Chapter 33
JIRAIYA-The Toad Sage
They had been fooled.
Jiraya should have realised that his old teammate was not one to give up, but in the end, they had put too much trust in their own capabilities while grossly underestimating Orochimaru's intellect.
For all his faults, he had hardly met a shinobi more cunning than his old friend, and it showed. They had credible intelligence that Orochimaru planned on using the Third Stage of the Chunin Exams to launch his offensive against Konoha, as a way of exacting revenge.
They had believed it and made plans accordingly, yet the leak had been intentional, or somehow, he had learned of their movements and had decided to move ahead of time, and now, amidst the second stage of the Exam, they had found themselves under attack by the combined might of Sunagakure and Orogakure.
"Honestly, they could not have chosen a worse time," lamented Shikaku Nara as the two of them stood in the Hokage office, as the village around them was filled with sounds of combat and devastation.
Thankfully, despite the intel the sensei had sought to prepare the village, and so within seconds of the attack, their forces had begun full mobilisation to counter Orochimaru's attack.
"We need to end the exam," Jiraiya declared as Shikaku nodded reluctantly.
"And what of the Third Hokage?" Currently, his sensei was trapped within a sealing formation with his old teammate, and as much as he wished to go to his aide, Jiraiya had too much on his hands.
"Sensei will be fine on his own. Order the jounins at the tower to move into the village. Each of them will have command over the forces in these sections," Jiraiya pointed out the plan on the map, as Shikaku nodded.
"Who will secure the participants?" and that was the problem, for the ANBU were busy protecting the people, and the reserve force was busy with the evacuation, leaving him with only one coherent force to do that.
"Give that to Danzo," he ordered reluctantly, and if the Nara clan head disagreed with him, he did not speak up.
"And now for our other problem," Shikaku sighed as he leaned back, and on the map in front of them, three giant red crosses remained unattended, and those were their biggest headaches.
"Are you sure that these two are operating independently?" asked Shikaku again, and he nodded.
"I am certain," for neither Oto nor Suna had two S-ranked shinobi, and their descriptions matched exactly the profiles of shinobi who were being recruited by that mysterious organization from Ame.
Akatsuki, and now they were making a move here. Trying to take advantage of the chaos for their own purpose.
"Suna's jinchuriki is unstable. We have credible reports that he is leaking Bijuu chakra. We must be prepared for that as well," Shikaku added, as Jiraiya clicked his tongue.
"Who is facing him now?" he asked.
"Hikari Hyuga," he answered, and that was some good news.
"Order him to buy as much time as he can," he said, for they had another mission.
"I must go to Naruto," for that was their real target, he was sure of that.
He had already failed Minato once, and he had no intention of repeating history.
"It's them, isn't it?" Shikaku Nara questioned, just as he was about to jump out of the window.
"The group that you were investigating," and to make that connection through crumbs of information. He should have expected nothing less of the Genius Commander.
"Yes," he answered, without glancing back as he stared at the raging fires and smoke as he charted himself a map to his favourite student.
And he had hoped that such a day wouldn't come so soon. But it had come, and now it was time for him to do his duty both as a shinobi of Konoha and as a mentor to Minato.
"Well then, time to see what this is really about...."
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HIKARI HYUGA
For as much as he loathed the Hyuga name, Hikari had grown up in the clan compound. He had grown up being treated as an inconsequential boy who had long lost the prized doujutsu of their clan.
Because of that, most of the clan members, especially those from the Main line, saw him as useless and expendable, someone without any worth. Yet in their sense of superiority, they forgot that there was a time when he did have those eyes.
A short period of time. Yet significant still, for unlike them, he was not a regular shinobi.
The memories of the time when he had still had those eyes, lingered in his mind, and though the memories alone were not enough to help him learn one of Hyuga clan's most feared techniques.
The Revolving Heaven was amongst the most prized Hyuga clan kinjutsus, and for good reason. The technique was a perfect mix of offence and defence, and allowed one to deflect nearly any A-ranked ninjutsu with ease, which, given the Hyuga clan's sheer dominance in close-range combats, allowed them to dominate fights against greatly powerful opponents.
