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.

21. Hyakki Yagyō

We'll Get Home, I Promise

Chapter 21: Hyakki Yagyō

"A Hyakki Yagyō?!" (Night of One Hundred Demons) Kohan Yamanaka screamed out in shock and fear.

"Y-Yes sir. Thanks to the Hokage, we are able to sense that there are a hundred or more of these creatures waiting outside of the village within the forest." One of the sensory-nin of the Barrier Team said, starting to sweat with fear.

Kohan was left speechless. A look of worry was on his face, but his eyes resonated the fear within him.

"How are our numbers?" Shikamaru asked.

"Dwindling. These trees are unable to be cut down without regrowing moments later." One of the sensory-nin answered.

"How are Tenten and those weapons?"

"She still hasn't finished gathering all that she has."

"Damn." Shikamaru cursed. This whole damn situation was far too troublesome.

Suddenly, a clone of Naruto popped into existence, surprising everyone.

"Naruto?" Ino looked at the Hokage with confusion as he released her to allow the clone to take his place.

"I'm going to head out there and help with the deforestation. Shikamaru, help out Ino and my clone. I need you to guide all the troops. Coordinate them to the best of your abilities. Right now, it is no longer an invasion. This is war." Naruto said with a serious expression, earning a nod from his advisor before he headed out.

"You better grab onto my shoulder." Ino said to her old teammate, who did just that.

'Can everyone hear me?' Shikamaru spoke mentally through Ino, earning the attention of all shinobi.

"They can hear you alright." Ino answered, noticing everyone's attention on Shikamaru's voice.

'Listen, we've reached critical alert now. There are these trees that can absorb chakra not unlike the Jūbi, and what's worse, there are over a hundred of those Oni Zetsu out there waiting to attack the village.' Shikamaru mentally informed, shocking everyone and filling them to the brim with fear. 'From now on, I'm going to guide you all. First off, all genin get off the streets and hide out with the rescued citizens. I need at least thirty Chunin to hide out with them in case those damn roots spring out. Tenten will be providing the weapons that will assist. Physical contact with these trees is ill-advised, so use weapons coated with chakra to fight against them. She'll provide the necessary weaponry and we'll get them to you.' Shikamaru informed all the shinobi within the village.

"I'll make everyone will get a weapon, personally." Clone Naruto informed, speaking for his progenitor.

"Hey, I got one hell of an idea, if you'll indulge me, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku's voice was heard, surprising everyone.

"Shinachiku? How… is Inojin with you?" Ino asked, shocked by this development.

"No, but I am connected to the Hokage through more spiritual means, remember?" Shinachiku replied.

"He is?" One of sensory officers of the Barrier Team asked as he and all other shinobi listening in were even further shocked by this claim.

"Listen, regarding Tenten-san's weapons, we could use a fūinjutsu to transfer Kurama-sama's chakra into the weaponry, and another to amplify it and the chakra of any person wielding it. That way everyone can use them to not only to cut these trees down easier, but even stand up to the Oni Zetsu!" Shinachiku explained, shocking everyone even further and amazing him with his intellect and skill.

"Good lord…" Shikamaru said breathlessly with awe as his eyes widened.

"Hahaha! Perfect! I'm all for it, dattebayo!" Clone Naruto said with an Uzumaki grin and eye smiles.

"Naruto, are you sure about this? You'll be spreading your chakra out to every still active shinobi." Ino reminded her fellow blonde.

"No worries. I can literally make close to a million clones on my own if I wanted to, 'ttebayo. I'm sure Kurama and I can hand spare some and still kick ass with the rest of you." Clone Naruto said with a grin.

"I'll get one of my own clones to Tenten-san's location. He can make the necessary fūinjutsu to help out." Shinachiku informed.

"Alright. Until then, every genin, get to a shelter this instant." Shikamaru ordered.

"No Way!" Boruto's voice was heard, shocking everyone again.

"B… Boruto?" Shinachiku spoke in shock.

"I trained really hard to get to this point, and there's no way I'm leaving now!" Boruto exclaimed.

"Boruto, how are you doing this? Shinachiku, I understand, but how are you able to speak through the mental link?" Shikamaru asked, still in shock.

"Who cares?! The only thing that matters is that I stay out here and fight! I'm not going to let a bunch of zombie veggies or whatever they are scaring me away! Not when I have the power to do something about it, 'ttebasa!" Boruto exclaimed.

"Boruto, I understand your feelings, but-"

"Nothing you say is going to change my mind, Shikamaru-ojisan. I made a promise that I would protect this village. Tonight, everyone is my family, and family never runs away when they need you! Try and send anyone you want to come stop me, but it won't matter in the end! I'll just go right through them and out through those gates! Nothing is going to stop me from protecting my home! Nothing, you hear?!" Boruto shouted with much conviction.

'That boy.' Naruto thought with a smirk, proud of his son.

He wasn't the only one feeling the effect of Boruto's words. All the shinobi heard and felt inspired to keep going. To never give up until the last one of them drops! This is their home too, and the whole village is a family. They're not going to give up on anyone tonight.

"Jeez… Naruto, maybe you can talk some sense into your son." Shikamaru said towards the clone of the kage.

After a moment of looking towards Shikamaru, Naruto responded to his son.

"Boruto… don't give them an inch. Protect the village with everything you have, like a true shinobi!" Clone Naruto ordered.

"Nani?!" Shikamaru looked towards the Hokage with shock and annoyance.

"Of course he would say that." Ino said with a sigh.

"That goes for you too, Shinachiku. I expect you both to kick ass out there and protect our home! I'm trusting you as your Hokage, and your guardian. Understand?" Naruto added.

"Hai, Tou-chan!" Boruto replied with gusto.

"H-Hai! Leave it to us!" Shinachiku also replied with determination, after getting over his previous shock.

"Good luck. I'll see you out there soon." Clone Naruto said with a smile.

"Dammit, you Uzumakis are so damn troublesome." Shikamaru said with annoyance.

"Less troublesome than those Oni Zetsu, at least." Clone Naruto retorted, causing Shikamaru to sigh.

"Ignoring those knuckleheads, all other genin evacuate towards the nearest shelter." Shikamaru ordered through the link.

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.

"I repeat. All genin evacuate towards the nearest shelter." Shikamaru repeated.

Wasabi heard this but was feeling hesitant to do so. She didn't like the idea, especially not after what Boruto had just said. She didn't feel it was right. Not after everything she had gone through up to this point.

"Oi." Tsume spoke, catching Wasabi's attention. "You heard him. Are you heading out or what?" Tsume asked.

Wasabi stared Tsume in the eyes for a moment, before gaining a new look of resolve.

"No way." Wasabi retorted in defiance.

"You're really going to go again the words of the Hokage's advisor?" Tsume asked with a subtle smirk.

"I worked hard like Boruto, which means I got the power to change things too! So, I'm not going to turn tail and run!" Wasabi said.

"Not good at following orders, are ya?"

"I am no follower! I'm An Alpha!" Wasabi proclaimed with pure confidence and determination.

Tsume couldn't help but laugh with a large grin.

"You little brat! That's the kind of speech I like to hear! Alright, fine! Stick with me! Us alphas have to stick together, after all!" Tsume said with a proud grin.

"You don't need to tell me twice, or at all!" Wasabi replied with her own grin.

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Iwabe stared up at the sky with a bit of a conflicted look.

"Head to the shelter, eh?" Iwabe said to himself. He then closed his eyes as memories of not just the training he went through, but also memories of Shinachiku and this other Iwabe came to mind. All they went through and all they had conquered. 'No way. I'm not leaving. I worked way too hard… walking away now…' Iwabe's eyes snapped open as he formed a stone scythe at the end of his jō as he leaped into the air, avoiding being attacked by one of those growing trees. "WOULD BE AN ABSOLUTE INSULT!" Iwabe screamed out as his chakra flared with a coating around his stone scythe.

Iwabe let out an intense battel cry as he swung his makeshift scythe down and with all his might, shredded right through the newly grown tree, slicing it in half. He then roared as he swung his scythe around at blinding speeds, cutting the tree to bits. Once he finished, all that was left were chips.

Iwabe then broke into a mad dash, heading for the gates.

'I won't ever run away from anything! Especially not these living pieces of wood! Just you wait, guys. Just you wait, Shinachiku! I'm going to show how much of a powerful shinobi I have become!' Iwabe mentally declared as he was ready to fight until he dropped.

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Up in the air, Shikadai was riding on his fan with Yodo right beside him.

Shikadai frowned upon hearing everything. It really sucked man. This whole night was filled with one troublesome thing after another. He just wanted it to be over, but it won't. Not without shinobi who can turn the tide of battle.

… And he was one of them.

Shikadai said with a frown and hanging his head.

Yodo stared at him, wondering what he was going to do next. Either run, or fight. Those were the Nara heir's only options.

"Alright. I'm dropping you off at the shelter." Shikadai said, surprising Yodo.

"Excuse me?" Yodo questioned, feeling offended.

"Before I head out to help the rest, I have to make sure you're safe." Shikadai said.

"I am well off defending myself in desperate situations." Yodo retorted with a miffed expression.

"I'm well aware, but you guys are under my family's care, so I'm doing what I must in making sure you stay alive." Shikadai said, but Yodo continued to glare at him. "Listen… this has nothing to do with you being weak or being a girl or being a foreigner. I just don't want to take any chances. I may not have been born there, but Suna is my home as well, and if I let one of my own citizens die, whether they're from Konoha or Suna… I just would no longer be able to call myself one as well. I don't want you to get hurt because like the people of Konoha, you're important to me as well." Shikadai said, shocking Yodo.

Yodo stared at Shikadai with widened eyes and a bit of a blush.

"Hmph. Never took you for a softy." Yodo said with a smirk, making Shikadai groan with annoyance and gain an embarrassed blush. "But that doesn't mean I'll just up and do what you say. Konoha is an ally to Suna, and I'll admit, you've all grown on me, so I'm not going to let people suffer as well when I can make a difference in battle. So no, you're not dropping me off. You're taking me straight to the battlefield. Understand, boy?"

"Boy? We're the same age. Don't go acting superior to me just because you're too stubborn." Shikadai said with a frown.

"This coming from the guy disobeying his father's orders?" Yodo teased, causing Shikadai to flinch with a blush.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Shikadai asked, earning a wider smirk from Yodo. "And here I thought my kaa-chan would be the only troublesome woman from Suna. Alright, fine. I know how this goes. I'd be wasting time dropping you off because you'll follow me anyway."

"Now you're learning." Yodo said with a teasing smile.

"Don't be a drag. You already won the argument. You don't need to rub it in." Shikadai said with a minor pout.

"Remember, Shikadai, women always win their argument against men." Chocho spoke as she flew beside them.

"C-Chocho?! How long have you been there!?" Shikadai asked with surprise.

"We've been here for a while. You probably didn't notice because you were arguing like a married couple here." Inojin said as he and Namida were flying on an ink bird right beside them.

"Inojin? Wait, what did you say?!" Shikadai questioned with a blush on his cheeks.

"Is it normal now for the heir of the Nara clan to marry a Suna kunoichi one day?" Inojin teased with a joking smile.

"That's not that funny, Inojin." Namida said with a dull expression.

"I could make you go deaf; you know that?" Yodo said with an annoyed look and a tick mark.

"You got your hands full with this one, Shikadai." Inojin continued to tease, pissing both said Nara and Yodo off even more.

"You're all too damn troublesome. If you still got energy to mouth off like that, then let's use it to go kill some Oni Zetsu. I'd rather make my disobedience have a positive outcome from it." Shikadai said with an annoyed frown.

"Yes sir!" Chocho said with a smile and salute.

"On your lead, Shikadai." Inojin said.

"We'll give it our all!" Namida proclaimed with a confident smile.

"Then let's move out. They're gonna need air support and long range jutsu users. Let's not let the village down." Shikadai said with a steely look and even more steely resolve.

"Hai!" Everyone responded.

Yodo just smirked as she looked towards Shikadai.

'Looks like Temari-sama did fine work with you. I never should have doubted her.' Yodo thought as she couldn't help but smile as they flew off towards the edge of the village.

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Tsubaki was rushing through the streets of the village, intent on heading for the outside of the village to assist in battle.

'Technically, I am not a genin. I am a samurai. One who has been accepted here with open arms, and for that, I will repay everyone who has treated me well by laying my life on the line for them.' Tsubaki thought with a serious expression.

"Tsubaki-san~!" A male voice called out, causing Tsubaki to turn to see Metal rushing by while pulling a cart with Denki on it. "Hop on!" Metal said.

"We'll give you a ride!" Denki offered.

"Thank you." Tsubaki replied as she hopped into the cart with Metal picking up speed once she did. "I didn't expect you both to defy orders like this."

"Normally we'd listen, but after everything we've been through, I can't help but feel motivated, especially after Boruto's speech! Everything is different now!" Denki proclaimed.

"When we have the power, we do not have the luxury to just walk away! We must do what we can for the village!" Metal declared proudly.

'Our village.' Tsubaki thought as she closed her eyes with all her past experiences flooding to her. Though the time was brief, after so much strife and accomplishments shared, she could not help but feel she belonged just the same as any of her friends. "Yes. Our village." Tsubaki said with a new smile. "Let us move forward and strike down any darkness that awaits to consume our home!" Tsubaki proclaimed with her katana out and pointed forward.

"Yosh!" Metal felt inspired as he picked up immense speed.

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Boruto and Sarada, along with the children that were rescued by Shinachiku and Ehō were in the shelter that Shinachiku had left his mark on. Fortunately, some of the children's parents were there, but others were likely in other shelters. For now though, the children had to stay in this one for their own safety.

Sarada made sure to check out the children. She used her medical ninjutsu to check for any injuries. Fortunately, no physical damage was left. Mental? That's a different story.

"They all fine?" Boruto asked his teammate.

"No physical damage I can find at least." Sarada answered as she finished.

"Alright. Then let's get out there." Boruto said.

"Boruto… how were you able to connect and speak through the mental link like that without the help of a Yamanaka?" Sarada asked with genuine curiosity.

"Huh… you know, I don't know. I've been noticing that I feel a bit… different, but other than that, your guess is as good as mine, 'ttebasa." Boruto said with a shrug. "Anyway, are you coming or what?" Boruto asked, offering the Uchiha his hand.

Sarada nodded without hesitation and took Boruto's hand before they flashed away to help in the fight to save the village. Their home.

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Shinachiku and Arata remained standing atop the gates, with the blonde of the two in deep thought over what had just happened within the mental link regarding Boruto.

"Oi, Arata." Shinachiku spoke to his friend, who already had his eyes on him. "I need to ask… the other day when we were playing Chakra Ball-"

"I saw it too." Arata said, shocking Shinachiku. "I have my theories on how that might have been possible… but you might not like them." Arata said as his left hand then twitched a smidge.

"So, I wasn't imagining anything." Shinachiku said, now assured what was going on with Boruto as of late.

"Right now, that isn't what we should be focusing on." Arata said as he and Shinachiku faced the edge of the village, looking towards the distance where all the Oni Zetsu were lying in wait.

"Well… let's not keep them waiting." Shinachiku said as he leaped to ground level.

"As if that were an option." Arata responded, following Shinachiku's lead.

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Shikamaru sighed with a deep frown.

"That damn son of yours. Now he's got the rest of his friends following his lead. My son included." Shikamaru said as he lightly placed his hand over his forehead.

"He's his father's son alright." Ino said.

"From what I've seen so far through Ino, they've grown far powerful since they trained with Shinachiku and Arata. They're even stronger than a good number of our forces. As much as you guys wouldn't like to hear it, they've gotten to point where their assistance on the front lines is needed." Clone Naruto said, causing Ino and Shikamaru to gain somber expressions.

Though proud, they were still saddened about how true that statement is, and that's what worried them for the genins' safety. Especially their own children.

'Hate to say it… but I can't argue there.' Ino thought as she recalled all the actions and skill that she had seen them all do throughout the village tonight.

"Besides, they haven't even unleashed their full strength yet. They'll be fine." Clone Naruto added, shocking Ino and Shikamaru.

'They haven't even unleashed their full power yet?' Shikamaru thought with shock.

'No way!' Ino thought, shocked and amazed that not only the genin, but also her own son, was hiding away more power within them.

Safe to say, they were shocked and amazed. Yet still worried.

"Shikamaru-sama!" One of the sensory officers spoke up, catching the Nara head's attention. "We have received news that the Scientific Ninja Tools Division have finally brought over their devices for assistance!"

"And Tenten's just about ready with the supplies." Clone Naruto informed.

"Alright then… time for war." Shikamaru said with a serious expression.

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Shinachiku and Arata were walking down the road, getting closer towards the forest as they got further and further away from the gates.

"Every thought you'd see a day like this again?" Shinachiku asked as he and Arata marched forward.

"I always hope not, but knowing our luck…"

"Yeah. That's true." Shinachiku said chuckling a bit before getting serious again. "Remember when we were six? How that night occurred… it feels like it's happening all over again, 'ttebaro."

"It's different now." Arata stated.

"Yeah… but just the memories of that nightmare. What we love is on the verge of being lost and us having to step up for even a moment. Me saving Hanami with my strength… you awakening your Sharingan… a night like this really changes everything." Shinachiku said as he and Arata stopped a good distance between Konoha and the forest before them.

"It's inevitable, apparently." Arata said with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah… I just hope we'll wake up to something good tomorrow, dattebaro." Shinachiku said as he took out his gloves and put them on. "Well… only way to find out." The Uzumaki said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Hn." Arata agreed as he grabbed the hilt of his chokuto and unsheathed it a bit.

Suddenly, a group of Akatekos (Red Child's Hands) shot from nearby trees, giggling like children and stretching far to grab only to be sliced to bits faster than the eye could see by Arata, followed by them screaming with the voices of dying children.

Suddenly a Tsuchigumo (Ground Spider) broke from the ground below, pouncing at the boys, but Shinachiku cocked his fist back and slammed it into it, causing its body to bulge before it exploded with golden fire.

Shinachiku and Arata stood side by side with serious and determined expressions on their faces. Like their fathers before them, they are ready to give their all for their village. No matter what it takes out of them.

"Come on." Both Uchiha and Uzumaki said as then the roars of the Oni Zetsu were heard as they all charged forward.

Rocketing towards them faster than the other were a pair of yokai. One being a humanoid gorilla-like beast with large fists and grass all over itself looking like fur, and the other a being in the shape of a woman with thorny vines for hair. These were Hibagon and Harionago (Hook Girl), respectively.

The Hibagon roared with one of its giant fists cocked back and the Harionago cackled with a wicked grin and her thorny hair up and ready to attack.

"Cha!" Shinachiku screamed out as he slammed his fist into the Hibagon's fist and Arata sent a strong slash that clashed with the Harionago's 'hair', resulting in a force that broke apart the ground beneath before a crater was formed thanks to a resulting shockwave afterwards.

Shinachiku and Arata were sent back some, but they managed to push the pair of Oni Zetsu even further away.

The kōdona genin gritted their teeth as they skidded their feet against the ground. Their bodies burst with chakra as they sped forward, landing blows upon the pair of Oni Zetsu.

Both creatures were now destroyed with half the Hibagon's being blown into ash by Shinachiku's golden flaming punch, and the Harionago's body sliced to pieces and thorny 'hair' into bits by Arata's chokuto.

Both shinobi took out a kunai with sealing tags and tossed it behind them as the tags then sucked in the dispersing bodies to keep their infectious pollen from spreading.

The two reaffirmed their battle stances as they were attacked by more Oni Zetsu that surrounded them.

Shinachiku punched as many as he could, but unlike normal enemies, they were far more durable with a number of these bastards using an invisible aura of natural energy to increase their defense from his blows.

An Ashinaga-tenga (Long Legs Long Arms), which were a pair of Oni Zetsu (one long legged and the other long armed) working as one, charged towards Shinachiku, forcing the boy to leap away from being stomped by its long legs, but he was gripped by the other half's long arms.

Shinachiku grunted as he felt the pressure of being squeezed hard as his chakra was now being drained by the pores in the creature's palms. Shinachiku quickly took out a three-pronged kunai and formed a Rasengan in his other hand. He tossed the kunai at the long armed Ashinaga-tenga's head, but it moved its head to the side, avoiding being struck, only for Shinachiku to vanish and appear above it.

"Rasengan!" (Spiraling Sphere) Shinachiku screamed as he slammed his jutsu into the back of the long arms Ashinaga-tenga's head, crashing it into the ground with his jutsu burst with a shockwave, sending the other half and nearby Oni Zetsu flying back.

The long legged Ashinaga-tenga got up with widened eyes, shocked that its other half was dealt with by this boy. After sealing away its dispersing body, Shinachiku turned his attention towards the other half, scaring it as it ran away.

Shinachiku's body emanated with golden embers as he leaped high into the air with his leg cocked back.

"Moeru Dainamikku Entorī!" (Blazing Dynamic Entry) With his foot engulfed in flames, Shinachiku rocketed downwards, delivering a fiery hard kick to the back of the long-legged Oni Zetsu's head, blowing it into chunks as the boy rode onto its body like a surfboard against the ground.

Shinachiku then heard the sound of a raging cow, and right he was as he turned to see a mostly red horned cow with white spots with its sights set on him. An Akabeko (Red Bull) charging towards him, ready to ram him with its head and horns. Shinachiku decided to match it by rocketing forward, rearing his head back.

"Chānnarō!" Shinachiku slammed a headbutt into the Akabeko's cranium, causing its eyes to bulge as its head broke to pieces like a fallen pot, as the rest of its body fell onto the ground.

Arata was slicing any Oni Zetsu coming at him to pieces, which was very easy, well easier for him compared to normal people, since he was using his sword's bladed edge.

A Jinmenken tried biting him on the legs, but he leaped over and sliced it in half. He was then forced to bounce off twelve more that tried to dogpile him, for lack of a better term, and once he was over all of them, he sent a blinding barrage of slashes, and upon sheathing his chokuto, they were all sliced to bits.

Something then grabbed his chokuto and pulled it away, but he managed to grab it by the hilt and pulled out his sword.

It was Futakuchi-onna (Two-Mouthed Woman), who cackled with a grin as she held his scabbard in her living hair's grip.

Arata simply made a one-handed seal as then electricity radiated from his scabbard, electrocuting the Oni Zetsu through her sensitive hair follicles. Arata then appeared before her, grabbed his scabbard and sheathed his chokuto as 'her' hair was sliced into tiny locks, leaving her nearly bald, before grabbing her by the face.

"Raiton: Taron!" (Lightning Release: Talon) Arata proclaimed as claws made of lightning encased his hand before he instantly crushed the Futakuchi-onna's head.

Arata then started slicing more Oni Zetsu with both his chokuto and his lightning talons, before slamming his talons into the abdomen of a Hibagon.

"Raiton: Hakke Kūshō!" (Lightning Release: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm) Arata sent a powerful compressed force of lightning and chakra from his palm, annihilating the Hibagon's entire upper body and travelling far, striking several more Oni Zetsu along the way.

