Tsunade and her retinue finally reached Tanzaku Gai, though they did so a day earlier than expected. They stopped to allow the Anbu to change their attire so as to not be seen as shinobi. Unexpectedly however there was a small poof of smoke that put everyone on guard. when the smoke dissipated it revealed Katsuyu at about the size of a horse.
Tsunade was the first to speak. "Katsuyu, what do you need?" she asked in a tame but surprised tone. With a bow Katsuyu spoke, "I apologize my Lady but Naruto request I summon him to you immediately. He is currently in Shikkotsu Forest awaiting his summon." Tsunade immediately began to panic internally while on the outside she appeared to be as calm as can be. "Then let us not keep him waiting. Please bring him here Katsuyu" spoke Tsunade. "Yes my Lady" said the white slug as she bowed.
There was another poof of smoke out of it came a spiky headed blonde wearing a white kitsune mask with red detailing on the side of his head and an apple in hand. When he caught sight of Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton he let out a large sigh of relief. "Thank you Katsuyu-chan" said a grateful blonde as he gave Katsuyu the apple, who gladly accepted it. "It was no trouble Naruto-san" replied the white slug.
Tsunade then asked a question that many wanted an answer to. "Naruto-chan what happened?" Naruto looked a little sheepish. "Um well me and Jiraiya reached this town called _ where I got his kitsune mask" he said happily as he pointed to the mask in question. "After I got it, he took my wallet and used my money to pay for our hotel claiming that I need to help pay for things on the mission. I told him that since he was squad leader, he could get reimbursed when we got back to Konoha as additional expenses but I think he was just out of money from spending it on alcohol and 'arm candy'" he explained.
Tsunade's eyebrow imperceptibly twitched when she heard that Jiraiya took Naruto's money. She would be having words with her former teammate when she sees him again. "Well after he paid for the hotel with my money this woman in a tight red dress walked by. His jaw hit the floor and he left me alone and told me to go to the room without him. I locked the door and was really frustrated because he wanted to go skirt chasing again" Naruto said with a huff. All the women in the group slowly began to radiate auras of malice. Some because Jiraiya would abandon his duty as squad leader to chase a woman and others because he would leave his teammate, one he requested to bring with him, behind for a woman who could have been used to try and separate them and kill them.
"Well, their came a knock at the door. At first, I thought it was the pervert because he knew which room was ours but then I got suspicious as he would have his own key so why would he need me to let him in? So I used sensory ability to check the door and found out it was the same two chakra signatures that had been following us for a few days. One was almost as large as yours Tsu-chan but he was putting more chakra towards his eyes meaning he probably had a dojutsu. The other was big, like really big. So big it was larger than yours Tsu-chan" he explained to the group, even using his arms to help explain how massive the chakra signature was. "And they even had a sword with its own chakra system. I mean what sword has that?" asked an excited Naruto.
That last detail really surprised the group. There was only one sword known to have a chakra network of its own but it could have been claimed by another, they need to at least have a description of the owner to confirm their suspicions. "Naruto-kun do you know what the wielder of the sword looked like?" asked Shizune. Naruto looked contemplative for a moment before answering. "Yeah he had blue skin, spiked up blue hair and really sharp teeth" spoke the younger blonde. That told the group immediately who Naruto encountered. Kisame Hoshigaki, the Kirigakure no Kaijin. At that the entire groups eyes widened. Naruto was attacked by an S-ranked missing nin! Now it came down to why Naruto was sought out by such a person as Kisame had abandoned Kiri before the start of the civil war.
Unaware of the group's thoughts, Naruto continued his tale. "Well I came up with a plan where I would create several Kage Bunshin to send my chains through the entrance so I could summon Katsuyu and get out of there. I mean I can fight someone like Gaara easily as he just let me do what I wanted but two guys stronger than him sounds like a tall order especially if I don't know how they fight." The next thing made Naruto a little bashful, "I mean I don't want to have another fight like Gaara in the forest where it was just a slugging match."
The experienced shinobi were pleased with Naruto's answer. You did not always need to immediately fight any opponent you came across. Sometimes backing out before a fight is even started or making a clean get away is preferable than fighting an unknown. This is more true for someone like a Genin facing down a monster like Kisame.
Tsunade walked over to Naruto and gave him a hug, "Well I'm glad to see you are alright. For now, you will travel with us since it sounds like you were on your way here, am I right?" Naruto nodded his head in affirmation. "Yeah, the pervert said you were on your way here so we set out to meet you" replied the blonde. Tsunade let go of Naruto and nodded. "Alright. Then he should be making his way here in a hurry if I know him well enough and he hasn't changed. For now, let's get to town and making arrangements for staying so we can catch a toad. Afterwards I can see you you've been coming along with those training materials I sent you."
Naruto gave a smile that could outshine the sun. "Yeah, yeah! Also I have some questions I thought of when I was reading that medical text you sent" said the excited younger blonde. Tsunade smiled at that, "Well let's get going and you can ask Shizune and I as we walk, okay?" Naruto nodded and the group continued their way into Tanzaku Gai.
"So what questions did you have Naruto?" asked Tsunade. Naruto got out his little notebook of questions and notes. He began flipping through it to locate the questions he thought of from his current spot in the book. "Ah yeah, so the first one I had was, is it possible to regrow cartilage and if not, how do we handle that?" Tsunade nodded in approval of such a question. "Good question" responded Tsunade as she patted his head. Theoretically it is possible but cartilage doesn't grow back when damaged. However, it is possible to fuse fragments together before bonding them to muscle tissue to either repair or replace lost cartilage. If this is not possible then we would insert a metal plate between the joints to prevent them from grinding against one another. To get cartilage fragments they are typically taken as donations taken from a fallen comrade before it dries and becomes useless" explained the busty blonde.
As Tsunade was answering Naruto's questions, the young blonde was furiously writing, in another notebook, everything Tsunade was explaining though he did seem to grow a little green at desecrating a fallen comrade for parts. It made him feel gross and as if he were desecrating the dead. He decided that as a doctor he would recommend the metal plate than desecrate a person's remains. As if sensing his distress, Tsunade placed a hand on his shoulder whole Shizune gave him a counseling smile as Tonton rubbed against his leg briefly, showing that they were not fans of desecrating the dead either. Sadly they were aware that this was something that Naruto would have to come to terms with in the event he was forced to be a medic with limited to no supplies.
Smiling softly, Naruto got back to the lesson. Putting his hand under his chin in thought Naruto said "I see. Because cartilage can't regrow, we need other ways to help." He then thought of something that he had read about when it came to blood and organ transplants. "Do we have to make sure the cartilage is from a compatible blood type to make sure it is accepted?" Tsunade smile at the thoughtful question. "For cartilage it is not required to be from a compatible blood type since no blood vessels run through it. If you are going to be using some from another person, you just need to get some that are fresh or else the cartilage may have dried out and had become useless. If that happens it will no longer able to conform to the joint they are needed for" explained Tsunade.
The Anbu for their part were either highly intrigued by the conversation or were tuning them out in favor paying attention to their surroundings to not be caught off guard as they walked.
"What is your next question Naruto?" asked Tsunade. Naruto flipped through his first book again and asked "How are a patients bones affected if we need to use them to produce more blood to save a patient when we have no other means of replacing it, like blood bags?" Tsunade looked down and Naruto with a question of her own. "I assume you are talking about having the bones rapidly produce blood with the use of blood pills or chakra stimulation?" Naruto nodded in conformation at her question.
Tsunade was getting ready to answer his question so Naruto prepared his notebook again. "Well because we put so much strain on the bones to rapidly produce more blood to replace what is lost, we run the risk of making them brittle. This happens because we force the bones to use all the nutrients and resources available within each bone to produce blood, often to the point it could over consume nutrients if not handled correctly" Tsunade explained, all the while Naruto was taking notes as fast as he could to ensure he got everything.
Tsunade waited patiently for Naruto to finish his note taking. When she saw he was done Athena spoke again. "It's why the procedure is usually considered a last resort method for saving a person's life. If you find yourself in such a situation where you need to use such a procedure, you should try to utilize the whole skeleton to not weaken any one area of the body. Also, while using the bones closest to the injury is a viable method of producing blood for the body, using the whole skeleton lessens the strain on each bone. This ensures the likelihood of preventing serious skeletal damage to the patient. This is why chakra control is so important for our field as medics. Your chakra will allow you to target specific areas and stimulate the production of the necessary cells, from red blood cells to platelets." Naruto nodded along as she spoke, ensuring he wrote every word so he could commit them to memory.
