Chapter 18: Making Moves
Two weeks.
It had been two weeks since Orochimaru found out about Jiraiya's presence in the Land of Iron. It had been two weeks since he had decided to get his own spies on the case. It had been two weeks without receiving a single hint of worthwhile information on Jiraiya or his jōnin contingents.
It frustrated Orochimaru to no end. He would obviously never admit it, but the black sheep of his old team had done well to elude him thus far. So well that Orochimaru had taken the last few days to focus on preparing himself and the rest of his subordinates to relocate within the week. While it was true that he had no concrete proof that Jiraiya was onto him, Orochimaru trusted his intuition and it was telling him that he needed to move as soon as possible.
Of course, moving his base of operations didn't necessarily mean he was out of the woods. Assuming that Jiraiya was on top of everything Orochimaru was up to, then he would know of Orochimaru's preparations to leave the Urusai Caves and would be compelled to make his move soon. Naturally, Orochimaru would like to avoid a confrontation with Jiraiya, but when push came to shove, Orochimaru was confident that he could overcome any ninja. It was a calculated risk.
He was just preparing the last of his cadavers for transportation when two firm knocks sounded at the door to his hidden laboratory. He sauntered over to the door and undid the locks.
Sanjuro stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "We need to talk," a sense of urgency crept into his voice.
"How was your diplomatic meeting today?" Orochimaru asked before entertaining Sanjuro's main concerns.
"Today was the end of discussion. The diplomats are conversing amongst themselves and sending letters to their daimyō now. Time will tell if things play to our favor or not," came Sanjuro's half-baked answer. "What's more important is Jiraiya. We should consider a more proactive approach to deciphering what he is up to."
Orochimaru rubbed at his chin and looked through Sanjuro in thought. Most attempts to seek out further information regarding Jiraiya's whereabouts – or any jōnin, for that matter – revolved around keeping eyes on the Steam Ninja Han and trying to gauge Mifune's involvement.
"I like where your head is at. What do you have in mind?" A nefarious grin began to creep across Orochimaru's face.
"We need to establish direct contact with the enemy somehow, and make them talk," he emphasized by balling his fist.
Orochimaru's smile was swept away with a frown of disappointment. "No one but you or I could hope to subdue Han or Mifune," he stated blatantly. "Unless you know where the other jōnin are?" curiosity made his voice pitch.
"Not the jōnin – the genin," Sanjuro shifted, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Orochimaru. "It is true that Mifune and Han are untouchable given our circumstances, and that Jiraiya's whereabouts are unknown, but that doesn't mean we have no approach."
"But we are not aware if the genin are involved in Jiraiya's schemes."
"That's true, but what do we have to lose? We don't know how entrenched the genin are in this. We shouldn't disregard them completely. The Leaf's genin are all rookies and they aren't accompanied by any jōnin outside of the diplomatic meetings with Han."
They were easy prey.
Sanjuro concluded, "Even if we're discovered by the genin trying to get answers out of them, it would never amount to much in the Land of Iron. It's almost impossible to convince the daimyō of this land that ninja have infiltrated the country, and no one in power, including Mifune, is willing to confront the Ninja World anyway. I think it is worth the risk to understand what we are up against."
"You provide some good points." His sneaking grin began to return as he conceded. "Fine then. I'll send a group out to interrogate one of the Leaf genin for us."
"Who do you have in mind for the task?"
"Just let me deal with that, Sanjuro," he said cryptically, giddiness seeping into his words. "You need to focus on making sure Han stays off your trail, and that your ambush is sufficient for a man of his caliber."
"He won't have the opportunity to get involved here at the caves. I've made sure of that," Sanjuro assured him, turning to exit the laboratory.
"Good," came Orochimaru's reply. The door shut behind Sanjuro. "Now I must summon those children," he said to himself with a malevolent giggle.
Naruto and Sasuke emanated frustration as they stood around the training grounds.
Sitting in those diplomatic meetings all day was hard enough. Sure, to a certain degree, it was interesting to listen to all those geezers go back and forth over politics and whatnot, but it got boring fast being unable to talk or even move much.
Admittedly, all that downtime spent standing there had done wonders for improving his ability to access Yin and Yang Amplification.
Now it was time to put it to use at the training grounds, right? Well… no. Unfortunately for all the Leaf genin, they had to share the training grounds with the Stone and Cloud the whole time that they had been in the Iron.
What this entailed is that the training atmosphere was tense and constricting. Each respective village stuck to their own. What irked Naruto and Sasuke about this most was that the older genin had claimed the best equipment on the training grounds. They hogged up all the dummies, all the obstacle courses, and all the weapons courses. The only good part of the place that went unclaimed by them was the sparring grounds which no one was brave enough to use.
It removed a lot of the access to the tools necessary to train like normal. Naruto knew he would never take it for granted again. This left most of the Leaf genin relegated to doing basic taijutsu katas into the air, arbitrarily getting some light ninjutsu practice, and for people like Shikamaru or Chōji, it meant a lot of sitting around slacking off.
Naruto couldn't do that though. No, he needed to be training somehow. He had spent the majority of his time on the training grounds trying to master the Gale Palm Jutsu. He initially got ahead of himself and attempted to perform the jutsu for the first time with Yang Amplification. This turned out to be a horrible idea when the buildup of wind chakra in his palms blew up in his face.
From that point onward, he took to using Yin Amplification to get the hang of the jutsu which worked far better than he would've thought. It helped him to grasp the technique exponentially quicker and smoother than he had with most other jutsu he had learned. Now he had moved on to using the technique normally with added power and output which always left a satisfied smirk on his face.
This left him in the present where he was ecstatic to try the jutsu with Yang Amplification again, but looking across the cluttered training grounds, he saw that this wasn't going to happen and frowned. "Why do these guys get to keep the entire training grounds to themselves?" he moaned.
"They're being annoying," followed Sasuke's indignant drawl. His time at the training grounds over the course of their mission had been particularly sour because he hadn't even been able to practice Thunderclap Arrow.
"It makes sense though," Shikamaru added from the ground, interrupting his silent cloud-watching. "They're older and tougher than we are, and we're from rival villages so no one wants to press the issue and take another village's spot on the training grounds."
Naruto didn't take that information well. "So what do we do about it?"
Shikamaru shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? Go up to them and ask to use some of the equipment or something," he said, his tone tired and full of snark.
"No way! I'm not doin' that! What if they get pissed at me?!"
"Well at least stop screaming while I'm trying to cloudwatch, will ya?"
Naruto tried arguing for an alternative. "Where's Ino? Couldn't she just mind-trick them into letting us have the training grounds or something?"
"She went with Shino, Sakura, and Kiba to try and find a spot to train at in the forest," came Shikamaru's offhanded response. "And no, she couldn't do that. She wouldn't do it, either."
"Why not?"
