A/N: Hello and welcome to the latest chapter of One Year Early. In the last chapter, we saw the unexpected arrivals from Kumo and the situation getting tense. Today, let's see how it all pans out. Do things get worse or do they calm down? Read on to find out….
CHAPTER 14: AN OLD WOUND REOPENED"Of course, someone would pick a fight with the Nokizaru group today." Mumbled Shikaku as the atmosphere began to go from cold to chilly with tension.
Everyone kind of entered a stare down contest. Just then Ay's glance fell on the wheelchair bound Hyuuga girl. Naruto immediately positioned himself before his girlfriend very protectively.
'A Hyuuga….an unsealed one at that. Perhaps that's the one…from ten years ago…' The Kumo leader thought to himself as he diverted his glance to Tsunade as he waited for her answer.
"Why should I? I don't take orders from you." Tsunade stated. Just then the brown-haired man in the group spoke up.
"B-But Senju-sama. Y-you're the only hope we-" He was cut off by the man who was in need of immediate treatment.
"Amai…don't take…that tone…we aren't…beggars…" The struggling man stated in between heavy breaths. It was quite obvious that he was in a lot of pain.
As the conversation went on, Hinata was very close to having a panic attack. Those few minutes of absolute dread, when she was grabbed by that scary man, gagged and helpless. The lavender eyed girl couldn't help her breathing get irregular. However, her increased heartbeat started to calm down when she felt a warm hand grasp her own.
"It's okay Hina-chan. I am here. I will not allow them to lay a finger on you or touch a strand of your lovely hair." Her blonde hero reassured with a very serious face. Hinata's lips curled up into a small smile as she grasped his hand back.
"A-arigatou, Naru-kun."
Back with the adults.
Ay almost growled as a vein popped on his forehead at the way Tsunade just carelessly rejected their plea.
"What do you want!? My man needs urgent treatment and if I have to make you treat him by force, I'll do it!" The Fourth Raikage warned.
"Attacking a Konoha shinobi would be tantamount to war. I am sure you don't want to start something that troublesome right now..." Shikaku nonchalantly commented.
"Shut up Nara! I am willing to do anything to have my ninja treated!" Ay shot back as he flared his killing intent.
"Getting a bit overconfident aren't we. Don't just assume that you can force me into anything." Tsunade retorted with a small smirk as she responded to Ay killing intent by flaring a bit of her own.
"Troublesome…" Shikaku muttered rubbing forehead. Naruto, Hinata, Temari and Kankuro all gulped. While the jonin present at the spot kept nervously looking around. The atmosphere began getting colder and colder before the Senju princess broke the silence again.
"Fine, Raikage. I'll give you one chance at making me treat your man." The blonde woman offered. "If tomorrow morning, you defeat me in arm wrestling, I'll treat that person."
"B-but…if we wait a night…Karai will…" The humbler one of the Kumo group, named Amai pleaded.
"He'll last the night, Shizune, use an anaesthetic. I'm buzzed right now, just tipsy enough so I can't even diagnose him properly anyways."
"H-Hai Shiso." The dark-haired woman acknowledged and ran to get the supplies. Meanwhile, the Raikage turned to Amai.
"Find a room and don't interfere with the Konoha shinobi. And call for reinforcements."
"Hai, Raikage-sama." The brown-haired man acknowledged.
Shikaku sighed at the rapidly devolving situation.
"This can easily escalate." The head jonin commented as the Kumo shinobi left, carrying their injured comrade.
"I agree. But it will take time for our reinforcements to come here. Kumo most likely has shinobi stationed nearby." Baki commented as he walked up to Shikaku.
"Agreed. Though, we should send out a message anyways." Shikaku commented as he took a scroll out of his pocket. The scroll had two different summoning seals engraved, one titled 'monkey' and the other being 'toad'. It was an emergency summons scroll that granted the head jonin the ability to summon a toad or a monkey to contact the Hiruzen or Jiraiya in case of an emergency. Going through the hand signs of the summoning jutsu, the Nara slammed his palm upon the summoning seal for the monkey and a small monkey appeared with a puff of smoke.
"Let Hokage-sama know of our location and that we need some reinforcements. Kumo got involved with our detour." Shikaku uttered with a sigh. The monkey saluted and left immediately.
"This is going to take time." Shikaku said to himself before turning to his students.
"Go to your rooms and stay there. Don't come out until I tell you to." He ordered, the young couple only nodded in acknowledgement and immediately left for their room. The sand siblings followed for their own room as well.
Needless to say, the night was a tense one. Shikaku could hardly sleep. Hinata was uneasy, but found comfort in her lover's warm embrace and was able to somehow sleep. She needed the rest. Naruto, even though he was stressed about the situation, couldn't keep himself awake for long. The fight with Tsunade had exhausted him. The two fell asleep in each other's arms with the hope that the morning wouldn't bring them another nightmare.
