26 - Tunnel Vision

Teams 7 and 8 took refuge beneath a tarp draped across massive, sprawling tree roots. The 'roof' was held in place by handmade wooden stakes. The hastily constructed tent did its job of protecting everyone from the elements. Adding yet another measure of security, Sakura cast a weak Genjutsu to make the tent appear as nothing more than an unremarkable patch of forest. Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura kept watch from different sides of the tent while the others either nursed their wounds, stoked a small fire, or slept.

The group had taken shifts between resting and scanning for enemy teams for the past hour. Their chakra pools refilled in no time due to a lack of combat, but everybody's physical well-being was another story. Kiba's leg was still giving him trouble, though Hinata's quick first aid staved off infection. One of Sasuke's arms and both of his legs were scratched to the point of bleeding after his scuffle with Gaara. Shino's bugs were fast asleep due to overtaxing themselves in back to back fights, so he busied himself with putting on a pot of water for cooking. He set some aside in a separate bowl to use for cleaning wounds.

Naruto pinged nodes at every corner of the makeshift campground. So far, none of his alarm seals around the perimeter had gone off. Hinata whispered that a rabbit got caught in one of Kiba's snare traps, so Akamaru loped off to fetch the captured prey. This was good, Naruto told himself. A rabbit along with the fish, berries, wild herbs and nuts, and water they collected so far would keep them fed long enough to make it through the day. He sighed and pulled his hand away from the nearest seal, disconnecting himself from the security system.

"Still nothing, Sakura?" He looked to the pink-haired kunoichi, who knelt beside a totem-like hub where multiple wire traps converged.

"No luck so far," she said with a sigh.

Sakura had recreated the complicated looking contraption from memory in a matter of minutes. According to her, this detection device was often used by ninja in the field to avoid ambushes on travel breaks. Naruto wasn't about to challenge its reliability. Sakura had a knack for pulling random encyclopedic information out of thin air even as far back as the academy, after all.

Entranced with her current task, Sakura sat still as a stone waiting for something to tug at one of the strings. Skipping a few rocks to evade the minefield of traps, Akamaru landed with a plop inside the bounds of camp. Sakura almost jumped out of her skin before realizing he wasn't an enemy. The ninja hound handed an entangled, squealing bundle of fur over to Kiba, who patted his head before pulling the twitching rabbit out from between his set of sharp teeth.

"Good boy, Akamaru!" Kiba said. He threw a treat that Akamaru retrieved with an acrobatic flip. "Hey Shino, you know how to skin and cook a rabbit?"

"No. Insects are my forte, but not necessarily all wildlife."

"Right," the dog lover said. He huffed. "Well, I'd do it myself, but I'm not allowed to move."

Shino glanced at him from behind midnight black shades. "Kiba," he said with a touch of irritation, "Hinata kindly cared for you and has asked you to get some rest." He looked at Kiba's bandaged leg. "The reason is because if you get an infection or make your wound worse, we won't be able to escape our foes. You should be a little more grateful."

"Tch!" Kiba snorted, unable to argue the point. "Yeah, I know. I am grateful! It just sucks being a sitting duck like this is all."

"We're not sitting ducks," Sasuke interrupted, sitting up from his small cot to stretch. "We can all do something, even if it may not feel super important. Take Naruto, for instance: even he's making himself useful."

Naruto blew a raspberry, smiling in spite of the jab.

"I guess." Kiba frowned down at his bad leg. Then his eyes lit up with inspiration. "Hinata! I've got an idea. C'mere a second."

Hinata snapped out of hyperfocusing on her watchpost duties and walked over to hear him out. Per his guidance, she traded places with Sasuke, taking the restrained rabbit from Kiba. She made use of her Gentle Fist Style to help the creature gently pass away. Its little heart beat slower and slower, then not at all. The death was painless. Shedding a few compassionate tears, Hinata steeled herself for the task at hand and grabbed a kunai from her pouch. She prepped their fresh catch for what was sure to be a hearty stew by following Kiba's detailed instructions.

Craggy cliffs stretched on and on around a clone of Jiraiya as he beelined for the trees. If he was lucky, he could lose the others and get a message out before too long. His original was more than capable of fighting one or two S-class ninja, but this many? Victory seemed far out of reach. If anything, his best bet was to gather intel on the Akatsuki and their base, then get out before they wore down his chakra reserves. If worse came to worst, reverse summoning was always an op-

A sharp projectile tore past Clone Jiraiya, embedding itself into the grass between the mountainous wasteland and the forest. He came to an abrupt halt and looked around for the one responsible. Whoever was approaching hadn't set off Jiraiya's sensory barrier, staying just out of range. That didn't bode well for him. The slightest injury would prove fatal. He was a mere clone, after all.

A man materialized from thin air and descended to the ground in front of Jiraiya, his eyes a piercing crimson that matched the red clouds on his Akatsuki robe. He said nothing at first, merely leveling a serious stare at the Sannin. Jiraiya's clone gasped. Distracted by the metaphorical target on his back, the high likelihood of running into a fellow Leaf Village spy slipped his mind.

"Itachi?" he said, stepping back. "What are you doing?"

"My duty as a member of the Akatsuki," the boy replied with a flat tone. He bent to retrieve his kunai from the ground where it rested, pommel facing skyward like a lightning rod. The Uchiha's lips morphed into a wicked smirk and he rushed in, kunai poised to impale Jiraiya.

Even a clone of the sage had no issue blocking the kunai strike with a kunai of his own. They crossed blades, struggling against one another. Jiraiya grunted, searching the young man's eyes for any sign of compassion. Their soulless stare offered none.

Jiraiya shoved Itachi back, careful to use just enough force to put distance between them while he analyzed the situation.

This didn't make any sense. That kunai throw missed by a hair. If not for his sensory bubble, it would've taken him out before he knew what hit him. Why was Itachi attacking him with intent to kill? If the intel from Minato was still up to date, then he should have had an ally in the ex-Anbu member. Jiraiya dismissed the possibility of Itachi being under the influence of the Akatsuki leader the moment their weapons touched. His chakra was undisturbed. Something else was going on here.

