Chapter 34
Naruto and Sasuke fought together, destroying one enemy after another, yet their numbers refused to lessen. Sasuke avoided another barrage of senbons, as Naruto shielded himself using his clones before he threw shuriken of his own, though these were not simple shuriken, and the second they hit the four enemies, he pulled onto the wires attached to them as he used his ninjutsu.
"Katon: Phoenix Flower!" and fire raged across the fires until it hit the shuriken, and blasted away the four enemies, who fell apart, though just as he landed on the ground, the earth underneath them tore up, and a dozen or so puppets rushed out of the ground.
"Watch out!" he said to Naruto, but a pair of arms had grabbed them by the ankles, making it impossible to jump away, and then suddenly the puppets detached themselves, as both him and Naruto found themselves bound by arms and legs and wires, unable to move even a single muscle as a shadow figure emerged from behind the trees.
"Impressive," he began in his thick voice, as Naruto struggled within the restraints, and Sasuke looked around waiting for the rest of their opponents to show up, and yet, much to his surprise, no one else stepped forward.
"But I should have expected nothing less of a jinchuriki," he continued, and his guess had been right. During the entire fight, Sasuke had not missed how the puppets had been exclusively targeting Naruto, for some reason, and even after Hinata had run away with Kabuto, and Team Kurenai, they had not bothered to chase after her.
No. Their target had been someone else.
"Where are the rest of you?" Sasuke snarled, hoping to buy them as much time as he could, for he knew that with the sirens running, it would not be long before reinforcements were here.
"You need not worry about that," the rather bulky shinobi, with that black cloak with red clouds, as he looked him in the eye, and Sasuke chose that moment to cast a genjutsu, and yet suddenly the bindings around him grew tighter.
"AGHHH"! he grunted, as he felt sharp pain rip through his skin, as a metallic tail spun out of his body, and cut his cheek.
"That won't work on me," and he was surprised, for he was sure that he had cast it right. Kakashi had taught him the basics of the Sharingan, and then, using the leftover teachings from the clan, he had learned to cast a genjutsu using his Sharingan rather effectively.
But somehow, it had not worked.
"Those eyes," the man whispered, as he tilted his head.
"So, you are his brother," and a cold chill ran down his spine, as Sasuke stilled at the mention of him.
"What did you say?" he eeked out, as the hunched man nodded.
"Those eyes. I should have noticed sooner," he continued, as the tail twisted his face and the man looked him in the eye.
"To think that I would meet his brother here. Quite interesting," and Sasuke began to push away his bindings.
"Where is he! TE..." but the bindings grew tighter, as he was forced to shut his mouth.
"I am afraid we don't have much time..." yet just as he was about to finish, the ground underneath him tore up, as a Naruto jumped out from underneath, holding an orb of blue chakra in his hands.
"Rasengan!"
BOOOM! BOOOM!
CLANK! CLANK!
And Sasuke felt the bindings loosen, as he fell to the ground and began to gasp, as their opponent was torn to shreds, while all of Naruto's clones simply vanished.
"Yeah, two can play at that game," he taunted, as he jumped onto his feet huffing, as he bled from the thousands cuts that lingered on his body, as the hunched man's body lay there, broken into pieces.
Yet there was no blood. None at all, and suddenly the pieces began to move as one small figure emerged from the debris, and began to speak up in a rather young and juvenile tone.
"It has been quite some time since I have been forced to use this form," and Sasuke felt his eyes widen as he saw a red-haired shinobi walk out of the debris entirely unblemished, and he could not make sense of it at all.
"Who are you?" he gasped, and if he was the enemy, then whom had they been facing all this time?
"You haven't heard of me," and he had not, yet suddenly he felt his body stiffen as he fell to the ground, unable to move an inch, and he could see Naruto falling to his knees as well, as the red-haired shinobi walked forward without any hurry.
"You two are quite resilient," he complimented, and he saw a puppet come and hoist Naruto's body on his shoulder, as the blonde uttered out weakly.
"What have you do...." but they had been poisoned, Sasuke understood.
"Nothing much. Just a little bit of poison, though I suppose I can't quite leave you like this," and suddenly he felt a slight pinch on his arm.
"After all, your life belongs to someone else," and with that, he felt darkness cloud his vision, and the last thing he could think of in that moment was a sharingan staring down at him, leaving behind a whisper.
"YOU ARE WEAK...." and just as his eyes closed up, he saw three figures land infront of the red-haired shinobi.