Just then Arata's eyes suddenly shifted into his Tōmeigan (Transparent Eye) as he immediately sensed danger and from where.

Thanks to his eyes 'danger sense', Arata managed to leap up, avoiding a super-sized snake: a Uwabami (Giant Snake), which tried to bite him in one go. The giant snake Oni Zetsu coiled up into the air, becoming a sort of helix tower as it tried to consume Arata whole whilst he was in midair.

Arata narrowed his eye as he sent another compressed force from his palm, the recoil sending him upward to avoid the bit.

"Raikiri!" (Lightning Cutter) Arata shouted as his hand was engulfed in lightning with a bladed tip formed out of his fingers. Arata landed onto the back of the Uwabami and stabbed his jutsu into its back, making it hiss in pain. He then sped down its coiled body, slicing open its back with his jutsu the further down he went until he hopped before he met the ground. He knew that despite being cut upon along its back, the Uwabami still had enough strength to attack him once more, which he was prepared for. "Chidori Ōdachi!" (One Thousand Birds Great Sword) Arata turned and swiped his lightning hand as it created an elongated blade of lighting that was large and powerful enough to slice the head of the Uwabami off.

As the severed head and body hit the ground, numerous smaller white snakes shot from their opening and attacked Arata, but after canceling out his jutsu, he surrounded his chokuto in lightning and sliced them to pieces.

Arata quickly backflipped over another Hibagon who tried to grab him, and then thrust his hands downward, sending another lightning shrouded force that completely eradicated its head.

Upon landing Arata moved to the side in time to avoid some blue-white fire that almost struck him. He was forced to dodge several more as he was then surrounded by about thirty blue-white fireballs.

These were Onibi (Demon Fire), and they let out ghostly moans as they dashed back towards Arata.

After a few dashes and flips, Arata bit his thumb and faster than the eye could see, made sealing formulas along the side of his blade, looking as if he just swiped his thumb down the side to the untrained eye.

As the group of Onibi came at him again, Arata delivered slashes at them that sucked each flame into his chokuto. After slicing each Onibi and absorbing them into the seal that now glowed bluish white, Arata sheathed his chokuto and got into an iaijutsu stance and as more Oni Zetsu charged towards him, he unsheathed his blade and spun in a 360 motion, sending a ring of blue-white flames that struck the surrounding Oni Zetsu, causing them to ignite and explode with blue-white fire.

Arata sheathed his chokuto and let out a sigh, but then heard a groaning roar as he noticed that smoke coming from the burning carcasses of the Oni Zetsu he had lit ablaze were coming together and became living smoke in the shape of the upper body of a muscular man with a beard, eyebrows and patch of hair atop made of blue-white fire.

It was an Akubōzu (Ash Monk), which took a deep breath in and blew out a cloud of smoke that surrounded Arata.

Arata was forced to cover his mouth to not breathe in the smoke as his eyes watered in pain, but he fought through it as he kept his dojutsu active to notice more Oni Zetsu rushing towards him.

'Hakkeshō Kaiten!' (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven) Arata quickly spun in place, creating a dome of chakra that Oni Zetsu had ran into and was being shredded by.

Arata released his jutsu, causing it to unleash a shockwave that sent the Oni Zetsu flying and cleared the smoke in the process. Arata then brought his chokuto in front of him as the Akubōzu had charged over and slammed its smoky fist into Arata's blade as then an explosion of fire was unleashed. Arata skidding against the ground onto his back, grunting in pain with his teeth grit.

The Akubōzu charged overhead, ready to attack Arata again, but a large suddenly appeared over it, catching its attention.

"Chānnarō!" Shinachiku screamed out as he slammed a giant slab of stone over the Akubōzu.

"Thanks." Arata said as he got onto his knee as his Tōmeigan's tomoe shifted into the shape of a sabre-shuriken.

The Akubōzu reformed by having its smoke seep out from under the stone it was smashed under, but the second it did, it was struck by a sword made of lightning from Arata's skeletal Susano'o. It then screamed in pain as it was shocked and ignited with the Susano'o thrusting it upwards. The Akubōzu's remains then spread out and took the form of a cloud formation, just as more Oni Zetsu were surrounding our young heroes.

"Mind helping me out?" Arata rhetorically asked as his body sparked with electricity.

"Always." Shinachiku said with a smirk as he cracked his knuckles.

The pair leaped up high, avoiding being grabbed by a pair of Oni Zetsu, and entered the cloud formation up above.

The sounds of thunder were soon heard as lightning coursed throughout the clouds, followed by glowing blue light from within, which confused the beasts below.

"Now! Rasengan Ryūsei-gun!" (Spiraling Sphere Meteor Shower) Multiple Shinachiku clones came down from the grounds with large Rasengans in their hands.

"Rain with pain." Arata said with his Chidori raised as his whole body was surrounded in an aura of lightning.

"Fūton: Reppūshō!" (Wind Release: Gale Palm) All the Shinachikus screamed out as they fired out wind from their palms, sending their Big Ball Rasengans flying.

"Arashi no Ya: Hiraishin!" (Arrows of the Storm: Lightning Rods) Arata brought down his Chidori laced hand, sending rods with sharp tips raining down from the clouds.

The arrows of lightning struck the Rasengans, causing them to spark all over and increase in speed as the combination jutsu rained down upon the shocked Oni Zetsu.

A collective of bright shining blue explosions with lightning sparking all around was unleashed upon impact, destroying the Oni Zetsu and any lingering pollen from both them and prior deceased ones.

The real Shinachiku landed upon the ground with Arata appearing right beside him.

"Not bad, if I do say so myself." Shinachiku said with a confident smirk as he dusted off his hands, before suddenly the explosions were struck and dispersed by an invisible force that rocketed towards the two, forcing them to leap towards their respective sides. "What in the hell did that?!" Shinachiku questioned with shock and new growing fear.

"Shina, Look Out!" Arata cried out as he sped over and pushed Shinachiku away, just in time to block a jūmonji yari (cross-shaped spear) with his chokuto.

However, there was natural energy at the end of the spear, which carved right into Arata's shoulder, causing blood to fly.

Arata let out a yell of pain as he was sent flying back, striking against the ground with his shoulder bleeding, soaking that part of his jacket.

"ARATA!" Shinachiku screamed out his friend's name with fear for his life. His instincts kicked in as he immediately entered his Bijū Chakura Mōdo (Tailed Beast Chakra Mode) as he was forced to grab the three-pronged tip that came down upon him.

Shinachiku's body then exploded with orange flames as he was forced to activate the third gate of the Hachimon (Eight Gates) to contend with the invisible force surrounding the bladed tip. That wasn't the worst part though.

The worst part was the creature using the weapon.

It was about five-foot eleven, the same height as Shinachiku's father, and it had a bulky frame with powerful muscles. It had clothing akin to a short sleeved black colored kimono with a red obi tied around it and over its kimono was a sleeveless white haori with black tomoes along it, black baggy pants, geta sandals and had what looked like wrapping tape around its shins/calves and forearms. The most frightening thing about it was that it had a human-like face with fangs, a long nose and white grass acting as a pair of bushy eyebrows, its hair which was tied in a knot and a sharp goatee sticking out its chin, and on its back were a pair of black wings.

'A Tengu (Heavenly Dog) … just great.' Shinachiku thought with gritted teeth as he struggled against the jūmonji yari, which was coated in natural energy. He grunted as his arm ached with pain with his hands trembling.

Shinachiku groaned as he fought back with his own increased strength, but the Tengu growled as it pushed further onto the boy, with the force both exhibiting caused the ground to break with fissures all over. Shinachiku growled before letting out an intense screamed as he was forced to moved back to avoid being chopped in half.

However, the blonde wasn't fast enough to spare himself from earning a cut diagonally across his torso from the naturally enhanced spear attack, which caused blood to fly.

Shinachiku screamed out in pain as he fell onto the ground with his blood splattering the ground. Shinachiku groaned in pain as his chakra cloak dispersed. He places a hand atop his torso, causing him to hiss from the radiating and even burning pain from the nature chakra enhanced slice. His eyes widened when he noticed the Tengu already on him with its jūmonji yari raised high.

Shinachiku gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow as he was ready to reactivate his chakra mode, when suddenly a pair of shinobi appeared between them, with one slamming a chakra covered bokken and the other a flying lightning charged roundhouse to the Tengu, forcing the beast to block with it jūmonji yari, as it was sent flying back.

The Tengu slammed its feet against the ground and skidded to a halt as it then glared at the two newcomers.

"It was a bit of a pain to get here with everything that's going on in the village, but at least we showed up in the nick of time." A female voice spoke.

"Don't you know, Sarada? Heroes usually show up at the last minute, dattebasa."

There standing between the Tengu and a still ground prone Shinachiku was Sarada and Boruto, one sparking with lightning and the other with a chakra coated bokken.

Shinachiku blinked in surprise that he was saved by his younger half-siblings. For a moment, he saw the images of his father and his uncle Sasuke. He couldn't help but smile at this sight.

Shinachiku tried getting back up, but he grunted in pain as he held his wound.

"Shinachiku-onii-chan!" Sarada hurried over towards her maternal half-brother and quickly applied medical ninjutsu upon his wound. "This is serious." Sarada stated, noticing that it was taking a bit longer to properly heal up the wound across Shina's chest.

"That weapon the Tengu has is coated with natural energy. Out of the many species of Oni Zetsus, they're one of the best wielders of it. They might not have as much as an Oni, but they still have a lot of it and use it way more effectively and with immense control, almost like a fully realized sage. Similar to tou-chan, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku explained.

"So, it may not have as much natural energy as an Oni, but it has the potential to be even more annoying." Sarada said with a frown.

"Then we just need to keep him at a distance." Boruto said as he focused and created several clones.

'They're learning fast.' Shinachiku thought with a smirk.

The Tengu appeared over the original Boruto with its jūmonji yari raised up high.

Boruto focused his chakra into his bokken as he got into an iaijutsu stance, then swung, letting out a battle cry as a blade of chakra rocketed upwards.

The Tengu easily shattered it to ember-like pieces with its jūmonji yari, but that provided the clones enough of an opening for his clones as a pair of them with their chakra encased bokken ready.

When the clones swung, their attacks were blocked by the Tengu's wings, wrapped around its form.

The Tengu snapped open its wingspan, sending the clones flying far away. It spun its spear overhead, gathering up with and natural energy as it then dived downward with its weapon tip surrounded by a drill of wind and nature.

Boruto and his remaining clones managed to jump away but upon the spear stabbing it into the ground, it unleashed a tornado-like shockwave of wind and nature that drilled into the ground and sent all the Borutos and even Sarada and Shinachiku flying before skidding against the ground.

After the wind dispersed, the Borutos got to their feet as they saw a spiraled crater beneath the Tengu, who just pulled its weapon out like it was nothing.

All the clones let out an intense battle cry as they charged towards the Tengu.

The creature easily dispatched the clones by dodging some swings and sending some of its own, bisecting two in half, slicing open another's head with a downward swing, and even delivering an upward stab that pierced through a clone's abdomen, turning it into a shish kebab.

A Boruto clone let out a battle cry as it prepared to swing. The Tengu swung at the Boruto, only for its weapon to be grabbed by the same clone, who actually pulled a fake out.

"Haha!" The Boruto said with a grin, but the Tengu thrust its palm at it, sending a force of natural energy that burst the clone into smoke.

Boruto quickly created more clones as the Tengu engaged them in hand to hand, delivering back hands, palm strikes and kicks.

The creature quickly stabbed its yari into the ground, lifted himself off the ground and delivered a 360-spin kick to surrounding clones.

One clone rushed in fast and clashed with the Tengu's jūmonji yari, only to then be grabbed and used as a shield to take the original's Kieru Rasengan (Vanishing Spiraling Sphere).

'Dammit! It was even able to sense my jutsu!' Boruto mentally cursed with his teeth grit.

The Tengu grabbed hold of its jūmonji yari with both hands as it charged towards the original Boruto.

Boruto glared at the Oni Zetsu with his teeth grit. As the creature got close, it sensed something coming from the child, causing its own eyes to widen as it noticed the blonde's eyes turn slit.

Instead of landing a hit, it brought its weapon up to block as Boruto let out an intense scream and swung his chakra coated bokken, which flashed golden, as it sent the Tengu stumbling back some.

"Tajū Kieru Rasengan!" (Multiple Vanishing Spiraling Spheres) The remaining clones shouted, surrounding the Tengu as they threw their vanishing Rasengans at it.

The creature leaped high into the air to avoid the jutsus which resulted in a collective shockwave that sent the Tengu high up into the sky where it now floated thanks to its wings.

"Gotcha." Boruto said with a grin as the sound of thunder was then heard.

The Tengu looked up to notice the storm cloud earlier was still present and lightning the crackling from within it.

It turns out, Boruto was merely a distraction for the Tengu as Sarada was hanging back with Shinachiku, both focusing on healing her brother with one hand and controlling the lightning above within the artificial storm clouds with her other hand, encased in Chidori.

"Strike without hesitation." Sarada said with her Sharingan blazing. "Arashi no Ya!" (Arrows of the Storm)

"Hold on!" Shinachiku spoke up with a worried look.

"Don't Use That Against Him!" Arata shouted out, but it was too late as Sarada had already brought down her Chidori.

Lightning with ends in the form of arrow heads came raining down upon the Tengu and struck it.

"Yatta!" Boruto cheered with a grin, but after a moment, he noticed that the Tengu wasn't being fried.

If anything… it was being encased in it without taking any damage.

The Tengu had its jūmonji yari raised high with it acting as a lightning rod, absorbing the lightning jutsu which surrounded the Oni Zetsu not unlike the Raiton Chakura Mōdo (Lightning Release Chakra Mode). It swung its spear to the side as it glared down at the children below.

"Crap." Shinachiku said with a frown.

"What just happened?" Boruto asked, now getting nervous.

"One of the reasons why the Tengu is so fearsome is because it can use its natural energy to absorb any elemental affinity and utilize it for itself. Almost every ninjutsu and chakra nature used against it is prohibited since it'll make it stronger!" Arata called out.

"NANI?! THAT'S JUST CHEAP!" Boruto screamed out in shock and horror, while Sarada's eyes widened with her mouth agape.

The Tengu raised its hands up as a vortex of lightning appeared out its palm and then unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts that shot up and then rained down upon the ground.

Sarada quickly grabbed Shinachiku and leaped away, while Arata blocked a bolt with his chokuto blade.

Boruto managed to leap away and dodge any that had come his way, but then suddenly his instincts kicked in as he brought up his bokken in time to block the Tengu's jūmonji yari as the creature appeared in front of him. Boruto had summoned golden lightning to empower his muscles, but the Tengu was too damn strong.

It easily pushed Boruto back with its spear's bladed tip surrounded in lightning and natural energy, dug into his shoulder with his body feeling the electrocution.

Boruto screamed out in pain at the sensation of being cut, burnt and electrocuted, and that's not to mention the intensive pain circulating throughout his body thanks to the added prowess of natural energy. Yet despite all this, Boruto somehow managed to stay on his feet, albeit trembling, and hold his own against the spear with just his chakra coated bokken.

However, he felt himself losing ground as the spear's tip dug deeper into his skin, and possibly started digging into his muscles. He couldn't hold out for long.

"Boy… use me." A voice that Boruto wished he would never have to hear again rang within his ears. "Access the Kāma (Linchpin) and use my power to win!" Momoshiki exclaimed with devious intent.

'Screw you! There's no way I'm going to use this thing! Not after everything Shinachiku-onii-chan and Arata-onii-chan went through!' Boruto mentally retorted as he continued to fight against the Tengu's power.

"It's your only solution out of this! Besides, that Uchiha boy used that same power against that foolish wannabee god back in Kiri. Why should you not do the same?" Momoshiki shot back from within Boruto's mind.

'Because… because…' Boruto gritted his teeth as he felt a fire alit within his very soul as golden specs of chakra were emanating from his body. 'BECAUSE I WANT TO SURPASS THEM! WITH MY OWN STRENGTH!' Boruto's eye snapped open with his left shining golden and right eye revealing his Jōgan.

The Tengu's eyes widened as it noticed both the change in eyes and energy from within the boy.

Boruto let out a loud battle cry as he managed to overpower the Tengu, sending it away with a powerful swing of his bokken which was now surrounded in golden flames. Boruto unleashed another intense battle cry as he delivered a swing of his bokken downward with both hands, kempo style, delivering a wave of golden fire towards the Tengu.

The Oni Zetsu surrounded its body in lightning as it brought its jūmonji yari up to block the flames, but once they hit, they dispersed the lightning coating away. The Tengu gritted its teeth as it fought against the powerful force, but for some reason, despite coating its body with natural energy, this one fiery force of chakra was actually overwhelming it with power that was actually radiating through its body. It growled as it clenched its fangs harder, before letting out an intense roar as its body exploded with natural energy, creating a shockwave that dispersed the golden flames, but revealed the Tengu's scorched form.

The Tengu's eyes were wide and pure white with its mouth fully agape. It let out a pained moan as its body was actually producing steam. It then noticed some forms of vegetation growing off it, which made it growl in anger.

Boruto panted as he buckled over a bit with the golden flames around his bokken dispersing.

'Don't know what that was… but it did some damage from the looks of it. Yokatta~.' (Good) Boruto thought with some sweat going down his face.

'That flame… there's no mistaking it, dattebaro!' Shinachiku thought with shock and awe.

"Stay right here, onii-chan!" Sarada said as she placed Shinachiku down and vanished from sight.

"Chotto Matte (Hold on Moment), Sarada!" Shinachiku called out with worry for his younger sister.

"Shānnarō!" Sarada screamed out as she appeared before the Tengu and slammed a fist into its gut.

Sarada gritted her teeth in pain as she felt the sensation of natural energy against her knuckles. The Tengu growled at her with its eyes narrowed into a glare, but that didn't even leave an iota of intimidation with the Uchiha girl. Sarada grunted before letting out an intense battle cry as sparks of lightning surrounded her and then she proceeded to unleash more punches that evolved into a flurry.

Sarada gritted her teeth as she punched with all her might, ignoring any pain she was feeling from punching the coating of natural energy around the Tengu.

The Tengu just growled with its fangs grit, glaring down at the girl.

Sarada put more vigor into her blows, increasing the momentum, but it didn't feel like she was getting to the core of the beast. Sarada gritted her teeth harder as the veins around her forehead bulged with steam actually starting to protrude from her body.

The Tengu raised its hand up and surrounded it in natural energy, ready to strike Sarada.

Sarada let out an intense growl as her veins bulged more before she unleashed a powerful battle cry as her body unleashed purple lightning, surprising the Tengu as her blows started increasing at blurring speeds.

The Tengu was actually hunching over as it started skidding back from the blows it was being given.

Sarada let out a bellowing battle cry as she was punching so fast it looked like her arms were vanishing as sparks and flames were spreading out from each collision and the intense friction, taking the form of purple feathers of a peacock, if it were made of electricity.

Sarada then finished off by delivering a dual punch, morote-tsuki (pair of hands punch) style.

"PEKKU!" (Peck) Sarada screamed out as a powerful of shockwave broke through the armor of natural energy, delivering a giant vacuum mixed with purple lightning that went right through the Tengu's abdomen and travelled far back into the forest, destroying a section of the forest, shattering apart and even disintegrating its trees.

The Tengu's eyes bulged again with his jaw dropped as it took steps back, reeling in pain.

Sarada panted as her arms hung a bit with sweat down her brow.

'My arms ache… but I can still fight.' Sarada thought to herself as she brought her hands up to guard with a look of determination etched upon her face.

'That's my sister!' Shinachiku thought with a bright, proud smile. Proud of Sarada not only managing to unlock the Hachimon in conjunction with her lightning jutsu, or that she laid some serious damage on a Tengu! But at the fact that despite the pain she was feeling, she had her guard up and ready to fight once more. 'That's My Sister, Dattebaro!' Shinachiku thought with his smile widening and shedding tears of joy.

"Damn, you are way too proud right now, you know that?" Mamoru said with a dull frown, before sensing a change in the air. "Oh shit."

"Huh?" Shinachiku snapped out of his stupor of pride as he too sensed the change thanks to Mamoru. "Oh, crap. Move Back!" Shinachiku called out.

The Tengu clamped its jaws shut before roaring as it unleashed a shockwave of natural energy that left a deep crater beneath it and sending Sarada flying back.

"Sarada!" Boruto hurried over and managed to catch his teammate in his arms. "I gotcha." Boruto said before noticing the Tengu flying overhead with its spear ready. "Oh crap."

"Ranton: Reizā Sākasu!" (Storm Release: Encouraging Crushing Chain Tormenting Principle. English renamed: Storm Release: Laser Circus) Arata screamed out, bringing his hands together as a halo of bright white energy encircled around them before beams of light fired towards the Tengu.

The Tengu immediately brought its jūmonji yari up to block the beams, but they suddenly changed direction before contact, surprising the Tengu as the beams circled around it and struck it in the back, sending it diving towards the ground. The Tengu growled as it managed to get to its hands and knees, but then it sensed more coming its way.

The Tengu shot up into the air with the beams following close after it. It dodged the beams the best it could and tried to parry or absorb them through its jūmonji yari, but the beams kept changing direction and circling around it, landing blow for blow upon its blind spots. More beams then came it way, but with already being heavily damaged and no time to block with its spear, the Oni Zetsu decided to hunch over and bring its arms up into an X-block as the beams then struck it all over, leaving holes in various places on its body with one of its wings being struck and suffering a hole in it as well, causing it to fall towards the ground again.

Boruto and Sarada were in shock before Arata got in front of them with his chokuto ready.

"I thought you said elemental ninjutsu wouldn't work on it." Sarada questioned.

"I said 'almost every'. Ranton can create beams of energy that you can control the flow and direction of, thanks to its mixture of lightning and water natures." Arata said as he then bent his knees before he rushed forward, just as the Tengu was getting back to its feet.

Arata let out a battle cry as he leaped and brought down his chokuto's blade, which was met with the shaft of the Tengu's spear. The resulting collision created a small shockwave that blew any nearby debris away.

Pure white tomoed eyes glared into gleaming anger-filled one as both had their teeth grit, before engaging in a clash of blinding strikes that produced many sparks.

"You two okay?" Shinachiku asked as he ran over towards both his half siblings.

"We're fine, but we better go help Arata-onii-chan." Sarada said.

"He'll be fine. You did enough damage to that thing for him to handle on his own." Shinachiku said with a smile, before his instincts kicked in and he pushed his siblings to the ground as they all managed to avoid a barrage of arrows. "We on the other hand, better handle those guys." Shinachiku said as he, Sarada and Boruto looked ahead to notice three new Oni Zetsu had arrived.

These three were an Abumi-guchi (Stirrup Mouth), Furuutsubo (Old Quiver) and Kura Yarō (Saddle Rascal). All three were yokai born from the items found on a slain warrior.

The Abumi-guchi 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.

