Acknowledging Condor's call to action, the woolly mammoth stormed back onto the stage, shredding the circus tent's colourful fabric to ribbons and tearing open a gaping hole through which the rest of the animals poured in.
"I'm here," said Sasuke, flickering to Sakura's side. "Orders?"
"Sakura, Sasuke, protect the clients!" shouted Kakashi over the screams of the circus-goers. "Naruto, you're with me on crowd control!"
For the parents who had brought their children to the travelling circus to enjoy a rare break from the monotony of everyday life, this was perhaps more excitement than they'd initially bargained for. The stands descended into pure pandemonium— parents shouting for their children, people shoving and scrambling toward the exits— all the while, massive circus animals rampaged through the tent, stampeding and destroying everything to get back at the humans who had stolen their freedom.
"Got it!" Naruto and Sakura shouted back.
Prince Michiru and his son Prince Hikaru were seated in the front row, meaning they would be the first to be trampled. One was morbidly obese, the other small and frail— and in the chaos and the darkness, no one would care that they were highborn royalty!
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"You, my eternal jailor, here!?" hissed Condor, seeing Naruto's Shadow Clones appear throughout the tent. "Good, good, good! At last, I will have my revenge!"
Sakura decided to leave the talking ostrich to the others— the clients were about to get flattened under the mammoth's feet. Prince Michiru had toppled over, and just like a turtle flipped onto its back, he was unable to get back onto his feet!
"Papa, Papa!" cried Hikaru, pulling on his father's fat arm helplessly. "You have to get up, Papa!"
Tears in his eyes, Hikaru nocked a joke arrow tipped with a suction cup onto his bowstring and shot it at the approaching mammoth, but it bounced off its furry hide harmlessly.
"Run, Hikaru!" cried Michiru hoarsely. "You have to live!"
Unfortunately for the two princes, being shot by an arrow awakened something primal in the woolly mammoth. Two-legged apes with sharp, pointy sticks were ancient enemies— creatures to be exterminated at all costs! The beast turned toward Hikaru, fury blazing in its eyes, and it let out a deafening trumpeting cry.
"Eek!" squeaked Hikaru, closing his eyes in fear.
The mammoth lowered its head and charged, ready to skewer the impudent humans on its tusks— when suddenly, a small, pink-coloured blur flickered into its path.
"Gotcha!"
Sakura caught one of the mammoth's tusks and dug her heels into the sandy ground, flooding her legs and her upper body with chakra. It felt like being hit by a lorry, but she held on, and gradually, the mammoth's charge showed signs of slowing.
Still, the distance between the beast and the immobilised Hikaru was closing fast. Gritting her teeth, Sakura sent chakra to the soles of her feet, anchoring herself firmly to the earth— and with a final, shuddering push, the massive creature jarringly ground to a halt.
Sakura took one step forward… and another… and then another! She was actually pushing back a creature one hundred and fifty times her weight with her chakra enhanced strength! The mammoth swung its trunk at her, but Sakura simply freed her left hand and caught it before it could slam into her small body.
"SHANNAROOO!" Sakura shouted, power surging through her limbs. "Sakura… Suplex!"
Sakura braced herself— then, with a roar, she heaved the mammoth into the air, before slamming it down onto its back with such force that the ground trembled beneath her feet. The mammoth let out one final, mournful trumpeting sound, and then its eyes rolled up in its head— it had fallen unconscious.
"Chidori Current!"
Meanwhile, Sasuke was shielding the clients from the stampeding rhinos. Their thick hides easily deflected his shuriken, but they were no match for the electricity surging through his chakra. Sasuke's mastery of Shape Transformation had advanced by leaps and bounds in recent months, allowing him to strike with precision, electrocuting only those that didn't stand on two legs.
ROAR!
"Oh no!" cried the ringmaster, who was in the middle of getting pecked at by a flock of flamingos. "Don't tell me the sabre-toothed tiger got loose as well!"
Sakura and Sasuke turned their attention to the gaping hole in the tent. There, the proud feline stood, its sharp fangs protruding on the sides of its maw from its upper jaw. There was also a small chittering monkey standing on its head, but Sakura wasn't too concerned about that one.
…
"Ostrich Lotus!" shouted Condor, repeatedly kicking Naruto into the air with its long pink legs. "Con-Do-Ru Barrage!"
The ostrich flickered above him, before kicking him in the face, sending him shooting into the ground like a bullet. Naruto shot out like a meteor and crash-landed at Sakura's feet.
"There's something wrong with Mr Ostrich!" grunted Naruto, wiping his bloody nose with his forearm. "He knows all of Bushy Brow's moves!"
Even though it wasn't human, Condor was frighteningly smart. Merely by coming into contact with Naruto and the others, it had learned to link its spiritual and physical energies to mould chakra— becoming, in effect, a ninja ostrich.
Ironically, though, the fact that Naruto was the one most often sent to capture it had stunted its growth. Lacking hands, Condor couldn't perform Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, so it was forced to specialise in Taijutsu— and since the current Naruto was hardly a master of hand-to-hand combat, Condor's development had hit a bit of a ceiling.
That is… until now.
In the original timeline, Rock Lee would have accompanied Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi to the Land of the Moon, but since Sasuke hadn't defected in this version of events, there was no reason for Lee to join them this time around!
With Naruto tied up on his bodyguard mission, Tsunade had sent Lee to capture Condor instead— and ever the opportunist, Condor had exploited Lee's competitive spirit to get him to demonstrate his Taijutsu. Using its keen intellect, it carefully observed and memorized his techniques, just as Naruto and Sasuke had done before. Then, with a bit of trickery, Condor challenged Lee to a "fair" duel, only to turn the tables and defeat him with his own Reverse Lotus!
Having regained its freedom, it had then come to the circus to convince its most downtrodden brethren to rise up and join it on its crusade to defeat humankind, for the good of all animals everywhere!
"You were always the nicest to me, so I always pecked you the least," Condor told Sakura, as he landed on Naruto's limp body ("Gah!"). "Leave peacefully, and I just might let you go…"
Sensing the wild animal's rising threat level, Sakura and Sasuke activated their respective Sharingan. Just like Sasuke (?) and Kakashi, this animal could open at least one of the Eight Inner Gates!
"I see," said Condor coldly. "So, you have chosen death!"