Chapter 18: To Kill a Sannin
The past week had been busy, but sadly not in the way that I wanted it to be, I had wanted to continue working on the Rasenshuriken, but couldn't because I was too busy helping Tsunade and also I didn't want to alert Orochimaru to my abilities.
It all started with Tsunade having a conversation with Jiraiya, agreeing to become Hokage, but only after Orochimaru is dealt with at the end of the week, which was today.
Jiraiya was immediately on board with the idea, but there was one major issue. There was no way that Orochimaru would allow himself to get into a proper fight to the death with both Tsunade and Jiraiya while he was injured. He would flee and we would lose our chance.
Jiraiya couldn't be directly involved… at least not until the killing blow. The plan was a fairly simple one, separate Orochimaru from Kabuto and kill them individually. Shizune and I would handle Kabuto while Tsunade and Jiraiya would handle Orochimaru… well, that is what Tsunade and I told them.
The truth was that despite his injuries, Orochimaru was one tough bastard. He is capable of surviving multiple full force punches from Tsunade and even an amped up punch to his face. To actually kill him, Jiraiya would likely have to amp his jutsu up with sage mode and Tsunade would truly have to give it her all.
If we were going to kill Orochimaru today, then we needed to hit him with something strong… stronger than what Jiraiya and Tsunade currently had, like my Rasenshuriken.
Then there was the issue with Tsunade's hemophobia. With my efforts, she had become desensitized to the sight of blood, but it wasn't perfect. She still momentarily froze up and it definitely distracted her. Don't get me wrong, she could still beat pretty much any Jonin in a fight, but against another Sannin, albeit a wounded one… It still worried me.
"Naruto," Karin began softly, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Hm, yes," I hummed.
"I know you're strong, but… seeing how serious everyone is today… You will be safe, right?"
I smiled softly, it was odd to think, but I was grateful that I had someone worried about me.
"Yes, I'll be safe. Jiraiya and Tsunade are just as strong as Orochimaru and I should be able to fight off Kabuto, even without using the Kyuubi's chakra," I explained, patting Karin's head. "And Shizune is going to be helping me. Really, I should be asking if you're going to be alright staying here by yourself."
"I'll be fine," Karin replied immediately. "I'm just… worried about you. This just feels a lot like when those two guys wearing those black coats with red clouds attacked you, except this time you're the one going towards the danger."
"Everything's going to be alright," I said. "I'll tell you what, after everything is done and we're back in Konoha, let's go get some Ramen to celebrate."
Karin perked up. "Like a date?"
"More like a meal between two friends," I replied. "We could probably also invite others, like maybe my teammates or–"
"No," Karin interrupted, shaking her head. "Just the two of us. You owe me a date after dragging me into all of this."
Technically, I had saved her from Danzo's clutches by having her tag along, but from her point of view, I suppose it did seem like I owed her.
"Fine, one date," I sighed.
"Yes," Karin cheered.
There was a knock at the door, before it clicked open and Jiraiya walked in.
"Oi, Naruto, you ready?"
"And waiting," I replied. I had been ready since I woke up this morning. My last steel woven shirt was on, all my shuriken and kunai were in their holsters and my headband was secured on my forehead. If this fight was going to be anything like the last few that I had gotten into, I was likely going to have to buy more equipment when I got back to Konoha.
"Then let's go meet up with Tsunade, there's a few last minute things we need to work out."
"Alright," I said before creating a clone to look after Karin. "I'll see you after everything's over. I doubt you'll need it, but this clone will protect you should you need it."
I might be a little paranoid, but one couldn't be too prepared when dealing with a person like Orochimaru.
"Let's get going," Jiraiya announced.
Tsunade walked down the street with Shizune at her side. All the preparations had been made. Catching sight of Orochimaru along with Kabuto… and several others, Tsunade blinked and cursed under her breath.
"Ah, Tsunade. Finally here," Orochimaru announced. "Tell me, what is your answer?"
"Stop," Tsunade said, before pointing to the several Shinobi standing on the wall. "Who are they?"