Ever since his fight with the Konoha genin, Gaara had been able to afford some light naps without losing control. Temari and Kankuro chose to keep watch as they let their friends from Konoha as well as their little brother rest.
Fortunately, the night passed without incident.
Now it was the time for that arm wrestling match between Tsunade and Ay. Shikaku and Baki stood at the gate of the hotel, looking out for the soon to be arriving Kumo reinforcements.
"Baki-san, I will keep watch here, with Shizune. Why don't you stay with Tsunade-sama and the Raikage. Anything can happen during that match. Those are two troublesomely stubborn behemoths; I don't want to imagine what will happen if the loser doesn't accept the loss." Shikaku explained.
"Understood Shikaku-san. Who do you think will win though?" Baki asked.
"Difficult to say. By raw strength alone, Tsunade-sama is stronger. However, the Raikage is a lot faster. If they end up using chakra during the match, Tsunade-sama will use it to enhance her strength while the Raikage will use it to boost his speed. If he makes use of his chakra and speed at the right moment, he will win for sure. The right moment being a point at which Tsunade-sama will start overpowering him. If he misses the moment, he will lose."
"I see. However, even if they are a hostile country, I do understand what they are going through. Had a mission a few years back get complicated thanks to the Nokizaru. Wish we could have saved the victims… too many dying in absolute pain, too many that I was responsible for." Baki stated.
"As do I. We are humans after all, aren't we? The Nokizaru is managing to earn their way into the kill on sight section for each village's bingo book. No one knows how many of them are there, but at the same time, no one wants the threat of being blown up by a parasite hanging over them unless they control it. However, I am sure that Tsunade-sama will have that jonin treated even if the Raikage loses. She is a medic-nin after all. Her training won't allow her to just let go of such a serious patient when there is something she can do about it. She is perhaps hoping to just humble the Raikage." Shikaku explained further.
"I see."
As the two jonin talked, the Raikage came out and went past, sparing a sideways glance at the two.
"Certainly not in a good mood." Baki commented. Shikaku nodded.
Soon enough, Tsunade came up to them as well. The Nara clan head gave her a slight bow of acknowledgement.
"It's certainly a good day to stretch my arms a bit." The Senju princess commented.
"I wish you luck, Tsunade-sama." Shikaku stated.
"Oh, why, thank you." Responded Tsunade.
"I hope you won't mind me accompanying you and being the witness to the match?" The half-veiled Suna jonin questioned.
"Not at all. Shizune will be staying here to keep watch on that Kumo guy."
Meanwhile, some distance away,
Five individuals were engrossed in a discussion.
"Damn, not only they just met up with one of the Sannin, now there are two groups led by righthand men of both the Kazekage and the Hokage. So much for good luck." One of the men commented with a sigh.
"Don't worry, this could actually play right into our hands." The man with white hair, wearing a cap stated with a grin.
"What are you trying to pull here Himushi?" Another of the five asked.
"Hehehe, one of the Konoha ninja is a Hyuuga, and an unbranded one at that. If we can manage to abduct her, we can make a real fortune." Himushi stated with a smirk.
"And how are we going to get her from the Jonin commander of Konoha no less?"
"Easy, The Raikage is sure to have called for reinforcements. If we make the two groups fight, we can definitely get the Hyuuga. And if things turn south, we always have little buddies to assist us, they will never know what hit them, Hehe." Himushi responded.
"And how do we get them to fight?"
"Not that difficult, everyone in this country has heard of the Hyuuga incident. It would be rather convenient for us if the Kumo ninja got greedy and make a move on her. The girl is injured and can't fend for herself, she will be an easy picking. And if they don't do anything, we will transform into one of the factions and provoke the others by attacking them and then leading them straight to the Kum team. Before the Nara would be able to calm things down, we will already be on our way with the Hyuuga." Himushi explained with a grin. Just then a small insect landed on his palm.
"Such a small yet useful tool. They don't even have the slightest idea that we were watching them. Fools." The Nokizaru leader stated smirking. "Perhaps we should kill Shikaku Nara with this too and claim his bounty."
"Let's do this then!" The rest of the members of the Nokizaru group said in unison, greed and confidence in victory evident in their eyes.
*Meanwhile in Konoha*
The aged Hokage took a smoke and sighed.
"Are you sure it was him, Tenzo?"
"Unfortunately, I couldn't be certain, Hokage-sama." The brown-haired ANBU responded.
"Hmm…even so, a suspected sighting in a foreign country. This could be trouble." Hiruzen answered as he blew out some smoke from his pipe.
"Hai, that's why I decided to report to you, even though we can't confirm the sighting."
