Kami's Experiment - A MPD Grenade in the Timeline

by bjdakooch

Naruto defeats Madara, Obito and Kaguya only to meet a new enemy. After a prolonged war against the shinobi world led by Sasuke, Naruto loses and meets Kami. Kami bestows a blessing and asks Naruto to lead the Elemental Nations into a new cycle. Watch as Naruto deals with the traumas of the past and blows up the timeline. Naruto has multiple personalities and has some are female.

37. Chapter 37

-Snake Hunt-

Jiraiya returned to the village with scant information on Orochimaru. His normal activity was nowhere to be found and this made everyone nervous. As Task Force Anaconda was gathered to listen to his report, Jiraiya offered his opinion.

"Lord Hokage, I believe that the time for Orochimaru to take Sasuke over is closer than any of us wish for. We will need to move out and put pressure on him at the very least."

Itachi frowned and his Sharingan activated at the thought of his brother dying to the snake. "Then, I believe that we need to move fast and sharp. Jiraiya, I know you don't have much to go on, but if you were to guess, what area of the Land of Rice Paddies would Orochimaru most likely be in?"

While Jiraiya was thinking seriously, Naruto spoke up, "I think he will be in the northeast. He will want to be away from our border, and he had labs in Kiri in the past. I believe we should flash to Lightning Country and hit him from that side."

Jiraiya thought for a while longer before nodding, "The brat is right. If, and mind you it is an if, but if Orochimaru is still in Rice country, then he would most likely be in that area."

Itachi was in his thinking pose with his right hand up to his chin, "Alright, Ruto, contact the Raikage and ask for permission to travel through his lands. You may inform him, and only him, that we are hunting Orochimaru. Also, give him one of your tablets along with my number. I think he will appreciate that gift for allowing us passage."

Samui smiled, "I will get to see the Raikage earlier than I thought. I can also guide us through Lightning Country."

Naruto threw an arm over Samui's shoulder, "You ready for your first mission as a Konoha shinobi? And will do, Lord Hokage. As we get to Lightning Country's southern border, I will enter Sage mode. I will also dispatch some clones and summon an ally that has been craving some action."

Ino giggled a bit before chirping, "You know, I think Souei and Sasuke would actually get along."

While everyone was confused, the Senju family continued their chat about Naruto's summons. Temari laughed at Ino's joke, "Nah, Souei is actually cool. Don't compare him to some emo duckbutt."

Hinata had a fist over her mouth to suppress a giggle, "The Jura Ninja corps is super cool. Will you summon all of them?"

"Nah, just Souei and his body doubles will be enough. I don't need them fighting our battles, I just want to cover more ground." Naruto answered.

Jiraiya seemed interested and didn't want to be left out. "Why is this Souei relevant?"

"Because, grandfather, he can use body double much like I can use my shadow clones. He is a perfect scout, and he has shadow movement as well."

"Oh! Oh! Oh! You should bring Ranga over as well. It would be funny for him to meet Akamaru." Ino spoke up suddenly.

Kiba seemed interested by this, "Ranga? Why would Akamaru find him interesting?"

Temari smiled fondly at the thought of the fluffy Tempest wolf, "He is the leader of the Dire Wolf pack that is loyal to Lord Rimuru. He is also about five times as big as Akamaru."

"He can also summon storms." Samui added. "The Raikage begged him for the right to summon him, but he said that he already made an exception to allow Naruto to summon him."

Naruto shrugged, "Hey, I built all of the Dire Wolves custom houses. Much like the Inuzuka, the pack believes in loyalty."

Itachi coughed to bring the conversation back to the mission. "Okay, so it sounds like we will have a bunch of allies. What formation are you planning on moving in?"

Naruto stood straighter and became serious again, "We will move in three groups. I will lead one, Jiraiya one and Tsunade one. I will be with Samui, Hinata, Shino, and team 10. Tsunade will lead team 9 and team 7. Jiraiya will move with Temari, Shisui and the ANBU team. Each team will have a wood clone of mind as a scout and backup. From Lightning country, we will enter the northeastern corner of Oto. We will spread out about 30miles apart. We will hit bases hard and fast. My wood clones will create clones to cleanup any bases and evacuate any survivors. We will need to perform three up and downs to get all of lightning country because we will have a 120-mile spread with my Sage mode."

Itachi was nodding along impressed, as was Jiraiya, but he had another question. "And what is the plan to avoid alarming Orochimaru? How will you clear bases that quickly?"

Naruto's serious face turned into a feral smirk. "We will bring them to the surface. Momma and I are prolific earth users. We will use 'mobile earth core' to raise the bases above ground and surprise the hell out of them. Temari can use her steam win, Momma can smash, I can break, and Jiraiya is strong enough. The important thing is to update your maps, keep in contact with the tablets and move quickly."

Jiraiya pouted, "Look, brat, I can still bring the heat. Don't underestimate me."

"Okay, grandpa." Was Naruto's only reply, but he had to fight super hard to hide his smile.

Shisui spoke up this time, "Okay, so we all move hard and fast. What is the plan for when we encounter Orochimaru?"

Tsunade punched a fist into her open palm, "Draw him into a fight, allow Naruto to erect his barrier, then the Snake gets smashed."

Naruto and the rest of the group laughed at that, but Naruto elaborated. "Look, Momma and Jiraiya have dibs on the snake. Before they show up and scare him off, you will summon me with a Hiraishin kunai, which everyone will carry. I will lock the snake in and then flash to bring Momma and or Jiraiya."

Tsunade growled, "It is not and or, I will be the one to finish the snake."

Tayuya shivered, "Holy fucking shit. I want to fucking bitch slap myself because I just felt sorry for the ass-loving snake pedophile. I mean, who the fuck feels sorry for a cunt like Orochimaru." Another round of laughs from the group.

Itachi groaned; this group was taking this mission far too lightly. They could be up against an army of shinobi, and they are laughing. "Alright, we will contact the Raikage tonight and plan on teleporting tomorrow. Everyone, this is serious and game faces will need to be on. Dismissed."

After a passionate night of love making and sweet talking, Naruto and his girls joined the others outside of the Konoha Teleportation Tower. Equipment checks were ongoing, and everyone was in a unique combat attire. Naruto wove seals into a new type of armor that everyone wore. The seals completely hid chakra signatures, the strengthened the fabric, had self-repair functions and were fireproof. Each person was also given an antidote kit since Orochimaru always loved his poisons.

The outfits consisted of black and green combat vests with a camo pattern in them. Everyone wore hooded, long-sleeve combat shirts that were a matte black in color and seemed to be hard to look at directly. The combat pants were forest green and had a cargo pocket on each side. The wrist bracers and shin guards were made of chakra metal, painted a matte black and everyone was able to carry their weapons and supplies in their storage seals. The boots also had sound-suppressing seals on the soles, which allowed everyone to move silently.

"Alright everyone, behave yourselves while in Kumo and use the time to get your minds right. We will be travelling through Kumo for a whole day before crossing the border into Oto. Team leaders, status report?" Naruto said as he stood in front of the three teams.

"Relax, brat, we are all good here." Jiraiya said, finding it extremely awkward to take orders from his grandson.

"Good to go, Bubba." Tsunade said with a thumbs up.

"Alright, we will teleport in three groups. I will remain behind to top off the chakra battery. Momma, ladies first." Naruto said.

As he watched his best friends and family enter the teleporter, Naruto closed his eyes and offered a prayer to Kami. Up in her realm, the goddess was smiling down. She had put out the notice for a watch party and she was excited to see a good bit of action. Minato and Kushina exchanged knowing looks as they watched the goddess space out while going through the actions of her administrative duties. This had become more prevalent throughout the years and the Chosen One's parents caught on after a while.

"Be safe, sochi." Whispered Kushina under her breath.

"Relax, Shina, our son has got this." Minato soothed his eternal spouse. "Lady Kami, is there any way we could take a sneak peek into Orochimaru's lair?" Kami distractedly clicked her fingers and sighed despondently as the screen changed away from Naruto.

-Otogakore – Hidden Lab 66 -

Orochimaru was sitting on his throne in his throne room that was poorly lit by chakra torches. The crackling of the torches often soothed the Snake Sanin, and he enjoyed residing in dank, dark places. After altering his body so much and syncing with a part of the Great White Snake, Orochimaru noticed that he enjoyed the underground environment far more than the sun. His faithful buttbu … ahem, I mean attendant, yes, his faithful attendant Kabuto stirred him from his musings.

"Lord Orochimaru, test subject 1402 was a failure. We attempted to graft his DNA with a combination of Sasuke's and Hashirama's." Kabuto said as he rose from his bow and pushed up his glasses.

Orochimaru hissed, failure was expected in his line of work, but the gene splicing had hit a roadblock recently and it was … dissatisfying. "Very well, onto the next one. Tell me, Kabuto, how is my next vessel doing?"

Kabuto smirked devilishly, "Well, Lord Orochimaru, the loyalty seal has completely taken effect. His stage two curse mark is fully integrated, and he uses it to train daily. The steroids have taken effect and strengthened his muscles and body. Project Fake Friend was successful and his Mangekyo Sharingan was awakened three months ago, and it is stable. We project he will be fully ready for your greatness in less than a month."

Orochimaru hissed in pleasure a wrung his hands together. "Very good. While this body has not fully rejected me yet, it will happen soon. Any word on the Akatsuki or Konoha?"

Kabuto pushed up his glasses and the smirk fell from his face, "Akatsuki has fully taken over Earth Country. They are working hand in hand with Rain Country, and they are mobilizing. One of our bases was destroyed by Hizashi Hyuga and Kisame Hoshigake last week. We do not know what they are looking for, but it seems to be an item, not you."

Orochimaru nodded slimily, "Yes, their beloved ring. I still cannot fathom how it enabled astral teleportation. I do not wish to give it up yet."

Kabuto bowed, "Very well, my Lord. As far as Konoha, the Senju family will be returning their soon. Their little trip around the world strengthened Suna, Kiri, Kumo and Wave. We have been unable to infiltrate any of those nations. We recently lost our spy in Konoha and the member we had on the council is no longer able to provide information."

Orochimaru chuckled evilly, "Ah, yes, Homura, that old goat. It was entertaining to use him. His hatred for young Naruto was most enjoyable to toy with. What of the Senju family and their children?"