Itachi melted into the wind like scattered dust, leaving behind pitch black feathers. Jiraiya tracked his chakra with ease, eyes settling on a twirling finger peeking from beneath Itachi's cloak.

The world spun.

All of a sudden, it was as if Itachi himself were in control of Earth's gravity. Yet Jiraiya did not fall. Instead, he found himself standing 'wrongside up.' The sky, now a bottomless floor, was submerged in darkness.

"What?" he whispered. "Genjutsu?"

Insulted by this underestimation, Jiraiya formed a hand sign. A genuine, polite voice stopped him.

"Wait," Itachi pleaded, now standing unarmed a few feet from him. Dizzying though it was, the white-haired nomad did not let the boy leave his sight. He still wasn't sure of Itachi's intentions. If the sage's hunch was right, they were within the young man's Mangekyo Sharingan's Genjutsu. "I don't want a fight."

"Way to send the message," Jiraiya snorted. "Why'd you sneak attack me? Then to use your Tsukuyomi on top of that…?"

"I never intended to injure you. I simply needed to make it look that way."

Recognition flickered in Jiraiya's eyes, which seemed to put Itachi at ease.

He smiled and gave a soft bow. "My apologies for the hostile introduction." Itachi's gaze darted to one side. "You see, there are eyes everywhere. I can't afford to have my cover blown."

"R-Right. Well, what are you going to do? Cover or no cover, I can't let you stop me from getting this intel back to the Hokage."

"Of course. I'm not trying to stop you," Itachi assured him. "I'm here to help. I have a plan, and we have all the time in the world for me to explain it to you here." He cast a wide gesture at the inverted world around them; trees swayed at half the usual speed. Even his own hair appeared to move as if he were floating underwater.

"Alright then," Jiraiya agreed. He sat cross-legged and flashed a mischievous smile. "Out with it. What's our play?"

Akamaru kicked his legs in a cyclical motion, laying flat on his back while Hinata rubbed his belly. Kiba smiled, watching the heartwarming interaction from afar. When he tossed her one of the food pills he carried around for emergencies, she caught it out of midair and presented it to the canine companion with an open palm. Akamaru traded playful panting for salivation. He rolled onto the pads of his paws, sniffing at the air before plucking the treat from between Hinata's fingers and downing it in one gentle bite. Licking his jowls, he gave her a thankful yip. She patted Akamaru's head and giggled. Shino stopped stirring a bubbling stew to make an announcement.

"It needs to cook about ten more minutes," he said. "My parasitic insects are active again. I can pick up sensory duty."

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, withdrew from his post and nodded toward Shino. "Knock yourself out." He paused mid-stride when Akamaru and Kiba stiffened at different corners of the tent. "What is it?"

"Southeast," Kiba hissed. "Enemy approach."

"What?" Sasuke said, turning his visual jutsu back on. "How did I not see anything?"

"Makes sense that you wouldn't," the Inuzuka explained. "They've got a very subtle presence. There's only a small margin of difference between their scent and the forest's."

"They must be using o-odor masking," Hinata posited.

Kiba grunted as he rose to a standing position. "Probably something like that."

Shino threw dirt on the middling flame underneath the pot to snuff it out, then plopped the lid on to keep heat in. He took up a position where the tent was least guarded and leaked small clouds of insects from both sleeves. They fanned out to search the area. "Whoever they are, they're good. Even my insects are having trouble tracking their location."

Naruto's hand was already on one of his seals, probing the network for anything that lined up with what Kiba and Shino said. He pushed the reach of the perimeter further, further, further…

"Got'em," he announced with feverish excitement. "Took a lot of work, but I can see them! They're mostly underground, but there are a few up in the trees too."

"How many can you see in total?" Sakura asked, sharing a concerned look with Sasuke.

"It…keeps changing? It's like they're de-summoning and re-summoning a bunch of clones of themselves."

"I see. Sounds like it could be a Genjutsu," she replied.

"Or a Space-Time technique," Shino suggested. "That would explain how they're evading my insects."

"Either way, they're getting closer, and they aren't as worried about staying hidden," Naruto warned.

Hinata gasped. "Naruto's right! My Byakugan can see them now."

Sasuke stated the obvious as everyone looked around. "We need a plan, and fast." He paused to analyze the situation, thinking out loud. "Constantly changing numbers of enemies, almost undetectable chakra, and an underground assault? How can we counter something so elaborate?"

"I've got a few ideas," Naruto volunteered.

"Oh yeah?" said a voice that sounded like a recording. "Let's hear them."

Staring down at a half-submerged torso melded with the dirt at his feet, Naruto jumped back in surprise. The enemy ninja lashed out with a kunai, but his speed paled in comparison to the son of The Yellow Flash. Naruto noted his Rain Village forehead protector, rebreather, and sleek jumpsuit. Somehow, there wasn't a speck of dirt anywhere on his outfit. The enemy's strange jutsu triggered flashbacks of The Demon Brothers ambushing Team 7 on their way to Tazuna's house. The siblings had hidden in a puddle of water. This was just like that time, except the Rain Ninja was hiding underground beneath their tent.

"What the hell?" Naruto said, drawing a Flying Thunder God kunai.

Kiba pounced and attempted to tear through the newcomer with his sharp claws, only for him to sink back into the forest floor like he was never there. Everything went silent. Naruto used the lull in action to set his plan into motion. Meanwhile, the other Leaf Genin took battle stances and waited.

Nothing happened for a full minute. Sasuke grew impatient and began straining his Sharingan to focus extra hard on the environment. Although at first he saw nothing, at last he pointed and alerted the group. "They're in the trees!"

Everyone threw volleys of shuriken and kunai, hoping to land lucky hits. However, all of their ninja tools either scattered harmlessly or ended up stuck in rocks, trees, and felled logs.

