Chapter 48: Twin Panda

It was high noon yet the sun could not be seen as the dry, hot air drained life from the desert, blowing winds carried sand and dust for miles without rest. Nothing could challenge this power of nature, not even the great kings or generals could cross the desert, not even the people that lived here could claim to know it. The desert changed as it willed, following the whims of the winds.

Taking refuge from the harsh elements of this place, a group of 10 figures rested beneath the rocky cliffs of a buried mountain. They all wore clocks with faded colors and strange masks that depicted likeness to different animals. Some of them talked, some ate, others simply sat around, all waiting for the passing storm to die out.

One among them read an old book, bound with thin rope as a cat mimicked his actions, both their eyes following every word of every page in sync as they turned page after page. One of the figures, a girl with a white dog-like mask and an actual white dog next to her, came up to the cat and boy duo and peered at their book, "What are you reading? What language is this?" she asked in curiosity.

"I don't know." the boy replied.

"You don't know? Then how are you reading?" the girl asked in surprise.

"I'm not. I'm just trying and not very successfully." the boy sighed and the book disappeared in a puff of smoke. This was the copy of the book the black serpent had given Po. It was written in a strange language that no one could understand. Shin had been trying to decipher it but with no luck whatsoever. The two other books were the same, 'Trying to decipher the language without some sort of key is nearly impossible, I wonder how master Po did it?'

"Captain, lunch is ready." one of the figures replied as he stirred the pot, pouring soup into different bowels. "Alright, everyone eat up. No need to be on guard, no one is stupid enough to attack during a sandstorm." Shin ordered as he picked up a bowel and started to eat. The others, some of which were eyeing the storm that had engulfed them, also came to eat. They had spent nearly a month together now and were aware of their captain's abilities, if he said to rest then it was in everyone's best interest that you rest.

Most of them had been skeptical of his ability but after a month, they had seen Shin's ability and his protectiveness towards his teammates and they had begun to trust him completely. They had tracked down the missing Kiri Jinchuriki and handed him over to the Kiri ninja who ensured the man and his companion of a peaceful resolution to their conflicts, they had also progressed quite well in their secondary mission which was to keep the rogue ninja's from getting any ideas for wrecking havoc during the peace treaty that was close.

They had not been able to find any of the killed tailed beasts but neither had anyone else. The five villages had agreed to hunt this beast killer as he was a danger to all of them. Many of them suspected that he might make an appearance during the signing of the treaty so everyone was on edge as the date approached closer and closer.

"Do you think he might attack Konoha? I mean most of the elite ninjas would be posted around the Daimyo." on the ninja spoke up, trying to make conversation.

"He won't find anything even if he does." Shin spoke up, surprising everyone.

"What do you mean capitan?" the same ninja asked in confusion.

Shin smiled as he replied, "Because the Jinchuriki would be in the safest spot in the whole world, right next to the Daimyo, surrounded by the elite ninjas of both Konoha and Kiri, including the 6-tail Jinchurik of Kiri. Attacking there would be a death sentence no matter how powerful he is!"

The group discussed the matter a bit more but Shin didn't engage much after that, his attention was on a strange creature hidden closeby yet nearly undiscoverable by any of his teammates, 'White Zetsu.'

Sometime later, in a far away place, a group of ninjas were gathered in a temple. "Three of the tailed beasts have been killed and we have lost 2 of our members, this presents a problem for our end goal." Pain spoke with slight annoyance.

"Who did those zombie duo die anyways?" Kisama spoke in curiosity.

"It was Jiraiya of Konoha, one of the sannin along with the black cat of Konoha." replied Pain.

There was a small discussion on the subject as Itachi spoke up, "The five great villages have entered into an alliance regarding this Beast-Killer. That will make it difficult for us to move."

"Regardless, this Beast-Killer needs to die. Our new objective is to find and kill him. But be careful, he is not an easy opponent, get back up to ensure a victory." Pain commanded.