On the outskirts of Tanzaku Gai, another party had arrived near the large gambling town. Overlooking the town on a large hill was Orochimaru along with Kabuto and Guren. In front of the Hebi Sannin was a small snake with black scales that had a faint layer of pale blue spots and a white underbelly. The snake was coiled before them as its tongue flicked out, tasting the air before it.
"Well?" asked Orochimaru to the snake. He wanted to be sure that Tsunade was in the area before making his presence known. If she was not here it was easier to ensure a hassle-free journey if no one knew you were around. The snake turned back to Orochimaru before it spoke in a light, feminine tone. "There was an appearance of a slug not to long ago. It had appeared on the outskirts of this place so it was isolated from the town ahead." Hearing this, Orochimaru and Kabuto came to the conclusion that Tsunade was indeed in the area, or more likely already in town."
"Excellent" spoke the Hebi Sannin with a cruel grin on his face. "I believe it is time to get Tsunade's attention" spoke an in pain Sannin. With that he dismissed the snake before him and beckoned Kabuto forward. Such motions were becoming more difficult as his arms seemed to be losing their motor function as well. Kabuto aided in drawing a little blood from his master with the use of a hypodermic needle. With that, Kabuto spread the blood over Orochimaru's snake tattoo on his left arm again allowing the pale man to summon an even larger snake, one that the three could ride atop as they entered town.
Tsunade, Shizune, Naruto, Tonton, and the disguised Anbu were making their way through the center of Tanzaku Gai towards the castle that had stood since the warring states period. They were making their way there because Naruto wanted to see the castle. When he had asked about Tanzaku Gai, Shizune had told him it was popular trading center and was able to keep itself protected from the samurai of warring Lords but it is now a gambling town with a minor trade presence. There was a time that many saw the castle as symbol of safety as none of the shinobi clans were willing to take the city as that could hurt their relations with merchant guilds.
Naruto had asked why the shinobi didn't just steal everything they needed. "Tell me Naruto-kun, what allows commerce to flourish?" Naruto thought about it for a minute. "The exchange of goods or services for monetary compensation, right?" Shizune nodded in affirmation. "Yes, and if goods were constantly being stolen?"
"Then no one would be willing to make anything because they would get anything for their work" answered Naruto. Shizune nodded again as realization struck Naruto. "It was so they didn't stop the flow of money that would affect them too!" The Anbu watched the scene with thoughts of 'Well he has certainly improved from the reports I had heard about while he was at the Academy.'
The group arrived at the impressive castle that was now a vacation home for the Daimyo when his family cemented their control over Hai no Kuni. Naruto was in awe like any child on a field trip to a new place when suddenly many people ran past the group in fear screaming about a monster approaching the wall. The group looked on concerned until a loud rumbling went off. Taking that as their que, the Anbu ran like frightened civilians only to circle back and hide in the shadows to watch over their Hokage.
Coming into view was a large snake and atop its head was a smirking Orochimaru with two people behind him, one of which shocked Naruto. When the Oto shinobi landed before them, Naruto saw Kabuto and was taken completely by surprise by the silver haired teen. While his two seniors were calm and collected Naruto was stunned and confused. Where they were unfazed by who was in front of them Naruto couldn't believe it.
Kabuto was cursing internally. He wasn't expecting to meet anyone who had known him before. If Naruto calls him out then his ability to spy within Konoha is shot to pieces. His anonymity is lost thanks to the younger blonde, though that did beg the question as to why and how he was here. He would have to play his cards carefully to get such information. In the meantime, he would need to work on silencing the boy so his identity as a known spy isn't released, killing all his covers in the other villages.
The behemoth of a snake lowered its head to allow Orochimaru and his entourage off its head as it soon left back to Ryuchi Cave, home of the Snake Summons. The Anbu were now on high alert as they hid on the roofs of the surrounding buildings as the two Sannin stared each other down between the large walls that defined the surrounding of the area in the city near the castle. Shizune and Naruto were tense at having Orochimaru in front of them though Naruto was also radiating anger at the man who killed the man who helped him, as little as it was, and cost so many their lives. Tsunade was the most relaxed of her group though she was ready for a fight as she could see the desire and pain that were clearly on display on Orochimaru's features. 'I guess the wounds sensei inflicted on him were more effective than they thought' speculated the Godaime.
Guren for her part looked disinterested in all of those across from her, especially the blonde child who she saw as worthless. Kabuto looked on at Naruto with interest, curious as to why the jinchuriki was with Tsunade as he hadn't heard he was with her when she was spotted earlier. Orochimaru would have taken in who was with Tsunade but he was so focused on getting his arms healed that he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.
Naruto wanted to shout at Kabuto but he was too stunned by the person before him. Wasn't this guy a Konoha shinobi? "What? I thought you were a Konoha shinobi? How could you be working for someone like him?" asked Naruto while pointing toward Orochimaru. Kabuto merely shrugged, noticing that his cover was really blown open thanks to the boy's question. "You'll find that many people you know will betray you. However, I was never a Konoha shinobi, I have always been a spy for Orochimaru-sama" he stated nonchalantly. Tsunade put a hand on Naruto's shoulder to calm him and prevent him from acting rashly.
Orochimaru was the next to speak after a short silence, a cocky smirk on his pale face. "Well well well Tsunade, it's been awhile and I see you managed to catch yourself a fox. Was one pet not enough." Tsunade gave no outward reaction to her former teammates words as she wore a neutral expression. However, the hand on Naruto's shoulder never moved as the younger blonde's expression changed from surprise to a glare at the insult. The only thing preventing him from rebutting was Tsunade keeping him in place as she used her chakra to reinforce her grip. "Orochimaru. What do you want?" Despite not having his expression change, Tsunade somehow felt the man's smirk grow. "Now now Tsunade. Can't an old friend come and visit?" Tsunade scowled at the man's choice of words, "We aren't friends Orochimaru, now what do you want?"
Orochimaru laughed at the woman's harsh words and dark tone while Guren felt the need to put this blonde in her place for daring to insult her master. "Kukuku. Well since you are asking so politely. I was wondering if you could help me with something. You see I had a run in with our old sensei and let's just say he left me in a state that is less than ideal."
Tsunade's expression changed to a smirk. She remembered reading the report the two Anbu who lived through the battle. She was proud of what her sensei did to her former teammate despite his age. She decided to taunt Orochimaru and his misfortune. "You mean he beat you." Orochimaru's smirk changed to a scowl. "If that were true, they he would be alive and I would not be here." Orochimaru was hoping for some kind of reaction from his former teammate, but she didn't even seem surprised by his words. Sadly, for the Hibi Sannin, this news was not shocking to Tsunade as she was there for her sensei's funeral. Naruto was getting upset at his casual dismissal of killing so many and was struggling to keep himself from shouting at the Sannin.
Tsunade took notice of Orochimaru's arms. 'His arms seem to be becoming necrotic. Just what did sensei do to his arms?' questioned Tsunade. The elder blonde was not the only one to notice it. Shizune had seen it as well while Naruto needed to calm down more before he noticed the condition of the pale man in front of him. Kabuto noticed the tension rising between the two groups and hoped to be more diplomatic than his master was. "Tsunade-sama, if you would please hear us out." Without waiting for the Godaime to respond, Kabuto continued. "As I am sure a medic of your caliber can tell, Orochimaru-sama's arms are not doing well …" for the next part to be said, Kabuto had to swallow his pride "… and we need a medic of your caliber to ensure his arms make a recovery."
Tsunade once again took notice of Orochimaru's arms before returning her gaze back to Orochimaru. "I'm not interested" she said with a dismissive wave. Soon her gaze intensified as she focused on the silver haired teen. "You however were a Konoha shinobi. I see you are a traitor" she said scornfully. Kabuto said nothing and just raised his glasses.
Orochimaru tried his own change in approach. "Tsunade. I know you still long for your loved ones" he said as a silver-tongued liar. "If you restore the use of my arms, I will be able to bring them back to life." This offer made Shizune worry that her master would accept. She knew how much the two meant to Tsunade but was unsure if she got over her grief.
Tsunade would be a liar if she said she didn't consider the offer. When the offer was presented to her, she fell into her own thoughts of her former fiancé and her brother. As she fell into her own world she saw them. She saw her otouto, Nawaki, and her former lover, Dan, smiling at her like they used to in an open field of grass as the sun hung high in the air and they stood side by side. It was then another began to appear between the two as they began to fade. When she saw blonde before her, smiling as he does which reminds her of who she lost.
