been drained, now being bone dry, however she was still breathing, albeit in a wheezing manner. "How cruel. Long and painful. You make them suffer before death. That I can never forgive." Tsubaki said as she got into an iaijutsu stance.

The Kasa-obake let out a worried screech before it started hopping away in fear.

Tsubaki easily caught up to it and once sheathing her katana, it was sliced to countless ribbons. Tsubaki sighed as she stood up straight. She turned and hurried back towards the drained woman. Tsubaki knew she needed immediate assistance, but she wasn't a medic. Thinking over what to do, Tsubaki got just the idea that might work.

She bent her knees and held out her katana. Focusing, she surrounded the blade in a blade of wind chakra and delivered a slash upward towards the sky as it then burst, creating a sonic boom from the wind bursting up high.

After sheathing her katana, Tsubaki knelt and gently held the wheezing woman's hand. She stared at the dying lady with somber eyes as she gently rubbed the back of her hand.

"Over here!" A voice called out, making Tsubaki look up to see several shinobi appearing before them.

"What happened?" One of the shinobi asked as he and the others looked horrified by the sight of the bone-dry woman.

"She was attacked by a Kasa-obake. It was slowly draining her of her chakra. She needs immediate medical attention." Tsubaki informed.

"I'll get in contact with a nearby medical-nin." One of the shinobi, turning out to be a sensory-nin, said as they focused to find and relay the message to a medical officer.

"We can handle things from here." One of the other shinobi said.

Tsubaki nodded as she gently placed the woman's hand that she had been holding atop her chest.

"Stay strong." Tsubaki said to the woman before standing up and walking away before disappearing from sight.

.

.

Namida was running through the village streets, listening out for any dangers as she looked to find anyone who needed help.

"I don't sense anyone or anything. I'm totally in the dark here." Namida said as she stopped and looked around.

"Attention everyone! I will be guiding you all throughout the night. I'll use a jutsu to help increase your senses to be aware of this threat. Understand?" A woman's voice echoed within Namida's mind.

"Wait… was that Inojin's mother?" Namida wondered before suddenly feeling a surge of power within her that expanded her senses. "What in the-? What am I feeling right now?" Namida questioned, before sensing the nearby signatures of innocent civilians. "The people of the village. I sense them!" Namida said with shock, before she suddenly picked something else up. "Wait… what is this? It feels different from the others… and I feel them… surrounding me?" Namida's eyes widened in worry.

Namida suddenly heard the sounds of creaks nearby, causing her to ready herself with a kunai. She turned only to see a nearby merchant's establishment. She heard creaks within it. They were all going off at once, which made Namida sweat a bit but soon they all had stopped. Namida gulped, not liking this. Keeping her guard up, she looked around, ready for whatever was making that noise to jump out at her.

Suddenly, she felt something pulling on one of her ponytails. Namida looked up only to see a tiny oni looking creature with three horns and fangs pulling on her hair with one hand and had a small mallet in the other.

Namida gasped with widened eyes as the little oni-like creature let out a screech and swung its small mallet down atop her eye. Namida managed to close her eye in time to avoid it being hit directly, but it still hurt like hell, likely about to leave a black eye.

"Get off!" Namida shouted as grabbed the small creature and tossed it upon the ground.

The tiny oni screeched as suddenly, more appeared from the merchant shop and surrounded Namida.

Namida gasped with a look of fear as she was surrounded.

The little onis held mallets and kanabō clubs in their grasps. They let out screeches as they charged at Namida. They leaped onto her form and started bludgeoning her all over with their weapons.

Namida let out screams of pain as she was being assaulted all over her body.

"STOP IT!" Namida screamed out as now her anger was boiling towards the surface until she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Namida Sanjō no Jutsu!" (Calling on Tears Technique) Namida unleashed a scream that sent a powerful shockwave that instantly sent all the tiny onis away and disintegrated them. Namida panted as she hunched over a bit in pain. "That hurt so much." Namida said with a frown, before noticing pollen everywhere. "Oh no! I don't think I have enough time to seal this all away!"

"Allow me!" A voice spoke from above as the pollen was suddenly sucked up by a vacuum into a scroll held by none other than Inojin. "Need a lift?" Inojin asked.

"I think I'll be fine. We need more ground to cover." Namida said.

"What happened to you?" Inojin asked, noticing all the bruises on her form.

"I was attack by these tiny little oni-like creatures."

"Yanari, eh? Didn't expect them to be so violent." Inojin said as his red paint bird flew downward to Namida. "Hop on."

"But-"

"You're hurt. I can't allow a friend to continue on without healing them up first." Inojin said, earning a grateful smile from Namida as she hopped onto the bird.

"There's some people who need help nearby." Namida informed.

"I know. We'll work together. Once we find them, I'll make more Chōjū Giga (Super Beast Imitating Drawing) to get them to safety." Inojin said as he started applying medical ninjutsu upon Namida.

"What can I do?" Namida asked, not seeing how she could be helpful.

"Remember that bubble technique you used to hit the Chakra Ball? I wonder how those Oni Zetsu will take it." Inojin said with a smirk, causing Namida to smile back.

.

.

"No! Not my baby!" A poor single mother screamed out as she ran through the streets, holding onto her daughter with a Namahage hot on her trail.

The Namahage took out a kanabō club from its bag, surrounded it in natural energy and swung it, sending a powerful force of energy that struck the mother upon the legs, causing her to fall upon the floor.

"Kaa-chan!" The little girl spoke, worried for her mother, whose legs were now greatly bruised.

The mother groaned in pain with tears in her eyes before noticing a shadow looming over her and her daughter, making her turn to see it was the Namahage.

"No! Not my baby, please! Leave my baby be!" The mother pleaded with the monster with tears in her eyes as she hugged her child close to her.

The Namahage raised its kanabō, ready to strike the mother upon her head, causing both mother and daughter to close their eyes and prepare for the worst.

"Ryōashi!" (Double Paw) Wasabi charged in and slammed both her hands hard into the Namahage's abdomen, sending it flying back. The mother and daughter gasped upon noticing the kunoichi who had shining blue whisker marks appearing out the sides of her face. "Can you move?" Wasabi asked the mother, only for her to shake her head 'no.' "Alright then. Hold on just a moment. I'll handle this." Wasabi said as crossed her arms in front and focused sending chakra to her fingernails. "Chakura no Tsume." (Chakra Claws)

The Namahage roared in anger that it was halted from finishing off its hunt. It glared at the child before it with its kanabō ready. It surrounded it in natural energy once again and swung it towards the trio.

Thanks to her chakra whiskers, Wasabi was able to sense the attack. She quickly dispersed her claws to grab the mother and daughter and leaped away in time. Upon quickly placing them back onto the ground, she remade her chakra claws and sprinted towards the beast on all fours.

The Namahage raised its kanabō up high and swung downward as Wasabi arrived before it.

In a flash, Wasabi appeared behind the creature, hunched over with her arms hanging and crossed over the other.

"Suwaipu." (Swipe) Wasabi uttered as the Namahage was cut into, instantly bisected.

The mother and daughter watched in shock and awe as the Namahage fell to the ground in two, which then dispersed into pollen.

"Sugoi." The little girl couldn't help but utter in awe at the kunoichi's strength.

Wasabi took out a pair of sealing tags and tossed them up as they sucked up all the pollen.

"He was nothing special." Wasabi said with a smirk as she dispersed her claws. 'Or maybe I've just grown that tough.' She thought, looking toward her hands. She then made her way over towards the mother and daughter. "You two okay?" Wasabi asked as she closed in on them.

As the mother was about to respond, she noticed a lantern with an open mouth filled with fangs descending upon her savior.

"Look out!" The mother screamed in horror.

Wasabi had already sensed the oncoming danger as she had her chakra claws ready again, but before she could effectively counterattack, someone had already beaten her to it.

The lantern monster screamed in agony as it was torn to ribbons.

Wasabi gasped in shock that someone had already sliced the creature to bits. She looked forward to seeing a woman who looked animalistic with long, spiky, untamed brown, graying hair vertical slit-like pupils, elongated canine teeth and nails. She also has the clan fang markings on her cheeks as well as markings over her eyes and a dark shade of purple lipstick. She wears the standard outfit of a Konoha shinobi consisting of flak jacket and a black suit underneath with the sleeves rolled up and bandages around her legs.

"Y… You're…" Wasabi couldn't even finish her sentence as she was so in shock of who had come to lend a hand. Or claw.

"Too slow, gaki. You almost got chomped to bits had it not been for me." The woman said with a smirk and revealing her canines a bit.

This woman was none other than Tsume Inuzuka.

"Oi, I had it under control! I was about to slice it to bits myself until you butted in!" Wasabi shouted in annoyance.

"What did you say~?" Tsume 'asked', showing her canines more and giving an intimidating aura.

"You heard me!" Wasabi replied, not showing any signs of being intimidated.

The two glared at one another in the eye for a moment, before either one gave a response.

"Heh. What a brat." Tsume muttered under her breath with a grin as suddenly, several more Inuzukas appeared in the area with their canines. "We'll handle the rest from here. Take the momma and her cub and get them to safety." Tsume ordered Wasabi.

"Why don't one of you take them. I still have a hell hole of ass to kick tonight." Wasabi said with an annoyed frown, shocking the other Inuzukas at the girl's brazen attitude towards Tsume of all people.

"Don't make dumb arguments, kid! You're still a genin and your job is to bring them to safety. Now do your job while they adults handle the rest." Tsume retorted.

"Just because I'm a kid, doesn't mean I can't kick more ass than you!" Wasabi argued, causing Tsume to sneer.

"Is that kid from the Izuno clan?" One of the Inuzukas asked.

"I think so, but I've never seen any of them actually be able to grow whiskers like that." Another replied.

"Either way, she's acting way too cocky for a kitten, especially at her age." Another Inuzuka commented.

"Any Of You Got Something To Say To Me?!" Wasabi shouted, turning towards the rest with a glare and her chakra claws ready, surprising them.

"A-Ano…" They all turned to see the little girl standing up beside her still lying mother. "C-Can someone please help my mommy?" The girl asked, rather nervously.

It was at this that Wasabi's temper cooled down. She didn't want to be looked down upon, especially by the famous dog lovers of Konoha, but she had a job to do. A job that was far more important than protecting her pride.

"Yeah… sorry." Wasabi said as she walked over and started healing the mother's legs.

Tsume watched as Wasabi focused on healing the mother and forgoing any slight against her. For some reason, she couldn't help but smirk at this sight.

"Fix that mother up and get her and her daughter the hell out of here." Tsume ordered as she turned away.

"You're not the boss of me, O bāchan." Wasabi said with an annoyed pout, only for her, along with the others, to flinch at what she had just said.

"NANI~?!" Tsume screamed out in anger with a snarl.

"… You heard what I said." Wasabi said, turning her head away. Not out of fear, but out of embarrassment.

"What's with this girl?! Not even Kiba had the guts to call Tsume-sama that!" One of the other Inuzukas said in shock.

The Inuzukas suddenly caught a whiff of something. Something awful.

"Aw~, sick! What died?!" One of the Inuzukas shouted as they held their nose in disgust.

"Those of the past. That stench is coming from the cemetery." Tsume informed with a sneer.

"These things grave rob now?! How twisted!"

"You! Brat!" Tsume pointed towards Wasabi.

"My name is Wasabi Izuno, old lady!" Wasabi retorted.

"Whatever! Just get those two to safety this instant!" Tsume exclaimed with her fangs gritted. "The rest of you, let's go pay the dead a visit." Tsume ordered as she and the others disappeared.

'What a pain! How can a version of myself gladly call that woman her O bāchan?!' Wasabi wondered with gritted teeth.

"Don't feel too bad." The mother Wasabi was helping said, catching the Izuno's attention. "She's very concerned about your life. That's why she wants you as far away from here as possible."

"How… how do you know that?" Wasabi asked with surprise and confusion.

"I'm a mother. We have a knack for noticing such things." The mother said with a soft smile.

Wasabi blinked her now widened eyes, shocked by this claim.

'Concern, huh?' Wasabi thought to herself as her expression softened.

"Need help?" Someone asked as they appeared beside the trio, causing them to flinch in shock.

"God! Shina! Don't scare me like that!" Wasabi scolded the golden flaming blow. Wait… golden flaming? "Hold on! Why are you in that form?! Are you nuts?!" Wasabi exclaimed, shocked by the trans dimensional Uzumaki's appearance. "And where's your hat!?"

"Don't worry about that. People were bound to find out sooner or later, and I don't regret it being now if it means saving lives in the process." Shinachiku said as he knelt beside them.

"Shina…" Wasabi was touched by Shinachiku's selfless nature and the kindness in his heart.