"Why don't we take the tailed beasts ourselves? The Jinchuriki in Konoha should be an easy mark with that peace treaty coming up." The shark-faced rouge suggested.

Pain shook his head, denying his request, "Both Konoha and Kiri will be bringing their Jinchuuriki to the summit, surrounded by the elite ninjas of both villages, they will be very well protected."

Soon after, the meeting ended and everyone dispersed and in a swirl of distorted space, Obito appeared. Pain turned to the newcomer and asked, "What did the client want?"

"To assassinate Daimyo on his way to Konoha, naturally I rejected it. He changed his request to another nobel instead." Obito replied in a casual tone, seemingly unimpressed by their client's machinations.

"Very Well, he will be a valuable pawn to the Akatsuki." Pain commented.

......…

On a road through a meadow, a group of litters and carriages were being pulled and pushed, surrounded by a small army of soldiers and samurai as they kept an ever watchful eye on the surrounding area, weary of any surprises.

The group was followed by leaves, dancing upon the cool spring breeze as they slowly made their way towards the east, their destination was a port city in the midst of preparation for a once a century celebration as it was the place where two old enemies would become two new friends.

The leaves, that danced through the air, fell onto a tree on the side as a cloaked figure appeared, wearing a black cat mask. "Everything seems to be going well." a voice sounded behind him as a white haired man appeared.

"For now." Shin commented. He was sure there would be an attack sooner or later, this alliance had many people on edge but they couldn't do anything about it on the surface but this didn't mean they couldn't try other ways to go about it.

"Are you sure you'll be fine without your sword? And what about your back up? You took a few days off for it." Kakashi questioned.

"Don't worry about my backup and I won't need my sword." Shin smiled behind his mask. Kakashi could sense his smile which made him curious as to what that mysterious backup was that made Shin so confident. Shin's sword was still not ready so Shin requested Hokage to grant him a few days off before the peace treaty started so that he could get some backup from the panda village but was very secretive about saying what exactly it was.

*Swish*

A shadow landed behind Shin, "Enemy spotted, around 50 ninjas from the west."

*Swish*

Another shadow landed beside him,"20 Ninjas coming from the north east."

*Swish*

Another shadow flickered in front of him, "Around 25 ninjas coming from the north."

Kakashi's eye narrowed as he spoke with worry, "Around 100 ninjas. This is a planned attack, we should get the Daimyo out of here."

"I suggest we draw them in; If someone is mobilizing so many ninjas then there is no doubt that they are a very powerful force. Defending now would mean nothing if we can't find out the mastermind behind this." Shin suggested. He couldn't make this call as he was not the commander of this operation.

The enemy numbered nearly a 100 while there were only 3 teams here apart from Daimyo's personal guard. This could get dangerous and Kakashi knew it, he didn't wish to endanger the lives of his comrades but he also knew that 100 rogue ninjas could not match up to the Konoha elites.

Kakashi turned to Shin and asked in a serious tone, "How confident are you in your backup?"

Shin took off his mask and showed them his wicked smile, "I can only pray that the enemy has a hidden army somewhere… or else it would be just far too boring."

......…

Inside one of the liters, an overly and extravagantly dressed man was seated, looking out the open window with a bored expression as his two companions sat in front of him in attention. "Ah, when will this journey end? There must be a faster way to do this." he complained in annoyed boredom.

The two ministers that sat in front of him were two of the most influential people in the land of fire and also competitors, their families vying for influence in the court for generations. The two were cunning foxes in human skins, but no matter who cunning and experienced they were, even they couldn't withstand the insistent and useless ramblings of the Daimyo for so long. The daimyo had unknowingly brought these old foxes to the brink of tears.

"We should be there in 2 more days, your highness." one of the old foxes answered, it was the same nobel that Shin had met at the Hokage office.

"2 Days! Oh the gods! Have mercy! This is simply a torture! Wait! We also have to make the same journey back right!? Oh!" the ruler of these lands continued to complain, "Lord Matsudaira, let's take a shorter route back alright? I simply cannot stand such a waste of time, I have more important things to do… oh! That reminds me, did you get that new picture book I told you about?"

