January 18th 2005:

Silence travelled across the entire forest in the Land-Of-Rivers. Ryomen Sukuna and Kimimaro Kaguya stood at a distance from the reanimated body of Mangetsu Hozuki and prepared themselves.

The Reanimation-Jutsu was a technique that had a heavy involvement in the soul and Sukuna was capable of seeing its contours. However, he hadn't employed that element of his abilities ever in a real battle.

There was also the small chance of his perception of the soul having zero effect on those under the control of the Reanimation-Jutsu, but the probability was quite low. Sukuna glanced over at another area.

Kisame Hoshigaki had engaged Suigetsu Hozuki and Utakata in combat. Neither Kisame nor Utakata had even gone all out yet. Suigetsu's teeth were gritted in rage and he fought like a madman.

Kimimaro broke into Mangetsu's guard, stabbed a sharpened bone through his solar-plexus, and saw it dissolve into water. Unfazed by this, Kimimaro unsheathed a dagger-like bone and swung it down.

Mangetsu's body evaporated into water and reformed itself a second time. Kimimaro clicked his tongue in annoyance, tilting himself to the side and parrying numerous break-neck jabs from Mangetsu's blade.

"His proficiency in the blade is impressive." Kimimaro backed off, stopping next to Sukuna. "Do you think you have a way to beat him?"

"Kind of." Sukuna had closed his four eyes in contemplation. "I have a theory to test out, but you'll have to buy me some time for it to work."

"Sure." Kimimaro weaved under a sudden slash from Mangetsu's blade. "But this fight will be a stale-mate until we can stop him."

Mangetsu stuck his finger out at Kimimaro and shot a bullet of water into his shoulder, shattering the dense bone layered over it. Kimimaro body-flickered in front of him, then slammed a kick into his chest.

"How irritating." Kimimaro mused, materializing a new dense bone on his shoulder for defense. "Physical attacks are just useless on him."

Kimimaro's kick had scattered Mangetsu into water for a moment, but he restored his reanimated body to normal and punched Kimimaro. Staggering from the ruthless strike, Kimimaro reorientated himself.

"His physical strength isn't that subpar." Kimimaro tossed his dagger-like bone aside. "Nothing I do will be able to harm him."

Sukuna stepped forth at last, sighed in concentration, and flicked his fingers in a downward motion. Kimimaro watched Mangetsu disintegrate into a flood of particles, much longer than last time.

"It's still incomplete." Sukuna grunted. "I've never used my perception of the soul, so the best I can do is slow his regenerative ability."

"That scroll that Kisame used to summon Mangetsu." Kimimaro mentioned to him. "Do you think we should try and take it from him?"

"He did say that the Jutsu was encoded into the scroll." Kimimaro pointed out. "So whoever has it might be able to deactivate the Jutsu."

"Huh, good idea." Sukuna summoned Nue and the Shikigami released projectiles of electricity upon Mangetsu. "Go and retrieve the scroll."

(-)

Kisame knocked Utakata through a number of boulders and buried him into a pile of broken twigs. Samehada clashed against the blade that Suigetsu had unsealed from his storage-scroll and cracked it.

"I can't blame you for being so mad!" Kisame chuckled at the pure irritation on Suigetsu's features. "But I'm not interested in fighting you!"

"Tough luck, you bastard!" Suigetsu pushed his blade into Samehada and gestured his index finger at Kisame. "I'll be taking you down!"

Bullets of water zipped towards Kisame, but he retracted Samehada and swatted them to the side. Kisame felt a third presence behind him and retaliated fast enough to redirect Kimimaro's punch downwards.

"The best way to nullify the Hydrification-Technique is lightning-style." Kisame crouched beneath a series of bone pellets. "Hah, close one."

Utakata sprinted out of the bushes, returned to the fray of battle, and spat out a heavy deluge of water into the forest. Flipping upwards, Kisame landed on a tree-branch and stared at his three opponents.

"The Jinchuriki hasn't used the six-tails' chakra yet in our fight." Kisame thought. "Out of these three, the Jinchuriki is the strongest."