"Much appreciated Tenzo. Even if we can't confirm that it was him, we need to increase our surveillance and also find out what would interest Orochimaru in Kusa. Station an ANBU squad over there for two months and have them keep watch and seek information." The wizened Sandaime ordered.
"Hai Hokage-sama. Am I allowed to leave?" The ANBU captain asked.
"Yes, Dismissed." And the ANBU vanished in a swirl of leaves.
'I wonder how Shikaku's team is doing. To think that they would run into Suna's jinchuuriki who would be after their blood, just on a scroll delivery mission. It is indeed a bit too much for those kids. Young Hinata having her leg crippled…such injuries on their very first mission is indeed too much for those young ones to handle. I hope they are holding strong. Even with Tsunade's treatment, they would be off duty for a while due to the mission reclassifications. Return safe kids.' The Sandaime thought to himself before going back to dealing with every kage's bane with a sigh.
Just then a monkey came through the open window. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, it was the one granted specially to Shikaku to be used to communicate in case of an emergency as the head Jonin had no summons of his own.
"What now?" The Sandaime said raising his eyebrows as he hoped in vain that it wouldn't be something more distressing. But as the summon gave Shikaku's report, the old man couldn't help sigh.
"Now this is getting out of control." Hiruzen mused to himself before turning to the monkey. "Get Asuma and Tenzo and have them rush to Shikaku's location." The monkey accepted the order and immediately jumped out of the window to have it carried out.
Back in the Land of Hot Springs
Seven Kumo ninjas reached the inn. An inn that had already become an international hotspot with shinobi from hostile villages staying close by. And unfortunately, there were people who wanted to exploit the prejudices and biases of these shinobi and to further muddy the waters for their own gain.
"Yoroi, is it true that there are Konoha and Suna shinobi here?" One of the Kumo shinobi asked his comrade.
"Yes K, there are. Two teams." The man identified as Yoroi and also the leader of the group answered.
"Damn those tree huggers. If they cause trouble…" One Kumo shinobi hissed under his breath, gritting his teeth.
"Don't Asui. We have to stay clear." Yoroi cautioned.
And so, with caution the Kumo shinobi approached the hotel, checked the surroundings and finding everything to be secure, gathered in the room where their comrades were. The situation with Karai was not good, he was obviously in a lot of pain and despite the anaesthetic, he was still suffering from it, though it had helped him go through the night with some amount of relief.
"Have those tree huggers and their desert moles caused any trouble?" Asui asked turning to Amai, who was unsettled with the attitude.
"Not at all and please, keep that attitude in check, we are not here to start a damn war." The brown-haired shinobi cautioned in an irritated tone. Obviously, he was already tensed with the situation with his comrade and the possibilities of igniting hostilities just because of someone's attitude problems was the last thing the Kumo medic nin needed.
But alas, his woes only worsened when another of the Kumo ninja got into the room.
"Did anybody know that there is an unsealed Hyuuga among the Konoha nin? And the Hyuuga can't even defend herself. We have a golden opportunity to avenge that embarrassment of ten years ago." The ninja stated in a tone bordering outright urging.
"Please don't!" Amai almost screamed. "Don't you all remember that the Raikage called that mission a mistake? One in which his hands were forced by the Daimyo's greed!? Don't suggest something that can start the 4th Great Ninja War right here right now!" The medic nin shouted in frustration.
"Go back to your post and keep patrolling. Don't start anything on your own, otherwise you'll find yourself in a place you'd never want to be in." The jonin Yoroi warned.
"Alright captain." The Kumo nin stated and left.
In that tense environment, none of the Kumo-nin had bothered to check for any transformation jutsu. Once outside the inn, the Kumo ninja released his transformation and turned back into one of the members of the Nokizaru group.
Meanwhile, having seen everything through his surveillance insect, Himushi chuckled.
"Idiots, it was so easy to dupe them. Now just the slightest provocation and they will be at Konoha's throats. Too easy."
Meanwhile with Tsunade and Ay
The slug sannin and the Raikage were having an insane arm-wrestling match. At first no chakra was used but still the sheer strength exerted made cracks appear on the table (a boulder being used as the table), just with the pressure of the elbows. None seemed to gain an edge.
The two opponents stared at each other and smirked and then both busted their chakra out, enhancing their respective strengths with it. Though with their control, they were able to keep the boulder from shattering into dust.
"Grrrr." The Raikage grunted as he saw Tsunade slowly beginning to overwhelm him. He knew that would be the case with her sheer strength. She had her beat in that department, but when it came to speed…
Lightning began cracking around Ay as he ever so slightly moved his elbow, making the Senju princess's arm imbalanced by just a bit, but that was enough to push his advantage home. A huge burst of lightning chakra erupted and pushed the observing Baki by quite a few feet as the boulder being used as the table turned into dust.
