Crushed

Naruto thought the grey haired fool was dead after that strike, and laying in the ground for a solid minute, but he kipped up almost immediately, head still drooping, a flood of blood falling out the back of his skull.

"Sweess aren sdon yret" The man slured, eye lids falling as he struggled to stay on his feet. Bit by bit, he found his footing, until finally he was able to open his eyes fully, seeing a pair of sandles about to hit his face.

He pushed his arms in front of his face, trying to limit the impact, but they only broke, crushed under the pressure of the blow, breaking his nose. The onslaught didn't stop though, Naruto flipping midair before closing in, 5 hits impacting the sides of Hidan's ribs, breaking and bludgeoning them, his organs getting crushed with each incredible impact, Naruto finishing with a haymaker smashing into his opponent's skull once more, flipping him in a non-consensual cartwheel.

Hidan fell to his knees, the strength of Naruto far too much to take. He just needed more time, to regenerate, he thought to himself. The time didn't come though, exchanged for a rasengan to the face.

Weird, Naruto thought, in regards to the man's durability. He had a much bigger concern though, rising out of the pit.

The body rising and writhing with pain was naked, his clothes wiped out in the blast, markings and cuts marring his toned body. The man's face mask was gone, replaced with a hateful expression, and long flowing hair over unnatural eyes.

"And who would you be?"

"Not telling."

If the man's expression was destructive before, it was murderous now, as he charged up each of his hearts remaining, lightning and fire and wind and water, all poised at the unrecognized Jinjuriki. He failed to see the clones Naruto had spawned above though, one launched like a projectile with a spinning rasenshuriken ramming it into the wind heart.

Kakuzu flinched from the explosion, which happened to disrupt the other flying hearts, turning back to Naruto and getting a fist to his cheek. The old man was good enough to come back after that, stopping his momentum by skidding across the dirt, launching swipe after swipe at Naruto, all missing as the younger man swerved and dodged under and over limb and tendril alike.

Kakuzu pushed on, using the tendrils he stuck into the ground from above as a sling shot, pulling himself through the air right at Naruto. The jinjuriki spawned a cushion of clones, halting the missing nin, slamming axe kick into his slowed body, but it spiralled away into a cloud of black tendrils, writhing in the air. From behind, the older ninja swiped a horizontal kick, which Naruto bent under, his body falling into a handstand as he twisted, spinning into a kick across Kakuzu's face, sending him reeling.

He rushed closer, hoping to engage in CQC once again, but his opponent instead fired a great ball of flame at him, followed by a barrage of jutsus from his remaining elements, explosion and attack both zipping past Naruto as he ducked and weaved between each and every one.

Naruto looked at the attacks coming his way understanding bit by bit their movements more and more, until he saw an opening, dashing through. Kakuzu smiled, the man falling for his trap, flame erupting from the earth, leaving not a charred body, but only smoke. At the last moment, Naruto had swapped with a clone, his real self flying at the missing nin with a mid-air spinning kick. It hit on target, and he followed up, lifting the stunned man into the air, then slamming him back down with a rasengan in his chest, the projectile pushing the man through layer after layer of rock, drilling into his sternum.

Despite coughing up blood, the S rank bounty hunter still sent tendrils out to from the ravine he had been drilled through, aiming to carve Naruto to pieces. Sensing two attacks, from both ends, Naruto flipped, a sharp black growth carving Hidan to pieces as he attacked from behind.

Then Hidan, head decapitated, spoke.

"You idiot! You're supposed to hit him not me!"

Naruto landed, realising . He was immortal then, Naruto realised. He needed to finish this quick, these two were far too durable to be taken out by normal means. He decided to use his trump card against them now, deal with 2 birds in one move.

He flipped through hand sign after sign, coalescing chakra, water and earth and nature altogether, the power building up. Then, he slammed his hands down, a resounding thud accompanying the rapid pouring of energy into the dirt around him.

For a moment, not even a minute portion of a second, nothing happened. Then, the next, roots ripped through the ground, piercing Hidan's skull, picking it up and rising it into the air, before more and more roots twisted around and round, the twirl of brown wood, strong and thick yet natural rotating around the cultist's head, encasing it more and more, like an anaconda, until it was closed off from the outside world.

All that was left, all the evidence of Hidan's existence, was a tree, brown, it's verdant leaves already blooming.

"T-That's impossible. The first hokage's technique! How do you- How can you?"

Naruto breathed to himself, the markings still around his face.

"I just can. I just figured it out, by myself. Even when I was young, I felt this connection to nature. I just needed to get closer to myself, to this feeling of peace, of calmness. It isn't on the level of the first hokage, but it doesn't need to be to scare you, doesn't it?"

Kakuzu, now healed enough to cower from his foe, from that fear, scambling away on all fours before sprinting away, as if a demon was on his tail. It didn't matter to Naruto, him raising his hand, and seeing two pieces of wood pierce the man's legs, constraining him to the earth. He continued crawling, as the wood took over more and more of his bottom half.

Kakuzu knew he couldn't win, knew that demon, that god in the form had outlived his body, was here to kill him, to destroy him just like back then! Every tree a foe, every piece of ground a mine! He needed to get away.