"Because it's stupid."
Sasuke interjected with a proposition for Naruto, "I'll go talk to them if you will."
"Really?" Sasuke nodded once for affirmation. "Okay, let's do it then," Naruto agreed.
They walked side by side until they approached the Stone Team. They eyed the boys warily as they worked the training dummies. "Hey," Naruto greeted, getting their attention.
Each of them halted their exercises and peered at Naruto and Sasuke curiously. "What do you want, kid?" the one named Kurotsuchi asked.
"We were wondering if maybe we could –"
"Guys! Shika! Chōji!" a girl screamed out from behind the treeline. Everyone twisted toward the direction of the voice in time for Ino to break into view, sprinting as fast as she could. "Attackers in the forest! Ninja! They're fighting with Sakura's team!" she cried out.
Shikamaru and Chōji instantly shot up from the ground. "Chill out, Ino," Shikamaru said as the girl halted right before them and leaned over, huffing and puffing for air. "How many of them are there? Are they strong?" he hastily asked Ino with a calm but urgent tone.
"There's two of them: a girl with red hair and a big guy with orange hair. They don't look much older than us but they're really strong!" she described between gasps.
"Where are they?"
"We were by a creek deep in the forest. I can take us there," she assured.
"We have to go help them, Shikamaru," Chōji declared.
"What are other ninja doing in the Land of Iron? Do you know where they're from?" Suguru asked.
Ino explained, "I don't know. They didn't have head protectors on or anything. Kiba and Akamaru caught them spying on us."
"Maybe they're missing-nin?" Suguru postulated to himself aloud.
"Why are there ninja spying on us?" Omoi mumbled through the lollipop in his cheek. "What if they are trying to kill us? Or what if this is a setup from one of the other Great Nations? What if–?"
"Omoi," Samui demanded his attention, causing his anxious thoughts to stop spewing out of his mouth.
"Oh, right. Sorry everyone," he mumbled, his active imagination having worked him into a cold sweat.
"We have to get going! They could be in trouble!" Ino blurted, getting everyone back on track.
"Will you guys help us?" Naruto asked the Stone and Cloud teams, his decision to assist already made.
"We should try to learn the enemies' motive," Suguru insisted to his team. "We don't know what they are after."
Kurotsuchi and Tsumiki both nodded at him curtly. "We'll help," Kurotsuchi said.
"So will we," Samui added with finality, deciding without discussing matters with her team.
"Alright, awesome. Let's go!" Naruto said, already following Ino.
"Let's not get hasty," a new voice sounded off that Naruto had never heard before. Two boys stood before all of them: one with light-blue hair and pale skin, the other who was freakishly flaunting six arms – three on each side.
Shikamaru dashed between Ino and their new arrivals, as Chōji planted himself in a firm taijutsu stance with his giant fist already drawn. "Who the heck are you?!" Shikamaru demanded.
"That doesn't matter. What's important is that all of you mind your business," threatened the blue-haired boy with an annoyed tone.
Naruto shouted, "What are you on about?!"
"Have you been spying on us?" Sasuke beckoned.
"Heh. You're definitely smarter than you look, Uchiha," mocked the blue-haired boy.
"Earth Style: Mud Flood!" Kurotsuchi announced out of nowhere and a wave of thick, flowing mud spewed from her mouth and careened toward their enemies. Both of them jumped away to create distance from the mud, which quickly swallowed up much of the surface. "You kids should go help your friend," she said to Team Asuma as she wiped her mouth.
All three of them nodded and took off in a sprint for the forest, using the newfound distance from their enemy to elude them.
"We'll make sure things go smoothly on their end," Karui promised as all the Cloud genin disappeared from view.
Team Kakashi stood shoulder to shoulder as they stared down their enemy. Footsteps smothered the grass behind them as Team Han approached. Naruto scowled at the malevolent duo. "We're your enemy," he explained sternly.
"Why were they spying on us?!" Sakura beckoned her team as she dashed from tree branch to tree branch.
Kiba ducked underneath a kunai aimed right at his throat and stuffed his hand into his weapon pouch. "Who cares?! We gotta get away from these guys! They're bad news!" He hurled a kunai behind them with an explosive tag attached to it.
"Where is Ino with reinforcements?" Shino's monotone voice sounded off after the loud blast of the explosive tag. "'Why?' you may ask. Because we cannot fight this enemy on our own."
Akamaru erupted from underneath Kiba's jacket. "ARF!"
"One's coming!" warned Kiba.
Before any of them could brace, the big one shot through the trees at their left side. His deep voice rumbled, "Crushing Knee!"
All of them halted, Sakura nearly fell over the edge of her tree branch just from her momentum. Their enemy zipped past them and slammed into the tree before them. Sakura threw her arms up to guard her face from the cascade of splinters that jetted out from the impact. Cracks broke the silence of the area, the tree was splitting apart. Sakura could only stare in horror, that attack would have seriously hurt.
The man turned to face them, not even acknowledging the damage he caused. He crossed his arms and opened his mouth, "No more running."
A firm knock against the tree branch behind them echoed out. Sakura twisted around to suss out the noise, kunai already in hand. Standing with her hand on her hip was the redhead. Dread flooded Sakura's stomach. Were they really trapped?
"Listen up, damn brats!" the redhead yelled.
"Language, Tayuya," the big one interrupted.
The redhead, Tayuya, gritted her teeth with annoyance. "Now's not the time, Jirōbō, you fat fool!" she snapped. A deep sigh escaped her, "Look. We don't want to fight you guys, and we aren't supposed to kill you either. Make this easier for all of us and just surrender."
Sakura reeled with shock, "W-What?! Why?!"
A snide smirk spread across Tayuya's face. "Because you could have the answers we want. And the truth is that you can't beat us anyway."
"We're not surrendering to you! Akamaru!" Kiba called. The small pup leaped from Kiba's jacket and into the air. "Man Beast Clone!" A poof was followed by a plume of smoke and what emerged was an exact imitation of Kiba's appearance. "Passing Fang!"
Both Kiba and Akamaru dashed in opposite directions. Kiba rushed for Jirōbō and Akamaru for Tayuya. In midair, both of them adopted a spin that increased in speed like a bullet.
Sakura's eyes bulged with shock, watching as Tayuya easily sidestepped Akamaru. Behind her, she made out the sound of grunts over a racket that sounded like a saw. She turned around to see that Kiba hit his target. Jirōbō had assumed a wide stance and wrapped his arms around the spinning projectile that was Kiba. Somehow, Jirōbō had remained standing and noticeably unharmed.
He tightened his grasp on the boy, creating a friction against the spinning boy and his hands that caused tendrils of smoke to dance into the air. Finally, Jirōbō managed to slow Kiba's spin to a halt, leaving him helpless in the brute's grasp. A look of utter mortification swept over Kiba's face.
