Nothing much to say here today. This is the big chapter, so I hope you enjoy reading this.
The Kyuubi's King
Chapter 17
The Hunt for Sasuke
Part 2
It has been a few hours since Tsunade sent Team 7 out to retrieve Sasuke. Everyone was on edge.
'2 years, Kyuu. It's been 2 years. I need to do this. I have to find Sasuke and bring him back.'
'You? Naru, it's been us this whole time. WE'LL find Sasuke.'
'Right. Sorry.'
"Naruto, you ok?" Sakura had asked worriedly. He had suddenly stopped moving, which tensed up the rest of Team 7.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was in my head. We can't lose ground now." The chase picked back up. The 3 were bolting through the trees, leaving a small amount of wind behind them. Even with their speeds, Kakashi could tell Naruto was slowed down for them. Sakura had already broken a sweat from moving this fast, but Naruto was unfazed.
'Just what did you do to him, Jiraiya? The kid is already Anbu level speed at the least. He might actually fight Orochimaru to a draw, if he's lucky.'
Even at this speed, it still took hours before they were even close to the Sound Village border.
"Sensei, we should stop." Kakashi was surprised. They had all been laser-focused, and Naruto broke the silence rather suddenly.
"Why? We're right at the border."
"Exactly. Take stock, rest, and mentally prepare."
"Good point. We should rest here." Team 7 stopped, much to Sakura's delight. She could keep up, but it wasn't easy.
"Sorry, boys. Lady Tsunade focused on my strength and healing jutsu. I can't keep a pace that fast for that long."
"We get it. Ero-sennin took advantage of the Uzumaki healing factor and just worked everything into me. To be honest, that was like a jog for me." Sakura's eyes widened.
"A JOG? That was high speed sprinting for at least 2 hours and you're calling it a jog?"
"Not so loud," Kakashi interrupted, "We may still be in Fire Country, but this is the border. We can't attract unwanted attention. Keep the chatter to a minimum and focus on resting."
Taking advantage of the pause, Kyuubi wanted to cash in on her owed actions.
'Naruu~'
'Really? NOW?'
'You know I don't like waiting.'
'Kyuu, this is important. Sasuke is only a couple hours away. We need to focus. AFTER the mission.'
'Hmmph, fine. You better be really good then.'
'When haven't I given you a good time?'
'Right now.' She had Naruto there. Kyuubi was smirking in Naruto's headscape, knowing she got her witty remark back on him from earlier.
()
About an hour was spent at the forest outside the Sound Border. Naruto finally had time to explain his newfound mastery over seals and how he reverse-engineered a form of Hiraishin for himself.
"I call it Hifuushin. It works the same in principle, but wind is easier to keep track of. The tags also have a slightly longer range, but I had to give up the ability to discern between 2 very close tags. The wind chakra used can also work inside of other jutsu, giving what I like to call 'Hiffushin Boost.' Pretty much just makes any wind jutsu stronger." Kakashi was in a fair bit of shock. He had seen his master's technique before, sure, but this was someone who completely understood how it worked.
"I still don't completely get how it works, but I understand the basics." Someone who sort of understands how it worked.
"Wow, Naruto. That's...a lot."
"Yeah, and space-time teleportation nausea is very much real, thank you. First time in a pocket dimension can be rough." Sakura had some questions about the process, but decided to refocus the conversation.
"Alright, this Hifuushin sounds like a great tool, we need to factor it into our planning."
"Good point, Sakura. Okay, so..." The conversation resumed and our team has an entire strategy planned.
"You got it?" Sakura asked everyone.
"Yeah." was the unisoned reply.
"For Sasuke."
"For Sasuke."
"For Sasuke."
()
Another hour had gone by. The team was on the move again, but much closer than before. The air here had a staleness to it, like the life of the area had been sucked dry. The grass was pale, the trees were thin, and there was a tangible cloud of tension. They had heard that Orochimaru's base was underground, hidden by a large rock. Fitting that the snake-man lived in underground tunnels, but Naruto knew the truth. This was no place for Sasuke. His friend, the only person who he considered a brother, the life he saved from darkness, it was still there. This was some sort of drug or bad thing. He just had to reach out to Sasuke.
