9 CHAPTER 9
Chapter Nine: The Nest of the Serpent
2 years, 8 months later
''You are finally going out.'' Zetsu stated the obvious as he watched Naruto walk past him.
Naruto had grown taller over the past two years and 8 months. His spiky blond hair had grown longer, as it was now under his shoulders. His hair parted to frame the sides of his faces covering his right eye, the bangs framing his face reached his chin. He still wore his usual black attire added with a shinobi dress Madara wore in his days consisting of a bright red armour-similar to that of Samurai-worn over a simple black suit. The armour was constructed with numerous metal plates, formed into multiple protective guards along his body, in particular, chest, waist, shoulders and thighs. The chest plate left his back exposed. On his back, there was an Uchiha clan's crest, and the Uzumaki swirl. Black boots accompanied his attire and gloves, with the Konoha forehead protector partly visible on his forehead, as some of his hair covered it. On his back, Naruto had the Gunbai Madara had given him, but the tomoes that were on its face were replaced by the Uzumaki swirl and the Uchiha clan's crest. Naruto also had a belt sash holding a sword.
''Yes, I have trained enough.'' Naruto replied as continued to take giant footsteps towards the exit of the hideout.
''Where are you heading to?'' Zetsu asked following Naruto from behind. He was truly curious, as he wanted to see Naruto fight against someone else. After the training Naruto had put himself through with the help of shadow clones it would take a miracle for someone to beat him. Madara would have been proud if he was seeing Naruto now.
''Orochimaru's secret hideout in the borders of Oto to get the Uzumaki girl you found and the Shinigami mask, if it was Orochimaru who took it.'' Naruto replied his Sharingan eyes gracing the light of the world for the first time in months. While he trained, he never went outside the hideout. He always kept himself busy within the dark shadows of the hideout.
''You might come across Orochimaru if you are going to that hideout. He usually spends his time there experimenting.'' Zetsu warned.
''Orochimaru's presence is nothing of importance. If I find him there, I will make good use of him.'' Naruto replied looking at the sunny sky.
''Now that you are going out there, Jiraiya will be able to get to you. What will you do if he finds you and tries to force you back to Konoha? In addition, there is Danzou and the Sandaime's teammates.'' Zetsu asked knowing that Jiraiya had been looking for Naruto ever since he left the village. Jiraiya could search wherever he wanted to but he could never find Naruto anywhere. Now that Naruto has decided to show himself to the world, Jiraiya would be able to get to him. With the manner in which Naruto left the village, it was possible that he might try to force Naruto back to Konoha. The council of Konoha was also aware that Naruto was not with Jiraiya as they were informed. If they were able to get their dogs near Naruto, they would surely try something. Knowing Danzou, he will surely send his Root Anbu to try to either assassinate Naruto or capture him. It would be amusing to see them try though, since none of the Root Anbu has the strength to kill or capture Naruto.
''I will deal with it then,'' Naruto replied without a hint of worry in his tone, ''Now let's go! You will stay in the shadows.'' Naruto said walking away from Zetsu. Orochimaru's hideout was waiting for him. The hideout in the borders of Oto was the one that was most hidden than the other hideouts within Otogakure. The Uzumaki girl Zetsu had found spent her days at the hideout.
Zetsu sank into the ground without any further word. Things were surely going to be interesting from now on. He could not wait to see how things pended out when Naruto reveals his power. However, he doubted Naruto would reveal his full strength soon.
River country
The grass was burned, trees broken; the landscape seemed to have gone through a reshaping phase. It was what seemed to be the results of a heavy battle, a battle between strong fighters using high level of jutsu's, a clash of titans. The landscape had gone over a makeover. Two battles had taken place over the belly of the earth. The first match was Hatake Kakashi Vs Jiraiya and the second match was Uchiha Sasuke Vs Jiraiya. Despite the impact the battles had on the surrounding area, the fights were just sparring contest.
While Kakashi was training Sasuke, he had also been training himself. Ever since he left Anbu, he had stopped training taking more of a laid-back attitude. He had watched Sasuke train harder every day. He gave the Uchiha training methods that Anbu employed. Sasuke never complained once about the harsh training. He trained like a possessed man. Kakashi realized that Sasuke trained hard because there was a reason he wanted to get strong. Sasuke had an ambition that he wanted to make a reality. Kakashi questioned himself, 'What was his dream in life?' He found out that he had no dream, but he wanted to protect his comrades. His thoughts conceived another question, 'Could he protect his comrades if he did not have the power to do so?' He knew the answer. With how Sasuke trained, the Uchiha was bound to surpass him, Sharingan no Kakashi. For him to become stronger and not become weak he had to train.