"Kiba!" Shino exclaimed, his hands raising into the air, allowing waves of insects to swarm out of the sleeves of his jacket at Jirōbō.
The orange-haired boy was afflicted with a slight frown that was shortly replaced with a smirk. He grabbed Kiba by the throat with one hand and then spiked him into the ground like a ball. The ground rumbled from the impact and a dust cloud kicked up beneath the trees. Through the dust, Sakura was barely able to make out Kiba's unconscious form embedded a couple of feet deep into the forest floor.
"Sakura!" Shino beckoned.
Her head snapped back up to their enemies as she refocused. "Right!"
"Reinforcements have to be on the way by now, we just need to stall for time."
"Where's Akamaru?"
"Look below." Sakura glanced to the forest floor to see that Kiba was gone from his spot. "He must be relocating Kiba somewhere safe."
Tayuya scoffed. "Your friend is lucky to be alive. You fools could've avoided this if you weren't so damn stupid." She reached behind her and wrestled something from her purple obi – a flute. Sakura couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. What is a flute going to do? "It's a shame that it came to this," Tayuya said. Having swiftly made peace with it, she shrugged her shoulders. "Demonic Flute: Allure of the Underworld."
Sakura braced for an attack as Tayuya played a single note on her flute. Nothing happened. Tayuya adjusted her fingers and another note flowed out. Nothing happened. A third note, this one held a low hum.
A crack separated the ground beneath them. Falling. She was falling. Sakura's heart pounded with horror. Flames erupted from the chasm in the earth, billowing so high the fire threatened her feet before quickly receding back into the ground in a sea of flames that cast an intense orange glow on the chasm walls.
Sakura barely fought off a shriek. She commanded herself to think. There's no way that she could reach the wall of the chasm, no way to stop her fall. What could she do? She pushed all the fear aside and tried to replay events from the flute to now in her mind. How does this chasm relate to the flute? A flute could not just form cracks in the ground like that, so what gives? How was there a burning pit of fire underground? That doesn't make any sense. Was it a part of Tayuya's jutsu? If her flute was broken would that reseal the hole in the earth? None of it was making any sense!
Then realization struck her. It was true that none of it made sense, but what if that was by design? A genjutsu so overwhelming to the senses that it left you stunned in place. Perfect for setting up a finishing blow. Her hand rushed into a hand sign. "Release!"
All of a sudden, it was like feeling her soul fall into her body. Just standing there. No chasm. No fire. But wait, she couldn't have been the only one trapped in that genjutsu. Her eyes widened and she turned toward Shino. He was frozen stiff, assuredly still in that horrifying genjutsu. She dashed for him, set on freeing him from Tayuya's auditory illusion.
She was close, maybe only an inch from contact, but out of the corner of her eye, a blur rapidly grew bigger and bigger. She turned her head. Tayuya. She was descending upon Sakura like a bird of prey. Malicious intent pooled into her pupils with a kunai held steadily in hand, its tip pointed directly at Sakura's throat.
She halted in her rescue attempt, dancing around Tayuya and her kunai, and letting the redhead slip by her like a bullet. That was a close call.
"Shoulder Bash!"
A gasp escaped Sakura as her heart plummeted into the pit of her gut. Before she could even register what happened she was able to place the sickening crack of bone. Shino groaned, followed by a guttural cough of blood, and was sent flying. He careened into tree after tree, felling them until he smacked the surface with a loud crash.
Jirōbō's heavy footsteps made the tree branch Sakura stand on tremble. He turned to face her. With a snide smirk, he said, "One left."
Sakura shuddered as both Jirōbō and Tayuya faced her simultaneously. They stared her down like a cornered animal, unmoving, but their gaze never left her. The anticipation of the attack was dashing her nerves to pieces. Something needed to happen. Someone needed to act. Why should she give them the chance to make the first move?
She caved in to her fight-or-flight instincts. She pushed off her feet with all her might and as much chakra as she could manage, a gamble to create distance. Her hands were shaking, but at the slightest inclination that she was going to raise her hands to make a jutsu both Tayuya and Jirōbō leapt directly at her. Just three signs. That was all she needed to string along her jutsu – her escape. A way to buy some time. Collect Shino and regroup with Kiba and Akamaru.
But there was a problem.
Her enemy was fast. Way faster than her. Before she could even shift the first hand sign into the second, Jirōbō was already directly in her face with his heavy hand reeled back with explosive power. Tayuya trailed right behind him with a kunai at the ready.
Sakura's mind raced at a million miles an hour for a solution. She was already midair. What could she do? The second hand sign was thrown together as fast as she could manage, but Jirōbō's fist was already launched at her face. There was no hope of completing the jutsu before Jirōbō connected. Her heart skipped a beat, for just a moment she convinced herself she could dance between their attacks, but that's hard to pull off with the enemy's attack inches from your face.
She clenched her teeth, closed her eyes, and tried to face away from the punch. This was going to be seriously bad.
A stiff gust of wind brushed past her. She reluctantly peeled her emerald eyes open and they bulged at the sight. The Cloud Genin were locked in an intense combat exchange with Jirōbō and Tayuya. The forest began to echo the clang of sword against kunai.
Before Sakura had even begun to consider that she was freefalling through the trees, something wrapped around her, and snatched her out of the air. A sudden darkness was just as suddenly replaced with the brightness of the sun as she was let go, falling onto her hands and knees.
"Where's the rest of your team?"
Sakura glanced up. Shikamaru maintained an urgent expression on his face. He wanted an answer now.
"Kiba and Shino were both badly hurt! These guys are really strong!"
Shikamaru frowned indignantly. He held his hand out. "Here," he said. Sakura grabbed on and was pulled onto her feet. "We need to find your teammates and get them to safety. You need to give me a quick rundown of our enemies' abilities."
Sakura nodded. "I haven't seen much. The guy's name is Jirōbō and he's a brute. The girl is Tayuya, she uses her flute to perform some sort of auditory genjutsu."
Chōji and Ino both took to watching the intense clash ahead of them. But Shikamaru had rested a hand on his chin and took to staring at the ground. He was silent for a moment, and then a deep sigh escaped him. "How troublesome," was all he managed to say.
"Do you not have any ideas?" Ino beckoned with a worried edge.
Shikamaru's expression was still one of intense thought. "I got a couple," he explained. "But we're going to need to feel these guys out some more if I'm gonna come up with anything concrete."
Ino simply frowned.
"Relax, Ino. It's like seven-to-two. We'll take them easily," Chōji reasoned.
"Summoning Jutsu – !"
"Summoning Jutsu – !"
Their ears perked up at the declaration of their enemies' technique.
"Doki!"
"Earth Golem!"
Four plumes of smoke danced into the clouds.
Three humanoid creatures even larger than Jirōbō faced down the Cloud Team. Their eyes and ears were covered with bandages, and their mouths were sewn shut. Nevertheless, they stood between Tayuya and the Cloud, acting as her shield.