He was so similar to them, with Nawaki's boisterous nature and Dan's caring nature. He exhibited both personalities so evenly that he is a mix of the two giving him a boisterous caring nature that seemed to kick start her heat once gain. It was for these reasons that her heart had sped up and she had a warm feeling in her chest when she met Naruto and when they went out together. She was drawn to him when he proclaimed he wanted to become Hokage, though that was subconsciously. As she trained him and he should his drive and grit to the point he could summon a twentieth of Katsuyu on his first try she chose to believe once again leading her to give him the necklace she had lost faith in. As they spend more time around each other, her desire to help him achieve his goal seemed to grow as well, even if she has to walk side by side with him for the whole journey. Her expression of shock slowly morphed to a warm smile.
As she slowly came back, her gaze hardened on the Hebi Sannin surprising the man. "Let the dead rest you snake." Orochimaru was greatly taken aback by what his former teammate said. He was sure that she would jump at the chance to restore her loved ones but she acted differently to his perception of her. To punish her, Orochimaru brought up his right hand and bit into his finger.
The pale man grimaced at the taste. His flesh tasted as ash in his mouth with the lingering taste of rot that seemed to spread along the inside of his mouth while his blood tasted of that of soured grapes that long passed their point of making a whine. The two tastes permeated his mouth as they seemed to crawl along the top of his tongue.
As the blood flowed from the wound, Orochimaru held the finger up in the attempt to make Tsuande cower and freeze up in fear from the hemophobia he had heard she possessed. However, once again Tsunade surprised the Hebi Sannin. He placed a hand on her hip as she raised an eyebrow. "You know, self-mutilation is not the best course of action if you are trying to recover" spoke the older blonde.
Naruto looked as if he was holding in a laugh at the comment made at Orochimaru's expense. Orochimaru once again had a scowl mare his features. Once again, Tsunade was acting differently to how he had remembered her being after the loss of her fiancé and brother. It was as if she went back to being the Queen of Elixirs and The World's Greatest Medic. Once again, his blood boiled at being called out and not having things he wanted.
Naruto looked happy that Tsunade told the snake freak off while Shizune was glad her master did not accept the offer. She knew how much Nawaki and Dan meant to Tsunade which is why she had been attempting to push Naruto and Tsunade closer. So that not only could she move on from her loss but also meet someone new who could give her master the happiness she deserved and help Tsunade fulfil a dream she used to have when she was an active Jonin of Konoha During the Second Great Ninja War.
Guren was losing her patience with the blonde women. Did she not know who she was talking to? She was addressing The Great Orochimaru, her master and the man who would be the greatest shinobi the world would have the pleasure of knowing. As the conversation drew on her own anger grew as not only was this blonde bimbo, as no other woman could compare to her beauty, was not jumping at the chance to help her master but also had the nerve to insult him.
Guren had enough and chose to speak up since Kabuto was not making any progress. "Look Lady" spoke Guren as she stepped in front of her master with a hand on her hip, "just come along already. You are clearly just some old hag, stalling for time since you don't know how to properly serve Orochimaru-sama" Guren spoke haughtily.
Naruto grew irritated at that, to the point Tsunade could not keep him clam. After all no one insults one of his precious people. 'How dare this blue haired woman talk to Tsu-chan like that?! I mean Tsu-chan is way prettier that her!' thought an insulted Naruto before he voiced his thoughts. "Hey! Watch your mouth ugly!" shouted Naruto as he stepped forward and dramatically pointed at Guren.
At those words Guren's anger grew higher as a scowl marred her features. "What did you say gaki?" she asked icily. Naruto didn't hesitate to respond. "You heard me! You're just some ugly bitch who has nothing going for her if you listen to this pasty ass" shouted Naruto as he pointed aggressively at Guren then to Orochimaru.
Guren could not stand the insult to her master nor her looks. She didn't care who this boy was, in her mind he was dead. Guren began to form a blue crystal blade along her forearm, preparing to lash out a kill this gaki for his words. Unknown to Guren, the hidden Anbu were taking note of her ability to grow a crystal blade and wondering if it was a kekkei genkai. If so it was going to need something they would need to combat as things seem to be devolving quickly and an S-ranked traitor was in front of them.
Seeing Guren's weapon begin to form, Naruto began to sprout chains from his back as he readied himself to protect his precious people. Orochimaru chuckled at the sight of Naruto's chains. "Well well well Tsunade, I didn't think you would get the backing of such a little loudmouth. Though I must say his growth intrigues me as does his little ability he shows."
Tsunade smiled sweetly, far to sweetly for any sane man's liking. She slowly raised her arm before lightly striking the wall behind her nearly shattering it. "Orochimaru shut up, or I'll kill you" she threatened the Hebi Sannin. The threat worked on Kabuto who was now hesitant to fight the woman in any contest of taijutsu while Guren was shocked to see such physical strength.
In an attempt to regain the peace and prevent a fight Kabuto raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Listen Tsunade-sama all we are asking is that you consider the idea. We can even give you a few days to think about the offer Orochimaru-sama presented. This way cooler heads can prevail."
Tsunade brought her hand to her chin as if thinking about the offer. The Anbu tensed their bodies, waiting for the command from their Hokage to act. Soon Tsunade turned her attention back to Orochimaru's group. Kabuto was hoping that Tsunade would agree to the extension so a strategy could be formulated to deal with the newcomer. Despite Naruto being the weakest person here, he is still a factor to be accounted for as his skills could turn the tide of a fight if he is left alone or underestimated. Guren was just hoping for a fight to show this little punk what happens when you call her ugly while Orochimaru hungered for his arms to be restored.
Soon enough Tsunade spoke. How about I present my counter. As Godaime Hokage of Konoha I hereby place you all under arrest!" As soon as she spoke Orochimaru's group were shocked by her words though they had to move fast as the hidden Anbu squad that guarded the Hokage leapt from their hiding spots and charged Orochimaru. Knowing they were in a bad spot, Orochimaru and his group retreated immediately. Without a second's hesitation, Tsunade and her entourage followed after.
Tsunade and her group were in hot pursuit of Orochimaru and his possie in the trees of the forest that surrounded Tanzaku Gai, worrying Orochimaru's two subordinates. Guren, in her worry, threw pink crystal daggers to throw off their pursuers. As soon as she let fly her crystal darts, Naruto reacted immediately by letting his chains loose to defect the incoming crystals. The air born weapons collided midair with daggers being halted and falling to the ground while the chains were mildly thrown off course sticking into the trees with their spear tips.
The Anbu took note of how she wielded her kekkei genkai as they were going to be fighting it soon enough, while Orochimaru and his group were not distracted by the chains piercing the trees they leapt from. As Naruto got closer to where his chains were embedded, he would yank them harshly from the trees, caring little for stealth as he went by as his targets were very well aware of him.
Soon enough the pursuit came to a halt as the Konoha contingent chased the Oto shinobi to a field that was close, by shinobi standards, to Tanzaku Gai. Seeing no other option, Orochimaru had his group stop to turn and fight. It was clear that Tsunade was not going to let him get away so he would need to fight. He figured after he won this battle, he could force Tsunade to heal his arms and become his next research subject. They boy could prove useful as it was clear he had some dominant Uzumaki genes.
The Konoha contingent landed soon after, with Naruto and Shizune flanking Tsunade and the Anbu landing in front of the Hokage though they left enough space to allow the Hokage to keep track of their opponent. As soon as they landed everyone got in ready stances with Guren making a second arm blade, Naruto kept his chains out as the Anbu drew their swords.
Everyone was waiting for some kind of signal to start the fight. Kabuto decided he would get in Naruto's head. He had read in the psychological evaluation of the younger blonde that he sought approval of those he looked up to so he decided to use what he had heard from some of the survivors of the arena battle about the jinchuriki's performance.
"You know Naruto-kun. You are more of a hindrance than a help in this battle. I mean you didn't really fight your opponents in the arena. Instead, your fight against Neji was intrupted before you could show your skill and your fight with Gaara was barely an exchange. You caught the red head off guard, hardly a fight" he said the end with a shrug.
Now one would assume Naruto's confidence would be called into question with such words being thrown at him. He had run from two who had chakra signatures of similar scale to Orochimaru after all. However, this time is different. He has Tsunade and Shizune by his side to help him out. There was a team of Anbu to help fight one of the opponents in front of him. On a tactical level he had nothing to fear. But there was something else he had. Since he wasn't fighting them all alone, he didn't need to fear them. In fact, he was more than ready to fight and he made that clear.