Kabuto sighed, "They are more protected than anything. We cannot begin to dissect the seals protecting their compounds. As far as we know, the boy, Hashi, will be in Konoha with the Senju family. According to rumors, Tsunade, Naruto, Yosuke, Yami and Kurama Senju are all high 'A' to 'SS' rank. The spouses, Samui, Temari and Ino are all rumored to be strong as well. It is unknown how they will integrate into Konoha's forces, but we may be able to isolate one on a mission."

Orochimaru hissed in anger. "That intelligence leaves me wanting, Kabuto."

Kabuto bowed, "My apologies, Lord Orochimaru, their travels make it difficult to gleam information. If rumors are to be believed, Naruto used one of the Lord First's most powerful jutsus. The rumors claim it destroyed a mountain in Kumo with a single punch."

Orochimaru seemed pensive. He heard stories of Hashirama's jutsus, but it always seemed like puffed up myth. "Very well. We know to avoid direct combat with the Senju boy. Keep an eye open for an opportunity to get the child."

-Border of Kumo and Oto – Day 1 of Project Snake Hunt-

The travel to the Kumo border went smoothly. It helped that Naruto and Samui were known all throughout Lightning Country and any patrols they encountered instantly recognized them and the Sanin. The group rested overnight in the foothills of the mountains overnight and it was a fairly restless night's sleep. The nerves were starting to settle in as the gravity of the situation settled upon their shoulders.

They were planning on walking into a foreign country with an unknown number of shinobi and samurai. That lone would normally be enough to set someone on edge. Then, they added that they were going to be taking out horror houses that Orochimaru called labs. Terrifying projections of the monstrosities they may or may not encounter filled their minds and kept them from their sleep. All in all, everyone that wasn't a Senju rolled around in their sleeping bags as sleep evaded them on the first night.

In Naruto's tent, he remained awake looking at the roof of the tent as his three wives claimed his arms and chest. He loved his fuinjutsu tent and the king-sized bed that he kept sealed in it. He was working with Kurama to review memories, plot out their routes and review contingency plans. He had faith in his friends, but unlike him, they weren't energizer bunnies. They would need to rest and recover within enemy territory. He frowned as the concern for his friends weighed heavily upon his heart.

Within the seal, Kurama and Chomei felt the nervous anticipation and they marveled as a lightning storm gave them an impromptu lightshow in the seal. Kurama sighed before opening the mental connection. "Relax, partner. We will keep your mates and family safe."

Naruto closed his eyes and dove into the seal since he wasn't going to sleep anyway. "I know, Kyu, but there is only so much we can do. We know we are strong, but are they strong enough to survive this?"

Chomei was listening and feeling everything, she spoke next, "Ruto, in the short time I have dwelled in you, I have come to believe in you. Believe in yourself and your mates."

"My sister is right, Ruto. Believe in yourself, believe in us and we will succeed." Kurama added before shrinking and rubbing his muzzle against Naruto's cheek.

Naruto pet his best friend on his snout and snuggled into his warm aura. "Thanks Kurama. I love you. When we are done with this, I am making Momma take a back seat so you can start your family."

Kurama chuckled and Chomei blushed, Kurama returned Naruto's affectionate words. "I love you like my own, Ruto. If my kits turn out just like you, then I would be the happiest kitsune in any world."

Chomei watched on with tears spilling from her bug eyes. She wanted nothing more than to experience that feeling with a partner. It was strange, for centuries all she wanted was to be left well enough alone. She wanted to watch over her domain and care for the insects of the planet. After less than a year with this human child, all she wanted was to experience the bond she felt between Naruto and Kurama. The only question for her was could she find that bond within Naruto, or would she need to go to another?

As Naruto woke up at first light, he prepared a breakfast for his task force. He greeted Shisui who pulled the final watch and unsealed everything he needed to make a good breakfast. It was the least he could do for his team that was willingly following him into the belly of the beast. As he formed clones to prepare the breakfast, he wanted to get his mind right through a round of meditation.

He walked away from his group and took up a meditative lotus position to center himself and prepare for the future endeavors. He fell right into his natural place in the world, and he smiled internally as the natural energy greeted him playfully. The energy of the wind was flippant, playful, strong and endless. It countered so uniquely with the rigid strength, enduring energy and proud nature of the earth. The two seamlessly integrated with each other within his body and he enjoyed ten minutes of internal reflection before letting his chakra spread to the surrounding lands.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he shook his head and chuckled before lifting his head to the heavens and whispering a 'thank you'. He pushed the gathered senjutsu chakra into an amped up wooden clone, unsealed a scroll, wrote a letter and gave the scroll to his clone. No words were needed before the clone dashed off in the opposite direction of Oto. Naruto watched it go and returned to the camp just in time to join everyone for breakfast.

After breakfast, the group did one more round of final checks, tested the tablet communications and Naruto passed out a Hiraishin kunai to each member of the task force. Naruto took the center route with Samui, Hinata, Shino and team 10. On his left, taking the eastern border route, was Jiraiya with Temari, Shisui and ANBU team Ro. On the right, moving more toward the center of the country, was Tsunade and Anko along with teams 9 and 7. With a final wave, they moved out at high speeds and began the hunt.

Naruto's plan and methods proved effective after three hours into the incursion of the Land of Rice. The first team to sense out a base was Jiraiya's team. The team was moving with Souei and one of the body doubles knelt in front of Naruto's wood clone before speaking. The Konoha teams came to a halt to listen.

"Lord Naruto, the location you sensed was indeed a base of Orochimaru. I sent body doubles to infiltrate and they confirmed 80-100 enemy shinobi with over 100 captives."

The Naruto clone scratched the back of its neck sheepishly, "Souei, what have I told you about the 'Lord' nonsense? Anyway, this will provide our first test. Jiraiya, how do you wish to proceed?"

Jiraiya thought for a bit, "Are you enough to really raise the base out of the ground?"

The Naruto clone shrugged, "Most likely. Naruto really amped us up and we even have Kurama's chakra."

"What about the prisoners?" Temari asked.

The clone answered once more, "I should be able to sense them out and make sure they aren't harmed. Until we evacuate them, no widescale jutsu."

Jiraiya was nodding and smashed his fists together. "Okay, hard and fast with no survivors. We cannot let Orochimaru know about this on our first day in the country."

Everyone nodded and Souei led the group to the location. After a quick check with his body doubles that had infiltrated the base, Souei confirmed that the enemy guards near the prisoners were neutralized. Naruto sensed the captives, and he encased that room in a hardened earth chakra before performing his next jutsu. The clone gathered a crap load of natural energy and weaved through hand signs with its eyes closed. The clone placed its hands on the ground and called out, 'earth style – earthen mobile core'.

The group watched in amazement as the underground base appeared on a massive column of earth that now hovered nearly four stories in the air. The bottom level, with the test chamber and captives, was now on ground level and team Ro immediately began evacuating the captives out of the area. They were supremely confused, and a couple were unable to move on their own until Naruto clones appeared and disappeared in leaf shunshins.

While the evacuation was ongoing, many Oto shinobi were peering over the edges of the base and many shouts of confusion were heard. The shouts slowly died down as a slide made of pink crystals appeared from the ledge that used to be the 3rd sublevel and a blue-haired kunoichi led about 20 shinobi out and more were rallying to her side. As she reached ground level, the 'all clear' was given for the captives and a barrier was erected that completely surrounded the massive earthen construct.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Konoha nin?" The blue-haired kunoichi asked as she formed crystalline kunai in her hands.

Jiraiya stepped forward and spoke, "Stand down and surrender or die. Those are your only two choices, Otogakore shinobi."

The blue-haired woman spoke, "I am Guren, Lord Orochimaru's most faithful follower. There is no way I would submit to Konoha dogs." At that moment, a shinobi ran up to Guren and whispered something in her ear, which made her eyes widen and a look of shock fixed itself upon her face.

Jiraiya sighed and nodded to Temari who had already unsealed her new and improved battle fan. Naruto had it made of chakra metal and the fabric of the fan was made from a chakra conducting weave. Rather than her old three moons, Temari had five sickles and each sickle had a special seal in it. The moons were an auburn red with golden edging, in honor of her lover. Temari smirked devilishly as she opened up all five sickles, gathered and insane amount of chakra and scared the shit out of her team.

The members of Jiraiya's team stood well behind Temari since they knew what was coming. It was something that made them feel sorry for the enemy shinobi, even if they were Oto scum. Temari spun in an entrancing dance that shaped her chakra and the fan glowed light blue with steam release chakra. Guren didn't wait to see what was happening next, she ordered an attack on the enemy shinobi and a volley of kunai and shuriken raced ahead of charging shinobi.

Temari was now spinning rapidly before she turned her fan perpendicular to the ground and called out 'steam release – sickle weasel steam storm'.

The results of Temari's jutsu were absolutely devastating. After a minute, the steam cleared out and a gruesome sight met Jiraiya's team. They were no longer rookies, but anyone looking at corpses with the skin sloshing off would have a hard time stomaching it. Of the forty or so shinobi that were outside the base, only three managed to survive the steam storm and only barely so. Even the ANBU shifted uncomfortably as the steam cleared, it wasn't everyday that they watched a teenage girl slaughter trained shinobi with such ease.

Guren was running short on air inside of her crystal prison. She used the technique on herself to protect herself from the steam storm and she had to channel a sizeable amount of her chakra into reinforcing the crystalline walls that protected her. Even so, she was nearly cooked and would have been had the steam storm ceased a minute later. As her pink crystals disintegrated, she looked around and saw most of her backup was in rough shape. She sucked her teeth and activated the cursed seal Lord Orochimaru had given her. She was going to need it if she stood any chance against Jiraiya and his backup.

As Guren's natural beauty transformed into a hideous crystalline monster, she growled at the gathered Konoha crowd. "That wasn't very nice. I will kill you for your transgressions against Lord Orochimaru."

Jiraiya belted out a laugh, "Look, girly monster thing, I recommend you undo the cursed seal and come peacefully. If you do that, then the Jiraiya the Gallant will offer you protection."

Guren's hideous form laughed crazily, "Like I would ever go with the buffoon teammate of my Lord." It should be noted that in exchange for the unstable and evil power of the cursed seal,

As Jiraiya pouted, Temari gave orders by hand signs to Shisui and team Ro. 'Go, into, base. Find, research. I got this.' Temari knew this girl from Naruto's memories, but according to those memories, this girl shouldn't have had the cursed seal of earth. Oh well, if Temari saves her then Naruto can remove the seal.