The Furuutsubo had a large cylindrical form with a long grassy tail similar to a tanuki tail sticking out the back of it, had four long very thing legs made of vines with feet similar to those of eagles complete with talons, and it had a flattened head with one eye and a wide mouth, all together looking like the bill of a duck without the duck's head and if one of the nostrils was an eyeball.

The Kura Yarō had a wide head that was half cylindrical with a hallow under region, looking quite similar to a horse's saddle, if the saddle had fangs protruding throughout its under half and a pair of eyes atop its upper half, but it also had a thick drape like layer around itself with the outer side over it being covered in moss and the inside had a pale membrane with black veins scatter throughout it. Altogether, this drape acted similar to a cloak as it surrounded its very being and covered the ground beneath it. It also had several long vines with wooden claws at the ends of them with patches of grass surrounding them like tassels which worked as its legs, with most hidden beneath its drape-like cloak.

The Kura Yarō growled as it and its fellow fallen warrior inspired Oni Zetsu glared at the rest of the children.

"Three for three. Fair odds. So… who gets who?" Shinachiku said as he got to his feet.

The Furuutsubo opened its flap-like mouth and fired out a barrage of arrows their way.

Boruto suddenly appeared in front of them and by amplifying himself with golden lightning, not unlike Sarada earlier, he sent a flurry of swings from his bokken that parried away the arrows, before delivering a swing so fast that it sent a wave of wind that sent the rest flying away, making the Furuutsubo growl in annoyance.

"That one is mine." Boruto said with a smirk.

Sarada, with her Sharingan still active, noticed something coming beneath herself and Shinachiku.

"Look out!" Sarada quickly kicked Shinachiku away in time for them both to avoid being attacked by the vines of the Kura Yarō that had been burrowing beneath the ground. Sarada was then forced to dodge several strikes from the creature's vine limbs, avoiding being scratched by its wooden claws. "I guess this guy is mine." Sarada said as thanks to her Sharingan, she was able to detect and keep up with the Kura Yarō's movement.

"Guess that leaves me with this big guy." Shinachiku said as he got back to his feet, staring ahead at the Abumi-guchi.

The Abumi-guchi snapped open its stirrup-like mouth and fired thorn riddled vines straight at Shinachiku, who, despite being injured, still managed to dodge them rather easily.

As Arata fought against the Tengu, the other three were busy dealing with the other three Oni Zetsu.

Arata made sure to keep an eye on them with his Tōmeigan, but he had to keep ninety-five percent of his focus on the Tengu before him since one strike would determine the victor in their battle. Arata fought through the pain as he felt his arms trembling in pain from striking the jūmonji yari with his chokuto since the Tengu surrounded his weapon with a coating of natural energy. He gritted his teeth as he blocked, parried and dodged. He kept trying to find an opening, but thanks to his injuries it was hard to truly focus as the Tengu was very fast despite its own injuries.

Arata was getting frustrated. He tried to focus his mind, but it was hard seeing as he was also splitting his focus towards the others. He trusted them, but he couldn't help but be worried. Worried over the off chance that something would happen, and he'd lose one of them.

Almost like what had happened in Kiri.

'Not again… Not again!' Arata thought to himself as he gained a burst of adrenaline and increased his striking speed, actually managing to slowly but surely push the Tengu back as not it was on the defensive.

Boruto ran around in a zigzag formation to confuse the Furuutsubo and keep out of the range of its arrows, forced to parry some that managed to get nearby. Sending lightning chakra to his legs to amp his muscles, Boruto managed to get above the Furuutsubo with his bokken up and ready to strike with chakra spiraling around it.

However, the golden blonde noticed a shadow over himself, causing him to look up to see its tanuki-like tail stretched over him and ready to slam into him.

'Uh oh.' Boruto's eyes widen before he was struck hard by the tail, which felt more like a super large muscular arm had just hit him and sent him into the ground, breaking it apart with pieces of the earth broken and sticking up around Boruto, whose body was indented into the ground.

Boruto groaned as he managed to pull himself out of the ground and back into view, only to notice that the Furuutsubo had leaped back to gain some distance and then its whole body expanded and bloated up, not unlike an Akimichi when using that human boulder jutsu of theirs.

Boruto's eye widened with his teeth grit as he had a feeling what this was going to lead to.

'I got a bad feeling about this.' Boruto thought with fear before the Furuutsubo opened its bill-like mouth and unleashed a massive barrage of arrows towards him. 'I Was Right!' Boruto thought as he quickly made four clones.

The clones all summoned golden lightning to course around their bodies to amplify themselves as they then unleashed intense screams while swinging their bokken to parry the arrows.

The original was then focusing his chakra to form a Kieru Rasengan.

'I just need to land one hit and that'll give me the opening I need.' Boruto thought to himself as he waited for the right opportunity.

Meanwhile, Shinachiku was dodging as many thorny vines as he could from the Abumi-guchi. Thankfully, the style of fighting he learned under his mother and grandmother Tsunade focused on dodging attacks and waiting for the right moment to strike, but considering the situation, he couldn't wait for an opening.

'If I can't wait for an opening, I'll just have to make one.' Shinachiku thought to himself as he took out a tiny scroll, and after leaping away from some more thorny vines, he summoned all his focus as he brought up his arm, aimed and flicked the tiny scroll with such power that it became a bullet.

The tiny scroll rocketed over the Abumi-guchi and dispersed to reveal a clone above it with its fist surrounded in a small tornado of wind chakra.

"Fūton: Kuchinuki!" (Wind Release: Corkscrew) Clone Shinachiku shouted as he thrust his fist downward as a tornado came at the Abumi-guchi.

The Oni Zetsu had stopped its vine attack and raised itself up with its wide mouth opened as it devoured the tornado of wind. It then closed its mouth with its body bulging a bit before snapping it open again and unleashing that same tornado but amplified with natural energy, making it larger and deadlier as it consumed the clone, completely shredding it to pieces. Literally.

This was the opening Shinachiku was aiming for as he threw a three-pronged kunai into the underbelly of the Abumi-guchi and appeared in front of it in a flash with a Fūton: Rasengan (Wind Release: Spiraling Sphere) in hand.

"Chānnarō!" Shinachiku screamed out as he slammed his jutsu into the Oni Zetsu's stomach. Thanks to the creature's girth and natural energy, its exterior was durable enough to handle the Rasengan, but that didn't stop Shinachiku from giving it more firepower. "Seimon (Gate of Life), Kai!" Shinachiku screamed out as his skin instantly turned red and his jutsu grew five times larger and released a burst of force and wind that sent the Abumi-guchi flying upwards into the air.

Shinachiku grinned in success with a fist pump, but suddenly ropes with shuriken and/or kunai attached throughout them launched out of its mouth and came down upon Shinachiku. The sunshine blonde gritted his teeth and widened his eyes as he started dodging again, this time having to be much faster to avoid the bladed ropes, which also had burrowed beneath the ground to come back and attack from below.

A bit away, Sarada was dodging vines the same as her maternal half-brother. The Kura Yarō swung its vines around in a flurry that only a user of the Sharingan would be able to keep up. She leaped, dodged and flipped away from them all, managing to avoid them thanks to her newfound skills from all that intensive training she had done in the span of a month.

The Kura Yarō growled as it then stabbed four of its wooden claws vines into the ground and ripped out some roots. Sending natural energy into the roots, they stiffened and straightened out to become like swords for the creatures as it then started swinging them around with shocking accuracy and expertise.

Sarada gritted her teeth as she was forced to amplify her body even more with her lightning release. Not wanting to waste any time seeing and give this damn thing the opportunity for a lucky hit, she quickly took out several shuriken from her pouch and infused them with her lightning chakra.

"Uchiha Ryū Shurikenjutsu: "Ikazuchi": Hachi-ren!" (Uchiha Style Shurikenjutsu: "Lightning": Eight Series) Sarada tossed them towards the Oni Zetsu's limbs, managing to slice half of them off before the shuriken clashed and ricocheted off each other and sliced the rest apart.

Sarada grinned at this, but suddenly more vines sprout out from, several out of each of them, surrounding a now shocked Sarada who was grabbed all over and pulled in closer towards the Kura Yarō until its cloak-like membrane wrapped around her, consuming her entirely.

"SARADA!" Boruto and Shinachiku called out the Uchiha girl's name in fear for her life.

Unfortunately, that provided their respective opponents the opportunity to strike.

Boruto's clones were all turned into pin cushions by the Furuutsubo's arrows while Boruto's right arm was struck, causing him to lose his concentration on his Kieru Rasengan, resulting in it dispersing.

Shinachiku's momentary loss of focus allowed the Abumi-guchi to manage to get him with one of its kunai covered ropes, wrapping around his body and causing the sunshine blonde to scream with bloody murder.

Arata noticed all of this and was immediately worried for their lives.

The Tengu took advantage of the Uchiha boy's momentary loss of concentration and brought down its jūmonji yari upon him.

Arata quickly entered his Raiton Chakura Mōdo with lightning encasing his chokuto and blocked the weapon, but despite its weakened state, the Tengu pushed Arata hard against the ground, causing the ground to break apart and dispersing his lightning cloak. Arata managed to stay on his feet, but he gritted his teeth harder in pain as he felt his body trembling from the pressure.

Thanks to his dojutsu, he saw his family and best friend struggling. He couldn't do anything to help them. Not without providing this Tengu a chance to end them, and it'll continue its rampage on the village.

Arata growled in frustration, angered that he couldn't help his team, but then memories came to mind.

.

.

Boruto roared as he sent a blade of chakra from his bokken that went far and cut through just about thirty trees. He panted as he fell onto one knee but smiled at his progress.

"Nice work." Arata complimented as he made his way beside Boruto.

"I got you to thank, and Tsubaki too for some advice she gave before." Boruto said, smiling towards his elder brother. "Yatta~! I'm gonna kick so much butt! Bring it you undead cultist bastards! And bring as many Oni Zetsu as you want! I'll take them all on!" Boruto boasted as he found a surge of energy to hop to his feet.

"Keep that ego in check. Believe me, what you said is a death wish. Very few can pull that off, and some of those few are strong enough to take on the Jūbi by themselves." Arata pointed out with a firm tone.

"I know, I know. Jeez. Let a guy be excited about his work, 'ttebasa." Boruto said with a smile as he looked towards his bokken. "I'm really grateful though. You know that, right?"

"Hn." Arata nodded in response.

"I never thought I would be able to get this far. Not this quickly. I managed to make it to a level I didn't even think was possible for me. Using my chakra and chakra nature in such a way, and mastery of such fighting style… I guess I just thought it wouldn't be enough considering…" Boruto gained a somber expression.

"Living with superbly powerful people can be a bit overwhelming." Arata stated, understanding Boruto's plight.

"Yeah… but now, I see that… if I stick to this…" Boruto held the bokken in both hands, staring at it with somber eyes, before they suddenly became steely. "I'm not going to lose. Not anymore." Boruto uttered, causing Arata to blink his eyes.

"That's a pretty tall order." Arata stated.

"I know… pretty unrealistic, isn't it?" Boruto said, closing his eyes with a smirk. "Then how about this? I promise that on this sword, no, that on my life… I will never back down from anything! It doesn't matter how tough the opponent in front of me is, I'll give it my all and never back down! Not even in the slightest! Especially not when others depend on me to do so! Any enemy in front of me better watch out, dattebasa!" Boruto swore with a grin on his face.

Arata blinked his eyes again as he kept his gaze on Boruto.

"That's a pretty tall order as well… but I think you can manage it." Arata said, earning him a grin from his half-brother.

.

.

"Shānnarō!" Sarada screamed out as she shattered the ground, breaking it apart for a long distance and creating a plume of dirt and debris as bolts of lightning were unleashed and spread throughout the area and into the air.

Arata managed to keep his distance, surprised by the power he had just witnessed. He knew Sarada would grow very much stronger, but to be this powerful in such a short time still left him in awe at his half-sister's capabilities.

The dust settled as the Uchiha-Hyūga saw the back of his fellow Uchiha.

Sarada was surrounded in a cloak of lightning with her hair spiked up, not unlike his own hair whenever he used the same mode, she was in.

Sarada then let out a sigh as she powered down, dispersing her cloak and allowing her hair to return to normal. She turned back towards Arata, revealing she had her glasses up over her forehead as her Sharingan was active for a moment before shutting it off.

"What to do you think?" Sarada asked her paternal half-brother.

"I think I'm glad we're allies." Arata said, causing Sarada to giggle as she brought down her glasses over her eyes again.

"It still surprises me." Sarada said, raising her hand and staring at it.

"That being?" Arata asked.

"This strength I have." Sarada said as she clenched her finger repeatedly.

"I feel like there's more to that." Arata stated.

"Can't get anything by you." Sarada said with a soft smile and her eyes closed. "I did all this damage… and yet I wasn't even close to my full strength. My strength without that added help from Shinachiku-onii-chan's training." Sarada mentioned.

"I know I said you'd have less to worry about than him, but don't go relying on it often. Shina may be able to but that's because his body is different than most. He can adapt to the pain with every use, but even then, he doesn't truly rely on it unless it's absolutely necessary, usually when dealing with an overwhelmingly powerful foe." Arata lectured.

"I know, don't worry. I'm not going to over-rely on it like that." Sarada said.

"Can you safely say so?" Arata asked, causing Sarada to remain silent. "I know I just said you shouldn't rely on it often, but going ahead, you might be pushed to the point where you feel like you must. Are you prepared for that?"

After a moment of silence, Sarada answered.

"I will be. After all… I'm going to be Hokage someday." Sarada said with a serious and determined expression. "I'll master it. Just watch. What you taught me and what Shinachiku-onii-chan taught me, I will make it my own as well."

"I'm sure you will." Arata said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But don't you worry. I won't rely on it often. I'm working on work arounds to make sure I don't abuse it, even in the face of real dangerous threats." Sarada assured her brother with a wink.

"You promise?" Arata asked.

"You treating me like an Uzumaki?" Sarada teased with a smile and her hands behind her back.

"Just curious is all. Although, I am used to hearing that word too often." Arata said with a smile of his own.

Sarada's smile widened.

"Yeah. I promise. I won't just rely on one surefire way to win. More power doesn't mean better results after all. I'm going to learn to the best of my ability and expand my strengths into things only I can do. That way, I'll be strong enough to handle anyone or anything that comes my way, just like mama and papa… and just like you guys. And especially just like the Hokage!" Sarada said with a bright, confident smile and fist pump. "You'll have nothing to worry about from me. I promise!"

Arata couldn't help but widen his smile.

"Good."

.

.

The sun was setting, bathing the land with an orange sky that illuminated the land before it went to rest. Shinachiku groaned and rolled his shoulders as he and Arata were heading back towards their temporary home.

"Pushed yourself pretty hard again today." Arata stated more than asked.

"Yeah, well, what else do you expect? Everyone is just getting so much stronger. I'm not about to be left in the dust. Lagging behind isn't my style, dattebaro." Shinachiku said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Everyone has progressed very nicely. They aren't at the level of our friends yet, but they managed to make leaps and bounds in just a short amount of time that it's almost scary how fast they pick up on things that took the people we know much longer to achieve." Arata said, looking towards the sky.

"Yeah. Everyone takes what they learn around here like a sponge. It must be this universe's talent." Shinachiku said with a bright smile.

"But will it be enough?" Arata wondered aloud, directing the question more towards himself.

"Nah." Shinachiku said, catching Arata off guard a bit. "Enough is never enough. Not when it comes to improving yourself. There's always room to grow. Be kind of boring if you're satisfied with yourself at a certain point for the rest of your life."

"You worry me sometimes." Arata commented.

"Just being honest." Shinachiku said with a shrug as he then applied medical ninjutsu to his arm. The blonde noticed Arata staring at this, which made him speak up again. "I can't let up. I got to keep my promise to you after all." Shinachiku said with a smile, causing Arata's eyes to widen and looked towards him. "Remember? I promised we'll get back home. That's why I won't let up. Not on myself, and not on anyone here."

"That's a lot of pressure you're putting onto others. You expect them to share that same sentiment as well?" Arata asked.

"I'm not pushing my words onto them like that… but I know it won't be a promise worth giving if we just left things poorly before heading back. Technically, we have no reason to do what we are doing here, but I just can't help but want everyone to be better than who they were when we met them. Letting them stay at the level that they were… it just didn't sit well with me. I just feel that… in order to keep my promise… I had to also make sure that everyone around us has the power to make something similar… and keep it. Otherwise, it won't feel good to be home again knowing there could have been more done before getting there, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku said with a smile.

"At this point, it sounds like you're making a new promise atop of your old one." Arata stated, lightly scratching the top of his head.

"Yeah… I guess I am." Shinachiku said with a widened smile before turning towards Arata. "Alright then. I promise that before we head home that we'll leave this place better than when we found it. When we're done, everyone is going to be strong enough to make a promise just like that, dattebaro!" Shinachiku said with a confident smile.

Arata stared at him for a moment before responding.

"You really have so much faith in them… it's kind of scary." Arata said with a smile, causing Shinachiku to chuckle with a grin.

"You do too. I know you do."

.

.

'I still do.' Arata thought as his eyes shined bright and a cloak of white lightning surrounded him, startling the Tengu with its eyes widening. 'There's no way… any of them are close to dropping…' Arata thought to himself as he found the strength to push back the Tengu. 'And Neither Am I!'

With a battle cry, Arata unleashed beams of light from his tenketsu.

The Tengu sensed the danger and managed to leap away but it was struck all over its body, leaving holes throughout it. It almost looked like Swiss cheese.

Arata appeared before it and sent a slash that the Oni Zetsu tried to block, but it was sent skidding back.

The Tengu gritted its teeth as it decided to go airborne, but Arata followed close behind.

Aways from them, Boruto gritted his teeth as he pulled out the arrow from his shoulder. He brought up his hand and cauterized his wound with lightning from his palm. He noticed the Furuutsubo's body expand again as it readied the same attack.

Boruto narrowed his eyes at the beast before looking down at his bokken, recalling the promise he made.

'Nowhere near close to dropping.' Boruto thought to himself as he then got into an iaijutsu stance. He took a breath in as he closed his eyes. 'Let it flow.' Boruto thought to himself as he put in the right amount of chakra and surrounded his bokken in chakra. 'Power.' Boruto sent both wind and lightning release into his weapon as both elements seemed to be going haywire and fighting against one another. 'Stability.' Boruto focused and with proper control, he conquered both opposing powers and brought them together to form a tornado of wind, coursing with lightning all around his bokken. 'Now go.' Boruto snapped open his eyes.

The Furuutsubo snapped open its bill-like mouth and unleashed an onslaught of arrows.

Golden lightning and embers of golden fire surrounded Boruto's form as his eyes shined gold as well and became slit.

In an instant, Boruto sped forward at such an intense speed that he appeared right in front of the Furuutsubo with all its arrows sent flying away with golden lightning and embers surrounding the area as a shockwave of wind spread throughout the area.

The Furuutsubo's single eye widened in shock and horror that a child managed to break pass its barrage and got right in front of it.

"Taiton: Hadan!" (Typhoon Release: Rupture) Boruto delivered a slash so fast that it could not be seen by the average eye, or even by the Furuutsubo's eye.

Suddenly, the Furuutsubo was sliced in half before its shockwave of wind and lightning occurred between its two halves, breaking its body down to bits in an instant, leaving no room for pollen, and it didn't even finish there! A distance from where it once stood, a vortex appeared within the forest, unleashing harsh winds and lightning and even sucking up and destroying any nearby trees and Oni Zetsu in that section of the forest, with debris being absorbed into it.

The vortex wasn't towering, but it sure was huge.

Boruto exhaled as he stood up straight and looked at his bokken.

"Not bad for a first try." Boruto said to himself with a smile before remembering something. "Sarada!" Boruto turned towards the Kura Yarō. He was intent on saving her, but he noticed that Kura Yarō was fidgeting and groaning in discomfort. "What's going on with that thing?" Boruto wondered.

The Kura Yarō groaned more as it hunched over with its vines wrapped around the front of its 'cloak'. It looked like it was having a tummy ache. Its body then bulged for a second, surprising Boruto. The Kura Yarō was moaning and groaning in pain as its body repeatedly expanded and receded, as if there were small explosions happening inside.

Suddenly bolts of lightning fired out of its cloak, shocking Boruto.

The Kura Yarō's body started to bulge more, increasing in size as more bolts of lightning were escaping its form. It quickly wrapped its vines around its form to keep itself from growing, but that only helped for a moment, as its body grew even further, this time not stop that it now looked like it was inflating with more bolts of lightning firing from all around. Its body glowed bright as it started whining in agony with its eyes bulging and blank with pain.

The Kura Yarō let out one last squeaky whine before it exploded from a shockwave within with lightning unleashed everywhere as the sounds of screeching from birds were heard throughout the area.

"Chidori: Oto Saezuri!" (One Thousand Birds: Sonic Chirping) Sarada exclaimed as her whole body was shrouded in lightning with most of it in both her hands, which were placed together.

The Kura Yarō had been blown to pieces with severed vines flying and its disembodied eye shaking in midair. The eye then looked towards Sarada as the vines sprouted more which then went for one last attack towards the girl.

"One more should do." Sarada said as she clapped her Chidori covered hands together, unleashing a sonic boom with an aura of lightning around it that completely disintegrated what was left of the Oni Zetsu.

"Whoa~! Nice, Sarada!" Boruto cheered in awe at his teammate's performance.

"This right here… is the strength you'd only find within the daughter of Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Uchiha née. Haruno!" Sarada shouted with pride.

Shinachiku looked on in awe as he couldn't help but smile before being reminded that he was being constricted and stabbed all around by this damn kunai covered rope.

'Look at me… trapped like this while those two handled their enemies no problem? What kind of a brother am I?!' Shinachiku started letting out a bellow battle cry that rose in volume as the air around him grew heavy. "CHA!" Shinachiku screamed out as chakra burst from his body, shattering apart the kunai and freeing him of the rope.

The Abumi-guchi's eyes widened in shock as it tried to pull its remaining rope back, only for Shinachiku to grab it.

The sunshine blonde gritted his teeth, ignoring the stabbing pain of the kunai as he then wrapped the end around his arm to get a better hold. He then let out a roar as he started spinning the Abumi-guchi around at a breakneck speed, before tossing it up high into the air.

Shinachiku then created three shadow clones that formed Rasengans in hand and then appeared around the Abumi-guchi thanks to the kunai still lodged within it.

"Chānnarō!" The clones shouted as they slammed their Rasengans into the Abumi-guchi. Its body was still sturdy enough to handle regular Rasengans, but not for long. "Tomon! (Gate of Limit) Kai!" The clones shouted out as they snapped open the fifth gate, causing their Rasengans to increase to twelve times their size into Ultra-Big Ball Rasengans, consuming the Abumi-guchi as its screams of pain were immediately defended by sound of the massive Rasengans grinding against one another.

The three enlarged spheres burst, creating a massive shockwave that was heard throughout the area and the front area of the village, so powerful that nearby trees were affected with their leaves flying and being uprooted a bit, now leaving them lopsided.