"Allow me." Shinachiku placed a hand over Wasabi's causing her hand to glow bright gold that extended towards the injured mother's legs, which were then instantly healed. "There. Done and done." Shinachiku said with a smile.

"Whoa. What a surge." Wasabi said with surprised, widened eyes at the power she just felt.

"Thank you both so much!" The mother said with gratitude and tears of joy in her eyes.

"Mama!" Her daughter leaped towards her mother and gave her a very big hug.

"I'll get them to safety." Shinachiku said as he helped the mother to her feet, who still held her child.

"You sure?" Wasabi asked.

"No worries. Shinachiku Express is here to save the day, 'ttebaro!" Shinachiku said with a grin, a wink and a thumbs up. "You two might feel a little dizzy after this." Shinachiku said to the mother and daughter, confusing them before they all vanished in a flash.

"Oh, right… he teleports." Wasabi said, feeling a bit silly for forgetting before she got up from the ground. She turned towards the direction the Inuzukas had left towards. "The cemetery, huh?"

.

.

Within an open space in an underground area of the village, the civilians were being held for their safety with more to come. Shinobi were also there to guard the civilians at a moment's notice.

Suddenly, a bow radiating with golden fire appeared with a mother holding her daughter in his grasp.

The shinobi were on alert with their kunai ready, but they saw the boy was actually here to save the mother and daughter, who he made sure didn't fall to the floor from the nausea of being teleported.

"Sorry about that." Shinachiku said to the mother and daughter.

"What in the-?!" One of the shinobis exclaimed in shock.

"Sorry. Can't stay long. Mind helping them out?" Shinachiku said, gesturing towards the woman and her daughter.

"S-Sure." A shinobi said as he and some others walked over to help.

"Thank you." The mother said as she and her daughter were gently given to the shinobi.

"Arigato, onii-chan." The little girl said to Shinachiku.

"Hey, uh… how are you doing that?" One of the shinobi asked, pointing towards Shinachiku's flaming form.

"Sorry. Don't got the time. After we survive the night, then I'll tell, but right now, I got to stay on the move." Shinachiku said as he disappeared in a flash.

"He just vanished! In a flash!" One of the shinobi shouted as he and the others were in shock.

"Who… who was that kid?" Another asked.

Suddenly, more Shinachikus appeared with more civilians in their care.

"What in the-!?"

"There's more!" A shinobi exclaimed.

Suddenly, three more appeared with stacks of boxes in their arms.

"Here. These boxes are filled with Iyashi-satsu (Healing Tags). They're tagged infused with medical ninjutsu, but only finite amounts. Just slap them on anyone's injuries and they'll be fine." One of the Shinachiku clones said as they laid the boxes down.

"H-Hold on… who are you exactly?" One of the shinobi asked.

One of the Shinachiku clones blinked their eyes before answering.

"You can call me Shinachiku Uzumaki, dattebaro." The clone said with a smile before he and the other clones vanished.

"Shinachiku… Uzumaki, eh?" One of the shinobi said in awe before realizing what he just said. "Hold up, Uzumaki?!"

"What the hell!? I thought Nanadaime-sama, and his family were the only ones!" Another shinobi said in shock.

"You don't think… that kid is…"

All the shinobi looked to one another, shocked by this revelation and unsure on how to feel about it.

.

.

Within the barrier team's facility, Ino was sensing several chakra signatures, all stemming from the same source. A source not unlike the Hokage who had his hand on her at this moment.

"Shinachiku… you clever boy." Ino said with an impressed smirk.

"What's he doing?" Shikamaru asked with curiosity.

"He's made some clones to go around the village to collect and save the villagers and handling any Oni Zetsu on the way. Apparently, he had one of them place one of his kunai at the save point to teleport them there. He even left some of those sealing tags he uses to heal people there for any of the injured that are dropped by from other shinobi." Ino informed.

'That's my boy.' Naruto thought with a smirk.

"Hold on. Has he handled any Oni Zetsu yet?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah. He's been kicking the butts of a good few of them." Ino said.

"How is able to notice where they are when he doesn't possess a dojutsu?" Shikamaru asked with a grim frown.

"He doesn't need one. He's using the power that he was born with." Naruto informed, able to sense what was going on himself.

"I was afraid of that." Shikamaru said, rubbing the top of his head with a tired frown.

"Guess there's no point in being hush-hush now. Not when there's lives that depend on you." Ino said in a low tone.

"Yeah. Can't say it's an unwise move then. I just hope he's ready for when we make it through this." Shikamaru said.

'Keep going, Shina. Protect the village like you were born to.' Naruto thought, supporting his alternate reality child.

"By the way, what's Arata's progress? Knowing him, he isn't just sitting idly by." Shikamaru brought up.

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to him." Ino said with a smirk. 'He's his father's son alright.' She thought with her smirk widening.

.

.

A Namahage ran through the streets with its sac heaved over its back. It kept its senses on high alert in case of anything, but when it finally sensed something, it was already too late. A bolt of lightning struck went right through its head, completely annihilating it into dust. Its body and the sac fell onto the floor, with the former dispersing into pollen.

A kunai with a sealing tag attached to it struck the ground where the body was and sucked up all the pollen before the tag ignited.

High above, Arata had finished off the Namahage with his left hand covered in a Chidori as he rode atop the large hawk.

'Chidori Shōmei-dan.' (One Thousand Birds Flare Bomb) Arata thrust his palm downward, sending a ball of lightning that let out chirps like his Chidori before it burst overhead where the sac was, releasing the loud sounds of static and chirps of a thousand birds as the whole area lit up for a moment.

This caused a nearby shinobi group to halt.

"Did you notice that?"

"That's another one. They've been going off throughout the whole village." The Hyūga of the group pointed out.

They hurried over towards the area to find the sac on the ground.

"Looks like whoever's been using them has been signaling our forces of their finding." One of the shinobi pointed out as he walked over, took out a brush and a bottle of ink and got to work on making a sealing formula to free the captives inside.

The Hyūga looked up to see Arata overhead thanks to their Byakugan. He gave a wave, thanking the boy for his help, earning a wave back before Arata moved on to find more Oni Zetsu to destroy and people in need of rescue.

.

.

Three Namahage were rushing through the streets, focusing on getting out of the village with their quarry. As they were running out in the open, they halted as they felt a presence from above.

"Dainamikku Entorī!" (Dynamic Entry) Metal screamed out as he dived down with a kick.

The Namahage quickly leaped away in time to avoid the kick which resulted in Metal shattering apart the ground and creating a deep rut. The Namahage growled with narrowed eyes but kept their distance as it was obvious this was no ordinary child.

"I see that you are very astute in your instincts. That definitely would have left some damage on at least one of you. I applaud you for your skills, but nothing else. For there is nothing to actually truly admire about you!" Metal declared as he turned towards the trio of Namahage.

The three Oni Zetsu growled as they reached into their sacks and pulled out their weapons: one a kanabō club, one a scythe and one a sodegarami. All of them surrounded their weapons with natural energy.

The Kanabō Namahage appeared above Metal and slammed its club down, forcing Metal to dodge but because of the force and boost in energy, it created a shockwave that sent Metal flying away.

Metal gritted his teeth as he managed to land and skid back onto the ground, only to quickly leap over a slash from the Scythe Namahage. When he landed, he was forced to dodge the third Namahage's Sodegarami, with the end spinning like a drill. Metal was grazed upon the side of his torso, causing shreds of his outer skin to fly off with tatters of his unitard.

He was forced to fight through the pain as the Sodegarami Namahage was delivering jabs with its jagged ended staff. Metal was forced to dodge each jab, but then the creature stabbed its weapon into the ground as the tip spun rapidly again, creating a small vortex of wind that sent debris flying everywhere.

Metal had to leap back and bring his arms up to guard as he was pelt by fast moving debris, leaving bruises upon his form with some even stabbing into his skin like shrapnel. He then noticed the Scythe Namahage above him with its weapon raised high. As it brought its scythe down, Metal was forced to grab the blade with his bare hands, but the force was strong enough to push him hard into the ground, breaking it apart, and he gained a cut down his face from his hairline to his chin.

Metal gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain as best as he could as he fought against the surprisingly strong power of the Namahage.

The Scythe Namahage growled with its fangs grit, but it suddenly leaped away as the Kanabō Namahage had charged from behind it with its club reach.

'I can't dodge it! I have to bear it!' Metal thought with a worried expression.

The Namahage swung it kanabō and struck Metal in the abdomen.

Metal's eyes went blank as he felt his whole stomach erupt with pain before he was sent flying away and struck a wall, shattering it apart with large debris falling on top of him.

The Namahage stared at the pile of stone for a moment before they turned and walked away. However, they heard a rumbling noise, causing them to halt and turn back as the boy burst from out of the rubble, shocking the three Oni Zetsu.

Metal pant with blood down the side of his mouth as the abdomen area of his spandex was torn open to reveal diver weights, not unlike Shinachiku's.

.

.

"Huh? You want diver weights like mine?" Shinachiku questioned with surprise at Metal's request.

"Yes! I wish to push myself even further! I know I can do so! Please, trust in me!" Metal proclaimed with vigor and confidence, and let's not forget, Youth!

"Well… why not? You sound just as motivated as Lee-sensei, and I can't say no to that kind of dedication, dattebaro!" Shinachiku said with a proud grin.

.

.

'It's a good thing I remember this and unsealed them. Had I not, that would have been a lot worse.' Metal thought to himself before hunching forward and vomiting out blood. 'Still… I feel my insides spinning around and feeling almost ready to burst!' Metal thought with his teeth, now bloody and grit. "But even so… I am not the one suffering.' Metal looked towards the sacs that the Namahage were still carrying. 'Compared to what they are feeling… my pain means nothing!' Metal let out a powerful roar as his chakra burst from his body, sending the rubble flying away.

Metal reached into his pouch to grab something as he recalled a recent memory some time ago.

.

.

Tenten was humming as she dusted off her inventory. After a moment she paused to then sigh somberly.

"I wish there were more people like Shinachiku and Arata. Those two truly appreciate weaponry and their uses." Tenten said with a wistful frown. She then heard the jingle of her door's bell, indicating someone entering. She turned to see none other than Metal. "Metal? What are you doing here?" Tenten asked.

Metal was standing up but was stiff as a board and looking down to the grown with his cheeks flushed.

Tenten raised an eyebrow at this. Was his anxiety acting up again? The boy didn't have the confidence of Lee, sure, but around her, he never acted like this. At least, not when there wasn't a third party who wasn't Lee or Gai.

A little concerned, she made her way over towards the boy, unaware that with every step closer she took, the more heated his face would get. Right as she stopped in front of him, his whole face turned red as he was now insanely nervous.

"Are you okay, Metal?" Tenten asked as she knelt in front of the boy.

"T-Tenten-san… do you… could you… help me." Metal managed to speak up.

"Okay~. With what?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Could you please… help me pick out a weapon?" Metal asked.

To say Tenten was surprised would be an understatement. She was downright shocked.

"You… actually want to buy a weapon?" Tenten asked, incredulously.

"Several!" Metal answered as he looked her in the eye, but quickly looked away again.

He couldn't handle the pressure of looking her in the eyes now. Not after discovering the specific connection between his counterpart and Tenten's own from Shinachiku and Arata's home world.

Tenten blinked her eyes, still surprised by this development.

"Did Lee put you up to this?" Tenten asked.

"No! I wish for this on my own accord! I wish to learn and use weapons to improve my own abilities!" Metal declared, managing to pick up his head once more.

Tenten stared at Metal in shock for a moment, before suddenly breaking into a smile with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Metal! I'm so proud of you! You don't know how happy I am to hear this coming from you!" Tenten proclaimed with joy as she hugged the bowl-cut boy.

Metal's eyes widened, shocked by the sudden embrace from his father's colleague.

'Is this… what the other me goes through… having Tenten-san as a mom?' Metal wondered to himself.

"Now, do you have any thoughts? Suggestions?" Tenten asked as she pulled back from the green clad boy.

"Uh… a few. I think I should start with something small. I've recently been practicing a type of taijutsu where I extend the reach of my blows with my chakra. Shinachiku taught it to me. It's called Tōtatsuken." (Reaching Fist) Metal described.

"Extending your reach, eh? I think I have just the thing." Tenten said as she went over to grab something. "These bad boys were made with a special metal that reacts to chakra, causing it to amplify and surround them with a coating of it. I believe they'll do you perfectly fine." Tenten said with a smile as she grabbed a pair of kunai with the kanji for 'Flow' carved into them and walked over towards Metal.

"But they look like ordinary kunai." Metal pointed out.