'I know he's in there, Kyuu. He...he has to be.'
'For both our sakes, Naru, I hope he is too. Emo boy may have been annoying and self-centered, but you really did show him the light.'
'Just like I showed you.' Kyuubi smiled sweetly.
'Just like you showed me.'
The village was quiet. Too quiet. There was no noise from the marketplace, no buzzing talks. Everyone was dead silent.
'A village shouldn't be like this,' Kakashi thought. 'There's truly no noise.' Before either Sakura or Naruto could realize, there was a Sound ninja behind the 2, synced in their footsteps. Kakashi's experience saved him, he could feel the bloodlust.
"Watch out!" The assailant struck, but Kakashi's warning was faster. Naruto dodged forward, flipping backward and throwing a kunai as a precaution. It struck the ninja in the forearm.
'Damn, his movement threw me off.' The 4 ninja stopped their run, facing off in a wooded area near the Sound Village.
"Look at this, a couple of Leaf rats at my village. Lord Orochimaru will be pleased." Naruto didn't wait for a response to the taunt. He charged in, using a burst of real speed to close the gap. He had spawned a short katana out of seemingly thin air while in his sprint towards the Sound ninja. The Sound ninja had no chance. Naruto imbued wind chakra into his sword, cleanly cutting through the man's arm before turning on his heel and slicing the man's head clean off.
"I'm not in the mood. We're here to find Sasuke and possibly kill Orochimaru. We don't have time to be fighting chumps like that guy." Kakashi knew Naruto made the right call.
"He's right. We have to keep moving." The 3 kept moving through the Sound Village outskirts. There was no further resistance from the village. After almost another hour of searching the forest, Team 7 found the large rock Orochimaru's hideout was rumored to be under. Kakashi stopped for a moment, turning around to face his 2 students.
"We've made it this far, there's no turning back. Sasuke is in there, and we will bring him back, even if by force."
"I have no second thoughts, Sensei. This is Sasuke, he's one of us." Sakura nodded solemly as well, acknowledging the gravity of the situation.
"Alright then." The group approached the rock, unsure of its purpose.
"Naruto, didn't Lord Jiraiya find you have latent sensor abilities?" This jogged Naruto's memory. With everything going on, he managed to forget the fact he was a sensor.
"Y-yeah. I kind of forgot, hehe." he said, rubbing the back of his head. Kakashi facepalmed.
"Well, can you feel any chakra signatures?" Naruto closed his eyes for a miment, before responding
"No, I don't feel anyone specifc, but there IS chakra being emitted from this rock. Probably a seal."
"Well, you are our resident seals master. What do you think it is?" Kakashi asked.
"Well...it's probably a barrier seal, making sure no one unwanted gets in. However, the chakra emission is high for a seal, so either someone is maintaining this, or there's more going on." Naruto started pacing the rock, feeling for chakra emission.
"Here," Naruto said, his hand on a seemingly random part of the rock.
"This is the seal location?"
"I'm pretty sure. Let me just check." Naruto used a small amount of chakra to reveal written fuinjutsu in a linear pattern around the rock. The area where his hand was resting happened to be a circular seal surrounded by rectangular writing.
"Ohh, that explains the emission." Sakura's lack of seal knowledge had her making a puzzled face. Naruto picked up on this.
"It IS a barrier seal, but a complex one. The linear writing is pretty much just outlining the barrier and other details. This 4 point seal is the real meat of it. Put simply, it stores specifc people's chakra signatures, which the rectangular part checks when someone makes contact with the barrier. If the signature matches, the barrier creates a 5 ft by 5ft opening that lasts for 30 seconds, enough time to pass through without harm." Kakashi had seal knowledge, but not this deep.
"I'm sensing pros and cons."