'Heh. That's the way!' Shinachiku thought with a victorious grin and fist pump.

Arata had seen his best friend and siblings defeat their respective foes. Which means it was time for him to do the same.

Arata and the Tengu were in the air, both glaring at one another, ready to end their conflict. Both raised their weapons overhead with Arata gripping his hilt tightly and the Tengu summoning lighting to the tip of its spear.

Arata took a breath in through his nostrils as he then dispersed his lightning cloak, and suddenly deactivated his Tōmeigan and closed his eyes, so as to see only darkness. He called off his sight so as to reach his instincts. He focused his senses as memories of his training came to mind.

Training to cut down his one second delay. The memories of being in that one stance, trying to have his mind and body catch up to one another. All the longs striking him. The blazes of fire that had burnt him. The hours he had spent. The pain he had memorized. All that time. Came flooding back to him.

He felt the impulses in his brain sending signals. Signals of what were to happen before it ever did.

'I see it.' Arata thought to himself as he snapped open his eyes just as the Tengu was ready to strike him. Now was his chance. 'Kenpō: Kuni Kizuato!' (Sword Art: Land Scar) Arata delivered a downward strike with the bladed edge of his chokuto.

Before the Tengu could bring down its weapon, it felt a force cut through its body, leaving a diagonal scar across its torso as a shockwave exploded from behind it. Its eyes widened in pain and jaw opened wide. The Tengu fell towards the ground at a fast speed, striking it hard and leaving a dust cloud.

Arata flipped in the air and landed upon the ground onto his feet with his knees bent. He stood up straight and re-sheathed his chokuto, staring at the dust cloud before him.

"Alright, Arata-onii-chan!" Boruto cheered as he, Sarada and Shinachiku hurried over towards him. "You did it!" Boruto said with a proud smile as they stopped beside the blunette.

"Uh… did you?" Shinachiku asked.

"No." Arata answered.

"Damn." The Uzumaki-Haruno swore with a pout and his shoulders slumped.

The four of them heard the crackling of lightning as a pair of gleams shined from within the dust cloud.

A gust of wind blew the cloud away, revealing the very angry Tengu with its eyes glowing and black lightning crackling around itself, and a deep gash across its body, oozing with green blood. Its wound started to open up more with its right-side drooping, forcing it to quickly grab its shoulder to keep itself from literally falling apart. It growled and glared at the grey-eyed child with its soul piercing shining white eyes.

"Shina. Kunai." Arata ordered with his hand raised.

"Gotcha." Shinachiku tossed one of his three-pronged kunai up in the air, which Arata then grabbed.

"Something you want to tell us?" Sarada questioned, now feeling a pit in her stomach from what might come next.

"Tōmeigan!" (Transparent Eye) Arata activated the third stage of his dojutsu as he reared the kunai back, ready for a throw.

He focused his vision forward far behind the Tengu, using his scope of 1,500-mile radius to detect any Oni Zetsu hiding within the forest. It wasn't that hard seeing as the rest were holding themselves back so as not to disturb the Tengu's fight. Arata's scoping vision landed on a Tsuchigumo. Arata surrounded his arm in lightning release and threw the three-pronged kunai.

The kunai sped past the Tengu's head and reached far until it struck the Tsuchigumo right between its eyes, causing it to dart them towards the weapon lodged within its head.

The Tengu growled as it then let out a roar with large bolts of black lightning firing everywhere with the wind in the area picking up.

Boruto and Sarada brought their arms up and fought against the force of wind, while Shinachiku hurried over towards the front and took out another three-pronged kunai.

"What's going on?!" Sarada called out, worried about what's to happen next.

"It's using up the last of its strength by infusing senjutsu into its lightning and prepping for one last attack!" Arata informed.

The Tengu raised its head up as the black lightning started coming together towards the tip of its nose as a black ball started to form and grow with lightning coursing through it.

"Uh… I'm no expert, but I feel like if that attack goes off, we're toast, and so will part of the village!" Boruto called out.

"Good eye! That jutsu it's using is on par with tou-chan and Sasuke-ojisan's Six Paths techniques!" Shinachiku called back.

"NANI?! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH THAT!? AND WHY WOULD IT WAIT THIS LONG TO USE IT?!" Boruto questioned with a shocked and scared anime expression.

"Don't worry, we have a plan! Once it fires that it'll be left open and completely drained of its chakra!" Arata said as he then looked towards his half-brother. "Boruto! I need you to sync up with me!"

"Huh?"

"Shinachiku will take care of the jutsu! You and I will finish it off!" Arata explained, surprising Boruto whose eyes widened. "Start charging up!" Arata ordered as he got into a stance with his knees bent, took out his chokuto and readied it as he infused lightning into his blade.

Boruto blinked his eyes before gaining a serious expression.

"Right!" Boruto said as he mirrored Arata's actions, but this time he was surrounding his bokken in chakra and wind release. He focused on having his chakra spiraling around his wooden sword, to the point where he was implementing the practice of the Rasengan around it. 'This'll work… I know it will!' Boruto thought with gritted teeth.

"Sarada! You mind giving me the heads up with those eyes of yours?" Shinachiku asked his sister.

"I'm on it!" Sarada responded as she kept her Sharingan on the Tengu. 'I will protect my friends. I will protect my family. I will protect my home!' Sarada thought to herself, unaware that a small black dot had started to form within her eyes.

The Tengu let out a bellowing roar as the black lightning around it was going crazy, breaking apart the ground around it with pieces of debris starting to hover upwards from the intense electromagnetic field it was producing.

"Bring it on." Shinachiku said as he brought his three-pronged kunai up in front of him with his arms out.

The four prepared for themselves for the Tengu's final gambit as the black orb off the tip of its nose grew larger and larger to the point where it could be confused for a Tailed Beast Ball. It grew and grew, until it immediately shrank into a tiny orb with the lightning all gone.

Silence encompassed the area for a moment as then the Tengu's eyes gave a bright gleam.

"NOW!" Sarada screamed out as then the Tengu thrust its head forward, firing a black lightning coated laser towards the genin.

'Hiraishin: Dōrai!' (Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder) Shinachiku mentally cried out as the sealing formula written on the grip of his kunai expanded and devoured the laser.

The went on for a few moments until the jutsu faded away in an instant, like lightning.

The Tengu panted after expelling all its remaining power into that attack and was very much confused on where the boom was.

Suddenly in the far distance an explosion was heard as a ginormous dome of black energy surrounded a section of the forest with black lightning firing all throughout it and breaking apart the land as each bolt struck the ground.

All the Oni Zetsu caught in the jutsus range let out screams and roars that all went silent as they were immediately consumed and disintegrated in 1/1000th of a second.

The Tengu turned around in shock that its technique had been teleported a great distance behind itself as it soon dispersed.

"Let's Go!" Arata shouted, catching the Tengu's attention as both he and Boruto sped forward with a trail of lightning behind them, blue and gold respectively.

"Kenpō~…" (Sword Art) Both maternal half-siblings spoke as they readied their attacks with Arata's blade surrounded in lightning and Boruto's bokken spiraling with chakra and wind.

The Tengu's anger increased, giving it a spike of adrenaline for it to raise its jūmonji yari high and ready to strike at least one down. It was determined to take one with it.

As the two reached the front of it, the Tengu brought it jūmonji yari down, only for a pair of long spikes of earth to shoot out of the ground on both sides and stab right through its arms, halting its movements.

The Tengu's eyes widened in shock and pain as what once was fury was now replaced by fear.

"Chidori: Chakuratō! / Fūton: Rasentō!" (One Thousand Birds: Chakra Blade / Wind Release: Spiraling Blade) Arata and Boruto screamed out as they delivered diagonal slashes.

Lightning and Wind blades cut right through the Tengu and after a moment of silence, the sounds of the air being cut was heard as light in the shape of an X over the Tengu's torso shined immediately followed by the space behind the Oni Zetsu being cut with a large X appeared in the form of bright light as black energy shrouded around it before the Tengu's wound exploded with black wisps of energy as bright light with a coating of darkness then consumed the monster, whose roars of agony were silenced by it.

The light and darkness dissipated, leaving the Tengu, now with its wardrobe gone and body looking like a blackened statue. Its form then dispersed into ash that blew into the wind.

Shinachiku and Sarada blinked their eyes in shock at what had just happened. Whatever it was, that just happened.

Boruto and Arata fell onto their keisters, panting with their eyes widened with they themselves shocked and confused on what had just taken place.

"Did we… uh… did we catch a glimpse of heaven or something?" Boruto asked, super confused and in shock at what he and Arata had achieved.

"I… think so?" Even Arata was confused.

"What the hell did you guys do?!" A male voice exclaimed, causing the four to turn to see Iwabe standing across from them, looking slack jawed with his eyes widened anime style and hands clasped together in a hand seal.

"Iwabe? What are you doing here?" Shinachiku asked.

"Saving your asses! Or at least, that was the plan!" Iwabe retorted, still trying to make heads or tails of what he had witnessed.

"So, that was you who stopped the Tengu's counterattack. Arigato." Arata said as he and Boruto managed to get back to their feet.

"Nice timing there. Even if it was weakened, managing to get the drop on a Tengu is no easy feat." Shinachiku complimented his friend's skills.

"That's What That Was?! A Freaking Tengu!? I just reacted as soon as I made it here! I didn't even get a good look at the thing! Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) now has these things flying around!?" Iwabe questioned in a loud, worried tone.

"Well, not that type of Tengu." Shinachiku answered.

"Tengu usually inhabit mountainous areas, except for certain types of their kind. The only Tengu one might find around here would be Konoha-Tengu (Leaf Heavenly Dog) or perhaps by the off chance a Kawa Tengu (River Heavenly Dog). The one we just faced was neither and can often be found in Kaminari no Kuni (Land of Lightning) like with most other Tengu." Arata explained.

"Then what was it doing here?" Sarada asked with concern.

"What was here?" A female voice asked making the group of five to look upward to see Team 10 with Namida and Yodo flying down towards them. "Whoa. What in the world caused all this damage?" Chocho asked.

"A Tengu, apparently." Iwabe answered.

"A Tengu?! Eep!" Chocho screamed out as she held her cheeks in fear, and she wasn't the only one with a scared look their face.

"Calm down. It's dead. Arata and Boruto finished it off." Shinachiku said with a dismissive.

"Of course! I should have known that you were able to defeat such a beast, Arata-kun~!" Chocho cooed as she got close to Arata, cuddling against the frown and embarrassed Uchiha-Hyūga.

"Hey, I helped out too, dattebasa." Boruto said, looking at Chocho with a dull expression.

"Youth~!" Everyone heard someone scream as they turned to see Metal rushing over pulling a sizeable cart that was carrying Denki and Tsubaki. "We are here!" Metal declared as he stopped beside his friends.

"What did we miss?" Denki asked.

"From the looks of it, a lot." Tsubaki said as she noticed the damage to the area, before her eyes looked towards Shinachiku and Arata, noticing their clothes were stained with some blood and their clothing a bit cut with wounds underneath. "Are you both alright?" Tsubaki asked as she hopped off the cart, followed by Denki.

"Couple stabs around the body, my hands hurt from stopping the tip of that Tengu's jūmonji yari and I'm aching a bit forcing open the gates, even in conjunction with my chakra cloak, but that'll subside." Shinachiku answered in a nonchalant tone.

"You shouldn't sound so relaxed from mentioning all that." Shikadai said with a frown and half-lidded eyes, as he and the others were surprised how not-so-seriously Shinachiku was taking his injuries.

"Honestly, I'm more worried about Arata. He got cut earlier by that spear tip and it was surrounded in a coating of natural energy." Shinachiku mentioned, pointing towards Arata's wounded shoulder.

"Whoa, seriously?! And you still got back up and managed to do all that damage to it!? You're amazing, onii-chan!" Boruto said in awe at Arata's endurance and skill.

"You're so incredible, Arata-kun!" Chocho said with hearts for eyes and pressing her fists against her cheek.

"How's your wound though?" Sarada asked with concern for her elder paternal half-brother.

"Throbbing like hell with a sense of burning that reaching both the muscles and bone." Arata answered with a grunt as he held his arm upon instinct as the pain came back to him.

"Let me heal you up." Shinachiku and Sarada said in unison as they hurried over and worked together to fix up Arata's wound.

Tsubaki blinked her eyes. Her gaze focused on Arata. Every time he entered combat, he just keeps impressing her more and more. It's honestly kind of annoying, yet also admirable.

"You truly are remarkable, Arata." Tsubaki said upon instinct, surprising everyone by her sudden compliment.

"Arigato." Arata responded with an appreciative nod.

'He Didn't Nod to Me When I Complimented Him! What The Hell Does Tsubaki Got That I Don't?!' Chocho thought, gritted her teeth and growling with fire in her eyes.

"Not to put a damper on the mood, but… this is far from over." Shikadai said, catching everyone's attention. "It doesn't take a genius to know that the threat of those things is still present."

"I can hear them." Yodo mentioned with a serious expression. "Their growls… their roars… their laughter…"

"Laughter?!" Namida and Inojin questioned with looks of fear on their faces.

"I even here what sounds like… the pitter pat of someone walking on their hands? It's like… teke… teke?" Yodo listened in, surprised by what she was hearing, which also wasn't sitting well considering there's only one urban legend that can do that.

"AH! NO~! NOT A TEKE TEKE!" Namida screamed out as she hopped onto Inojin's arms.

"I Don't Want to Be Cut In Half!" Inojin screamed out in horror.

"That's Enough!" Shinachiku yelled, surprising everyone, minus Arata. "Crying isn't going to help us right now, and it's certainly not going to help the village!"

"S-Shinachiku-kun…" Namida spoke his name, still surprised by his raised voice.

"Right now, we got to double down and get our nerve back. We need to save our home first, and then we can cry afterwards." Shinachiku said with a serious expression.

"Agreed." Arata said.

"Yeah. We're far from down with this troublesome night." Shikadai agreed as well.

"Now listen, I know that nobody likes to hear these kinds of words when monsters are involved but… we're gonna have to split up." Shinachiku said, shocking everyone.

"Say What?!" Iwabe shouted in shock.

"Are you crazy!?" Inojin shouted with annoyance as Namida got off of his hold.

"Into teams. Don't worry. I'm not expecting everyone to go solo. That's just a dumbass move right there, dattebaro." Shinachiku said, causing the others to sigh in relief.

"Still though, I hate the idea of reducing our combined numbers." Inojin complained with a frown.

"Preaching to the choir here, but I know what this group is capable of. Even when separated, we all manage to accomplish some pretty impressive feats." Shinachiku said.

"But we're not-"

"I know you're not the ones I grew up with, but that doesn't matter! You all have the same spirit! That's what matters!" Shinachiku shouted, surprising the counterparts of his friends. "It doesn't matter if you all are close to their strength or not or even surpassed them… your will is still the same… and a will can never be overcome, especially by monsters, so long as it is strong enough."

'Nii-san…' Sarada stared at her maternal half-brother with awe at his words.

"Shinachiku is right. A will is only as strong as how far you take it. Just look at the Hokage." Arata said, causing everyone to feel more assured now as Shinachiku finished healing his arm.

"I know you all have your doubts about how strong you really are, and if you're strong enough to face these nightmares… but that's not the question you should be asking yourself. The question isn't if I'm strong enough… it's am I ready to go as far as I can and beyond for my village." Shinachiku said with a serious and powerfully strong resolute tone, as he then turned to them with an expression that reflected the same. "What is your will telling you now?"

Everyone stayed silent for a moment as they all then reached the same conclusion. They all then spoke up, unintentionally matching everyone as they said.

"We will win."

Shinachiku couldn't help but smile at this.

'It really does feel like we're home, 'ttebaro.' Shinachiku thought, feeling proud of everyone.

'Yare yare. How nostalgic.' Arata thought with his eyes closed and his own smile. "If we're going to do this, we're going to have to do like Shina said. We need to form teams and defend a perimeter around the village. These creatures will target the village from all angles, not just the front gates." Arata said, regaining a more serious composure.

"I'll stay right here in front of the gates. It's the quickest way for them in and my clones and fūinjutsu will be needed to intercept any of these bastards who think they can just waltz right in." Shinachiku said slamming his fist into the hand.

"I'll do that same. My speed will be of more use here." Arata said with his arms crossed.

"I'll stick with you guys too." Shikadai said, surprising the rest. "I may not be a powerhouse like you two, but I'm sure my shadow techniques can help keep any of them from proceeding in case they somehow slip by you both."

"That will be a great help." Shinachiku said with a nod. "Now we just need air support."

"I can help with that!" Namida offered, catching everyone's attention. "Inojin and I have been attacking from the skies, so with both our jutsus, we'll make sure to strike as many as we can while you guys handle the ground!" Namida said with a serious and determined expression.

"Yodo, you go with them." Shikadai said to the blonde Suna-nin, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Inojin and Namida might gain higher ground and have long range jutsu, but they won't be able to detect that many from above. At least, not as many as we want without your help. After all, with your sensitive hearing, you have the best advantage when it comes to pinpointing the enemy."

"Gotcha." Yodo said with a smirk and nod.

"Should I stay here by the gates as well?" Denki asked.

"No. We'll need you by the eastern area. That's where the police department and many residential homes are. Your Fūin Ite (Seal Archer) will help keep as many at bay as possible." Arata said, pointing to Denki's gauntlet.

"Fūin Ite?" Boruto looked towards Denki in confusion.

"Yeah. When Shinachiku-kun gave us his memories about our other selves, I saw this and was inspired to make it. It's like the Shinobi Gauntlet that Katasuke-san made, but instead of ninjutsu in capsules, it works with fūinjutsu." Denki explained, showing off his new device. "It's a prototype though."

"It's one that's going to help us out a hell of a lot." Shinachiku said before looking towards his fellow green spandex lover. "Metal, you go and watch Denki's back. That gadget of his is for ranged combat, so you'll cover him with your close-range fighting style."

"I can do both! There is this new weapon Tenten-san had given me that works for both close to long range combat." Metal shared with a new look of determination.

"Only Tenten-san." Shinachiku said with a smile.

"I shall assist them, if it's fine with you." Tsubaki offered.

"That'll help." Shikadai said with a nod.

"Tsubaki. Come here a moment." Arata said, catching the samurai's attention as she walked right over. "Hold out your hand." Arata ordered, confusing Tsubaki, but she did so regardless.

All of a sudden, Arata took Tsubaki's hand into his own, surprising the others.

'NANDATO?!' Chocho mentally screamed in shock and horror at the sight with her jaw dropped.

'No way! Is he going to confess or something?!' Boruto thought with widened anime eyes and his cheeks reddened.

"This will sting a bit." Arata said, confusing Tsubaki even more as he took out a kunai and cut her finger, surprising her and the others that Arata drew blood from her.

"What are you doing?!" Tsubaki demanded answers.

"Just trust me." Arata said as took out her katana from her sheathe.

"Yeah, remember, this is Arata. He hates drawing blood. I'm more okay with it and I'm a medic. So you know he has a good reason for this." Shinachiku explained with a knowing smile.

Arata then pressed the tip of Tsubaki's bleeding finger against the side of her blade and then used it to write a sealing formula along it.

"This is a special fūinjutsu that my father passed down to me. With it you can seal away anything you strike inside and use it for yourself. It works well against not only ninjutsu, but also natural energy, and it can amplify the strength of your strikes and chakra-based attacks." Arata explained, shocking Tsubaki and the others.

"I see." Tsubaki said breathlessly as she stared at the sealing formula in wonder, before then feeling something wrapped around her finger, to see it was an Iyashi-satsu (Healing Tag) courtesy of Arata.

"Sorry for cutting you like that." Arata apologized to his fellow kenjutsu specialist.

"N-No. It's alright. I'm sorry for doubting you. Please forgive me." Tsubaki responded, staring into Arata's eyes with a hint of pink across her cheeks.

"Hn." Arata responded with a nod, accepting her forgiveness, though acknowledging she had no need to ask for it.

"Okay, save the flirting for later." Shinachiku said, causing Arata and Tsubaki to flinch and turn away, putting on serious expressions with their eyes closed, but they both had blushes on their faces. "Now that we've accounted for the eastern side, Boruto and Sarada, you guys will take the western."

"Got it." Sarada said with a nod.

"You can count on us." Boruto said with an excited grin, bringing up his bokken to show his eagerness.

"Chocho." Arata spoke the Akimichi's name catching her undivided attention.

"H-Hai?" Chocho looked towards the Uchiha-Hyūga with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Please go with them. Be their support. With what you've adapted your lightning release into your jutsu, you will be a major help to them, especially as air support." Arata explained.

"Arata-kun…"

"I'm counting on you." Arata stated.

'He's Counting On Me~?!' Chocho thought with hearts for eyes and her mind going into excitement overdrive. "HAI~!" Chocho proclaimed proudly with a salute with her spreading her chakra wings spread out and glistening wildly.

"Guess that covers everyone." Shikadai said.

"Except for me! What the hell am I supposed to do?!" Iwabe questioned.

"You're with, Arata, Shikadai and me." Shinachiku said, surprising Iwabe. "I mean come on. You're the best dojutsu user here, so of course you're the last line of defense to make sure not one of those things makes it through those gates." Shinachiku explained.

"Oh, uh… good! But make it clear next time! I hate being left out in anything!" Iwabe said.

"Shina! They waited long enough! Those bastards are gearing for the next wave!" Mamoru called out within his host's mind.

"Damn. Mamoru just said they're going to be on the move." Shinachiku said with a gritted frown, turning towards the forest.

"Then we better get a move on ourselves." Inojin said as he quickly made a shoebill with his art jutsu. "Hop on." Inojin said to Namida and Yodo, earning nods as they all leaped atop the shoebill.

"We'll take care of everything from above! Count on it!" Namida said with a determined expression as the three flew off.

"Tsubaki-chan! Denki! Hop on! I'll get us to the eastern area at super speed!" Metal told his designated team as he grabbed onto the cart, ready to pull it again.

"We'll make sure everything is fine on our end!" Denki said as he and Tsubaki hopped into the cart.

"We won't fail your trust. I assure you that." Tsubaki said with a serious expression.

"YOUTH!" Metal screamed out as he ran like the wind, leaving a dust trail as he headed for the eastern border of the village at super speed.

"Let's head out." Sarada said to Chocho and Boruto, earning nods from the two.

"We promise, we won't fail you." Boruto said as he, Sarada and Chocho all surrounded themselves with currents of lightning as they sped off towards the western border of the village.

'I know you won't.' Shinachiku thought with a smile.

"We better get ready." Shikadai said, only for Shinachiku to suddenly chuckle, confusing him, Iwabe and Arata. "What the hell do you have to laugh about at a time like this?" Shikadai asked, wondering if all the pressure of tonight was getting to Shinachiku.

"Sorry, it's just… you, me and Arata just coming up with a strategy on the fly like that… it just reminds me of what people like to call us three. The Konoha no San Dai Tensai." (Three Great Geniuses of the Hidden Leaf) Shinachiku answered with a smile.

