Summary: Hatred was as dominant as ever in the shinobi world. Enough examples of certain Shinobis would follow a dark path because of this corrupted world. Naruto saw it during his training with Jiraiya and after he came back from his training trip. Another chapter in Naruto's life began with the beginning of the Tailed Beast hunt. Oh… there would also be this new Uchiha who seemed to know him.
"Speech."
'Think.'
Jutsu/Technique
Flashback/Events of the Past
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"What's the status?" Tsunade asked.
"We received a message from Team Kakashi. According to their report, the land of wind is in danger. An enemy village may take advantage of the situation. Kakashi speculates that someone may have helped Akatsuki. The two members of Akatsuki got into the village without any problems and just walked out again. Some scouts are already reporting hostile shinobi on the border of the land of wind."
Tsunade frowned. "Good job," she said. The Anbu in front of her nodded and disappeared in a whirl of leaves. Tsunade got up and looked out the window. 'This is not good. I can't send any more shinobi to the land of wind, ' she thought. She turned to the desk and picked up a document.
She thought about it and couldn't find a solution. According to Jiraiya, Iwagakure had started stocking up on their weapons and building several outposts, which was a sign. The outposts were still centrally located in the country, but if you looked at their location, they were ideal bases for supply.
Kumogakure was already doing something similar. The Raikage wasn't stupid, so he had called both Jinchūriki back to the village to be safe and ready for necessary action. Unlike Konoha, Kumogakure valued their Jinchūriki. That was where the next problem lay. Iwagakure and Kumogakure each had 2 Jinchūriki, who had their Tailed Beast tamed and controlled. A Jinchūriki was not considered the perfect weapon in the shinobi world for nothing. A Jinchūriki always had more chakra than an average shinobi and more fighting power from the tailed beast inside him.
If Jiraiya's spies' reports were accurate, the civil war in the land of water would have recently ended. Everything was still being rebuilt there, so Tsunade wasn't worried about Kirigakure. The civil war there had claimed many lives, and as far as she knew, there wasn't even a Mizukage at the moment.
Tsunade put the document back on her desk and sat in her chair. She rubbed her temples and thought. She was currently waiting for Shizune because she was gathering the necessary information. Jiraiya was presently in the process of making arrangements with the Anbus. Security measures in Konoha have been tightened and expanded. Jiraiya had taken on the task of coordinating security and taking care of the barrier around the village. Through Jiraiya, Tsunade also kept close contact with Naruto and his team. Naruto sent at least one daily report on how things were in the land of wind. The toads allowed Jiraiya and Naruto to share information quickly despite being in different countries.
There was a knock on the door, "Come in." said Tsunade. Seeing the visit, Tsunade frowned. She had hoped that she could still avoid this encounter.
Naruto jumped off a thick branch and catapulted himself forward. The sun's rays partially shone on his face, focusing his attention on the situation before him. He had left Sunagakure with his team three hours ago, and they were currently on their way to the border of the land of rivers. That's where Akatsuki's hideout should be.
Temari was with Team Kakashi; it was about her little brother. She was supposed to be guarding the border, but she just went along with Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto. She didn't care what Baki or anyone else said about it. She would never sit idly by when her little brother was in danger. All the elders could go to hell!
Sakura had taken care of Kankuro in the village. He had managed to catch up to the kidnappers, and while fighting someone from Akatsuki, he was poisoned. Sakura had to perform a dangerous treatment, but it had worked. On the same day, Sakura also created an antidote with the help of medicinal herbs, and Kankuro was finally out of danger.
Kakashi, meanwhile, looked at the spot where Kankuro had fought his opponent. He could still faintly smell the scent. Like the members of the Inuzuka clan, Kakashi had a very good nose. Of course, it was not as good as an Inuzuka's nose, but it was better than any other shinobi. He could locate Akatsuki's hiding place with his ninja dogs. It was in the land of the river.
Now, everyone was going to bring the Kazekage back to the village. Everyone just hoped they would be there in time.
Naruto remembered the information he got from Jiraiya. 'That cannot be a coincidence. First scouts report movement in the south, and then Akatsuki kidnaps Gaara.' thought Naruto. He frowned and jumped off another branch. He hadn't had a chance to speak to his team about the situation either. While they were on their way to Sunagakure, the topic of the tailed beast came up, and Naruto reassured Sakura that Akatsuki was no longer pursuing him. He had promised to explain it to her when she and he had time.
So far, neither of them had time to do so. One of the two was always busy, although in Sunagakure, it was mostly Sakura. After all, she had to take care of Kankuro. Meanwhile, Naruto had taken care of the defenses and the barrier around the village. He had built a barrier around the village with his knowledge of Sealing Jutsu. The barrier only ensured that someone in the village knew directly that someone had invaded the village. The barrier was based on a similar variant used in Konoha.