Baki immediately got back to his position as the dust gradually settled.
"Raikage-sama is the winner of the match." The half veiled jonin declared. As the victorious Raikage gave a small smirk to his opponent.
"So, you used your speed there to overwhelm me, didn't you?" Tsunade asked.
"That I did, but I only moved my elbow a bit back, without ever moving it up, so I won't let you accuse me of cheating, Senju Tsunade." The Raikage responded.
"Yes, you didn't break any rules and used your own strength over me to your advantage, that was fair play. You win." Tsunade admitted.
"Hmm, so does that mean you will treat Karai?"
"Yes, I will. I promised as much." Tsunade stated but just then she quickly moved her arm as if snatching something from thin air. Ay raised his eye-brows.
"We were being watched. Quite the sneaky ones, this Nokizaru group." The slug sannin commented as she crushed the thing she held in her fist. "So, before I start the treatment, I need to hear the full story. Karai, how did he end up in this situation?"
"Hmm…we were here to acquire a secret ninjutsu scroll from a village not so far off."
"Nothing new there." Tsunade stated in a tone borderline accusatory. The Raikage chose to ignore the remark and continued.
"We acquired the scroll and were returning when we sensed that we were being pursued. The pursuers were stealthy, but we managed to easily fend off their attacks. Just then a mysterious smoke engulfed us, me and Amai immediately held our breaths so as not to inhale it but Karai and another of my subordinate Nigai were not so lucky. But quickly enough, it seemed that the smoke was not lethal and we were out of it as well. The pursuers kept attacking. Karai and Nigai were defending the rear so they parried off most of the attacks. But they began feeling pain in their chest as they kept parrying off the repeated assaults. Noticing their pain, Amai deduced that they shouldn't use their chakra any further and ordered them as such. I decided that since they were injured, we should retreat immediately and not engage with the enemy any more. Having decided that we fled. Yes, we did so, I have no shame in admitting that, but my subordinates were not in a state to fight. Then the enemy started taunting us, especially me, calling me a coward and unworthy of being one of the five Kage. I didn't pay it any mind and ordered my men to keep moving. But Nigai was set off by the insult to me and our village by extension. So, he stopped and turned back. He declared that he can't let them go unpunished after calling the Raikage a coward and a weakling. He charged up a large amount pf chakra for an attack. I knew it was a trap so I shouted for him to stop, but just as he finished charging whatever attack he was planning, his chest expanded like a balloon, making him scream out of pain and then he blew up. I had no choice but to keep fleeing, it was obvious that Karai would be dead had we decided to fight back. Some minutes later when it seemed that we had outrun our pursuers, we took a moment to halt. That was when Karai collapsed in a terrible pain and we observed a beetle shaped bump on his chest and it was beating, making him suffer from severe pain. Amai stated that his expertise wasn't enough to carry out the surgery required to remove whatever that was stuck inside Karai. But he stated that we should be near the location where you were last spotted and proposed that we take a chance and seek you out." Ay explained.
Tsunade opened her fist and showed a crushed tiny beetle, almost appearing to have been made up of explosive clay.
"This is what Karai has inhaled. It's the explosive beetle technique. I have reports of its usage. The Norizaku group traps their enemies by making them inhale a smoke full of microscopic specimens which eventually mature after entering a body. Once you inhale it, it will go and attach itself to your heart as well as the chakra coils surrounding the heart, like a tic or a leech does to feed on blood. And if you use chakra, like for example to charge up an attack or even enhance your speed or strength, the beetle will grow by feeding off on the chakra.
So, once they have their enemy inhale the smoke, they tail them and keep harassing them, both physically and through taunting them, forcing the victims to use chakra to respond. The beetles keep growing and the resulting pain makes you weaker and more desperate. And once it gathers enough chakra, it explodes. You really ran into some very dangerous opponents here."
"So will Karai be fine if he stops using chakra?" Ay inquired.
"I can't say for certain. His beetle is in a critical stage. And we shinobi tend to use chakra in our daily lives, unconsciously. And even that tiny unconscious usage can be enough to kill him. Yes, you may save him by having his entire chakra network sealed, but that requires someone of Jiraiya's calibre or higher. And hence the only alternative you have is a complicated surgery."
"I see. And they use these beetles to carry out surveillance as well."
"Seems to be the case indeed."
Ay's eyes widened. "In that case, if they know that we are both here, they might try to make a move on our subordinates! Both yours and mine." The Raikage exclaimed getting up.
"I can understand your concern, but Shikaku can take care of them." Tsunade reassured.
"But still, we should hurry up." Ay shot back.
"Yes, we should." Tsunade stated getting up.