Given Gaara's use of Sand, using a weapon like a sword against him was not the most optimal solution. And as he stopped spinning, he found himself standing in the centre of a crater, and the sand around him had all solidified into glass as he glanced up and found the Suna jinchuriki, bleeding profusely from his neck, his fabled armor rendered useless as sand dripped down his face, as if a leaking faucet.
"No," he heard him whisper, as those eyes glared at him.
"No. I made a promise," and unlike Naruto, he did not have the patience or the talents to calm him down as he felt Gaara's chakra shift, as it suddenly gained a rather ancient and ominous feel, as the boy screamed.
"NOOOOOOO!" and suddenly the Sand began to coalesce around him, as Hikari began to move again, knowing that he had to end this before things devolved any more. The sand, as if sensing his intentions, came alive and began to rush towards him, as it coiled around Gaara as if forming a cocoon.
"Katon:..." he whispered, yet before he could take a step further, suddenly a massive sound of explosion rocked the entire area, taking him by surprise.
"What..." and that one second of hesitation was all it took, as Gaara screamed.
"NOOOOO!" and Sand rushed off of him like a wave, and Hikari found himself thrown back from the attack, as he spun in the air and landed on his feet as he grunted in pain.
"Damn it," he whispered, as he wiped off the blood from his lips, and glanced back and saw a massive cloud of smoke coming from the centre of the forest, before suddenly he saw a purple barrier rise into the air, as shock tore through him.
"Shit," he cursed, as the realization dawned on him.
"AHHHHH!" and by now, the sand had begun to thrash, and Hikari had to go on the defensive as he jumped around to dodge the attacks, and just as he was reeling from the shock of Orochimaru's ploy, another set of explosions rocked him, as he saw another cloud of smoke and dust rise up from the North of the of the Forest, just along the border.
And this time, the sound of the sirens rang across the forest as the announcement came for the evacuation. And he realised that shit had just hit the fan.
He had long come to terms with the fact that his presence had altered many things within this world. But this was turning into an absolute disaster as suddenly a loud and boisterous voice tore through the area.
"WOHOOOOO!" and the wave of chakra that ripped from Gaara was sickening and daunting, and it pushed him back as the very ground began to move and mold with the boy, as he ballooned up much to his surprise and worry before suddenly, the sand began to grow and gain, some dark markings until a tail sprouted from the back of the giant bijuuu.
"YEAH! I AM FINALLY FREEE!" and while Ichibi may be the weakest of his siblings, that did not matter much to him as he stared at the massive beast in front of him.
"I AM FREEE!" and the bijuu celebrated, as it began to thrash around the forest, still growing in size. By now, Hikari was simply surviving as he put all his effort into avoiding the bijuu's attacks, for he knew that one attack was all that it would take to end his life.
And he was not going to die. Not yet.
"Gale Palm!" he used the jutsu and met one of the Ichibi's air bullets, causing a loud explosion in the air.
"YOU LITTLE PEST!" he shouted, as it began to attack him with all his might, and for a few seconds he was able to survive its barrage, and yet suddenly it raised its tail.
"SAND SHURIKEN!" and thousands upon thousands of shuriken rushed towards him, yet not before a
"Mokuton:..." and he found himself surprised as the ground underneath his feet shifted.
"Doomed Wall!" and soon enough, a masked figure landed in front of him as Wood rose from the ground and shielded him from the Bijuu's attack.
"Captain Tenzo," he gasped in surprise, and the man infront of him was one of Konoha's most elite ANBU captains, whose record was only matched by that of Kakashi Hatake. He was also the only shinobi within the village capable of using the First Hokage's famous Mokuton.
"Let's go," and the two of them rushed out of the jutsu, and hid themselves in the bushes, as the masked ANBU captain turned towards him.
"The Chunin Exam has been cancelled! Konoha is under attack on multiple fronts! The ANBU are protecting the village and helping with the evacuation, but as the hosts of the Exams it is our duty to make sure that the teams from our allied villages all make out of the village unharmed," and he nodded.