It had been years since he ranked as an A-rank ninja. He had yet to pass that level, but he knew if he trained more he could pass that border and become S-rank. His rival and friend, Guy could make S-rank whenever he opened more than Five Gates. Guy was physically strong between them, thus he was able to open that many gates, but he had an arsenal of 1000 jutsu's, the Sharingan at his disposal. Should he train more, he could finally cross the border of A-rank and become S-rank. Rank did not matter to him, but level of strength mattered. In his current level, he could not protect what was precious to him from S-rank shinobi's. He could take on other A-rank shinobi's by himself but S-rank he could not. S-rank criminals were hunting someone that was like a brother to him down. Despite never admitting to anyone, Kakashi saw Naruto as his little brother given the Minato-Naruto's father-was like a father to him. Kakashi had trained beside Sasuke. He trained so hard that Guy would be proud of him.
''If you had trained as much as you in the past Two years after you quite Anbu you would have been stronger than me Kakashi.'' Jiraiya commented looking at the jounin sensei. Kakashi had truly given him a run for his money in their spar. If he had trained hard after quitting Anbu, he would have been on par with a sannin. However, his strength level now was satisfactory. He could take on an S-rank ninja on his own without worry.
Kakashi smiled, he had not only trained but he had also worked on his character, becoming a bit more serious than he usually was. His laid-back attitude was the source of his laziness.
''I guess you are right.'' Kakashi said. He felt strong and confident with himself after the training he did.
''The biggest surprise though was Sasuke. I never expected the brat to land a hit on me while I was serious. So to think that the Uchiha would do as much as to injure him was unthinkable."
Sasuke has really improved in his own strength. His use of the Sharingan makes him a tough opponent to face...well not for him. The brat might be impressive but he was not in a level where he could actually beat him easily. However, Sasuke was able to wound him without even using the power of the cursed seal of heaven. The seal doubled Sasuke's power and gave him more chakra at his disposal. If he gains the same eyes as Itachi and Naruto added with the cursed seal, Sasuke was surely become one of the strongest in the elemental nations. He could as well be able to defeat him with the Mangekyou Sharingan and the cursed seal of heaven.
Sasuke scowled upon hearing Jiraiya call him a brat. He hated Jiraiya for that. The man almost never called him by his name; it was always brat to him.
Sasuke had trained hard and achieved so much power that he thought he could even take on Itachi now. Speaking of Itachi, ''Have you found him yet?'' Sasuke asked looking at Jiraiya.
Because Sasuke had discarded his cold attitude and had a little bit of change of personality, Jiraiya had been looking at Itachi for Sasuke. Still, he did maintain his arrogance and superiority complex. He was no longer focused on killing Itachi as he had been in his younger days. Kakashi had worked overtime to get Sasuke to think of other things other than his revenge. He had made Sasuke take things seriously and have another goal other than killing Itachi. He did not tell Sasuke to forget his revenge but he made Sasuke understand that revenge was not the only thing one could live for.
''I have been able to track his movements for a while but he often goes off the grid like a ghost. Last month one of my men saw him crossing the fire border towards the Wave country. I believe they were looking for Naruto.'' Jiraiya replied.
Sasuke nodded; still there was also the issue of Naruto. ''What have you found out about him?''
Jiraiya sighed, ''Nothing, I do not think I ever will find anything unless he decides to stop hiding from wherever he is hiding. I have searched all over the elemental nations and I found nothing about his whereabouts.'' Jiraiya said. He did not know whether to be happy or angry. Happy that Naruto was able to hide for such a long time from both him and the Akatsuki. Angry that he was not able to find the blond anywhere despite all the resources at his disposal.
''I'm going back to Konoha to give Tsunade both your progress reports,'' Jiraiya said, ''Kakashi I think you should get the brat to do some missions to gain fighting experience. I don't think there is anything else you can teach him.''
''I was thinking of doing that.'' Kakashi said. He had also thought of getting Sasuke missions. There was nothing else for Sasuke to train. What was left was for Sasuke himself to hone his skills and improve where he can.
''Well I guess I should be going. I will talk to hime and see if she can provide a mission for you guys.'' Jiraiya said and walked away. He was going to Konoha but first he had to do some 'research'. He had promised his publisher that he would be giving him the next edition of his make out paradise books.