He shook his head and focused back on his current situation. Kakashi signaled to stop, so everyone landed on a branch and looked at Kakashi.
"We're going to have visitors," said Naruto. Kakashi just nodded and made some signs with his hand. Everyone recognized the sign language Kakashi was using right now.
Naruto nodded and raised both arms. He crossed his fingers and created four shadow clones beside Naruto with a silent 'Shadow Clone Jutsu!'. 3 Shadow Clones did some hand signs for the Transformation Jutsu and transformed into Kakashi, Sakura, and Temari.
The originals disappeared and went into hiding. Temari was ready to bring her large fan forward from her back. The originals only traveled in the shadows, allowing the shadow clones to continue traveling as before.
After a few minutes, several kunai flew out of the forest, dissolving all the shadow clones. Three shinobi appeared where the four shadow clones were before. Kakashi had long since lifted his headband and revealed his Sharingan. He carefully memorized the faces of the attackers.
'Jin Oshumura, Jonin from Iwagakure. He is an A-rank shinobi specializing in ninjutsu and taijutsu.' thought Kakashi. Jin had short brown hair and green eyes. He wore the typical Iwagakure uniform. The red clothing stood out clearly against the brown and green tones surrounding everyone. Red clothing in a forest wasn't the best camouflage.
'Hotaru Otsukamo, Chunin from Iwagakure. He is a b-rank shinobi who specializes in Kenjutsu.' Hotaru has white hair and black eyes. Like Jin, he wears the normal outfit from Iwagakure.
'Hirano Jambera, Jonin from Iwagakure. He is an A-ranked shinobi specializing in Tai-Ninjutsu. He has developed his style, combining Taijutsu with his wind element.' Hirano had black hair and blue eyes. He wore the same as his two comrades.
Kakashi looked at Naruto and Temari. He made a few more gestures with his hand, and they both nodded. Sakura made room for the two and stood ready. She just hoped that the plan would work out.
Naruto made the tiger seal, and so did Kakashi. Temari held her fan ready, just waiting for the signal. Kakashi and Naruto started collecting the chakra in their lungs and heating it.
"Fire Style: Flame Bombs!" Naruto unleashed a jet of flame from his mouth.
"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" Kakashi unleashed a massive ball of fire from his mouth.
"Wind Style: Cyclone Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Temari made a powerful swing with her battle fan, creating a strong gust of wind that boosted both fire jutsus. Both Fire Jutsus mixed, creating an attack with a large area of effect. You couldn't just dodge such an inferno.
The three shinobi from Iwagakure saw this massive wall of fire getting closer and closer to them. Jin used an Earth Jutsu and closed himself and his two comrades in a globe. The fire hit the ground and set everything on fire. If Jin hadn't created the globe, everyone would be burning and dying.
Jin made some hand signs inside the globe and then slammed both hands on the ground. "Earth Style: Mudslide Jutsu!" An avalanche was released around the globe. The avalanche spread in all directions, extinguishing the fire and pushing away the trees surrounding the globe.
Naruto and his comrades jumped from the tree and landed on the ground. All concentrated chakra under their feet, enabling them to stand on the sodden earth.
Jiraiya unrolled a scroll and read the contents. He had a serious expression on his face. His eyes twitched slightly when he reached the end of the scroll. He was currently sitting on his bed with only his pants on. It had been some time since Naruto had contacted him. He could only imagine that Naruto had met resistance.
He didn't worry too much about Akatsuki. Something like getting the One-Tailes out of Gaara required the full concentration of each member. Jiraiya and Naruto had made themselves smart on their training journey and collected information about this topic. Akatsuki should be busy pulling the Tailed Beast out of Gaara all day.
Jiraiya was more worried about shinobi from other villages. According to the latest report from one of his spies, Iwagakure had acted and was taking advantage of the situation in Sunagakure. Jiraiya didn't know exactly how many teams were sent to Sunagakure, but they were teams of skilled shinobi.
Iwagakure suffered many casualties in the third war, and that was due to several factors. Like any human, the shinobi of Iwagakure learned from their past mistakes. There were always at least six ninjas in a team in the past, but now it's down to 3 members. In the past, quantity was more important than quality.
In the meantime, special teams had been put together. There were three teams, each consisting of at least one A-rank Shinobi and two B-rank Shinobi. It could also happen that an S-rank Shinobi was on such a team.
Naruto was an A-ranked shinobi, and with Kakashi's help, he should have no trouble against these teams. After all, Sakura was there, too, and if someone from the team got hurt, Sakura could heal the person.