Jiraiya recovered from his pout, and he sighed as Temari stepped forward and asked him to stay out of it. He knew the girl was strong, but there was no way he was going to leave her alone. If she died, Jiraiya would be ripped to pieces. "Be careful, Temari. That bloodline and the cursed seal are scary."

Temari turned to Jiraiya, offered a confident smile and asked a question, "Does this barrier shield from biju chakra?"

Jiraiya shrugged, "We will have to absorb the remnants, but the clone should be able to do that. Cut loose."

Temari turned toward her adversary and shot a smirk that was a mixture of sexy, sassy and confident. 'Let's go, Kokuo. Let's start at one tail.'

Kokuo let out a dolphin laugh within the seal, "Eek eek eek, let me enjoy my first battle alongside my new partner."

'Yeah, yeah, you're my ride or die, Ko. Let's do it.' Temari thought before turning to the now fully transformed Guren.

Guren swished her pink, crystalline tail behind her and growled, "Try not to die too quickly, little girl."

The two disappeared in blurs of pink and blue chakra. Kokuo's chakra cloak came out as a light blue when he gave it willingly to Temari. Temari's Sensu fans were encompassed in a dark blue chakra due to the amount of wind chakra channeling through them and Guren was surprised when her black and pink crystals were repeatedly sliced through like tissue paper. After taking a knee to the chin, Guren flipped backwards and created some distance.

As Guren landed, she was forced to erect a crystal wall to block two wind blades that nearly cut through the wind wall and exploded in a steam cloud as they were halfway through. Even through the haze of bloodlust caused by the cursed seal, Guren knew that this shouldn't be possible. She roared out and launched a jagged ball of crystal from her tail and into the sky. She formed a hand sign and the ball of crystal detonated forcefully and sent shards of black and pink crystal flying at high speeds toward the ground.

Temari saw what was happening and simply did a twirl with her two fans before a concave wind wall smashed into the falling crystals. With that threat dealt with, Temari turned in her wind dance and dodged a punch from Guren. She twirled once more and as she twirled a steam cloud formed a 10-meter circle around her and Guren roared out in pain. Temari felt the crystal wielder jump away to her right and she unsealed her big fan, performed one powerful spin and launched 'wind style – planar wind' in Guren's direction.

Guren's face was still recovering from the fresh steam burns and as she was landing a wall of steam was heading toward her at high speeds. Guren erected another crystal wall to absorb the blunt force of the winds, but she was cooked once more as the steam ate away at her crystals and skin. Guren roared out in pain and frustration before she weaved through hand signs and created a massive pink dragon with black streaks running through it. The dragon matched her roar and flew towards Temari's position.

Temari saw the massive pink dragon and she knew that it was a threat. It was too big to dodge, and it would likely explode in crystal shrapnel when it landed. Temari opened her fan all the way and called upon Kokuo's chakra to channel it into the fan. She had to focus to make this work, but Temari knew that she could do it as she swung her fan and called out 'wind style – sickle weasel wind net'.

A wind net composed of interlinked wind blades spanned nearly 100 square meters and raced to meet the wind dragon halfway through. As the two jutsu clashed, the wind net shredded the dragon and chunks of crystal fell to the ground as the jutsu lost its form. The overpowered wind net continued past the dragon and slammed into a surprised Guren. The Oto kunoichi only had time to raise her crystal encased arms up in a X-guard to shelter her face and torso.

As the wind jutsu impacted, Guren let of a bestial roar of pain, and she was flung backward into the raised earth of Naruto's jutsu. She crashed hard into the wall and was implanted nearly ten feet into the hardened earth that was holding the base. The end result of the wind net was Guren having multiple wind cuts on her body that were bleeding profusely. Her tail was cut off and she had a nasty gash on the center of her chest. Due to the damage, her cursed markings receded into the seal, and she was left in a crumpled mess.

Jiraiya appeared behind Temari who had reabsorbed Kokuo's chakra cloak and whistled in appreciation and approval. "That was impressive, lil lady."

Temari huffed and flipped her head to get one of her bangs out of her eye. "Yeah, compared to Ruto that was nothing."

Jiraiya shrugged and laughed, "Haha, yeah, I would imagine that was easy compared to the strongest shinobi in the world. So, how much of Kokuo's chakra can you call out now?"

Temari sighed, "It is taking too long to get used to. I can only call on two tails. Momma says that it takes an adult body a lot longer to get used to the yokai. I mean, Naruto has had Kurama's chakra in this body for 12 years now. I have only partnered with Kokuo for a year and a half."

Kokuo chimed in through the seal, "You are doing well, dear girl. We are nearly to the third tail; we just need to acclimate your body to my yokai."

"Thanks, Ko, but we still have the Waterfall of Reflection and Naruto wants us to go to the Sage's Temple once we get to four tails." Temari thought back.

Kokuo was nodding his head in the seal, "Yes, yes, but I know you will succeed there."

Temari was broken from her conversation with Kokuo by Jiraiya's next words, "That is great. Two tails in less than two years is nothing to scoff at. By all rights, you shouldn't have been able to integrate a foreign chakra source at your age. Don't be too hard on yourselves."

"Thanks, Grandpa. When you're not being a super perv, you aren't too bad." Temari shot back glibly.

Jiraiya chuckled and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "Haha, thanks kiddo. Now, let's get that monster girl in a stasis scroll and get this base cleaned up."

A Naruto clone walked up, "Nice fight, Temari. I will soak up the excess yokai, so don't worry about your little secret getting out."

Temari nodded to the clone and walked up to the unconscious Guren and placed a medical stasis seal on her chest before sealing her into a prisoner scroll. The cleanup of the base took a little over and hour before the barrier was dropped and Jiraiya's team informed the others of their first encounter. Evidently, Naruto's team had already taken out two smaller outposts and Tsunade's team had killed two teams of Oto shinobi. This let everyone know that the Sage mode search method was going to be effective for this mission.

The first night in the Land of Rice Paddies passed by uneventfully. The teams synced up their current positions and all three campsites were protected by strong, multi-leveled barriers. Naruto really grew to appreciate his specialization in barrier fuinjutsu and space-time fuinjutsu. The next day passed, and a couple minor outposts and shinobi teams were killed, and another night passed. It wasn't until the third day of the snake hunt until things went wild.

-Hidden Lab 66 – Otogakore-

Orochimaru was sparring against Sasuke when the door to the training room was opened. Orochimaru blocked Sasuke's lightning-covered katana with his Kusanagi and turned to address Kabuto.

"For what reason have you disturbed our training time?" Orochimaru hissed.

Kabuto bowed, "Lord Orochimaru, something is wrong. We have received no updates or distress signals from multiple bases and there are eight teams that are now a day late in reporting."

Orochimaru seemed to think for a bit before he hissed in displeasure, "Which bases and where are the intruders now?"

Kabuto frowned, "Lord Orochimaru, my best guess is that they came in from Kumo. All of our bases in the northeastern regions have gone quiet. As I stated, I have received no alarms or reports, but it is strange for them all to go offline at the same time."

Sasuke scoffed, "Send me and I will kill them. Nobody can stand up to the might of the Uchiha, especially with this power you have given me."

Orochimaru frowned, "No, my dear boy, you will not go. What direction are they moving Kabuto? I have to assume this is an enemy."

Kabuto's eyes darted to the side. In truth, he didn't know how this was possible. "My Lord, if it is an enemy, then they are many. For this many bases to go dark, they would have to be hitting 10 or more a day. I do not have enough information to make an accurate call, but my best guess is they will be here tomorrow."

Sasuke smirked and swished his sword through the air, "I will finally get a chance to test my power."

Orochimaru smiled at how bloodthirsty his next vessel was, "Very well, Kabuto, gather Guren, Kimimaro, Karen, Suigetsu and get ready to let Jugo out of his cage. If they want a fight, I will give them a fight."

Kabuto pushed his glasses up nervously, "Umm, my Lord, Guren's base is one that has gone dark."

Orochimaru hissed in displeasure, "What of the others?"

"They should respond to our call. We can have them here by tomorrow noon." Kabuto answered.

"Very well, have them move to our location immediately. I have too many experiments here to abandon. Sasuke, dear boy, get ready to fight." Orochimaru hissed.

-Naruto's Camp – Morning of Day Three-

Naruto woke from his tent, swapped with a clone and left Ino and Samui resting in the tent. It was 4am and he took over for Shikamaru for the last shift of the watch. He created a clone and left it in overwatch. He exited the barrier and climbed into a tree for a deeper round of meditation. He had started each day this way because his senses expanded much further when he had the chance to go deeper into the meditation.

As he was expanding his senses, he smiled at the peaceful presence of nature. It was then that the first ping returned to him and then another. Two elite-jonin level chakra signatures were converging on a location. This was it; this is what he was looking for. He calmed his mind and steadied his breathing to maintain in the trance and track their projected location. During that trance, he felt two more high level signatures also on the move. It left him with one conclusion: Orochimaru knew or at least suspected that they were here.

Naruto returned to the camp and called Jiraiya and Tsunade. He gave them their new heading and shared what he had found. The end location of the elite chakra signatures was 43 miles from his current location and slightly farther for the two. After convincing from Tsunade, Naruto eventually agreed to meet up in a nearby town and the groups would move out together. Tsunade knew to trust Naruto and she knew it would be better if they went at this together.

"Naruto, be prepared to deploy your barrier." Tsunade said through the tablet.

"Momma, if I use that barrier then I will only be able to provide support with clones…" Naruto said with concern.

"That's fine, brat. Trust your comrades. It is more important to ensure that the snake doesn't get away. With your sensing, we will know where he plans to lay his trap. You and your clones will get in place and form a massive isolation barrier." Jiraiya said in his serious mode.

Before Naruto could protest, Tsunade spoke again, "Ruto, the perv is right. We will be able to handle this. Plus, your clones are more than enough support, Kiddo."

Naruto relented, knowing that they only had one shot at this. "Okay, Momma. Have fun with the snake." A thought then popped into Naruto's head. "Wait, if I am doing the barrier then who will handle Sasuke?"