Naruto stomped in frustration. "Damn it! They're making us look pathetic, believe it."

"Stay focused," Sasuke said. "They're trying to make us paranoid and throw us off our game."

"It's working," Sakura peeped, clutching a kunai with both hands while she trembled. In spite of her fear, she blinked in details and analyzed the other team's movements.

Enemies emerged from the ground all at once like a rising tidal wave. Their bodies protruded from the dirt, sprouted from rocks, dangled from tree branches, and in no time upwards of fifty bodies surrounded the tent. Still more continued to materialize. They stalked forward at a slow pace that projected quiet arrogance. Sakura, Naruto, Shino, and Kiba concentrated on eliminating the closest threats while Sasuke and Hinata hung back to provide sensory support.

A couple of minutes into the encounter, it was abundantly clear that the allied teams were getting nowhere. The multitude of clones assailing them showed no signs of fatigue. Every time a substantial hit made contact, the tagged clone blasted apart at the point of impact. This left behind a dark, goopy residue which spawned one or more new bodies.

Hinata slumped in discouragement. "It's like my Byakugan's useless against this technique. "They're all indistinguishable from the main bodies!"

Shino bent her his ear while continuing to eliminate clones with his insects. "Not to mention it looks like they won't go down easily."

Sighing, Naruto reached for an item near his back pocket. Sasuke gasped as his adoptive brother revealed the Konran Mask and raised it to his face, allowing its unusual properties to take effect. The others watched with confusion as he crossed the perimeter. "Cover me, guys." Naruto's voice was hollow and almost haunting, thanks to the filtering effect of the mask.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Shino protested. "It's dangerous to get so close."

"What the heck's that ugly thing?" Kiba said. He looked at the Konran Mask with a scowl. "It smells like bad news." Akamaru barked in agreement, using his owner's leg as a shield.

Sasuke held out a hand. "It's alright. Let's just trust him."

Armed with the ghastly Uzumaki Clan artifact, Naruto widened his stance and formed a hand sign. Shuriken rained down on him, but the other Leaf Genin deflected each projectile wave with shuriken of their own. Naruto reminded himself that his teammates would keep him safe and detached from his surroundings. Though it took a considerable amount of willpower, he succeeded at silencing his natural urge to block or retaliate. Then he calmed his mind and narrowed down which bodies were fakes. Just like that, clone after clone flickered in and out of existence. Whatever trickery was at play unraveled right before the group's eyes. When the clones came within reach of Naruto, they passed right through him, shocking the rest of the Leaf rookies.

Sakura was the quickest to catch on. "Everyone, this is a Genjutsu! None of them are real! The originals must be overlapping their attacks with the illusions' to throw us off."

"Oh?" Sasuke said, casing the rest of the perimeter with a glance. "Pretty clever." He gave a short whistle to signal the others. "Let's tighten our formation. Now that the clones aren't in play, chances are they'll take a more direct approach."

Everyone except Naruto stood in a ringed formation with their backs to one another. Hinata noticed something unusual and alerted everyone.

"I've got something, several feet below us!"

Sasuke looked to Naruto, who was maintaining a bubble of invisible energy around the camp.

"We gotta flush'em out then, believe it!" the blond said with confidence. He tapped a finger against the ground to get a read on the enemy. "Looks like a single team. They're moving, but they aren't digging tunnels down there. It's like the earth is making way for them!"

"Earth Style, then," Sakura said, finger to her chin. "Sasuke, is there any way you can strike a subterranean target?"

Sasuke almost laughed. "Of course I can." He called forth his bow and quiver, then stepped out from under the tent next to Naruto. "I just need to know the exact spot where they're hiding first. Naruto, you should go wait in the tent. I don't want to hit you."

Naruto fumed, flailing his arms. "Ya didn't seem to mind an hour ago! You know, I'm still a little tingly from that 'rescue' of yours."

"I said I was sorry! Lay off."

"Shut yer traps and focus, for crying out loud!" Kiba yelled, reminding them of the seriousness of the exam. "Time's ticking."

Conceding the point, Naruto shoved both hands in his pockets and trudged back to the tent. Meanwhile, Sasuke wrapped the shaft of an arrow in a Flying Thunder God tag.

"There, to the left!" Hinata called out, pointing to a spot near Sasuke. "Aim there."

"Got it." Taking a long breath, he lined his shot up and fired at a small gap between the blanket of lush green leaves overhead. An arrow flickered out of sight, leaving sparks behind.

"Wow!" Naruto said, watching in fascination.

"What's he doing?" Kiba whispered to Hinata.

Hinata shrugged and turned to Naruto, assuming he would have the answer.

"I dunno," he admitted. "We did do some individual training, so maybe this is a technique he never showed me."

Sasuke dropped to a froglike crouch with all the nonchalance of someone picking up a fallen pencil, palmed the ground once, and lifted his hand. The spot he touched was now marked with his personal Flying Thunder God seal. He gathered Lightning Style chakra and concentrated it into his fingertips, then pressed them against the symbol. The energy transferred with a faint chitter. Satisfied, he stood and took several long, backward paces. A single hand sign later, his errant projectile came screaming back down from the sky.

The clouds above tore open like ripped fabric as the charged arrow zipped toward his seal marking. The arrow's shape was difficult to make out. All anyone saw was a thin beam of light that struck the ground with a resounding snap. Sakura, Hinata, and even Kiba screeched at the top of their lungs, shielding themselves from the chaotic spectacle. When it was all over, a radial pattern of zigzagging discolorations in the earth were the sole proof that anything unusual happened.

Kiba was still trying to salvage his pride when there was a brief tremor. They all shared looks, contemplating the strange sensation that could no doubt be felt for miles. Again, the excitable Inuzuka gave a shrill yip and jumped, but no one was paying him any attention. They were much more worried about the mini-earthquake that rattled their teeth.