Jiraiya got up and dressed quickly. He needed to talk to Tsunade and take further action in the village. He'd have to go back and check something out next, this time without Naruto. Naruto would soon be sent out alone by Tsunade. The situation in the world became more tense every day. Naruto didn't specialize in espionage for nothing. Naruto had all the tools for spying on or infiltrating a village. It wasn't difficult for Jiraiya or Naruto to go to places that a normal shinobi couldn't go to—all thanks to the toads.
Jiraiya jumped out the window of his room, aligning the scroll across his waist. He then tied his hair back as usual, not concentrating on slipping when landing on a roof.
Naruto dodged a wind blade Hirano created with his arms. Naruto turned sideways and threw some shuriken at his opponent. He was separated from the rest of his team when he was hit by a Wind Jutsu and thrown several meters through the forest.
Hirano used his wind blade to deflect the shuriken. He had to duck because Naruto appeared behind him and attacked him with a kunai. The kunai just missed Hirano's head and glided over his body. Hirano quickly turned and rammed his wind blade into Naruto's body.
He only grinned slightly when he saw Naruto's pained look. But his grin faded very quickly as Naruto just puffed up in smoke. The ground beneath Hirano shook slightly, and shortly after that, Naruto's fist shot out.
Hirano could lean his body back and avoid Naruto's uppercut. He swung his windblade again and attacked Naruto with it. Naruto managed to dodge this time, though. He threw a kunai at high speed, and this time, Naruto caught his opponent in the shoulder.
Hirano gritted his teeth and was about to pull the kunai out of his body. But Naruto was faster. He did four hand signs and activated his jutsu. "Flames of Purgatory Jutsu!" Out of nowhere, Hirano was consumed in red-yellow flames. Hirano started screaming in pain. Naruto watched as the flames consumed his opponent, trapping and burning him.
This jutsu was a special fire Jutsu, which only he mastered himself. To activate this jutsu, he had to have a medium to set on fire. Like the kunai, he hit Hirano with. The Flames of Purgatory Jutsu stood out from other fire jutsus because these flames could not be extinguished. Be it a deluge or a tornado, nothing could quench those flames. The flames continued to burn until only a charred corpse remained. It could be said that these extremely hot flames had the same properties as Izumi's Amaterasu. Jiraiya was also learning this jutsu, but he hadn't managed to create these flames.
After 30 seconds, the flames around Hirano disappeared, leaving a charred corpse. Naruto didn't even flinch after killing his opponent.
He was no longer the naive little boy who only ever believed in the good in people. He had seen the truth in this world through traveling with Jiraiya. He knew very well that sometimes there was no other way, and he had to kill his opponent. He believed in the future that Jiraiya hoped for, yet he also knew that the future would probably never happen. Even so, Naruto would continue to believe in it.
Jiraiya knew that, too, but he still firmly believed it. Even if it was just for himself and gave him a reason to keep fighting, Jiraiya had seen a lot that not many people got to see at his age. The life of a shinobi wasn't exactly graced with glory. You killed, robbed, and did other things that weren't right, and yet it was the world that every shinobi was born into.
Naruto raised his hand and disappeared in a flicker. He now had to find his team members again and regroup with them. He was sure his comrades wouldn't have any trouble with the other two, but who knew if this team from Iwagakure was the only one around? A short time later, he appeared at the forest's edge and stopped.
In front of him were two shinobi from Iwagakure, and directly behind the two was a woman with long black hair. The two Sharingan, in her eyes, told Naruto directly who was there. The long black cloak with the red cloud pattern even told the two shinobi from Iwagakure standing before her.
Izumi Uchiha was one of the most famous missing ninjas in the world. Izumi had already locked both shinobi from Iwagakure in a genjutsu. The two shinobi from Iwagakure fell unconscious and fell to the ground.
Izumi closed her eyes before opening them again and looking directly into Naruto's eyes. Her Sharingan whirled around a bit, but that didn't trigger Naruto. Naruto wasn't immune to normal Genjutsu for nothing. He would only be concerned if the Sharingan evolved from Izumi to the special form.
"It's been quite a while since we've seen each other, Naruto." Izumi's stoic voice was the same as ever. She didn't show any emotion as required of a shinobi. It was not for nothing that she was an Anbu captain at 13.
"You're right. I take it you're here to stop intruders?" Naruto was already getting ready as Izumi got into a fighting stance. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance against Izumi if she used her special Sharingan. Add to that her absurd speed and strength. She wasn't an S-rank kunoichi for nothing, scaring even Orochimaru. There was hardly anyone who could defeat her in direct combat. Despite her limitations, she was one of the strongest shinobi alive.