"What's the goal here?" Suigetsu glanced at Kimimaro in curiosity. "Why aren't you helping Sukuna out against Mangetsu, Kimimaro?"

"He sent me here to get that scroll." Kimimaro responded. "We might be able to deactivate the Reanimation-Jutsu if we get a hold of it."

"You two can focus on that." Utakata channelled more chakra into his muscles and disappeared. "I'll handle Kisame and you get the scroll."

Kisame leaped off of the tree-branch, meeting Utakata mid-air and smacking Samehada into his jaw. Utakata coughed out some blood, fought through the brief feeling of pain, and axe-kicked his shoulder.

Crashing into the soil, Kisame leaped to his feet and cut Samehada into the ginormous arm of water that Utakata had conjured. A second later, Utakata jumped away from a water creature shaped like a shark.

Utakata widened his eyes in irritation when Kisame body-flickered in front of him and slammed Samehada into his abdomen. Kisame chortled at him, amusement on his face. "Is that all you got, six-tails?"

Kimimaro burst from the bushes behind Kisame, hand out-stretched for the scroll peeking out of his pocket. Suigetsu appeared above him, hammering the flat part of his blade onto Kisame's head to stun him.

Shattering after it hit Kisame's head, the blade collapsed in a pile of broken material. Kimimaro was about to snatch the scroll, but Kisame had whirled around and had smacked Samehada into his solar-plexus.

"My chakra!" Kimimaro realized. "I forgot what Suigetsu told me about Samehada—it has the ability to drain the chakra of whoever it targets."

Kisame swung Samehada once again into Kimimaro's solar-plexus and hurled him into Suigetsu—who dissolved into water and reformed. Discarding the remains of his blade, Suigetsu tensed his muscles.

Utakata appeared next to Kisame and struck his palm into his ribcage. Kisame lurched back, but the wide sardonic grin on his face remained. Suigetsu saw his chance, slid forward, and snatched Kisame's scroll.

"That took way too long!" Suigetsu groused to himself in annoyance. "Hey, Utakata, do you think you'll be fine fighting him on your own?"

"I'll be fine." Utakata glared at Kisame. "I might have to rely on the six-tails' chakra to beat him. He is called the Tailless-Tailed-Beast."

"Good!" Kisame watched Suigetsu and Kimimaro leave the area. "Those two pests are gone. Let's see how powerful you really are!"

(-)

Sukuna stared at the dozens of water bullets being directed at him. Nue was perched on a tree-branch. Shadows twisted and Max-Elephant stomped out from them. Water shot out from its trunk.

The water bullets dispersed upon being assailed by the high-pressure stream of water from the elephant-themed Shikigami. Dispelling Max-Elephant into the shadows, Sukuna clasped his palms together.

A straight line of blood penetrated Mangetsu's knee and he collapsed. Once his reanimated body restored itself to its usual state, he jumped to his feet, sprinted at Sukuna in a blur, and lashed his blade out.

Sukuna stepped back and let the blade graze thin air. Mangetsu's emotionless eyes peered upwards as Kimimaro and Suigetsu appeared next to Sukuna. Opening the scroll, Suigetsu blinked at it.

"Yeah." Suigetsu tossed the scroll to Kimimaro. "I have zero clue on how the hell we're supposed to use this to deactivate the technique."

"It's some sort of Jutsu formula, at least I think it is." Kimimaro looked at the scroll. "Kisame did say that the Jutsu was encoded into it."

Nue flew off the tree-branch that it was on, letting loose a powerful pulse of electricity towards Mangetsu and flinging him into the bushes. Sukuna dismissed his Shikigami, glanced at the scroll, and sighed.

"Can either of you deactivate the Reanimation-Jutsu?" Sukuna asked them. "If you can't use the scroll, then our best bet is sealing him."

"That sucks for us since none of us know any sealing Jutsu." Suigetsu folded his arms. "I'm guessing Kisame doesn't know how to either."

Mangetsu lunged out from the bushes, blade pointed at them. Sukuna touched the blade and it crumbled in a pile of metal. Kimimaro stared at the Jutsu formula on the scroll, but was unable to understand it.