"That sounds a bit much." Shikadai said with a raised eyebrow.

"Hn." Arata couldn't help but agree with a smirk.

"Hey, do I have a title like that or something? I mean, this other me. He's a Senju after all." Iwabe asked, curious if his counterpart gained any good notoriety.

However, they all flinched and turned when they heard roars and screams out into the forest.

"When we make it through this, I'll tell you everything you need to know. Little heads up, the Iwabe we know is pretty cool." Shinachiku said with a smirk.

"Well then… I'll just have to be cooler!" Iwabe exclaimed, readying to kick some ass.

'Trying to be better than himself. Same old, Iwabe.' Shinachiku thought with an amused grin, before getting serious as he slammed his fist into his hand. "Let's show these bastards what it means to ninja of Konoha." Shinachiku said as he, Shikadai, Iwabe and Arata got into their battle stances.

.

.

Back with Shikamaru, Ino and Clone Naruto, they all frown as they kept tabs on Shinachiku and the others.

"What a sad day this is when we have to really on rookie genin to keep enemies from getting pass the gate. How troublesome." Shikamaru said with a disappointed frown.

"Shikamaru-san! The weapons Tenten-san prepared with Nanadaime-sama and Shinachiku-san have all been distributed to our forces!" One of the Barrier Team shinobi informed.

"And the scientific ninja tools?" Shikamaru asked.

"They're still being handed out, but a decent amount is already being used by our forces."

.

.

A shinobi with a spear equipped into his hands let out a battle cry as he swung his weapon, delivering a blade of golden flaming chakra that sliced one of the chakra leeching trees in half.

Unlike before whenever they were cut to pieces it just easily grew back to its original size, it stayed severed with the ends that were cuts being burnt.

"Ha! These really work!" The shinobi said with a relieved smile, looking to his spear with his eyes scanning over the sealing formulas across the shaft and along the side of the spear's bladed tip.

Another shinobi ran towards another tree with two katana in hand and delivered a leaping dual sliced with burning golden flames surrounding the blades, severing the tree in front of him.

"I can't believe we're being granted to wield Nanadaime-sama's power." The shinobi said, looking towards his golden flaming blades and seeing bright orange glowing writing within them.

The shinobi of Konoha wielded all kinds of weapons: spears, katanas, ōdachi, bow & arrows, fūma shuriken, scythes, kusarigama, axes, clubs, mallets, etc.

All weapons were enhanced with fūinjutsu and both Kurama and Mamoru's chakra, making them more powerful than they originally were and able to overpower the chakra-leeching trees' regeneration.

"I honestly feel like we can win now!" A kunoichi said with a relieved smile as she fired an arrow into a tree, causing a burst of golden fiery chakra that consumed a sizeable portion of it.

"Everyone, listen." Shikamaru's voice was heard throughout the shared mental link. "Dispose of those trees as fast as you can and get to the village's borders to assist in defending against the invading forces. Right now, teams 5, 7, 10 and 15 are out there keeping any more Oni Zetsu from getting into the village."

"Wait, seriously?" A shinobi questioned with shock.

"Aren't those a bunch of genin?" Another shinobi asked with disbelief.

"Everyone! Let's get this done and provide support! We can't just let them handle this without back-up!" A shinobi called out with a serious expression.

"Hai!"

.

.

Wasabi increased speed with her canines gritted and brow furrowed, running on all fours with Tsume following close behind.

"Oi, gaki! Don't go rushing in like that! You bullet ahead with that kind of tunnel vision, and you might end up in the grasp of one of those things!" Tsume called out to Wasabi, but her words fell on deaf ears. 'Great. Another Kiba.'

'I am not going to let my friends handle this alone! Don't worry guys. I'll be there soon!' Wasabi thought as her chakra started to spike, surrounding her in an aura of it.

.

.

Sakura was busy tending to the wounded within the shelter. Thankfully, she and the rest of the staff and shinobi managed to evacuate everyone safely out of the hospital and brought them to safety.

Unfortunately, now the news that her daughter, Shinachiku and the rest of their friends were out there fighting those wretched things alone while the rest of their forces were busy doing some lumbering.

'You two better come back in one piece.' Sakura thought with a serious expression.

"Let Me Go!" A woman's voice screamed out, catching Sakura's attention as she turned to see a blonde woman with glasses trying to hurry out of the shelter, only to be blocked by some shinobi.

"Izuno-san, we understand your plight, but we can't just let you go. Not with all that danger out there." A shinobi tried reasoning with the woman.

"I don't care! My daughter is out there with those things! I need to go get her!" Mazuma argued with a clear look of worry on her face.

"What's happening here?" Tsunade asked.

"Tsunade-sama, we're trying to convince Mazuma-san here-"

"They're keeping me from my daughter!" Mazuma told the Sanin with tears in her eyes.

"By any chance, is your daughter a member of one of the teams out their defending the outskirts of the village?" Tsunade asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes! Yes, her name is Wasabi! I know she is a kunoichi and very strong, but those creatures out there are even giving Jonin a hard time! I just can't abandon her like this!" Mazuma stated her case as the tears welled up.

"You're not abandoning her, but you are abandoning these people who need your medical expertise to survive. If your daughter is a kunoichi, then she has a fighting chance, but the same cannot be extended to the people here." Tsunade lectured the woman with a stern yet compassionate tone.

"But…"

"I know… it's scary." Sakura spoke up, earning Mazuma's attention. "Letting your child be out there with the dangers of the world isn't something that gets any easier. Honestly, I'm still feel like my heart is going to pop out of my chest out of fear since my daughter is out there with them… but I have faith in her. It's not easy, especially when they're so young, but a little faith goes a long way. No one is saying your fears aren't warranted, but just as everyone is trusting you with their lives, let that be extended to your own child, who I'm sure is more than able to take up the task." Sakura explained, causing Mazuma to go silent, but still having tears ready to spill. "Your name is Izuno, right? By any chance, is your daughter named Wasabi?"

"Y-Yes." Mazuma nodded, surprised that Sakura Uchiha of all people knew who her daughter was.

"Then you have nothing to fear. I saw her in action some time ago and let me tell you, she can wipe the floor with just about any of those creeps." Sakura said with a confident smile.

"You… you really believe so?" Mazuma asked, now even more surprised that Sakura had faith in her daughter, while that same girl's mother didn't at the moment.

Not like anyone could blame her.

"I know so. She was taught by two powerful shinobi along with the rest of her friends. She'll be just fine." Sakura said with a reassuring smile.

"I-I see." Mazuma said, looking to the ground for a moment. "These two shinobi… who are they? Are they Jonin?"

"Well, no, they aren't but to be honest with you, they are far stronger than many Jonin I have ever known." Sakura said with a smile.

"Excuse me." A bandaged shinobi spoke up, catching their attention. "One of these shinobi you are talking about… are they a blonde who can transform into fiery golden form just like Nanadaime-sama?" The shinobi asked, catching everyone's attention. "I saw him earlier, so I was curious."

"I know who you're talking about! That kid who was on the news a while back, right? I think his name started with an S." Another shinobi said.

"Wait… is this true? Is that the same shinobi you were talking about, Sakura-sama?" Mazuma asked the pink-haired medic.

'So… he's letting that piece of news slip, eh? Well… can't say that I blame him. Desperate times after all.' Tsunade thought with her arms crossed.

"Sakura-sama… by any chance… is this boy they're speaking of related to Nanadaime-sama?" A shinobi asked, with now everyone who heard thinking the same exact thing as what he suggested.

All the while, Sakura had a serious expression on her face, thinking over what she just heard.

'I guess there's no room for secrets anymore… is there, Shinachiku?'

.

.

"Chānnarō!" Shinachiku sent a punch that sent a Tsuchigumo flying away.

He started to duck and dodge more attacks from other Oni Zetsu and countered them with blows of his own. He also made twenty clones to assist with taking them on. Twenty was more than enough seeing as he was being assisted by Arata, Shikadai and Iwabe.

Arata speed was more than enough to match and surpass the Oni Zetsu, but their durability and numbers were still a pain in the ass, while Shikadai's wind jutsu in conjunction with his fan not to mention his shadow techniques helped with keeping them at bay.

Iwabe was using his earth jutsu to help them whenever one slipped by and for taking care of any threat at any range since the whole area was his tool to use.

A Uwabami came out from the group several times, managing to kill a few of Shinachiku's clones and riddling the battlefield with holes. As the giant snake aimed for the real one, Arata appeared in midair beside it and once he sheathed his chokuto, it was sliced to pieces.

"Arigato, Arata!" Shinachiku called out with an appreciating smile.

Just then a Hibagon appeared behind Shinachiku, ready to crush him with its now raised fists, but suddenly it was pierced all over by tendrils made of shadows.

"Stay focused on your surroundings!" Shikadai called out as he quickly grabbed his fan. "First moon! Fūton: Kakeami!" (Wind Release: Cast Net) Shikadai swung his giant folding fan, creating a net made of wind that sliced several Oni Zetsu to bits. Suddenly, Shikadai earned a graze upon his shoulder. "Ah! Dammit, what the hell?!"

"Nobusuma!" (Wild Quilt) A Shinachiku clone pointed up towards the sky as they all noticed creatures looking similar to flying squirrels but with stripe-less tanuki-like tails and masks firing out acorn-like projectiles from their mouths.

They were all forced to avoid being hit by the acorn shaped shells that acted very much like hail if they hit like bullets.

"Dammit, now what?! They're going to fly right over the village!" A Shinachiku clone called out.

"Now, it's my turn!" Iwabe said as he went through several hand seals. "Doton: Chidōkaku!" (Earth Release: Moving Earth Core) Iwabe slammed his hands against the ground, causing a rectangular tower of earth to propel him upward to then be in front of the Nobusumas' flight pattern. "And now, Doton: Dorōn!" (Earth Release: Drone) The front of the tower of earth broke into countless pieces of levitating rock and fired forward like bullets, striking all the Nobusumas.

Once they were done, Iwabe focused and caused the piece of earth beneath him to separate and start levitating as well. Now with a new platform to stand on, Iwabe focused his chakra to break apart the rest of the rectangular stone tower into countless more rocks and launched them downward to strike many, many more Oni Zetsu, while making sure to not hit his comrades.

Iwabe then took out his jō, stabbed it into the floating stone platform he was on and formed a large mallet head.

"Look out below!" Iwabe called out as he leaped off of the stone platform and dived down with his makeshift sledgehammer raised and ready. "Doton: Ōtsuchi Nami no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Great Earth Wave Technique) Iwabe slammed the stone head of his weapon onto the ground, causing a giant wave of earth to appear and rush over towards the Oni Zetsu, sending them away.

"Alright, Iwabe!" Shinachiku cheered with a grin.

"Got to admit, I didn't expect this much out of him." Shikadai confessed with a surprised expression. 'I wonder how the others are holding up on their end.'

.

.

"Konoha Senpū!" (Leaf Whirlwind) Metal exclaimed as he delivered a kick to the abdomen of a Hibagon, sending it flying away, but he flinched upon landing on his feet. 'They weren't kidding. These creatures are harder than they look.' Metal thought to himself, holding his now aching leg from striking the natural energy enhanced creature.

"Metal, watch out!" Denki called out as he fired a capsule towards a Akabeko charging at Metal, striking it on the heal as a purple glowing sealing formula took shape and caused the mostly red Oni Zetsu to hit the ground, hard, with the gravity around itself crushing it overtime.

"Arigato, Denki!" Metal thanked his friend as he quickly leaped away in time to avoid the claw strike of a Fūri (Wind Tanuki) that flew right by, eager to use its claws on something as it then rode on the wind to avoid being struck by a lightning jutsu from Denki.

The Fūri looked like a river otter with a black spotted fur-like grass similar to a leopard, a trail of black fur along its back, and had claws similar to a sloth's claws on each foot.

Suddenly, more Fūris appeared and flew around the area, summoning gusts of winds to latch to and ride on.

One of them was sliced in half by Tsubaki, surprising the rest at the samurai's speed, who then proceeded to attack the rest.

After a few were killed, one got sick of the samurai and decided to dig its claws deep into the air itself, spun in place and threw the air it had taken ahold of at her, delivering a blade of wind.

Tsubaki noticed this and quickly blocked it with her katana while sending chakra into the sealing formula, causing the wind blade to be absorbed into her sword.

The rest of the Fūris quickly followed the lead of the first one and threw wind blades of their own at Tsubaki, surrounding her in all directions.

Tsubaki took in a deep inhale through her nose as she sensed all the incoming attacks. With finesse and raw skill, Tsubaki slashed at each blade of wind, absorbing them into her katana.

The Fūris were shocked by this development, but this shock didn't last too long as Tsubaki focused her chakra into the sealing formula and did a 360 spinning slash that sent a powerful and sharp tornado of wind that sliced the Fūris to bits and picked up a cloud of dust and debris.

Tsubaki looked at her katana for a moment before smiling. Her instincts kicked in as she brought her katana up to slash at a powerful blast of fire that was so powerful, that despite her blade's new absorption properties, she was sent flying far.

"Tsubaki!" Denki and Metal called out the samurai's name, in fear for her life.

They turned to see a giant rooster that unleashed an audible cluck and breathed out a flamethrower of fire. This creature was known as the Basan, and normally they were the size of turkeys. Guess this one didn't get the memo.

"How Dare You Do That to Tsubaki!" Metal screamed out as he charged towards the large fire bird.

"Metal-kun!" Denki called out to his friend in worry for his life.

The Basan leaped up high to avoid a kick from Metal, before delivering a dual stomp.

Metal managed to leap away, but the minute the Basan's feet touched the ground, it unleashed a shockwave of fire. Metal brought his arms up over his face to block the best he could, but the fire was so intense that it burnt Metal completely burning away the wrapping tape around his arms. He rolled against the ground before skidding to a halt in a crouching position. He looked up only to gasp as the Basan blew an intense flamethrower at the boy, consuming him.

The fire raged on for a bit only to reveal when done that Metal was unscorched and saved by Denki.

The bespectacled genin had lightning coursing around his body as the flames he stopped were sucked into his outstretched gauntlet as then a tiny scroll popped out of the chamber. Denki quickly took out the paintbrush and made a new sealing formula in the slot, followed by adding lightning release chakra into it.

"Metal, cover your eyes." Denki ordered as he aimed his gauntlet overhead of the Basan. Once Metal did as he said, Denki fired out the piece of paper, which was now over the Basan. "Fūinjutsu:Inazuma Senkō-dan!" (Sealing Technique: Lightning Flash Grenade) Denki shouted as he activated the jutsu.

The paper crinkled into a ball as it then shined bright white. So bright that it blinded the Basan as it then unleashed lightning bolts that struck the creature all over. It let out a loud, painfilled crowing.

Once the light diminished, Metal uncovered his eyes to see the Basan dazed and charred all over with burnt feathers.

"Arigato, Denki-kun!" Metal expressed his gratitude as he then rushed back towards the Basan and leaped up high, ready for the coup de grâce. "Konoha Daisenpū!" (Leaf Great Whirlwind)

Before Metal could land a powerful to break the Basan's neck, thorny vines reached over and tied around his leg, shocking him and Denki.

The vines then swung Metal away and slammed him hard into the ground, cracking his bones a bit from the intense momentum he was tossed with. Metal was then sent upwards as more thorny vines wrapped around each of his lips and even around his neck, constricting him, causing him to scream bloody murder.

"METAL!" Denki screamed out with fear for his friend's life as he was ready to hurry over to save him, but more thorny vines whipped towards him, forcing him to leap back.

The source of the vines was from another Oni Zetsu.

A Harionago. (Hook Girl)

It had the appearance of a pale-skinned woman in a gown-like membrane, black wooden claws with green veins arounds her form, eyes with black sclera and green flowing eyes, a hauntingly wide black grin and vast amounts of thorny vines for hair that it manipulated freely.

The Harionago giggled as its grin widened.

Denki gritted his teeth as he was summoned lightning around his body, ready to attack, but the Basan got out of its daze and tried pecking at Denki, forcing him to leap back.

The Basan let out a bellowing crow as its whole being alit with fire, surrounding itself in a fiery form that could confuse the creature for a phoenix. The creature appeared over Denki in an instant.

'It's fast!' Denki thought with shock as he managed to leap away from the fiery stomp of the super-sized fire rooster. He was then forced to dodge at high speeds with his lightning release as the Basan's unleashed a blinding barrage of pecks as it started marching forward. 'It's too fast! It's not going to let me by!' Denki thought with urgency.

"Kihahahahaha! Hoo~ haha!" The Harionago laughed with manic glee as she raised Metal up even higher and constricted his neck and limbs tighter, drawing blood.

Suddenly all the thorny vines holding Metal were sliced to bits, causing the Harionago to scream in pain as she stepped back a bit. It then felt a cold blade against its neck, causing it to grit his teeth and growl in frustration, noticing a short brunette girl in samurai garbs beside it.

"What do you have to laugh at, demon?" Tsubaki said, glaring at the Oni Zetsu, who glared back, growling louder.

The Harionago's vines grew back to their former length in an instant and tried stabbing into the samurai, who leaped back and parried away any few that was in ranger to pierce her.

Tsubaki narrowed her eyes as she sheathed her katana and got into an iaijutsu stance.

The Harionago growled more with anger as it ready its 'hair' to pierce the samurai in all directions.

"Try this!" Denki shouted out as he surrounded lightning chakra around his hands. "Raiton:Jinrai!" (Lightning Release: Thunderclap) Denki clapped his hands together, creating a booming sound and flash of light that blinded and disoriented the Basan. "And now~." Denki reared his hand back, encased in lightning.

'Focus.' Tsubaki furrowed her brow as she readied herself.

The Basan blindly sent a fiery peck at Denki while the Harionago sent all her thorny vines to attack Tsubaki at once.

The shinobi and samurai's eyes gleamed as they sped forward with Tsubaki appearing behind the Harionago and Denki slamming his palm into the blind Basan's chest.

"Iaigiri!" (Iai Beheading) Tsubaki said, fully sheathing her katana as the vines and head of Harionago were severed.

"Raiton: Jinraisen!" (Lightning Release: Thunderclap Arrow) Denki released a bolt of lightning in the shape of an arrow that went right through the Basan.

Both Oni Zetsu were effectively killed, with the Basan falling onto its side and the Harionago's eyes rolling to the back of its head as it and its body fell upon the ground. Both creatures dispersed into pollen that Denki immediately sealed away thanks to his gauntlet.

"Metal!" Denki called out to his teammate, running over to him as he sat up, holding his neck and coughing. "Here." Denki gently placed an Iyashi-satsu onto Metal's neck, the injury that needed the most attention.

Metal coughed a bit more as he gently rubbed his neck.

"Are you alright?" Tsubaki asked, walking over.

"No… I was no help whatsoever." Metal said, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Well… honestly, I wasn't as much help as I wish I was myself. If it hadn't been for Tsubaki-san… I don't want to think what would have happened to you." Denki said with a frown of self-disappointment.

"No time for self-pity. This night is far from over." Tsubaki said as she looked back towards the forest.

Instincts kicked in as she quickly blocked and parried a rope riddled with shuriken, shocking Metal and Denki.

The shuriken covered rope came from an Abumi-guchi, slurping it back up, as it was surrounded by more Oni Zetsu. A good number of them being Jinmenken, Fūris, and some Tsuchigumo.

"Things are just getting worse and worse." Denki said with a frown as he stood from the ground.

"There's a group of them this time. Be ready." Tsubaki said as she and Denki got back into their fighting stances.

"A group, is there?" Metal said as he pulled his hand away from his throat and took out a scroll from his pouch.

"You want a what?"

.

.

Within Tenten's weapon shop, said weapons specialist had a look of surprise from the request of the young bowl haircut genin.

"I mean… it's doable, but are you sure you want it? It sounds wonderful, but you're a taijutsu specialist and it will take time to properly wield it." Tenten said as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"I will train nonstop until I master it!" Metal instantly shouted, catching Tenten by surprise.

"Since when have you been so motivated when it came to bukijutsu?" Tenten asked, still surprised and confused by Metal's new desire.

"Since I realized… I'm not living up to my full potential." Metal confessed, looking down towards the floor.

Tenten blinked her eyes with a look of surprise before giving a gentle smile.

"It's funny. You remind me so much of your father, but for a moment… you acted just like I did when I was a genin." Tenten admitted, shocking Metal whose face then turned entirely red from the insinuation. "Alright. I'll make it for you, but you better train hard to use it properly, because one day, I want it to be used to great effect to protect what is precious to you." Tenten said with a proud smile.

.

.

Denki and Tsubaki were ready to act as the Abumi-guchi then fired out more bladed covered ropes, when something stretched out pass the pair and went into the Abumi-guchi's mouth where it then ignited from the inside, causing the Oni Zetsu to let out a haunting scream as it blew up from the inside.

Denki and Tsubaki's eyes widened as whatever it was receded its way back. Once speeding passed them, they turned to see that wrapping around Metal's arm.

It was a long chain that had kunai tip attached to a cylindrical piece under it that had sealing formulas carved into it. The chain was attached to a leather abdominal binder wrapped around Metal's abdominal area with more of the chain wrapped around it.

'Tenten-san… today is that day.' Metal thought with a seriously determined expression on his face.

"Metal-kun?" Denki spoke his teammate's name in surprise.

"What sort of device is that?" Tsubaki questioned, amazed by what she was seeing.

The Jinmenken howled, alerting both Denki and Tsubaki, causing them to refocus their attention back onto the Oni Zetsu, who all charged towards them.

Metal unwrapped the chains from his arm and wrapped it around his leg. He proceeded to leap high into the air and in one swift motion, unwrapped his chain and delivered a fast roundhouse kick that extended the chain out as it then slashed right through a row of Jinmenken as they then ignited and blew up.

Metal pulled the chains back, wrapping it around his arm, before sending a punch that sent the chain flying downward upon momentum, stabbing the kunai tip right into a Tsuchigumo, and pulled it back with the kunai detaching from it before then igniting as it blew the head of the yokai-esque creature to pieces.

Metal repeated this several times upon several more of the Jinmenken and Tsuchigumos, each time replacing a kunai he used with a new one.

The Fūris flew upward on gusts of wind and tossed blades of wind towards the green unitard genin.

Metal pulled the chain back as he then wrapped it around his entire form as he then went for a spiraling dive.

"Nenshō Omote Renge!" (Burning Front Lotus) Metal spun downward so fast that as the chain was unfurling it became an extension of the technique as it became an ever-expanding tornado that then lit ablaze thanks to the tip of the weapon and friction of the technique.

The burning iron tornado sliced through both the blades of wind, then the Fūris, like butter.

Metal slammed onto the ground in a crouched position as he wrapped the chain around his arm.

As Jinmenken and some Tsuchigumo pounced over towards him, Metal immediately started delivering punches and kicks of the Gōken (Strong Fist) with his chain stretched out to extend his attacks reach.