"Like last time, you recognized the situation very quickly." Izumi's hand twitched slightly, and she immediately held several shuriken. She still didn't know exactly how Naruto always managed to break straight out of her genjutsu, but it didn't matter. She had other options than locking someone in a genjutsu.
Naruto was allowed to watch as Izumi unleashed fire from her mouth without making any hand seals. She threw all the shuriken through the fire and set them on fire. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Shuriken Jutsu." The flaming shuriken flew towards Naruto at high speed. Naruto just ran at high speed. Izumi smiled slightly when she saw Naruto's speed.
'He's gotten better since our last fight.' Izumi could see clearly with her Sharingan as Naruto dodged all the flaming shuriken and how the Rasengan formed over his palm. Izumi took another breath and unleashed a massive ball of fire from her mouth. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The fireball moved toward Naruto and hit him, too. There was a small explosion of fire, and as the resulting cloud of smoke cleared, Izumi couldn't see Naruto.
'Shadow Clone, huh?' Izumi was hit in the back by a Rasengan out of nowhere. The Rasengan buried itself in Izumi's back, and Izumi's face grimaced. Naruto knew right away that something was wrong. His suspicion was confirmed when Izumi vanished into smoke.
Just as he was about to look around, two kunai with paper bombs flew through the smoke from the Shadow Clone. Naruto was hit in the chest, and immediately, the paper bombs exploded, creating a cloud of black smoke.
A crow watched from a nearby tree. From its vantage point, the crow could see Naruto dissipate into smoke. Like Izumi before, Naruto had only been a Shadow Clone.
Several crows flew out of the forest and gathered in one spot in the clearing in front of the forest. Izumi became visible briefly, and immediately afterward, Naruto appeared in flicker a few meters in front of her.
"You've gotten fast, Naruto. You've learned a lot from Jiraiya." Izumi said.
"Thanks. But I'm not faster than you. Like you, I'm pretty good at using the Body Flicker Technique now and can use it in combat without any problems, but I'm still not faster than someone like you or Kakashi," Naruto said.
Every Shinobi knew the Body Flicker Technique. The question was always how well you could handle this jutsu. It always took concentration and practice before one could quickly move from one place to another using the Body Flicker Technique. It was difficult in a hectic fight, where you often only reacted instinctively and didn't always have the concentration for something like that. However, there were also shinobi who specifically trained this jutsu to make its use second nature. Thus, concentration would no longer matter in battle; a shinobi could also move faster. Naruto got the idea while fighting Izumi. It was difficult to use this jutsu often in a fight, but now Naruto, like other shinobi, could also use the body flicker technique in the middle of a fight. Using the Body Flicker Technique, he had always appeared out of nowhere in the fight against Kakashi. Be it over Kakashi or behind him.
"Also, I wanted a method to move very fast, just like my old man, until I learned the Flying Raijin someday," Naruto said. He was already very advanced in his studies on Sealing Jutsu. Of course, he had tried to learn Flying Raijin together with Jiraiya. But so far, he hadn't been able to master it successfully. He was 90% done with it, but the last 10% was harder than the 90% before. He already knew the seal itself and could also draw it. But it was far too big and consisted of too many characters. The "mark" of the jutsu was over 500 characters long in its basic form. Naruto had to find a way to shorten those 500 characters and use only a few characters, just like his father. Only then could he also begin to practice using the seal with just his chakra with a mere touch of his hand. Only the Second Hokage and the Fourth Hokage had mastered creating seals with just one's chakra and attaching them somewhere, at least in the style of Flying Raijin, where you wouldn't use hand signals and use your chakra to create the seal somewhere with a simple touch of your hand. Jiraiya couldn't help Naruto anymore because he couldn't learn this complex jutsu, even with Minato's notes. He had been trying for 20 years and couldn't make it. (A/N I know this isn't canon. I just made this method up, so there was an explanation in this story as to why almost no one could use the Flying Raijin.)
Of course, Izumi already knew who Naruto's parents were—a slight smile formed on her lips. Naruto did resemble Shisui a lot, even if Naruto had never met him. She missed her old comrade even today.
"Since we're at it. I have new information for you about your sister." Naruto got serious and looked straight at Izumi. Izumi lost her smile when Naruto started talking about her sister.
Izumi just stayed silent and looked at Naruto with a stoic look. Naruto took that as a sign to continue. "Orochimaru seems to need a new vessel sooner than we first thought. According to the information I got, Orochimaru will need a new vessel in a few months." Normally, everyone thought Orochimaru would not need a new vessel for another two years. Still, according to the latest information from Jiraiya, Orochimaru needed a new vessel within the next few months because his current vessel wasn't strong enough.
Izumi frowned, and Naruto could see her Sharingan change briefly before reverting to a normal Sharingan with 3 Tomoe. Naruto was already getting ready but sighed with relief.