Sukuna pressed his palm into Mangetsu's chest, unleashing several Cleaves upon him. All of the soul damage that Mangetsu had experienced managed to slow the healing of his reanimated body.

"This is what happened when I tried it earlier." Sukuna grunted. "Utakata has the best chance at understanding that Jutsu formula."

Skidding back from Sukuna, Mangetsu performed a hand-seal and spikes of water erupted from the river close to them. Sukuna flipped over them, landed on a boulder, and leaped towards Mangetsu.

Kimimaro stayed back, trusting Sukuna to handle the situation long enough for him to understand at least a portion of the Jutsu formula on the scroll. Suigetsu held off from helping, instead watching the fight.

Infusing more cursed-energy into his knuckles, Sukuna struck Mangetsu in the jaw and kicked him in the stomach. Mangetsu trembled before Sukuna axe-kicked his shoulder in quick succession.

"His Taijutsu isn't half-bad." Sukuna blocked a punch to the nose from Mangetsu. "But I can't waste too much time fighting against him."

"Wait a second." Kimimaro charged chakra into the Jutsu formula on the scroll and paused Mangetsu's movements. "It ended up working."

The Jutsu formula had different sections scribbled on the scroll—Kimimaro had flared his chakra into it out of curiosity. Sukuna stepped back, appearing beside Kimimaro and Suigetsu to check the scroll.

"Great, you can use the scroll!" Suigetsu clapped his hands. "Can you free Mangetsu's soul from that reanimated body or whatever now?"

"I think so." Kimimaro flared his chakra into the third part of the Jutsu formula drawn onto the scroll. "That should have worked, let's see."

Sukuna looked over at where Mangetsu stood, noticed a bright glow from his reanimated body, and watched it crumble. Mangetsu's translucent soul floated upwards and disappeared soon afterwards.

"He could have waved or something." Suigetsu groused, then snatched the scroll from Kimimaro and destroyed it. "There we go."

"I'll have to train my soul-related abilities more." Sukuna clenched his fist. "I was only able to slow down Mangetsu's regenerative power."

The three of them ventured into the area where Utakata and Kisame were—Utakata upper-cut Kisame and slammed him into the soil. Samehada drained his chakra and smacked him on the chest.

Kisame leaped to his feet and created some distance between himself and everyone else. "So the three of you managed to stop that Jutsu?"

"Yep." Suigetsu unsealed a second blade from a storage-scroll and pointed it at him. "Do you mind handing Samehada over to me?"

Amused, Kisame snorted and shouldered Samehada. "I'm afraid that you'll have to get a different weapon from someone else."

Out of nowhere, a swarm of crows fluttered across the area and Itachi Uchiha stepped out from them. Kisame lowered Samehada and glanced at Itachi. "Have you got an update for me on the situation?"

"The extraction of the one-tail was a success." Itachi proclaimed in a cold tone. "The Kazekage has also died because of the extraction."

"How sad." Kisame scoffed, gesturing Samehada at Utakata. "Did the boss send you here to help out in catching the six-tails Jinchuriki?"

"No." Itachi activated his Mangekyo-Sharingan and a chill spread across the air of the forest. "Ryomen Sukuna, it has been some time."

The Akatsuki members who Suigetsu, Kimimaro, and Utakata met were Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori, and Deidara. Utakata had met Kisame and Itachi twice, but those were short encounters from a while ago.

Sukuna had met all of the main members of the Akatsuki at different points in time. Itachi snapped his gaze towards Suigetsu and Kimimaro and locked them into some kind of high-level Genjutsu.

"And the six-tails Jinchuriki." Itachi spoke to Utakata. "I remember that we've met a couple of times, but you were able to escape from us."

Utakata covered himself in a shroud of Saiken's chakra, teeth clenched in concentration. Kisame motioned Samehada at him. Utakata and Kisame rushed at each other and vanished from the area.

"Ryomen Sukuna." Itachi's Mangekyo-Sharingan glowed crimson. "You have made quite the stir in events since you left Konoha."

"So people keep telling me." Sukuna tilted his head to the side. "Why are you here? It's obvious you didn't come here to help out Kisame."