From the other pillar of smoke emerged a giant stone golem. It was so heavy it instantly brought down the tree that it stood on, descending to the forest floor with a quake that picked up a dust cloud. Atop the back of its neck was Jirōbō, who was coated with black lines in the shape of arrows stretched all along his skin.
Tayuya had adopted similar black lines, though hers were jagged in appearance. A smirk formed on her lips. The looks of shock must have been like ecstasy for her. A palpable tone of smugness riddled her voice, "It's more like seven-on-six." She put her lips to her flute and with the first note, the Doki pounced for Sakura and her fellow Leaf Genin.
In the same moment, the giant earthen fist of Jirōbō's Golem soared down at the Cloud Team, threatening to smash them like ants, forcing them to scatter. As the fist crashed through tree and limb like a stone being thrown through cobwebs, Sakura realized that she and Ino's team had been separated from their Cloud allies.
She didn't have time to dwell on that, instead choosing to focus on ducking beneath the spiked club that was swung at her head. Sakura dashed away and pieced a jutsu together. "Cherry Blossom Swarm Jutsu!" Pink petals began to rain down from the skies, kicked up into a frenzy by intense winds. They swarmed around the Doki, which halted for just a moment when the countless pink leaves began to cut into its flesh.
Sakura retrieved a kunai and lunged forward for the finishing blow while her enemy was off guard. She believed an attack directed right at the heart would do it. She neared the summon, who abruptly sidestepped her attack. Her emerald eyes almost fell out of their sockets with shock. The Doki twisted its hips, shooting a kick into Sakura's stomach that sent her back into the tree from which she attacked.
Bouncing off of the tree and onto all fours, Sakura felt a weight drop on her chest from realization. "These things can break through genjutsu!" she warned her allies.
"Seriously?!" Ino exclaimed, the hand sign for her Mind Transfer Jutsu already held up and directed at the Doki that Chōji battled with.
"You aren't the fighting type, are ya?" Tayuya said to Ino between notes on her flute.
"Huh?" Ino blurted out confused.
Suddenly, Tayuya began playing her flute aggressively, the tone of the notes becoming more sinister. All three Doki changed behavior. The one fighting Chōji weaved around him, the one that Sakura was facing dashed away from her, and the one that Shikamaru tried to fend off with a kunai shoved him to the side. All of them focused on the same target.
"Ino!" Shikamaru exclaimed.
"What the – ?!"
One Doki punched her in the stomach, lifting her feet off the ground and putting a hunch in her back. Another Doki delivered a powerful kick right into Ino's liver, while the final one closed in to dog-pile the Yamanaka.
Sakura raced to Ino's aid, but Chōji was closer. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" He balled his fist as it ballooned in size, drawing his hand back and slamming it down at the enemy. The attack landed with a loud back, instantly snapping the tree branch in two and sending it plummeting to the forest floor. "Eh?! I-I got nothing!" he said.
Sakura's eyes scanned through the trees and then down to the forest floor. "There!" she pointed, having caught sight of the Doki sprinting deeper into the forest with Ino desperately trying to wrestle out of their grasp.
"Jirōbō, do it," Tayuya said as she continued playing her flute.
All eyes fell on Jirōbō who quickly used his Earth Golem to bat away the Cloud Team like flies. He reached into his weapons pouch and retrieved a smoke bomb, which he hurled above the trees and high into the sky where it exploded into a bright green cloud.
"Reinforcements?" Chōji wondered.
"Possibly. We need to retrieve Ino and fall back," Shikamaru stated with a desperate edge in his voice.
"Right, then let's go!" Chōji went to dash away, but was halted when Shikamaru grabbed his shoulder.
"Not so fast, Chōji. I think I've figured her out. I think she's controlling the Doki with her flute, which is why she doesn't fight alongside them," Shikamaru explained.
"Oh, that makes total sense!" Sakura exclaimed.
"So what?" Chōji beckoned.
"So if we stop her from playing the flute then her Doki won't be able to do anything and Ino can escape," Shikamaru said matter-of-factly.
"Haha! You're pretty bright for a rookie, I'll give you that, but you're still wrong. We got what we came for, we're leaving," Tayuya said, leaping onto the back of Jirōbō's Earth Golem which began sprinting into the forest, tearing trees down as it went.
"W-What?!" Sakura exclaimed in shock.
"Shikamaru, we gotta go after them!" Chōji declared.
"Why would they just leave?!" A bead of sweat trailed down Shikamaru's cheek. "Did they want Ino specifically?" he postulated.
"What are we gonna do? We can't fight them," Sakura said.
"We have to chase them to see where they are taking Ino. Maybe then we could do something or get the jōnin involved," Shikamaru said.
"That sounds good to me," Chōji said with a nod.
"But what about Shino and Kiba? They're both injured and need help," Sakura reminded them.
"We'll help you get them back to the city," Samui interjected as she sheathed her tantō. "We've already decided to go back and report this incident to the samurai," she gestured to Omoi and Karui who stood at her side.
Sakura was stunned to think the Cloud Genin, people from a rival village, were willing to help her team. "Thank you," was all she could say in response. "Can you guys do this on your own?" she asked Shikamaru and Chōji.
"We're just gonna follow them for now. The two of us can manage that," Shikamaru said. "Be sure to mention Ino and us to the samurai. Maybe they could get in touch with our jōnin and put a stop to this."
"Right, I will. Just be careful, guys," Sakura said as she joined the Cloud Team.
She could hear Shikamaru mouthing "how troublesome," as he and Chōji darted into the trees, following the trail of destruction that Jirōbō's golem left.
"Let's do this, Sasuke!" Naruto demanded as he dashed forth. Sasuke followed him to his left. Both of them drew a kunai with opposite hands. Naruto pulled his kunai back to prepare for a killing thrust.
The one with six arms swooped in to help his comrade intercept Naruto and Sasuke. The snap of a bowstring could be heard. The blue-haired boy leapt to the side, "Kidōmaru!" he exclaimed. The six-armed boy, Kidōmaru, perked up. A look of fear flashed across his face before he quickly jumped away.
Naruto felt a tingle in the air, and the hair on his body stood up. The chirp of lightning was coupled with the whistle of arrows as they soared past Naruto and Sasuke and hit the ground. Three sequential blasts of electricity went off with tendrils of lightning whipping sporadically in the air until they fizzled out, leaving behind three considerable craters. Now both enemies were separated thanks to Hinata.
Naruto and Sasuke pressed for their original blue-haired target, who was now squared up. Naruto shot in first, thrusting his kunai directly at his enemy's chest. This was a clear shot, but Naruto wanted to eliminate any chance for this guy to avoid him. Right as his kunai began to close the distance, a chaotic spiral of glowing winds swarmed around the blade that whirled with a high pitch. Without any time to dodge or any way to deflect, this guy was going down right here.