''How strong do you think Naruto is if he was training as hard as we were?'' Sasuke asked truly curious. He had trained hard enough to think that he could take on anyone. However, he was curious as to how strong Naruto might have become, given how strong he was more than two-years ago.
''I don't know Sasuke. We will just have to wait and see when he does appear.'' Kakashi replied not trying to give Sasuke an honest answer. If he said strong, it would only serve to upset the Uchiha. Kakashi had thought that one of the reasons that Sasuke trained so hard was that he could surpass Naruto.
A week later
Naruto stood at the entrance of Orochimaru's hideout. The base was well hidden, had it not been for Zetsu's unique ability, he would have never found it on his own. Orochimaru was good at hiding things. Not he who knew most things in the elemental nations knew all of Orochimaru's bases and hideouts. The snake sannin was dangerous when it came to gathering Intel. Orochimaru loved to experiment, that was why he was obsessed in knowing all the words knowledge and secrets. However some secrets where not meant for him to know.
Looking at entrance one could not really tell if it was an entrance or not. Nevertheless, Naruto knew better. He did not need to sneak inside the base. Given that it was secret hideout, it probably had no guards.
Naruto looked at the stone that was in front of him. It was the entrance to the base but he had no idea of how to open the secret door. To anybody it was just a normal rock; the rock was natural so there was no reason to suspect being a secret doorway.
''Fire Release: Great Fireball!'' Naruto expelled a large fireball that hit the rock and blew it up creating a path for him to enter. Even if his way for entering might alarm the base's occupants Naruto had no worries, he could handle whatever challenge he met. He was that confident of his own abilities.
Naruto saw three dark passageways upon entering the hideout through the path he created. The darkness within the hideout reminded Naruto of his own hideout, which lacked light. It was so much like Orochimaru to make a hideout like this. Snakes never did like doing things in the light; they prefer to do things in the shadows. The place was carved off the rock it was located at. The rocks where just caved into a passageway, nothing more was made or added in the walls of the hideout. According to the Information Zetsu had given him the middle passage led to Orochimaru's throne room. Zetsu had only gone only that far. It meant that taking the middle passage he was likely to arrive at Orochimaru's throne room without encountering traps. It amused Naruto how Orochimaru had thrones in every hideout that Zetsu had been able to find. The man saw himself as king and prided himself in his abilities. He was the king of his own village and his shinobi worshiped him. That was enough to up his ego to extraordinary levels.
Naruto walked through the passage calmly his armour making an echoing noise that echoed throughout the passage as he walked deep inside the hideout.
Naruto walked for minutes before finally arriving at what seemed to be a hall. In the middle was Orochimaru's throne. Behind the chair was a statue of a large snake that glared its eyes at Naruto. Orochimaru was sitting comfortable on his throne with a wide dark grin spreading across his face. Yakushi Kabuto-Orochimaru's right man man-was standing at his master's right hand. It appeared that they had been waiting for Naruto to appear.
''Well, it seems you have been waiting for me, Orochimaru.'' Naruto stated with an unreadable expression on his face while crossing his hands on chest.
''Yes, I have,'' Orochimaru with a rough voice, ''You have grown quite nicely over the past years. If it were not for your hair, I would have mistaken you for someone else given your appearance.'' Orochimaru commented with a chuckle. Kabuto just watched on with a small smile gracing his features.
''Mistaken me for someone?''
''Yes, I'm sure you are quiet familiar with him given that you dress like him.'' Orochimaru said his grin never faltering.
''Well that is true, I do dress like him,'' Naruto said. Anyone who knew Madara, or studied the man's history would be able to tell that Naruto dressed like him and he could be mistaken for the dead Uchiha legend if it was not for his blond hair. ''You have something and someone I want.'' Naruto said getting down to business.
''I did some digging on you and studied your blood. I found some interesting things.'' Orochimaru said ignoring Naruto's words. He wanted to speak about his own subject other than Naruto's own agenda.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. He was not even panicking that Orochimaru had found out the secrets of his body. His features calm, ''Ho...What did you find?'' Naruto asked sounding amused.
Orochimaru's grin widened, ''Just a few interesting things,'' Orochimaru said, ''You have both Uchiha and Senju DNA. I am guessing that you are able to use wood release, though thus far you have yet to show it. For someone not a Senju to posses the Senju DNA only means that you implanted Hashirama's DNA.''
Naruto never lost his calm despite Orochimaru knowing some of the things about him, ''You have found quite a lot. Well I guess I had to expect it from a snake that seeks to attain all of the knowledge of the world.'' Naruto said.