"There are, Sensei. A couple of big ones. This seal can hold 3 chakra signatures, which is good for us. The problem is, this rectangular bit also sets off an alarm system if all 3 chakra signatures are changed within 2 days of each ofher. The 4th storage point is a connector to the rest of the seal, so we could theoretically shut the entire system from there."
"And if we do that?"
"One of two things happen. Either their entire barrier system goes offline, or we trip the entire system, alerting Orochimaru." Kakashi shook his head.
"Too risky. Do we have an easier way of infiltrating?"
"Well, like I said, we could add our own chakra signatures to the system, and we only need 1 person to open the barrier. Problem is, we don't know how many times the signatures have been changed. They could keep it at 2 registers every 2 days."
"It's our best bet. Naruto, we'll use your signature."
"Fair enough." Naruto started writing with his own chakra on the seal, to what looked like nonsense.
"Alright, I'm registered in the system. Nothing else activated, so that's a good sign." Naruto walked over to what they assumed was the front of the rock, where when they stepped close they could see a thing purple barrier.
"Aha, they used an illusory barrier too. I knew something in the barrier patterns was odd!"
"Not now, Naruto. Open the barrier."
"Right, right, sorry. This seal is very high quality, though." Naruto touched the flimsy looking purple barrier, only for it to open up, revealing the carved out entrance of the rock.
"After you." The 3 walked inside cautiously. At this point, stealth and caution were larger priorities than speed. They got through a large main hall, decorated with gigantic snake statues.
"I'm going off a hunch, but do you think he likes snakes?" Naruto said sarcastically. However, his mood shifted when they saw someone at the end of the hall. It was a thin, pale man with spiky white hair, falling in a bowl cut around his face. He was wearing a purple tank top with gray shinobi pants. He had a ninja tool pouch on the side of his leg and what looked like a water bottle on his right hip. He had piercing purple eyes and sharp, fang-like teeth. The odd man took a sip from a second water botle before noticing them.
"Hey! Who are you people?"
"Does it really matter?" Kakashi said in a deadpan.
"Yeah, it does. You aren't supposed to be here! I'm giving you one chance to scram!"
"Yeah, no." Naruto not so politely declined.
"Fine then, your funeral!" The man suddenly turned into water, charging at the 3 with dark intentions. He reformed at the last second, now holding a giant sword. Naruto had already resummoned his katana, clashing with the mysterious water-man. They broke the sword clash, the man still with his lower half as a wave. He rushed back at Naruto, who jumped over him, swinging at the man's skull. Naruto wasn't very surprised when his sword went through the man, but drew no blood.
"Can't you see I'm made of water? Why would that work?"
"It was worth a shot. My turn for questions, now. Who are you?" The man shifted back to a fully human structure.
"The name's Suigetsu, and I work for Orochimaru-sama," Suigetsu now said, running his hand through his hair.
"May I have the displeasure of knowing who attacked our base?"
"The name's Naruto, and I work for the Hokage. I'm pretty sure you know who Kakashi is, and this is the Hokage's student, Sakura."
"Heh, a ragtag bunch of Konoha kids. Let's see what you're made of." Suigetsu shifted back into water, starting the sword clashes all again. Naruto could parry Suigetsu, but his water body made damaging him impossible.
'Well, Water Boy here seems untouchable. Any ideas?'
'Why not try to evaporate him? That would spare me the headache.'
'Why not? You're the best, Kyuu.'
'I know.'
Naruto broke the clash yet again. As expected, Suigetsu went back to range, but this time he was using hand signs.
"Alright, brat, enough games. Water Style: Crashing Tsunami!"
"I was thinking the same thing. Fire Style: Demon Fox Fireball!" Suigetsu spat out a giant wave that increased in size continually. On the alternative, Naruto breathed out a giant fireball imbued with a small amount of Bijuu chakra, making the fire extremely potent. The 2 clashed, but Naruto's Bijuu chakra burned through Suigetsu's water, albeit at a large cost of fire. The smaller fireball still collided with Suigetsu, but it only evaporated about 20% of his total water.