Disrupting the long stretch of calm, a blast of wind and dust hit and splintered the earth beneath Sasuke's symbol. Everyone's hair stood no chance and was twisted into a wide variety of styles. Spumes of packed dirt exploded from underground, sprouting pillars tall enough to resemble leaking oil veins.

"Whoa!" the group said in unison, looking into the sky.

"They're on their way up," Sasuke noted, poking at the cracked ground with his foot. Soon afterward, three small mounds of dirt burst from below.

The allied teams watched as these strange mounds churned and burrowed around, creating what could pass as trails left by giant tunneling worms. They lacked any clear direction. Naruto sensed strong sources of chakra and realized why these enemies were acting strange. He directed his mask's aura at the mounds, causing the hidden shinobi to scramble out of their earthen prisons. They broke free and collapsed, twitching like mad while coughing up mouthfuls of dirt.

"Oboro," one of them managed to say, "what's going on?"

'Oboro' recovered quickest; he rolled into a defensive stance, coughed again, and pulled a kunai. He held it out in a threatening manner. "This wasn't me! One of them messed with our chakra flow somehow."

"Bingo," Sasuke quipped, arrow drawn just in case. "That'd be me."

Oboro backed away and waved his weapon to ward off the combined squad. His teammates hurried to his side and presented a united front despite their less than stellar condition. Static from Sasuke's recent surprise attack caused the trio's hair to stand on end.

Sakura crossed her arms. "There's no way you can defeat us like this," she said matter-of-factly, her eyes flitting toward them with an expression more analytical than it was arrogant. "Just give up your scroll and we'll let you go."

"The hell we will!" Kiba protested, but she cut him off with a finger. Akamaru whined from atop his head.

"Shhhhhhh!" Sakura mouthed, flashing an intense look that shut him up.

"She's right," Hinata said in a shaky but audible voice. "We only need to collect one scroll each. T-there's no need for unnecessary violence."

"If you know what's good for you," Naruto added, his heavy pitch through the mask making the Rain Ninja flinch, "you won't come after us again."

Oboro grunted. "No! We're not just gonna chicken out."

Sasuke sighed. "Be realistic. Your jutsu can't harm us anymore. You can kiss shape manipulation goodbye too, which means no Earth Style." He raised his bow and readied an arrow. "Fight us at your own risk."

The three of them seemed to seriously consider his words, but that didn't stop one of them from activating a couple of smoke bombs. The enemies scattered and found cover. Sasuke, Hinata, and Shino stood with their backs to each other yet again. Naruto, Kiba, and Sakura followed suit a few feet away.

Shadowy figures passed by on all sides. Naruto focused his chakra, waiting and doing his best to sense danger. Kiba and Akamaru sniffed and swiveled along with the movements of the enemy. Sakura stood in a rigid defensive pose, her grip tightening around two kunai due to being the only one present with zero visibility.

Meanwhile, Shino instructed his bugs wordlessly as Sasuke fired shots at random. Or so it seemed until they heard the snapping of arrow shafts and, thanks to this, were better able to track the footsteps of the enemy. Hinata deflected any kunai that came their way with precise Gentle Fist strikes.

Both groups of three sensed something and strafed away in time to avoid water bullets fired in a triangular formation. The attack proved useless, however; these projectiles left harmless puddles around the Leaf Genin. Unimpressed, Naruto moved to put away his mask and instead focused on molding chakra for a Wind Style attack.

"Wait…" Sasuke said, gasping as he put the enemy's veiled plan together. "Naruto, don't!"

His warning came a second too late.

The ground shook. Simultaneous flares of chakra signaled an oncoming assault. The damp ring of earth formed by the water bullets took on a life of its own, reshaping the dirt-turned-mud into something new.

"All around us," Hinata called out, "mud walls are closing in!"

"Yeah, I know," Naruto said, ignoring an intensifying tremor as the walls sped toward their location. He weaved lightning fast hand signs, creating two clones that charged in different directions. A Rasengan spawned in the hand of each Naruto. In one fell swoop, they smashed the earthen walls apart and dispersed the smoke cloud.

All three Rain Ninja were covered in Shino's bugs. He'd taken the opportunity Naruto opened up to subdue them while they were distracted. They swatted unsuccessfully at the swarm until they no longer had the energy to fight them off. The losing party slouched as the bugs returned to Shino, demoralized by how little work it took for their coordinated strike to be rendered useless.

"We'll be taking that scroll now," Sakura said with a smile.

Her face went pale at a cacophony of sounds behind their backs. Teams 7 and 8 turned in unison and cried out at the sight of their camp in total disarray. The tarp was ripped into three sunken flaps, most of the stakes in the ground had lost purchase thanks to the destructive power of the mud walls, and worst of all, their simmering pot of ingredients had toppled over. The contents of their almost-stew spilled onto the forest floor, mixing with the dirt, bugs, and plant life.

"Damn it," Kiba growled. "Not the tent!" Akamaru appeared unfazed. The pup ran over to lap up what remained of the broth and ingredients.

Shino sighed. "All of that time, wasted." Hinata rubbed his shoulder to console him.

"Throw in some rations, while you're at it," Sakura said through bared teeth. Her anger alone seemed to raise the temperature several degrees.

Sakura sure can be scary, Naruto thought with a gulp. Kinda like Mom. He wondered if all women, even timid ones like Hinata, got into these kinds of moods.

The Rain Ninja hung their heads and accepted defeat.

"Are you ready?" Itachi asked from his seated position across from Jiraiya.

"Yeah," he said. "And I'll pass your message on to Sasuke when I get back."

"Thank you. I'm eternally grateful."

They returned to the real world and went through the motions of close combat. Making sure to put effort into their taijutsu and shurikenjutsu, they executed swift strikes that left scratches in the nearby trees and severed blades of grass. Itachi in particular went out of his way to avoid anything fatal, no more than grazing the fabric of Jiraiya's clothes. However, to anyone without exceptional visual prowess, the exchange of attacks would look genuine.