"They're called the sound four," Orochimaru chuckled. "I had Kabuto collect them once I heard about the damage done to the town and felt some remnants of the Kyuubi's chakra when I investigated. Now if you would tell me your answer."
"My answer?!" Tsunade smirked, before jumping forward, her fist aimed at Orochimaru's face.
Orochimaru jumped backwards along with Kabuto, before the sound four followed in their lead. Tsunade's fist impacted the wall, shattering it, sending debris and dust flying everywhere.
"Have you figured out my answer yet?" Tsunade called out, before turning to Shizune. "Shizune, the plan remains mostly the same. I'll deal with Orochimaru. You deal with Kabuto and… use that Kunai on one of the sound four."
Jumping forward, the duo landed in front of Orochimaru and Kabuto just as a large swamp appeared behind him, cutting off his route of escape.
"Hm, you've got Jiraiya helping you out!" Orochimaru commented. "You're planning on fighting me by yourself, but do you really think your apprentice could fight Kabuto and my sound Shinobi?"
"Shizune," Tsunade called out.
Grabbing a Kunai strapped to her thigh, Shizune flung it at the sound four. The large one, Jirobo smirked as he caught the Kunai.
"Is that all–" He began, before the Kunai exploded into smoke.
"Surprise motherfucker," I called out as I kicked him in the head, sending him flying backwards. Using the element of surprise and my superior strength and speed, I was able to land several more hits, sending each of the sound four flying over to Jirobo.
This surprise attack had initially been planned for Kabuto, but it seemed the plan was going to have to be modified slightly.
'It seems we're going to have to wait for the perfect moment. Kurama, do you mind if–'
"Go ahead."
'Thank you,' I smirked. For the longest time, I had wanted to have the chance of toying with several Shinobi who thought themselves strong… Shinobi that I didn't mind killing.
"Who the fuck are you?!" Tayuya spat as she got up.
"Just the person who's going to beat all of your asses," I replied cheerily. "By the way, this is the one and only chance I'm giving you guys to surrender, please don't take it, I want to have some fun before everything gets serious!"
"Surrender… I'm going to shove your head up your own ass," Tayuya snarled. Before she had a chance to move, a hand clamped down on her shoulder.
"Calm down, he's goading you," Kidomaru said. "He's strong… as strong as Kimimaro was without his curse mark, but he still can't take on all of us, that's why he's trying to get us to fight him individually."
"Then let's finish this quickly," Sakon said as his curse mark covered his body. "Orochimaru-sama will want our assistance."
I raised an eyebrow when each of them activated their own curse marks. It seemed our first interaction had made them get serious, but not serious enough. "That's insulting! You're going to need your full power to fight me properly."
"As if," Sakon smirked as he rushed towards me, Jirobo following behind.
As one, they attacked me, Jirobo was slow and easy to dodge, but Sakon on the other hand was much faster than him and incredibly tricky. Each one of Sakon's punches and kicks were augmented by his brother Ukon. Each of my punches on the other hand were completely blocked by random limbs growing out of wherever I was striking.
Feeling a pressure on my back, I twisted out of the way just in time to avoid a golden arrow. The attack didn't stop there, Sakon and Jirobo jumped backwards just as three hulking corpse like dolls wielding weapons appeared above me.
I had to say, I was impressed, they had really good teamwork and they covered most of my escape routes. Jirobo had a half formed earth dome to my right, Sakon and Ukon were to my left, Kidomaru was preparing an arrow from behind me and Tayuya was in front of me while her doki came in from above.
The only route I had to escape from was using an earth jutsu, but that wasn't necessarily a good idea with Jirobo here. Instead, it was time to kick things up a notch.
Kurama's chakra flooded through my veins as a single tailed cloak formed. Swinging my arm, my chakra claw expanded and swatted Tayuya's doki into Jirobo's earth shell. Moving faster than they could react, I stopped in front of Sakon.
"What," Sakon managed to say, before my leg came up, hitting him in his chest.
A golden arrow flew towards me, but instead of dodging it this time, I caught it in a spin and threw it back to Kidomaru who managed to deflect the arrow with a second hastily fired one.
"LEVEL TWO," Kidomaru yelled.