"And where do you think you are taking him?" and it was the voice of that Hyuga boy, the one who was half a year ahead of them, and he saw the red-haired enemy turn away from them as he gazed into the distance and whispered ominously.
"I don't have much time. He is coming...."
0000
ANBU 'TENZO'—Yamato
For some time now, Tenzo had been hearing rumors about another prodigy within the ANBU ranks, though he did not have much time to pay them any attention, for he was one of Leaf's most feared and well-kept secrets.
The secrecy was necessary for such was the paranoia and fear around the famous Mokuton of the Shodaime Hokage, and for good reason. Mokuton was unlike any other Kekkei Genkai, and despite being only a novice in the art, Tenzo's record as an ANBU was second only to the likes of Kakashi Hatake.
So, when the village had come under grave threat, he had been mobilised to buy as much time as he could against the symbol of devastation and destruction that was the Ichibi.
There was a reason that the Shodaime had chosen to use the Bijuu as a counter for any war and conflict. And even though it had not yet attained its full form, the Ichibi held enough power to level an entire village, and it was up to him to stop it.
The Sandaime-sama had been trapped by Lord Orochimaru, and Lord Jiraiya had yet to enter the foray, but none of them was as effective as him in dealing with a bijuu.
Yet before he could come, the Ichibi had managed to undergo a full-on transformation, making it much harder for him to rein in that corrosive chakra, and so he had asked the new boy wonder for his opinion.
He had not expected much, for as talented as the rumors made him out to be, they were still facing a Bijuu. What the boy had managed to do before his arrival had been impressive enough, yet his subsequent actions had completely taken him by surprise.
He had heard that a young shinobi had managed to replicate the Yondaime's famous Rasengan, but his Hikari's technique had gone beyond that.
And even now, he could see a firestorm raging in the skies, as the boy's body sailed through the air.
"Mokuton: Wooden Chains..." and his arm turned into wood, and rushed towards his falling form, as he cradled him, and pulled him into his cocoon, as he waited for the worst of the technique to pass by.
"Thank you," the boy gasped, and he noticed the burns and scalds on the skin of his arm, before a green hue covered his other hand, and he hit a few spots on his shoulder.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"I just shut down the sensory nerves of the region," he addressed, and he seemed to be full of surprises, and as he took away the cacoon, the sight infront of him shook him to the core, for the massive bijuu now glistened under the sunlight, its sandy skin now turned into a muddy, yet glistening glass from the sheer heat of his attack.
"Time to end this," and right now the Ichibi was the biggest concern of the ANBU, and with the bijuu mobilised, he could move to subjugate it, and immediately as he saw the beast begin to struggle, he quickly weaved through the handseal.
"Ninpo: Foo Dog Heads...." and immediately, half a dozen gigantic pillars rose from around the giant beast, their edges shaped into the form of a dog, as he began to absorb the bijuu's corrosive chakra, and immediately the giant beast began to shrink, as he felt his hand begin to burn.
"Is this it?" the young ANBU asked, and he nodded.
"Almost. But I cannot move as long as I am absorbing the bijuu's chakra, so you will have to watch my back," and that was the biggest drawback of his techniques, that and their sheer chakra cost.
"I need to go to my team," he added, and that was well and good, but they had a bigger problem.
"They will be fine. I can sense that ANBU have begun clearing the forest. Your team will be evacuated," and though the boy still wanted to protest, he held his tongue as Tenzo gradually absorbed the bijuu's chakra and brought it under control.
And within half an hour, the giant bijuu was once more reduced to his humanoid form, but the jutsu had taken much from him, as he was now running on fumes, and as he saw the red-haired form of Gaara appear, as the mold of sand and bijuu chakra shed away, he turned to his fellow ANBU once again.
"As soon as I release him, you are to capture him and take him to the Uzumaki Tower," and they had a team prepared there to neutralise the bijuu. With the Ichibi out of the way, they had greatly reduced the power and effectiveness of Suna's offensive.
"Be read...." and yet before he could give the signal, he suddenly noticed small white little objects dotting across the ground.
"What is that?" he asked, and as the young ANBu turned towards them, his eyes widened.
"Shit!" he cursed, and immediately jumped away as he asked him to do the same.
"JUMP!" and Tenzo had enough experience to listen to the command, yet the second of delay had been enough for him to get caught in the explosions that followed.