''I find it curious though. How you were able to get Hashirama's DNA?" Orochimaru paused for a moment, "I find it hard to believe that you, Naruto-kun was able to implant Hashirama's cell which leads me to conclude that someone who is knowledgeable about Hashirama's cells did it to you and for you. The question though, is who?''
Naruto's features took a bit more of an amused expression, ''I see that the Sandaime was not mistaken in naming you a once in a generation genius,'' Naruto commented, ''I would kill you now for knowing that information. However, if I do that I can't get something from you if you are dead,'' Naruto said simply, ''Well...i will just kill you after I get what I want.'' Naruto said as if killing Orochimaru was the easiest thing to do.
Orochimaru let loose of a sick and dark chuckle at Naruto's words, ''Do you actually think you can kill me Naruto-kun?''
''Think? I know I can kill you.'' Naruto replied. He had no doubts that he could kill Orochimaru. It might prove to be a troublesome task given Orochimaru's abilities. Nevertheless, nothing was impossible for him to achieve.
''Now, now before anything happens. I would like to propose a deal with you,'' Orochimaru said his voice and eyes calculating ways to convince Naruto to join him. ''I know that you ran away from Konoha and Jiraiya as searching for you. Given how Konoha treated you as a child I'm sure you would like to get even with it. Join me and we can make Konoha fall on its knees.'' Orochimaru said, 'And you would prove to be an interesting experiment object for me' Orochimaru finished with a thought.
Orochimaru's words amused Naruto. Orochimaru, a pitiful snake was trying to get him to join him. Orochimaru was beneath him, how could he, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Naruto be recruited by someone beneath him? Orochimaru should be the one begging to join his cause. Orochimaru did not understand that he was superior to him.
Naruto held a Tiger seal gathering chakra inside his body and turning it to fire. In an instant, he released a large fireball.
''Fire Release: Great Fire Ball!'' The fireball sped towards both Kabuto and Orochimaru. The two avoided the jutsu. The fireball hit the throne destroying it. The jutsu was not meant to hit or injure them, it was used to make it clear that he did not come to join Orochimaru but rather to get what he wants.
''Kabuto, I will fight him. I want to see how strong he has become by testing him myself.'' Orochimaru said with a smirk.
''Hai, Orochimaru-sama'' Kabuto replied.
Orochimaru looked at Naruto with his smirk firmly in place. It should prove quiet interesting when he sees how strong Naruto has become. From what he has heard from Kabuto, Naruto left Konoha for training. Just by looking at him, he could see that the blond was strong. How strong? Orochimaru wanted to see.
Orochimaru judged at Naruto. Naruto stood in the same position, his Sharingan eyes watched Orochimaru come at him, predicting what he would do.
Orochimaru appeared on Naruto's right side, his foot raised. He attempted to kick Naruto at his shoulder. Naruto raised his right hand to block the kick-as he was able to see through it with his Sharingan. Orochimaru retrieved his leg and swung his right leg. Naruto swung his left foot intercepting Orochimaru's kick. Both legs contacted and the force and power behind the attempted kicks created a small shockwave.
Orochimaru jumped back before attempting to punch Naruto in the face. Naruto leaned back to avoid the punch. He attempted to kick Orochimaru on his gut. Orochimaru disappeared from view and appeared behind Naruto. He brought his right leg attempting to kick Naruto with a powerful kick. In a swift movement, Naruto spun around and blocked the kick. The force behind the kick pushed him a foot back.
''You are taking this a little serious.'' Naruto commented seeing how Orochimaru was coming at him.
''To be able to test your strength I must take this 'a little serious' as you say.'' Orochimaru said with a smirk.
Naruto spoke no further, he rushed at Orochimaru and threw a right hook, which Orochimaru dodged. Naruto attempted punch Orochimaru with his left hand. Orochimaru intercepted the punch with a punch of his own. The two fists met and engaged in a battle of dominance as they tried to overpower each other. Naruto brought forth his free hand and tried to hit Orochimaru on his face. However, the snake sannin blocked the attempt with a punch.
Orochimaru jumped back creating a distance between him and Naruto.
Both opponents charged at one another and met in between. Their hands were locked together, as they tried to overcome each other. Orochimaru felt that Naruto was getting the better of him and pushed back with more effort to overpower Naruto. In a battle of pure physical strength, not everyone could win against Naruto. He had trained his body to be physically fit and strong ever since he was still little. For someone like Orochimaru who preferred to be slippery like all snakes was no match for Naruto. Naruto pushed back the snake sannin with a lot of power nearly forcing Orochimaru to his knees.