"You little shit, that actually hurt! No more holding back." Suigetsu emptied both his water bottles, gaining back his lost water mass and even storing extra. He then put his hands together and concentrated.
"Oh no you don't, not while I'm right here!" Naruto charged forward, doing the hand signs for a Fireball jutsu in one hand.
"Fire Styl-"
"Water Style: Poseidon Avatar!" Suigetsu's body completely morphed, creating a giant version of himself. This water was also extremely blue, beyond normal water. Naruto could tell from Kyuubi enhancing his vision.
'That...is a whole lot of chakra.' Kyuubi scoffed, upset that this kid could match an amount of chakra almost equivalent to half of One Tail.
'It's about a half a tail in sheer amount, but not in actual potency. I'd say that's worth your entire base form. If you want chakra, I'm more than hapy to provide.'
'Nah, I can win. I need you on standby though, Kyuu.' Kyuubi nodded. Naruto held up a simple hand sign and said,
"Kai!" Kakashi knew what Naruto was releasing.
'He's been doing all this with weighted seals? He's definitely faster than me, maybe even stronger.' Naruto disappeared, shocking everyone present.
"Where did he-" Naruto reappeared in front of the massive Suigetsu, katana in hand. He did a quick horizontal slash before using gravity to slice downward. Suigetsu almost immediately healed, but...
'Something is off. My body isn't reforming as usual.' Suigetsu noticed the lingering fire still on his chakra-imbued water skin.
"I finally had time to imbue my sword with fire, but it's not looking like much." Suigetsu angrily swung a fist at Naruto, which he dodged easily. Suigetsu kept up this barrage of wild attacks, but none hit. When he calmed down, Suigetsu saw an unfazed Naruto.
"Grrrr, I'm sick of this little speedy brat! Water Style: Water Wall Prison!" Suigetsu spat out a giant column of water that seemed to have a mind of its own. The column swam at Naruto, stretching to catch him when he jumped.
'Damn it, this thing is a trap.'
'You couldn't tell from the name "Water Wall Prison?"'
'Not now, Kyuu. I need a little boost. Under a tail.'
'Got it.' Naruto could feel the Bijuu chakra enter his system, but he wasn't going to keep it in there for long. The increased strength let him rip through the water prsion,giving him a decent breath of air. He leaped up again to face Suigetsu, but his katana seemed to disappear. Instead, Naruto was making a flurry of hand signs, pouring his concentration into his jutsu.
"Enough! Crimson Lotus Style: Blazing Hurricane!" A giant wall of fire came out from Naruto's mouth, surrounded by little daggers of wind. The jutsu moved quickly and actually spanned the length of Suigetsu's body. The sharp, wind boosted fire was destroying Suigetsu's body, evaporating him quicker than he could heal. He used all of the Bijuu chakra in his system to pour into the jutsu, strengthening it against Suigetsu's ability to escape. When the fire went out, Suigetsu shrunk to beneath his normal size, too dehydrated to maintain a normal form.
"Damn brat."
"I win. I could kill you, or you could show us to Sasuke." Suigetsu was interested.
"How do you guys know Sasuke?" This confused Naruto.
"He was from Konoha. We were Sasuke's old teammates. We want to bring him back." Suigetsu scoffed.
"Yeah, with teammates like you, I would have left too." Naruto smirked.
"You're talking real high and mighty for someone barely a foot off the ground now." Suigetsu got embarrased and refused to talk. Kakashi stepped in to stop Naruto.
"Enough. He's beaten, we have to keep moving." The 3 left Suigetsu there, continuing through the hideout. The snake motif persisted throughout every room they checked for Sasuke. The air in here was almost mechanical. There was no freshness, no life in the area. Nothing to tell the time of day. It was like a, well, a snake den. There was a musk to the place, and everything had a layer of dust. Everything except for the lab. The three's exploration had culminated in finding Orochimaru's lab. It was the most disgusting thing anyone could imagine, despite the cleanliness of this one room. Samples of who knows what, vials containing different liquids. Blood stains on the floor and...other stains near test tubes. It was vile. There were even things still left in tubes, surrounded by some green liquid. Naruto was beyond disturbed, Kakashi almost went into shock, and Sakura nearly vomited.