"Katsu..." he heard, and suddenly the entire area exploded, as Tenzo grunted as he landed far away into the trees, as a giant creature landed on the ground.
"What the hell!" he cursed, as he cradled his arm, as Hikari Hyuga landed beside him, his face pale with worry, as a young blonde shinobi stepped out of the carnage.
"You were able to avoid that," he seemed surprised, covered in a black cloak with red and white clouds, one of his eyes was covered by his bangs, and he stood atop a large bird that seemed to be made out of white clay.
"I am quite impressed," he taunted.
"Who is he?" he asked, and the boy.
"I am not sure exactly, but if that uniform is anything to go by, he is at least an S-ranked shinobi," the boy answered, shaking him to his core.
"An S-ranked shinobi," and suddenly he sensed another chakra signature rip across the forest, before a red-haired shinobi came and landed beside the blonde intruder. He wore a similar cloak, and had a puppet that much resembled the Third Kazekage, who had an unconscious body draped over his shoulder.
"I thought I told you to stay put," the red-haired shinobi taunted, as Tenzo recognised the boy draped over the puppet's shoulder.
"Naruto," and his young fellow had managed to do the same, as the two continued to banter, ignoring them as if they were pests.
"We need to go. Now," the red-haired shinobi ordered, and the blonde grunted.
"But I was just beginning to have fun. I had finally found someone in this wretched village who understood the true meaning of art," he taunted as he gazed at Hikari, as Tenzo realised their intentions.
The jinchuriki.
Whoever this group was, they were hunting for jinchuriki.
"We need to stop them," he spoke, and Hikari Hyuga nodded.
"Let's go," yet he did not have much chakra, and he doubted that Hikari was in much better shape as well, yet still, despite facing two S-ranked nins, he did not back away, as he pulled out another katana using a scroll, as Tenzo began to cycle through a set of handseals.
"And where do you think you are going?" Tenzo shouted as he used the last of his chakra to use one of the Shodaime's signature moves.
"Mokuton: Deep Forest Emergence!" and immediately the ground beneath them shifted as an entire forest came to life, and trees and stems began to coil around the clay bird, taking them by surprise as Hikari rushed forward, his sword now charred black as he rushed towards the red-haired nin, yet he was able to react.
"We do not have time to deal with you," and suddenly, the blue-haired puppet moved forward and opened its mouth,
"Ninpo: World Order..." and dark sand rushed out of the puppet's mouth before it began to rain down on them as pillars and stakes, forcing him to jump back, yet Hikari was not quite done yet.
"Ninpo: Rising Dawn!"
BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!
.
.
.
Sasori had made a mistake. A mistake that had nearly cost him his life, and now, as he stared at his most prized puppet, he realised just how close he had come to losing his life. Only half now remained of his most prized puppet, and the rest of it had been destroyed in the blink of an eye because of that one jutsu.
If he had not jumped away in time, he doubted that he would have managed to survive, and that near touch with death had shaken him to his core, as he gazed at the shinobi who had nearly ended his life.
He was young, he noticed. Young and injured, and that technique had nearly taken everything out of him, but in that moment, Sasori knew that if they were to let him flourish, this one might just go on to become a thorn in their sides later on.
So, it was better to deal with him right then and there, and so he moved his fingers, and what remained of his puppet moved as it gathered the fabled magnetic dust in the form of a pike and aimed it at the young shinobi.
"Ninpo: Sand Spike..." and he threw it forward, ending his life, yet before the pike could touch him, a figure jumped out of the shadows, bearing a blue orb of chakra in his hands.
"Rasengan!"
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM!
"Shit," Deidara cursed, and his own feelings were no better, as the most troublesome figure within Konoha walked out. A figure about which Pain had specifically warned them about. Facing him, even together, would result in their deaths.
"MAAA! MAAA!"
"Haven't you gotten bored dealing with my juniors?" he talked jovially, as if he was not facing two S-ranked nin, yet for someone of his stature and prowess, they were like children.
"Why don't you two come at me now?" he spoke softly, as he slapped his hand, and Sasori had been trying to keep an eye on him, and yet, despite sensing the man had managed to sneak up on them.
"He is the one we were warned about." Even Deidara had realised the sheer danger that they were in.
"Yes," Sasori began as he prepared himself for battle.
"He is the man who once faced Hanzo the Salamander to a draw," and there was not a man alive who had not heard his name.
"He is one of Leaf's legendary Sanin, Jiraiya...."
0000
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