"I'm sorry, Izumi, but I have to move on. We should move on since you can't let me pass like that." Naruto got into a fighting stance, and Izumi just nodded. Both ran towards each other and attacked each other with a kunai. Steel met steel as both swung their kunai. Naruto and Izumi looked at each other while the two rubbed kunai together. Both of their arms were shaking from the exertion.
Izumi could feel something entering her chakra network. She jumped away from Naruto and broke the Genjutsu right away. Kakashi and Sakura jumped out of the forest and landed next to Naruto.
"Naruto, are you alright?" Kakashi looked at Izumi. He would always remember the prodigy of the Uchiha clan. She was a prodigy in her own right. She was by far the village's biggest genius since the fourth Hokage. She was really in a league of her own. Kakashi would never fight her directly, knowing he would lose.
"It's okay, Kakashi. You're just in time." Naruto also looked at Izumi, but unlike Kakashi, Naruto looked her straight in the eyes.
"Kakashi, long time no see." Izumi's voice came out and addressed Kakashi. Even as a Missing Ninja, she still had some respect for her old Anbu captain. She had learned a lot from him, and through him, she had achieved a lot.
Before Kakashi or Sakura could ask what was happening, someone else appeared next to Izumi. The person was none other than Kisame Hoshigaki. He grinned and held Temari over his shoulder. She was unconscious. She was also separated from Kakashi and Sakura during the fight with Jin. When she was done with Hotaru, she wanted to join them, but Kisame appeared there and attacked her.
Kisame was too strong for Temari, and she quickly lost the fight. Her jutsus did not affect Kisame, as he would dodge the attack with his sword.
"You seem to have some problems, Izumi." Kisame grinned and looked at Team Kakashi. "Unfortunately, the boy is no longer a Jinchūriki; Samehada would have liked to taste his chakra."
"Don't underestimate our opponents, Kisame. Just think about the fight against Jiraiya." Kisame frowned but then grinned again. "Come on! We're talking about Jiraiya, one of the three legendary Sannin. It should be understandable that we would have problems against him."
Tsunade frowned as she saw the door close. She was annoyed by the conversation that had just taken place. She got up and looked out the window. She had to find a solution; otherwise, the old warmonger would still interfere. Once Danzō got involved, she wouldn't have much control, which wouldn't be good.
She needed to talk to Jiraiya again and discuss some things with him. He needed to be informed about the latest things. After all, he was the strongest shinobi in the village. Tsunade also needed to get back into her old form. The last few decades were not kind to her. She wasn't as strong as in the past, but that wasn't the big problem.
She wasn't the best medicine ninja in the world for nothing. She knew exactly how to regain her old strength in the shortest possible time. The possibilities of medicine were unlimited as long as you knew how. Tsunade knew how, and that's why it was possible to regain lost strength very quickly with special training.
'It's been a long time since I've fought Jiraiya.' Tsunade turned and walked out of her office. She didn't have time to wait for Jiraiya now. Shizune would come over and fill her in until she returned in a few hours.
She had to start training right away. She didn't know if she would have time for something like that once a war had started. Of course, she didn't hope that a war would break out. Still, she would be ready if it came to that.
A lot depended on the message Naruto would have to send soon. She could only hope that Team Kakashi would be successful.
Kakashi raised both arms and blocked the huge sword with two kunai. He deflected the sword to the side and countered with a powerful kick. The water rose out of nowhere between Kisame and Kakashi. The kick hit the water and was negated. Kakashi frowned and jumped back.
When he landed, he skidded a little over the water's surface. Kakashi looked around and couldn't see Kisame anymore. Kisame had gone into hiding. Kisame had earlier started the fight with an impressive jutsu. Kakashi could only imagine that Kisame must have as much chakra as Naruto. Kisame had produced a plethora of water with his chakra, flooding the entire forest. The forest was momentarily completely underwater. They could free Temari from Kisame's grasp through one action, but now they had to fight Kisame and Izumi together.
Temari was nowhere to be seen. Naruto brought her to safety with a toad and returned to his fight. Izumi was still in the process of fighting Naruto; so far, no one had been able to hurt the other.
Sakura helped Kakashi because he had some problems with Kisame. Kakashi was faster than Kisame but not as strong. Kisame was only slightly slower and could, therefore, always dodge all attacks or block them with his giant sword without any problems.
Sakura's genjutsu didn't help as he broke right out of them. Kakashi had a hunch as to why. Kisame's sword was a special weapon. It had a will of its own, able to absorb chakra and pass it on to Kisame. The weapon was like a living being that could give others chakra. With that ability, it's no wonder Kisame couldn't be locked into a genjutsu.