Their fake scuffle ended with a dull thunk as Jiraiya drove his thick sandal into Itachi's stomach, sending him backward into a tree. His body burst into crows and reassembled without incident, only for Jiraiya to keep him on his toes with a scorching fireball. The jutsu missed by a comfortable margin, but left a section of forest charred and unrecognizable. Jiraiya coated his hair in chakra and it came to life, hardening into a spiked shield around his body that deflected a flurry of shuriken. He followed up by slinging his hair toward Itachi like a whip.

Although the Uchiha prodigy had no problem dodging this unorthodox move, Jiraiya's true intent behind the maneuver went unnoticed. Rather, that's what they wanted anybody watching from the sidelines to believe. Spikes shot out of the long mat of white hair and pelted Itachi like a downpour of rain. He was pinned by the edges of his Akatsuki cloak to a tree. Jiraiya promptly slapped a seal over his eyes to disrupt his chakra flow and prevent further Genjutsu gimmicks. Confident that the job was done, the sage turned and fled from the hideout.

Itachi hid a smile beneath his high collar.

The real Jiraiya stood in the center of a gelatinous, fleshy environment. His multiple foes found themselves preoccupied with pulpy growths attempting to latch onto them from the surrounding walls. Making matters worse, a layer of sizzling stomach acid bathed the area.

Hidan was pulled in a different direction from his scythe. He could do little more than curse and scream as the toad's stomach wrapped around him and trapped him in its clutches. Meanwhile, the scythe was sucked into the floor and out of sight.

Kisame chuckled, slashing himself free from an especially tenacious tonguelike protrusion. "I can tell you're at least more capable than that cowardly Orochimaru."

"Ah yes, Orochimaru," Sasori said. "I'll have his head, too." Pieces of his outer shell were scattered around his ankles, some in the process of being absorbed and others dissolving in pools of acid. The humanoid puppet's various metallic gadgets kept the sentient environment from consuming him while he spoke. His gaze snapped to Jiraiya. "Old man, I've heard you three are exponentially stronger as one. If that's true, I can only imagine what it will be like to possess the combined might of The Legendary Sannin."

Anger roiled in Jiraiya at the thought of any harm coming to Tsunade. He refused to let the likes of these glorified murderers near her, even though he knew she could more than handle herself. They would soon realize they made a colossal mistake threatening the life of his best friend.

"Sorry," Jiraiya said, hiding his true feelings behind the tease of a smirk. "I've no intention of becoming your puppet. You see, there are no strings on us novelists. On the contrary, we're the masterminds behind the curtain!" He drew upon more chakra with a clap of his hands. The realm went into overdrive, doubling down on its efforts to swallow the two holdouts.

"Then it's unfortunate for you," Sasori said, pulling a scroll from one of the compartments on his body, "that this chapter will be where your story ends." He lifted the scroll above his head, continuing to speak as the floor of the fleshy prison expanded to pull him into its depths. Eventually, all that remained uncovered was his mouth, raised arm, and a single exposed eye. "Behold, my ultimate technique! The Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"

Sasori's scroll flapped open and the chakra seal on its surface activated. A deluge of rusted red figures shot out of the scroll and spread out across their master's side of the tunnel. Two of what Jiraiya now realized were puppets shredded masses of flesh from Sasori's body, freeing him. He looked up at Jiraiya with a crazed smile and extended his hands. Faint outlines of chakra strings were present connecting the chakra battery in his chest to an ever increasing number of puppets. Jiraiya gasped. A puppet controlling other puppets? He'd never seen such a feat.

"There's more where that came from," Kisame warned, weaving signs that Jiraiya followed with ease.

Water Style, he surmised long before water gushed from Kisame's mouth. The latter conjured a small lake's worth of the stuff on command. His sharklike appearance suddenly felt all the more apt.

Wedged between an army of puppets and a monstrous quantity of water, Jiraiya thanked the heavens that he thought to enter Sage Mode ahead of time. He was going to need it to maintain control of this fight.

Waves lapped against the walls of the flesh prison, diluting its corrosive acid enough for the remaining Akatsuki members to focus on taking Jiraiya out. The latter pursed his lips, prepared to counter with a jutsu of his own. A handful of Sasori's puppets dashed in to strike from his blind spot, only to be effortlessly evaded. Making a fist, Jiraiya clotheslined one of the puppets, beheading it, then elbowed its disembodied torso, sending it into the path of another approaching puppet. They collided and were smashed to bits.

The vigilant Toad Sage leapt to avoid a sweeping slice from another mechanical menace equipped with razors on its arms. A clean stomp neutralized that puppet's movements, and it was drawn into the depths of the toad's stomach. Another couple of puppets rushed in with swords, only to be forcibly grabbed and run through one another by the physically enhanced Sannin. He mixed Sage Chakra into a mouthful of oil before spewing it in all directions. Meanwhile, Kisame darted at him underwater with his bizarre sword in hand. The sharkman was forced to veer off course before coming within range to avoid getting oil in his eyes.

Jiraiya jumped and clung to the ceiling on all fours, dropping a paper bomb into the depths of the water that had now risen to waist level. Just as he did this, two sharks made from chakra-laced water burst to the surface. The bomb ignited the oil in Kisame's manmade lake, causing a chain reaction that evaporated the oncoming beasts and turned the floor into a steaming deathtrap. The toad's stomach lining buckled in response, causing Jiraiya to waver. He managed to keep one webbed hand attached, dangling with his feet above water. Not one to be ignored, Sasori revealed tubes with bullet-sized holes sticking out of his palms and ejected thin jets of pressurized water. Jiraiya cursed as the attack cut across one shoulder just deep enough to draw a rivulet of blood.

Although he avoided serious harm, he wasn't out of the woods yet. Kisame launched himself up at Jiraiya, who swung both legs back to prevent his shins being flayed by the scaly blade with a voracious hunger for chakra. Any high level shinobi worth their salt knew about the infamous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Thanks to his extensive information network, Jiraiya knew even more than most. He possessed extensive knowledge of the unique abilities of several of the legendary weapons. This particular sword, known as Samehada, or Sharkskin, shaved away chakra along with the skin of anyone unfortunate enough to get tagged by its user's kenjutsu. He didn't intend to let things get that far.