"Metal… never judge anything by appearance. I did so with your father, and I still feel foolish for it." Tenten said, causing Metal's eyes to widen in surprise as she knelt before him again. "These kunai have a special trait to them that no ordinary one has. Cherish them. You both have more in common than you think." Tenten said, giving the young Lee a smile.

An almost… motherly smile.

Metal almost felt like crying. He was touched by Tenten's words. Without a second thought, he took the pair of kunai into his hands.

"Hai! Arigato, Tenten-san! I will use them and cherish them forever!" Metal declared with tears of pride and joy raining from his eyes.

"I hope you will." Tenten said, her smile widening as she gained a pair of eye smiles.

.

.

Metal pulled out the pair of kunai and closed his eyes as he focused his chakra into them.

'Tenten-san… thank you.'

Metal snapped open his eyes as chakra was unleashed around the blades of kunai, creating long and thick aura of chakra in the same shape of the blades, increasing their range and power.

The Kanabō Namahage charged forward and raised its kanabō club overhead and was ready to slam it upon Metal.

Metal instantly reacted by delivering a slash with his right kunai, as then both the natural energy around the Kanabō made contact with the chakra around Metal's specialized kunai. The collision resulted in a shockwave with harsh winds picking up around them that sent the nearby debris flying along with more created from the wall being further damaged by it.

Metal gritted his teeth as he fought against the Namahage's attack, but it was extremely difficult. It felt like he was fighting to push away an entire train car with his base strength. It felt like a massive weight was over another massive weight that was crashing down on top of him.

The ground beneath Metal's feet cracked and shattered apart with Metal's legs being dug into the ground.

Metal grunted as he gritted his teeth hard. His hair, which had been blowing with the wind, gradually started to rise up as the veins around Metal's forehead bulge and throb. Metal growled as he felt the bandages around his right fist was shredded apart with new wounds appeared on his skin with cuts and crack that had some blood flying and even the skin around his knuckles were coming off bit by bit, all thanks to the force of natural energy he was fighting against.

Metal fought with everything he had. Despite his body suffering, his mental fortitude remained resilient. He growled louder and louder as he fought more and more, until suddenly his skin started turning red before he let out a powerful battle cry as he snapped open the third gate.

The chakra around the kunai exploded with a surge of chakra that created an even larger chakra coating that sent the Kanabō Namahage flying back, shocking the other two.

The Kanabō Namahage stumbled backwards, shocked by this as it stared at Metal in shock from a distance.

Suddenly, the Sodegarami Namahage leaped up high over the Kanabō Namahage and stabbed its sodegarami into the ground, causing the tip to spiral again, unleashing a powerful force.

"Konoha Kamisori Senpū!" (Leaf Razor Whirlwind) Metal spun at high speeds with his kunai blazing with chakra, unleashing a razor-sharp tornado of chakra that fought against the force and destroying any debris coming his way.

The Sodegarami Namahage dashed forward, thrusting its weapon, but Metal slammed both kunai tips atop the tip of the sodegarami, pushing it down and using it as elevation for him to flip over the Namahage. It swung its weapon towards Metal who leaped up and delivered a hard kick to its face, sending it skidding into the ground.

The Scythe Namahage took the opportunity to bisect Metal the moment he landed, but the green clad boy thrusted his kunai toward as his chakra extended and stabbed into the ground. Instead of bisecting the boy, its scythe bounced off of the concentration of chakra.

As Metal landed upon the ground, he rushed forward and delivered as slash with his other kunai, bisecting the Scythe Namahage, killing it and shocking the other two.

The Sodegarami Namahage growled with anger as it charged back towards the boy and delivered a barrage and jabs, intending to skewer the boy with its multi-tipped weapon.

Metal was quick enough to dodge each jab, but thanks to the natural energy around the weapon, he was being grazed with new wounds. Narrowing his eyes, Metal surrounded more chakra into his two kunai just as the Namahage surrounded powerful wind nature around the tip of its sodegarami.

The Namahage thrusted it weapon as the top spiraled like a wind drill, as Metal then quickly brought both kunai to block the hit.

Metal fought against the force of the weapon as fierce gales of wind surrounded them from collision. Metal stood strong as he focused more chakra into weapons. Sensing that it was not enough, he resorted to a more drastic approach.

'Shōmon! (Gate of Pain) Kai!' Metal mentally screamed as chakra burst around him with his two kunai exploding with chakra, dispersing the wind around them and sending the Namahage stumbling back.

Metal took his chance and dashed forward, delivering a dual slash across the Namahage's torso, creating an X over its body before it went to pieces.

The Kanabō Namahage stared in utter shock and horror that its comrades were dealt with and so quickly by a stripling.

The second Metal turned his head, the Oni Zetsu brought its kanabō club up for protection as the boy rocketed over and delivered a powerful slash that created sparks as it grinded against the club, before it was sliced in two with a powerful force that sent the Namahage flying back and hitting a nearby wall, cracking the surface apart.

The Namahage groaned in pain before its head was stabbed into by one of Metal's kunai, thrown right between its eyes, killing.

Metal sighed as he deactivated his gates, returning his body back to normal. He fell onto his knee and panted with his face drenched in sweat.

"I… I do not have time to feel this way. Not now." Metal said as he got back up and hurried over to take back his kunai from the beast's head, allowing its body to hit the ground. "Unfortunately, I do not know sealing techniques so I cannot open up these bags properly without risk to the hostages." Metal said as he looked towards the bags the deceased Namahages had. "Therefore, I shall carry them myself until I find someone who can!" Metal said as he quickly grabbed the backs and carried them all onto his back. "Worry not! For I shall find someone who will be able to free you all!" Metal declared as he ran off.

He was so focused on freeing the captured victims that he totally forgot that Oni Zetsu dispersed into pollen that could result in future ones created.

Luckily, kunais with sealing tags rained from above and sealed the pollen up quickly.

Arata was high above on the back of his hawk, sighing with relief.

"I wish I could have arrived sooner, but at least I made sure the mess won't spread." Arata said before he and his hawk flew away.

.

.

Shikadai and Yodo had been focusing on rescuing as many civilians as they could.

Thanks to Yodo's amplified hearing, she could hear both the civilians and the nearby shinobi to help. They informed every shinobi they came across of the status and location of every civilian that Yodo was able to hear. And of course, they also kept tabs and dealt with any Oni Zetsu they passed by.

Thanks to Shikadai's use of his fan being used as a mode of aerial transportation, they were able to cover more ground than most.

So far, they were the best duo of the night.

"Down there!" Yodo pointed towards a Kasa-obake that was hopping away.

"Things just keep getting weirder and weirder." Shikadai commented.

"I can hear muffling and sounds of struggling inside of it. We need to intercept, now." Yodo informed.

"Roger."

Shikadai willed his fan to dive downwards at the Oni Zetsu, and as the fan's shadow went over it, Shikadai quickly made some hand seals.

'Kagemane no Jutsu.' (Shadow Imitation Technique) Shikadai instantly paralyzed the Kasa-obake with his shadow.

Yodo took the opportunity to leap down and used a kunai to slice open the creature, freeing a young man out of its grasp. She grabbed the man and leaped a safe distance away.

"Now, Kage Nui no Jutsu!" (Shadow Sewing Technique) Shikadai focused and caused several threads of shadows that stabbed into the Kasa-obake throughout its body.

Shikadai flew back towards Yodo and leaped off of his fan.

"He seems fine, but his chakra had been by a good amount." Yodo told the Nara.

"Let's get him to safety then before continuing our patrol." Shikadai said, but he noticed Yodo's expression change to a look of slight unease as she was staring at something behind him. He turned his head to find a woman in a kimono nearby with her face covered by her hair.

"Do you… need help?" The woman asked.

'Where did she come from?' Yodo wondered to herself, not liking this situation.

"Do you… need help?" The woman asked again.

Yodo gently bit the side of her lip and slowly raised her kunai a bit, as her instincts were screaming to be ready. This whole situation was filled with red flags that she could not ignore. As she was still contemplating what to do, Shikadai started moving forward, surprising the Suna-kunoichi.

"You don't have to worry yourself over this. More importantly, do you need help?" Shikadai asked as he stopped a distance away from the woman.

"Me? Why do you ask?" The woman questioned as she tilted her head.

"Don't you know? There are hideous creatures roaming all throughout the village. You shouldn't be alone at this hour. Are you lost?"

"Lost? Why… I think I am. But I'm used to wandering around." The woman answered.

"Well, it's not best to wander, so maybe you should come with us." Shikadai offered.

"You wouldn't mind my company?" The woman asked.

"When it comes to helping, I don't really mind anyone's company." Shikadai said.

"Help? Hmm… actually, now that I think about it… there is something else I need help with." The woman said as she started making her way towards Shikadai.

"Hey, hold on!" Yodo spoke up, getting more and more nervous with every step the woman took.

"Name it." Shikadai said, ignoring Yodo's concerns.

"You see… I'm… very hungry." The woman stopped in front of Shikadai before raising her head to reveal her hideous face of a split open mouth creating a pair of Glasgow smiles, with the left being longer, wider and curved upwards from the shorter, straight right one. Her mouth had rows of jagged teeth made of black wood and green glowing eyes. "Will you help me?" She asked.

"… No." Shikadai bluntly answered as then the woman's hair shot out all around him, ready to grab hold, only for him to raise both his hand, brought them close together and aim them at her face. "Fūton: Shottogan." (Wind Release: Shotgun) Shikadai unleashed a powerful compacted force of wind that struck the Futakuchi-onna in the face, sending her flying back.

The Oni Zetsu skidding against the ground before sitting up and growling with gritted fangs. It got atop her feet and stretched its hair towards Shikadai, but the Nara grabbed his fan and sent a strong blade of wind that both sliced the follicles apart and created a rut that scarred the ground.

The Futakuchi-onna let out a pained screech as it managed to move away from the jutsu. It growled again as it dashed towards Shikadai. The creature forced its hair to hit the ground, cracking it apart as it then swung up and sending hefty pieces of the ground towards Shikadai.

Shikadai swung his fan, sending a gust of wind that sent the debris flying away and breaking it apart.

The Futakuchi-onna sent a punch towards Shikadai, who blocked it with the metal part of his fan, but suddenly locks of hair broke from the ground beneath him and wrapped around his form.

"Oh no!" Yodo said with worry and fear for the pineapple ponytail boy.

"Ha! Too slow boy! See that rut you made?" She gestured towards the gap in the ground Shikadai had made with her hair now dug deep into it. "It now works to my benefit! Now I get to enjoy devouring that body of yours! All the blood, the bone, the muscles! Even your very soul belongs to me now!" The Futakuchi-onna exclaimed, giving a high-pitched cackle as the back of her head snapped open to reveal a second mouth with sharp teeth.

'"You're the one who is slow here. So hungry that she can't even think straight." Shikadai retorted, confusing the Futakuchi-onna.

"Huh?" The female Oni Zetsu raised an eyebrow as then her whole body was stabbed all over by shadowy tendrils. "Na… nanda?" (What?) The Futakuchi-onna was shocked and confused by what had happened.

Turns out, the shadowy tendrils were coming straight out of the rut Shikadai had made, which was right underneath the Futakuchi-onna. Apparently, the Oni Zetsu wasn't the only one using it for a strategic approach.

"You Oni Zetsu aren't much of thinkers, are you? You rely way too much on your powers to use your heads like us shinobi. I made that rut to give you false hope, expecting you to use it to your advantage when really it was all to lure you in, and you fell for it perfectly." Shikadai said,

"It… can't…" The Futakuchi-onna said, before the ends of the tendrils wrapped around her neck.

"Kage Nui–Kubishibari no Jutsu!" (Shadow Sewing–Neck Binding Technique) Shikadai uttered as the shadow threads tightened around the Oni Zetsu's neck so powerful that a moment later, the Futakuchi-onna's head snapped off, decapitating her.

Yodo silently gasped as her eyes widened in shock and awe.

The Futakuchi-onna's head fell onto the ground, followed by her body as its hair became weak and loosened around Shikadai's body.

Its body dispersed into pollen as Shikadai took out a pair of sealing tags and tossed them up and activating them, causing them to suck up the pollen.

'I don't believe it… he's grown so much more powerful since I last saw him in battle. How much has he improved in just one week?' Yodo thought to herself, still in amazement at Shikadai's skills.

"Man… that was a total drag." Shikadai said with a bit of a tired frown.

.

.

Seven Namahage were rushing down the streets, aiming to head out of the village's border. They were halted by kunai that stabbed the ground in front of them, before a group of shinobi appeared before them.

"You're not going anywhere!" The Hyūga of the group, a kunoichi, said as she pointed towards the beasts.