Each of their curse marks grew over to cover their body, before it sunk in to reveal their new demonic looking forms.
A large gate with a snarling face sprung up from behind me, before two large earth walls grew on the sides of it, boxing me in.
A much larger golden arrow flew towards me at blinding speeds, before a large bolder was throwing behind it, cutting off my view of the outside.
Again, I would have to say that I was impressed. This combination of attacks could really work on someone other than me.
Dodging out of the way of the arrow, a Rasengan several times larger than normal formed in my hand, before I shoved it into the fast moving bolder, obliterating it. Rushing out of the man made cave, I was immediately blindsided by Jirobo who finally landed a hit on me, punching me in the face and sending me flying into the air.
It was a heavy punch, but compared to Tsunade's hit… it just didn't measure up.
They hadn't stopped there though. Tayuya's doki moved in, swatting me back towards the Rashomon. I landed heavily against, denting it lightly, before I shifted my body out of the way of another golden arrow.
A pair of hands grabbed my ankles and flung me towards the ground before I felt something large and metallic smack into my face, sending me back up.
My chakra tail darted outwards, wrapping around the top of the Rashomon, before pulling me to the top.
"It seems you were getting beaten there."
'Not really. Their combination attacks are good, but they're not really strong enough to actually harm me,' I thought back as I wiped a single drop of blood from my lips. 'Plus, I said I've been wanting to do this for a while.'
I let the chakra cloak fade, before smirking down at the sound four. "So you're the best Orochimaru has to offer, but it takes all four… no, all five of you attacking me with your full power to even wound me."
"Only because you're such a freak," Tayuya spat.
"You're strong," Kidomaru said. "With that power of yours…. If we want to beat you, we need to fight you five on one."
He said it! I was really hoping one of them way say it, but I didn't think they would.
"Five on one you say," I said. Bringing my hands together, I formed 25 shadow clones that immediately jumped, landing in front of the sound four. "I think I like the sound of that. Tell me, do you want them to use the Kyuubi's cloak or not?" I smirked as I let each clone activate their own one tailed cloak.
"Fuck," Tayuya cursed, before my clones charged forward.
The sound four were strong, but they weren't each on the same level as a Jonin. If I had taken the fight seriously from the start and used Ninjutsu, I could have beaten them faster without even having to use Kurama's chakra, but I was stalling for time.
From an outsider's point of view, up until this point, it looked like I was having trouble fighting off the sound four. Even now, it looked like I was lacking in skill and only relying on sheer power to win the fight. If Orochimaru or Kabuto are seeing this, it should hopefully get them to think that I'm unskilled and easily beaten despite my power.
"Having fun?"
'Yeah, I can see now why Madara toyed with the five Kage the way he did. Fighting people who think they're strong and are cocky about it… it's cathartic,' I thought back as I watched the most one sided beat down.
The sound four didn't stand a chance, it took all of them at their maximum power to be able to fight me on semi equal footing and I had been holding back quite a bit. Fighting five clones each, they were simply overwhelmed in every sense of the word.
It didn't take long until they were all knocked out, their bloodied, bruised and broken bodies were dropped to the ground. I had decided against killing them. Once Orochimaru and Kabuto were dealt with, their numerous bases would be abandoned. Bases filled with years upon years of knowledge from tests, things that could be incredibly useful and the sound four would give me a map of where those bases were.
There was a loud bang as the earth began to rumble, turning around, I spotted a giant purple snake with Orochimaru and Kabuto standing on top.
"Show time," I said before freezing. There was a second bang along with a massive cloud of smoke. "No, fuck. You're ruining everything," I cursed when I saw Gamabunta.
Rushing over to the other battlefield, I caught sight of a familiar blonde and brunette duo.
"Tsunade, what's happening?"
"Jiraiya, that's what," Tsunade said as she healed Shizune. "Kabuto beat Shizune and joined up with Orochimaru. They saw you with your clones using the Kyuubi's chakra and summoned Manda. Jiraiya followed suit."
"Damnit, I can't go all out like this," I cursed. With Gamabunta here, I now ran the risk of him getting caught up in the crossfire and if I avoided him I could accidentally hit the city.