Metal cut into and blew up the Oni Zetsu with his new weapon, before finishing it off by delivering a chain-wrapped uppercut into a much larger Jinmenken, stabbing the kunai tip into its jugular before delivering a kick that send it crashing into one last Tsuchigumo as the dog-like beast exploded, taking the Tsuchigumo's head with it.

Metal stood tall as he put a new kunai tip into the end of his chain.

"Sugoi~!" Denki said with amazement at what he had just witnessed.

"What in the world is that magnificent tool?!" Tsubaki asked with amazement and shimmering eyes.

"This is a tool made by Tenten-san. It extends the reach of my attacks with the chain itself not just working in conjunction with my taijutsu, but with my chakra, I can extend and retract it at will. At the end of it is a sealing formula that I can activate with my chakra to ignite any kunai that I attach to it and can fire it out as ammunition! I have named this amazing weapon…" Metal then unwrapped the chain and swung it around stylishly for dramatic effect before wrapping it around his leg and raising it up to chamber. "Ryōbi!" (Dragon Tail) Metal declared proudly.

"Amazing!" Denki said as he clapped his hands in amazement.

"What a magnificent weapon!" Tsubaki said, absolutely awestruck by this new weapon.

The trio heard roars, which made them tense up and get back into serious mode.

"We're not done yet." Denki said, preparing his Fūin Ite.

"But they soon will be." Tsubaki said prepping her katana with chakra.

.

.

High up above, Yodo, Namida and Inojin were focusing on attack from above atop of Inojin's shoebill art beast.

"There's a cluster of those spider things there." Yodo informed her current team.

Inojin tossed up several bomb tags as he quickly painted on his scroll.

"Chōjū Giga!" (Super Beast Imitating Drawing) Inojin made several birds that consumed the bomb tags. "Ijiwaruna Odoroki!" (Nasty Surprise) Inojin willed his bomb-filled bird to dive down towards the Tsuchigumo.

"TajūBakuon Dātsu!" (Multiple Booming Darts) Namida brought hands fists in front of her mouth and fired out sonic bullets through them like a blow dart, and with accurate precision, struck Inojin explosive paint birds right as they were about to make contact with the Tsuchigumos.

The resulting combination led to a massive gathering of explosions that completely destroyed the arachnid Oni Zetsus.

"Yatta!" Namida and Inojin cheered with fist pumps.

"You're way better at sound techniques than I thought. Maybe I should take some lessons from you." Yodo said to Namida with an impressed smile.

"Oh, um, t-thanks, but all I do is cry really loudly. I can't hear every little sound and whip my hair to produce sound waves like you can." Namida said with a bashful and embarrassed smile.

"Pretty sure you surpass her in destructive qualities though." Inojin mentioned with a teasing smile.

"Look Out!" Yodo shouted as she pointed down below.

Thanks to his quick reflexes, Inojin willed his shoebill to move to the side in time to avoid a sonic wave.

"What the heck was that?!" Inojin questioned in shock and a new sense of worry.

Down below on the top of the trees were a vast group of Yamabiko (Echo), Oni Zetsu that looked to be between a cross of dogs and monkeys with their heads shaped like a dog with dog ears, but with the face of a monkey, the body of a monkey, with legs of a canine and long monkey arms with dog feet at the ends of them.

They all took deep breaths in, causing their bellies to expand as they then unleashed blasts of sonic waves, creating a rising storm of sound bullets.

"Holy crap!" Inojin shouted as he tried to guide his shoebill around the sound bullets.

Their shoebill earned a graze on the wing, almost taking them out of the sky.

"That's it!" Namida said with annoyance as she then took a deep breath, placed both hands over her mouth, then cracked open her fingers to make openings. "Tajū Chō Onsoku Borē!" (Multiple Supersonic Volley) Namida then unleashed an intense storm of sonic bullets through the cracks of her fingers that rained down and assaulted the area filled with Yamabiko.

The monkey-like howls of the Yamabiko cried out as they were all struck by the massive barrage of sound bullets.

Yodo and Inojin watched with widened eyes, utterly shocked by what they were witnessing as Namida finished her jutsu and panted to catch her breath as she used up a good amount of chakra on that attack.

"Goddamn, Namida." Inojin said with shock and awe, and a little bit of fear, at Namida's destructive prowess.

"Guess I got a little carried away." Namida said with a bit of a weak smile.

"No, not at all. Honestly, maybe I don't need to really use any jutsu myself here." Inojin said, only for his shoebill to be struck in the wing. "What the Hell?!"

"Above us!" Yodo shouted, pointing up towards a flock of fat, striped birds with oversized heads that had rows of sharp teeth and reddish mane of dying leaves.

"Yama Orabi!" (Mountain Shouter) Namida said with new worry as then the Yama Orabi started releasing barrages of sound bullets that were striking the shoebill, breaking it down fast.

"Oh, screw this! Everyone, jump!" Inojin shouted out as he quickly made a much larger living bird painting that he and the girls hopped onto. "Choke on this, feather brains!" Inojin shouted out as he unfurled a very sizeable scroll and faster than the eye could see, made a vast quantity of black hands with eyes in their palms. "Chō Yōkai Giga: Shitsuryō Tenome." (Super Strange Apparition Imitating Drawing: Mass Hand Eyes)

Inojin then unleashed an enormous amount of ink hand eyes that stretched up and grabbed all of the Yama Obari, which all cried out before they were silenced as the hands snapped their necks, before Inojin made a hand seal to then seal them all up into his scroll thanks to the ink hands dragging them inside.

"You were saying?" Namida teased with a smirk, causing Inojin to chuckle with embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head.

All the while, Yodo stared at the pair with a shocked and slightly unnerved expression.

'Unbelievable.' Yodo thought with pure shock.

"You know, you're acting like Shinachiku-kun when you do that." Namida said, referring to Inojin rubbing the back of his head as he chuckled.

"Don't compare me to him!" Inojin reprimanded Namida, who only silently chuckled with an amused expression.

'This is crazy. Is this really the guy who lost to Araya and the girl who didn't even make it to the finals of the Chunin Exams? Did they… did they really get this strong in just a week?' Yodo thought as she continued to stare at the pair of Konoha-nin, still very much shellshocked to her core. 'Gaara-sama was right… never underestimate shinobi of Konoha.'

.

.

"Chocho Super-Secret Jutsu: Inazuma Kafun!" (Lightning Pollen) Chocho exclaimed as she sped throughout the area, unleashing tiny particles of lightning that entered the bodies of Oni Zetsu, causing them to convulse before their bodies to burst all over from the lightning jutsu seeped within them.

"Do we even need to be here? She's actually handling everything on her own. She's unusually motivated, dattebasa." Boruto said to Sarada.

"Arata-onii-chan really knows how to motivate her." Sarada said. All of a sudden Uwabami appeared from out the ground and tried attacking them, but they effortlessly sliced the giant snake to pieces. "Still, there are some sneaky ones, and that's why we're here." Sarada said as Boruto made some sealing tags and tossed them towards the destroyed snake, sucking it up as it dispersed into pollen.

Chocho watched the Oni Zetsu she had killed from above, seeing them melting thanks to her technique.

"Done and done." Chocho said with a proud smile as she pretended to dust off her hands, but then the Oni Zetsu corpses ignited, creating fire as their melted flesh was clumped together. "That's never happened before." Chocho said in confusion as the combined fire was then making a lot of smoke. "Oi, Boruto! You got any water jutsu to put this fire out before it spreads to the rest of the forest?" Chocho asked the golden blonde, looking in his direction.

"Yeah, I got a few." Boruto said, but then he and Sarada noticed that the smoke being created was taking shape into a wispy being with green glowing eyes.

"Chocho, Behind You!" Sarada called out to warn her best friend.

"Huh?" Chocho turned only to be swatted away by a super large hand made of smoke, sending his hurtling towards the ground, creating a dust cloud upon impact.

"Chocho!" Sarada shouted out her friend's name with a look of worry and fear.

"Look out!" Boruto shouted as he tackled Sarada away from a giant fist made of smoke that then spread out into a cloud that surrounded the area. "What is this?!" Boruto wondered as he then started cough.

Sarada sat as she looked up with her Sharingan active to notice that they were surrounded by smoke infused with chakra and natural energy, but what caught her attention the most was up above, watching down on them was human-like face with green glowing eyes.

'What in the-?' Sarada's eyes widened as fear and worry started to increase within her. She heard Boruto coughing harder, making her turn to see him hunching over with his hand over his still coughing mouth. "Boruto!" Sarada spoke her teammate's name in worry, as he coughed harder.

'What the hell? It feels like my lungs are on fire, 'ttebasa!' Boruto thought to himself before Sarada started coughing and falling to her knees. "Sarada!" Boruto spoke her name, only to cough even louder. 'What is going on?'

"It's this smoke, child. When those other things your fat-to-slim friend killed were lit ablaze they transferred their remaining chakra and natural energy to create this abomination. It's made of smoke that's infused with natural energy, causing it to be a fast-acting poison to whoever is trapped within it." Momoshiki explained within Boruto.

'I really should have guess that.' Boruto thought, berating himself looking over such an obvious reason.

"There's only one way out of this smoke boy. You need to absorb it with your Kāma." Momoshiki urged.

'No way! I said I'm only going to rely on my own strength! Besides, I know you're just goading me into using it to speed up the process or something!' Boruto retorted.

"Like you have much of a choice in the matter. After all, your life isn't the only one on the line." Momoshiki countered as Sarada coughed louder.

Boruto's vision became hazy as he continued to cough. After a moment, it felt like everything became consumed with darkness… only for something warm to resonate within his chest. Welcoming and soothing yet very, very powerful.

'There's always another choice.' Boruto's eyes shined bright gold. He got to his feet and took an affirmed stance with his knees bent and bokken ready to the side. 'There's always another spark… to inspire me to do more!' Boruto's bokken coursed with golden lightning before it started to glow with golden chakra. 'I'll endure… and break through my limits…' Golden embers started to materialize around Boruto. "Like A True Shinobi!" Boruto screamed as then rocketed into the air.

'Boruto…' Sarada looked up towards her teammate as her Sharingan showed her that within Boruto was a golden flame that was shining brighter and brighter, causing her eyes to widen.

"This Is My Will Of Fire! Kenpō: Hakkeshō Kaiten Nokoribi!" (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven Embers) Boruto screamed out as span rapidly in the air with golden flame-like chakra ejecting from his tenketsu as his whole being became a flaming golden sphere that was releasing rings of fire out from around the sphere.

The jutsu was so powerful that it was actually overpowering the natural energy enhanced smoke, which shocked the smoke Oni Zetsu. The creature tried to fight off against the golden energy, but for some reason, it was far stronger than its senjutsu smoke.

Wind was picking up as the sphere started to transform into a tornado of golden fire, overpowering the smoke more and more.

Sarada stared in awe at the power Boruto possessed but the energy he was using looked far too familiar to both her, and especially to her Sharingan. Seeing this new power alive with him boosted Sarada's determination as she focused on lightning around her hand.

The smoke monster let out a defiant roar as it tried fighting back against the golden flames, but after a moment, the golden flaming tornado erupted, releasing a powerful shockwave of golden flames.

Boruto landed back onto the floor and looked overhead with still shining eyes to see that he had dispersed most of the smoke, but there was still some leftover hovering and reforming overhead.

The smoke Oni Zetsu reformed into a cloud that possessed a pair of wisp-like arms and a humanoid head with green glowing eyes that glared down upon Boruto.

Boruto and the smoke Oni Zetsu glared at one another for a moment, before the Oni Zetsu roared as not only did it send its two large smoke arms down upon Boruto, but also several other smaller ones from the rest of its 'body'. Boruto was ready to strike with his bokken, before he sensed the crackling of lightning a severs bolts of lightning sped past him and met the smoke fists head on.

The lightning bolts pierced through the smoke fists and travelled upwards into the main body, where they exploded with a storm of electricity.

The smoke Oni Zetsu roared and screamed in agony as it felt lightning circulating around its body.

Boruto turned to see that these bolts of lightning were coming from none other than Sarada, who had a Chidori in one hand and a kunai in the other.

With a stern expression, Sarada stabbed herself right under the left part of her chest, shocking Boruto, as she proceeded to create an open wound.

"Sarada!" Boruto spoke her name with pure concern for her safety and mental health.

Sarada dropped the kunai and focused medical ninjutsu over the wound, but instead of healing it, she focused on dragging something out of her body. The poisonous smoke that had invaded her body earlier. Once she dragged it all out, she surged lightning into it, mixing it with the smoke, transforming it into a small storm cloud that glowed bright within and sparked small bolts of lightning.

"Unfortunately for you, you came a bit too late. More than a week ago, you would have had me, but now… you're just ammunition!" Sarada exclaimed as she threw the storm ball up towards the smoke Oni Zetsu.

The storm bomb bulleted right into the smoky creature, where it then exploded, causing the smoke Oni Zetsu to let out a bellow scream as it coursed with so much lightning that it took on a blue hue from being filled with so much of a harmful element.

"Whoa." Boruto said with awe at Sarada's prowess.

"Boruto! Finish it!" Sarada called out to her teammate.

"Right!" Boruto said as he put his bokken away and brought up his right hand. He stared at his Kāma for a second before glaring back up towards the Oni Zetsu as lightning sparked from his palm. 'This is my strength. The strength that I possess. No one else.' Boruto thought to himself as he started forming a Rasengan that was combining wind release and his lightning release. 'This is all me, dattebasa.' Boruto thought to himself as the Rasengan spiraled at an intense rate, creating powerful whips of wind and sparking with lightning. 'This right here… is a Boruto original!' Boruto rocketed upwards toward the smoke Oni Zetsu. "Take This! Taiton: Rasengan!" (Typhoon Release: Spiraling Sphere)

Boruto struck his super powered jutsu right into smoke Oni Zetsu.

The smoke Oni Zetsu roared louder as it felt even more agony from Boruto's jutsu.

The sparking tornado-esque Rasengan grinded against the surface of the illuminated smoke monster.

Boruto gritted his teeth as his mind then went to Shinachiku and Arata, along with all the training he experienced under them. He then thought of all his friends he trained with and worked together to do some incredible things. These memories were somehow strengthening his jutsu as it slowly started to grow larger and larger while doing more damage with each passing moment.

'This power does come from me… but I didn't earn it on my own! But that's the kind of strength I need!' Boruto thought as his eyes shined gold as he then roared with embers burning around himself with his Rasengan letting out rays of golden light throughout it.

"GO!" Boruto screamed out as his Taiton: Rasengan grew to gigantic size, completely consuming the smoke Oni Zetsu, and exploding to unleash a ginormous tornado that released bolts of lightning everywhere as it rocketed into the sky.

Sarada stared in awe at what she was witnessing. The amount of power Boruto was unleashing left her speechless with amazement, but what's more so is that she saw that same fire within him grow larger and shine brighter within him. It amazed and bewildered her as she stared at this sight, but in a moment, she could have sworn to see something odd with the flame within Boruto.

'Is that a… does that fire… have a tail?' Sarada wondered to herself in confusion.

The lightning emitting tornado soon dispersed, with the smoke Oni Zetsu completely destroyed and Boruto coming down towards the ground.

Luckily, before impact, Boruto backflipped midair and landed on his feet as he let out a relieved sigh.

"Man… that was a lot." Boruto said with his shoulders slumped.

Sarada stared at the back of Boruto, still in shock by his new rise in power but also confusion and curiosity at what she had just seen with her Sharingan. In fact, that flame she saw before started to recede to look like a small golden flame within him, instead of the enlarged form that looked to have been taking the shape of some sort of creature. She blinked her eyes as she tried to make sense of it all, only to recall that she and Boruto weren't the only shinobi in the area.

"Chocho!" Sarada turned and saw said Akimichi was lying on the floor but retained her slim form. Sarada rushed over towards her downed friend. She used her medical ninjutsu to scan her body to find the poisonous smoke was also within her, but she was still alive and fighting against it. "Don't worry, Chocho. I got you." Sarada said as she took out a kunai.

Boruto walked over, seeing Sarada doing the same thing she did to herself by cutting right under the left side of Chocho's chest and focused and using her medical ninjutsu to pull out the poisonous smoke out of her. When she was done pulling out the poisonous smoke, Boruto walked over with a sealing tag and sealed the smoke inside it.

"How is she?" Boruto asked.

"A little bit out of it, but she'll be just fine after a quick check-up." Sarada answered.

"What kind of Oni Zetsu was that?" Boruto wondered aloud.

"Oni Zetsu are usually made from Mokuton (Wood Release), and that thing was born from the smoke of their corpses being on fire, not unlike a bonfire… I think it was an Enenra." (Smokey Fabric) Sarada deduced.

"That explains why it had a face." Boruto pointed out.

"Its 'body' was like a fast-acting poison thanks to being fueled by natural energy, which explains why it surrounded us with it. If it wasn't for the medical training, I've been undergoing to extract this stuff out safely, we'd be dying from the inside out right about now." Sarada answered with a grim yet serious expression, before realizing something. "Hold on… I haven't extracted the smoke out of you yet and you look to be fine. What happened?" Sarada asked with surprise and confusion.

"I dunno. Maybe my chakra reacted to it or something and got rid of it on its own. I have been feeling lately like my body is acting up somehow." Boruto guessed with a shrug as Chocho coughed a bit. "You sure she's going to be alright?"

"Positive." Sarada answered, never losing focus on her medical ninjutsu. "Chocho's gotten way stronger than I originally thought. To be able to endure having smoke invade her body and fueled by natural energy, she's far more amazing than I gave her credit for." Sarada said as she focused on healing the Akimichi, who groaned a bit from the new healing sensation.

"Yeah, she is… but what you did was way cooler." Boruto mentioned, causing Sarada to look at him with a look of surprise and a blush.

The two stared at one another, with Boruto still silently in awe at Sarada's newfound capabilities, while Sarada's heartbeat increased as she stared into his cool blue cerulean eyes.

Suddenly, a Hibagon charged towards them with its arms stretched out and jaw opened wide, ready to grab and crush the two.

"Tsūga!" (Passing Fang)

"Tsūtsume!" (Passing Claw)

A drill-like bullet struck the Hibagon across the torso, before a spiraling bullet with razor sharp claws dug in and cut off the creature's left arm and a chunk of its neck.

Boruto and Sarada looked over in surprise as they saw the Oni Zetsu fall back onto their floor as a pair of kunoichi appeared behind the fallen furry homosapien-like beast.

"Not bad. You've improved a bit with my advice, but you could as a bit more speed to it." Tsume said with a sharp-toothed grin.

"Just give me a little time. I'll get it down by the end of the day, just you watch." Wasabi said with a grin of her own.

"Wasabi?!" Sarada was surprised to see her feline loving friend, and even more so her jutsu which she timed pretty well with this elder feral looking woman.

"Who's the woman with her?" Boruto wondered aloud.

"The name's Tsume Inuzuka, brat, not 'woman'. Remember that for next time, got it?" Tsume said giving Boruto an intimidating stare with a gleam in them and widening her grin to show off her fangs.

"H-H-H-H-HAI!" Boruto exclaimed, standing up straight with a scared anime expression on his face.

'Still got it.' Tsume thought, feeling superior.

Chocho suddenly moaned as she found the strength to sit up.

"Chocho!" Sarada was very happy to see that her friend was alright.

"Oh, hey Sarada, what hit me?" Chocho asked as she rubbed the back of her head, before noticing Wasabi and the older woman beside her. "Hey, Wasabi. Who's that? Your grandma?" Chocho asked, causing the Izuno to flinch and blush with a look of shock, some worry and embarrassment at the claim.

"Tch. She wishes." Tsume said, still grinning with her eyes closed and arms crossed.

"O-Oi!" Wasabi responded, baring her fangs and glared at Tsume but still had a blush across her face.

'Tsume Inuzuka…' Sarada thought over the name before a look of realization came to her. 'Wait a moment, is this the woman who is Wasabi's adoptive grandma in the other world!? How did this happen?!' Sarada wondered with a shocked look.

Tsume just ignored the glare Wasabi was giving her, only for her instincts to kick in as she sensed movement from the Oni Zetsu before them.

"Jump away!" Tsume ordered as she grabbed Wasabi and leaped away.

Boruto, Sarada and Chocho's own instincts kicked in just before the Hibagon quickly got up and roared with its remaining fist up.

Boruto leaped away while Chocho grabbed Sarada and flew away just before the Hibagon smashed its right fist into the ground, unleashing a shockwave of natural energy that formed an ever-expanding crater.

Despite leaping away, Tsume, Wasabi and Boruto were sent flying while Chocho and Sarada were sent upwards.

Boruto skidded back while Wasabi helped Tsume flip back and land on their feet, and up in the air, Chocho managed to stop herself from going any higher while making sure Sarada remained safely in her arms.

The Hibagon stood up straight and looked towards the girl and older woman who had lingering scents of a cat and dog, respectively. It growled at the pair with its canines bare and eyes narrowed into a green shining glare.

"Got a problem, monkey?" Tsume taunted the beast as she glared back.

The Hibagon reared its head back and unleashed a roar that created a sonic wave in the shape of a tunnel that made its way towards the pair.

Tsume, keeping her grip strongly on Wasabi, leaped up high, saving them from being struck as the trees behind them were hit, uprooting them and breaking them, and the ground, to pieces as they and debris were sent flying away. The sonic was so powerful it even created a giant rut along its path that went deeper into the forest.

"Shut Your Yap!" Wasabi shouted as she created some chakra claws while rearing her arm back. "Chakura no Tsume: Gohon no Tsume!" (Chakra Claws: Five-Claw Arrows) Wasabi thrust her arm forward, shooting out five sharp elongated claws that flew fast towards the roaring Hibagon.

The Hibagon quickly bit its teeth hard onto the clawed projectiles, only for them to burst with chakra, sending it reeling back from the shockwave.

'Now's my chance!' Boruto thought to himself as he circulated wind chakra and golden lightning around his bokken as he dashed forward and pounced at the Oni Zetsu with his weapon ready. "Taiton: Hadan!" Boruto shouted out as he swung his lightning and wind covered bokken, aiming for remainder of the Hibagon's neck.

The Hibagon managed to regain its footing and delivered a natural energy enhanced right hook, resulting in a giant shockwave of wind with bolts of golden lightning unleashed everywhere from between the oversized fist and the bokken.

After a momentary struggle, the two were pushed away a good distance as an explosion of wind and lightning erupted from between their respective attacks.

"Chocho, throw me with all your might!" Sarada ordered her friend.

"You got it!" Chocho said without hesitation as she then spun at high speed in midair and threw Sarada light a bullet.

Sarada, sparking with blue lightning, let out a battle cry as she slammed her fist hard into the abdomen of the Hibagon.

The oversized missing link-esque creature gritted its teeth as it used a coating of natural energy around its stomach to defend against the girl's amplified attack.

Sarada gritted her teeth as her skin became a warmer color and purple lightning was sparking from her being.