"There is no particular reason." Itachi's tone was bored, lacking any emotion. "Let us say that I wanted to test out how powerful you are."

Itachi cast a hand-seal and shot out a massive fire-ball at him. Max-Elephant stomped out from the shadows, lifted its trunk, released a river of high-pressure water, and dispelled the ball of fire into fumes.

Dismissing his Shikigami, Sukuna sprinted towards Itachi and struck his fist out. Side-stepping Sukuna's fist, Itachi embedded a chakra-enhanced punch into his stomach and launched him back.

Regaining his footing in an instant, Sukuna clasped his hands together and aimed a Piercing-Blood at Itachi's chest. Itachi pulled a Kunai from his sleeve, coated it in fire-natured chakra, and cut it into the straight line of blood to split it into two.

Sukuna separated his hands, but failed to parry a punch to the face when Itachi body-flickered in front of him. Itachi slid back from him, then performed two hand-seals and spewed out a flood of flames.

A Dismantle dispersed the sudden flood of flames targeted at him. Sukuna unleashed a second Dismantle upon Itachi. Instead of Itachi, a log was hit in his stead and was sliced apart into several pieces.

Itachi body-flickered behind him before Sukuna whirled around and fended off a roundhouse kick to the face. Sukuna punched Itachi. However, it turned out this version of Itachi was a Shadow-Clone.

The original Itachi stood across from him at a decent distance, features blank and impassive. Itachi failed to cast a Genjutsu on him. "So the intel in the Bingo-Book was right, he is immune to Genjutsu."

Sukuna blurred towards him and Itachi swatted a punch aside. Unrelenting, Sukuna upper-cut Itachi in the jaw. Itachi looked unrattled, kept himself afoot, and blocked a kick to the chest.

Diverting a ruthless haymaker upwards, Itachi buried his chakra-enhanced knuckles into Sukuna's chest. Sukuna stumbled back, re-entered his stance for combat, and clenched his fists.

"You are quite skilled indeed." Itachi stepped back, tone bland like usual. "But you must get much stronger for your future hurdles."

A moment later, Kisame was hurled into the mud. Utakata appeared in the area—Samehada had drained some of Saiken's chakra from him. Kisame leaped to his feet, cracking his neck and grinning in plain amusement.

"The one-tail has already been extracted from its vessel, Kisame." Itachi said. "We can capture the six-tails Jinchuriki at a later time."

"Whatever, sure." Kisame chuckled in response. "Just don't blame me when the old boss gets mad at us for letting the Jinchuriki escape."

Utakata reached his hand out for them, but Itachi and Kisame had disappeared. Dispelling Saiken's chakra, Utakata approached Kimimaro and Suigetsu and freed them from Itachi's Genjutsu.

"That was Itachi Uchiha who put us into that Genjutsu, wasn't it?" Kimimaro sighed. "How did the fight go? I'm guessing they left."

"Yeah." Utakata scowled to himself. "He told us that the one-tail has already been extracted from the fifth Kazekage. We were too late."

"What are we going to do now?" Suigetsu asked them. "Should we get to the place where you detected all those other Akatsuki members?"

"We'll spit up." Utakata pointed at the bushes. "Head over to the place where I sensed the chakra of other members of the Akatsuki."

"Come on." Sukuna rolled his shoulders, stepped through the bushes, and said. "We've wasted enough time."

(-)

Naruto Uzumaki glared at the winged clay bird that Deidara was on. Gaara was held in its mouth. Teeth gritted in unbridled anger, Naruto performed five hand-signs and let loose a stream of wind upwards.

Deidara's winged clay creature outmaneuvered the stream of wind. Naruto scowled at him, leaped up and used a basic application of wind-natured chakra to boost himself into a higher position in the air.

"The nine-tails Jinchuriki is so dull." Deidara tossed a few small clay spiders at Naruto and cast a hand-seal. "I'd rather fight Hatake."

Naruto spotted the clay spiders and summoned a Shadow-Clone. It acted as a foothold—Naruto kicked himself off of it, flew over the explosion that Deidara had set off, and landed on the clay bird.