The two overpowered shinobi were soon on their way.
Meanwhile at the hotel;
Naruto and Hinata were sitting in their room, their sensei had told not to go outside until Tsunade and Ay had returned. The head Jonin himself was keeping a close watch on the Kumo shinobi.
"…This hotel's food doesn't compare to your cooking in the slightest. Not even close! Will you make me something once we get home?" Naruto asked holding his girlfriend's shoulders.
"Sure, Naru-kun." The Hyuuga responded smiling. "But…" She glanced at her bandaged leg.
"Hah…don't worry about that. The old hag is surely going to fix this. Sensei is confident that she can and I trust sensei's judgement." The blonde stated confidently.
"T-Thank you, Naru-kun." Hinata replied with a hopeful expression. But then their small talk was interrupted when Naruto felt a bad sensation.
'What the hell!? Why am I feeling like something bad is about to happen…and that too from the window…'
'Hmm…our alliance seems to have built a connection that allows access to abilities I hold; he can already use my negative emotion sensing…'The Kyuubi thought to himself. But before he could warn his jinchuuriki, a kunai attached with an explosive tag landed on the floor breaking through the window.
"FFFUUUCKKKK!" Naruto screamed as he took Hinata is his arms and jumped out of the window. Before he could even hit the ground the room was destroyed in an explosion. However, the couple managed to land relatively unharmed.
To their misfortune, right before three Kumo shinobi who had already taken out their swords, already charged with lightning chakra.
And Naruto was in no situation to fight. He was carrying Hinata in his arms, who also was in pain due to her fractured. He didn't know whether he could put her down on the ground.
Before he could make up his mind on what to do, the three shinobi charged at him, one tried to decapacitate him immediately with a single slash of his katana. The blonde managed to swing sideways and escaped with a cut on his cheek.
"Put me on the ground, Naru-kun." Hinata asked.
"I can't do that Hina-chan!" Naruto shot back as he dodged a roundhouse kick.
"We have to! You can't fight carrying me like this. Do it!" Hinata ordered in a serious tone. Glancing into her eyes, Naruto knew that she was dead serious and that he couldn't argue with it further. Hopefully his sensei as well as the sand siblings had heard the explosion and would be there in a minute. He would have to hold the attackers for that to matter. These were Kumo shinobi and from what the blonde already knew about the Hyuuga incident of about a decade ago, it was dreadfully obvious to him that these shinobi wanted his Hime.
"Alright Hina-chan, stay behind me then." Naruto said with a smile. "I will not let these bastards touch a strand of your hair." He confidently declared as he carefully put her on the ground and took a stance before her.
The shinobi charged at him. Obviously, they were much more skilled than Naruto was, but he was able to dodge the continuous slashes.
But then one of the opposing shinobi released a discharge of lightning onto the ground using the "Electromagnetic Murder jutsu"
"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullets!" Naruto released bursts of violent bullets of air onto the ground to counter the lightning discharge before it could hurt his girlfriend.
"We will be taking the Hyuuga you incompetent brat." One of the shinobi taunted Naruto as he was still stung a bit.
"You will not touch my Hina-chan!" Naruto yelled back as he formed a sword of wind on his hand. Hopefully all the chakra control training and wind chakra practice was going to come in handy.
The three shinobi attacked all at once this time, and the sword fight started. Before that point, Naruto had never used the 'Wind Blade' in combat with the exception of for that match of his with Tsunade, but even then, he was not very adept using the jutsu yet. His opponents, while nothing that could be classified as master swordsmen, still were able to gradually overpower him.
It was then that he was able to make a scratch on them. And woosh…with a puff of smoke the shinobi he scratched turned into…or rather transformed back into another person, who most certainly was not a Kumo ninja with a monkey tail like sash around their waist.
"What the hell!? A henge!? Hina-chan!"
"Hai…Byakugan!" Hinata activated her dojutsu and immediately it was all clear.
"They are not Kumo shinobi, all of them are using henge!" The lavender eyed girl stated.
"Gotcha!"
But even after knowing that, it was still difficult for Naruto to keep on fighting with three grown up ninja, obviously above chunin level at the very least.
'Perhaps these are the Nokizaru group sensei was talking about yesterday…Ughh…this is difficult, what's taking sensei so long?' Naruto thought in frustration as he dodged another sword strike.
Just then…
"The Konoha genin are fighting our people!" Asui, one the Kumo ninja shouted as he drew out kunai. "Damn you tree huggers! How dare you attack us when our comrade is injured! You bastards! You're going to pay!" The Kumo ninja screamed as he threw a volley of lightning chakra infused kunai at Naruto.
"I am not fighting Kumo shinobi!" The blonde screamed as he defended himself from Asui's volley of kunai with the wind blade. Just then, one of the three ninja he was already facing made a dash for Hinata.