Kisame's momentum carried him toward a patch of skin that morphed to try and envelop him. He shoved his blade into the thick organic surface, managing to avoid touching it and hanging freely across from Jiraiya. Burn marks littered his blue-tinted skin. He seemed indifferent to them for the most part, no doubt hardened by years of violence and intense battles. His injuries began to heal on the spot as he pulled chakra into his body from the ceiling through his sentient blade. Denied time to breathe, Jiraiya reattached himself to the undulating ceiling and sped away from Kisame, taking care to dodge Sasori's water jets. Blood sprayed behind him as the relentless beams etched a sickening trail of carnage. Echoes of rumbling rippled through Jiraiya's body as he crawled, filling him with pangs of guilt. The poor toad whose body withstood the strain of containing the battle thus far was now crying out in pain. Pain for which he had no one but himself to blame.

One end of the tunnel dimension was starting to reach capacity as Sasori's puppets continued to spawn and demand space. Jiraiya propelled himself downward at an angle, forming a chakra orb in one hand. He incorporated a substantial portion of his remaining Sage Chakra and thrust the potent energy ball forward as it rapidly expanded. His Rasengan brimmed with destructive power, moments from annihilating countless numbers of puppets. Their hidden weapons extended into full view, and for the first time, Jiraiya noticed a slick purple substance coating the edges of the blades, blunt weapons, and various other instruments.

"Poison?" he whispered as his Rasengan made contact, halving the horde's numbers in an instant. The attack demolished so many puppets before dissipating that Sasori was forced to backflip out of range, then reapply his chakra strings to the survivors.

Despite Jiraiya's best efforts, the tunnel was reaching capacity. He backed away from the approaching crowd of mindless murder tools, but in his haste, moved too close to the other side of the room. Kisame ran horizontally across the surface of the water, staying ahead of the living flesh that grabbed at him. Then he lunged to latch onto his prey. Jiraiya knocked Kisame's arm aside with a deft parry and stepped forward, creating a gap in his defenses. Reacting with reflexes in keeping with his animalistic appearance, Kisame capitalized on the attempted counterattack by biting down hard. His sawlike rows of teeth sank into Jiraiya's shoulder, causing him to utter a pained grunt. The bite offered a firm enough grip that escape was next to impossible.

The sage resisted, yet found himself unable to pry the persistent sadist using him as a chew toy away. Kisame took things a step further and bear hugged Jiraiya's waist, holding either end of his wide sword behind the Sannin's back. The creepy thing appeared to have a consciousness all its own. Hell, it even had a mouth! The sword made disturbing chomping and licking noises while clinging to his back. This was when Jiraiya registered that something more was going on.

"M-My…chakra," he muttered, wriggling to break free.

"I've finally got you," the sharkman said in a sandpapery voice, ripping his teeth free from Jiraiya's shoulder to give him a bloody smile. "You're no match for us without your chakra. By the way, do you know why it is that they call me The Tailless Tailed Beast?"

Ever the comedian, Jiraiya wheezed out a quip that drew Kisame's ire. "I wouldn't imagine it has anything to do with that ugly mug and the fact that most sharks have tail fins?" His foe scowled in annoyance and responded with a doozy of a headbutt that made the Leaf shinobi's world spin. A trickle of blood ran down the bridge of his nose.

When he could focus again, an idea occurred to Jiraiya. He stopped struggling and went out of his way to feed Samehada his energy. His muscles relaxed as the perks of Sage Mode left him. The living sword pressed against his back recoiled in distaste, extending prongs on its handle to force Kisame's grip to loosen.

"What the hell, Samehada?" the criminal growled, pulling his hand back. Flailing tendrils grew from the walls and clamped onto him while he was distracted. Kisame dangled in midair, his hands and feet bound. "Damn it, no!"

His movements were limited, but he writhed with such intensity that he almost broke free before more restraints materialized to reinforce his helpless state. Kisame took no notice of what else was going on—at least, not at first. Then his eyes bucked in shock.

"What are you doing to Samehada?!" he snarled, watching as his sword flopped around on the floor of the fleshy dimension. A slow wave of petrification spread throughout its body, leaving behind an inert stone statue in the sword's likeness. Kisame stopped struggling and grimaced. "Curse you, Toad Sage! What did you just do?"

Wagging a finger, Jiraiya clicked his tongue. "Unh-uh. You're asking the wrong question. Actually, because of your sword's instinctual greed, it brought this fate upon itself. Nature Energy is a pain to control, you see."

He turned his attention back to a wave of noisy puppets and peppered them with targeted fireballs. A few of them escaped a fiery fate, locking him into a fierce taijutsu exchange. Without Sage Mode to boost his physical durability, it was all Jiraiya could do to duck, dodge, substitute, and rely on general acrobatic feats to avoid the poison-tipped weaponry rushing at him from all sides. He was still just spry enough to keep from getting hit, although Sasori's attacks demanded his full attention.

During a brief respite between strikes, the walls around them contracted and tensed. Jiraiya swept the area, brow furrowed in uncertainty. "The stomach lining…" he whispered, almost like it was a question, "it's drying up."

Squelching noises called his attention back to Kisame, who landed next to severed pieces of toad flesh. Whatever was weakening this jutsu had resulted in the freeing of a slime-covered Hidan. He brandished his retrieved, and now somewhat eroded, red scythe.

"Thanks for cutting me down," Kisame said to Hidan, but the gilled man's savior had already moved on to other matters.

"I'm going to put you in a world of pain for violating me like that!" he shouted. "I've got this damn sludge crap in places I didn't even know I could get wet!" Hidan dunked his head into Kisame's sloshing waters, which had cooled to a safe temperature by now. Kisame rotated an arm while his comrade ran hands through his hair. "Don't let this stuff touch you, by the way. It's more than simple gastric acid."