"Shānnarō!" Sarada screamed out as a bolt of purple lightning went through the Hibagon, followed by a shockwave that formed a deep crater around the pair, as the Oni Zetsu exploded into pollen that was then destroyed by Sarada's purple lightning. Sarada landed on her feet, panting as she hunched over a bit before standing up straight and looking to her fist. "Not bad… but still needs improvement." Sarada said to herself.

"Sarada! That was amazing!" Chocho said with awe as she flew down towards her friend.

"Way to go." Boruto said, giving a thumbs up as he was on his back for a moment, before hopping back onto his feet.

"What is with this generation now? Have your parents been feeding you well or is there something in the water?" Tsume questioned, surprised that it wasn't just Wasabi who was surprisingly capable for their age.

"No. we're just that incredible. We're a generation of badasses!" Wasabi said with utmost confidence.

'This brat sounds like my son.' Tsume thought with a momentary frown, before smirking. 'Aw well. At least she's shown she can back up her words, unlike him.' Tsume thought with a sense of pride.

"Those Oni Zetsu do not know who they're messing with! We're way too strong for them!" Chocho said with pride as she landed beside Sarada with a proud smile.

All of a sudden, the group of five sensed a powerful force. It wasn't an attack. It was a sensation. Warning them that the worst was yet to come.

'Oh no.' Boruto thought with new worry as Chocho gulped beside him.

"What was that?" Chocho asked with a new sense of fear.

"Shit!" Tsume cursed as her instincts told her to dodge, as she then leaped high away with Wasabi still in her hold.

Boruto's instincts suddenly kicked in as he quickly threw Chocho away and tackled Sarada to the ground again, just as a large, compressed force of natural energy rocketed through the forest, destroying a vast multitude of trees and the ground along the way.

The force sped past them all and hit the wall of the village, completely destroying a section of it, leaving a brand-new hole in the village in its wake.

Everyone stared in shock with widened eyes at seeing the damage caused by a single long ranged attack.

"I-I didn't even sense that! What in the world did that?!" Chocho asked with shock, before a powerful roar echoed deep from within the forest. "… Guys… I'm scared." Chocho said as she and the others stared into the forest, frozen in place, too afraid to move.

The area was bathed in silence for a few fleeting moments, before the gleam of eyes came from within the shadows of the forest.

The sounds of fast paced yet harsh footsteps hitting the ground were heard, which immediately put the group on high alert, as then something dashed out of the forest, aiming for Boruto and Sarada.

Boruto quickly got to his feet and surrounded his bokken with typhoon release again as he was forced to block something that tried stabbing him. Despite putting up a decent effort, he was overpowered by the new arrival's attack. Seeing as he had just dealt with his body being poisoned by nature enhanced smoke, creating a super powerful dual elemental Rasengan and had a clash with a giant man-ape thing and its super-sized fist, and all of that happening back-to-back in less than five minutes, it wasn't hard to understand why he felt so overwhelmed.

Boruto was sent flying away with a shout. He rolled against the ground until he came to a halt. He groaned as he got on his hands and knees, only to be slammed into the ground and raised up high by the creature that had just attacked him.

"Boruto!" Sarada called out her teammate's name in fear for his life.

"What is that?!" Wasabi asked in shock.

It was a large, six-foot four bird-like creature with a humanoid torso, humanoid arms with forearms and hands looking like the legs and feet of an eagle complete with talons, the legs of a bird that also had talons, a very large pair of wings, a long, sharp beak that stuck far out, a pair of shining white eyes, and it was covered with feather-like leaves all throughout it with the only spots not covered it being the areas beneath its knees and elbows, a long tail feather that looked similar to an open harisen (slapping fan), with a whole bunch of 'feathers' sticking out the back of its head and around the neck, and finally a pair of long blades of grass starting from its brow and growing all the way and sticking out the back of its head, hovering in midair. It also had what looked to be a large necklace of prayer beads around its neck.

The new creature let out a powerful screech that emitted a sound wave that forced the others to cover their ears, with Chocho and Sarada being sent flying and rolling away while Tsume skidded back a good distance.

Boruto let out a pain-filled scream as the avian Oni Zetsu raised him up high and squeezed him hard.

"Boruto!" Sarada called out her teammate's name in worry as she got to her feed and surrounded her hand in lightning before appearing above the bird creature. "Chidori!" (One Thousand Birds) Sarada thrusted her lightning jutsu into the Oni Zetsu, only for it to stop as it met the leady feathers. 'Nani?!' Sarada's eyes widened in shock before the bird Oni Zetsu let out a powerful screech, unleashing a shockwave that sent Sarada flying back.

"Sarada!" Chocho screamed out her friend's name with worry before directing her anger towards the beast. "Take this! Super Chocho's Chō Ikazuchiken!" (Super Lightning Fist) Chocho enlarged the size of her fist as it burst with lightning before she delivered an oversized punch towards the creature.

The avian monster remained calm as the enlarge fist came its way before raising up its free hand and blocking the punch, which caused a sonic boom that echoed out a ringing noise that hurt the ears of the ninja, especially Wasabi and Tsume who were more sensitive to it thanks to their heightened senses.

'Itai~.' Wasabi thought as she covered her ears.

'No way… it actually blocked the hit… just like that?!' Chocho thought with shock and a growing sense of fear. Just then, the bolts of lightning surrounding Chocho's fists started striking the Oni Zetsu's body, only for them to course all around its body, causing its feathers to glow blue and release sparks of lighting. 'It's absorbing my ninjutsu?!' Chocho thought in shock.

Faster than she could comprehend, the avian monster delivered a punch to Chocho's fist, which sent her flying back thanks to her lightning chakra fueling the Oni Zetsu with new strength and speed.

Wasabi watched as Chocho hit and rolled against the ground hard, which made her grit her teeth in anger and glared at the beast.

"Stupid bird…" Wasabi growled as she readied her chakra claws in one hand. "Chakura no Tsume: Gohon Tsume no Ya!" Wasabi sent five chakra claw projectiles at the creature, aiming for its legs, only for it to leap high into the air. "Ha! Got you! Chakura no Tsume: Jū Tsume no Ya!" (Chakra Claw: Ten-Claw Arrows) Wasabi sent ten claws towards the outer sides of the beast's main body, intending to strike its large wingspan.

The flying Oni Zetsu expanded its wings out with bolts of lightning unleashed from its feathers, as it then sent a powerful flap that deliver lightning enhanced feathers that struck each chakra claw, shocking Wasabi, as the feathers then darted down towards her.

"Look out!" Tsume shouted as she tackled Wasabi to the ground, away from the lightning feathers, which burst with lightning like mini-electrical bombs going off almost simultaneously. "Keep your head in the game! No matter what move you make, keep on moving, got it?" Tsume lectured the girl before leaping away to avoid the bite of a Jinmenken twice her size. "Like that!" Tsume added as she landed away.

The Inuzuka matriarch growled and bared her fangs as more Jinmenken were walking out of the forest, likely acting as the next wave before the rest following soon after. She could smell that there were more of these creatures that were keeping their distance thanks to her sense of smell. She wanted to vomit from how much they smell like pine needles and herbs. These Jinmenken were no different than hounds used by hunters to go first to weed out and weaken their targets.

It disgusted her.

Tsume dropped Wasabi, making her go 'oomph' as she then readied her claws.

"How gutless of these things. Fine! I'll kill these little hounds first, then I'm coming for the rest of you! Even if I have to march right into those woods myself!" Tsume shouted with a sneer, baring her now elongated canines.

"Look out!" Wasabi shouted as Akatekos fired out from the forest trees, giggling like children and ready to grab the older woman, only for Wasabi to intervene by slicing them to pieces with newly formed chakra claws, making them scream like dying young. "Why weren't you supposed to still be on the move with that, O bāchan?" Wasabi delivered a jab with a grin on her face.

"Zip it, you inexperienced brat!" Tsume shot back as the pair with their claws ready were prepared to pounce at the approaching Jinmenken.

Chocho groaned as she got to her hands and knees, looking up to find the avian Oni Zetsu flying upwards, still having a hold on Boruto as it let out a screech.

"Why you… I'll teach you what happens when you dare to strike a lady like that!" Chocho said as she managed to get back to her feet with both her fists encased in lightning. "Now! Super Chocho-"

"Chocho, wait!" Sarada called out to her best friend, earning her attention. "Don't bother with it!" Sarada said as she got back to her feet.

"But-"

"I can handle it from here. You help Wasabi and Inuzuka-sama. You're much better equip at handling groups of these things, so just trust me with this!" Sarada reasoned and thought Chocho didn't like the idea of letting her friend fight on her own, she nodded in acknowledgment regardless.

"Give it hell!" Chocho said before she sped away to help Wasabi and Tsume push back the next wave.

Sarada turned her attention towards the still airborne Oni Zetsu with her Sharingan eyes narrowed into a glare as they shined red.

'This thing… from what I'm able to piece from what little I've seen; it was able to absorb Chocho's lightning release and use it for its own in conjunction with what might be senjutsu. Just like that one before… it has to be a Tengu! Given its appearance and with that necklace… I think that might be a Konoha-Tengu.' (Leaf Heavenly Dog) Sarada thought to herself, frowning as a growing sense of worry increased into a strong level of anxiety at their rotten luck. Boruto's screams knocked her out of her train of thought as she had to quickly act. 'This will be a gamble, but it's worth a shot!'

Sarada bent her knees and delivered lightning to her leg muscles, amplifying them with electrical impulses for her to then rocket up into the sky.

The Konoha-Tengu noticed the flying girl who let out a battle cry as she delivered a punch to it. The bird-like creature easily grabbed her hand, but then Sarada grabbed its wrist, confusing it.

"I gotcha now!" Sarada said with a grin. She focused her chakra throughout her body to then start absorbing the lightning from the Konoha-Tengu's body. "You're not the only one who can absorb lightning like that! I learned from the best in doing this!" Sarada said as she recalled learning to absorb lightning of any kind into her system from Arata, but then a jolt of pain shot throughout her whole body, making Sarada scream. 'What in the-!? How?! I'm absorbing lightning straight from its body!' Sarada thought to herself before realizing an important detail. 'It's body… that's right! It's also made up of natural energy and I can't control that! It's attacking me from the inside out!' Sarada, realizing her grave mistake, could do nothing but scream bloody murder.

"Sarada!" Boruto looked towards his friend in fear for her life, before growling and glaring at the Konoha-Tengu with his eyes shining reddish orange for a moment. "Jūkenhō Ichigekishin!" (Gentle Fist Art One Blow Body) Boruto screamed out as he released chakra from every tenketsu in his body, unleashing a burst of chakra that loosened the hold the Oni Zetsu had on him. "Hakke Kūshō!" (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm) Boruto delivered a strong thrust to the Konoha-Tengu's head, releasing a compressed force out from his palm.

The vacuum was powerful enough to stun the Konoha-Tengu and disperse any lightning surrounding its head, allowing the opportunity for a counterstrike.

Sarada took that chance, as now with the Konoha-Tengu momentarily disorientated, she gritted her teeth before unleashing a roar as her skin turned red, veins bulged around her forehead and hair stood up with purple lightning erupting from her body.

"Chidori: Murasaki no Asa!" (One Thousand Birds: Purple Morning) Sarada screamed out as she slammed her lightning covered fist into the side of the Konoha-Tengu's cranium with the blow being so fast that fire from the friction was mixed into the punch. The Oni Zetsu's eyes widened as it felt its skull being caved into by this girl's lightning shrouded fist. "Shānnarō!" Sarada screamed out as both the purple lightning and the accumulating friction of the blow pushed through and went out the other side of the Konoha-Tengu's skull, releasing a wave of purple lightning and fire.

The Konoha-Tengu's eyes were wide with some of their light vanishing as it released its hold on Sarada's fist, allowing the girl to fall from the sky with its body following suit.

Before Sarada could hit the ground, Boruto rushed over, leaped and caught her in his arms, bridal style.

The blonde landed onto the ground with Sarada safely in his arms just before the Konoha-Tengu slammed into the ground, creating a small dust cloud.

"You okay?" Boruto asked Sarada with concern.

"Yeah. Just a little dizzy." Sarada said holding her head, lying a bit as she felt much worse but didn't want Boruto to worry more than he already did.

"You sure?" Boruto asked, knowing she took more damage than it seemed.

"Just give me a minute." Sarada said with a small dismissive wave.

"After you catch your breath, you mind helping us out?!" Wasabi called out as she dodged a Jinmenken and claws at its neck, taking a chunk of its flesh off.

"Allow me to help!" Chocho said as she flew high above with her wings spread out and illuminating with lightning coursing throughout them. "Inazuma Kafun!" Chocho released more lightning chakra-based pollen from her wings and gave a good flap to send them down towards the Jinmenken. Her pollen managed to infect them, causing their bodies to burst and disintegrate from the inside out. "Success!" Chocho exclaimed with a fist pump, as just then, two new wounds appeared across her shoulder, spraying some blood as she started falling back towards the ground.

"Chocho!" Wasabi called out her friend's name in worry.

"Above us!" Tsume called, making the feline lover look up to see Fūris up above.

The Fūris dug their claws deep into the wind and tossed them below as wind blades, aimed right at Wasabi and Tsume.

The two feral fighters dodged as many as they could before several sound waves were unleashed that struck the battlefield, with one being close enough to send Wasabi off of her feet and hitting the ground face first.

"What now?" Wasabi said with a groan as she got on her elbows to see Yamabikos in the trees, letting out howls similar to monkeys that ended like a dog's own. "Oh, just great." Wasabi said with gritted teeth as she got on her hands and knees, only to then see a fireball rocketing down towards the battlefield. "Oh no."

Striking the center of the battlefield, the fireball unleashed a wave of fire that sent everyone flying or skidding back.

Out of the flames was a creature that looked avian with a body that looked like the mixture of a chicken and a swan with the body and legs of the former, and the wings and neck of the latter. However, it had a dog-like face with a flat humanoid nose, a long, thin tongue, fur and feathers coming right off the end of its cheeks and wide, slit eyes. Oh, and of course, its whole being was enveloped in fire, to the point where you couldn't even get close to it.

The odd-avian creature let out a cawing screech as its flames grew bigger, burning any vegetation as heat expanded and surrounded the area.

Boruto and the group of kunoichi suddenly broke out into a powerful sweat and immediately started panting.

Wasabi wheezed as she held her throat.

'My throat… it's burning from the inside out!' Wasabi thought as she panted with her canines bare. She then heard the howling and barking of more Jinmenken coming from within the forest. 'Seriously?! How many of those damn dog things are there!?' Wasabi thought as her heartbeat increased, now finally feeling fear from the threat of the Oni Zetsu.

"Fight back, gaki! Get on your feet!" Tsume called out to Wasabi, worried about the young girl's safety.

Even she, the head of the Inuzuka clan, was feeling the pressure on her. If only she was twenty years younger, then she would teach these damn things a lesson!

"Up above!" Sarada called out, catching Wasabi and Tsume's attention as then bursts of fire started appearing, hitting the ground and scattering debris, forcing Tsume and Wasabi to bring their arms up to block debris from hitting them.

"What the hell?!" Tsume looked up to see those damn monkey weasel things tossing blades of air from above. 'Damn things are taking advantage of the heat with their wind jutsu!' Tsume thought with gritted teeth as just then Wasabi was sent flying from one of the attacks exploding near her. "Kid!" Tsume called out to her, when she noticed a Jinmenken skulking by with its eyes on the stunned Wasabi. "Oh, hell no!" Tsume growled out as she ran on all fours to intervene, only for her leg to be grabbed by something. "What the-?!" Tsume looked to see a giggling Akateko holding onto her ankle. She tried kicking it off, but suddenly more appeared from out of the forest and started grabbing her all over. "Damn Stupid Creatures! Let Go!" Tsume screamed out as she was pulled to her feet, struggling to get out of their tight hold.

Wasabi groaned as she managed to get to her feet, only to gasp as she noticed the Jinmenken making its way towards her. It was twice her size and growling with its teeth bare and eyes narrowed into a glare.

"You want some?" Wasabi said with gritted fangs as she focused and made more chakra claws.

Just then she heard screaming, making her turn to see Tsume being held onto by several Akateko that were trying to pull her into the forest. Wasabi's eyes widened as then memories of her and the Inuzuka head, seen through Shinachiku's eyes, flashed through her mind. Alarms were going off within her brain as she looked between the approaching Jinmenken and the captive Tsume.

Wasabi couldn't defend herself and save Tsume altogether. No thanks to that damn chicken-dog burning everything with its literal body heat. After a moment of thinking, the answer became clear to her about what to do. Just as the Jinmenken charged at her with its paw ready, Wasabi used her claws.

"Chakura no Tsume: Jū Tsume no Ya!" Wasabi sent her ten chakra claws flying towards the Akateko, severing each one's vine limb, causing them to scream in pain as they released a now surprised Tsume.

Wasabi saved Tsume but she gave the Jinmenken a golden opportunity.

The large human-faced dog swung its claw at Wasabi, sending her flying away with her jacket slashed open with claw marks over it and across her skin with blood flying.

"WASABI!" Sarada and Boruto screamed in horror as they watched their friend go flying across the field before striking the ground hard.

Tsume gasped with a look of horror. That poor girl… that true kunoichi just saved her again, but this time… at the cost of her own safety. That youngling sacrificed herself to save this old hound's life just because she couldn't break free of some stupid baby hands!

Tsume started seeing red, and it wasn't because of the fire of that dog-faced birdbrain!

The Jinmenken roared as it charged towards the downed Wasabi, but suddenly, something sped over and slashed it across its eye, forcing it to pause and howl in pain. It growled with an angry look and gritted teeth as it watched someone run on all fours and stopped right over Wasabi.

Tsume growled back with her fangs gritted hard and her slit eyes glaring hard at the Jinmenken, all the while she was on her hands and feet, hovering over Wasabi in a protective manner. The old Inuzuka woman looked like a mother wolf defending her cub from an even bigger predator.

The Jinmenken growled at her before more started entered the area from the forest, surrounding the old woman and injured girl.

Tsume growled and snarled at the approaching human-faced canines, never leaving her spot over Wasabi. Tsume looked down toward Wasabi who moaned in pain. Pain she could have been spared had it not been for Tsume getting caught earlier. She swore… she will fight every last one to protect this brave kunoichi beneath her.

"They need help!" Sarada said as she got to her feet, but still needed to lean on Boruto for the moment.

"Then let's go and-" Boruto stopped in mid-sentence as a shadow loomed over the two. They both looked up, only to see the Konoha-Tengu stand over them with a blank stare and a hole on the left side of its head. "No Way! It's Still Standing?!" Boruto exclaimed with shock.

'I Blew a Hole Right Through Its Head!' Sarada thought with shock and fear as her mouth was agape. Her eyes scanned the area as the Jinmenken were approaching closer towards Tsume and the down Wasabi, Chocho was lying on the ground with a pair of deep gashed across her shoulders, the dog-faced fire bird with screeching louder as it flames raged with Fūris ready to take advantage of it again, and the Konoha-Tengu raised its arm up with its talons ready, all the while Akateko were giggling like children within the forest. 'This is too much… so this is what's it's like… a Hyakki Yagyō.' Sarada thought with a look of fear as the Konoha-Tengu let out a screech and brought down its talons.

Suddenly, a three-pronged kunai stabbed the Konoha-Tengu right between the eyes, shocking Sarada.

"Katon: Gōen Ōdama Rasengan!" (Fire Release: Great Flame Big Ball Spiraling Sphere) A voice screamed out as someone appeared right between the pair of genin and slammed a large fiery sphere into the Konoha-Tengu's abdomen.

The Konoha-Tengu bellowed out a powerful screech of pain, before it was consumed by a tornado of fire, consumed completely as it turned to ash.

Sarada and Boruto's eyes widened as someone landed in front of them with his back turned to them.

"S… sensei…" Sarada spoke breathlessly as she and Boruto stared at the back of their Jonin sensei.

"Sorry we kept you waiting." Konohamaru said.

"We?" Boruto questioned.

"Gatsūga!" (Fang Passing Fang) Several voices screamed out as drill-like bullets rocketed over and struck all the Jinmenken, sending them flying and shocking Tsume.

"We are here, Tsume-sama!" Kajiru Inuzuka said as he and the rest of the unit that was with Tsume earlier formed a protective ring around her and Wasabi.

All standing strong with their ninken beside them, showing no fear in the face of the threats before them.

The dog-faced bird was shocked by this development as its instincts kicked in just in time as it hopped off of the floor in time to dodge tendrils made of wood that would have stabbed it all over. It screeched as it flew away, only to be shot by something as then bindings made of sealing formulas sprouted and wrapped around it from that spot, dispersing its flames as it fell towards the ground, screeching all the way until collision.

"Damn. I was hoping I would have killed that thing instead of having to resort to this." Moegi said as she brought up a shinobi gauntlet wrapped around her arm.

Sarada gasped as she turned to see such a sight.

"No way… everyone…"

.

.

Metal, Denki and Tsubaki were sent towards the ground, hitting it hard, but managing to get back onto their feet by flipping in the air. Except for Denki, who had to roll on the ground before quickly getting back to his feet.

"What in the world is this thing?" Denki questioned as making their way towards them was a super-sized Oni Zetsu that had an odd appearance as it had a wooden gourd in one hand that had green sake-like liquid in it that it downed into its mouth… which was on its stomach.

The creature was a tall, large humanoid creature that sort of looked female with a potbelly, a long neck, long black vines for hair, round black eyebrows and had a huge, opened mouth grin with its tongue out, wearing a ragged skirt with a silk belt tied around its waist in a knot, but what was the most eye-catching things about it was its most ridiculous feature. It had a face on its torso with a wide, open mouth grin, a human nose and a large pair of eyes for nipples.

The creature sighed with satisfaction before it let out a jovial laugh as it patted the side of its belly, making sure it didn't smack its second kisser.

"If my knowledge of yōkai is correct… I think this is a Haradashi." (Belly Exposer) Tsubaki said.

"Aren't they usually non-violent?" Metal asked.

"They are supposed to be harmless, even downright cheerful and agreeable… but this is one of those Oni Zetsu creatures." Tsubaki said.

The Haradashi then started walking forward with a sway to its step that one would see from a drunk.

Denki, Metal and Tsubaki got ready to fight it, but the creature just walked past them, surprising the two that it was freely ignoring the trio.

"Is it… ignoring us?!" Tsubaki questioned, shocked by the gall on this creature.

"Guess it really isn't the violent type." Metal commented.

"When it attacked us a moment ago… it was just reacting to us. It doesn't bring harm unless someone tries to harm it first." Denki deduced.

"Regardless, we can't let it enter the village!" Tsubaki said as she chased after the creature.

"Tsubaki, wait!" Denki called out to the samurai.

Tsubaki rushed over and got in the Haradashi's way.

The Oni Zetsu stopped and looked down at her. After a moment, it tried going around her, but she hopped in front of it to block its path again. It tried going the other way, but the samurai repeated the same action to block it again.

The Haradashi suddenly reeled back, bellowing with laughter. It suddenly hopped to the other side, bouncing on one foot.