Kabuto watched his master 'test' Naruto. With how things were going so far, he could tell that Naruto had an advantage when it came to physical strength.
Orochimaru seeing that Naruto was overwhelming him brought out his right leg and kicked Naruto on his left side with a power kick. The kick sent Naruto flying but he quickly recovered before he hit the walls of the throne room.
''I believe you have tested me enough Orochimaru.'' Naruto said and disappeared in a blur. He appeared behind Orochimaru and swung right foot trying to kick Orochimaru. The kick landed on Orochimaru, but the 'Orochimaru' Naruto hit crumbled into dust.
Naruto looked from behind him. Orochimaru was attacking him from behind. Orochimaru raised his right hand, his left supporting it.
''Many hidden snakes!'' Orochimaru said as multiple snakes sprout out from his shirt's sleeve. In a swift and fast movement, Naruto took out his sword from his sash. He cut every snake within a second and put his sword back to its sash surprising Orochimaru with his skills with a sword.
''You are very good with taijutsu and you handle a sword well,'' Orochimaru commented with a smirk, ''I wonder though, you have yet to use your Mangekyou Sharingan and that war fan strapped on your back.''
''My Mangekyou Sharingan?" Naruto said not expecting Orochimaru to answer him, "Orochimaru if you don't take this serious you will die very soon, which would be disappointing,'' Naruto stated calmly, ''Come at me with all you have and don't worry about looking into my eyes I won't use genjutsu on you.'' Naruto said.
''You are rather sure that you can kill me Naruto-kun. You seem to be forgetting that I am the strongest of the sannin's.'' Orochimaru said confidently.
Orochimaru blurred out of sight to prove his point. Within seconds of going out of Naruto's sight, Naruto was sent flying away by a powerful kick from Orochimaru to his chest. Naruto was slightly surprised that Orochimaru could move that fast. Nevertheless, he never showed any surprise on his expressionless face. Orochimaru appeared above Naruto and pummeled him to the ground. Naruto flew down like a bullet and crashed to the ground creating a large crater.
Orochimaru smirked at went through hand seals. "Earth release: Mud Dragon!" he yelled whilst still in flight. The mud dragon roared its way towards naruto who was still lying down.
Naruto moved quickly and got away from the path of the mud dragon. As soon as he landed a few feet away, Orochimaru appeared behind him and spun around attempting to kick him from behind. Naruto spun around and blocked the kick with both his hands. The force behind the kick pushed Naruto back a few feet back.
Orochimaru landed a few feet away from Naruto with a sickening grin. He had proved his point.
"You might just come close to killing me if I do get careless…that is unlikely though." Naruto stated as he recovered from Orochimaru's assault. "Shall we continue with this dance?"
Naruto blurred out of sight and appeared in front of Orochimaru. The snake sannin's eyes widened at how fast Naruto closed the distance between them. Naruto punched Orochimaru with a powerful punch to the gut. Orochimaru groaned in pain and clutched his stomach for a second. Naruto spun around his right leg swinging along with his movements. He landed a powerful kick to the snake sannin's neck. The kick sent Orochimaru crashing towards the walls of the room. Orochimaru hit the wall and broke through it as a testament to the power behind Naruto's kick. Orochimaru's crash created a small amount of debris at the other side of the throne room.
''This is what I meant when I said you will die soon.'' Naruto stated simply looking past through where Orochimaru had crashed. He was continuing where he had left off after Orochimaru had began to attack him. Orochimaru had proved his point he had proved his.
Orochimaru walked out of the debris back to the throne room looking unhurt by Naruto's assault, ''Something like that cannot kill me Naruto-kun.'' Orochimaru spoke with a smirk.
''That was not meant to kill you. I just wanted to show you that I could hit you anytime I want.'' Naruto said. He just wanted to show Orochimaru that he would be killed easily if he did not take the seriously.
Orochimaru went through hand seals and then slammed his hands on the ground. Multiple snakes appeared in a puff of smoke. The snakes rushed at Naruto while Orochimaru just watched his snakes run towards their 'prey'.
Naruto did a few hand seals preparing for a jutsu. ''Fire Release: Fire Breath!'' Naruto expelled a powerful stream of fire from his mouth. The fire travelled towards the rushing snakes, burning them. The fire continued to speed towards Orochimaru who used shunshine to avoid taking a hit from the flames. The jutsu was easily B-rank snakes stood no chance of survival against the jutsu.