Sakura and Kakashi looked around, keeping the water surface in sight. Kakashi could see the tiniest changes in the water's surface with his Sharingan. Kakashi could see the water changing behind Sakura. "Watch out, Sakura!" Kakashi said. Sakura reacted directly and jumped away. Kisame appeared behind her at the same moment, swinging his huge sword. Thanks to Kakashi's warning and Sakura's quick reaction, she could jump away in time.
Sakura threw some kunai with paper bombs at Kisame. Kisame raised his sword and blocked the kunai with Samehada. 4 explosions shook the water's surface and created a cloud of black smoke. Sakura landed safely on both feet and faced the cloud of black smoke.
'I don't think that did anything.' thought Sakura. She couldn't go into melee combat because she was too slow. Kisame might not be as fast as Kakashi, but he was still faster than Sakura, and even if she were exactly as fast, she wouldn't be able to do anything. She focused the chakra on a certain spot in her body, and that's how she delivered such powerful punches. Samehada would suck the concentrated chakra out of her, and her punch would weaken and not be strong enough. Additionally, she didn't have enough chakra to let Samehada drain her.
Although Kakashi has only been in close combat with Kisame 6 times, she could see it. Kakashi was panting, and that directly signaled that he was exhausted. Kisame had already absorbed some of Kakashi's chakra. Kisame was still in great shape despite using this water jutsu initially. Sakura couldn't generate that much water with her chakra amount. She also didn't know yet what kind of element she had personally. She was more specialized in Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Medical Ninjutsu.
The black plume of smoke slowly disappeared, revealing Kisame. The explosions hadn't scratched him. His sword had protected him as before. He wasn't the strongest member of the seven sworders from Kirigakure for nothing.
Kisame grinned and raised his sword, which he put on his shoulder. "You're not that bad, Kakashi Hatake," Kisame said. He had fun in this fight. Unlike Izumi, Kisame enjoyed a good fight and loved fighting strong opponents.
Kakashi looked at Kisame with his Sharingan and gasped slightly. 'I was careless.' thought Kakashi. He had already lost half of his chakra. He raised his hand and reached into his pouch above his hip. He took a small box from his pouch and opened it. He took a chakra pill out of the box and popped it in his mouth. He immediately felt his reserves recovering, so he sighed once. He closed the box again and put it back in his pocket over his hip.
He pondered how best to fight someone like Kisame. A ranged jutsu wouldn't do anything because Samehada would absorb the attack. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, thinking, 'If only Gai was here, he could take care of Kisame. With his eight inner gates, he could defeat Kisame, ' he thought.
Ninjutsu and Genjutsu didn't get you very far with Kisame. Sakura's taijutsu also didn't work on Kisame through his sword.
Kisame's eyes widened when suddenly a tongue shot out of the water and wrapped itself around his leg. He was pulled under the water and immediately saw that a large toad had snapped his leg. He looked sideways and could see Naruto.
'Why is the brat here?' thought Kisame. He swung his sword and wanted to cut off the tongue, but the toad wouldn't let him. It turned to the left, pulling Kisame through the water. By changing direction, his sword blow missed.
The toad released Kisame and vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto looked down and saw all the kunai he had placed on the floor. He learned that Izumi had killed his last shadow clone. Naruto created a Rasengan in each hand and used them like boosters, shooting toward the water's surface.
Sakura saw Naruto suddenly shoot out of the water. "Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. Naruto spun around a bit and then clapped his hands together as he landed safely on the water's surface.
"Flames of Purgatory Jutsu!" All the kunai at the bottom of the body of water burst into flames. Naruto kept his hands together and concentrated. That massive body of water was a problem, especially against Kisame Hoshigaki. You couldn't see it, but a small inferno, which Naruto created, was raging at the bottom of the water. All the kunai and shuriken he had thrown on the ground with the help of the shuriken shadow clone jutsu and his toads burst into flames. The water masses could not extinguish these flames, so the water around the fire gradually evaporated.
Normally, the flames would die out immediately if they had nothing to burn, but in this case, Naruto was using his chakra as fuel. He kept the flames active with his chakra. Only someone like Naruto could do this. This method of keeping the flames active took a large amount of chakra. Usually, the jutsu would only be activated once, and after that, the flames would burn on their own until they killed the victim or until a tree was nothing but ashes. But at the bottom of the mass of water, the flames had nothing to burn on their own.
Kisame was still submerged when he realized it. Fires arose everywhere, merging into one massive inferno. The entire bottom of the water was on fire. He raised an eyebrow at first but then noticed it straight away. The water did not extinguish the flames but was vaporized by the extreme heat. His eyes widened, and he swam to the water's surface, which was already approaching him. The massive mass of water became smaller bit by bit.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, worried. She could see his entire body shaking and sweat pouring down his face. She knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything and just held his hands together.