The elder man nodded his head, "Yes your highness. It should be at the capital when we get back."

"Excellent!" Smiled the daimyo.

Just as the man was about to complain about some other thing, a loud explosion rocked them and the men that held the litter shook from the shockwave. A ruckus started outside as yelling and shouting filtered in from the open windows. The Daimyo looked outside and his face went white, a small army of rogue ninjas were running towards him at great speeds, cutting through the guards like a knife through paper.

"Oh no! They've come!" All color drained from the man's face as he saw a giant green serpent appear from a puff of smoke and swallow two of his men whole.

Another ninja breathed out fire that burned through everything in its path and spread towards the daimyo's litter.

The man wanted to close his eyes or to move away but fear had frozen him completely as the nightmare from months ago flashed before his eyes while the fire inched closer and closer until he could feel the searing heat.

The man was discontent, he didn't wish to die, not yet, not like this, he hadn't even read the new picture illustration of the Icha Icha book 2!

*crackle*

Blue lightning flashed before him as a young man appeared, after that a wall of earth rose to defend him from the fire but Daimyo's eyes' stayed on that young man as he turned towards him and spoke in a calm and reassuring tone, "Don't worry Daimyo-sama, these rouges won't be able to harm you."

The man saw the young ninja disappear in a flash of lightning but his soft words and warm smile remained with the daimyo.

Outside the litter, the two teams of Konoha ninjas surrounded the litter and fought off any rogue ninja that got too close but fighting off a 100 ninja's wasn't easy and Kakashi's team was still hidden in case of any surprises.

*Puff*

A giant wolf appeared and started to attack the konoha ninja as one of them yelled in desperation, "Shin, we could really use that back up of yours!"

Shin nodded as he jumped to the center, "Give me a moment!" Shin yelled as his teammates circled him to protect him.

Shin went through several hand signs within a second before slamming his hand onto the ground. Strange characters appeared and spread out before disappearing into a puff of smoke. When the smoke settled, a panda appeared from within, holding a pair of chopsticks and an annoyed expression as he snapped at Shin, "Couldn't you wait a moment! I was just about to eat!"

Shin chuckled, "You'll have plenty of time after this, we need to take care of the animals." Shin pointed at the several giant animals that were giving the defenders a time and the panda whistled, "Wheeww, They really are big." the panda smirked before looking at Shin, "What do you say we show them what "big" really is?" Shin matched the panda's wicked smile as they started to go through hand seals together before disappearing into a huge puff of smoke.

Most of the battlefield quieted as they cautiously eyed the giant pillar of smoke. A moment later, a deafening voice echoed through the battlefield as a mountainous figure slowly emerged,"Man Panda Union: Twin Panda!"

The smoke dissipated as a 100 meter tall panda appeared, but this was no ordinary panda; this panda had two heads, one in front and one in back, it also had four arms and wore a vengeful expression on one of its faces and a smile on the other.

The humongous panda moved swiftly, creating a storm behind him, and grabbed one of the giant snakes and ripped it apart with its two hands while the other two grabbed one of the wolves.

The attacking ninjas all watched with wide eyes as their summons were all destroyed one after another with no effort and they decided to retreat but it would not be so easy. The giant panda started to glow blue as lightning appeared from it and spread out, "Twin Panda: Lightning Domain!"

As soon as the words left the pandas' mouths, lightning electrocuted every one of the attacking ninjas.

Smoke erupted and the huge panda disappeared and Shin and Lei appeared. The defenders were still awe struck but the ninjas quickly snapped out of it and started to look for survivors and Kakashi made his way towards them, "That… seems like overkill." his eyes on the fallen army of ninjas as he spoke to Shin.

Shin however just smiled in response, "What can I say, it was boring."

Kakashi sighed as his eyes roamed the distant horizon, "Well, even if there was any hidden enemy, I don't think they would be coming out anymore."