The shinobi threw more kunai at them, but one of the Namahage took out a kanabō club from its bag and swung it with natural energy around it, that sent a shockwave that sent the kunai flying and forcing the group to jump away.

"Dammit, and that's just the power of one of them." One of the shinobi said with gritted teeth.

"We don't have time to worry about that. If we don't end them, whoever is trapped in their bags won't ever be saved!" Another exclaimed, readying another kunai.

The Namahage growled as it was ready to retaliate again, but it suddenly sensed something from above.

"Chō Ikazuchiken!" (Super Lightning Fist) Chocho screamed as she slammed her oversized fist into the Namahage, squishing it and sending the rest flying away from the shockwave unleashed.

"What in the-?!" One of the shinobi exclaimed in shock.

Standing there atop of a now crushed, practically flattened, Namahage was Chocho Akimichi, slimmed down with her gorgeous wings stretched out and fluttering some with sparks of lightning coursing through them.

"Hope. Renewal. Endurance. Courage. Change." Chocho spoke with a confident smile and lightly pressing her finger right between her eyes, pretending she had glasses to look intellectual. "This is what a butterfly symbolizes, and I am no different." She said with a confident smirk as she faced the now growling Namahage. "Things have now grown dire, bringing hopelessness to those throughout the village, so I answer the call to bring hope back. I have gone through such intense training to renew my strength into something greater, so as to renew the faith that is being lost. As a proud kunoichi I must endure many hardships that will come by my way and my home's, which means I must have the endurance to hold it all on my shoulders. You creatures are symbols of fear, but I have gained the courage necessary to where you are no longer considered a threat to me. All this and more are the reason why I will change this nightmare into a dream come true!" Chocho proclaimed proudly as her body sparked with lighting and her wings glowed blue.

Faster than the eye could see, Chocho appeared behind a Namahage, shocking everyone, including the Oni Zetsu.

'So fast.' All the ninjas thought with awe.

"Hmph." Chocho simply smirked as the Namahage swung at her, only for her to disappear and reappear behind another Namahage. "Don't blink." Chocho uttered as she started zipping around the area at blinding speeds, bulleting around in unpredictable movements, before she reappeared back where she had started.

The shinobi were confused as to what just happened.

"Was… was she just showing off?" A shinobi wondered aloud.

The Namahage didn't understand what was going on. They decided to end the girl before she tried any funny business. They reached into their sacs to pull out their weapons. When one raised its weapon high, its arm started to shake before its skin formed bubbles that then burst as bolts of electricity came out, shocking them and the shinobi.

"Chocho Super-Secret Jutsu: Inazuma Kafun." (Lightning Pollen) Chocho said with a superior smirk. "Perhaps you know or not, considering you're technically a part of nature, but there are several animals that are known to pollinate by taking the pollen from one flower and spreading it to others. Butterflies are one of them, but unlike an actual butterfly, I don't pollinate any regular pollen. My wings can spread out tiny fragments of my chakra, fueled with lightning release. I didn't just zip around to show off or to get some exercise. Right now, tiny fragments of lightning chakra are now in your system, and it looks like your bodies can't handle it." Chocho explained, with her hands on her hips as she continued to smirk.

The Namahages roared as their bodies convulsed before they started to burst with new holes in their body thanks to the lightning chakra introduced into their systems.

"No way…" A kunoichi said with awe at the younger girl's skill and power.

"She's… incredible." A shinobi said in awe.

"Although I will admit, I wish I could have finished these things off on a less hideous note, but I guess it can't be helped. Not when so many lives are depending on my progress." Chocho said, lightly touching her pursed lips with her finger. After closing her eyes for a moment, she suddenly thought about a certain blue-haired shinobi of two prestigious clans. 'Did you see that, Arata-kun? I know you're out there keeping an eye on the whole village with those gorgeously powerful eyes of yours! This is the result of all the tutelage I gained under you! I promise I will protect the village just like you! I swear to both our home and my love for you! You will be so impressed with me~!' Chocho thought with a bushing smile as she held her hands together.

And just as she said, Arata was keeping tabs on the village, and noticed her progress from high above.

'She's as dangerous as I remember.' Arata thought to himself.

.

.

Iwabe was running through the streets, heading towards a specific area.

'If that connection thingy inside my head right now is right, then there have been a lot of people going missing coming through here! No one is showing up, so I'll find out why!' Iwabe thought to himself, his teeth grit as he had a serious expression on his face.

He looked around, trying to spot anyone who needed help or any nearby shinobi, but the place was barren. This part of the village was starting to feel like a ghost town.

Iwabe didn't like this one bit. He started to get the creeps, with some sweat creeping down the side of his head. Iwabe gritted his teeth as he sped up and kept focus on where any danger or people could be.

Suddenly, he tripped over something. Something large and kind of heavy.

Iwabe groaned as she sat up and turned, only to see what looked like a large striped sleeping bag.

"What the heck? What is this?" Iwabe reached over and touched it, only for his eyes to widen in shock to find it was sticky. Pulling his hand back, he noticed that it was now wet. "Is this… is this a… web?" Iwabe questioned with widened eyes as he was getting more worried now. Upon instinct, he grabbed onto the webbing and started to pull it apart. Or at least attempt to, since it felt like reinforced steel had its own variant of reinforced steel. 'This stuff is tough. It's taking actual effort to pull it out.' Getting impatient, Iwabe grabbed his jō and stabbed it into the ground. "Doton: Gagankon: Kama!" (Earth Release: Rock Brick Cane: Scythe)

Iwabe formed a stone scythe at the end of his jō. He aimed it just right and sliced open the cocoon. Well, that was the intent, but it took more than one swing.

'Stupid web!' Iwabe thought with annoyance as he went for one final swing but halted. "Wait… it's a web… a… spider…" Iwabe's eyes slowly started to widen in realization and horror as he managed to muster the strength for one final swing, finally opening the cocoon, only to reveal a shinobi with his jaw wide open and bone dry with gray skin. "HOLY SHIT!" Iwabe screamed out as he fell onto his rear.

Iwabe crawled back a bit only to finally notice several shadows scattered about… from something above himself. He slowly raised his head, only for his blood to run cold as he saw hanging cocoon made of spiderweb.

Iwabe trembled in fear, wondering what kind of creature did this. He knew it was the work of an arachnid, but there were several different types of spider creatures in yōkai mythology. The idea of what it could have been and if it's nearby had him on the verge of crapping himself!

Just then, he noticed something atop a surface nearby. It looked like an arm. It started to move to reveal another arm and another. It was then Iwabe realized there were several… eight of them.

Pale clammy arms with long black claws, all attached to what looked like a giant spider's silk spitter, or better known called, a spider's read end. He noticed in front of them was something that was hunched over. Slowly reeling back was the upper body of a naked woman will hair done up in a hairstyle similar to a geisha with webs scattered about like kanzashi hair ornaments. The woman had her eyes closed, only to open all eight of them. She stared at the clearly terrified boy, only to reveal a grin made of sharp teeth.

Iwabe couldn't speak. He was way too scared, and even though it took a minute, his instincts kicked in and he tried to run.

The Oni Zetsu roared with its mouth splitting open into several mandibles as it fired out webbing from its mouth, which managed to strike Iwabe on the back. The webbing almost came alive and wrapped itself around Iwabe's upper body, making sure to keep his arms restrained so he wouldn't use any jutsu.

"Of all the freaks to end up dealing with, why a Jorōgumo?!" (Entangling Bride) Iwabe shouted with fear as he was then being pulled up by the Oni Zetsu, with the webbing pulling him straight towards its mouth. 'Dammit! I got to free myself! Or at least my arms!' Iwabe thought with urgency as he struggled to pull his arms free, but the webbing was too damn strong to break free. 'Maybe if I can just shimmy my arms to the front of me, I can make some hand seals.'

Iwabe focused on moving his arms to the front of his body. He struggled to do so, but he put all his efforts to move his arms closer together. He started feeling saliva dripping atop his head as he was reaching closer towards the Jorōgumo's mouth.

The Jorōgumo let out a wheezing sound as Iwabe was getting closer towards its mouth.

Iwabe looked up with horrified widened eyes as he could smell its awful breath.

He was inching up closer and closer until… chomp.

After a moment, the Jorōgumo's eyes widened in surprise and confusion as it felt as if it had bit onto something hard.

"Ha! Doton: Domu! (Earth Release: Earth Spear) Don't need hand seals for that!" Iwabe said with a superior grin as he managed to harden his head with earth release. "This on the other hand. Doton: Dosekidake!" (Earth Release: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot) Iwabe shouted as he managed to bring his hands together and make the hand seals.

Shooting from the ground below were several long spikes that reached up high and pierced the Jorōgumo's upper body into several pieces with grass green juices splashing everywhere.

"Hell Yeah!" Iwabe cheered as he fell down towards the ground, landing on his keister. "Ha! That's right! I've evolved, baby! Not even the Oni Zetsu can take me on now!" Iwabe cheered with a superior grin as he managed to get to his feet. He noticed a shadow over him, making him look up, only to leap away in time to avoid being squashed by the Jorōgumo's lower body. "Not so tough now, are you?" Iwabe said with a smirk.

He then started hearing some weird sounds. He looked up only to notice some of the cocoons were started to move around. At first, he thought there were still people alive inside, but then parts of them bulged and started moving around as if there was something else other than humans inside.

Unfortunately, Iwabe was correct in his assumption as the bulges increased more in size before the webbings burst to reveal many baby spiders with humanoid heads resembling infants.

Iwabe screamed out in horror and disgust as the baby Jorōgumos rained down towards him.

"Fūton: Rasenrangan!" (Wind Release: Spiraling Strife Spheres) A voice called out as Shinachiku appeared with five wind big ball infused rasengans, two in his hands and three in the claws of his chakra arms. He thrusted them forward, striking several Jorōgumo babies, but it was the expulsion of wind from the jutsus bursting that eradicated the rest. "Need a little pick me up?" Shinachiku asked Iwabe as he landed next to him and placed his hand onto his shoulder where he then shared some of Mamoru's chakra into him, giving him an orange coating of chakra.

"Hell Yeah!" Iwabe cheered again as he now gained the strength to tear himself free of the Jorōgumo's webbing.

"There are still some living people trapped in those webs. Mind helping me out?" Shinachiku rhetorically asked Iwabe.

"Like you even needed to ask." Iwabe replied.

Shinachiku infused wind release into his tantos while Iwabe made another scythe blade made of rock at the end of his jō again, before they proceeded to cut the webbing and free those still alive and well.

Well, physically well. This occurrence was still going to bring some nightmares.

.

.

A child in their pajamas ran out the door to his home. He tried to get as far away as possible, but something tripped him. He looked down to find it was a small root coming from the ground, entangled around his ankle.

The child, a brunette boy, heard a deep snarl, making him look towards the doorway to see the red glowing eyes of the Namahage, who had steam exhaling from its nose. The creature walked out of the door, heading towards the child, who had tears pouring from his eyes and a look of fear upon his face.

As it got closer, an older brunette boy leaped out from the doorway and stabbed the Namahage in the back with a kunai.

"Goichi, Run!" The older boy called out before he was suddenly grabbed by the Namahage, which proceeded to slam him into the ground repeatedly, horrifying the younger boy before it threw the elder one away like trash.

"Gennosuke-onii-chan!" Goichi called out to his elder brother with fear for his life and tears continued to pour.

The Namahage opened its sac and walked over towards Goichi, ready to put him away into the dark dimension within.

Suddenly, someone as fast as lightning sped over, slicing the root off and taking Goichi away.

The Namahage's eyes widened in surprise before it turned to see a young genin with glasses on, carrying Goichi.

"I'm sorry I didn't arrive sooner." Denki said as he gently placed Goichi down next to his brother.

"Onii-chan~." Goichi when to his brother's side, gripping onto his close with tears in his eyes as he stared at Gennosuke's face, seeing blood going down the side of his mouth.

Denki took out several Iyashi-satsu and was about to place them upon Gennosuke, when the Namahage appeared behind him with a kanabō club raised high.

"Look out!" Goichi shouted, but Denki was already prepared.

The Kaminarimon immediately turned, aiming his new gauntlet-like device at the club and fired out a piece of paper that stuck to it as a sealing formula on it shined, causing the kanabō to slam into the ground, as if it increased in weight.

Goichi stared in shock as the Namahage gritted its fangs, trying its best to lift its kanabō off the ground, but the more effort it put into it, the heavier the kanabō got, as if it was fighting off its strength with its own increasing strength with every second.

"Jūryoku: Hiku." (Gravity: Pull) Denki uttered as he proceeded to place the healing tags upon Gennosuke's body.