Both Sanin were stumped for a bit, but Jiraiya answered, "Why not leave him to the Rookies? You have trained your friend up and they are all strong."

Tsunade was speculative, "If he has the Mangekyo, that could be a problem."

Naruto winced at the thought of his friends fighting against a Mangekyo. "Yeah, well, let's see how things play out. My clone will be able to support them, and I think it would be monumental for Kiba and Sakura to take part in Sasuke's capture."

"Sounds like a plan. See you in Paddy village in three hours." Tsunade said before cutting her connection to the tablet.

Naruto went and got the campsite moving. Everyone packed up quickly and they were moving out at top speed to get to Paddy village. Naruto stopped and entered Sage mode every couple miles to conduct a quick search. They had to deal with a squad or two, but they were no real issue. As they approached Paddy village, Naruto called out a total of twelve enemies. They approached slowly and Naruto pointed out the targets.

Naruto took five, clones are awesome. Asuma took two, while Ino, Samui, Shino, Chouji and Shikamaru each took one. After dispatching them quietly and knocking out any witnesses, Naruto ordered his team to spread out and set up a perimeter around the village. Within thirty minutes, the other two teams arrived to find Naruto deep in a meditative trance. Naruto's eyes cracked open to see everyone standing in front of him.

"Okay, as of right now, they are all within a hidden base. The masking seals are strong on that one and they cover a wider than normal area. The base is approximately ten miles away to our south by southwest. My best guess is that it is over a square mile of underground labyrinth."

Shisui whistled, "That is a big base. Quite a bit larger than any of the ones we encountered."

Sakura spoke up, "Umm, Naruto, were you … were you able to sense Sasuke?"

Naruto looked at her apologetically, "No, I have been trying but the protective seals are stronger than the ones we have encountered so far. It makes me think that this is the main base and I believe we will find Orochimaru there, which means Sasuke should be there too." Naruto turned to Souei and Ranga, "You two, I appreciate all of your help. If you wish to participate, I will not deny you. If you want to head back to Rimuru, I understand."

The massive dire wolf spun his tail excitedly and kicked up an impromptu twister that messed up all of the kunoichi's hair, "No need, Master Ruto. I wish to fight. Demon Lord Rimuru wishes for us to aid you in battle."

Souei nodded silently, "This has been good training. Your shinobi senses are a good test. I will scout with shadow movement, and I will work to free the prisoners once the fighting begins."

Everyone watched on as Naruto spoke to his summons until Kiba spoke up, "So, what is the battle plan?"

Jiraiya laughed boisterously, "It is good and all to have a plan, but any plan only lasts until you take the first shot in your jaw."

Tsunade scoffed, "Spoken like a true brawler. Alright, brats, listen up. Orochimaru is mine. Jiraiya will be with me. Naruto is on barrier duty and will only provide support with clones. The Rookies are on Sasuke duty. The elites will be divided up to Shisui, team Ro and then we can play it by ear."

Anko pouted, "I wanted a piece of the snake. Oh well, give it to him good for me, Momma." This earned a confident smile and a nod from Tsunade.

Kiba smashed his fist into his open palm, "Finally, I will get a chance to punch that arrogant punk in the jaw."

Naruto doused Kiba's enthusiasm, "Look guys, the most likely scenario is Sasuke using the cursed seal. Each of those seals has a strong loyalty seal worked in and we don't know how much damage Orochimaru has done to Sasuke. Expect a difficult fight, but that is what I have prepared you for. Work together, trap him, play on his ego, do whatever you have to do to stay safe. Shika, you are team lead for the Rookies. Come up with a plan and implement it."

Shikamaru nodded, fully alert. "I would say that it is too troublesome, but he is a comrade. We will get it done, Ruto."

"Ino, no mind jutsu on him. I don't want you going into that mess." Tsunade cautioned. "And don't be scared to call on Lady Katsuyu. You won't stop me from being able to summon her."

Ino nodded in understanding and then excitement. "Yes, Momma."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Hinata chimed in. The two girls were each given the right to summon the slugs during the training trip and this would be their first opportunity to actually use it.

"Okay, everyone, I am going to head out with Souei and Ranga. Give me a five-minute head start. When everything is started and I sense you within range, I will erect the barrier. You will know it is up because it will block all light for about ten seconds, so don't freak out. Good luck everyone, watch each other's backs and stay safe."

With nods, shouts and claps on the back, Naruto took off towards where he now sensed multiple shinobi guarding the target location. This would finally be settled, and one less enemy piece would be on the board. Naruto created three clones, encompassed himself in senjutsu chakra and hid his chakra signature so that he could not be detected. It took him about fifteen minutes to get in place and he felt his clones still. Naruto calmed his mind and prepared to erect his most powerful barrier. He had never done it over such a large area, but in his Golden Sage Mode, it should be possible.

He felt the task force approaching and he started the long sequence of hand seals after dispelling a shadow clone to let the others know to begin as well. The 112 hand sign sequence took over a minute for Naruto and his clones to perform, but when he felt Task Force Anaconda come to a stop in front of multiple chakra signatures, he activated the barrier.

Tsunade led Task Force Anaconda with guidance from Naruto's wood clone. The clone called it out and the task force spread out in a tree line that opened into a wide field. Across the field, she saw her old teammate and a small army. She saw a redheaded girl pointing toward them and she could see the smirk on Orochimaru's face from the tree line.

Jiraiya had already called Ma and Pa to him so he could enter Sage mode and Tsunade closed her eyes and the blue shadowing appeared around her eyes. She would hold off on using the 'Strength of 1000' mark because if she used that then she would likely hurt her allies in the collateral damage.

"Okay, everyone, when the barrier activates and the world goes dark, I will launch the opening attack. Make sure you stay here until I am done with that." Tsunade ordered in a commanding voice.

"Yes Ma'am!" The Task Force Responded.

Suddenly, before any pleasantries could be exchanged the world went black, truly black and it was terrifying for everyone, even the Konoha task force that knew it was coming. On the Oto side, Orochimaru began panicking as the world went black and he could sense a massive buildup of chakra. He heard Karin scream, 'Take cover!', which only served to throw his troops into chaos. Then, the ground shuddered violently in a deafening roar and Orochimaru heard screams from his men as the earth gave way below his feet.

As Orochimaru was falling, the lights turned back on, and his eyes widened as a chasm formed front Tsunade's foot and spread all the way towards his shinobi. He quickly looked down and saw that the chasm was nearly 50-meters deep and 300-meters wide and it stretched for at least a kilometer. It tore right through his base, and he gulped in anticipation and worry as he summoned one of Manda's children to stop his fall. In a puff of smoke, Orochimaru stood on top of a giant King Kobra and the snake climbed the walls of the chasm back to the surface.

Orochimaru glared at the Konoha shinobi that dared to attack him. "Tsunade, that was not a very polite greeting between old teammates."

Tsunade growled and sent a withering glare at Orochimaru, "That is an old title. The man I knew died long ago. You are now just a creepy, snake, ass-fucking pedophile with no sense of morality or humanity."

Tayuya cheered and Anko snickered at Tsunade's remark, but the surviving Oto shinobi glared and shouted out insults at Tsunade. Orochimaru hissed in displeasure as he saw Sasuke summon another of the snake clan and Kabuto jumped up to join Orochimaru. He sighed as he saw and enraged Jugo charging toward the Konoha shinobi.

"That boy could never control his bloodlust once he enters that form."

"There are bigger issues here. That barrier isolates everything within. Anything summoned in here will not be able to get back to the summoning realm." Kabuto said as he looked around to analyze the barrier.

The snake shook its head, "Orochimaru, if you summoned me to my death, my father will eat you."

While Orochimaru was thinking, Jiraiya already saw the enraged and senjutsu empowered enemy charging at them, "Hime, that guy is using senjutsu chakra. I will handle him. I don't want anyone taking that fight if they don't know what they are up against. I will join you once I have finished with him." Jiraiya dashed toward Jugo and sent him flying with a strong punch from his Frog Kumite taijutsu style.

Tsunade knicked her thumb, smeared blood on her palm and summoned a large fragment of Katsuyu. It dwarfed the snake summon and caused many of the enemy shinobi to take several steps backwards in fear. As she stood atop the giant slug, she spoke to Orochimaru, "Do you want to fight here or find a place of our own? I brought more than enough friends to keep your butt buddies occupied." Once again, Anko and Tayuya's cackling echoed across the field and incensed the snake Sanin.

Orochimaru hissed deeply, "Kabuto, you use young Motombe and I will summon Manda. We will need him in this fight."

The now-known Motombe hissed in displeasure, "You would summon my father into a barrier he cannot escape from? You are a coward!" Motombe began writhing in anger until Sasuke jumped to his nose and put him under a hypnotic spell.

"He will obey, now, my Lord." Sasuke said lowly.

Orochimaru smiled creepily and licked his lips at the thought of being able to use those eyes, "Thank you, Sasuke. I am going to summon Manda, could you do that once more for me?"

Sasuke bowed, "Yes, my Lord." Thus, after Manda was summoned, his usual rant was cut off before it could even begin once he looked Sasuke in the eyes.

"That is despicable. I am not a fan of the snake clan, but for a summoner to treat his summons in such a manner is foul." Katsuyu said in a soggy growl.

Tsunade sucked her teeth, also offended by such a display. She looked down from Katsuyu, "Everyone have their assignments?"

Shisui nodded, "Yes, Lady Tsunade. I will fight the Kaguya. Anko will fight Kabuto. Temari and Hinata are on mob duty. The Rookies will fight Sasuke. Samui will fight water boy."

Tsunade nodded, "Alright, move out and watch each other's backs."

-Battle for Otogakore-

Tsunade's newly created gorge divided the potential battlefield nearly down the middle. Task Force Anaconda stood behind Tsunade and they each had their assignments. Orochimaru was on Manda's head and the snake was coiled up on the right side of the gorge. After a hand sign from Orochimaru, his subordinates left his side and went to the left side of the gorge to lead the 300 or so remaining Oto shinobi. The task force shifted to meet the current state of the battlefield, and everyone was tensed waiting for the battle to start.