"So what that those fights didn't show much? That just means I won with little being shown so no one could develop a counter strategy." Here Naruto gained a confident smirk. "That also means you don't know what you're dealing with Mr. Spy. So you better watch yourself because the Rokudaime Hokage will take you by storm as the greatest Hokage!" he boasted confidently as he dramatically pointed at Kabuto.
Tsunade smiled at her second apprentice's words while Shizune beamed at Naruto's confidence. The Anbu were happy to hear a Genin speak with such confidence in the face of such opponents. Kabuto for his part was miffed that his strategy to dampen the confidence of the blonde back firing. Guren couldn't care as she was going to kill the younger blonde anyway. Orochimaru didn't care for the younger blonde, all he cared about was getting Tsunade to end the pain in his arms.
Tsunade, Naruto and Shizune as well as her Anbu now stood in a field across from Orochimaru, Guren and Kabuto. "Well now Tsunade. I am quite sad that it has come to this. If you would have helped me, I could have returned those you loved back to you." Tsunade narrowed her eyes dangerously at the Hebi Sannin. "Don't lie to me Orochimaru. Even if you could bring back the dead, we both know they wouldn't be the same and you would use them to manipulate me" bit back Tsunade.
Orochimaru shook his head in disappointment. "Well then Tsunade if you will not help me, then you must be removed." He then gave Guren and Kabuto a look which the teen responded to by getting a kunai with a curved tip ready while Guren prepared to strke. Tsunade eyed the white-haired boy with boredom, as if he was nothing but a nuisance. "You" she pointed at Kabuto with her right hand as she placed her left on her hip as she put all her weight on the same leg. "You were at the Chunin Exams recently, right?" Kabuto nodded hesitantly in affirmation. With that Tsunade gained a dangerous smile. "Let me show you what Naruto-kun was going to do against that Hyuga boy."
Suddenly, with speed befitting that of a Sannin, Tsunade appeared before Kabuto in a forward lunge like position with her right shoulder forward while arm was cocked back and close to her hip. The speed shocked the two, Orochimaru was under the impression that Tsunade let her skills fall off while Kabuto was surprised at the speed of the woman before him. Guren for her part was surprised by the woman's speed as she wore her shock clearly on her face. The next thing either of them knew, their was a large shockwave where Kabuto was standing, Tsunade's fist was outstretched and Kabuto was tumbling across the ground almost ten meters away.
With the demonstration they were just treated to, Orochimaru motioned for Guren to focus her attention on the Anbu escort. It was clear to the Hibi Sannin that Guren was no match for the blonde woman before them. Rather than waste such a valuable asset in a fight she was sure to die, Orochimaru made the smarter decision to have the woman stall Tsunade's Anbu.
Tsunade straightened out her posture, taking the stance she was in before Kabuto vanished from his previous location. "Now Orochimaru, you will remember why I am the most dangerous of the three of us when it comes to taijutsu." Orochimaru leapt away from Tsunade, knowing being in close with the woman was dangerous even if he had his arms. He was stronger in ninjutsu but at his current state he didn't have that.
Orochimaru launched his head at Tsunade, elongating his neck hoping to use poison to weaken the woman. Tsunade countered by slapping his head into the ground. As soon as it made contact, she stomped it into the ground with a back stomp using her right foot. She repeated this process three times then keeping her foot where she planted his head. As her focus was on his head Orochimaru brough his body forward, using the speed of drawing it in to carry it off the ground. Sensing the incoming body, Tsunade blocked the double dropkick with her left forearm. This was followed by a right straight, a left uppercut to the diaphragm, a right hook and a left side kick that sent his body away.
Before it got too far away, she grabbed the stretching neck with both hands. In a manner similar to what Naruto did to Gaara, Tsunade slammed the body of Orochimaru into the ground repeatedly all the while keeping his head planted in the ground. When she was done with it, she removed her foot from his neck and threw him away. Orochimaru tumbled with the throw before cocking his head back and unleashing a tidal wave of Hebis from his mouth.
While surprising, Tsunade raised her fist to the sky before extending her index finger. She brought the digit down with all her strength creating a massive earthquake and a brand-new canyon, causing many of the Hebis to fall to the bottom of the new landmark she created. When she brought her attention to where Orochimaru was, he was gone. Suddenly from her feet, came the Hebi Sannin. In his mouth was the fabled Kusanagi poised to impale the Senju woman. Reacting quickly, Tsunade channeled lightning chakra to her legs and danced around the blade though her obi and top were cut into. When she finished her roll, she flicked him away.
The pale Sannin retracted his sword. As he was skidding back, he threw his tongue out in an attempt to strangle the Queen of Elixirs from a distance. Tsunade grabbed onto the slimy appendage with both hands and attempted to reel him in like a fish on a line. Orochimaru countered this by continuing to elongate his tongue. As it began to fall to her feet, Tsunade stomped on the slack she was getting with each new yard following its predecessor into the ground under her heel. Orochimaru grimaced at the taste of the dirt his tongue was experiencing. Then an idea struck the Hebi Sannin. When Tsunade raised her foot to stomp on the next section of his tongue, she reeled in he quickly began drawing it back, using what was at her feet to wrap around her raised foot to throw her off balance.
This worked partly, she was forced on to one foot, however her perfect control of her chakra allowed her to stay rooted to the ground. As she nearly lost all of the tongue she collected, Tsunade used her chakra to grip the tongue like a genin would the surface of a tree. The force of pulling his tongue back to him immediately shifted Orochimaru's position. No longer was his tongue coming back to him, now he was headed to the rest of his tongue.
He put a stop to this by returning the slack as he needed to keep his distance. This didn't last. Tsunade once again closed the distance between the two with lightning chakra. What she did next however terrified the Hebi Sannin to his core. Tsunade was low to the ground with a single finger outstretched from her fist, and it was all coating in lightning chakra like the Sandaime Raikage. Tsunade jabbed her finger out and impaled Orochimaru. With that she let go of his tongue and removed the spear from his gut leaving a rather large hole in his chest.
"How… how do you know that technique Tsunade?" rasped Orochimaru. Tsunade replied with a smirk, "It's easy to replicate if you understand chakra and elemental manipulation. The Raikage of Kumo are all masters of manipulating Raiton which is in part who the Sandaime Raikage made this jutsu. He used his incredible ability to manipulate Raiton through his Raiton Chakura Modo to make the four variants of Saikyo no Hoko. Using the principles he must have used in their creation I was able to replicate to a better degree that Kakashi has unknowingly been doing with his Raikiri."
Orochimaru was stunned. Tsunade gained one of the most powerful Raiton jutsu. His shoulders began to shake followed by his laughter. Suddenly he opened his mouth. Out came something Tsunade was not expecting, another Orochimaru. "You surprise me, Tsunade. I didn't think you would be one to steal another's jutsu." Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "I can't steal such a jutsu I know the method of its creation. Plus, I didn't have to take any material to figure out how it functions, just listen to what people said about it. If that were the case every jutsu has been stolen as people across the nations know many of the same jutsu."
"Ho? But then …" here Tsunade waved him off. "I'm not going to discuss philosophy with someone who doesn't even have the kindness to let the spirts of the dead rest in peace. It was then the look in Tsunade's eyes became colder than he had ever seen. "For disturbing my Grandfather and Granduncle … I'll kill you." Orochimaru shifted his eyes to where Kabuto last was. He saw his right hand being pressed by Tsuande's apprentice and the Kyuubi brat.
If he was going to win this fight, or even survive, he needed Kabuto to summon Manda. Immediately Orochimaru made a break for the fight of Kabuto vs Shizune and Naruto with Tsunade hot on his tail. Despite her speed, Orochimaru was as nimble and as slippery as a snake.
Thanks to his superior speed the Hibi Sannin went unnoticed by Naruto and Shizune before he landed next to Kabuto. "Orochimaru-sama" stated a suprised Kabuto. Before anymore could be said by his subordinate, Orochimaru gave an order "Hurry! Summon reinforcements!" Following his master's orders, Kabuto removed the bandages from Orochimaru's left arm to reveal his summoning tattoo that appeared as a Hebi coiled around his arm.
Seeing what the two were planning, Tsunade landed beside her two apprentices. "We need to summon Katsuyu! Between the three of us we should be able to summon her and two others. I will summon Katsuyu while you two will summon one's close to her level in strength." The two nodded at her orders before following her in going through the seals for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. When the smoke cleared Orochimaru and Kabuto stood atop Manda while two more snakes appeared alongside the boss of the snake clan. Tsunade stood atop Katsuyu at one twentieth her true size, Naruto stood atop sea cucumber looking slug and Shizune was atop a blue circle slug.