The Namahage growled with rage as it decided to release its kanabō and went for a claw strike.

Denki quickly turned and with his body surrounded by lightning, slammed his hand into the Namahage's claw. A green light then emitted from between their palms, surprising the Namahage. Denki retracted his hand to reveal another sealing tag that glowed bright green, and when it stopped, he pulled it out.

"That's all of your natural energy in here. Which means, there's nothing stopping me from doing this!" Denki slammed his other palm into the Namahage's abdomen. "Raiton: Erekiteru!" (Lightning Release: Elekiter) Denki sent a powerful current of electricity into the Namahage, causing it to roar in pain as it was being electrocuted from the inside out.

Goichi watched in awe as the creature that had attacked both he and his brother was being lit up with lighting and roaring in agony.

Its pale skin turned black and the straw from its body was burnt away.

After a moment or two, Denki pulled his hand, leaving a charred Oni Zetsu that then dropped its bag and dispersed into soot. No pollen was able to be left behind after an attack like that.

"Sugoi." Goichi said in awe. He then heard grunting making him turn to see his brother had regained consciousness and got onto his hands and knees. "Onii-chan!" Goichi hugged his brother, who was surprised to not only be healed, but find that his brother was okay.

"Are you alright?" Denki asked the brothers.

"Y-Yeah. A little sore, but I think I'll be fine now. Thank you." Gennosuke said with a grateful nod. He then noticed the pile of soot behind the genin with the beast's sac laid beside it. "You… you actually killed that thing, didn't you?" Gennosuke said with awe.

"Yeah. I actually managed to." Denki said with a smile and nod. "This tool really does the trick. Even if it is a prototype." Denki said with a smile as he brought up his gauntlet.

Suddenly, a living one-eyed paper lantern beast came down with its mouth wide open and chomped down on Denki.

"AH!" Both brothers screamed out in horror as they saw the boy that saved them being lifted up off the ground by the Chōchin'obake. (Paper Lanter Ghost)

The Oni Zetsu thought it captured another victim as its inside lit ablaze, but its single eye widened in shock as it felt its flames being sucked up by something. It let out a scream as its pale exterior crumpled up with its eye shrinking. The tear that was its mouth was ripped open more as Denki fell out, hitting the ground onto his rear.

"Ow." Denki said as he held his torso, which was bleeding a bit with tears in his clothes. He looked to the side to notice a tiny open scroll beside him that had a glowing orange sealing formula that then stopped illuminating. "Good thing for the scroll bullets." Denki said as he looked to his gauntlet, before inserting a brand-new tiny scroll inside its now vacant slot.

"Denki!" A voice called out, making the bespectacled ninja turn to see his teammate, Metal hurrying over with a tower of bags being carried onto his back. "Thank goodness you're alright!" Metal said as he stopped beside his teammate.

"Metal! Are you alright? And are all those bags filled with people?" Denki asked with much concern.

"I am fine. I had to deal with some troublesome foes along the way, but I managed to collect these. I just need someone to liberate any people inside." Metal informed.

"Lay them down. I'll handle them." Denki said as he took out the inkbrush from his gauntlet's compartment.

"Is that…?"

"Fūin Ite (Seal Archer). It's just a prototype, but so far, it's doing its job well." Denki said as he made a new swirl-like sealing formula upon the paper slot in it before firing it upon the bag of the Namahage he had just incinerated. "Place the others down." Denki told his teammate.

"Alright." Metal said as he put down the bags he collected and lined them up.

Denki made and fired more paper seals onto each back, before making a several hand seals in one hand, focusing his chakra into each seal.

"Kai!" Denki thrust his hand forward and turned it counterclockwise as the sealing formulas all opened up, creating holes within each bag. "You're all safe now. Follow my voice!" Denki called out.

Soon enough, children started coming out of the bags, which amazed Metal along with the brothers, Goichi and Gennosuke.

'Denki… you've truly grown into an even more amazing shinobi.' Metal thought with shock and awe at his teammate's growing abilities.

Atop a building, one of Shinachiku's clones saw the whole scene unfold and couldn't help but smile with amazement, impressed by Denki just as much as Metal was.

'Not bad.' Shinachiku thought with a smirk.

.

.

"Hold It Right There!" A shinobi shouted out as he and several others were chasing four Namahage down the street.

"Damn Monsters! Give Back Those Children!" Another screamed out.

The Namahage increased speed, but as they were getting farther away from the group, suddenly ink rained from the sky, landing in front of them as they then formed a high scaling fence made of ink.

"What the?" One of the shinobi questioned in surprise.

"Like my handiwork?" A voice spoke up, causing them to look up to see a bird with Inojin and Namida riding atop it. "Hijutsu: Inkufensu." (Secret Technique: Ink Fence) Inojin said with a smirk as one of the Namahage growled with annoyance as it decided to tear the ink fence apart. "You shouldn't have done that." Inojin said with his smirk widening.

Suddenly several arms stretched from the fence with open hands that possessed single eyes in the center of them. The hands grabbed the Namahage all over, with two of them grabbing the sides of its head with one arm wrapped around its neck like a snake constricting it. The Namahage's eyes widened as it gritted its fangs, before the two ink hands that held its head snapped its neck.

"ChōYōkai Giga: Tenome." (Super Strange Apparition Imitating Drawing: Hand Eyes) Inojin stated as the arms released the beast, allowing it to fall to the ground dead before it then dispersed into pollen. "Fūin." (Seal) Inojin stated as he made a ram seal as then one of the hand eyes absorbed the pollen before turning into a glop of gooey ink that detached from the fence and then burst into flames to soon become ash.

"Whoa… that's just freaky." One of the shinobi who witnessed the sight said in awe and a slight sense of fear.

"Now is our chance! Let's get them!" Another shinobi said with their kunai ready.

As they were about to charge, they heard squeaks near them, causing them to halt. The just so happened were in the middle of a shopping district as then popping out of the nearby merchant shops were countless Yanari.

The shinobi screamed out in surprise as they were being swarmed, but before any of the Yanari could make contact, someone sped past them all with the sounds of cutting being heard throughout the area.

"Kyūgeki: Ha no Mai." (Sudden Strike: Dance of Blades) Tsubaki announced as she fully sheathed her katana as then all the Yanari were sliced to bits.

"NANI?!" All the shinobi exclaimed in awe.

"Way to go, Tsubaki-chan!" Namida cheered for her teammate.

One of the Namahage roared in anger as it reached into its sac, pulled out a sodegarami, surrounded it in natural energy and with one might swing, sliced the ink fence along with the hand eyes to ribbons.

"Oh crap!" Inojin said with new worry.

"Don't worry! I got this!" Namida said as she leaped from the ink bird then brought her hand up and clenched them into fists in front of her mouth, acting as if she were holding a straw or blowgun. "Bakuon Dātsu!" (Booming Darts) Namida fired out compressed dart-like bullets that struck each Namahage in the back of the head, before bursting with sonic booms that exploded their heads, instantly killing them. "Done!" Namida said with a proud smile as she landed upon the ground.

The shinobi, along with Tsubaki and Inojin, who flew down beside them, stared at the sight with widened eyes, absolutely shocked.

"Remind me never to get on her bad side." Inojin said, both amazed and fearful of Namida's potential.

.

.

The group of Inuzuka clan members and their canines led by Tsume arrived at the cemetery where the pungent smell they detected resided.

"Man, What the Fuck?! It Smells Funky All Over Here!" One of the Inuzuka members wearing a bandana with a hole in the back to reveal a brunette ponytail exclaimed as he held his nose.

"Quit being a baby!" Tsume scolded the member. "Fan out and look for any of those things! There's also the chance that there are some people hiding out here!" Tsume ordered, earning a nod from her clan members before they all fanned out.

They scoured the area, keeping an eye out for anything, while also tolerating whatever horrible odor they were sniffing.

"Ugh~. Seriously, what the fuck is that smell?!" The Inuzuka from before said, holding their nose. He then heard his canine partner whimpering beside him. "What's wrong, Kokoamaru?" The Inuzuka asked his cocoa brown colored ninken. He looked ahead to find someone standing a distance away. He furrowed his brow and grabbed his kunai, ready in case as he approached the figure. "Hey, are you alright? Sir?" He asked as he got closer. His ninken bit him by the pant leg and tried pulling him away. "Kokoamaru, chill, alright?" The Inuzuka said as he pulled his leg away and moved forward.

Slowly and definitely hesitantly reached his hand over and gently grasped the person's shoulder.

The person gave a low extended groan which caused the Inuzuka's hair to stand on end. The person then turned their head to reveal they had rotting skin and empty sockets with green fire in his eyes.

The Inuzuka gasped before letting out an audible scream that was heard throughout the area.

"That was Ato!" One of the other members called out as he and the others hurried over.

Ato Inuzuka was frozen in fear but luckily his partner Kokoamaru pulled him back by the pant leg, successfully saving him from being bit be the reanimated body.

"Stay the Fuck Back!" Ato screamed out as he crawled away from the undead being that started to move towards him at a moderate pace.

Kokoamaru charged and delivered a headbutt to the zombie's stomach, sending him into the ground. Kokoamaru barked at the fallen corpse, but then a decayed hand broke out of the ground and grabbed the dog's leg and pulled it into the ground, causing the poor pup to whimper.

"Get Away From Him!" Ato screamed out as he rushed over, pulled Kokoamaru out and sliced at the hand that grabbed his partner. He leaped back in time as another reanimated corpse burst from the ground while the one his ninken attack sat back up. "Let's get the hell out of here!" Ato said as he ran off with Kokoamaru in his arms.

This is fuck! This is beyond fucked! The last thing Ato expected was to be part of one of those zombie flicks, but here he and his ninken were, in the middle of a graveyard where corpses lived and could pop out at any moment!

Fuck This Day!

"Ato! What happened?!" An Inuzuka member called out to him as he and several other Inuzuka members hurried towards him.

"We have to get out of here! We are so in the middle of a horror movie!" Ato shouted, clearly wracked with fear.

"What?" One of the other members questioned as they met Ato halfway.

"Kajiru, behind you!" Ato screamed out, as another reanimated corpse leaped over and bit Kajiru Inuzuka in the neck.

"AH! YOU BASTARD!" Kajiru screamed out as he elbowed the corpse in the face.

"What the Hell Is That?!" Another Inuzuka screamed out as they all turned to see the moaning zombie before it slowly started to sit up. "Oh~, fuck no."

All the Inuzukas stared in terror as they watched the undead being rise up to its feet.

"Fuck You!" Kajiru screamed out as he sliced its head off with a kunai.

"You okay, Kaijru?" One of the other members asked with concern.

"I… I don't know." Kajiru said as he held his wounded neck.

"This never ends well. When someone gets bit, they turn into one of them!" Ato said, now more fearful.

"Ato, calm yourself man! This isn't a movie!" One of the other members scolded his clansman.

"Yeah, well, you never saw real life zombies! So how would you know?!" Ato screamed back, as just then Kajiru fell onto one knee. "Oh no… it's happening."

"Ato, shut up!" Another member told the scared Inuzuka before turning towards Kajiru. "Kajiru, what's wrong now?" He asked with concern.

"My wound… my brain… it's throbbing. It feels like… like there's fire coursing through my veins!" Kajiru screamed as he held his head. He grunted in pain as his ninken partner checked on him. "Get Away, Midorimaru!" Kajiru pushed away his partner out of fear for the canine's life.

He knew… he knew that what was going to happen next was not going to end well. The last thing he wanted was for his partner to suffer with him.

Kajiru held his face as he screamed in pain. He rose to his feet and let out an even greater roar of pain.

"Kajiru!" One of the members called out to him with fear.

"We have to get away from here!" Ato warned as he turned only to flinch in fear as he saw more corpses making their way over and surrounding them. "Uh… too late." Ato said with gritted teeth.

Kajiru suddenly let out an inhuman scream as he uncovered his face to reveal his eyes burning with green fire as cracks started to form around his body, like around his wound, eyes, hands and arms.

Kajiru faced his Inuzuka brothers, now changed into a scarred individual with green burning eyes.

"I told you~." Ato said, feeling like he'll wet himself any moment now.

"Ka-Kajiru… it's us, remember?" One of the other members said with clear fear, as Kajiru took a step forward with a bellowing groan coming from his throat.

"S-Snap out of it man… we're you friends!" Another member tried to reason as they all instinctively took out their kunai while all the canines were ready to fight, except for Midorimaru, who was whimpering with sadness and fear for his friend.

Kajiru suddenly let out an inhuman roar as green fire shot from his mouth, shocking the others, as he then charged at them with the intent to kill.

.

.