The blue-haired boy adopted a devious smirk. "Ukon!" Naruto didn't care about what that meant, all that mattered was his attack. The tip of the kunai threatened to break skin. This was it.
"Huh?!" His wrist was snatched within the jaws of an iron grip. A third arm miraculously appeared right under his enemy's left arm. Naruto attempted to fight his arm back, but it only resulted in the hold on his arm tightening until his fingers were forced to yield, dropping his kunai.
Sasuke came in at the boy's right. His kunai roared with the arcs of bright lightning. He plunged for the boy's throat, but was quickly disarmed by a fourth arm that sprouted from their enemy's right side. Both of their faces lit up with shock as their enemy seized them by the throat. The boy bellowed a nefarious laugh as they writhed wildly to try and break free. "Don't get too cocky, Sakon," a raspy voice spoke from behind him.
Naruto didn't understand what was going on. Where was that voice coming from? How did he grow a new set of arms?
A tuft of blue hair on the back of Sakon's neck moved and then it raised up, turning around to reveal an entirely new face. When it looked at Naruto with a separate pair of eyes and a wide, evil smirk, his eyes almost fell out of their sockets.
"It's okay to be a little reckless against trash like this, Ukon," Sakon insisted, tightening the grip on their throats until neither of them could breathe.
The familiar whistle of an arrow approached them rapidly. The chirp of lightning whizzed past Naruto's left ear, the sharp broadhead threatening to gruesomely embed itself into the skull of Sakon – if he hadn't easily avoided it with a tilt of his head.
Thankfully, Hinata must've expected this.
The lightning-tipped arrow glowed in front of Ukon's head. He gasped in fright. "Sakon – !"
The lower set of arms that restrained Naruto and Sasuke's hands hastily retracted into Sakon's body and exited his back where Ukon used them to guard his face. The lightning around the arrow flared up in an instant before bursting into a vast ball of electricity right in Ukon's face.
Naruto's fingers met in a cross and two clones poofed into the fray. One grabbed Naruto around the waist, ready to pull him from Sakon's grasp. The other clone dashed into Sakon's guard where it ducked down, and pivoted its hips into a rear uppercut that snapped Sakon's chin up with force and caused him to lose his grip on Sasuke.
Sasuke swiftly spat out a Lightning Fang right for Sakon's throat, but Sakon saw the bolt of lightning darting toward him and leaned away, getting pierced through the shoulder. As he grunted in pain, Naruto drew his legs up and chambered them into a kick right in Sakon's ribs. With the combined effort of his clone, who pulled him away, Naruto was freed.
Both Naruto and Sasuke dashed away to create distance between themselves and their foe. Gentle footsteps rustled the grass directly behind them.
Naruto turned, a confused look on his face. "What's with this guy, Hinata?"
The veins already bulged around her eyes, her pupils flaring. "It looks like there are two people sharing that body."
"How does that even work? Are they some sort of freaks?"
"There are two different chakra networks meshed into that body. It seems that the other person is able to enter and exit the body when he wants to fight. It must be some kind of jutsu."
Sasuke's face scrunched up with annoyance. "He's difficult to fight up close. It's hard to find an opening against him."
"At least the Stone Team is handling that weird guy," Naruto pointed out as he watched the battle.
Team Han had Kidōmaru entirely on the back foot. Tsumiki and Kurotsuchi attacked with an unending volume of strikes engulfed with flames and stone gauntlets while Suguru attempted to slash into him at awkward angles with his nata. Just as it was with Sakon and Ukon, Naruto quickly noticed that even if it was a three-on-one, Kidōmaru was still able to fend them off because he had an equal number of arms to work with.
"Hinata, what's that gold stuff around his arms?" Naruto asked.
The Hyūga Heiress was silent as she used her eyes to examine the six-armed boy. "It seems like his body can sweat some kind of metal. It looks really strong. He's using it like armor. I-I don't know if my Gentle Fist could even pierce through that," she admitted.
"Almost like Gaara's Sand Armor," Sasuke noted.
Naruto nodded curtly in agreement. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."
The golden metal clung to Kidōmaru's arms and ate up most of the force of Team Han's attacks, while also protecting him from the flames of Tsumiki's attacks. A very annoying guy to have to battle against.
"Sakon," Ukon's voice sounded from across the training grounds. "Go help that fool Kidōmaru before he winds up dead. I'll handle these rookies."
"Don't get carried away, brother," Sakon reminded Ukon, as Ukon casually stepped out of Sakon's body like he cloned himself. Sakon then dashed away to aid his partner.
"Wait, what?! He really split in two?!" Naruto gasped with shock.
Hinata's glare was focused intently on Ukon. "I-It's true. There's only one chakra network in his body now."
"I don't need my brother's help to keep you fools in line," Ukon said. From behind the blue bangs of hair that draped over the left side of his face, dark blotches and wavy lines of black slowly crawled across his skin.
Hinata shuddered. "Be careful, guys. There's something wrong with his chakra. It's way stronger now, but there's also something sinister about it."
"How didn't you notice this power earlier?" Sasuke bit out with a hint of irritation.
"I'm sorry. I did notice something was off but this evil chakra was so insignificant I didn't think it was important. There's a seal above his left eye that's releasing this chakra. Both of his allies also have similar marks on them."
"Enough chit-chat! Fire Style: Great Wall of Fire!"
Vibrant yellows and oranges were cast against Team Kakashi. A heat blasted over their bodies that stung their skin as the raging flames barreled towards them. Naruto couldn't help but recognize how powerful this Fire Style was – it was greater than any other Fire Jutsu he'd ever witnessed, even greater than Sasuke's. This guy, Ukon, was no joke.
What made the jutsu even more dangerous wasn't the intensity of the fire, but its sheer size and speed. It rushed them down with the haste of the wind while maintaining the berth of a giant ocean wave.
Naruto heard the sound of hands hastily rushing together. He turned to see Sasuke preparing a jutsu. "Sasuke, what the heck are you doin'?! There's no way you're going to stop that!" But Sasuke wasn't listening, he merely proceeded with the jutsu. As his chest began to swell up with chakra, Naruto decided that he could not leave it to chance. He snatched Hinata's arm – much to her shock – and used his free hand to form the release sign for his Body Flicker before she could react, traversing tens of meters out of harm's way in an instant.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
Naruto and Hinata watched Sasuke with bated breath. A massive cloud of flames erupted from the Uchiha's mouth, forming the head of a dragon with a roaring maw. Its deep yellows and oranges burned with hints of blue and white flames around it – Yang Amplification. "Where did he learn this?!" Naruto shouted in awe.
"He must've been practicing it himself," Hinata theorized.