Tsunade and Katsuyu charged down the right flank and Katsuyu let out a cloud of bluish poison that flew quickly toward Manda, who tunneled underground to avoid the corrosive acid. Tsunade paused Katsuyu's charge and waited for the inevitable surfacing of Manda. She knew from previous experience that the snake would tunnel up from the spot she least expects and sure enough, she didn't have to wait long. Manda flew out of the earthen tunnel at astounding speeds and slammed his head into Katsuyu. Normally, he would bite and poison his opponents, but that was useless against the slug boss.

Katsuyu reeled from the impact, but Tsunade was ready for it, and she launched herself at Manda's head that was just lifting from the headbutt he gave Katsuyu. Tsunade's fist glowed with a potent, bluish-green chakra before it impacted with Manda's head and sent the massive snake boss flying nearly 100 meters before the giant snake writhed on the ground in pain. Tsunade landed from her flight and saw another sizeable glob of acid flying toward the writing snake.

Orochimaru was impressed by Tsunade's strength and a trickle of sweat fell down the back of his neck. It wasn't long ago that Orochimaru considered Tsunade the weakest of the Sanin, but that was clearly no longer the case. He had jumped off of Manda's head midflight and he saw the glob of acid heading for Manda. He still needed Manda and couldn't let the acid hit him, he flipped through hand seals and overloaded the 'wind style – great breakthrough'. The blunt force wind impacted the glob of acid and caused it to explode in a cloud that hovered in between the two Sanin.

"Manda, operate on your own. Wait for your chance to strike and take it." Orochimaru ordered.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Manda hissed in pain with his mind clearly clouded.

After Orochimaru landed, he dashed toward Tsunade to change the fight to a mid-range fight where he could abuse his advantage in ninjutsu. Orochimaru opened with a horde of snakes that all charged at Tsunade. While Tsunade was distracted, mind you it was only a couple seconds, Orochimaru weaved through hand signs and cast a powerful, double-layered genjutsu 'illusion arts – bloody nightmare' at Tsunade.

Tsunade was in Sage mode, and she felt the foreign chakra enter her system and she dispelled it almost immediately. Despite that, a powerful image of a bloody battlefield filled with those she loves, and the smell of blood imprinted itself on her nose. Instead of freezing, Tsunade let out a fearsome roar of anger. Anger at her old teammate that would dare use such a tactic against her. Tsunade punched the ground which created a crater and send multiple chunks of earth into the air. Tsunade disappeared in a blur and kicked the earthen chunks towards Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had hoped that the genjutsu would incapacitate Tsunade, or at least buy him a couple seconds. He wasn't expecting the anger that she released, nor the fearsome power, nor the ten house-sized chunks of earth that were sailing towards him. Orochimaru instinctively tried to 'Kawarimi' to avoid the massive missiles, but his eyes widened in surprised when he was unable to activate the jutsu. Manda darted in front of Orochimaru and batted away two of the earthen missiles with his tail. He then took two of the missiles in his body, which sent the massive snake boss flying and screeching in pain.

Tsunade followed up the earthen missiles and launched herself in the air toward Orochimaru. She began flipping quickly in air and building momentum and chakra into her legs. As Orochimaru barely dodged one of the last earth chunks, Tsunade crashed next to him with a glowing heel. The earth shattered in a powerful explosion underneath the weight of her heel and Orochimaru was sent flying with half of his body disintegrated from the power of the heel drop. The crater created by this attack was nearly 200-meters wide and it was at least 80-meters deep.

Orochimaru pulled himself out of the remains of his throat and fear clinched around his shriveled heart for the first time in decades. This wasn't the Tsunade he remembered, and he no longer believed that he could defeat her in open combat. The snake Sanin attempted to shunshin, he attempted to reverse summon, he attempted everything he could think of, but nothing worked. It must be due to this barrier, and Orochimaru couldn't discover a weakness to the barrier unless he was near it. With his decision made, Orochimaru darted away from Tsunade and the new crater towards the nearest edge of the barrier.

Tsunade growled as she sensed Orochimaru heading away from her, but she was forced to deal with Manda. The snake lunged out of the side of her newly created crater and Tsunade scowled before activating her 'Strength of 1000' seal. Her body glowed golden as the markings spread across her body. The power saturated every fiber of every muscle, and the slug Sanin directed that power to her right arm. As Manda lunged forward with his mouth open, Tsunade lashed out with a golden fist and the energy traveled from her body, down her right arm and out of her right fist.

Everyone in the barrier felt the buildup of power and their eyes widened as a golden beam of energy tore across the other side of the battlefield and toward the barrier. It shredded earth and every other obstacle on its way before it slammed into the barrier in a massive explosion. Motombe hissed in despair as he sensed the death of his father and the Oto forces cowered in fear at the display of power. As the golden chakra explosion dispersed, Manda was nowhere to be seen and that fact alone sent a surge of fear through the Oto forces.

Orochimaru had darted away from the battle, and he felt Tsunade's surge of power, power that shouldn't be possible for a mere woman; power that should belong to him. Orochimaru watched the beam of energy tear through the earth and collide with the barrier nearly 200-meters away. That didn't stop Orochimaru from being caught up in the explosion and getting flung like a ragdoll through the debris.

Orochimaru once again righted himself and brushed the dust off of his uniform as he stood up. He hissed painfully and scowled deeply as he looked at Tsunade, who had since retracted her 'Strength of 1000' seal and was glaring at him in her Sage mode.

"How did you gain such power, Tsunade?" Orochimaru said in an attempt to buy time to recover.

Tsunade belted out a laugh as she sensed Katsuyu fragmenting to provide healing to the task force. "I trained alongside my grandson. The Kyuubi helped me augment my mark so that I could use it without killing myself and I learned how to enter a true Sage mode. Not that bastardized body modification you use."

Orochimaru's frown now split his chin at Tsunade's insult. "How? How can a boy make you that strong? Why are you targeting me? What did I ever do to you?" Orochimaru's panic finally won out and it spurred him to rattle out his questions.

Tsunade bent over in a laugh once more, which frustrated Orochimaru further. "Oh my, oh my Kami. Hahaha. That boy is Kami's blessing to this world. That boy, as you call him, can do more than Hashirama ever dreamed of doing. That boy helped me overcome the many failures of my past and that boy showed me that the two of us were enough to change the world." Tsunade paused here and caught her breath before her face returned to a serious and threatening visage. "I am targeting you because you stand against everything we stand for. You bring nothing but misery upon this world simply because you wish to satisfy your twisted curiosity. You are evil, Orochi, and I will cleanse you from this world."

Orochimaru snarled, he didn't want to bring out this trump card against Tsunade, but it was clear he had no choice. He finished the hand signs he was weaving behind his back, smeared blood on his palm and slammed his hands on the ground. Four coffins began rising, but they were never destined to complete their master's will. Tsunade darted forward and disintegrated each coffin into splinters with a powerful spin kick. The residual air pressure sent Orochimaru flying once more, and he began pouting as he landed. It wasn't fair. He had worked too hard for this to be his end. He was too close to achieving his true objective for him to give up now.

"Look, little snake, I need to wrap this up. I will send you to Yami for her to play with your soul before she devours it." Tsunade said with a menace as a chakra aura flared around her.

Orochimaru's eyes widened, and he summoned the 'Three Rashomon Gates' to block the golden punch from Tsunade. The first two gates were disintegrated and the third fell backwards with cracks all over its form and nearly smushed Orochimaru, who had jumped backwards. Orochimaru used 'formation of 10,000 snakes' and ordered them to attack Tsunade. Tsunade slammed her fists into the earth and pulled out two massive balls of stone before she chucked each ball at the swarm of snakes. The balls, smashed, clobbered and rolled over most of the slimy bastards before Tsunade disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared in front of Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was at a loss for words, and he was incapable of forming a new plan as Tsunade disappeared from his sight. In the time it took to blink his snake eyes, Tsunade reappeared in front of him and disintegrated his upper body with one of her mountain breaker punches. The lower body of the snake Sanin was tossed unceremoniously against the barrier, and it collided in a wet explosion of flesh and blood against the barrier. If Tsunade didn't know better, she would have missed the little white snake the slithered out of the bloody mess.

Too bad for Orochimaru thatTsunade knew better. As the little white snake burrowed into the ground, Tsunade stomped on the earth and a white snake was tossed into the air through the newest crack in the ground. Tsunade grabbed the white snake in her right hand, infused a poisonous medical chakra into the snake and then proceeded to crush the snake in her hands. With a sigh, Tsunade took a seat on the shattered battleground to process the end of a long chapter in her life.

-Rookies Against Sasuke-

Sasuke looked down from the head of Motasa, daughter of Manda. Through the haze caused by the cursed seal, he glared down at Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Lee, Neji and Ten-Ten. Memories, mostly negative and filled with envy, flickered through Sasuke's mind. He remembered how most of the people in front of him surpassed him and embarrassed him in front of his father and family. He remembered the embarrassment and the negative emotions caused black markings to spread on Sasuke's body.

Before Sasuke could address the Rookies, 40 Oto shinobi flanked his snake summon ready to defend their master's prize. Sasuke growled and glared down at the Oto shinobi. "I do not require your assistance. These peons could never pose a threat to me."

One of the jonin bowed to Sasuke and spoke loud enough for all to hear, "Lord Uchiha, Lord Orochimaru would never forgive us if something were to happen to you. Please allow us to assist you."

Sasuke scoffed and turned his head aside, "Do what you want. Just stay out of my way."

Shikamaru took in the latest battlefield situation and issued his orders, "Team 9, can you deal with the trash? You can come to assist us after the extras are dealt with."

Lee nodded enthusiastically while Ten-Ten began preparing. Neji spoke for his team, "It will be easy. Remember to be aware of his cursed seal and Sharingan."

Shikamaru nodded, "Alright, very well. Ino, summon against summon please. Kiba and Chouji, tank to the front. Ino and Sakura, take the flanks and wait for your openings. Remember, don't hold back. That cursed seal gives him quite a bit of durability."

Sakura seemed to tense at those words, but Kiba nodded confidently. Before the planning could continue, Sasuke spoke in a menacing tone at the Konoha shinobi. "You are all pathetic. You could never stand against the might of the Uchiha! Leave at once, I cannot stomach your presence any further."

Sakura whimpered under her breath, "Sasuke-Kun, what happened to you?"

Kiba growled, "Look, bastard, we are here to save you. You will come with us back to Konoha whether you want to or not."