Tsume heard the inhuman howl from where she was. She hurried to head over, hopefully to fix whatever problem was occurring, but she suddenly heard digging making her stop and turn to see a beastly figure with two tails lit ablaze with green flames at the tips clawing into the ground right in front of a headstone.

Tsume growled with anger at finding a graverobber, as she readied her claws.

The creature stopped digging and turned towards Tsume, revealing its green glowing eyes and feline appearance to her.

"Nekomata, eh? Figures." Tsume said with a snarl as the Nekomata stabbed one of its tails into the ground as then a corpse burst out with its eye sockets glowing green with flames. "So that's the smell! This whole graveyard is filled with the odor of corpses! How many did you bring back to life, you demons?!" Tsume yelled at the beast, who responded with silence.

The zombie broke out of the ground and charged at Tsume with the intent to kill.

The Inuzuka matriarch easily slashed the corpse in half with her bare claws, never taking her glare off the Oni Zetsu.

Sensing that this human was going to be trouble, the Nekomata left out a loud cat-like roar that echoed throughout the area. It then slammed its paws down onto the ground, creating two rows of green fire that went far and high, surrounding Tsume on both sides.

"So, kitty cat wants to play a little game of chicken, eh? If that's how you're choosing to die, then come on!" Tsume said with a savage grin.

The Nekomata leaped towards her at blinding speed with its claws blazing with green flames.

"Tsūga!" (Fang Passing Fang) Tsume bellowed out as she spun at high-speed becoming a human drill.

Both techniques clashed against one another, creating a strong shockwave that unleashed streams and embers of green fire throughout the area. After a momentary power struggle, a much larger shockwave was unleashed, sending both flying back and skidding against their ground on their respective limbs.

'Damn… in my heyday, I could have easily overpowered that attack. Damn you, old age.' Tsume thought with a growl at only being strong enough to cancel out the technique now instead of overpowering it. Her instincts kicked in as she ducked away from a swipe from a zombie. She then noticed more walking through the green flames, all groaning and aiming for her. "So, you acknowledge that you need help to take me down, eh? Heh. I knew I still had it in me. Question is, how much do I got left?" Tsume said with a sneering grin as she bent her knees and readied her claws. "Let's find out."

The corpses charged at her, swiping and biting at her, but Tsume managed to dodge and counter each of them.

With only her claws she tore through each and every one of the zombies, never losing step. Despite being near her sixties, Tsume fought as well as any Jonin in their early thirties. Any signs of age, she did not show. Not in battle. With her fangs grit, she sliced and tore right through every reanimated corpse.

'You watching Kuromaru? I still got it!' Tsume thought of her old canine partner as she continued to rip and tear the undead before her.

One corpse tried to bite at her, but she severed it head off with her claws, but it suddenly burst with fire, causing Tsume to stumble back as its body had been incinerated by the Nekomata.

The Nekomata had used it as a shield and bomb so as to get close to Tsume. Now that she was in its range, the cat monster delivered a rising swipe that tore through Tsume's flak jacket and sent her flying over the zombies and through the wall of green flames.

Tsume rolled against the ground, grunting in pain. She tried to get up, but she felt an intense pain all over. The green flames singed her clothes, burning most of her flak jacket to ashes with it now stopping right under her breasts with some of her pants and black shirt charred and singed in some places. Tsume panted as she fought against the pain enough to get onto a hand and knee. She heard the Nekomata roar as it leaped through the wall of green flames and was now high in the air.

The Nekomata breathed in a hefty amount of air, resulting in its chest enlarging greatly before it let out a roar as countless green fireballs were unleashed and rained down upon Tsume.

Tsume's eyes widened in shock and terror as countless green fireballs were raining down towards her.

'Dammit… guess I really have lost some of my edge.' Tsume thought as she bit her bottom lip, causing it to bleed some. 'I thought I could do this alone, that I didn't need a partner. Looks like I was wrong, eh, Kuromaru? I didn't want a new one. Not after losing you. Yet it looks like I still needed one in the end. Dammit…' Tsume closed her eyes as her thoughts went to her old canine partner. 'Sorry that we'll have to meet again like this… my dear old friend.'

Suddenly, something sped over, grabbing Tsume and leaping away with her before the fireballs made contact.

Tsume gasped in surprise as the fireballs struck the ground and exploded, creating plumes of green flames that lit up the cemetery. Tsume then looked towards whoever saved her, only to see an image of a wolf-like appearance, having black fur with white underside fur, a missing left ear and an eyepatch over its right eye.

'Kuromaru?' Tsume thought with widened eyes, only for the image to fade and be replaced with none other than Wasabi. 'That… that girl!' Tsume thought with utter shock to be saved by a kit of the Izuno clan of all people.

Wasabi landed a good distance away with Tsume still in her grasp.

"Here, take these." Wasabi said as she took out a few Iyashi-satsu. "They're basically band aids if they could heal injuries instead of covering them up." Wasabi said as she placed them Tsume's person. Once done, they heard a growl from the Nekomata after it landed upon the ground. "I'll handle the rest from here. You just rest those old bones of yours, O bāchan." Wasabi said with a smirking grin as she vanished from sight.

The Nekomata managed to sense Wasabi as it clawed at her with the girl delivering her own claw attack that created a small sonic boom from impact.

Wasabi leaped away towards the side and started running in circles around the Oni Zetsu on all fours.

The Nekomata growled as it then spun around and spewed green fire from its mouth like a flamethrower. The fire chased after Wasabi, forming a ring around them both as it did.

Wasabi wasn't worried in the slightest. As she shifted her feet towards the Nekomata, she instantly activated her chakra claws and pounced.

The Nekomata released a roar as it raised one of its claws that alit with green fire.

Wasabi grinned as she spiraled fast in the air with her claws outstretched as she sliced off a chunk of the back of Nekomata's paw and its neck once over its head.

"Tsūtsume!" (Passing Claw) Wasabi called out as she flew overhead.

'Tsūtsume?' Tsume mentally questioned with a surprised expression.

The Nekomata roared with pain as it turned and glared at Wasabi, baring its fangs.

'Chakura Hige.' Wasabi summoned her chakra whisker as she then sensed something coming from below. She leaped away in time to avoid being pierced by one of the Nekomata's twin tails, and then leaped away from the second. "Nice try." Wasabi said with a smirk, but she suddenly sensed chakra building up in the tails.

The Nekomata sprung its twin tails from the ground, instantly twisted them together with them aimed right at Wasabi, and quickly untwisted them rapidly, creating a green flaming tornado.

Wasabi was forced to leap up high to dodge the torrent of fire, but she noticed the Nekomata breathing in air. Clearly this was part of its strategy of getting her in the air for a clean hit, but she was about to mess that idea up!

"Chakura no Tsume: Jū Tsume Ya!" (Chakra Claws: Ten-Claw Arrows) Wasabi shouted out as she thrust her hands forward, sending her chakra claws flying as projectiles just before she was hit by the fire.

The ten chakra claw arrows struck the Nekomata all over and exploded with consecutive burst of chakra, disorientating the Oni Zetsu.

With its fire ceasing as a result, Wasabi came falling from the skid and rolled against the ground with her clothes tattered and burnt. She groaned as she fought through the pain, managing to get up on her hands and feet. She panted a bit with some sweat down her face and feeling a new source of heat.

Apparently, she had landed beside the wall of green fire. Unfortunately, a zombie came out of the wall of fire and went for Wasabi, but as it got close, it had its head ripped off, causing its body to fall.

Wasabi lightly gasped in surprise to see Tsume had come to her aid.

"Oi, what are you doing just laying there? Didn't you come here to help out or do you plan on taking a cat nap?" Tsume 'questioned' with a grinning smirk.

"L-Like Hell I Am!" Wasabi shouted in defiance as she gained the strength to get back to her feet.

"So, Tsūtsume, eh? You trying to copy me or something?" Tsume teased, still smirking.

"I-I just said that in the heat of the moment!" Wasabi argued with an embarrassed blush.

"I better get royalties out of that, gaki." Tsume said with a grin, causing Wasabi to growl with embarrassment and annoyance. "The fight isn't over yet, girl." Tsume said as she and Wasabi turned to face the now super pissed yet weakened Nekomata.

"I got this." Wasabi and Tsume said in unison.

They glanced at the other, showing no signs of backing down on their promise.

"Damn kid." Tsume muttered with her eyes closed but she then gained a faint smirk. "Oi, girl, if you're sticking around, you better link up with my attacks, got it?" Tsume said as she bared her claws, ready to fight.

"For the last time, my name is Wasabi Izuno! And you're the one who going to follow my lead, lady!" Wasabi retorted as she readied her own claws.

The Nekomata roared as Wasabi and Tsume got on all fours.

Both parties sped towards each other with their claws ready, then with a swipe, they created a sonic boom with both stumbling back.

Wasabi and Tsume flipped back and landed on all fours again, then dashed forward delivering a pair of powerful claw strikes to the monster's abdomen, sending it skidding back on its hind legs. The two feral females started to speed around, dashing around and lay claw strikes, providing no time for the Nekomata to retaliate.

Both kunoichi stopped from across each side of the Nekomata, which was riddled with cuts and disorientated from the barrage it suffered.

Chakra surrounded a growling Tsume's hand while Wasabi summoned her chakra claws again.

The two dashed with battle cries as they then leaped and delivered dual slashes to the Nekomata's neck.

The pair ended up on the other end, both facing away from the Nekomata, having no need to face it as they knew the outcome.

The Nekomata's head fell off, hitting the ground before the body followed suit.

"Weak." Tsume said with a grinning smirk.

"And that's that." Wasabi said with a smirk of her own. She then heard groaning, making her turn to see the rest of the reanimated bodies walking through the literal firewall and heading towards them. "What the-?! Shouldn't they be dead again after we killed it!?" Wasabi questioned with shock and new worry.

"Guess we'll just have to put them back into the ground ourselves." Tsume said with gritted teeth as she readied to fight on.

Wasabi was about to prepare herself as well but noticed that the Nekomata hadn't dispersed into pollen. It when then she noticed that the twin tails were still lit with green flames.

'The Tails!' Wasabi realized as hurried over and quickly started clawing at the ground in front of the tails, dousing their fire with dirt.

Once they were out, the zombies let out their last screams as their green glowing eyes faded away before they hit the ground, truly deceased once again.

"Huh?" Tsume turned towards Wasabi, seeing her panting a bit with the tip of the tails now buried. "So, the fire on that thing's tails was what was keeping them alive. Good job, kid." Tsume said, only to earn a glare from Wasabi. "I mean Izuno."

"Just call me Wasabi."

.

.

Three remaining Inuzuka members with their ninken were now back-to-back with their kunai ready, as they were now surrounded not just by zombies, but also their comrades, both Inuzuka and ninken, who now had fiery green glowing eyes and cracks around their bodies.

"This is bad." Ato said.

"It wasn't bad enough before we found out that scratches are contagious and the dogs turning after biting them?!" Another member exclaimed. "We have to make a break for it or something."

"And leave our brothers behind?!" The third one retorted.

"They aren't our brothers anymore." Ato said. "Listen, one of us has to make a break for it and warn the village about this, understand?"

"Look out!" The second member shouted as he pushed Ato out of the way in time to save him from being bitten by one of the transformed ninken, but the same could not be said for himself and his arm. After tossing away the turned ninken, he looked towards his bitten arm in shock. "Oh no…" He said with fear. He then fell onto his knee, holding his arm in pain as he felt it throb with pain. "AH! It Feels Like I'm On Fire!" He shouted as he then felt an intense migraine, forcing him to hold his head upon instinct. "NO~!" He cried out in fear and pain, but after a moment or two, it stopped. "… Wait… it doesn't hurt anymore." He said in shock.

"Look!" The third member pointed towards the reanimated corpses that lost their green glow and fell back onto the floor, being normal corpses again.

"What in the-?" Ato was shocked by this. He then heard a groan making him turn to see one of the members had returned to normal. "Kajiru! You're back to normal!" Ato exclaimed with relief.

"The hell?" Kajiru said, holding his head as the rest returned to normal along with the ninken.

"It's a miracle." The third Inuzuka member from earlier said in shock.

"Looks like everything's been settled here as well." Spoke a female, making them all turn to see their leader.

"Tsume-sama!" Kajiru greeted his leader, relieved to see she was okay.

"All the bodies are back to normal, but we can bury them later. We need to focus on the rest of Konoha." Tsume said.

"Hai!" All the Inuzuka members said, before they noticed the Izuno girl from earlier showing up beside Tsume.

"Oi, what are you doing here, gaki?! Tsume-sama told you to head to safety!" One of the Inuzuka members reprimanded the girl.