The massive head of the dragon clashed with the flaming wall. Sasuke supplied a continuous stream of fire for his dragon. The wall of fire did not budge, choosing to begin to fold around the flaming dragon. Naruto could feel his throat going dry as the moisture in the air evaporated away.
Ukon's jutsu pushed against Sasuke's, slowly inching forward. For just a moment, the Uchiha's resistance wavered, unable to output enough chakra to maintain his jutsu for so long. The fiery wall swiftly closed in, gaining a scary amount of ground before Sasuke was able to desperately fuel his jutsu to keep the flames at bay.
"He's not going to be able to stop it!" Naruto exclaimed, leaving Hinata behind as he raced toward Sasuke. His hands came together in a flurry of signs. He begged, "Please work! Wind Style: Great Drilling Air Cannon!" His chest ballooned in size and his cheeks bulged until he couldn't restrain the gales anymore. He opened his mouth, the white glow of his wind chakra shooting out and slamming into the clashing fire jutsu.
The flames swelled around the wind jutsu before instantly swallowing it. Sasuke seized his chance and began dashing away as fast as possible. The fire jutsu melted together, falling in on each other to consume every modicum of power that the wind gave it. Finally, another surge of heat washed over the training grounds. Naruto shielded his face as the flames erupted into a violent explosion that left behind a tree-sized tornado of fire which quickly burned out and dissipated into nothing.
Naruto dropped his hands from his face. His eyes scanned over the scorched training grounds, searching for Sasuke, but couldn't make out much through the thick screen of smoke. "Sasuke!" he called into the void.
Sasuke shot out of the smoke with its wispy trails behind him. His Sharingan blared red. He gasped for air behind a tired and indignant expression. That jutsu must've taken a lot out of him, but at least he was alright. That was enough to put Naruto at ease.
Ukon then blasted through the smoke. An ominous smirk was smeared across his face. Sasuke's eyes widened and he shot up into a half-decent taijutsu stance, blocking a head kick from Ukon. "Not bad," his pale adversary commended. Just the clapping noise of Ukon's shin meeting Sasuke's hands was heavy. Ukon shot in for a swift hook into Sasuke's ribs which made his teeth slam together in pain.
Ukon knocked Sasuke's head to the left with a perfectly placed lead hook to the jaw. Sasuke slipped underneath Ukon's following overhand and replied with a jab that snapped at Ukon who effortlessly ducked it. He locked his hands together around the back of Sasuke's neck and pulled him down, driving his knee directly into the Uchiha's nose.
Sasuke fell onto his knees, cupping his hands around his nose with his eyes clenched tightly, and the blood running down his lips. Naruto's heart dropped into his stomach like a bomb. This guy was totally different from what he was before – those black marks on his body somehow gave him the power to brutalize Sasuke.
"For a rookie, you're not so bad. It's those eyes, isn't it? Your Sharingan? You can almost keep up with me," groaned Ukon with a smug look on his face. "What about you?" Ukon looked directly at Naruto. "Are you talented?"
"Huh – ?!" Naruto had no time to even decipher what happened as Ukon blitzed forward. He drove his foot forward with a nasty sidekick aimed directly at Naruto's sternum. Naruto barely managed to cross his arms over his stomach, letting his forearms absorb the blow. The force of the kick knocked Naruto off his feet, sending him flying for several meters.
As soon as he touched the ground, Naruto was already putting forth the effort to stand up, but Ukon zipped over to him in a flash. He raised his foot over Naruto's head and rocketed it down. Naruto rolled out of the way and shot up to his feet, trying his best not to be intimidated by the large crack Ukon's curb stomp left in the ground. Ukon attacked again with a relentless overhand, but Naruto back-stepped from it.
He threw his fingers together in a cross. Two clones spawned into existence, flanking Ukon on both sides. One clone shot in for Ukon, taking his ankle and driving his shoulder into Ukon's side to take him down while the other clone instantly took Ukon's back, locking its legs around Ukon's waist.
"How annoying," Ukon groaned. He had to fend off the other clone's hands from getting his throat, and was unable to stop himself from getting taken to the ground.
Hinata was visible from a distance, her bow aimed steadily at Ukon. Naruto cupped his hands together, letting wind chakra funnel into the space between his hands. At times glowing white wisps leaked from his hands, unable to compress the gales as efficiently as normal, but that was to be expected as this was the first time he would be trying the technique with Yang Amplification.
Naruto heard the distant fling of Hinata's bowstring followed by the whistle of the arrow muffled under the screech of lightning. He decided now was the time to take his shot. As Hinata's lightning arrow embedded itself within Ukon's chest, Naruto unleashed the pent-up wind in his palms directly at Ukon, "Gale Palm!"
Just as the lightning arrow exploded into a frenzy of plasma, Naruto's great column of spiraling air collided with Ukon. A violent whorl of wind twisted around their foe as it seemed to absorb the lightning blast and sling around whipping and lashing arcs of blue plasma. Naruto's clones were caught in the frenzy and popped into white smoke that was vacuumed into the wind attack, creating the visual of a miniature whirlwind in a tiny thunderstorm.
Hinata raced to Naruto, who watched their ravenous combination attack with a proud smirk on his face. "We got him good with that one!"
"H-He's not finished yet," Hinata said with a worrisome look in her glowing eyes.
Naruto's face fell with extreme disbelief. "Really?! What the hell is this guy made of?!"
The smoke of the attack began to clear and Ukon emerged. Shallow cuts all over his body streamed with blood. He was speckled with burns that fanned out along his skin like ferns, a product of getting struck by lightning.
"You bastards!" he yelled with boiling anger. "That really hurt! I ought to kill every single one of you!" he said as his teeth ground together with rage. His face fell into an eerie grin and he chuckled to himself. "But I guess I can settle with beating you till you're black and blue."
Naruto got his hands up and coated them with the Whirlwind Fist. Next to him, Hinata assumed her Gentle Fist stance. Ukon rushed at them as fast as he could, way too fast for Naruto's eyes to follow. He saw the blue blur rapidly approaching and threw a jab at him in anticipation. His strike faced no resistance, where the hell did Ukon go? Naruto swung his head around. The blue-haired bastard managed to get behind him with his hand already drawn back and ready to explode forth.
Naruto wasn't quick enough. He pulled his hands in to block and braced for the world of hurt in store for him. "Lightning Style: Thunderclap Arrow!"
"GAH!" Naruto watched as Ukon's body seized up with blue lightning that danced over him in wild tendrils. He dropped to the ground, revealing Sasuke standing behind him with a look that pierced through Ukon.
"What took you so long?! That was way too close!" Naruto exclaimed in an outburst.
Sasuke glared back at Naruto with annoyance. "Shut up. I got him, didn't I?"
"You're gonna get your ass beat if you pull something like that again!" Naruto shot back, prompting both him and Sasuke to get into each other's faces in an angry staredown.
"You sure about that, loser?"