Orochimaru lunged at Naruto. He swung his hand to punch Naruto on the face. Naruto blocked the attempted and followed with an attempt of his own which was blocked. Orochimaru's arm lengthened in no way possible for a human's arm, it was inhuman. The arm wrapped itself around Naruto. Naruto brought out his right hand, which was free and drew out his sword. He cut off Orochimaru's arm. Orochimaru hissed when the sword cut through his hand. He leaped back creating some breathing space between him and Naruto. Few seconds later, his arm regenerated from a number of snakes that transformed into his hand.
''You really have turned yourself into a snake, Orochimaru.'' Naruto commented seeing how snake like Orochimaru had become, literally. The only response he got was a chuckle from the snake sannin.
Naruto ran towards Orochimaru with his sword at hand. He attempted a swift cut across Orochimaru's chest but the snake sannin leaped back, dodging Naruto's attempt to cut him. Naruto ran towards Orochimaru again, swinging his sword vertically. Orochimaru again dodged but the blade of the sword cut a bit of his hair. Orochimaru had very good reflexes. It was what one should expect from a sannin. Orochimaru's Hebi style of fighting made him a rather difficult opponent to fight in a taijutsu fight and kenjutsu.
Orochimaru opened his mouth and a snake carrying a sword came out of it. It was the Sword of Kusanagi, the sword said to be able to cut almost through anything. It was Orochimaru's most prized weapon, which was why he kept it hidden within his stomach in a snake.
Orochimaru took the sword with his hand and charged at Naruto. He quickly tried to cut off Naruto's head with a swift swing of his sword. Naruto parried the attempt with his own blade enhanced with wind chakra so that it did not shatter into pieces. His own blade was made from a strong material, adding wind chakra only made sure it survived. The Kusanagi would shatter his sword without the added protection from wind chakra.
Orochimaru attacked Naruto with his sword. He kept swinging it again and, again but Naruto parried or dodge each time. Orochimaru's attacks where rather barbaric and straightforward. Naruto guessed that it was because Orochimaru believed that because his sword could cut through anything most opponents would be afraid to fight him in a sword fight knowing about his sword. Even if they tried to fight, the sword of Kusanagi would break any sword. It gave him an advantage. With Naruto, he did not have that advantage, as Naruto was not reluctant to engage the sannin in a sword fight.
Naruto jumped away from Orochimaru creating a space between the two, ''How barbaric,'' Naruto commented on Orochimaru's kenjutsu, ''Your attacks leave you wide open, vulnerable to being attacked.''
Orochimaru grinned he did not believe what Naruto said to be true, ''Why don't you show that to me, Naruto-kun?'' Orochimaru had been fighting for many years and none of his opponents has ever said that his kenjutsu was barbaric. In fact, many have commended him for his kenjutsu.
Naruto rushed at Orochimaru swing his sword. Orochimaru parried the attack. Naruto using his superior speed grabbed Orochimaru's hand, which held his sword with his free hand. He gripped it tightly making sure that Orochimaru did not go away. Naruto kneed the snake with a powerful right knee that made the snake sannin wince. Naruto still held Orochimaru's hand. He swung his sword cutting off Orochimaru's hand off its shoulder. He threw the hand way with along with the Sword of Kusanagi. Orochimaru hissed in pain as he jumped away from Naruto. He reformed his arm for the second time.
Naruto went through hand seals while Orochimaru was busy reforming his hand. ''Fire Release: Blazing Inferno!'' Swirling extreme flames appeared in front of Naruto. They swirled their way towards Orochimaru and consumed him. There was no scream of pain from Orochimaru. Naruto had been expecting to hear such. If one was caught within his jutsu they would have their skin melted off their bodies and are cooked within the swirling flames.
'It would have certainly looked good if he had been hit by the jutsu' Naruto thought to himself, 'I will just be quick next time'
Naruto looked from behind as he sensed something. ''Wind Release: Great Wind Breakthrough!'' Orochimaru yelled a power wind gust rushed at Naruto. The wind hit Naruto and sent crashing towards the wall of the throne room. Like Orochimaru before, he broke through the wall. Orochimaru was very adept to wind jutsu's, which made his wind jutsu's a lot more powerful than they normally would.
Unlike Naruto who gave him a chance to recover, Orochimaru dashed towards Naruto. He appeared in front of the blond and punched him on the face followed by a swift kick on the blonds' chin. The kick sent Naruto in the air. He hit the 'ceiling' of the hideout before falling down. Naruto got up and dusted himself up.