"Zip it, Horu! Believe it or not, she's the reason the dead are back to being just that. She's the one who actually saved all our asses." Tsume said, shocking the rest of her clan.

"Her? A member of the Izuno saved us!?" One of the other Inuzukas questioned with utter disbelief.

"We're never living this down." Another member said with a deep frown and gloomy aura.

"Alright, alright, enough moping, you pups. We still have work to do." Tsume said before looking down towards Wasabi. "Oi, kid-"

"I said-"

"Yeah, I know. Listen, for the rest of the night, you are to stand by my side, do you understand me?" Tsume ordered, shocking the rest of her clan members.

"I don't need a babysitter." Wasabi retorted with a frown.

"Babysitter? After that!? Ha! Clearly! Look here, brat. If I didn't think you could handle yourself, I would have told you to get lost. You're sticking with me, but only for tonight. Got it?" Tsume said with a grin.

Wasabi's eyes widened as she now understood what Tsume was saying.

'Is she… asking me to…'

"We're heading out. Once we're in the village, we all split into pairs and cover more ground." Tsume ordered.

"H-Hai, Tsume-sama!" The rest of the clan members said, standing up straight.

"You're with me, remember? Don't stray away or I'll send you away, got it?" Tsume said to Wasabi.

Wasabi stared at her with shock for a moment, before gaining a new smile on her face.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Wasabi replied with an excited grin.

.

.

A shinobi screamed as he was being carried up off the ground by the web of a Jorōgumo.

The Oni Zetsu brought the shinobi closer towards its fangs, but suddenly, its web was cut by something fast, shocking the creature.

The shinobi screamed as he was now falling, but someone had managed to catch him.

"You okay?" The voice of a girl asked, making the shinobi look to see he was being carried Sarada. She laid him down and fast than he could tell, she used a lightning charged kunai to slice open the webbing surrounding him. "That's better." Sarada said with a smile, before her own hand was gripped by new webbing from the Jorōgumo's mouth. "Big mistake." Sarada said as she then focused. "Chidori Nagashi!" (One Thousand Birds Current)

The current of lightning travelled up the web and into the Jorōgumo's mouth, going straight into its body.

The Jorōgumo let out a screech of agony as its insides were being electrocuted. Its body then started to smoke as it charred from the inside out, turning black before Sarada stopped. The Jorōgumo then fell forward, falling down towards Sarada, who simply brought her webbed hand back, clenched it and delivered an uppercut to its body, turning its corpse into dust.

"Chanara." Sarada uttered.

"Sugoi." The shinobi said in awe at her abilities. He then noticed several figures behind her. "Look out!" The shinobi called out, before Sarada grabbed him and leaped away in time to dodge a shockwave that had rocketed towards them, now leaving a large, deep rut in their place.

Sarada landed atop a build and placed the shinobi down, before turning to see the culprit was a Namahage holding a kanabō club with several more surrounding it.

"These things, eh?" Sarada said as she pushed up her glasses before falling over the building. As she landed upon the ground, she knelt as she held her bicep. "Raikiri." (Lightning Cutter) She uttered as her two tomoe sharingan blazed and lightning surrounded her hand.

Sarada sped at high speed towards the kanabō holding Namahage. The creature raised up its weapon, ready to strike her down, but her body suddenly coursed with lightning as she got even faster and sliced the Namahage in half.

Sarada's eye shined bright red as she sped around and started slicing the rest of them in half. Once done, she grabbed several kunai with sealing tags in her hands and tossed them towards their bodies as once they turned into pollen, they were sucked into the tags.

Sarada stood up straight, but then she sensed a new danger as lightning spark from her back. She quickly turned and clasped her hands hard against a spiked wheel with one of its tips almost touching her hitai-ate.

It was a Wanyūdō, which growled with annoyance that this girl managed to catch it. It tried pushing further down into her, but she was too resilient. It couldn't even gain an inch. So, it decided to heat things up.

The Wanyūdō's body ignited with fire, causing Sarada's teeth to grit as her hands were being burnt from the flames.

'This isn't enough to deal with me… Now Anymore!' Sarada thought with a growl as her arm muscles tightened with electricity coursing through them. "CHANARA!" Sarada screamed out with new might, she crushed the section of the Wanyūdō's wheel she held to pieces.

The Wanyūdō roared with pain as it rolled back some. It growled with anger as it then spun on one of its spikes to face Sarada. It took a deep breath in and then fired out a barrage of diamonds.

With incredible speed, Sarada batted them all away with her fists, before then slamming her hands together, creating a shockwave that destroyed the rest and sent the Wanyūdō flying back.

Sarada was done however, as she sped forward with blinding speed and had her fist cocked back.

"Chanara!" Sarada screamed out as she slammed her fist straight into the Wanyūdō, breaking the Oni Zetsu to pieces from the force of her attack. As she skidded to a halt, she grabbed a pair of kunai with sealing tags and tossed them back to absorb the leftover pollen that was the Wanyūdō a moment ago. "Heh. These guys aren't so tough anymore." Sarada said with a smirk as she readjusted her glasses again.

She then sensed a new threat as lightning sparked from her back again, but before she could turn to face the monster, another Jorōgumo, it was sliced in half by someone who appeared behind it.

"Ain't that the truth." Boruto said with a smirk after slicing the Jorōgumo in half with his bokken, which was surrounded by chakra.

"I could have handled it." Sarada said with her hands on her hips.

"I know. I just wanted to get to it first." Boruto said as he took out a sealing tag and sucked up the pollen the Jorōgumo transformed into. "Those bags got people in them?" Boruto asked, looking towards the several sacs, earning a nod from Sarada. "Allow me." Boruto took out several pieces of paper and with blinding speed, made swirl-like sealing formulas.

"Sugoi." Sarada said breathlessly, amazed by Boruto's progress in fūinjutsu.

With finesse, Boruto slapped the tags upon the sacs and made several hand seals before thrusting his hand forward.

"Kai!" Boruto turned his hand counterclockwise, as the bags the opened up. "Follow my voice! The name is Boruto Uzumaki! You're free now, I promise!" Boruto called out to the children inside the sacs so they could escape.

Atop a building, Konohamaru had watched the progress of his student with pride.

"Not bad." Konohamaru said with his arms crossed.

"Konohamaru-san, there are another large number together near the center of the village. I am sending you, their location." A sensory-nin communicated to Konohamaru via their jutsu.

"Still… the night's not over yet." Konohamaru said as he readied a fire fueled Rasengan before vanishing as a great distance away came a tornado of fire.

.

.

One Namahage had managed to allude many shinobi. It kept to the alleyway and bid its time, and now that time spent was paying off as it was nearing the gates.

It was so close. Home free. All that it had collected was going to be taken away with it.

It was in the clear and could not be stopped.

Or so it thought, as it then felt hit the back of its head. It turned to see it was a stone and the perpetrator was a lone, brown-eyed boy with black hair that was swept to the right side.

"You're not going anywhere." Ehō said with a brave expression. The Namahage just stared at him for a moment… before turning and leaving. "Hey! I said you're not going anywhere!" Ehō shouted as he grabbed another rock and tossed it at the Namahage, before grabbing some more.

The Namahage just simply ignored the stones it was being pelted with. It didn't have time to waste. Not for one single child. Not when he already had so many, and any more time wasted was more time given to its enemies.

Ehō growled in anger as he decided to stop throwing rocks and charged at the beast.

"You're not getting away!" Ehō screamed out as he pounced on the Namahage, but it suddenly turned and grabbed Ehō by the neck.

Ehō choked up as the Namahage narrowed its eyes at him and growl.

The beast released its sac and opened up its claws, intending to strike the boy down with just a single slash.

Ehō gripped the Namahage's arm, trying to get it to relinquish its hold, but it was far too strong for him. No matter how hard he fought, the beast would not relent. It never would. Not with the level Ehō was at.

Ehō gritted his teeth with frustration written all over his face.

This might be the end.

There was nothing he could do… or so it seemed.

In truth, Ehō was preparing something. Something he learned from his Boss. His elder brother figure.

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.

"Whoa! So Cool!" Ehō shouted in awe at the feat he just witnessed.

There before him was Shinachiku with his hand extended out as before the blonde was a long rut with several trees having been blown away off of its roots.

"Yeah… but it's not on my tou-chan's level. I'll tell you that." Shinachiku said with a small smile as he looked towards his palm.

"And I can do that with that pebble training you've been teaching me?!"

"Well, it helps with the practice." Shinachiku said as he walked over and handed Ehō a piece of paper, confusing the boy. "Send your chakra into that." Shinachiku ordered, which Ehō did without question, resulting in the paper igniting and turning to ash, shocking the younger boy. "Okay, good. Your chakra nature is fire. That means this'll make the technique much deadlier in your hands.

"No way! Awesome!" Ehō saw with awe and excitement that he was going to have an upgraded form of the technique.

"Now Ehō, remember. This technique is an A to S rank technique. I'm trusting you with it, so please, use it responsibly. Only use it when necessary and to protect those in need, especially if they're your comrades. I don't want it to be used to cause unnecessary harm." Shinachiku said as he knelt before Ehō.

"I understand, onii-chan." Ehō said with a nod.

"Good… now listen up, because I'm going to tell you the three-step necessary to complete this."

.

.

"First, focus your chakra into the center of your palm." Shinachiku's voice echoed within Ehō mind.

Ehō closed his eyes as he did just that, focusing his chakra into the tenketsu within the center of his hand.

"Now, focus on spiraling your chakra at a rapid pace within. You might feel some discomfort, but so long as you have the proper chakra control, you'll be just fine. No damage will come to you."

Ehō focused his chakra to spin at a rapid pace. Though he felt his hand starting to go fuzzy, he kept it up and managed to keep it in check.

"Then you're going to add more power to it while making sure to never lose the proper flow and chakra control."

Ehō tightened his lip as he pushed more and more chakra into the tenketsu, feeling his whole arm shaking, but he kept at it, making sure never to lose momentum.

"Now, for you, we'll add a bonus step. You're going to focus your chakra nature into the technique."

The Namahage was ready to strike, when it sensed an increase in heat on its arm. The same that was gripping the boy.

Ehō furrowed his brow and groaned as he focused more and more of his chakra nature into the center of his hand as the chakra build up more and more.

"Once you have all these done… you'll be able to unleash it. All that's left… is to let it go."

Ehō snapped open his eyes as a gleam came from his pupils.

"Katon: Tatsumaki Shō!" (Fire Release: Tornado Palm) Ehō screamed out as a sizeable tornado of fire was unleashed from Ehō's palm, blowing off and incinerating the Namahage's arm.

The Namahage's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. It roared it in pain as it stepped back, holding its now decimated and charred arm. It growled in anger and frustration that a simple child was able to do such damage to it. It noticed the boy running over toward the bag and trying to take it away.

"Dammit! Why is it so heavy?!" Ehō screamed out before he noticed a shadow over himself. He looked up to see the very angry Namahage, that then backhanded him away. Ehō groaned in pain as he held his cheek, only to notice his form being shadowed again. Ehō stared up in horror as the angry Namahage then raised its remaining claw, readying to finish him off. 'Dammit! I tried my best… and it still wasn't enough! Gomen, onii-chan!' Ehō thought with frustration and sadness, closing his eyes before the killing blow.

That killing blow though did not came from the Namahage and was not directed towards Ehō.

"Rasengan!" A voice screamed out, causing the Namahage to turn only to be struck in the stomach by Shinachiku's jutsu. "Chanaro!" Shinachiku screamed out as his Rasengan burst, sending the Namahage flying far and pass the gate where it dispersed into pollen.

High up above, a kunai with a sealing tag was tossed towards the ground where it consumed the pollen, keeping it from spreading.

Arata stared down at the spot with his arms crossed, but then noticed something within the ground and far ahead with brought him a new sense of shock and fear.

'Uh oh'

Meanwhile, Shinachiku quickly applied medical ninjutsu to a very surprised Ehō.

"Onii-chan…" Ehō said breathlessly with widened eyes.

"Sorry I was late." Shinachiku said, offering a smile as he finished fixing Ehō cheek.

"Onii-chan… I didn't… I…" Ehō started to tear up as he sat up from the ground, but then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm proud of you. You managed to save someone, and you did some serious damage to an Oni Zetsu. You're on your way to becoming a great shinobi." Shinachiku said with a proud smile, shocking Ehō as the boy started to cry tears of joy.

"Onii-chan!" Ehō hugged his 'older brother', thankful for his words and all the strength he gave him.

After a moment of comforting the boy, Shinachiku went over towards the sac and made the required sealing formula on it.