"Orochimaru what have you summoned me for? No matter I expect one hundred human sacrifices for this conflict." Turning his attention to his companions, Buraunsukeru he said addressing the one with horns on its nose, Zukin Hebi he spoke as he addressed the cobra prepare yourselves. Atop Manda's head, Orochimaru was panting heavily from using so much chakra to summon three large summons. The pale man could barely stand anymore but he still stuck himself to the top of Manda's head with his remaining chakra being very aware of who chaotic fights of this magnitude could get.
Naruto and Shizune chased after Kabuto after following his tumble to their current location. "Ah Naruto-kun, so glad to see you join us. I must admit your display against Gaara really has me intrigued. How could a hopeless nobody such as yourself reach a stage to defeat someone like Gaara hmm?" rasped out the spy.
"Hey! You better watch who you're talking too like that!" shouted the blonde. "I'm going to be the Rokudaime Hokage so don't underestimate me!" Kabuto held a neutral expression. While he was intrigued by the blonde's growth in strength, he need to ensure he hid his intrigue behind a mask of indifference lest he draw more attention to himself than he needed. Because he was here and not with the Gama Sannin, it meant that the blonde was more than likely an apprentice to the Slug Sannin. If that were true Kabuto was definitely curious as to what allowed the blonde to take up such an academic field given that his studies in the academy before he became a shinobi suggested such field was out of his purview.
Shizune cut the conversation short. "Naruto-san, we must focus. If we manage to capture him, he could provide us a lot of intel on the Snake Sannin's plans." Naruto nodded hesitantly. He had heard what kind of man Orochimaru was from Tsu-chan and the Ero-Sannin. They needed to stop him as he was also the one who killed the Sandaime. The two got ready for a fight, prompting Kabuto to do the same by drawing another curved tip kunai.
Shizune fired all the senbon in her hidden launcher beneath her left sleeve. Kabuto dodged to the right as he couldn't deflect all the projectiles, focusing on those closest to hitting him. As he was dodging a kunai thrown by Naruto was going to where he was. This was child's play. He caught the kunai easily before preparing to throw it back at Naruto. As soon as he was in the ready position the kunai changed to Naruto who struck him or at least attempted to. What he struck was nothing more than a Doton bunshin. Out of the ground at the original Naruto's feet came Kabuto. His kunai was outstretched to slice into Naruto, however the young blonde weaved out of the way of the initial strike.
This didn't matter however, as Kabuto used the hooked tip of his kunai to grab Naruto's collar before pulling him into a hook strike. Naruto blocked the strike and retaliated with one of his own. Kabuto blocked the strike but this resulted in him getting launched several feet with a blocked arm. Shizune quickly followed up with a drop stomp where Kabuto landed. Kabuto quickly rolled out of the way and threw several shuriken at the charging blonde to delay him.
When his feet were steady, Kabuto went through a set of hand seals that activated the Chakura no Mesu. Once they were active and glowing around his palms, Kabuto charged Shizune. Seeing this, Shizune activated her own Chakura no Mesu and met Kabuto's charge. What Naruto bore witness to was something like what he saw Hinata and Neji preform back in the Chunin Exams Preliminaries. The two would lash out with chakra coated palms, attempting to sever the musculature of their foe however something was different between the two fighters. 'How is she blocking my attacks? Each strike should have severed the tendons in her arms, so how?' questioned Kabuto.
Unknown to the Snake Sannin's right hand, Shizune was coating her arms in chakra as well to disperse what ever foreign chakra was attempting to push itself into her system. Not knowing this trick, Kabuto was forced to dodge each of Shizune's strikes. Shizune soon followed up with a side kick Kabuto was not expecting, landing it in his torso. This created an opening in which Shizune attempted to strike Kabuto's left shoulder to render one arm inoperable. Kabuto leapt back to avoid this outcome, however Shizune was quick to follow.
Regaining his baring's of watching to Jonin level fighters once again, Naruto leapt back into the fray. He sent out four of his chakra chains to distract Kabuto. Kabuto effortlessly weaved through the chains while only taking minor cuts. He was more worried about Shizune's change in fighting style. Hers seemed to be more orientated to kicks vs punches like Naruto and Tsunade.
When Shizune was close enough, she led with a left side kick that she used as a faint before following through with a right sided kick aimed at Kabuto's head. As he ducked the strike, he attempted to strike at Shizune's thigh. Not only was this blocked while her leg was still in the air, but she brought said leg down in an axe kick that Kabuto dodged by going underground with the Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu. Naruto and Shizune regrouped before striking again. "Naruto-san! Strike the ground!"
"On it!" replied Naruto. Naruto struck the ground with so much force, the surface was destroyed and many areas were uplifted revealing Kabuto.
The silver haired spy leapt from the ground and adjusted his glasses. "Hm. Well it seems we are at a bit of a stalemate. I guess it's time I end this" he said as he pulled out a small pill. 'A chakra pill?' questioned the duo. Once Kabuto ingested the pill, Naruto's sensory ability noticed something with Kabuto's right hand. A chakra scalpel appeared once more, however what was not visible was it now held the length of a kodachi. Naruto was shocked and quickly relayed this to Shizune. "Shizune-san, the scalpel on his hand is longer than it appears. If I had to guess it is as long as a katana."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses with a smug smirk. "I see you noticed my improved version of the Chakura no Mesu. This version utilizes the cutting principle of the jutsu, but it extends the range by using a chakra string as a means of containing the technique as it is extended" explained Kabuto. This technique immediately put Shizune on edge. While Naruto could "see" the technique, he wasn't skilled enough to hold his own against an opponent like Kabuto. While she was skilled, she couldn't see the jutsu's new length.
Kabuto got into a fencer's stance as he prepared to strike. Before their fight could continue Orochimaru landed next to Kabuto while Tsunade landed next to Shizune and Naruto.
Seeing as how the other members of the Konoha contingent had already chosen their opponents the Anbu moved to fight the blue haired woman who gave them masked shinobi an insane smirk as she ran towards them, under the impression she was stronger than those who chose to hide their face.
Guren jumped into the air with the plan to land in the center of the four Anbu and disrupt their formation. Sadly for Orochimaru's kunoichi, the Anbu were far more experienced than she gave them credit for. The Anbu shifted their pace to allow them to form a box around the blue haired kunoichi. As soon as she landed, she channeled her chakra to her hand that was in contact with the ground.
To the surprise of none of the Anbu, a large emerald formation rose from the ground where Guren made contact. The crystal was slightly larger than most two-story buildings while around the main formation were several smaller formations.
Undeterred by the rising emeralds, the Anbu began their attack with Gazeru and Tora drawing their kodachi from their backs while Fokkusu prepared a weighted chain and Iguru prepared a mass of clumps of mud for his team in the event a kawarimi is needed. Guren leapt from her perch atop her crystal formation, creating two arm blades as she fell. The first to meet her charge were Gazeru and Tora with Gazeru's blade clashing against Guren's arm blades. As the weapons clashed Gazeru's sword was chipped where it clashed with the sapphire blades.
As soon as the blades made contact Guren was thrusting her right arm forward, intending to impale the Anbu through the purple haired woman through the mask. However, those plans were cut short as Tora came from Guren's left to take the woman's head. Acting quickly, Guren swung her right arm, breaking Gazeru's blade and putting a scratch into the Anbu's mask as she rotated to meet the incoming sword. Gazeru for her part had kicked off Guren's raised knee, throwing not only herself away from the engagement but also throwing Guren off her turn.
Due to the shift in her position, she blocked the incoming strike poorly forcing her to bring both of her weapons together to deflect the incoming killing strike. Despite shattering the sword that was set to kill her Guren had no time to breath. Fokkusu's weighted chain was soon wrapped around the servant of Orochimaru and was pulled violently back to the ground. Acting quicky, Guren used her Kessho no Yoroi to cover her body in a thin armor to aid her in taking the impact. Guren landed on the ground with a loud crash while also kicking up an obscuring cloud of dirt.
Not taking any chances with their opponent, Iguru used Doton: Ganban Kyu to have multiple slabs of rock bind their opponent of questioning. Not knowing if they succeeded or not, the Anbu stayed on guard. Their vigilance was well rewarded as, they managed to avoid the growing pink sikes that rocketed from the ground where they were standing. Due to leaping away, Fokkusu didn't notice that the chain went slack until he landed.