'Shit!' "Drilling Air Bullets!" Naruto yelled going through the hand signs and discharging a volley of wind bullets at the one attacking Hinata. But to do that he had to dispel his wind blade…that earned him two slashes on his back.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata screamed in despair. She couldn't curse her crippled state more. 'Even if I can't move, I can make hand-signs and mold jutsu!' "Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Jutsu!" Hinata called out going through the required hand-signs. Balls of Lightning shot forward and hit the three, attacking shinobi. All on mark. They were momentarily stunned.
"Multi Shadow Clone jutsu!" Naruto shouted as about a hundred copies of him puffed into existence and immediately charged at the attackers.
Unfortunately, Asui, still clouded by his hatred of Konoha, attacked the shadow clones.
"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!" He released the jutsu after jumping into the middle of the shadow clones attacking the Nokizaru group members, disguised as Kumo nin. The one whose disguise Naruto had dispelled had already reapplied it in order to keep Asui on their side.
Releasing powerful bursts of lightning from his palms, Asui electrocuted and dispelled quite a number of shadow clones.
"Dammit! Can't you see these are not your comrades!" Naruto yelled in frustration.
"Shut up! Konoha scum! Konoha killed three my brothers in the last war…forgiveness is not an option; the dead will have their tribute…" The Kumo shinobi screamed as he turned towards the blonde and pointed both his palms at him.
'Damn, he's gonna to launch the same attack he used to dispel so many of my clones. I've got nothing other than Drilling Air Bullets or the simpler Great Breakthrough to counter it with. I don't think it will be enough. But still, I won't allow this jutsu to hurt Hinata-chan. And I will have to hold them back till sensei arrives!' Naruto readied himself.
"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"
"Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu!" Temari's voice was heard as a huge gust of violent wind crashed upon Asui's incoming lightning attacks. Naruto also hadn't wasted a moment in launching a barrage of drilling air bullets as soon as Temari's jutsu destroyed Asui's thunderbolts. The Kumo-nin was hit and violently thrown back.
But that was already too late to stop the Nokizaru group members from using this opportunity to launch their attack.
Smoke began filling up the area.
"Don't inhale it!" Hinata screamed as she observed the tiny exploding insects in the smoke. Naruto obeyed and held his breath. But luck wasn't in his favour today. As soon as the smoke covered the area, one of the Nokizaru group members appeared before Naruto via a shunshin and viciously elbowed him in his chest, making him open his mouth and breathe in to recover from the air in his lungs being forced out. And if that wasn't terrible enough, Naruto saw the other two attacking as well. He had to do something.
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!" The blade of wind appeared on Naruto's hand and he slashed the man that had just elbowed him. But immediately afterwards, he felt an excruciating pain in his chest.
Temari who was already rushing to the location released another gust of wind from her fan to drive away the smoke.
"Shadow Paralysis jutsu!" Various shadows burst out and bound the three Nokizaru group shinobi as well as Asui.
The smoke was blown away. But the damage had been done, Naruto was on the ground writhing in absolute pain.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata screamed as she crawled towards her boyfriend.
"No way!" Shikaku who had just arrived at the location turned his gaze towards the ninja that had attacked his students. The shadows creeped up to the necks of the Nokizaru group members and their necks were all snapped in a moment.
The head jonin then rushed to his students. "Naruto, Hinata are you two alright!?" He asked in a very concerned tone uncharacteristic of him.
"Sensei…Naruto-kun!" Hinata tearfully looked at her beloved as she forced herself to crawl up to him and help him lie on his back. Shikaku immediately took off Naruto's jacket and there it was an insect shaped bump surrounded by strained veins.
"This is bad…" Shikaku said concerned before turning to the red headed Genin from Suna who had arrived there with ten sand cocoons.
"Bring their ringleader here."
"Hai, Nara-sama." The red headed boy acknowledged as he brought forward one of the floating sand cocoons. The sand receded a bit to reveal the face of Himushi, the leader of the Nokizaru group.
"How about you tell me how to undo this jutsu of yours if you wish to live…or undo it yourself if that is necessary to do so." Shikaku ordered in a very low but serious tone as his killing intent burst out, all targeted at the Nokizaru group leader.
Himushi was in a bind. There was no deactivation of the exploding insect. He didn't utter a word.
He hoped silence would save his life.
"I see." Shikaku uttered in a cold tone. "Release them" He ordered Gaara and the redhead complied bringing all the cocoons down to the ground and revealing several captured Nokizaru group shinobi as the sand receded into the ground. But before the ten could make a single move shadow crept up and held them in place. "Shadow sewing jutsu" Shikaku coldly called out and multiple tendrils of shadows shot out of all the vital parts of the captured ninja, killing them all on the spot.