"Uh, guys!" Hinata interjected, a worried pitch in her voice.
"What?!"
"What?!"
Both boys exclaimed at the same time.
She gestured at Ukon who was picking himself up from the ground. "He's still not done!"
"What the hell is this guy made of?!" was all Naruto managed to say.
"Argh! You stupid brats are gonna get it n–" Just as Ukon was about to finish his furious threat, a distant popping sound was heard.
Everyone looked in the same direction and spotted a green cloud of smoke in the sky. Naruto's eyebrow rose. It hovered over the trees of the forest and fanned out. What did that mean? Was it coming from Shikamaru?
"UGH! Before I could beat the hell out of you?!" Ukon cursed, balling his fists with tight fury before waving his hand away at them. "Whatever. We got what we need now," he resolved himself begrudgingly before turning away.
"What?!" Naruto blurted out. "Hey, what does that mean?!" he demanded of Ukon. But the blue-haired boy did not respond, he just kept walking away toward Sakon and Kidōmaru. "Don't ignore me! What does that smoke mean?!"
Ukon stopped in his tracks and turned his head, revealing an annoyed look. He slowly turned around, causing all of Team Seven to assume a taijutsu stance.
"Are you gonna tell us or are we gonna have to beat it out of you?" Naruto threatened. Ukon grinned and then he disappeared. "Wha –?" Before Naruto could even question it, Ukon flashed into vision and drove his fist directly into Naruto's liver.
"Shut up," was all that Ukon said as he dashed away.
Naruto dropped to the ground like a stone. The pain he felt was immediate. His body was wracked with a cold sweat and his legs folded in on him. He held his side gently as he gasped for breath. He was thankful that Sasuke and Hinata were near or he would've been entirely defenseless.
"Sakon, Kidōmaru, wrap this up!" he could hear Ukon demanding his allies.
"Are you alright, Naruto?" Hinata asked as she helped him to sit up.
"T-That bastard," he managed in a pained voice.
"Hurts doesn't it?" Sasuke mocked him, but Naruto was in too much physical anguish to try and rebuttal.
"What the hell?!"
Naruto's eyes followed the screaming. To his surprise, he noticed that all of them had been captured in a giant spider web that seemed to have been grafted onto their skin. Each of them fought back and cut at it, but it was to no avail.
Sakon and Ukon swiftly fused together like they had before. "Get them as well," Sakon said to Kidōmaru.
Kidōmaru then spat out a massive rope of webs that ballooned out like a net over Team Kakashi.
"Dammit!" Naruto exclaimed as he tried to fight against the webs to escape.
"Let's get out of here," Kidōmaru said, and they both vanished into the forest.
"What is this stuff?!" Naruto groaned. He felt gross being covered in it, but he couldn't get it off of him if he tried on account of how sticky it was.
"It's infused with chakra," Hinata revealed.
"Why does that matter?" Sasuke asked.
"It means that we can infuse them with our own chakra and they'll break," the Hyūga explained. She flooded her hands blue with chakra and the webs simply melted off of them as a demonstration.
"Great thinking, Hinata!" Naruto said as his entire body burst with blue flames that flowed around him. As he stood up, he saw Sasuke swiping the webs off of him with both hands infused with chakra, while Hinata just used Revolving Heaven to get the job done.
They all ran over to the Stone Team who were still fighting against the webs. "The webs are infused with chakra! Just infuse it with your own chakra to destroy it," Hinata explained to them, which allowed them to quickly escape the sticky grasp of the webs.
"Thank you," Tsumiki said with a small bow.
"How did you even know that?" Kurotsuchi beckoned, annoyed by how tough those webs were to get out of.
Hinata just pointed to her obviously glowing eyes and bulging veins, "My Byakugan allows me to see chakra inside things," she explained.
"Oh, right. You're a Hyūga…" Kurotsuchi mumbled out.
Suguru whispered under his breath, "Idiot," which seemed to sting Kurotsuchi a little.
"Why are we messing around here when we need to follow those guys?!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Right, I can still see them from here. They're heading south. If we go now, we can still catch up," Hinata explained.
"Awesome, let's go!" Naruto insisted.
"You guys can go ahead. We're gonna go back to the city and tell Master Han what happened," Kurotsuchi said. "Those guys were tough, even for us. The quicker we can get our jōnin involved the better."
"Alright then. We'll go on our own and try to figure out what's going on," Naruto decided.
"Just don't die out there," Kurotsuchi warned as she and her teammates quickly dashed away.
"Lead the way, Hinata," Naruto said.
Jiraiya sat within the dark recesses of the cave system. His legs were crossed, and his hands rested in his lap. It was quiet, peaceful. His eyes were shut. Meditation was the only way he could discreetly pass the time within an environment like this.
He felt something gnawing away at the pit of his stomach. Anxiety and fear were natural reactions to his line of work for most ninja. It wouldn't be unwarranted to feel them now that such a crucial time was drawing near. But he knew that this wasn't what he was experiencing. No. A shinobi like himself had long cast away things like fear or anxiety. You did not get to be a Legendary Sannin without doing that much.
This was a different feeling. One that he hadn't gotten to feel in a long, long time. For the first time in over fifteen years, Jiraiya was going to get a chance to correct one of his worst mistakes. What did that make him? Excited? Happy? Or was he determined? Determined to make right what he couldn't all those years ago, when the Legendary Sannin broke apart. Maybe, deep down, what he was feeling was something like he was about to meet someone he hadn't seen in a lifetime.
The sound of Asuma's blades being sharpened against a whetstone could be heard next to him. He was the one who Jiraiya had spent the most time with on this mission so far. Together, they had been working to pinpoint where Orochimaru stays in the caves, where he moves throughout the day, what he does, who stays around him the most.
It was dangerous and tedious work. Asuma's dedication reminded him a lot of Hiruzen.
But the fruits of their labor were apparent. They knew where Orochimaru was. They had meticulously mapped out where Orochimaru liked to visit most within the caves. They had a good idea of who stood between them and Orochimaru. Today was the day to see if it was worth it.
A myriad of approaching footsteps echoed off the narrow walls of the cave. "Yo," Kakashi introduced himself.
Jiraiya opened his eyes. All of the jōnin were gathered around him. Meditation was over. He reached into his robe and retrieved a scroll, which he unfurled. "Now that we're all together, we can go over the plan."
He held the tip of his finger out, creating a quaint but bright orange flame that illuminated the scroll clearly. The scroll was relatively simple in terms of content. It was the same exact one he had pulled out at the beginning of this mission, when they still didn't even know most of their enemies' names. Now their sketches were surrounded with numerous notes scribbled down about them: their names, their known abilities, where they usually resided within the caves, and so on.
"In about five minutes, Orochimaru is going to be retreating to his lab. He's almost always alone there. That is where our battle will begin," Jiraiya explained plainly. "Your job is to ensure that none of Orochimaru's people interfere."