"What are my orders?" he asked.
"We are stretched too thin. Our mission here is to neutralise the Ichibi, before it can cause too much damage," and that was easier said than done.
"Any chance at backup?" he asked, and the man shook his head.
"No," and with that, Hikari gazed at the massive beast and began to form a plan.
"I am capable of restraining the Ichibi, but for that, I need it to be immobilised," the Wood style user added, as he looked at the beast as well.
"Is there any way that you can help me with that?" and there was one way.
"I might be able to do just that," he agreed, and the ANBU captain turned to him, and though he could not see his face, he could feel him smile.
"Well let's see if Cat was truly right about you," and Hikari took a deep breath, as he made a hand seal and a clone popped up beside him, and with a final nod he grabbed his right arm and began to gather chakra into it, as he had learned to months ago and while chakra was not usually visible to the naked eye, when it was concentrated in a singular area, it became visible with a bluish hue.
And soon enough, a blue orb of rotating violent chakra began to form in his hand, as the masked ninja gasped.
"Is that Yondaime sama's technique?" he asked, and he shook his head.
"Not exactly," and more often than not he would stop when the ball of chakra was the size of a tennis ball, and yet given the sheer size and prowess of beast in front of him, he continued to push chakra into his hand. He felt his tanketsu burn as the ball of chakra continued to grow until it was nearly the size of a large balloon. The sheer weight and intensity of it was enough to raise a small storm, but he was not quite done yet as he twisted his arm slightly, as he changed the nature of the chakra, and began to mold fire nature chakra into the technique.
And the effect was immediate, as the orb changed its hue from a bright blue to an orange-red hue, and the sheer amount of chakra was enough to make the Bijuu turn its attention towards him.
"Not so fast!" and he saw the Bijuu open its maw, as particles of purple chakra began to gather in its mouth, yet the ANBU captain moved first as he gave him a nod.
"GO!" he said, as he saw the man cycle through a set of handseals.
"Mokuton: Silent Strangulations!" and a swarm of wooden pillars rose from the ground, and began to coild around the thrashing bijuu, before they began to coiled around its mouth, and shut it down not letting it gather chakra for the tailed beast bomb as Hikari rose into the air, with his clone behind him, and realising the danger he was in, the Ichibi raised its tail, readying another attack but he had summoned the clone just for this.
"Futon:..." the clone whispered, as it gathered wind chakra in its palms, as he spun in the air, and aimed its sandals behind him.
"GALE PALM!" and such was the force from the jutsu, that in the blink of an eye, he was infront of the Ichibi, who was struggling to speak as wood coiled around its body.
"Ninpo: Cruel Sun!"
BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!
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Miles and miles away, just along the Northern border, a team of ANBU fought carefully against what seemed to be white clay clones, and yet they were having little success against the opponent who flew up in the sky.
"Captain," and the cat masked ANBU turned towards her fellow ANBU who pointed at their back, and as she turned her head around, she saw a massive creature moving through the forest. A creature that was a symbol of power and devastation.
"Ichibi," she gasped, and she saw it thrashing around the forest as her heart sank, for first it was the attack at the Hokage-sama, and then the strange army that had overrun the Forest of Death, along with this blonde shinobi whose clay creatures continued to wreak havoc across the border.
This was turning into an absolute disaster.
"OH! Is that another bijuu?" the blonde shinobi's shrill voice tore through the air, as she clicked her tongue. And it was obvious to them all that he was simply toying with them as he flew over them, on his bird, while he bombarded them with his clay animals.
"Maybe I should go and get it, it will certainly make things easier later on," and he spoke as if they were not even there.
But she knew that they could not let him move into the village. They were already too troubled there, and the sheer havoc that he could cause with his technique if he was allowed to enter the village was astronomical.
She could not let that happen.
"You will have to get through us first," she taunted as she raised her blade.
"Oh, that would be quite easy then," and with that she saw him make a hand sign.
"You see, my art is an..."
"...Explosion!"
BOOOOM! BOOOM BOOOM!
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