Himushi's hopes were, sadly for him, wrong.
The jonin of team-6 could only look at his students helplessly.
It had been exactly 6 minutes since the explosive tag and blown-up Naruto and Hinata's room.
In those six minutes, the Nokizaru group's infamous smoke was released in the lobby where Shikaku was present with the sand siblings.
They were able to hold their breaths but then they were surrounded by 10 Nokizaru group members, who were after the Nara clan head's head. It was definitely bit of a hassle for Shikaku to fight with them while holding his breath, but he captured them all with his shadows, Temari then proceeded to blast the smoke away with her fan.
Kankuro followed by inducing paralyzing drugs onto the bodies of the ninja Shikaku had captured, with the help of his puppets. Gaara followed encasing them all in sand cocoons. It was a very quick wrap up.
But still Shikaku had once again been too late to intervene in time.
"Naruto…I…" The head jonin tried to say but couldn't. It was the second time during the course of one single mission and both of his students were in desperate situations.
"What's going on here? Why are you holding our shinobi captive Nara?" The Raikage's voice shouted. He had just reached the place with Tsunade and Baki.
"Simple, he attacked my students and joined forces with the Nokizaru group." Shikaku responded in a low but serious tone. Just then Yoroi the leader of the Kumo reinforcement team arrived as well.
"Did the Nokizaru ninja disguise themselves as Kumo shinobi, Hinata?" Shikaku asked. The Hyuuga nodded.
"Couldn't you use common sense Asui? How come a genin from another village who didn't even know squat about how Kumo nin are supposed to operate pick up on something you didn't? Are you that revenge obsessed that any justification is good enough for you to murder anything related to your grudge?" Yoroi asked in an angry tone.
"Because these are Konoha pests! I saw this Konoha brat in a fight with Kumo shinobi. I obviously rushed to help my comrades!" The shadow trapped Kumo shinobi shouted back.
"And you were so eager to kill a Konoha ninja that you didn't even bother to check if any transformation jutsu in place!? How could you forget all that basic training!?"
"Konoha killed my brothers! I can't forgiv-" Asui's rant was silenced with a vicious punch from the Raikage. Vicious enough that it detached Shikaku's shadow that was holding him captive.
"The Nokizaru might have fooled me into attacking the Konoha genin with a similar ploy, but they know nothing of how a Kumo nin is supposed to act. They would have given themselves up in minutes for anyone who stops and thinks about the situation. But never mind that for now, your brothers died fighting for Kumo. That's all. We shinobi fight for our people and don't hold personal grudges once conflicts are over! The ones that do are blood thirsty warmongers and power-hungry fools… and idiots too quick to anger when the right buttons are pushed like myself. Have you not been taught that enough?!" Ay shouted angrily.
"In your personal vendetta, you didn't even bother to carry out a basic task of checking for a simple transformation jutsu and attacked foreign ninja who had done nothing to provoke a response. It could have started the 4th Shinobi World War? Do you even realize that!?" Ay shouted again before sighing. "You're dismissed Asui. As of this moment, you are back to being a genin till further notice." The Raikage concluded before turning to Shikaku.
"I apologize for the hassle this incompetent fool caused." Ay promptly apologized.
"It was a tense situation, the enemy played him and played him well…you have nothing to apologize for, Raikage-sama." The Nara responded.
By that time, Tsunade had gotten to Naruto. Hinata had already crawled up to him and was hugging his arm teary eyed. She couldn't bear to see him in that much pain.
'I-I was a burden to him once again…this is because of me…I dragged him down…'
"Hey…Hime…don't…blame yourself…even if you were fit…I would still have protected you…I…have no regrets…if I die for…you…y'know…" Naruto said in between spasms of pain and heavy breaths.
"Don't say that!" Hinata cried as she buried her face into her lover's arm. Before raising her head, a bit to look at Tsunade, who was looking at the Beetle shaped bump on Naruto's chest, horrified.
"P-Please save my Naru-kun…Tsunade-sama…please…I beg you…" The Hyuuga pleaded crying. Tsunade had no words. Only the images of the dead bodies of Nawaki and Dan were flashing in her mind.
'No…not again…After all this…I started believing and now…no Kami…not this time…please let don't let those words die…please don't let that dream die before coming true…just this once…just this once…' The Senju princess pleaded to whatever God that could listen as she examined Naruto's injuries.
To be precise, just after inhaling the explosive insect, Naruto had unleashed a jonin level technique, requiring a high degree of chakra control. His state was as bad as Karai's but with his young body, he was obviously unable to tolerate the pain the Kumo shinobi had been bearing over the last two days. The sheer amount of pain risked a cardiac arrest as his heartbeat was already going haywire.