"Who will be keeping who away specifically?" Cee asked.
"That's a good question," Jiraiya started. "The truth is that we are heavily outnumbered. But, the good news is that only a few of our adversaries pose any serious threat. For you and Darui specifically, Guren will be your target. Asuma, Kakashi, and Kurenai will keep Kabuto and the kids occupied."
"What if we get overwhelmed by outside interference?" Kurenai asked.
"Both Darui and Cee have gone through the trouble of placing barriers all throughout the caves, along with putting many of our foes in genjutsu that has scrambled the layout of the caves in their memories," Jiraiya explained. "I wouldn't be too concerned with Wood Swords or anything swarming you in droves."
Even from behind the mask, Jiraiya noticed that something weighed heavily on Kakashi's mind. "Is something wrong, Kakashi?" he asked.
Kakashi spoke with concern. "Do you really think you can take Orochimaru alone?"
"Haha!" Jiraiya belly laughed. "I'm Jiraiya the Gallant! The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku! Of course I could take him alone!" His sheer grandeur could've smothered any doubt of his abilities. "But you don't have to worry about that because I'm not going in alone."
"Who else is assisting you?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I have my connections," Jiraiya said sternly, and that seemed to satisfy the group.
"Okay, but, what if we don't get Orochimaru?" Kurenai beckoned the question on everyone's mind – on Jiraiya's mind.
He pursed his lips and exhaled slowly out of his nose. "If things get dicey, Darui and Cee have rigged most of the caves to explode, leaving a hidden exit open for all of you in the back of the caves," Jiraiya laid out plainly. "But do not get in a rush to run away if things become uncertain. Think of everything that has become of this mission so far. We've uncovered a plot between the Wood Swords and Orochimaru to set up shop in the Land of Iron. They know we're onto them. They're trying to relocate. To avoid us, and create a settlement somewhere else in the country. We can't let this opportunity to eliminate Orochimaru pass us up. Who knows when we'll get this chance again?"
The jōnin were all silent as they looked at Jiraiya. "If you can, subjugate your targets. What they know could be invaluable. For the kids with his Curse Mark, you should try and capture them as well. They may not be too far gone," he pointed out. "What matters is that we remove as many pieces from Orochimaru's kit as possible, even if we don't kill him," he asserted.
"Understood," Kurenai said.
"Good. That about sums up everything I have to say. Any final questions?" No one spoke up. "Right. Then you all know who your targets are, you should get into position. Besides, I gotta summon my support in a minute and I don't want you all seeing me when I'm ready to fight," he said bluntly.
"Good luck, Jiraiya," Darui said sincerely.
"I know you'll take him down," Asuma said as all the other jōnin began to scatter.
Jiraiya offered him a simple smirk as he left. Quiet blared out around him. He heaved a deep sigh, a thoughtful expression spread across his face as he glared down at the rocky cave floor.
He wished that Tsunade could've been here to help him with this. Why didn't she want to be here for this? It was troubling, almost frustrating. Together, he was certain that they could put an end to Orochimaru. It wouldn't be like the first time. Jiraiya had learned from the errors of his ways.
He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. It couldn't be helped. Tsunade wanted no part of this. Jiraiya was going to have to do it without her, and that couldn't be helped. He retrieved the scroll from the ground, rolled it up, and put it back within the confines of his kimono.
"Here we go," Jiraiya said to himself. He bit into the tip of his thumb and drew blood. "Summoning Jutsu," he said as he placed his hands on the foundation of the cave. A quaint puff of white smoke bloomed into the air. Two small toads hopped out of the smoke. One was green with a strip of hair as white as Jiraiya's, thick and burly caterpillars for eyebrows, and a beard growing on his chin. The other had purple skin accentuated with a pale green underside with bumps all over her head that mimicked a curly head of hair. Both of them were aged, and adorned cloaks over their bodies – the green toad's cloak was a tanned brown, and the purple toad's cloak was a dark gray.
"Are you ready, Jiraiya-boy?" the green one asked sternly.
"Just be sure you have my back in there," Jiraiya reminded them as they each hopped onto his shoulders.
"You don't have to worry with Pa and I here," the purple one assured him.
"Ma is right. We ain't leavin' your side, Jiraiya-boy," Pa said as he patted Jiraiya reassuringly on the neck.
"Right. Well, let's do this," Jiraiya said as he shut his eyes and rested his hands in his lap like he was meditating again. He could feel the red lines under his eyes spreading across his face.
Orochimaru was an elusive bastard. Jiraiya couldn't afford to take any chances.
Orochimaru was restless.
He gave those children a simple task. Retrieve one of the genin of the Leaf and find out what they know about that fool, Jiraiya. He even went through the trouble of giving each of them a genjutsu sealed into a scroll to make the genin talk.
It had already been two hours since they were dispatched and so far… nothing?!
They should have returned by now with a full rundown of everything they learned. What is the meaning of this? Are they dilly-dallying? Were they intercepted? Had Jiraiya discovered them?
His chest was tight with tension. He needed to get to the bottom of this. If they were captured then that would be a big issue that he would need to take care of immediately.
"Child," he called to the white-haired youth who was sitting while he studied a scroll.
The boy instantly stood up and made his way to Orochimaru with haste, kneeling down on one knee before him. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru?"
"Sakon and the rest of your team still haven't returned from their mission. I want you to get to the bottom of it."
Kimimaro bowed his head. "Understood, Lord Orochimaru." He stood up and headed for the exit.
"Oh, and do be careful out there, child. It would be very unfortunate to lose you after molding you into becoming my perfect vessel for so long," he said with his attempt at an endearing smile that still managed to seem evil.
"Of course, Lord Orochimaru. I would never let you down like that." He disappeared from the room in an instant, onward to fulfill his Master's orders.
END
Author's Note
Hey guys. Hope you like this chapter. It's a long one.
I have to apologize for how long it took me to upload this and bad, infrequent updates. These last 2 months have been very busy and tbh this chaptered was just doomed to take a long time to complete from the get-go.
Unfortunately, I don't see that changing for a while, so I will not leave you all holding the bag for an update where the chapter may not be coming the day I said. Just know that it is going to drop eventually.
But anyways, yea, tell me what you guys think about this bad boy. I know there's a lot of fighting, but I hope each of you can still enjoy it regardless. Next chapter is one that I've been looking forward to since I started writing this story.
Review Replies
I got a lot of review replies since I have been gone which I'm insanely thankful for, but I only want to reply to one of them right now.
Mrpren87 – I appreciate the praise and I'm happy you are enjoying the fic so far. I'm excited to see what you think of this one.
Anyway, that's all I got for now. Ask me any questions you got, and I'll try and answer em if I can.
Follow, favorite, and review at your leisure.
Godspeed,
Salt.