Sasuke let out an evil cackle. "Oh please, you are all trash. Very well, words will no longer suffice, come and meet your deaths."

Ino summoned a fragment of Katsuyu that was twice as big as Sasuke's snake. The slug launched a glob of acid at the snake, who dug underground much like Manda always did. The acid impacted and took out five of the Oto shinobi that had formed up. Moments later, the Rookies were forced to scatter as the snake surfaced and spun its tail in a wide area of effect attack. Chouji used his 'Akamichi style – multi-size technique' to grow his body and he caught the snake by its tail. Ino ordered Katsuyu to launch another golb of posion at the immobilized snake.

Chouji released the snake's tail at the last moment and jumped away. The acid impacted the snake summon and began disintegrating it, which caused the snake to screech in pain. Normally, this would have dispelled the snake, but the barrier was preventing the snake from dispelling. Sasuke was forced to watch as his familiar slowly died in front of him, which caused his Mangekyo Sharingan to flare to life. Seeing the target responsible for killing his familiar, Sasuke roared as black flames left his eye and encompassed a flank of Katsuyu.

Ino was worried for Katsuyu as she hissed in pain, but she ordered Katsuyu to fragment off the portions caught by the black flames and the slug obeyed her order. The slug was now two thirds or its normal size, but it was okay. Ino decided that with the snake out of the way, it would be better for the slug to fragment and provide healing to the squad. Thus, each member of the Rookies now carried a fragment of Katsuyu for the rest of the battle.

After Sasuke's first attack proved to be ineffective, Sasuke unsheathed his katana and darted towards Sakura with his blade encompassed in lightning. Kiba dashed in his way and used the gauntlets Naruto designed for him to absorb the blow from the katana. Kiba began a highspeed taijutsu/kenjutsu battle that the others looked to support. Chouji waited for his opportunity and Shikamaru was watching the recent developments.

Kiba had greatly improved since he joined the other Rookies in their training. He had mastered his earth affinity and he used that to harden his skin and reinforce his Inuzuka style tai and ninjutsu. That being said, Kiba was no match for Sasuke, even with the backup from Akamaru. Chouji created an opening for Kiba to give Akamaru and himself and Inuzuka chakra pill, which enhanced his speed and ability. After Chouji's oversized bow staff raised from the ground, Kiba and Akamaru darted towards Sasuke in twin 'Gatsuga' tornadoes as Kiba roared out, 'Inuzuka style – fang over fang'.

Sasuke scoffed as he easily dodged the slow attack from Chouji, and he prepared himself to counter Kiba's attack. He sheathed his sword in potent lightning chakra and dashed toward the tunneling tornadoes. Sasuke was forced to avert his course quickly when Ino and Sakura sent earth and fire enhanced shuriken hurtling towards him. This aversion caused his counterattack to fail, but the Inuzuka attack failed to land as well.

As Sasuke was recovering, he was forced into the air as a ground sweep from Chouji's bow staff tore across the earth. As Sasuke was in the air, his eyes widened as Kiba and Akamaru collided into him in midair. He instinctively pulled upon the power of his eyes and the two tornadoes slammed into a purple ethereal ribcage. The ribcage cracked slightly but held up despite the ferocious attack. As Kiba and Akamaru fell, Sasuke was flung backwards, and the Susano ribcage was forced to endure a direct blow from Chouji's bow staff that slammed him into the ground in an explosion of earth.

Sasuke scowled deeply and the negative emotions drew upon more of the cursed seal's power. He sprouted two hand-like wings on his back and a crooked tail formed at the base of his spine. He emanated a black chakra aura around his body that felt sinister and totally evil. This alerted Naruto, who immediately dispatched a wood clone to assist his friends. Sasuke roared out as the power consumed him and guided him to launch an attack he developed. Blue streaks of lightning appeared around Sasuke and took the form of senbon as Sasuke roared out, 'chidori senbon' and directed the lightning entities towards the Rookies.

Ino cursed that they didn't have a wind user in their fight against Sasuke. She took a deep breath and thought, 'fire style – dragon flame bullet'. The fire dragon raced alongside an earth dragon from Sakura and a swing of Chouji's bow staff to absorb the lightning attacks. Before Sasuke could roar out in frustration, they all froze and turned their heads to see a massive golden chakra light and a powerful explosion. This momentary distraction created an opening for Sasuke, who disappeared in a burst of speed.

Sakura cried out in agony as a fist impacted her face and sent her flying backwards. Kiba roared out in anger as Akamaru was kicked hard and left in a crumpled mess. Shikamaru cursed as Sasuke dodged out of his shadow and Ino was forced to duck and roll from a whirlwind kick that was aimed at her head. Once again, Chouji came in clutch by putting pressure on Sasuke, who was fed up when it came to dealing with the oversized boy. Sasuke launched a massive fireball at Chouji , who erected an earth wall to absorb the fiery explosion.

Kiba recovered from his shock and took advantage of Sasuke's back being turned and he landed a 'Gatsuga' that forced Sasuke's face into the dirt. Ino backed up Kiba's attack by hitting Sasuke with a 'fire style – majestic flame flower' jutsu that scorched his back and caused him to his in pain. Before Shikamaru's shadow could catch his, Sasuke disappeared and launched towards Ino while his hand sparkled blue, and the sound of chirping birds could be head all over the battlefield.

Sasuke lunged forward towards Ino at insane speeds with his right hand outstretched encased in lightning chakra. Ino began dodging, but she knew the attack would clip her. It was insane how much speed and power the cursed seal gave Sasuke. Suddenly, Naruto appeared in front of Ino and caught the lightning hand in his Mokuton gauntlet. The wood clone was in Sage mode level two, and it looked impassively at Sasuke, who was scowling deeply at the avatar of his inferiority complex.

Sasuke roared out in pain and frustration as the clone twisted his forearm and snapped the bones in his forearm and wrist. Sasuke freed his hand and jumped backwards clutching his injured arm. The power of the cursed seal immediately began healing the wound, but it still caused him a great amount of pain. Seeing Naruto, Sasuke sent another volley of the flames of Amaterasu towards Naruto, who erected a wood wall to intercept the flames.

Chouji came from behind and his shadow encompassed Sasuke, which let Shikamaru capture him in his shadow binding technique. Sasuke roared out in frustration as he struggled against the bindings of the shadows. Shikamaru struggled to maintain the technique, despite his advanced training in his clan arts. Sasuke's chakra was evil, corrosive and dark, which made it harder to bind down.

"Naruto, do it now!" Shikarmaru roared.

The Naruto clone walked forward and weaved through a long series of hand signs before calling out, "Uzumaki style – chakra lock." The wood clone placed its hands on Sasuke's chest and called 'activate', which caused thick black Kanji to spread out around the teenage form of Sasuke. As Sasuke's chakra was frozen in place, his Sharingan deactivated and his body slumped to the ground.

The clone turned to Ino, "I need a stasis scroll."

Ino fumbled around in her fuinjutsu kit and grabbed the required scroll before handing it to Naruto's clone. The clone spread the scroll on the ground and moved Sasuke on top of the scroll before sealing him into it in a puff of chakra smoke. Before Naruto could even roll the scroll back up, a whimpering Sakura ran over.

"What did you do to Sasuke? Is he going to be okay?" She screeched.

"Not now, you troublesome woman. We need to assist the others in finishing the battle." Shikamaru ordered, which saved the wood clone the trouble of dealing with a Sasuke-distressed Sakura.

"Shika is right. There is still fighting going on and this is the main base of Orochimaru." Ino said.

Kiba was eyeing a redheaded girl that was watching Sasuke's fight and he pointed toward her, which made her flinch. "Wasn't she one of the girls Naruto told us to look out for?"

The wood clone turned and looked at Karin. "Ah, yes, that is my cousin. I will deal with this." He said in a cool voice before moving faster than any of the rookies could track.

The clone appeared behind a startled Karin and immediately immobilized her in a full-nelson. "Hello, cousin. I need you to make a choice. Do you wish to remain loyal to Orochimaru or do you wish to join you family?"

Karin was startled, she had great sensing ability, but she was never a combat type. She was forced into the servitude of Orochimaru after Kusa sold her to him. Despite herself, she really didn't have a problem conducting the Sanin's experiments because she believed the experimentation would be for the betterment of humanity. That being said, this blonde guy terrified her, and she knew that she was no match for him.

"W-w-what d-do y-you m-mean cousin? W-what h-happened to S-Sauke?" She whimpered.

Karin felt wood binding her up and she felt it difficult to call on her chakra as the clone stepped in front of her. "I am Naruto Senju-Uzumaki. You are Karin Uzumaki, are you not?" Karin simply nodded. "Then, you are one of my last remaining cousins. I am rebuilding Uzushiogakore, and I offer you my protection. You need to turn on the snake, tell us what you know and pledge your lotalty to me. I offer you this because I am a true Uzumaki. Family before all, always and forever."

Karin's eyes widened and she cast her eyes to the ground in shame. "I … I am not worth saving."

The clone lifted Karin's chin and looked deeply into her eyes. She felt the calming presence of his senjutsu chakra, and the emerald orbs glimmered with power as she peered into their depths. "You are family. That is all the reason I need."

Karin nodded weakly and embraced Naruto in a passionate hug as she broke down crying. After she lost her mother, life became an instant struggle for survival. Sure, she was naturally and curious and liked experimenting, but she would admit that she was doing something wrong. If this were her chance at redemption, then she would take it and she instinctively knew that she could trust him.

"T-thank you. I … I will follow you." She whispered into his chest.

Ino sauntered over to Naruto, pulled the clone's head down and placed a passionate kiss on its lips. Ino always loved the feeling of Naruto's lips when he was in Sage mode. It was so invigorating to feel the tingle of life energy. Ino turned a cocky smirk to Karin.

"Heya, I am your cousin in law, and this here is my man." Her voice carried a proud and melodious ring to it.

Karin just looked between the two in a stupor. "Oh, okay then. Nice to meet you … I guess."

"Alright, cousin, this here is the awkward part. We have a lot of cleanup operations to do and I need you to sleep in a stasis scroll for a while." Naruto's clone said blandly.

Karin blanched, a stasis scroll!? Why? "Umm, is that … is that necessary?"

Naruto nodded, "Yes, I want to trust you, but I can't watch you for our whole stay in Oto. I will flash you to Konoha when I get a chance and you can stay at the Senju compound. Don't worry about it, you won't even feel or remember a thing."