Kakashi already noticed it. A few seconds ago, you couldn't see the tops of the trees, but now he could already see the trees in the water and see that the water was evaporating. His eyes widened when he saw all the flames.
Kisame appeared on the water's surface and looked at Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto. Izumi appeared next to Kisame. "The brat isn't bad," Kisame said. He grinned and rested his sword on his shoulder.
"You're right," Izumi said.
"If I didn't know better, the brat's flames have the same properties as your Amaterasu, Izumi," Kisame said. He looked at his partner, and she just kept quiet in response. She just looked at Kakashi, who was standing before Naruto and Sakura. The treetops slowly appeared, and because of that, Kisame and Izumi had to move a little to the side. Naruto unclasped his hands when the water was deep enough. The flames vanished as soon as Naruto untied his hands.
Sakura held out a chakra pill to him. She didn't know what kind of jutsu that was. But you could already think a lot about his condition. "Thanks, Sakura," Naruto said. He popped the chakra pill in his mouth and chewed on it. He immediately felt his reserves being filled again. The chakra pill was a lifesaver in many situations. But someone had to be careful. Using more than one or two in a short amount of time was dangerous. The consumer could die from too many chakra pills. (A/N I know that isn't canon either. I just made this up, so the chakra pills aren't op like the cells from Hashirama.)
Even though Naruto had dissolved the jutsu, the remaining water slowly disappeared into the ground. Naruto stood up, and after a few seconds, everyone was standing on the wet forest floor. "So… what's next?" Kisame asked with a grin.
Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked into Izumi's eyes. 'Damned. We can't get past those two. Kakashi and I have each had to use a chakra pill. This is not good.' thought Naruto.
He naturally had higher chakra reserves than Kakashi and Sakura combined. He had lost a lot of chakra when the Nine-Tailes were drained from his body. However, a few days after losing the Nine-Tail, he fully recovered. He only lived because he had a long lifespan through his Uzumaki blood and had a strong chakra. Without his Uzumaki blood, he would have died that day. His mother survived, too, and if she hadn't jumped in front of Naruto, then she would still be alive today.
Traveling non-stop and all the fighting and now the action with the fire, which he used to vaporize the massive mass of water, was a bit much even for him. He narrowed his eyes and stood next to Kakashi. Sakura stood next to Naruto and looked at her opponents again. (A/N Since this question could come up about how much Chakra Naruto has… like I wrote in the last chapter. Naruto still has large reserves, more than any other shinobi from Konoha. Even when he lost chakra because he lost the Nine-Tails… he still was a Uzumaki, and even without the Nine-Tails, Naruto had more Chakra than every other Shinobi from Konoha. After all his training, Neji wouldn't say that Naruto had less chakra than before he lost the Nine-Tails if he looked at Naruto with his Byakugan.)
Naruto's eyes widened as Izumi's Sharingan changed. "WE NEED TO GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Naruto turned to Sakura and hugged her before the two disappeared in one flickering motion. Kakashi did the same just before black flames formed out of nowhere at their old position.
Izumi closed her open eye and grunted once. She coughed afterward and put her hand over her mouth. She spat out some blood and then opened both her eyes. Her Sharingan returned to normal before wiping the blood from her eyes with both hands.
"You shouldn't have used Amaterasu, Izumi. You know you shouldn't use your special eyes so easily. You don't need your special eyes for those shinobi from Konoha." Kisame said. He put a hand on her shoulder, and immediately afterward, Izumi felt her spent chakra being refilled. Kisame could also give chakra to others and not just take another's chakra with Samehada and use it for himself.
"I know," Izumi said. She looked at the palm of her hand and at the blood she had just spat out. She just looked stoically at her hand and didn't move. 'Maybe I have to accept the offer after all. Otherwise, I don't have enough time.' thought Izumi.
Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were standing in front of a tree. "Thank you, Naruto," Sakura said.
Naruto nodded. "No problem, Sakura." Naruto said. He looked at Kakashi. "The only question is, what do we do now? Without help, we can't take care of the two together. Three of us could take out one of the two alone, but not together as a team." Naruto said.
Kakashi nodded. "That's right," Kakashi said.
Naruto looked up at the sky and could already see how the sun was about to set. Gaara was still alive, but not for much longer. The One-Tails would be successfully extracted from Gaara when the night was over. Naruto bit his finger once and then crouched down.
"Summoning Jutsu!" A black seal appeared under Naruto's palm, and immediately after that, a puff of smoke appeared. When the cloud of smoke cleared, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi could see a small red toad.