Tsubaki was confused by this, but she leaped in front of it again, only for it to hop to the other side, bouncing on one foot again. Tsubaki growled as she tried blocking its path again, but it just kept repeating the same process with its arms now raised up as it was bouncing around.

"Uh… what is happening?" Metal wondered with widened anime eyes.

The Haradashi let out a howl as it twirled around on one foot before repeating its actions, confusing Tsubaki more and infuriating her even more so.

"I… I think it's playing a game… with Tsubaki-san." Denki deduced with a surprised expression.

"Nani?!" Metal looked at Denki, taken aback by his claim.

"Now that I think about it…"

.

.

After taking care of some more Oni Zetsu, the pair of shinobi and the samurai heard hefty footsteps coming their way, only to see a large humanoid creature with a long neck and a goofy looking face on its stomach.

"What the heck is that?!" Metal asked with widened eyes.

"Whatever it is, it's heading for the village, just like the rest." Tsubaki said with a serious expression.

"Then we have to stop it!" Denki said as he aimed his Fūin Ite at the creature and fired a tiny scroll bullet at it, but then it fell onto its back with the scroll whizzing right over it.

The trio looked shocked by the action, before the creature sat up with its hands over its nipple eyes, as it then uncovered them with a 'woo~'.

"It's mocking us!" Tsubaki said with gritted teeth.

The Oni Zetsu leaped onto its feet and guzzled some green fluid from its gourd and started rushing towards the village.

"Oh, no you don't!" Metal exclaimed as he and the others charged towards the creature.

"Raiton: Erekiteru!" (Lightning Release: Elekiter) Denki leaped up with his palm coursing with electricity and ready to strike, only for the belly-faced beast to skid to a halt, clapping its hands together before sending a fast palm strike towards Denki, who despite using his jutsu was overpowered and sent flying away.

"Take This!" Metal swung his chain towards the beast, only for it to create a shockwave from the clap of its hands, just as the kunai tip ignited, but it ignored the flames and sent another palm strike that sent Metal flying away.

"Go To Hell!" Tsubaki leaped and sent a blade of chakra from her katana strike, only for the belly-face to let out an audible burp that overpowered the chakra blade and struck Tsubaki, sending her flying away to join the other two, who all hit the ground hard together.

.

.

"It might think we were just having fun with it. It's not malicious at all!" Denki realized.

"But earlier-"

"It might have thought we were playing patty-cake with it."

"Patty Cake?!" Metal's eyes widened in surprise again.

"This is getting annoying!" Tsubaki shouted with anger as she charged and took a swing with a battle cry, but then the Haradashi leaned forward and bit its upper head's teeth onto her katana. "What in the-?! Let Go!" Tsubaki demanded with anger, only to be sent flying upwards by the Haradashi as it stood up and released the katana from its first jaws.

"Tsubaki-san!" Metal called out her name with worry before he growled and crossed his arms in front of him. "Seimon! Kai!" Metal immediately opened up the third gate and dashed towards the Haradashi.

"Metal-kun, wait!" Denki called out for his teammate, but Metal just focused on attacking the Haradashi from behind.

But that was a mistake… and he really shouldn't have kept his mouth open to let out a battle cry.

The Haradashi suddenly passed a huge fog of gas that sent Metal flying away with his face totally blue as he fell to the ground with his mouth agape and gagging from the powerful stench.

The Haradashi let out laughter sounding like an owl as he leaned on one foot and held its belly, before guzzling more of its 'sake', only to run out. It checked to find its gourd empty, so it then pulled out a chunk of grass and earth from the ground and squeezed it tightly over its gourd, only for more green liquid to pour into it. It essentially juiced the grass and dirt into a beverage for itself. The Haradashi then guzzled more, only for it to hear clapping. It stopped and turned to see the glasses boy clapping as he then started doing a little dance.

"Tonbo no megane wa

mizuiro megane

Aoi osora wo

Tondo kara~ Tondo kara~

Tonbo no megane wa

Pikapika megane

Otentosama wo

Miteta kara~ Miteta kara~

Tonbo no megane wa

Akairo megane

Yuuyakegumo wo

Tonda kara~ Tonda kara~"

(The dragonfly's glasses are azure

Because he flies, Because he flies

Under the blue Sky

The dragonfly's glasses are

Shiny glasses

Because he looks, because he looks

At the sun

The dragonfly's glasses are

Red colored glasses

Because he flies, because he flies

Under the sunset clouds)

Denki sweated as he sang and danced to an old nursery rhyme his mother sang to him, Tonbo no Megane (The Dragonfly's Glasses), trying to catch the Haradashi's attention.

And catch it he did as the Haradashi looked super interested as it then tried mimicking Denki's dance.

"Tonbo no megane wa

mizuiro megane

Aoi osora wo

Tondo kara~ Tondo kara~"

Denki started singing the nursery rhyme again as he started dancing his way towards the forest with the Haradashi following his lead.

Metal sat up and coughed, trying to relieve his lungs of those awful fumes.

"Tonbo no megane wa

Pikapika megane

Otentosama wo

Miteta kara~ Miteta kara~"

Metal turned to see Denki dancing away with the Haradashi following and mimicking his movements.

"D-Denki-kun?" Metal looked confused only for Denki to nod towards the forest, silently signaling Metal on his plan. "Oh, I see!" Metal said with new life in him as he hurried over to follow his friend's lead.

"Tonbo no megane wa

Akairo megane

Yuuyakegumo wo

Tonda kara~ Tonda kara~"

Both members of Team 5 sang and danced, leading the Haradashi away from the village and back towards the forest.

Tsubaki groaned as she stood up, only to see the most bewildering sight of her entire life. Her eyes widened with her mouth gaped as she watched Metal and Denki guiding the Haradashi away from the village… all by dancing and singing a nursery rhyme.

"Tonbo no megane wa

mizuiro megane

Aoi osora wo

Tondo kara~ Tondo kara~"

Metal and Denki noticed Tsubaki back on her feet and gestured for her to join them.

Tsubaki bit her bottom lip with her cheeks flushed as her eyes widened and brow furrowed with embarrassment and frustration. Her patience was very much tested by the last five minutes, and she wanted nothing more than to strike down the foolishly jovial Oni Zetsu… but given the circumstances that violence wouldn't solve anything in this situation, she did the only rational thing she could think of.

"I refuse to take part in something so juvenile." Tsubaki said as she turned away with her arms crossed and eyes closed; her cheeks remained reddened from embarrassment.

"J-Juvenile?" Metal questioned with an aghast look.

"Keep singing Metal. We have to keep its attention." Denki reasoned with his teammate as they continued singing, with Metal hanging his head in embarrassment when doing so.

Right as they were arriving towards the edge of the forest, Jinmenken and Tsuchigumo leaped out, intending to attack them.

Both genin screamed out in surprise while the Haradashi howled in fear, smooshing the sides of its belly-face as if it were smacking its cheeks in fear.

The Haradashi's belly-face expanded with its mouth closed, looking like it was ready to vomit? And did it ever as it unleashed a flood of green liquid from its mouth, drowning the Jinmenken and Tsuchigumo, along with Denki and Metal.

The boys closed their mouths tightly, but the flood suddenly started spiraling around like a whirlpool with them feeling disorientated by the currents and their bodies felt like they were starting to get crushed by water pressure.

'Dammit! So close…' Denki thought, gritting his teeth.

Just then something darted right through the flood of water as it was then cut in half, creating a gap that freed Denki and Metal from the green 'water'.

It was none other than Tsubaki, who not only sliced the water, but sealed it into her sword. She then slashed some more of the green water that was between her and the Haradashi.

"Well, that was unfortunate. For everybody." Tsubaki said with a pout as her cheeks were still flushed.

"Oh no!" Denki shouted, pointing towards the Haradashi, who started running the other way. "It got spooked! Now it's charging towards the village!" Denki said with urgency.

"I knew I should have just killed it!" Tsubaki chastised herself as she chased after the belly-faced beast with Denki and Metal following soon after.

"Bashōsen: Kaze no Maki!" (Banana Palm Fan: Coil of Wind) A female voice called out as then a powerful gust of wind rocketed towards the Haradashi, striking it and sending it flying off towards the horizon.

"Nani?!" Denki exclaimed as they all skidded to a halt.

"What was that?!" Tsubaki questioned as she looked towards the distance where the Haradashi was sent.

Metal silently gasped as he had noticed who had sent that large Oni Zetsu flying.

"You're…"

.

.

"There's too many of them!" Shikadai shouted out as he quickly sent tendrils from his shadow to stab right through several Oni Zetsu before grabbing his fan. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Sickle Weasel Technique) Shikadai swung open his fan, delivering a powerful blast of wind that sent the Oni Zetsu he impaled and several more flying away.

"Keep fighting!" Shinachiku shouted as he delivered a flying kick to the snout of a Jinmenken, sending it flying. Shinachiku let out a battle cry as he made a cross hand seal with golden flames surrounding him. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique) Shinachiku created thirty-five shadow clones who all quickly molded big ball Rasengans in their hands.

"Ōdama Rasen Tairengan!" (Big Ball Spiraling Serial Zone Spheres) The clones rushed forward in a horizontal line formation and attacked any approaching Oni Zetsu with their jutsu.

Shinachiku let out a bit of a tired sigh. He has been pushing himself a bit, but he still has a lot more energy to spare, and some extra insurance to raise his chakra levels, despite one of them being harmful to his body.

Suddenly tendrils made of hair and thorny vines shot forward and stabbed through several clones, surprising Shinachiku, before they wrapped around his arms and body.

Cackling a distance away was Futakuchi-onna (Two-Mouthed Woman) and Harionago, who both had Shinachiku in their grasp and were ready to constrict him to death.

All of a sudden however, their respective hair was cut to pieces, causing them to scream and reel back in pain. The pair of female Oni Zetsu growled with anger and their teeth bare, but the next second, they were decapitated.

Arata sheathed his chokuto as the heads of the two 'women' were sent flying with shocked looks upon their faces.

"Arigato, Arata!" Shinachiku thanked his friend as he pulled off the remaining constraints from his body. The ground suddenly started to shake as breaking out of the ground pass the two was a Uwabami. "Dammit!" Shinachiku cursed only for Arata to speed pass him.

"Shikadai!" Arata called out to the Nara.

"Way ahead of you! Kagemane no Jutsu!" (Shadow Imitation no Jutsu) Shikadai quickly extended his shadow and managed to catch the Uwabami's with his own. "He's all yours!" Shikadai called out to Arata as the Uchiha-Hyūga suddenly appeared on the other side of the slithery Oni Zetsu.

"Arigato." Arata said as he sheathed his chokuto, leading to the Uwabami being sliced to pieces.

"Shikadai, I got an idea! You know the variant of that jutsu but for working with a group of people?" Shinachiku asked.

"Better make it quick. I don't have the strength to expand it that much for too long." Shikadai said, earning a smirk from Shinachiku who made several more clones. "Kagemane Kage Shibari no Jutsu!" (Shadow Imitation Shadow Bind Technique) Shikadai quickly extended shadows towards the clones, connecting to each one of their own.

"Ikuzo!" (Let's go!) Shinachiku exclaimed as he and his clones rushed towards several Oni Zetsu.

The creatures tried attacking the blondes, but they were all suddenly halted in place.

"Gotcha." Shikadai said with a smirk as the shadows connected to the clones extended from them and captured the Oni Zetsus.

"Tajū Rasenrengan!" (Multiple Serial Spheres) The clones shouted out, forming Rasegans in both their hands and struck the captive Oni Zetsu, destroying them.

The clones grinned victoriously but then more attack him from above.

'Bad move.' Shikadai thought as he focused his chakra to manipulate the shadows of Shinachiku and his clones to launch out shadow tendrils towards the Oni Zetsu. "Kage Nui no Jutsu!" (Shadow Sewing Technique) The shadow tendrils stabbed the airborne Oni Zetsu all over.

"Arigato, Shikadai." Shinachiku said with a grin as he and his clone formed Rasengans in hand. "Tajū Sokkyū Rasengan!" (Multiple Fastball Spiraling Spheres) The Shinachikus tossed their Rasengans, hitting the group of Oni Zetsu, with their jutsus bursting with wind and chakra.

Shinachiku and his clones grinned in satisfaction, but that was short-lived as a Hibagon broke through and delivered a hard dual slam of its fists onto the ground, resulting in a shockwave that shattered apart the ground that stretched all the way towards the village gates, while sending most of our heroes flying.

Only one managed to stay on his feet, the closest to the village gates, and was already prepared with a jutsu after finishing his hand seals.

"Doton: Doryūheki!" (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall) Iwabe slammed his hands into the ground, forming a large wall to block the way of the incoming shockwave. The wall stopped the trail of shattered ground, but the shockwave was enough to crack the wall all over. Shinachiku, Arata and Shikadai flipped in the air and managed to land on the surface of the wall, sticking to it thanks to their chakra. "You guys better move!" Iwabe called out from atop the wall, giving them the signal as the three quickly leaped off the wall and out of its way as Iwabe made new hand seals. "Doton: Dorōn!" (Earth Release: Drone) Iwabe slammed his down atop the wall, causing it to crack more as pieces of debris shot out from its surface.

The pieces of rock became bullet hell for the Oni Zetsu, turning many of them into Swiss cheese.

The Hibagon had brought its arm up to block the debris, growling with growing rage as it then sprinted forward.

Iwabe prepared for this as he grabbed his jō, slammed it into the top of the earth wall and formed a mallet head out of stone. He then leaped up high and dived downward with his makeshift mallet raised high.

"Doton: Tsuchi Nami no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique) Iwabe slammed the stone head against the shattered ground, causing a wave of broken earth that rushed towards the Hibagon. The Hibagon leaped over the earth wave and brought its arms up, ready to smash the tall boy, only for Iwabe to grin as he already finished more hand seals. "Doton: Dosekidake!" (Earth Release: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot) Iwabe shouted as long spikes of earth shot up from the ground and stabbed the Hibagon all over.

"Nice one!" Shinachiku said with a grin.

"Here come more!" Arata announced as many more Oni Zetsu, mostly composed of Jinmenken, rushed towards the gates.

"Oh, come on!" Shikadai shouted with annoyance.

"Give me a wind jutsu." Arata said before leaping into the air.

"With pleasure." Shinachiku said with a grin as he made some hand seals while Shikadai grabbed his large fan.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique) Arata unleashed several balls of fire down towards the Oni Zetsu.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

Shikadai swung his fan and Shinachiku fired his jutsu from his mouth, both sending their own powerful wind that combined together to form a powerful squall of wind.

Both wind jutsus hit the group of Oni Zetsu the same time as Arata's fire jutsu, causing a giant explosion of intense fire that instantly burnt and charred the Oni Zetsu within.

The roars, wails and even all too human-like screams of the Oni Zetsu echoed from the inferno before the group of four.

It was haunting.

"Whoa… this must be what it's like to stare into the gates of Hell." Iwabe said with a surprised and slightly frightened expression.

"Just sending them back to where they belong." Shinachiku said with a serious expression.

'Badass.' Iwabe thought with awe.

The haunting sounds increased as they noticed the burning Oni Zetsu fighting their way forward to get out of the flames and into the village.

"Dammit, these things are stubborn." Shikadai said with a worried frown.

"You want more?! Then Here! Doton: Dosekidake!" Iwabe shouted as he littered the area within the inferno with spikes, stabbing into each Oni Zetsu, leaving them impaled as they continued burning to death.

"Okay, now it looks like something straight out of hell." Shikadai commented.

"It's what they were asking for." Iwabe said with a superior smile and his hands on his hips.

"That wasn't as badass as Shinachiku's." Shikadai said, looking at Iwabe with dull eyes making Iwabe frown deeply.

"I thought it was appropriate." Shinachiku said, before suddenly a shockwave was unleashed, sending them all flying back and off their feet. "What the hell?!" Shinachiku looked in shock to see the inferno and everything that was inside it was no more.

"Above us!" Arata said as they all looked to see something flying high above before it dived down and landed on all fours. "Konoha-Tengu!" Arata said with urgency.

"Oh, gosh-darn-it!" Shinachiku exclaimed with worry as he and Arata quickly got back to their feet.

The Konoha-Tengu screeched as it rocketed forward at blinding speed. Arata summoned his Susano'o ribcage and Shinachiku summoned his and Mamoru's three chakra tails to block the Oni Zetsu's way, but it broke right through their defenses and sent them towards the ground.

"NO!" Shinachiku screamed with his hand out as the Konoha-Tengu broke through the cracked earth wall, screeching as it made it to the other side.

"Konoha Daisenpū!" (Leaf Great Whirlwind) Cried a voice as a hard flying kick was smashed into the Konoha-Tengu's break, breaking it to pieces as said Oni Zetsu was sent flying upwards, shocking the four younger shinobi there.

The Konoha-Tengu's eyes were wide with pain at having its beak destroyed, but they widened more upon seeing someone overhead.

"Katon: Kin Jūjika!" (Fire Release: Golden Cross) Screamed out a female voice as the figure dived down, appearing behind the Konoha-Tengu that then exploded thanks to a golden flaming cross that instantly severed and burnt it away into ash.

"That's…" Shinachiku stared up in shock at what he just felt.

"Our power." Mamoru finished with a knowing grin.

Landing before him was none other than Mirai Sarutobi, who smiled down at him.

"My hero…" Shinachiku said breathlessly, staring at Mirai in awe with the golden flames above illuminating the area around her, making the Sarutobi girl look like a goddess to him.

"Sorry we took so long." Mirai said as she offered her hand to the young blonde.

"Oh, uh, n-n-n-no worries!" Shinachiku stuttered with a blush as he took Mirai's hand, but as she pulled him up, he realized what she had said. "We?" Shinachiku questioned before looking towards the gates, only to gasp in surprise to see a whole battalion of shinobi with weapons in hand that had shining golden sealing formulas on them and even scientific ninja tools, and leading the charge was none other than Rock Lee and Kakashi.

"We apologize for taking so long!" Lee said.

"We had a bit of a weed problem to take care of." Kakashi said with a small shrug.

"Lee-sensei! Everyone!" Shinachiku spoke with a brightened, joyous smile.

.

.

"Tenten-san!" Metal cheered his father's old teammates name as before him, Tsubaki and Denki was Tenten, wielding the Bashōsen (Banana Palm Fan) in hand with a pair of large scrolls on her back, leading a whole battalion of shinobi.

"Sorry to keep you kids waiting." Tenten said with a grin and wink.

.

.

"Everyone is here!" Boruto said with shock and awe, seeing so many shinobi with special weapons and scientific ninja tools.

"We just had to clean up the village before meeting with the rest of you. Sorry it took so long." Konohamaru said to his students with a remorseful expression.

"Hey, heroes always arrive at the last second, am I right?" Boruto said with a relieved smile, causing Konohamaru to lighten up a bit.

"Konohamaru-chan, there looks to be more in the forest, and it feels like they aren't going to be waiting any longer!" Moegi called out to her old teammate, sensing the presence within the forest growing stronger with an even stronger bloodlust.

"Everyone! This Is Where We Make Our Stand! It's Time We Send These Creatures Back to Hell! No Matter Who It Is! Be They Human, Undead, Ōtsutsuki or Oni Zetsu! We Will Not Let the Konohagakure Fall by Their Hands! This Is Our Home and We're Going to Show Them That We Will Give Our All to Protect It!" Konohamaru yelled out with pure confidence and gusto, showing his gutsiness to everyone, who all cheered in agreement.

Moegi smiled towards Konohamaru very warmly.

'That's very Hokage of him.'

"Let's Do This!" Konohamaru screamed out as he and shinobi charged ahead, right as the Oni Zetsu roared and did the same.

The real battle began.

End of Chapter 21

Okay, first off, sorry that there was pretty much no post for November, since by the time many check this chapter out, it will already be December, that is on me.

See, the thing is… I cannot stop writing. Yes, this chapter is long, but originally it was longer! By the time this little Author's Message of mine is done, this chapter will be over 36,000 words long. Before I cut this one in half, it was originally 53,262 words long! And I'm not even at the last third yet! At least, I don't believe so. By my guess, considering what I plan to add in the following chapter, both this and the next chapter together would have originally made up between 60k – 65k words, or perhaps 70k altogether. Hell, maybe more! I'm getting too into this mini-war arc!

Yes… I am insane, but I cannot stop writing this arc to the best of my ability! It's genuinely a challenge because not only is there a lot of fighting, but I also have to do research on Yōkai which the Oni Zetsu are based on so I can make a proper representation of the original creature, or at least a loosely based but still presenting a generally decent depiction despite not being accurate to the original. That's not even mentioning the fact that I'm trying to give everyone a chance in the spotlight, which all coming together means a lot of work and creative effort needs to be done. Gracious, this arc is staggering.

The original plan was supposed to be finish the entire chapter, then cut it in half and do a double post for November. Clearly, fortune was not on my side.

I couldn't stop writing when I got into the zone, and when I wasn't writing I was either sick or I had to deal with work, which was constantly packed with a lot of hours seeing as I work in a market and Thanksgiving rolls around. I survived at least… and now it's the mall and super store workers who have to suffer next.

Not to mention I have to dedicate myself to staying in shape and staying healthy. I can't just spend all my time sitting on my rear-end. I need to stay physical. That also helps with the mentality.

Anyway, you all got a chapter at least, and hopefully I'll finish the next chapter before December ends, that way everyone can have a double post in a single month. Careful not to get your hopes too high though. I may have written a decent size of the following chapter already, but unpredictable factors and distractions are a plenty in life.

Before I end this, I want to say thank you to one of the Guest readers who left the info in their review that Sakura actually does say "Shānnarō", instead of Chanara, as I originally thought. I always thought that 'Shānnarō' was just something that the English Dub made up so as not to be flagged or something since Naruto originally aired on Toonami and 'Shānnarō' translates to 'Hell Yeah!', or 'Hell No!' or 'Dammit!'. Also, whenever Sakura or Sarada scream it out in the OG Dub it always sounds like it starts with a 'Ch' and ends with an 'a'. At least to me. I am thinking of keeping Shinachiku's as "Chānnarō" to separate his saying from Sakura's a bit while still keeping it more or less the same thing.

Secondly, I want to say thank you to Vordark or SuckPencil as he's known on this sight (former name for Tumblr where he does his artwork. Check them out, they're pretty good and you can feel the passion behind his sketches) for the title Shinachiku, Arata and Shikadai share, which is The Konoha no San Dai Tensai." (Three Great Geniuses of the Hidden Leaf). Got that idea from one of his drawings. Again, wonderful work and thank you for that idea.

And finally for anyone curious on that dog-faced fire bird Oni Zetsu that was giving Boruto's group a hard time with its raging inferno aura, that was an Oni Zetsu based on the Yōkai called Furaribi. In case anyone wants to look it up, there you go.

In conclusion, I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. Thank you all for your patience and continued support!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish up the following chapter.

Thank you again!

Takeshi1225, Out!