"We..." Kakashi took a moment to breathe,"We shouldn't be in this room any longer."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
The three kept moving through the complex tunnels and infuriating architecture before stumbling upon what could only be described as a jail room. Cells were lined up from wall to wall, some open, some empty. The closed cells had what looked like people in them.
"This is horible!" cried Sakura, "How can someone do this?"
"I don't know," Kakashi replied, "But we can't free them. Orochimaru has them here for a reason, there's no telling what they will do to us. It's best we leave and keep loking for Sasuke."
"Sasuke?" A very large, orange man asked from insude an open jail cell, the only one to actually have a person it and be unlocked.
"Why are you looking for Sasuke?" Naruto decided to reply to the man's questions.
"We're here to bring him back." The large man was confused.
"Back? That means you don't want Sasuke with Lord Orochimaru." The large man stood up and walked in front of the group, blocking their path. He stretched his arms out in a T, as a defensive gesture. "I won't let you take him!"
"Fine, big guy, we do things the hard way." Naruto speed blitzed the man, wuickly motioning his katana through the man's chest, but something stopped it. Naruto saw some gray, gnarled hand gripping his katana without pain.
"Fine, that works for me!" The large man ripped the katana out Naruto's hands, flinging it into his open cell. Naruto ran back towards the man, planting his foot mid-run and landing a right hook in the man's side. He didnt't flinch at all, instead, returning the punch to Naruto's gut, sending him flying back into the wall.
"Oww...wait." Naruto focused his vison on the now gray, clay-ish arm and clay splotches around the man's face. His eyes had changed colors and there was a crazed, inhuman grin on his face.
"What's your name?"
"My name is Jugo, and I will deliver your bodies to Lord Orochimaru and Sasuke!" Naruto didn't have time for diplomacy, Jugo had used his clay body to make dime sort of boosters, augmenting his speed. Naruto jumped onto the ceiling, hoping to avoid the crazed Jugo.
'This guy's like an animal, he just charges in mindlessly. I'm more concerned that his clay is almost entirely nature chakra. It's like he's accidentally using Sage Mode!'
'You said it, Naru. This guy is a beast. However, his nature chakra is wild, and I'm sure you can figure out how to use Barbarian's brainlessness to your advantage.'
'That's it! Thanks again, Kyuu. You're really helping out.'Naruto noticed Jugo had seen him, and he jumped back down to the floor, right in Jugo's path.
"Hey, big ugly! Come get me!" Jugo fell for the taunt rather easily.
"GRAAAAAAAAHHHH" Jugo charged forward, but Naruto backflipped over him, placing a tag on the man's back. He threw a bunch of kunai around the cell, making sure to cover good areas. Jugo couldn't even notic the kunai in his state, instead just turning around to charge at Naruto again. This time, Naruto didn't jump, but teleported to one of his Hifuushin tags on the ceiling, losing Jugo again. Naruto made a hand seal before quietly saying,
"Reverse Hifuushin." His katana in the cell had teleported back, but Naruto had missed the mark. Instead of teleporting to the tag he was holding in his hand, it teleported to the tag on Jugo's back.
'Shit. I have to work out the kinks.' Jugo heard the sword clatter on the ground. He was reaching fkr it, but Naruto teleported to his katana, grabbing it and slashing through Jugo's chest up until it hit the nature-enhanced skin. The sword couldn't cut through, and Naruto teleported to another tag before revenge was exacted.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!" Jugo cried out animalistically, clearly very wounded from the sword. Ignoring this, Naruto was thinking of a way to incapacitate Jugo without killing him.
'Any ideas, Kyuu? I'm not against killing him, but I'd rather save him from Orochimaru.'
'That nature chakra is a pain. He's already healing from your slice. You need to find a way to stop him from using it, that's how you win.'
'That's a good point. A seal would take too long, I have to siphon it out with Sage Mode.'