"Come on Naruto-kun show me what you can do. Don't tell me you plan to kill me with that strength you are showing me now." Orochimaru gloated with a smirk, his hands folded on his chest.
Naruto did hand seals, ''Fire Release: Majestic Flame Destroyer!'' Naruto expelled a wave of intense flames that spread out wide. The flames rushed at Orochimaru covering all hiding areas. The flames burned everything they touched as they travelled. They reached at Orochimaru's position and passed through. They hit a wall of the base that had been standing and melted it. The jutsu created destruction that left the area it touched in need of reconstruction. A part of the hideout began to collapse as Naruto's jutsu had melted the pillars that separated the ground from the 'ceiling'. Without the pillars, supporting the above the hideout began collapsed-as the hideout was build underground.
Orochimaru used his unique escape jutsu to avoid the flames. He had seen how dangerous the jutsu was. He would have been a fool to allow himself get hit by the jutsu knowing how dangerous it was.
"I think I used too much chakra." Naruto muttered to himself. He did not use the jutsu's full power given that they were in a closed area. Had he used the jutsu at its power it would have destroyed the whole hideout. Still, the level of destruction the jutsu caused was not expected given the jutsu was not at its full potential.
''Earth Release: Mud Dragon!'' Orochimaru yelled from behind Naruto who seemed to be still admiring the destruction of his jutsu. The mud dragon sped at Naruto.
Naruto activated his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. He summoned his Susano'o, which manifested in the form of a rib cage. The rib cage surrounded Naruto, shielding him from Orochimaru's jutsu. Naruto stood his ground as Orochimaru's jutsu hit his defense. The offensive jutsu did not prevail against the Susano'o. Naruto allowed his Susano'o to disperse.
It was certainly interesting for Kabuto to watch the fight between his master and Naruto. Naruto was showing to be able to hold his own against his master. Naruto had improved in a way he never expected. If Naruto continued to grow strong in the way he was now, he would surely be a force to be reckoned with...well that was if he survived his encounter with Orochimaru.
Naruto charged at Orochimaru and Orochimaru followed Naruto's exampled. The two lunged at each other, meeting in between and began a fiery taijutsu battle that created shockwaves all over the partly destroyed hideout. The shockwaves destroyed whatever was near them when they were set off. The two continued to trade blows until Orochimaru landed a hit on Naruto's face pushing the blond back.
Orochimaru charged at Naruto. Naruto watched the snake sannin with his EMS. Once seeing what the snake was going to go. Naruto side stepped Orochimaru and turned around with a powerful kick to the snake sannin's back.
Naruto closed his right eye that was hidden by his hair. His left eye focused on Orochimaru, ''Amaterasu!'' The black flames of Amaterasu ignited around Orochimaru setting him ablaze. Naruto's left eye began to bleed slightly due to the strain the black flames caused on his eyes.
Orochimaru felt that the black flames were consuming his body. It was the most intense heat he had ever felt before. He was hit by the flames before by Naruto but last time they did not burn as much as they did now. Orochimaru felt that if he did not do something the flames would turn him to ash. There was nothing in the world that could extinguish the flames except by sealing them or the caster of the flames extinguished the flames with his Mangekyou. Not everyone could do that, not even Naruto.
Orochimaru's mouth opened up wide. A pair of pale hands forced the mouth to open up wider as another Orochimaru stepped out of the mouth his breathing slightly labored.
Naruto appeared in front of the snake sannin just as he shed his skin. He grabbed Orochimaru's arm and kicked him on the chest whilst holding him. He kicked the snake sannin again, this time on his gut never letting go of his arm. Naruto let go of Orochimaru's arm. He delivered a swift kick to Orochimaru's face sending the sannin away.
Naruto gave the sannin no time to recover. He turned chakra inside his body into fire. ''Fire Release: Majestic Fire Destruction!'' Naruto expelled a stream of intense flames. The stream went towards Orochimaru who had no time to avoid the flames. The flames hit him and ignited spreading wide around him. Orochimaru bathed in the middle of a sea of intense flames. The flames destroyed another large portion of the hideout making the throne room unstable. Another powerful jutsu and it was going to collapse.
"It certainly does look good when it burns someone." Naruto said to himself with a small smile.
Kabuto was starting to get worried about his master now. Even his master despite how powerful he was, had limits. He could not keep on taking on such high level of jutsu's continuously.