"So you've noticed," Jiraiya teased. He eyed Hidan's stiff movements and smirked. "Exposure to the very air in this environment is lethal if inhaled for more than a few minutes. The paralytic effects have already started to take hold."

"I wouldn't get so smug if I were you," Kisame snapped. "You're outnumbered, and I'm sure you must be running low on chakra by now. I'll relish exacting punishment on you for what you did to Samehada."

Hidan cackled. "Hahahaha! Now you're speakin' my language!" He tapped his chin. "Is it too late to switch partners? This is more my speed."

"You're mine!" Sasori cried, deploying a long cord stored within his stomach compartment at Jiraiya. A metal tip that the sage assumed carried poison closed in on him at breakneck speed. He leaned to one side and grabbed the reinforced wire as it harpooned past him. Sasori turned this into an advantage by retracting the wire and rocketing himself forward. "Your puny tricks are useless against my perfect puppet body!"

Kisame and Hidan joined the fray again. Hidan leapt and raised his multi-pronged scythe overhead, gearing up for a sweeping strike. Kisame sent six more water sharks Jiraiya's way. They collided with Hidan, who ignored the damage and let his body be propelled forward even faster.

Sasori fired dual flamethrowers from the holes in his palms, trapping Jiraiya in a damage pit with chakra-draining water and more than a thousand-degree flames on either side. He pulled hard on the cord, ducked under the flames, and flung Sasori at Kisame and Hidan. Caught off guard, Hidan was forced to dig his scythe into the wall to avoid hitting Sasori. The shark-shaped water missiles smashed against the flying puppet body, blasting him apart into several pieces. Sasori's chakra core lay wet and exposed on the floor.

Gasping with relief and exhaustion, Jiraiya winced at a shock of scalding pain across his nape and shoulderblades. The burns were nothing to scoff at, but he counted himself lucky. What mattered most was that he escaped being roasted alive.

He spotted the cylindrical object that stored Sasori's chakra. Confident he could reach it before the two remaining Akatsuki members came at him again, Jiraiya bolted for the battery. Something inside the Sannin spasmed, locking his joints up and slowing him just enough for Hidan to rush in and kick him backwards.

"Whatever the big idea was barging in here, you're about to regret it! Beg for Lord Jashin's mercy as you pass on to the afterlife!"

Jiraiya groaned and attempted to sit up, only for Hidan to plunge a heel into his stomach; he fell flat, going rigid with pain when his burn wounds hit the floor. The religious zealot watched him squirm and cackled with unbridled glee.

Just in the nick of time, a fair amount of Jiraiya's chakra returned to him. Along with it came a rush of memories from his clone's exploits. His and Itachi's planned ruse, details on several members of the Akatsuki, and so on were crammed into his brain as strength returned to him. He was so surprised that, for a moment, he forgot the bloodthirsty man standing over him.

Resting on the blunt end of his scythe, Hidan sneered. "Any last words?"

Jiraiya lifted his head and cracked an eye open. "Yeah, a few."

"Hm?"

"Earth Style: Dark Swamp!"

Jiraiya pressed a hand against the ground, creating a deep pool of black liquid that threw Hidan off balance. His feet descended into the tarlike pit while Kisame watched with a curious grin. His face held all the enjoyment of a kid waiting to see who won a fight at the playground.

"What is this gross goo shit?" Hidan shouted, fighting to free himself from the adhesive substance. "I'm not getting eaten alive again, you bastard!" He yanked on the handle of his scythe as it, too, gradually sank.

In his hysteria, Hidan was too bewildered to react fast enough when Jiraiya sprang upright. Gripping a fallen puppet limb affixed to a sharpened blade, the sage pierced Hidan's throat with the sword and crawled away. Kisame's eyes widened, but then he relaxed. Jiraiya was about to question the reason why when the limb impaling Hidan's neck began to shake. The humiliated shinobi coughed up blood, clutching at the handle that had acquired a life of its own. Drops of his blood plummeted into the pitch black pool of liquid and got lost in its depths.

"S-Sasori!" Hidan croaked. No sooner had he said this than the blade pulled itself free, directed by chakra strings back to the reassimilated body of Sasori of the Red Sand.

"What?" Jiraiya said, standing up to full height and whirling around in surprise. "I killed you."

The puppet flashed him a warped smile. Realization pierced through the fog of pain from Jiraiya's burns. He felt like an idiot. In his defense, he was still processing the bits of intel passed on to him by the clone, so it took a moment longer than it should have for him to catch on.

The cylinder!

Now that the mysterious battery had returned to its place in his chest, Sasori opened two more compartments around his waist. A couple of windmill shuriken-esque propellers unfolded from them and buzzed to life. "It's rude to turn your back during a battle, you know. And to keep your opponent waiting!"

Jiraiya gulped. He was starting to feel lightheaded and his entire body tingled. "Wait…was I…poisoned?"

Sasori snickered. "What, you hadn't noticed yet? Your reflexes have been getting slower over time, all while we whittled down your defenses." He looked down as a drop of stomach acid dripped onto his puppet body. "Chemical substances can't harm me. I gave up my organic body long ago. You, on the other hand…"

Jiraiya glared at Sasori, coughing up blood. "Damn it! But how? I was so careful."

"You were, except your constitution isn't resistant enough to my toxins without that annoying transformation of yours. What did you call it again? Sage Mode? Anyway, I've got a surprise for you."

A heap rose from among the piles of Sasori's dozens of puppets. Those still under his control shifted to make room for the strange mass, while the wrecked bodies of the unresponsive ones fell away. In their place stood yet another lifeless husk. However, this one bore unmistakable features; spiky black hair styled similarly to Minato's and a pair of fierce mustard-yellow eyes.

The Sannin's mouth ran dry. His heartbeat spiked to the point he could feel it inside his ears. "Is that really who I think it is? How'd you get that?"