Karin nodded her consent weakly, "Okay then. I trust you, cousin."

Naruto lifted her chin once more and placed a familial kiss on her forehead. "Thank you, Karin. I will protect you and when you wake up, you will have a big, happy family."

Karin's eyes lightened and a smile wormed its way onto her face. Ino took that opportunity to speak up, "You forgot crazy in that family business."

Before Karin could inquire further, her consciousness faded as a stasis seal was applied to her chest. She would enjoy a brief stay in a stasis scroll before she realized the truth behind Ino's words.

-Anko vs Kabuto-

Anko saw the slimy fuck toy standing on top of a snake's head and she turned her head to the side and hawked a loogie. It always disgusted her how this admittedly smart boy chose to be loyal to Orochimaru. Sure, Anko was aware that the kid had a rough upbringing. Sure, Anko didn't blame the kid for betraying Konoha after his treatment in Root. However, Anko could not understand why this little boy toy chose to be loyal to Orochimaru and that disgusted her.

She also remembered the memories of Naruto's time in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, and she knew the dire threat this pale bastard represented. For this reason, Anko resolved herself to kill him with her own two hands. She had trained side by side with the strongest shinobi in the world during the training trip. She had progressed by leaps and bounds and it was time to put those skills to the test. Naruto had warned her that summons would be allowed, but they could not be dispelled. She believed Orochimaru would be dead by the end of the day, and she didn't want to piss off the snake clan too much. Plus, it gave her a reason to show off her new skills as a fire, earth and snake mistress.

"Heya, you four-eyed fuck toy. Think you can give me a good fight?" Anko called out, which earned snickers from the Oto shinobi who knew how true her words were.

Kabuto's right eyebrow twitched in annoyance, and he scowled when he heard the Oto shinobi laughing. It wasn't his fault that Orochimaru took a fancy to him. Plus, he was able to do all of the experiments he wanted under Orochimaru. "Big words for the trash my Lord left behind."

Anko belted out a laugh, "And thank Kami he did. He would have found my sexy tits and tight pussy disgusting. My butthole thanks you for taking that hit for me."

Raucous laughter followed this statement and Kabuto had his snake lash out with its tail at the unsuspecting Oto shinobi. Kabuto performed a mixture between a hiss and a growl before he answered Anko. "If you wish for an exercise in futility, then I will put Lord Orochimaru's failed experiment down."

Anko made a bring it gesture with her hand before she weaved through hand signs at lightning speed. She placed her hands on the ground and called out 'earth style – swamp of the underworld'. The earth turned soft and soggy under the influence of Anko's chakra, and the snake summon lost its ability to move. It writhed in displeasure before its head was penetrated by a massive earthen spike. Kabuto was forced to jump off of the snake and land in the mud, which stained his cloak and clung to his feet.

Anko ran atop the muddy surface as naturally as running on a track and launched herself at Kabuto. The slippery bastard dodged her initial strike, and an agile and fast paced fight began. They were both practitioners of the 'Hebi style' of taijutsu that Orochimaru taught them. The style emphasized being slippery, dodging blows and attacking from unexpected angles. Thus, when two practitioners clashed, it was a highspeed dance of death.

After a minute or two of dodging around each other, Anko got bored. She twirled out of a fast straight punch from a bent over Kabuto, spun to his backside and them used hidden shadow snake hands to strike at Kabuto's neck. The fighters separated and glared at each other before Kabuto put a hand to his neck and saw the trickle of poison and blood. Kabuto scoffed and started laughing evilly.

"You think you can poison me? I am as prolific as Lord Orochimaru when it comes to poisons!" He proclaimed.

Anko took a sassy posture and checked her fingernails before looking up bored towards Kabuto. "Oh, okay then. Tell me when it kicks in. See, I studied poisons and medicines with Shizune and Tsunade. We are all well aware of the snake-based poisons. I prepared this one especially for Orochimaru, but I figure it will work just as well against you since Momma called dibs on snake face."

Kabuto scoffed at that, "Unlike my Lord, I possess the 'old blood' bloodline. You cannot poison me, snake whore."

Anko shrugged off the disrespectful comment, "Meh, I am a married woman now and my wife bangs me better than any man, except maybe one." Anko giggled perversely as memories of what Rias shared with her filled her mind. She had to give it to the gaki; he could really lay some pipe.

A twisted grin fixed itself on Kabuto's face, "Ah, yes, Rias Senju. I heard you had a child, maybe once we have finished you all off, I can claim her for my experiments. I can only …"

Kabuto was cut off as a fist empowered with divine fury crashed against his jaw and sent him flying. Make fun of Anko, that's fair play. Make fun of Ruto, that's okay. Take a shot at the Senju children and you are a dead man. Anko's seals glowed blue before phasing out and Anko unleashed a divine ass whooping on the snake's butt buddy. The beating lasted for nearly ten minutes and Anko begrudgingly admitted that the fuck toy could take a beating, which is probably why Orochimaru cherished him so much.

After Anko's fist were coated in Kabuto's blood, she looked around the battlefield and realized that may she was taking too long to finish this up. She unsealed the special kunai that Naruto had made for her and lit them with fire chakra until they glowed white how. The kunai were about twice as big and normal, which made them look more like thicker daggers than simple kunai.

As Kabuto once again healed from another terrifying blow, his eyes opened wide at the sight of the flaming kunai. Kabuto channeled chakra to his wrists and forearms and activated his chakra scalpels. He was going to have to dance carefully otherwise those kunai would shred and singe his wounds, which would disable his ability to heal through them. Kabuto took a shaky, yet combat ready, posture and prepared himself for Anko's onslaught.

Anko lunged forward at speeds easily thrice as fast as she was using during their taijutsu combat and she planted a fiery kunai into the gut of Kabuto before spinning gracefully out of the path of Kabuto's chakra scalpels. The kunai remained in Kabuto's gut with a searing pain and wafted the smell of burning flesh towards Kabuto's nostrils. As he looked up once more, he saw Anko had summoned another fiery kunai already in hand and she was dashing towards him once more.

Before Kabuto could pluck the kunai out of his gut, a second searing kunai was jammed into his right elbow, then left shoulder and finally the back of his right knee. Kabuto was crumpled in a burning mess at Anko's feet, desperately trying any escape jutsu he could. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be, and Kabuto's world began to spin and the last thing his brain registered was his own kunai ridden and burning body before his world went dark.

Anko stood to her full height, wiped the sweat from her brow and let out a 'phew' before she turned and took in the rest of the battlefield. Sadly, it looked like things were wrapping up. It was strangely disappointing for Anko, who always imagined a desperate fight lasting for hours if not days to finally avenge herself against her previous master.

Anko walked over to the group that gathered up and saw that everyone was okay. Sakura was sporting a black eye, Kiba was roughed up, Hinata had blood on her uniform, Temari looked like she went a little wild, Chouji looked exhausted, the Naruto clone sat with its eye closed in the lotus position and Tsunade looked disappointed.

"What's wrong, Momma?" Anko asked as she was within range.

Tsunade growled, "The damned snake died too quickly. I didn't get to vent all of my anger on him."

This earned a laugh from the group. It was Shisui, who was sitting on the ground and being tended to by Hinata that looked up with a cheeky grin on his face. "Yeah, blow up a square mile of earth, obliterate a snake boss summon with one punch and put on a chakra light show for everyone and that is light work."

Ino giggled, "It is not Momma's fault. She got spoiled by fighting against Naruto. He is probably the only person that can survive Momma's punch when she is serious."

Hinata mirrored Ino's giggle, "Yeah, sadly, this wasn't even a light day of training compared to our spars."

Shisui's jaw was hanging low, and everyone laughed at the silly Uchiha. Finally, he snapped out of it and said, "Come again?"

Temari cut in here in front of Jiraiya who was pouting that nobody was paying attention to him. "Look, Shisui, we each fought against Naruto daily. When we weren't doing that, we fought against the Kijin, Goblin Riders, Orcs and we sparred against hordes of clones. To be honest, this was disappointing. How was your fight with Sasuke? I felt his cursed seal activate."

Jiraiya thought he saw his opening and was about to step in, but Sakura answered, "It was scary. He was incredibly strong, and he fought us all off."

Akamaru whimpered and Kiba growled lowly, "That seal and those eyes are cheating."

Shisui ruffled his hair in a funny way, "Hey, don't blame our eyes. We have to train them to get strong."

Shikamaru grumbled, "Yeah, troublesome clan and those bothersome eyes and that irksome Sasuke.

Everyone saw a blinding flash of light encompass the area and a second later the real Naruto appeared in a golden flash before he wrapped Temari, Ino and Samui into a hug. The girls squealed as they were each lifted off their feet and wrapped into a group hug. After giving each of them a kiss, Naruto turned to the group. "Okay, all clear. There are a couple chumps left hiding out in the base, but no biggie with them. Once the cursed seals are all deactivated, we can confirm Orochimaru is gone for sure. Anko, good job against the snake's fuck toy."

Anko chuckled and Tayuya chimed in, "Man, I really wanted to kill snake face's fucking butt plug. That guy was such an uber, super ass-licking doosh bag. Good fucking riddens, sorry the butt sucking mother fucker didn't put up a fight. Stupid cunt."

Sakura blushed at the colorful language Tayuya was spouting and the group laughed uproariously. It was strange that teenagers that went through such a battle were so lax, but that is the effect of the adrenaline remaining in their systems. As everyone relaxed and prepared to enter the chamber of horrors, Naruto pulled Shisui aside.

"How are you holding up? I felt that your battle was the toughest. That Kagaya was insanely strong." His voice was tinged with concern. "And how are your eyes?"

Shisui chuckled and shook his head, "It is amazing how much you know about my clan. My eyes are fine but fading. Tsunade said that I should be able to take Mikoto's eyes, since she is my aunt. Mikoto could take mine, Itachi takes Fugaku's and eventually, if Sasuke earns our trust back, he could take Itachi's."

Naruto suppressed the cringe and forced himself to remember that this Sasuke hadn't fallen into the darkness yet. He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, which wasn't missed by Shisui. "Good to know you have a plan. If Momma is on the case, then I know you will be fine. I trust you, Mikoto and Itachi, but I want you to be careful with Sasuke."