Now free, Guren went through several hand seals before she called her jutsu. "Shoton: Kurisutarusōn no Saibai!" she shouted. At her words pink crystals began to sprout from the ground. Taking evasive action, the Anbu moved out of the path of the quickly growing spikes only for a new spike to grow from the initial spike jutting towards them. Once again, they moved out of the path of the incoming spike that now resembled that of a thorn, only for a new thorn to grow from the one they just dodged. Noticing a pattern, the Anbu were forced to strike out at Guren who was well hidden behind her jutsu as their constant motion had allowed it to also create a barrier.
Acting quickly, Gazeru utilized the Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu, attempting to guide the flames through the growing mass of crystals to at least disrupt Guren's technique. Her plan was met with success as the pink thorns stopped their onslaught. Taking advantage of this the entire squad mimicked their captains' actions, launching even more small fireballs into the center of the crystal formation. A small bonfire could be seen by the smoke rising from what would presumedly be the center of the structure.
Unseen by the Anbu, Guren was tired from the amount of chakra she used in her last technique as well as having to fight four Anbu at once. Sweat rolled down her brow as she was taking in deep breaths of air. 'Grrr! How dare these masked losers push me like this?! They even ruined my outfit!' she thought in anger, taking note of her burnt right sleeve that now had a singed edge that stopped at her shoulder. Accompanying this were minor burns on her arms. "Of course they have Katon jutsu" she growled. "That means I need to keep this as up close as possible" spoke Orochimaru's left hand.
Suddenly there was a strong rumble that caught the attention of the Anbu and Guren. Turning toward the source of the rumbling, the Anbu saw three large snakes that were so large that they would fit in if they lived in the Forest of Death while in between them was a much larger purple snake with four horns that came from the back of its head . Though the snakes were equal in size they were different in species. One was fallen leaf brown with a light tan underbelly. It had black spots across the top of its body with a near triangular head. Along its nose seemed to be horns while along its eyes were smaller horns that flowed with its scales. The other was a thin black snake with what appeared to be hints of a hood, implying the snake was a cobra. The two snakes were clearly looking down at their prey, meaning they were looking at the Hokage and her entourage.
Before the Anbu could move, there were three more large poofs of smoke accompanied by an equally large rumble as when the snakes appeared. There were two slugs that appeared, one was lying flat against the ground while the other was partially up as the other slugs they had seen previously. The one lying on the ground had no apparent optical appendages unlike its more common counterparts. It also seemed to have no distinguishable mouth. It was deep blue mixed with sea greens and purples with what appeared to be a rough skin texture accompanied by several bumps across its body. Unknown to all that were not standing atop it but its skin was more like armor than skin. The second was a large white slug with blue circle on the top of its head. The final one was the great slug Katsuyu.
Guren had taken the time to crawl out of her hole quietly to see what was going on as her own crystals had aided in obscuring her view. What she saw surprised her. To see her master call upon some of his more powerful servants made her wonder how powerful those they were confronting were. Attempting to sneak past the Anbu to rejoin her master. Sadly, the Anbu had noticed her movement and once again chased her down to detain the Oto kunoichi.
Manda stared at the slugs before him along with his kin. The large purple snake was never in conflict with the slugs of Shikkotsu Forest so he was unaware of many of their abilities. The only one he knew anything about was Katsuyu but that was mostly because he was forced to work with the gastropod on occasion. The sea cucumber was the first to speak in a feminine voice "Greetings Tsunade-sama, Naruto-san and Shizune-san. I am Botomuu Oka. I am happy to be of service." The next to speak was the blue circle slug with more of a masculine leaning voice. "Hello Tsunade-sama, Naruto-san and Shizune-san. I am Azurla. I will do my best to be of service to you" the slug said with a slight bow. Naruto greeted the new gastropods with a great amount of enthusiasm and a smile while Shizune gave a lighthearted smile.
Silence hung in the air as both parties waited to see who would make the first move. They didn't have to wait any longer as the snakes were the first to strike. Manda lunged forward, drawing the attention of the three slugs toward him. In response to his sudden action, Katsuyu sprays as shower of acid at the purple snake. Being aware of this ability, Manda acted quickly by shifting his body so it struck his back which forced him to roll to wipe the acid off before it could do any significant damage.
As Manda closed in on Katsuyu, Botomuu Oka sent out a flurry of tentacles from its mouth catching Manda in his haste to attackt the boss of the slugs. To aid his ally, Naruto sent out his chains to aid in the binding of Manda, layering them over Botomuu Oka's tentacles. Unseen to both Botomuu Oka and Azurla, Zukin Hebi and Buraunsukeru had position themselves to strike from their blind spots. Zukin Hebi lunged forward to sink his fangs into Azurla. As soon as Azurla felt the breath of Zukin Hebi on his back he released his defensive mucus from all along his back. Zukin Hebi's fangs were long enough to where they managed to slip through the mucus but they were severely off their entire target as the mucus is very slippery until introduce to an incredible amount of moisture. Sadly, as soon as Zukin Hebi's mouth fully latched onto Azurla the requisition for moisture was satisfied. The mucus fell down Zukin Hebi's throat like a water where it began to expand and clog his throat preventing him from breathing.
Zukin Hebi immediately released Azurla, his venom already injected into his target, though that was not his concern at the moment. Zukin Hebi began to flail around violently as his body began to scream for air and his eyes became blood shot due to his lack of oxygen. Acting quickly, Zukin Hebi dispelled himself back to Riuchi Cave in the hopes of seeking medical attention and hopefully not die from this ordeal. Unfortunately, Zukin Hebi was not the only one that needed to leave. Thanks to the potent venom running through his system, Azurla was also forced to retreat, though he did allow Shizune to leap away before doing so. Shizune leapt toward Katsuyu and joined her master atop the boss of the slugs.
Behind Botomuu Oka, Buraunsukeru had quickly slithered into position. As soon as Botomuu Oka had caught Manda, Buraunsukeru made his move. Lunging with all his might at Botomuu Oka's side to ensure his mouth would have the area to bury his fangs into his prey. Unexpectedly for the snake, when his fangs connected with Botomuu Oka they began curl back into his mouth. This was because the force of the bite and the fangs inability to bite into Botomuu Oka. Confused on what to do given his inability to slay the slug before for him, Buraunsukeru shifted his attention to the boss of the slugs. As this was going on, Manda was struggling against his bonds. Thrashing wildly as he could to loosen himself from Botomuu Oka's tentacles, the large purple snake never noticed Katsuyu lining up another shot of acid aimed for his face, waiting for the moment to strike.
Changing targets, Buraunsukeru went after the boss of the slugs lunging at Katsuyu with fangs bared. Seeing the incoming snake Tsunade acted quickly and leapt to meet the incoming reptile. So focused on his new target, Buraunsukeru didn't notice the incoming blonde. Tsunade lashed out at the nose of the brown snake, striking the snake so hard it sent the reptile tumbling back and rattling the contents of its skull, more than likely braking its nose as well. Buraunsukeru was clearly dazed, struggling to focus on anything around it. Sadly, it prevented him from noticing that he had drawn Kasuyu's attention. Katsuyu let loose a torrent of acid to melt the dazed reptile. Suddenly Manda's tail lashed out causing the white slugs aim to be off, only bathing part of Buraunsukeru's face and body allowing him to wail in agony before he returned to Raiuchi Cave
Orochimaru was surprised at the purple snake's actions. He had never known Manda to care for anyone yet he just witnessed the boss of the snakes attempt to save one of his subordinates. What Orochimaru didn't understand was that Manda was attempting to save someone who had just been involved in a conflict with a summon clan they had never faced before. Getting any information back home is vital for their records to prepare to face this foe again. Also, it was to ensure the losses of the clan are kept to a minimum. The less fighters or support snakes the clan has the more likely they are to no longer be one of the most powerful clans of the summons realm.
Despite his best efforts to free himself Manda was not breaking the grip of the armored slug anytime soon. However, what was unknown to the summon of the boss snake was that Botomuu Oka was losing her grip, hanging on more out of will power than actually having the strength to keep the boss still while Naruto was forced to drop his chains as he fell to his knees due to a lack of chakra. Sadly, the Kyuubi's chakra would not allow him to use his chains as their basic property would suppress the foreign chakra. Manda soon trashed around even more violently, hurling the already drained Hebi Sannin, and his subordinate Kabuto, from his head. Kabuto managed to catch his air born master before the duo hit the ground. Kabuto skid across the ground with his master in his arms only to hear a loud pop. Turning quickly, Kabuto's eyes went wide as the boss of the snakes had de-summoned himself to escape the armored slug, leaving the pair to face down the two giant slugs. Soon enough however Kabuto was joined by a panting Guren who had thrown up a crystal wall to halt the incoming Anbu temporarily.