"Kai!" Shinachiku turned his hand counterclockwise, causing the swirl in the seal to turn and open up the bag. "You can come out now. Everything is alright." Shinachiku said, kneeling in front of the open bag as Ehō stopped beside.

After a moment, a little girl with strawberry-blonde hair to crawl out. She looked up with widened eyes, shocked that she was free. She saw a boy made of golden fire and a younger boy with dark hair beside him, as the former turned back into his original form.

"It's all okay now." Shinachiku said, offering the little girl a comforting smile.

The little girl stared at him with widened eyes before she started to tear up with her open mouth quivering. The strawberry blonde girl cried as she hugged Shinachiku like it would be the last hug she would ever give.

Shinachiku returned it with a warm embrace, comforting the girl and assuring her that everything was going to be alright.

Ehō looked into the bag, only to move back to see more kids crawling out. A lot of them. More than ten. Actually, close to twenty.

'I can't believe that thing was carrying this many kids and was this close to getting away with them.' Ehō thought, shocked by the number and now more relieved that he managed to keep it busy before Shinachiku arrived.

"Onii-chan!" They all heard, making them turn to see Boruto and Sarada. "You got it, and just in time too! Way to go!" Boruto said with a smile.

"I didn't take it down alone. Without Ehō here, that thing probably would have made it pass the gates before I could show up." Shinachiku said, looking towards his student.

"Whoa, really? Nice work." Boruto said to Ehō who smiled with pride.

"Let's get these kids to safety. The village seems to be just about cleared." Sarada said as she walked over to help Shinachiku with the kids, but all of a sudden, the ground started to shake. "What in the-?!"

"Oh, what now?!" Boruto shouted out.

They all heard the sound of cracking, making them turn to see a large fissure forming from the gates, and moving underneath them as it passed them by.

"Oh no." Shinachiku uttered as then something came out of the ground a distance away from them was a large tree that took the shape of a skeletal hand at the end.

"Um… what's happening now?" Boruto asked with worry.

Suddenly, all throughout the village, more trees of varying size were appearing, shocking all the shinobi.

.

.

The Barrier Team was shocked by this development, but none more than Naruto and Ino as they could sense what was exactly going on.

"Something's going on!" One of the sensory officers exclaimed.

"What is happening?!" Kohan asked with urgency.

"Trees. They're sprouting everywhere throughout the village!" One of the officers informed.

"Trees?" Kohan questioned.

"Those aren't normal trees." Ino said in shock, earning everyone else's attention. "They're… connected to something… something big… and with an enormous pool of natural energy." Ino said with fear written all over her face.

Naruto furrowed his brow as he knew that this night was very, very far from over.

.

.

Surrounding shinobi stared at the trees with surprise and confusion.

"Where the hell did this thing come from?" One shinobi questioned as he got closer.

"Hold up a minute, you idiot!" Another called out as then one of the trees bent over and grabbed several of the shinobi, gripping them like a hand.

"What the hell is this?!" Another shinobi shouted, before he felt himself growing weak.

In an instant, all the shinobi entwined in the tree's 'grip' were sucked up of all their chakra, leaving them as husks.

"Oh, Holy Shit!" A shinobi screamed out in horror, before more were being grabbed.

They screamed out in terror, as the trees focused on draining them of their life force.

"Ōdama Rasen Tairengan!" (Big Ball Spiraling Serial Zone Spheres) Konohamaru shouted as he made fifty clones that ran over and destroyed the trees with their enlarged Rasengans, freeing the shinobi.

"Arigato, Konohamaru-senpai." One of the shinobi said, tiredly and with gratitude.

"Don't thank me yet." Konohamaru said as more trees started appearing around. 'What the hell is going on now?' Konohamaru wondered, furrowing his brow.

.

.

The Hospital was in peril as trees were breaking through the floor. Everyone was busy trying to get the patients to shelter before these roots broke from the ground and through the floors.

One had managed to catch numerous patients, hospital workers and shinobi.

"Tasukete!" A patient screamed as he and the other captives screamed as they felt the life being drained from them.

"CHANARA!" Sakura screamed out as she came rocketing over and punched the tree hard, breaking parts of it, liberating half of captives with nearby shinobi catching them.

Tsunade suddenly came flying as well and delivered a hard flying roundhouse that wrecked the other branches, freeing the rest captured that were caught by other shinobi.

Sakura suddenly grabbed the tree, digging her fingers into. Despite feeling her chakra being drained from her, she pushed through and with a mighty roar, she lifted the tree up high, ripping it from the ground, but its roots seemed almost endless. Sakura gritted her teeth as she focused all her strength to lift what she grabbed of the tree overhead with one hand, and then coated her other hand in chakra as she sent a chop with such force that it tore right through the roots, fully detaching the tree from them.

Sakura then tossed the giant tree up and then delivered one last punch that sent it flying far and away from the village.

"Everyone, pick up the pace! These damn things are spreading everywhere! Make sure all of the patients have been evacuated as soon as possible!" Tsunade ordered, earning nods as everyone hurried to evacuate the rest. "How are you holding up, Sakura?" Tsunade asked her former protégé.

"I'm a little winded, but I'm far from done." Sakura answered, as then a new tree grew from the roots that she had cut a moment ago. "What the hell is with these things?"

"What they are and where they came from can wait. We still have a lot of people to save right now." Tsunade said as the two hurried off to make sure everyone was taken to safety.

.

.

Tenten heaved a large, curved kunai-like sword that had a coating of chakra around the blade. She let out a battle cry as she swung it and sliced the tree in front of her in half.

"Now this is the kind of situation where ninja tools are here to shine." Tenten said with a smirk, only for a new tree to grow from the severed roots. "Nani?! Are these even actual trees!? No way that could grow this fast like that!" Tenten exclaimed with a shocked anime expression.

The new tree tried to grab her, but she leaped away from it in time. As she was in the air, she took out a scroll and unfurled it to activate a sealing formula that unleashed numerous kunai surrounded in orange chakra coating as they flew forward. They struck the tree all over and unleashed several consecutive explosions that broke apart the tree again.

"Why do I feel like that won't be enough." Tenten said to herself with a frown.

"Tenten! Can you hear me?"

"Ino?" Tenten was surprised to hear the Yamanaka from within her head.

"These trees are sprouting all over the village. It looks like you're having a better time than everyone else thanks to your weapons. We need more like yours in the hands of as many shinobi as possible!" Ino mentally told the weapons mistress.

"Alright. How many do you need?" Tenten asked.

"All of them."

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.

"What the hell is all this?" Iwabe questioned as he and the Shinachiku beside him looked around the ever-growing trees.

They felt the ground shake making them stumble a bit. The ground beneath Iwabe's feet started to form fissures, with Shinachiku noticing.

"Iwabe, look out!" Shinachiku shouted as he pushed his friend away as a tree shot out from the ground beneath him and taking hold of the Shinachiku clone.

"Shinachiku!" Iwabe shouted out the blonde's name with worry for his life.

"Iwabe! Get to safety! Don't worry, I'm just a clone! Now go!" Clone Shinachiku called out to the taller teen.

Iwabe was hesitant to run, but the second roots started to grow out beside his feet, he bolted. If it had been the real Shinachiku with him then he would have stuck around, but seeing as only his life was in actual danger, best to heed your friend's warning and make like a tree and leave!

No pun intended!

Clone Shinachiku groaned as he struggled to free himself, only to feel his strength being sapped by the tree itself.

"Shina! This is no tree! This and all the others are connected to one source and it's just outside the village!" Mamoru warned from within the clone and by proxy the original's mindscape.

"Oh crap." Clone Shinachiku said before he poofed out of existence.

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.

Back with Shinachiku's group, they stared at the forest before them, all feeling uneasy about what this could mean.

"What is going on?" Sarada wondered aloud with a sense of growing fear.

"Sarada, Boruto, take the children with you and get them to safety." Shinachiku ordered his younger half-siblings with a serious expression.

"Gotcha, onii-chan." Boruto said with a nod. "All you kids form a ring and hold hands. I'm going to teleport you all to where everyone else is."

"You know where the shelters are?" Sarada asked.

"Not really, but I do know that Shinachiku-onii-chan left his mark there." Boruto answered, surprising her but even more so, surprising Shinachiku.

"How did you-?" Before Shinachiku could finish, a new tree shot out in front of them all and went to grab them, but the sunshine blonde quickly leaped forward and punch it away, saving the others. "Forget it! I'll ask later! Just get those kids out of here!" Shinachiku ordered.

"Right! Everyone, hold hands!" Boruto ordered.

The children quickly listened to the golden-haired blonde and held one another's hands as they lined up in a ring formation.

Boruto grabbed Ehō's hand, who was grabbing one of the children's hands, and then the whiskered Uzumaki offered his other hand to Sarada.

The Uchiha girl blushed a bit at this but regained her composure as she grasped Boruto's hand.

Now with everyone joining hands together, Boruto closed his eyes and focused until he found his target.

'There.' And with that thought, Boruto flashed away with the others in tow, leaving only Shinachiku behind.

Shinachiku sighed with relief before leaping away in time to avoid the tree slamming on top of him.

'So, they're all connected to a single source… right outside the village.' Shinachiku narrowed his eyes as he turned and ran towards the gates. He then leaped up high and landed atop of them, where he found Arata already standing there. "Arata! These trees-"

"I know, but that isn't the worst of it right now." Arata said, shocking Shinachiku, as he then pointed his finger ahead.

Shinachiku blinked his eyes with an eyebrow raised. The boy took the hint as he proceeded to close his eyes and focus. Thanks to accessing some of Mamoru's chakra, he was instantly able to recognize what was up ahead.

Many upon many chakra signatures, all with essence of natural energy within them, and he could feel the bloodlust radiating off of their owner.

Shinachiku gasped in shock, snapping his eyes open as he now gained a look of fear.

"That's…"

"The worse possible scenario." Arata said, furrowing his brow.

"… Hyakki Yagyō…" (Night Parada of One Hundred Demons) Shinachiku said breathlessly with a horrified tone.

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Ino had sensed the same sources thanks to Naruto, which instantly horrified her.

"Good lord..." She uttered, widening her eyes in fear, while Naruto furrowed his brow.

.

.

Boruto and Sarada had arrived at the shelter and even managed to reunite the children with their parents, when Boruto felt his neck hair stand on edge.

The golden blonde grabbed the back of his neck as he felt a sense of unease.

"Is everything alright?" Sarada asked her friend.

"… No… I don't think it is." Boruto replied with a serious expression, catching Sarada off guard and unnerving her.

.

.

There residing in the forest were a large number of Oni Zetsu, hidden within the shadows as they stared ahead at their target: Konohagakure.

They sensed the sources of chakra inside and felt a hunger to devour them all. Their bloodlust and natural energy radiated off their very being, reacting to their appetite for humans and their chakra.

Their forms were covered by shadows, but their eyes were all you could see. All opened wide and gleaming like diamonds. The forest was littered with nothing by the lights from their eyes.

Shinachiku just gritted his teeth as he and Arata had looks of frustration that hid their worries and fears. They glared ahead at the forest across from the village, both silent until Shinachiku broke it by uttering a single phrase.

"Just great."

End of Chapter 20

Damn, damn, damn. I haven't written a chapter this long since Chapter 10, I think! Sorry it took so long, but I hope the read was worth it. I wanted to get this out one October since this has a spooky vibe with horror elements. In case you didn't notice, I love adding elements of horror to my story, as I had clearly shown in past chapters. Not unlike the great Hirohiko Araki.

I figured the timing was too perfect.

Won't lie, I expected to get here sooner, but I just kept writing and then extra chapters were added to this story, which I do not regret.

Anway, this right here, followed by the next chapter are the halfway point. That's right, after this little invasion, we'll officially be halfway done with this story. I just can't believe it, you know?

I feel… proud. Also thankful that so many people like this story and genuinely enjoy it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and was worth the wait.

Hopefully you guys won't have to wait too long for the follow up.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and… you know, I decided that if this had been an anime, I would have had the opening song be Wonder by ONE OK ROCK. Only makes sense to give it an ending song. Personally, I'd go with ツキ (Tsuki) which translates to Moon by FAKE TYPE. It fits well in my eyes. Although, since we're practically about to be at the mid-season finale, in a sense, I had another song in mind as the 2nd half Ending song.

I won't say but given where the story will be heading after this, I think it'll fit. Either that or as the ending song. I know there's no point to choosing a song for the opening and ending of a story that'll never see the light of day as an actual anime, but I like to mention these songs I love and hope that by letting them be known, maybe the rest of you could listen to them and come to enjoy them.

Anyway, I've used up enough of your time. Once again, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I thank you for your attention and support, and I hope you all will enjoy the next one.

Until then, ja ne!

Takeshi1225, Out!