'I have to do something soon…no…I must ask Shizune. She can…' But just then Tsunade realized there was another patient that she had, one she had promised to heal. Shizune will be required to carry out the surgery on Karai. Tsunade had to do the surgery on Naruto herself…there was no alternative.
Tsunade's trembling hands reached over the blonde's chest as they began glowing green. She used the mystic palm jutsu to ease the boy's pain.
"Both of them have to be operated immediately. Naruto as well as Karai." Tsunade declared as she mentally kept praying for strength. Ay and Shikaku nodded.
There was no going back. In order to keep the dream of her late loved ones alive, Tsunade had to conquer her demons right then and there. She had to, there was no other way…
One of the reinforcements from Kumo questioned, "She agreed to treat Karai, why is she dealing with the blond brat?"
Tsunade glared at the impudent cloud nin and silenced them in seconds: "Konoha would have my head if I turned a blind eye to a comrade near death, and this one has abnormally powerful reserves. Within minutes of the bug beginning to feed on him, he has progressed to same level as Karai who was infected at least a full day ago. Probably even worse. And Naruto isn't used to this kind of pain. His life is more at risk from complications due to his pain tolerance being completely overwhelmed. Now put aside the whole 'my village and country, right or wrong' mindset and think like a moral human being and tell me which would you treat first, the man who has lived a life that has made him used to this pain and thus better able to endure it with no ill affect and took a full day for his parasite to reach full mass or the boy who just started this life and yet the parasite has managed to exceed the former's parasite in a manner of minutes?"
No one dared to question that decision afterword.
Tsunade had to put her mental strength to the absolute test: battling her demons and trauma, working with precision to keep the fox from reacting by instinct and sending this back to square one, working quickly and efficiently with the time crunch of both risk of cardiac arrest and detonation if the bomb insect was agitated, and preventing infection from being able to sneak in to the boy's body while she worked.
The horrible crunching sound the boy's ribcage made when she broke it to allow access to the heart cavity was a sound the slug Sannin had hoped to never hear again, having heard the cracking and snapping of those bones far too much in her lifetime.
But ironically enough Naruto's face showed a hint of relief after she broke that bone to access his heart, the insect bloated to sizes that caused it's outline to be visible underneath the epidermis, even though it never left the heart cavity. That could only happen if its growth deformed the sternum.
A disturbing level of body horror, but the Sannin was more focused on her true opponent in this scenario rather than the destruction it wrought in its victims.
The creature was sitting next to the Jinchuriki's heart, drinking away from the boy's never-ending fount of nourishment for the parasite.
Tsunade carefully placed a hand on the insect and began directing her chakra around its exoskeleton to begin detaching it from its host and into its inner workings to target certain parts of its biology.
So close to the end and yet the truly dangerous part had only just begun.
The bug began vocalizing in panic as it realized that its legs had begun limp and relaxed which released its hold on it target.
It was still tapped into the chakra network but without those anchors it was at risk of being removed.
The creature began to grow irritated and attempted to trigger its intended use.
It was a short life but it was only meant to be a bomb.
If it couldn't feed for as long as its short life allowed, then it would deny its host some of its final moments.
The creature panicked harder once it realized that its detonation mechanisms had been disabled.
It could feel the vicious smirk of its assailant and something from its host once its defeat had been assured.
The creature tried to stay rooted to host's chakra network for as long as possible, but even that gave way to the vicious onslaught.
The living bomb insect could give no final defiance as its means of sustenance was cut off and it was ripped free of causing its host suffering and death in time.
Tsunade smiled and laughed as the bug finally lost out to her. "Suck on that, you ugly motherfucker."
EN: not much from the editor except for two things. One: we had planned an omake for this chapter where Tsunade and Ay's arm wrestle became an actual wrestling match. I couldn't write it and I think we both collectively decided our energy was better spent elsewhere rather than simply on a one note joke. Two: 'the dead will have their tribute…' edgy as all get out but it was a reference to Fire Emblem Three Houses' Blood of the Eagle and the Lion prebattle cutscene, Dimitri's utterly unhinged devotion to the ghosts of his family haunting him because of severe Survivor's Guilt, and driving him to desire to bloodily murder the girl he once called step-sister and the one he loved in an effort to appease the voices in his head. The line felt perfect for this context. That's all from me. RaNK?
A/N: Nothing to say. I hope you all liked the action sequences. Now we know, Naruto was treated in time. As for the Kumo-nin, he would be, nothing to worry about there and good for Tsunade to have overcome her blood phobia. Next up would be Hinata's surgery. And then we'll again be in a transition to the next arc as we return home to Konoha. I hope you all had a good read. Thank you again for all your love and support. See ya all in the next chapter.
Cheers and peace.
RaNK001 and GBAboy313 out.