Dispelling his Shadow-Clone, Naruto slammed his fist into Deidara's face and punched him off of the clay creature. Deidara grinned at him in mockery. Scowling, Naruto saw the clay spiders on the creature.

Clapping, Naruto shoved his palms at the clay spiders and conjured a powerful stream of wind from his hands to knock them off the clay bird. Deidara furrowed his brows, skidding down and across the soil.

Naruto summoned a Shadow-Clone and it took Gaara out of the clay bird's mouth. The Shadow-Clone descended onto an area away from Deidara alongside Gaara to take him somewhere safe and secure.

Naruto also landed onto the soil.

"You do realize that he's dead?" Deidara threw his head back and laughed. "There really isn't a point in trying to fight me, is there?"

"Shut the hell up, you bastard!" Naruto's sapphire eyes flickered red. "I'll make you and the rest of the Akatsuki pay for killing Gaara!"

"I'm so scared, you pest." Deidara mocked him. "I'm pretty sure the boss also wanted us to capture the nine-tails and six-tails Jinchuriki."

Bursting into action, Naruto rushed at Deidara and smacked his knuckles into his abdomen. Deidara grunted in pain, but buried his knee into Naruto's stomach. The two of them created some distance.

Deidara smirked and motioned his hand at Naruto's shoulder. Naruto glanced at his shoulder, noticing the clay figurine perched on it. An explosion was soon set off, covering the area in fumes for a few seconds.

Once the fumes cleared up, Deidara blinked in disbelief and sneered. Naruto had shoved the clay figurine off of his shoulder at the last second and had dived out of the immediate range of the explosion.

Naruto stared at his charred hand—red bubbles of chakra touched it and healed his wound. Sprinting towards Deidara, Naruto struck his stomach. Deidara gasped in a mixture of pain and annoyance.

Recovering in the blink of an eye, Deidara slid to the side, hurled some clay spiders on the soil, and set them off. Naruto leaped above the explosion this time. However, Deidara had made his next move.

Naruto stared at the clay figurines thrown at him in annoyance, casting three hand-seals and spitting out bullets of air at them. The bullets of air destroyed the clay figurines, scattering them into small bits of clay.

Deidara performed a hand-seal and the miniature pieces of clay detonated. Landing on the ground, Naruto escaped the radius of the small explosions and appeared behind Deidara in a blur.

Spinning around, Deidara pushed his foot out to kick Naruto's chest. Naruto batted his leg downwards, clenched his fist, smacked a merciless punch into Deidara's stomach, and propelled him back.

Deidara staggered backwards and clutched his stomach in irritation. Calling out for the clay bird that had held him and Gaara earlier, Deidara hopped onto it in a hurry and flew out of the battle-field.

"Get back here!" Naruto shouted at him, clicking his tongue in frustration. "Whatever, I'm sure Shikamaru can catch him."

Naruto's Shadow-Clone arrived in the clearing once it had realized that the battle had ended. Gaara was in its hands. Placing Gaara's corpse onto the grass, the Shadow-Clone dispelled itself afterwards.

"Damn it!" Naruto gritted his teeth. "If we managed to get to their hideout sooner, then he wouldn't have died! This is my fault—!"

"—I see that you've rescued him." A stoic voice said. Utakata walked out from the bushes. "Naruto Uzumaki, my name is Utakata."

"You! Aren't you the one from Sukuna's team?!" Naruto asked him in a tone of recognition. "Wait, what the hell are you doing here?!"

"I'm the Jinchuriki for the six-tails myself." Utakata said. "The Akatsuki are an organization whose main goal is to extract the Tailed-Beasts."

"So I want to stop them." Utakata announced. "Most people would think it's out of self-preservation and, yes, that is part of the truth."

"But I also want to help other Jinchuriki." Utakata smiled a little. "I developed an experimental seal that could be able to heal them."

Utakata took out a scroll from his kimono and opened it. There was a seal on the scroll. "If the death was recent, then this seal might work."

"Naruto, channel the nine-tails' chakra into the seal." Utakata placed the scroll on Gaara's chest. "The seal will use it to restore his vitality."

"It only works on a Jinchuriki or former Jinchuriki and if the time of the extraction was recent." Utakata nodded. "Try and see if it works."