The blue haired woman was panting and tired. She had to run, dodge and fight past four individuals that were dead set on capturing or killing her. Despite the rather short distance she needed to run, dodging four highly trained individuals made the run seem like it was hours long. When she finally had a moment to rest, she noticed the state of her master. "What happened?! What did you do?!" shouted an angered Guren. Kabuto said nothing to answer the woman's question, instead focusing on the fact they needed to get away and now lest they be killed by their current foe.
From the top of Katsuyu's head, Tsunade crossed her arms under her impressive bust as she looked down intimidatingly at the three Oto shinobi. "I will only say this once!" she proclaimed. "I am giving you this one chance, surrender and be taken into custody or be killed here." Kabuto's mind went into overdrive to figure out what their options were. Orochimaru was down, using far to much chakra to summon two large summons as well as the boss. Not to mention the wounds he likely suffered from his battle with Tsunade as he didn't have his arms to fight properly. Overall, their situation was not good. Unfortunately for the Oto medic things only got worse.
"We won't surrender to you Konoha scum!" bellowed Guren, effectively making the choice for everyone. This caused Kabuto to curse in his mind at the woman's brashness. Tsunade looked on impassively, having no love for her former teammate as she gave the order to kill them. The first to act was Botomuu Oka who lashed out with her feeding tentacles to catch the Oto shinobi for death.
Noticing the incoming tentacles Kabuto immediately called out "Move!" Acting quickly both shinobi leapt away from the incoming tentacles. The tentacles punched into the ground, leaving deep holes where they stood.
When Botomuu Oka shook the tentacles around trying to get the dirt off. Katsuyu acted next, spewing a stream of acid at the Oto shinobi. After this, the Anbu made their move and threw several projectiles to lead their assault. Wearily Orochimaru muttered "Kabuto … give … soldier pill." Acting quickly, Kabuto popped a soldier pill into Orochimaru's mouth temporarily boosting the Hibi Sannin's current chakra supply. Wearily Orochimaru held up his arm with the serpent tattoo. Understanding what his master was asking for Kabuto called out to Guren. "Guren! Give us cover!" Turning to see her master's arm raised, Guren acted to give her master cover for his plan. Creating crystal dome, which the projectiles bounced off of, to ensure they had a few seconds to themselves.
Cutting his masters thumb to gain a bit of blood for the summoning, Kabuto placed his hand on the ground summoning a large emerald snake. Since the wounded had already returned, this serpent was aware of the situation and sprang into action. Before Botomuu Oka, Katsuyu, or even Naruto could react, as his seal purified more chakra from the Kyuubi so he could use his chains, the emerald snake launched itself into the sky before flattening out and gliding away toward the horizon.
Naruto was in awe as he climbed to his feet. He had never seen a snake "fly" through the air. Well technically is slithered but still. It was something to see a ten storey snake coil itself like a spring only to then launch itself into the air. It then flattened itself out and began to slither as if it were on the ground to keep air borne and propel itself forward.
Now that the danger had passed Tsunade and Shizune began checking on everyone. Being the closest to the Anbu, Tsunade moved to check on her guard detail while Shizune moved to check on Naruto. From what Tsunade could gather from both observation and a cursory check her Anbu seemed fine. Their equipment was clearly damaged with Iguru and Tora's flak armor having a few crystal needles deeply imbedded in them. They weren't deep enough to do more than break the skin, however the armor would clearly need to be replaced along with any other damaged equipment.
Shizune had landed on top of Botomuu Oka's head to check on Naruto. While there were clearly the remnants of sweat on his brow and clothing, it seemed to have dried off his brow when the action lulled. "Are you alright Naruto-kun?" Naruto faced his other sensei and answered with a beaming smile. "Yeah I'm great Shizune-sensei! I mean that was so cool! We beat that crazy Snake sent him packing! We also beat his two subordinates!" proclaimed the excited blonde. Once he was done celebrating Naruto turned his attention to the two remaining slugs. "Hey! Thanks for the help Katsuyu-chan, Botomuu Oka! Please give my thanks to Azurla and I hope he is okay!" Shizune turned to her attention to the remaining slugs and gave a bow. "Yes, we greatly appreciate your help today Katsuyu-sama, Botomuu Oka-san."
The two slugs felt grateful from the thanks of their summoners. "Think nothing of it" spoke Botomuu Oka. "We were enthusiastic to provide you with help" finished Katsuyu. It was then Tsunade spoke next. "Thank you for your help Katsuyu. You two can head back and check on Azurla." The two slugs nodded at the Sannin's orders before vanishing in large towers of smoke, causing Naruto and Shizune to fall to the ground.
As soon as the duo touched the ground, Tsunade and her Anbu escort approached them. Before anything could be said, Tsunade was the first to speak as she placed a hand atop Naruto's head. "So gaki, how you feeling?" she asked with affection in the back of her tone. Naruto gave a megawatt smile as loudly proclaimed he was doing good, especially with getting the Hibi Sannin to retreat with his tail between his legs. Tsunade smiled at his response before turning to Shizune for her findings of the boy's condition. Shizune gave a nod and a smile, letting Tsunade know that the younger blonde is fine.
Giving a nod of understanding, Tsunade gave her next orders. "Alright everyone. Lets get back to Tanzaku Gai to wait for our target!" She then turned her attention to Naruto. "And while we wait we can get back you your training" she said with a smirk as she knocked Naruto's hitai-ate down to his neck before tapping it lightly. "Despite rubbing his forehead from the strike, Naruto's smile grew as did his enthusiasm. "YEAH! LET'S GO!" proclaimed the blonde as he led the group back to Tanzaku Gai to rest, and in the younger blonde's case continue their training. Though Tsunade did have to move quickly and grab Naruto by his collar. Confused, Naruto turned his head back to face Tsunade. "Hey? What's wrong Tsu-chan?" Seeing she had his full attention, Tsunade let go of the collar of Naruto's jacket before bopping him on the head. Rubbing his head Naruto asked, "Hey! Tsu-chan what was that fore?" Tsunade gave the boy a smirk before she pointed in a different direction. "Tanzaku Gai is that way?" Naruto looked a little sheepish before following Tsunade in the proper direction.
It had been over a day since Naruto had disappeared from his care. There was no use in attempting to track the boy as he wasn't taken by Itachi from what his investigation in their hotel room had determined. Going off the hints the boy had left with his words as they traveled around Hai no Kuni, Jiraiya figured that the boy probably summoned himself to Tsunade. Or at least to the home of the slugs and then to Tsunade. It would probably explain how they kept getting messages from slugs since all they would need to do was to locate Naruto and summon themselves to his location. Jiraiya dragged his hand down his face as he let out a groan. "This is just one of those times that wanting to ensure information is valid has to bite me" he complained. While what Naruto said turned out to be true, one didn't live long if they only took the words of others as fact without verifying it in some way before believing them. A lot of good people died that way.
Since it was rather late in the day when Naruto left, Jiraiya figured it would be better if he left for Tanzaku Gai in the morning. After all it was a day's journey from his current location and the boy is safe with Tsunade if he is her apprentice so there was no need to hurry. In fact, there was probably more reason to go slower so as to avoid Tsuande's anger for not listening to her sooner.
The day after Naruto's disappearance Jiraiya began making his way to Tanzaku Gai. He wasn't rushing toward the town at his top speed. Afterall if the boy was with Tsunade he was more than likely safe from the Akatsuki. Letting out a sigh, that was something he was going to need to explain to Tsunade. He hadn't told anyone but the Sandaime about the organization. He had so little information on them at the time that the council didn't need to worry about them. Now however, he knew that they were searching for the jinchuriki but not for why. The only other thing he was able to gleam was that they were going to push collecting them in three years if they got what they need to keep them going. If he had to guess why they came after Naruto so early was because his status was not a well-kept secret.
When Jiraiya was able to overlook the town of Tanzaku Gai, he noticed that a section of the wall near the vacation home of the Daimyo seemed to be a brighter white than the surrounding wall. This puzzled the Gama Sannin as he hadn't heard of an attack on the city … at least not in the recent news he has received from his network. "Great another conflict brewing" complained the Gama Sannin as no shinobi of Konoha would attack this town as it is a favorite of the Fire Daimyo. Figuring he would get more answers by investigating than speculating, Jiraiya made his way into Tanzaku Gai.