Shisui placed an understanding hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I know, Ruto. Thank you for taking him out without damaging him too much."

Naruto sighed and decided to change the topic, "So, care to share the details of your battle?"

Shisui chuckled painfully, due to the wound in his side. "Let's go to the others so that we can share this with them."

-Shisui vs Kimimaru-

Shisui had darted into the fray and found his target. To be fair, the Kagaya had two red dots on the center of his forehead, and it was kind of hard to miss his presence. The Kagaya had already shed the upper part of his kimono and it lay limply over his belt. Shisui wished that he could use the shunshin in this barrier, but he understood the need to disable the special movement. He separated the crowd with a massive fireball, and he was amused to see Temari flick one of her Sensu fans and empower the already sizeable blaze into an inferno.

Shisui saw the Kagaya dodge to the left and land in a clear part of the battlefield. He disabled all of his seals and lashed out with the katana that Naruto had given to the clan all those years ago. He had named the sword 'Fugaku's Inferno' to commemorate his fallen clan head. He gained the sword after Fugaku's death at Itachi and Mikoto's insistence. He felt the natural flow of his fire chakra through the seal on the hilt and he engaged the Kagaya at close range.

Kimimaro was an experienced fighter and his clan lived for battle. If he were in better health, he would have already activated the cursed seal and dispatched the foes of his master. As it were, Kimimaro knew he needed to pace himself and thus he was caught off guard when a flame sword threatened to remove his head. Hardened forearms blocked the katana, and he hissed in pain as the skin on his forearms was singed. Kimimaro jumped back and pulled to tanto length pieces of bone out of his shoulder as he squared off against his adversary.

Kimimaro was never one for words and he simply wished to kill the man that challenged him and his master. He darted towards the Uchiha that had a fully matured Sharingan activated and began a high-speed clash of chakra steel and bone. Kimimaro noticed that his bone was losing out and the blades were glowing white due to the intense heat of the fire chakra. He went through four bone swords that were turned to ash after repeat clashes against the blazing katana.

After the four sword, Kimimaro activated the first stage of his cursed seal of earth and his body cringed internally as the poisonous chakra flooded his system. Despite the dirty feeling, power saturated his bones as the power of the cursed seal spread. Bones sprouted out of his chest, back, elbow and shoulders which made him a supremely dangerous close-range threat. As the power spread, he knew that he could take it up a notched and Kimimaro called out 'Matsu no Mai'. This was his third dance that incorporated all of the bone protrusions from his torso.

Shisui raised an eyebrow at the form, but he knew that all Kagaya, especially ones with the dead bone pulse, were serious threats. Shisui noticed that the bones were stronger, and he pushed his Sharingan hard to keep up with the increased number of threats and speed that the cursed seal of earth bestowed upon Kimimaro. His inferno sword clashed repeatedly against the hardened bone and Shisui noticed that it wasn't damaging the bones nearly as much.

Shisui knew a change in tactics was necessary and he dropped two tags on the ground behind him. He had taken to incorporating seals in his combat style after getting closer to Naruto. He lured the Kagaya over the tags and formed a ram hand seal, which caused a burst of electricity to shock the Kagaya. This caused him to stumble in his dance and Shisui flipped through hand seals before blowing out an 'Uchiha style -grand fireball jutsu'. The prolonged duration of the fireball lasted for nearly thirty seconds as Shisui used every last bit of breath in his lungs to power the fireball and prolong its existence.

Kimimaro turtled up in a bone encasing and despite his bones and the cursed seal he was feeling the burn. The heat of the flames threatened to boil his blood and the 30-seconds felt more like an eternity as Kimimaro's body screamed out in pain. This caused him to pull on the power of the cursed seal to weather the damage of the fireball. As the smoke and flames cleared, Kimimaro was panting, and he had transformed into a dragonoid bone monster. Knowing that he needed to go all out and that he didn't have much time in stage two, Kimimaro called out 'fourth dance – tessenka no mai' and he pulled out a greatsword made of his spinal cord out of his back. It was extremely gruesome and painful, but this was his second strongest attack.

Shisui nearly emptied the contents of his stomach at the gruesome display. He was wary of the power, and he noticed the increased reach and threat that his tail represented. Shisui was forced to dodge out of repeated bone projectiles shot out of the Kagaya's fingers. Shisui kept dodging smoothly until two of the bone projectiles penetrated his right ribcage and shoulder. Shisui grunted in pain before he erected an earth wall to break contact.

The earth wall was shredded by the spinal-cord bone sword and Kimimaro was greeted with a face full of black flames. The dragonoid visage of Kimimaro roared in pain as the black flames seared into him. It was so painful that it took him a full five seconds to realize that he could form bones to push the black flames off of his body. Despite that, that jutsu took a sizeable amount of chakra to repair the damage and Kimimaro bent over in a cough.

Shisui saw the opening caused by the coughing Kagaya and he decided to take advantage. He sent out a brace of shuriken, blew out 'fire style – flame flower jutsu' and encompassed each of the shuriken in flame. The ten shuriken impacted Kimimaro's chest and back and caused him to roar out in pain once more before he dashed forward. Shisui noticed he was slower, stronger and more durable in this stage of the cursed seal; however, it was the stronger part that alerted Shisui.

Kimimaro sent and underhanded slash along the surface of the earth that sent dust and debris flying into Shisui's eyes. He still blocked the lash of the spinal cord, but he wasn't ready for the spinal cord to bend around his sword and slash into his side. The wound wasn't too deep, but Shisui felt the hardened bone carve into his ribs and tear his flesh. Shisui jumped back and created space, knowing that he had to go all out against this opponent now, despite his rapidly degenerating condition.

Shisui's Mangekyo flared and a fully developed upper body of the Susano appeared. Shisui's Susano wasn't the customary purple or black commonly associated with the ultimate jutsu of the Uchiha. Shisui's Susano was a dark red color, and the upper body of the warrior was fully armored. In its hands, it carried prayer beads and a two-handed great sword. Shisui commanded the ethereal warrior to lash out in a low, horizontal slash at the Kagaya.

Even through the haze of insanity brought about by the cursed seal or earth, Kimimaro knew that he was in trouble. He was barely able to block and jump back from the greatsword that threatened to bisect him at his waist. It was a good thing he didn't decide to tank the blow because the ethereal greatsword carved straight through the spinal cord chain sword that Kimimaro was wielding. As Kimimaro skidded backwards in his landing, he coughed out a lung-full of blood. He knew that he had very little time remaining to serve his master and dispatch this enemy.

With joy in his heart for finally being freed from his pain, Kimimaro launched into his last dance, 'Samarabi no Mai'. Shisui could see and feel the massive buildup of chakra and it was clear to Shisui that it was channeling into the ground. Shisui instinctively commanded his Susano to jump into the air and a second later he was glad he did. In a 100-meter diameter, shards of bone nearly 5-feet tall raised out of the ground in an area of effect death blow. It was a ghastly and horrifying sight and Shisui was glad he didn't take the full brunt of that attack. However, he had lost sight of the Kagaya and he was descending into the field of bones now.

As Shisui was near landing, the Kagaya appeared out of one of the bone spikes and he had a massive bone drill on his right hand. Shisui commanded his Susano to perform a two-handed block with his greatsword and he was horrified to see that the chakra sword only held briefly before cracking. The bone drill was beginning to penetrate Susano's chest armor when Shisui noticed the boy's head slack and his aura died out.

With a massive sigh, Shisui released his Susano and grimaced as the wound in his side flared painfully. He looked around wearily at the localized devastation caused by his battle against the Kagaya and sincerely wished he could just sit down. With a sigh and a flick of his hair, Shisui limped toward where he could feel his allies.

-Task Force Anaconda – Outside of Orochimaru's Main Base-

The group had listened in rapt attention to Shisui's tale of the battle. It sounded epic and they only need look toward the field of bone to believe every word Shisui said. His wounds were already head, and a light bandage was applied to his right side. Everyone had taken the opportunity to catch their breath, snack a bit and drink some water. They also consolidated prisoners and prisoner scrolls, which were given to Naruto so that he could flash them back to Konoha after camp had been set up for the night.

That meant that they had Karin Uzumaki, Suigetsu, Sasuke, Jugo and Guren in stasis scrolls and each one would be able to provide valuable intelligence on Orochimaru or at the very least be an interesting experiment for the scientists of Konoha. Naruto would advocate for humane treatment, but if the crazy fucks didn't mellow out after he removed the cursed seals, then Naruto would have zero issues with sending them to the afterlife.

"Alright, everyone, just a bit left. This base is massive, and we will break up into teams. Be wary of traps, enemy shinobi and the experiments that went wrong. When in doubt, seal it up. Shisui, please go and seal Kimimaro's body. That may very well be the last dead bone pulse user in the world, and I am sure we could learn something from his corpse. Momma, anything specifically that you need?"

Tsunade shrugged, "Not really. I am not the snake, I don't care for human experimentation. All notes and books are to be collected without being read. I will create a team to deal with all of the results of this twisted research. If anything is too far gone, kill it. It will be a mercy if the creatures we have seen so far are anything to go by."

A tear fell from Hinata's cheek. She had slaughtered many experiments with well-placed arrows, but she agreed with Tsunade. The people were no longer sane and many of them looked like they were in pain. "Sniff. It … it is so sad what he did to them… I … I … I had to kill so many …"

Neji put an understanding hand on Hinata's shoulder. He saw everything with his Byakugan, and it was a gruesome sight. His fight against the Oto shinobi and the subsequent wave of human experiments was bloody and left him wanting a bath. He felt dirty and more over he felt sorry for what those human beings had gone through at the hands of Orochimaru. Finding the strength for his sister/cousin, Neji spoke up.

"You did the right thing, Lady Hinata. You freed them from their torment and suffering."

A subdued Lee backed up Neji, "Neji is right, Hinata. It was most unyouthful what Orochimaru did to those people. Their flames of youth no longer burned, and they needed to find rest in order to move on peacefully to the afterlife."

Naruto decided a change in mood was needed, "Lee, I think Shizuka has been good for you, that was the most normal speak I have ever heard from you!" Everyone looked at Naruto's Gigawatt smile and a bit of light penetrated the dark mood. "Alright guys, just a bit more and we will be done. Nobody is to be alone inside the base. Move Out!"