Naruto covered his hand in a layer of the Kyuubi's chakra and channelled it into the seal. Gaara blinked his eyes open, then jolted upwards and let out a gasp. Naruto grinned. "Hah, you're awake!"

"Good." Utakata picked up the scroll, hid it in his kimono, and turned around to face the bushes. "There's no point in me sticking around."

(-)

Kimimaro, Suigetsu, and Sukuna entered the hideout where Utakata had sensed the presences of the other Akatsuki members. The remains of several broken puppets were scattered across the ground.

"Yo."

Kakashi Hatake was seated on a smooth-surfaced stone. "What happened to all of you? We could have used the extra help."

"Don't blame me." Sukuna snorted in response. "Kisame intercepted our path and somehow got his hands on the Reanimation-Jutsu."

"The Reanimation-Jutsu, huh?" Kakashi scratched his chin. "I'll have to tell lady Hokage about it. The Akatsuki having that isn't ideal."

"They must have gotten it from Orochimaru." Shikamaru had sealed puppet parts into a storage-scroll. "Have they made an alliance?"

"There's a chance that they could have." Kakashi waved his hand. "We'll be better off talking about this once we return to Konoha."

Utakata appeared next to Sukuna in a blur and whispered. "I managed to heal the fifth Kazekage from the effect of having his Biju extracted."

"Huh, that's good news at least." Sukuna turned to his teammates. "The three of you head back to the Land-Of-Fire. I'll catch up later."

"You sure?" Suigetsu raised an eye-brow. "Won't the Sand-Shinobi and your buddies from Konoha try to catch you since this is over?"

"It'll be fine." Sukuna shrugged. "Just head back to the western cabin in the Land-Of-Fire. I still have some business to wrap up here."

"Alright, we'll trust you on this decision." Kimimaro nodded. "But make sure not to get captured by them. Let's leave, Utakata and Suigetsu."

Kimimaro, Utakata, and Suigetsu vanished from the area. Three minutes passed in an awkward silence before Naruto returned alongside Gaara. Shikamaru looked relieved by Gaara's survival.

"Jinchuriki are meant to die after the extraction of their Tailed-Beast." Kakashi looked at Sukuna. "Did his teammate somehow interfere?"

"Hey, Sukuna! Don't forget what I told you! We're gonna fight!"

"Yeah, I remember."

"I'd be happy to let you fight on the village outskirts." Gaara leaned against a rock for support. "I'll also make an order to leave you alone."

(-)

Kakashi and Shikamaru stood on the sidelines in the outskirts of Sunagakure. Naruto rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. Sukuna flexed his fingers, tilted his head, and scratched his hair.

"Is this really a good idea?" Shikamaru asked Kakashi in a gruff tone. "Standard protocol dictates that we should capture a Rogue-Ninja."

"I'm sure they'll let us off the hook this time." Kakashi's mask crinkled in good-natured amusement. "Besides, we have some time to spare."

"And it is a good way of analyzing more of Sukuna's skills upfront." Shikamaru rubbed his neck. "Ah, whatever, not like I care that much."

Naruto and Sukuna stood across from each other. Weathered rocks surrounded them on the sand-covered surface. Waving his fist, Naruto grinned. "Once I beat the hell out of you, you'll realize I'm stronger!"

"Keep dreaming, moron."

"Oh, shut up! You're the idiot!"

"Imbecile!"

"Numbskull!"

"Alright, that's enough of that." Kakashi cut into their chatter. "You two will fight on the count of three. One, two, and three! Begin now!"

Naruto summoned numerous Shadow-Clones—who performed a series of hand-seals and emitted surges of winds from their mouths. Sukuna stared at them, then flicked his hand in a downward motion.

Each surge of wind directed at him was dispelled in an instant. Naruto dispersed the rest of his clones, opting for a direct confrontation in hand-to-hand combat. Rushing at Sukuna, he struck him in the jaw.

Sukuna slammed a right hook into his face, roundhouse kicked his stomach, and hurtled him into a weathered stone. Spitting out some blood, Naruto grinned and disappeared in a distortion.