And all Naruto needed to do was flick his wrists, as the rasenshurikens his clones generated in both of his palms were thrown, both slamming into the now former missing nin, a massive and chaotic explosion turning his cells, modified by a forbidden jutsu to, ribbons in an instant.

The only things remaining of the two notorious missing nin, was a tree, and a crater.

Now, Naruto thought, to find that jinjuriki.

Yugito rushed past rock after rock, wall running as she continued her decent.

Her midsection was bleeding, a large cut across, creating a searing pain. She was lucky that cultist didn't poison it. Her healing would repair it soon, but the internal damage was a little more serious. If it hit a kidney or her liver she would be in trouble. Those complex organs took longer.

Those two were unnatural, impossible. She had blown them both away multiple times and yet they just pushed past. She just had to get to B. Even if it would compromise Kumo bringing them that close she didn't care. She needed to beat them, and only would the 8 tailed jinjuriki be able to bring them down.

Then just in front, a figure landed. She recognized him as the same one that had attacked the two, practically saving her. Had he already beaten them?

"The second tailed jinjuriki I presume?"

He knew who she was. Or suspected. Yugito knew then he had a proximity to the tailed beasts, recognizing herself from her Nibi's fire, the unique chakra signature recognized. Either that, or he was hunting her.

"Who are you?"

A question with a question. Leave it unanswered and put him on the backfoot.

The man walked closer.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is what you suspect, or at least what you will tell your superiors about me."

Yugito was exhausted. Her beast was completely drained, she had been told, and her own chakra was running dry. She couldn't deal with another fight, least of all from someone who defeated 2 S-rank ninja in minutes.

"I won't say anything, I swear."

He smirked, sinister, knowing.

"You will. Which is why I need to do this to you."

Then shards of rock pierced her legs from below, dropping Yugito to her knees and making her scream in pain.

Naruto sent a clone forward, who lifted her up by her battle loosened hair.

"By the time you reach your village, or a patrol, I will already be gone. Let them know how strong I am. Let them know how easily I could have killed you."

Then he let go, the clone dissipated, and when the smoke cleared, he was gone.

Yugito suspected the man was important, and this wasn't just to defeat those missing nin. This was to send a message.

Huffing under the pain she felt, she crawled bit by bit down the mountain.

Reports came later that a man, tall and brown haired and strong had killed the S rank missing nins Kakuzu and Hidan.

And that information shouldn't have mattered to them, but Kakashi pointed it out. Pointed out the perfect shape of the craters, of the targets, Akatsuki, and most damning of all, that the brown haired man had never been seen before.

Kakashi told his squad they were probably a jinjuriki, probably strong, and putting both of those together, he was either the 3, 4, 5, 6 or 9 tailed jinjuriki.

He liked those odds, weirdly enough.

He told his squad to search for men that height, that build, the aliases he uses, the patterns he exhibits. And himself? Collected all of the information into one coherent pile and day after day tried to connect the dots.

Steadily, he was putting it together, and he didn't know what to think of what picture he was making.

Uzumaki Naruto was on the move.

He enjoyed the cool and calm waters of the flowing rivers he mediated next to. The feel was nice, yes, but the knowledge it was cold seemed to quench himself somehow. All of the nature around him made him feel powerful.

When he gained that power, wood style, he thought if he was somehow a relative, or if he was a similar person, or 100 other things that barely mattered.

All that was important really was that he had the style of the first hokage, and that gave him some strength. He would use it, like everything else, to become the leader of the Leaf. And then, finally, he would get the respect he deserved. Any who wronged him would have to cower at his feet, crying and apologising, and weak in front of them where he was so long ago. He would prove every single one of them wrong.

And whoever got in his way, he would deal with. He wouldn't kill indiscriminately, but he would have to fight those who wanted him dead. If he needed to, he wouldn't shy away.

He made a promise, so himself, to his friends, that he would never give up on his goals, and even 6 years later, he still hadn't.

Yet Naruto couldn't have known, that the two S-ranked missing nin were only the start.

A/N: Part 2 of the last chapter.

The main reason for killing the zombie fuckers this early is; Easy characters to kill, to show Naruto's power level. This chapter could have been much longer if the battle actually mattered but it didn't really. There are a number of battles I would label important, most of them planned out a little, some of them not. How about in the reviews you try to guess?

Anyway, 60 reviews! Remember to review so my ego gets even bigger, thanks guys. Also, thanks for reading.

Also, review responses;

Lopeqz: Naruto will probably have to end up killing Konoha shinobi, between hunter nin and his planned revolution, though he needs time away, to open his horizons and become more open to the idea of killing his former shinobi. There is an insinuation that he kills at least one jonin but it isn't explicit so it is open to interpretation. Naruto killing Sasuke is an alright conclusion but there are several ways he could get the rinnegan otherwise (nagato, steals Sasuke's eyes, etc). Sakura will not kill Naruto. He is just too strong for that.

WolfCoyote: Glad you are enjoying the story, in regards to returning to Uzu that is an interesting Idea I could use in the future, though I am apprehensive in using the Shinigami, both in general or to bring people back to life (Both because I want Minato's action to remain an esoteric, occult and very insane action, and because I dislike the idea of the Shinigami working in the manner you can bargain for the lives of others easily.)