The already demented smile on the expert puppeteer's face grew even more deranged. "That's right. The most prized addition to my collection will be your downfall. Say hello to The Third Kazekage. Consider this retribution for forcing me to use myself for the first time in ages, and for ruining so many of my creations. A fellow artist like you ought to understand."

Intensifying spasms brought Jiraiya to one knee. He tried using the wall to steady himself, but its spongy texture caused him to slip and fall sideways. Stumbling to his feet again, he watched in disgust as a swarm of dark particles gathered around the former Kage's bastardized body. Jiraiya needed to bail before this escalated any further. His lungs were on fire, though, and every movement was a slog. Thinking back, he remembered the odd floating powder outside the hideout.

"You realize it now, don't you?" Sasori said before commanding the Third Kazekage puppet to concentrate its chakra.

Hidan and Kisame were approaching from behind, their guards somewhat lowered due to Jiraiya's diminished threat level. If he was going to get his chance, it was now.

Sasori, fueled by endless hubris, prattled on unawares while Jiraiya streamed chakra into his fingertips. "I used magnetized iron sand as the vehicle for my poison. Fool! You were doomed from the moment you cracked the code to break in."

Coughing up another glob of blood, Jiraiya dipped two fingers into the crimson liquid and took action. The surrounding flesh cage vanished with a large plume of smoke. Bolting for the doorway, he disregarded the flaring pain where his burns were exposed to the open air. Kisame and Hidan should still be dealing with the effects of the paralysis, but Jiraiya thought it best not to waste any time. The moment sunlight touched his face, he lowered a blood-stained hand into the shallow water.

A larger-than-life toad with a pair of sheathed swords on its back erupted onto the scene. Jiraiya collapsed onto its back and panted.

"Where am I?" the toad asked. He was cut off by his master frantically shouting that he could ask questions later.

"Go, Gamahiro! Take us far away from here!"

"Got it, boss," Gamahiro replied with a nod, jumping clear of the canyon biome. A sizable water dragon shot up at them from below. The amphibious summoning animal spun and slashed through the head of the beast in one deft motion, losing little momentum.

Thinking fast as they fell, the toad shifted his weight to land in an open field at the heart of the forest. The duo crashed to the ground and Gamahiro took another powerful leap. Then another. Sasori's words rang in Jiraiya's head and he laughed to himself.

Guess I better add 'Escape Artist' to my portfolio! Mission success.

The summoner and his loyal partner reached deep water in no time. Once there, Gamahiro swam at a speed none of the Akatsuki had any hope of outpacing—save Kisame, perhaps.

Jiraiya held on tight with what strength he had left. He glanced over his shoulder, sighing with relief when there was no sign of Kisame on their tail. He sat up straighter and directed Gamahiro to chart a course for The Hidden Leaf Village. This infiltration mission was eye opening on so many levels. Minato truly did have his work cut out for him if that masked individual was in league with so many powerhouse shinobi. Still, it was comforting to know they had someone on the inside they could count on.

Thanks for having my back, Itachi.

A gaping abyss exuded thick dark aura. Large teeth snapped shut as a creature with a bottomless gullet consumed a sizable statue. Standing next to this spectral figure was a bulky man with fiery orange hair and multiple piercings. Across from him, the stoic figure of Pain waited for his other body's summoned entity to perform its function. Konan, equally serious, turned from the two bodies of Pain to their nonchalant visitor; a man bearing a swirl-themed mask and black hood.

"Your report is most interesting, Nagato," Obito Uchiha said. He walked to the window alcove in the Hidden Rain's tallest building and laid one leg across the ledge, casual as ever. A constant downpour blanketed the masses of citizens below. "At the very least, we no longer have to move our base of operations."

"Is that wise?" Konan cut in. "He may return with a specialized team to challenge us again."

"That's unlikely," Obito said.

Speaking through Yahiko, Nagato nodded. "Because of the Chunin Exams."

"Exactly," the cloaked figure said, feigning claps of approval. "Aren't you as sharp as ever?"

In the background, the head sticking out of the floor opened its mouth to allow the chewed up specimen to escape. The otherworldly being shared Pain's signature purple, ringed eye pattern. Fishing an arm around to retrieve the object he threw into the mouth, Nagato addressed Konan.

"They can't afford to spare their strongest right now. Anything less would mean sending an entire squad to a meaningless bloodbath. Jiraiya-sensei alone may be powerful, but after gauging just a few of our members' strength, he is wise enough to know facing all of us won't end well."

"That's why we're staying put," Obito declared. "Any competent shinobi would assume a place they attempted to break into has taken the logical step of beefing up security." Sighing, he dangled an arm over the side of his precarious perch. "But we still have another task to complete. This organization has you to thank for that, Konan."

The lavender-haired kunoichi kept a sterile expression. "Orochimaru and Danzo?"

Behind her, Pain's more muscular Path lifted up a revived Samehada and walked to the main body, passing the weapon off to him. The King of Hell summoning sank back into the floor and faded away. His work done, the subordinate Path bowed his head before departing into another room.

"Correct," Obito said. "They could become an issue if we ignore their operations for too long." The Uchiha got up from the alcove and patted himself down before accepting the sword from Nagato. He spawned a dimensional portal from his mask's eye hole and sent it away. "Thanks for the quick turn on this. Nagato, brief Konan on the details. I'm off to return Samehada to Kisame."

A loud swishing sound accompanied his disappearance through a distorted vortex. Konan frowned, opining that Master Jiraiya ought to count himself lucky he didn't cross paths with that man instead of lesser members of the Akatsuki. She had a hunch that this 'Masked Man' held a lot more cards than he seemed to at first glance. There was no doubt in her mind that Nagato sensed this too, though he never brought it up.

"Konan," her childhood friend said through Yahiko's marionette body, "come. Let's prepare."

Giving the spot where their unscrupulous ally once stood a contemplative stare, she resigned herself to the situation and followed Pain into an adjoining room.