"His physical speed and strength have increased." Sukuna batted a chakra-enhanced blow to the left. "And his Taijutsu is good."

A punch to the sternum disrupted Naruto's balance for a moment. Naruto rebalanced himself, driving his knee into Sukuna's chin. Sukuna staggered back, but caught Naruto's fist and hit his nose.

Some blood leaked from Naruto's nostrils. Sukuna let go of Naruto's wrist and got elbowed in the gut. Naruto pulled a Kunai from his sleeve until a white-furred wolf burst out from the shadows.

Surprised, Naruto failed to stop it from biting his Kunai and shattering it into pieces of broken metal. Sukuna dispelled his Shikigami, then knocked his elbow into Naruto's chest and flung him backwards.

Going through several hand-seals, Naruto hurled a plethora of wind-made projectiles at him. They penetrated Sukuna's shoulders—though he used Reverse-Cursed-Technique to heal them.

Skidding against the sand, Naruto tilted himself to the side and slid back from the Piercing-Blood aimed at him. Naruto clicked his tongue when Sukuna appeared in front of him and kicked him in the stomach.

Naruto lurched back, stepping forth a moment later and slapping Sukuna's punch downwards. A Shadow-Clone was conjured behind Sukuna. It shoved Sukuna into Naruto's fist and he punched his face.

"Huh." Shikamaru leaned against a large stone. "It looks more like your usual brawl. They're using a minimal amount of Ninjutsu."

"It was normal for Naruto and Sukuna to only use Taijutsu." Kakashi spoke from the sidelines. "But Naruto's Ninjutsu repertoire has grown."

Kakashi and Shikamaru turned their attention to the fight once more. Sukuna flipped over a barrage of Kunai that Naruto's Shadow-Clone had tossed at him, whirled around mid-air, and axe-kicked Naruto.

Stunned at the sensation of pain from the top of his head, Naruto got kicked in the side of the head and launched across the terrain. Jumping to his feet, Naruto blurred at Sukuna and struck his chest.

Naruto grabbed him by the collar and threw him into a rock. Sukuna emerged from it, flexing his fingers and glancing at his Shadow-Clone. A Dismantle scattered it into nothing as he raced towards Naruto.

Sukuna shoved his elbow into Naruto's solar-plexus and propelled him backwards. Forging onwards, Sukuna aimed his fist forward. Naruto used the Substitution-Jutsu and body-flickered away.

Turning his back on the block of wood that had replaced Naruto, Sukuna lifted his arm and parried a front-kick to the sternum. Naruto conjured a Shadow-Clone next to himself and it backhanded him.

Sukuna touched the clone and it dispersed from the effects of Cleave. Naruto grunted out in pain from the merciless punch that was bashed into his abdomen. Coughing a little, Naruto took several steps back.

"I think that's enough." Kakashi body-flickered closer to them. "It was a good fight, both of you. I'm glad to see how much you've improved."

"Yeah, thanks!" Naruto grinned, then looked at Sukuna. "Next time we fight, I'm gonna win! Make sure you don't stop training, numbskull."

"Gotcha." Sukuna chuckled, using Reverse-Cursed-Technique to heal his injuries. "So, are the three of you going to try and capture me?"

"No." Shikamaru approached them, shaking his head. "It'd be too troublesome. Though, next time, I do plan to follow standard protocol."

Kakashi patted Naruto on the shoulder and nodded at Shikamaru—the two of them headed somewhere else on the outskirts of the village.

Naruto elbowed Sukuna and told him. "I'd rather drag you back to the village."

"I ain't a fan of you leaving the village, but I guess I can understand it." Naruto scowled. "It's Sasuke that I'm worried about. He went to Orochimaru."

"I haven't seen Sasuke at all in the last three years." Sukuna scratched his hair. "I've seen Orochimaru, but Sasuke wasn't around."

"Where the hell has that moron been?" Naruto clicked his tongue in confusion. "Whatever! I'll see you later, Sukuna. Don't get in trouble!"

"Same to you." Sukuna watched Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kakashi leave the area. "I guess it's time to leave."

Sukuna disappeared.

A/N: Thanks for reading.