Naruto took his backpack off his back and opened it. He took out a scroll from there and a brush and ink. He put everything on the ground and opened the scroll. For whatever reason, the forest floor was dry again and no longer wet.
Sakura and Kakashi just watched Naruto as he wrote his report. Right now, it was important that Tsunade would know everything. It wasn't looking good for Team Kakashi. Naruto would do anything to save Gaara.
Naruto wrote quickly but neatly. The brush darted across the empty scroll, leaving character after character. After 2 minutes, Naruto finished and rolled up the scroll. He held the scroll up to the toad, and it opened its mouth. The toad took the scroll with its tongue, and then it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto then stowed the brush and ink back in his backpack.
He put the backpack back on, and right after that, Kisame and Izumi landed a few meters away from them. Naruto narrowed his eyes and stood between Sakura and Kakashi. Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto were ready for round 2. 'If only I could call Fukasaku and Shima, then we would have a chance. But without them, it will be difficult.' thought Naruto. He would need time to call the two elders to fight with them.
But at the moment, this was not possible. Naruto didn't want to call Gamabunta because Izumi could kill him with the Amaterasu. It would die if one of the big toads were hit with it. Of course, Naruto could seal the flames, but until he could do that, the flames would do a lot of damage, and Naruto would prefer to avoid that.
He had considered summoning a larger toad, but not after Izumi had used her Amaterasu. He had hoped she wouldn't use her special eyes. Even without her Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, she was stronger than anyone on Team Kakashi.
"Kisame, take care of them both. I'll take over Naruto." Izumi said. Kisame just shrugged and took Samehada off his shoulder. "As you wish," Kisame said. He didn't care who he would fight. It was a little more fun against two opponents than against just one.
Naruto and his team would have to come up with something. As it was now, the three couldn't hold their own against Kisame and Izumi. Naruto and Sakura weren't strong enough for that. Of course, both had become very strong, but Kisame and Izumi were older and had more experience. They weren't the feared S-Rank Missing Ninja for nothing. Every shinobi either had great respect for these two or was afraid of them.
All five people narrowed their eyes as they felt the ground shake. Several earth spikes shot out of the ground and attacked all five people. Everyone jumped away, dodging the earth's spikes. Naruto landed on a log and crossed his fingers. 4 shadow clones appeared around him, and they all disappeared immediately in a puff of smoke.
'It was a jutsu from Iwagakure. So, the three shinobi we fought before weren't all of them,' thought Naruto. So far, the shinobi from Iwagakure have not shown themselves. Naruto looked down and jumped away as if the tree had just gotten uprooted. He kept his arms close to his body and concentrated. When he hit the ground, he sank like he was about to jump into the water, disappearing as he did so.
Sakura and Kakashi were running through the forest, looking for Naruto. The two had lost sight of Naruto, Izumi, and Kisame because, after the first attack, both were attacked by other Jutsus and pushed further away.
It was always Earth-Style Justus, so it was clear who all attacked. There were more than just the three shinobi from before from Iwagakure nearby. The fight between Kisame, Izumi, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi caught the shinobi's attention.
Kakashi and Sakura had to stop because Naruto suddenly jumped out of the ground and landed before them. When he was back on the forest floor with both feet, the hole in the ground behind him closed again.
"Naruto, are you okay? What happened? Where have you been?" Kakashi asked.
"I moved underground so that I wouldn't be easy to find. I also used four shadow clones to gather information about the situation. Two teams from Iwagakure now fight against Kisame and Izumi." Naruto said.
"This could be our chance to get past them and finally save Gaara, after all," Naruto said with a serious face.
"Ok, let's go right now," Kakashi said. He, Sakura, and Naruto jumped right away. With the interference of the Iwagakure Shinobi, the three may have been given a golden opportunity to complete the mission.
Naruto pushed himself off a branch again. He looked over his shoulder as he got his last Shadow Clone's memory. 'So, she accepted my offer...I need to contact Jiraiya afterward.' thought Naruto.
"You're just a shadow clone, so I'll keep it short," Izumi said to the shadow clone of Naruto, standing before her.
The shadow clone just looked at her and listened to her. "You don't have much time, Naruto. Gaara may not have much longer to live. I can imagine that you think you have until sunrise. But that's wrong, you only have 4 hours left. If you are unsuccessful by then, the sealing of the one-tail will have been successful, and Gaara will die."
The Shadow Clone nodded, "Besides... I accept your offer. Meet me in 3 days at the place where we fought last time." Izumi said before the Shadow Clone was stabbed from behind. Izumi watched the Shadow Clone dissipate into smoke and then turned around. 'Hurry up, Naruto, or your friend will die, ' thought Izumi before disappearing into crows.