'Are you crazy? You can barely use Sage Mode, let alone siphon nature chakra from someone else! You have no idea how unstable that chakra is. What if you turn into him?'
'Good point. Note to self, bring chakra sealing tags to fights.' Naruto grabbed an empty tag he had and atarted hurriedly writing down a seal.
"Sensei, distract him for me! This seal will end the fight!" Kakashi understood what Naruto was attempting, so he played chase with Jugo, keeping the beastly man occupied.
'One more line aand...done!' Naruto came back down from the ceiling for what must have been the 5th time, teleporting behind Jugo when he had stopped his charge. Jugp noticed him, but could not act fast enough to stop Naruto from putting the tag on Jugo, cutting off his connection to nature chakra. The clay-like appendages morphed back to normal and Jugo slumped into unconciousness.
"Thanks, Sensei. We can leave him here, we have to keep search-" Suddenly, there was a giant explosion, dust flooded the tunnels, and the three ninja were taken aback.
"What just happened?" Sakura asked.
"I don't know, but there's sunlight now. Whatever that was, it exposed the surface." Kakashi pointed out. The 3 climbed out to see a very damaged courtyard, half blown off from an explosion. The 3 were standing in a crater, presumably the origin of the explosion. Standing above them was none other than Sasuke.
20 minutes ago, during the Naruto/Suigetsu fight...
Orochimaru and Sasuke walked into a giant arena area, also decorated with giant snake statues.
"We are here. What did you want, Sasuke?" Sasuke had grown much taller. His blue-black hair had matured, receiving a more purple shine. His hair was longer, the bottom bangs reaching the top of his eyes. He was wearing a shite robe without any undershirt, along with grey pants. The putfit was tied together with Orochimaru's signature giant purple rope, tied in a bow had a straight sword with the Uchiha crest carved on it.
"You know what I want: power. Unfortunately, I think you can no longer provide it." This shocked Orochimaru. Their obedience drug was supposed to make Sasuke lust for power, yes, but also be loyal to Orochimaru.
"This is...unexpected. You think I have nothing more to teach you?" Sasuke smiled sinisterly.
"Yes. You have served my purpose, Snake." Orochimaru unveiled a smile of his own.
"Wel, my dear Uchiha, I have merely scratched the surface of my teachings. I can give you more power, more than Itachi will ever have." Orochimaru knew mentioning the brother would hit home to Sasuke.
"Hmmph. Then let you teach me through combat!" Sasuke drew his sword, heading straight for Orochimaru. Orochimaru spat out his own sword, ready to fight. The 2 engaged in sword combat, Sasuke being more offensive. Orochimaru blocked all the blows before parrying a strike to his head, reversing the roles. Sasule was being pushed back quickly, until he said,
"Chidori: Blade!" The pure lightning chakra surged through his blade, cutting through Orochimaru's sword. Sasuke was missing evey hit on Orochimaru until he stuck his sword out and called,
"Chidori: Stream!" A bolt of lightning came from the blade, catching Orochimaru in his right shoulder. Sasuke lifted the sword, pulling Orochimaru up.
"This is the end for you. Chidori: Ignite!" The stream exploded, mangling Orochimaru andcollapsing a good part of the tunnel. Sasuke turned to the crater, confirming he had vaporized Orochimaru until he saw his best friend.
"Hmph."
"Sasuke?"
Wow, this is the longest chapter I have ever done. I actually decided to split up my 8k chapter into 2 4k segments, the first of which you just read. The second part of this will be the actual Naruto/Sasuke fight and everything that comes after. I also wanted to keep this following the main Naruto plot, but with a little more spice. You'll all also get to read how Kyuubi cashes in on Naruto's owed favors. I know updates have been every few days now, but don't expect this much all the time. Maybe a 2k chapter every other week, but I really wanted to put in the effort right now for you guys. Went from a short author note to a long one, so I'll end it here.
As always, I'm TheStormKage, and this was The Kyuubi's King Chapter 16: The Hunt For Sasuke Part 2