"There is another way. You could aim straight up."
'For me to be able to do that, I would need to be directly underneath Manda,' I thought back.
"Or you could be in a place where you couldn't help but hit him."
'Where would… oh god damn it.'
"I see that look on your face, have you got a plan?" Tsunade asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not going to like it," I replied. "Now I just need to make it look authentic."
A three tailed cloak flared to life around me immediately. Rushing toward the clash of giants, I used my full force to jump towards Manda, with a Rasengan several times larger than I was held out in front of me. Nearing Manda, the chakra three tailed cloak rippled before it was pulled back inside me, disappearing along with the massive Rasengan and most of my chakra.
Dread burned in my stomach. "Ku–"
"It needs to look authentic," Kurama replied.
I caught sight of Orochimaru's malicious grin, before Manda darted forward, swallowing me in one bite.
"Eugh," I groaned as I was pulled down inside Manda's body. It was official, I was going to have to burn these clothes once I got out.
"We need to move fast before that sensei of yours does something stupid!"
"Right," I said as I felt all of my chakra return.
I could see my body begin to flicker a bright gold as our chakra merged together. It felt incredible, like there was no one that I couldn't beat. Raising my now glowing hands in the direction I felt Orochimaru and Kabuto, a golden avatar of Kurama's head formed around me before a massive bijuudama materialized in front of me, straining against Manda's insides.
It had only been a fraction of a second before the bijuudama was fully formed and I fired it off. The massive ball of positive and negative chakra tore through Manda's body like it was made of wet toilet paper and collided with Orochimaru and Kabuto before they had time to move. Their bodies had been obliterated as the bijuudama punched a hole through a cloud.
I tore my way out of Manda's body just as the bijuudama detonated. It light up the sky like a second sun, shining through the clouds without a single problem. The world became almost blindingly bright, before the sound finally hit.
A deafening bang vibrated the air and created a powerful gust that flattened the trees that stood in the field. Finally the full force of the explosion engulfed us as a wave of pressure pushed down on us.
The explosion was over in seconds, but it felt like an hour. The clouds had disappeared from the sky, several trees had fallen over, half of Manda's limp body laid on the ground and Jiraiya along with Gamabunta gawked at what had just happened.
'Did we get them?' I asked as I tried to feel for and negative emotions from Orochimaru and Kabuto.
"Yeah, we got them," Kurama replied.
I let out a relieved breath as I chuckled lightly. Finally something had truly changed for the better. Without Orochimaru or Kabuto, Sasuke wouldn't defect and Madara wasn't going to be resurrected in a form beyond his prime.
"With your body not having matured, this form won't last much longer."
Moving away from Manda's corpse, I spotted Tsunade and took several steps towards her before the chakra cloak vanished and I fell to the floor exhausted.
I hadn't felt this exhausted since… well, I'd never actually felt this exhausted. I felt tired all the way down to my bones, it took all my effort to push myself onto my back. My body felt like I had upped its gravity by several thousand times.
'What's happening?'
"The recoil of using my full power. Your body wasn't ready to use that state."
"Damn," I laughed weakly. I hadn't expected that state to take so much out of me, It's definitely not something I could rely on right now. Power beyond a Kage is great and all, but the state I'm left in afterwards is too risky, anyone could just abduct or kill me. Using it was either all or nothing
Hearing a whistle, I tiredly look over to see Tsunade walking towards me along with Shizune.
"If I didn't know you as well as I did, right now I would be considering several different plans on what to do with you," Tsunade said. "That power that's capable of effortlessly wiping out entire cities is terrifying, even more so when it looks to be in the hands of a kid!"
"Seeing as I can barely move, it's not exactly effortless," I chuckled. "Speaking off… do you think that you could fix that?"
"The Kyuubi's not healing you?" Tsunade asked, quirking an eyebrow.
That was a good point.
"It was an overload of my chakra that caused your state, more of it isn't going to help you right now."
"He can't, I'm like this right now because I've used too much of his power," I paraphrased.