As he made his way through the town, he was hearing the town talk about a giant snake, some claiming it was a lizard or dragon, bringing down the wall near the Daimyo's vacation home. Many were wondering if it was some kind of plot to assassinate the Daimyo while others were speculating that war was on the horizon as the attack was a taunt from another nation. Jiraiya knew better, however. No matter the reptile the people were speculating the culprit was more than likely Orochimaru though what he was looking for here is an answer he didn't have.
Despite looking around town he had yet to find a clue of Tsunade's location. The white haired man was grumbling about how he couldn't locate an easily noticeable woman in a gamblers paradise with drunks ogling any woman that catches their fancy. Growling angrily Jiraiya made his way into the closest bar, a bit aways from the casinos but near the hotels to try and alleviate his anger with alcohol and may be some company for the evening he thought lecherously. He made his way into a traditional looking bar though it appeared to have a more modern interior with booths rather than short tables and floor cushions. Since it was a little past noon from what he could tell he could also get something to eat.
As he walked past the flaps his jaw hit the floor. Their in a booth near the center of the restaurant was the woman he was searching for with her raven haired apprentice, the pig, and the blonde he had lost a day or so ago. The trio seemed to be having a jolly time making the Gama Sannin bash his head against an imaginary table as he was hating that the kid was right about a lot more. Again, he would never tell the boy that … ever. It would also explain how he mastered the Rasengan so easily. If anyone had Tsunade's required level of chakra control then they should be able to recreate the jutsu with ease.
The group didn't make any movement that indicated they had seen him but the hidden Anbu in the restaurant certainly did. It was fairly easy to notice him as he was not disguising himself as he had previously.
In the booth Tsunade and Shizune were listening to the tale of how Naruto learned the Rasengan. "You should have seen his face! His jaw had hit the ground so hard he may have made a pothole!" laughed Naruto causing the two women to join him. Jiraiya was steaming. He didn't enjoy being the but of the joke due to his previous interactions with his former teammate when they were kids. "He spent so much time rambling I was able to master creating the rasengan in both hands!" cheered the younger blonde.
Again, Jiraiya was flabbergasted at Naruto's words. He only needed the time it took for him to ramble on about the unfairness of genetics to learn how to make a rasengan?! Jiraiya was about to ramble again if not for a waiter attempting to move past him bringing him from the start of his potential ramblings. Taking a deep breath, Jiraiya made his way over to Tsunade and her table.
As soon as he was close enough, he noticed four individuals shift their position slightly as if they were keeping an eye on him. 'They must be the Anbu detail that is protecting Tsunade-hime' thought the Gama Sannin. By now Tsunade, Shizune, and Naruto took notice of the Gama Sannin. "Tsunade!" he cheered merrily as he approached their table, "how ya been?" Tsunade seemed a bit miffed at Jiraiya interrupting more of Naruto's retelling of his journey. "Hello Jiraiya" she said icily. Jiraiya grimaced at the older blonde's tone. He was worried that she was angry about taking an unnecessary mission. Before he could continue his conversation with Tsunade, Naruto made his presence known with a rather noticeable outburst as he stood from his seat next to the older blonde. "Hey! Where were you?!" he shouted as he pointed aggressively at the white haired man. "I had to fight two S-ranked missing nin because of you, you skirt chaser!" Tsunade pulled Naruto back down lightly into the booth where she wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder.
Jiraiya didn't notice the action as he aggressively closed his eyes before he opened them as shouted with an aggressive but non-violent look in his eyes. "Oy! Don't shout that gaki!" Jiraiya took in a deep breacth before coughing into his hand. Clearing his throat into his balled fist, Jiraiya took a seat next to Shizune. As he sat in the booth, he noticed the red on Tsunade's cheeks as well as the two empty sake bottles on her side of the table, signifying she has been drinking quite a bit. To that end he chose to watch his words so Tsunade doesn't act aggressively towards him.
"Jiraiya" Tsunade spoke far to calmly for Jiraiya's health. "Would you care to tell me why you didn't heed my recall notice when my seal as well as my office was on the order?" she asked. Her hardened gaze was even scarier considering she was hammered. Jiraiya squirmed nervously in his seat. In her current state of mind, anything that wasn't better than the truth and wouldn't be contradicted by the younger blonde was the only thing that would save him. "Um … well … you see Tsunade. I … I was trying to use my spy network to verify somethings. You know ensure that the information you receive is accurate. Hehehe."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the man. While the excuse is viable, he didn't provide a reason as to why he ignored her stationary. "That is only half an explanation" she said. Her words no longer carrying the hint of alcohol consumption, signifying she was sobering herself up by increasing her metabolism. "Umm" was all Jiraiya could say. Truthfully, he had no excuse to ignore her stationary that he couldn't pass off as an excuse to gullible Genin.
"You see Jiraiya I don't take kindly to such delays or using my shinobi for pointless missions. While I cannot fault you for setting out for a mission as that is more the council's fault as they okayed the mission." At that Jiraiya let out a breath of relief. "I can however hold you responsible when you chose to ignore the orders of your Kage when they come directly from them." As she spoke a dark shadow seemed to engulf the entire restaurant, leaving only himself and Tsunade visible as she seemed to tower over him. Jiraiya shivered in fear from the woman's anger. As much as he could take her in a fight, right now her presence was not something any sane man would challenge.
Suddenly the darkness vanished and the restaurant returned to normal. She picked up her sake dish and swirled the contents around as she spoke. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You did often times need a bit of a hard strike to the head to reign you in and get you to think more clearly" she said, downing the contents at the end. Jiraiya had nothing to say against it as his youth was full of moments that he did overstep in the wrong moments. "Hey you have to admit my thinking also led to several successes when we were in the field" spoke Jiraiya in his defense.
Tsunade looked a little thoughtful at his words. "True. Your impulsiveness and brashness did help us from time to time" she said with a nod. "However. This is one of those moments that your impulsiveness is not appreciated. In war a soldier's initiative should be encouraged when it succeeds and reprimanded when it fails but never shutdown. This time however you are being reprimanded as you effectively wasted a lot of your time, my time, Shizune's time, and Naruto's time. I will give you credit that you taught Naruto…" here she ruffled the boy's hair who smiled even as he tried to playfully stop the woman, "… his father's second most notable technique. I was also told you helped him train his Futon affinity so there was some gain from this" praised Tsunade.
Jiraiya was beginning to think he was getting off the hook until he realized what Tsunade just said. "Tsunade! You can't just say things like that in front of him!" quietly proclaimed Jiraiya. Tsunade waved off his concern. "I told him his heritage the moment he started using his chains" said the Slug Sannin. Jiraiya's jaw hit the table. His teammate told an S-ranked secret to a thirteen-year-old. Granted the boy had the right to know but it was kept from him for his own good ….
"So Jiraiya for your transgression of not heeding the words of your Hokage you are going to be providing assistance in the continued training of Naruto here" said Tsunade as an evil smirk grew across her features. Shizune held her face in her hand while Tonton gave a pitying prayer for the Gama Sannin. Jiraiya looked relieved that his punishment seemed so light though he was curious to Shizune's action and Tsunade's smirk. That was until Tsunade spoke again. "You see I had to put off teaching Naruto the Shosen Jutsu because of this mission but my good little apprentice was reading his textbook while on this journey so he needs hands on practice." By now Jiraiya's danger senses were screaming at him that he should run for the hills in Kaminari no Kuni. "To that end you will be his practice dummy and give feed back as he works. You will also be providing demonstrations on injuries so he can see them, learn how to heal them and practice it himself."
Now Jiraiya was terrified. Being the cadaver for a first-year medic nin was a horrible fate and he had just been signed up to be one. Before he could bolt, he felt weak, as if his chakra wasn't responding. He didn't care. He stood to run only for his left foot to jerk against him as if it was caught causing him to face plant in the middle of the isle. He then noticed a small prickly feeling around his ankle. When he turned to see what had caught him, he noticed a golden chain wrapped around his ankle. It was then he knew he was caught and silently began to whimper with eyes pleading to reconsider his punishment to Tsunade. The older blonde didn't seem to have any hints of changing her mind as she motioned for Naruto to bring him along to their hotel room. None of the patrons said anything as Jiraiya left fingernail tracks in the wood of the bar as he was taken to be Naruto's test dummy.