"And here I thought you were used to using the Kyuubi's chakra," Tsunade commented as she kneeled down next to me. Her hands lit up with a green glow as she hovered them over my stomach. "Is it done?"
It took me a second to realize what she was asking. "They're dead," I replied. "Well… as dead as Orochimaru can be."
Tsunade smiled. "Good."
Now all that remained was Zetsu, Obito and Nagato. Zetsu and Obito for obvious reasons and Nagato because even without them, he would still likely try and collect the biju, not knowing or not caring that he was resurrecting the Jubi.
"You've severely strained your chakra system and you shredded your muscle fibers. If I didn't know any better I would have said that you've opened the seventh gate," Tsunade commented. "It's no wonder why you can't move right now."
"Well shit," I chuckled tiredly.
"You're likely going to need a lot of rest to fully recover… however… knowing you… you'll likely be recovered by tomorrow."
"Great," I replied. My vision dimmed slightly. "The sound four that I fought, they're still alive. I knocked them out instead of killing them, they likely have information on Orochimaru's old bases, things we don't want others to get their hands on." Things that we could use for ourselves went unsaid.
"Shizune," Tsunade said. "Go secure them."
"Yes ma'am," Shizune replied before rushing off.
"Be careful around them, one can absorb chakra and the other can merge with people, killing them from the inside," I called out after Shizune. My vision dimmed again and the world was quickly turning to black. The last thing I saw before I passed out was Tsunade staring down worriedly at me and Jiraiya walking over.
A full day had passed since I landed the killing shot on Orochimaru and Kabuto. I had slept for nearly a full twenty four hours and it still hadn't been enough to fully fix me. My body felt sluggish, but on the brighter side I was able to move, it would likely be a while before I was back to 100 % though.
The reaction to Kurama and I going all out had been mixed. Tsunade knew me the best, so she wasn't too bothered by it, other than being slightly in awe of how strong Kurama is and how strong her grandfather must have been to be able to beat him.
Shizune… she was treating me cautiously. She didn't really have any hate for me and my power, but it had likely been frightening to see a Sannin killed so easily… not to mention the explosion.
Jiraiya was a bit difficult to pin down. He too was amazed by Kurama's full power, but that wasn't his focus. Jiraiya was silently grieving, I wouldn't have known it if Kurama hadn't picked it up with his negative emotion sensing.
Then there was Karin. She hadn't been there, but she had felt my chakra mixed with Kurama's. She didn't really have a reaction to it other than blushing.
The sound four on the other hand… They had been knocked out by my clones, so they had not seen the explosion. However, they were informed that Orochimaru had been killed. Each of them had been tied up with steel wire and Shizune gave them a sedative that screwed with their ability to fight and their chakra control.
All in all, I would label the trip as a massive success. Orochimaru and Kabuto were dead, Tsunade was well on my side and we even had potential information on Orochimaru's bases. Now all that remained was a peaceful trip back to Konoha so Tsunade could become the Godaime Hokage.
"Flat chested bimbo," Tayuya mocked.
"Shitty prison bitch," Karin shot back.
"Not again," I groaned as I palmed my face.
"Cheer up Naruto, at the pace we're going we'll be back in Konoha in little over a day," Tsunade smirked. "Surely you can put up with their bickering."
"It'll get old real soon, trust me," I replied.
It was almost fitting in a way. This trip started with Jiraiya and Karin arguing over petty shit and now it's ending with Karin and Tayuya arguing over… I'm not quite sure, they mostly seem to just be shooting insults at each other.
I was grateful that it was only Tayuya and Karin arguing and not the entire sound four. Once we get back to Konoha, I'm going to need a break from loud people.
Alrighty then, that's chapter 18 finished.
Orochimaru and Kabuto have been taken out, The sound four are prisoners and Naruto got to use Kurama's full chakra, albeit his body isn't capable of withstanding it for a long time, something that will be addressed later on.
The first big thing has been changed and with it, things are going to be altered drastically. Canon has officially derailed.
Anyways, I'm up to chapter 25 on the spooky P word website.
P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.
Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.
Next chapter is being posted on the 3rd of May. I'll see all you dude's and dudettes then.