The fire died down and revealed a 4th degree burned Orochimaru lying on the ground. He looked half-dead and not a part of his body was moving. The only noticeable thing was his wide eyes that seemed to be frozen in time. It was what happened when you were hit by an S-rank jutsu.
Naruto rushed at Orochimaru. He was going to punish Orochimaru, allowing him time to rest was not something he deserved. Kabuto intercepted Naruto with a kick, which Naruto blocked by bringing both his hands.
Naruto looked past Kabuto. Orochimaru had shed his skin his body looked like it had not been burned by intense flames. However, his chakra reserves were dropping. He was on one knee breathing rather heavily. ''Orochimaru, did you take the Shinigami mask from the Uzumaki clan mask storage temple?'' Naruto asked calmly.
Orochimaru stopped recovering; his breathing became calm and grinned at Naruto, ''What do you want to do with such a valuable mask, Naruto-kun?'' Orochimaru asked with a gleeful grin trying to hide that now he was a bit concerned at the strength Naruto was showing.
''Do you have it?''
''I might have it.'' Orochimaru responded trying to buy some time to think of a battle plan. He had underestimated Naruto and could not keep shedding his skin. His chakra would surely run out if he kept shedding his skin.
''So you have it,'' Naruto said knowing that Orochimaru was trying to buy time, ''Where is it? It does not belong to you.''
''And it belongs to you?'' Orochimaru asked. He knew that Naruto would say it belonged to him given that the masks belonged to the Uzumaki clan, a clan that Naruto belonged.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru. His face took a different expression from his usual impassive. His face had annoyed written all over it. Naruto released large amounts of dense chakra with traces of malice in it. The chakra Naruto released was enough to blow up the unstable part of the hideout. The hideout crumbled down allowing light from the clear skies to enter.
''I grow tired of this.'' Naruto said. He was annoyed by the fact that Orochimaru was stalling him.
Orochimaru and Kabuto were still shocked the level of chakra Naruto released like it was nothing. The dense chakra made Naruto dangerous. They did not think that would be to release that much chakra. The malice in the chakra released reminded Orochimaru of something but he could not place a finger on it.
Naruto charged at Kabuto. He attempted to punch Kabuto on his face. Kabuto leaned back avoiding the punch and attempted to kick Naruto. Naruto caught his leg and held it tightly.
Naruto raised his right hand, ''Wind Blade!'' Invincible wind blades formed on Naruto's fingers and began to spin around furiously. Naruto hit Kabuto with two of the blades launching the right-hand man into the fallen chunks of earth. Kabuto received multiples cuts on his body that where enough to make him bleed. Naruto expelled the remaining blades.
Kabuto recovered got and walked for a moment calmly as if nothing had happened. Drawing chakra from his body, he activated his unique ability to regenerate damaged muscles. The ability would heal him of any wound he suffered at the cost of his own chakra.
Naruto found himself fascinated by Kabuto's ability.
''It seems you admire my ability,'' Kabuto commented seeing Naruto look at him with interest, ''My knowledge in medical ninjutsu is the reason I am Orochimaru-sama's right-hand-man. My unique ability allows me to reactivate dead cells and grow new ones.'' Kabuto said pushing his glasses.
''Interesting'' Naruto muttered before he was forced to leap to his left side to avoid a punch from Orochimaru. As Naruto landed down the ground, Kabuto was already at his side with his hands glowing chakra. It was Kabuto's ability called chakra scalpel. The chakra formed around his hands was like a blade capable of cutting through almost anything. Kabuto used this ability to damage his opponent's muscles and damage chakra pathways.
Naruto drew his sword preparing to battle Kabuto. Kabuto lunged at Naruto in his unique way, which would confuse other people. Naruto raised his sword on his front and parried Kabuto's attack. He brought back his sword and attempted to kick Kabuto. Kabuto saw the kick coming and dodged it by jumping back. Naruto jumped in front of Kabuto attempting to kick snake's right-hand-man. Kabuto blocked Naruto's kick. Naruto brought out his other leg trying to kick Kabuto. The same process repeated as Kabuto Naruto's kick with his hand. Naruto placed his sword back to its sash. Naruto crouched down placing both his hands on the ground for support he attempted a leg sweep which Kabuto avoided by jumping up. While Naruto was still in a crouched position, Kabuto landed a powerful two-foot kick on Naruto's chest sending the blond flying away.
Naruto recovered quickly by flipping in mid-air and landed gracefully on the ground.
''You hit me.'' Naruto stated.
Kabuto smirked, ''I was observing while you were fighting with Orochimaru-sama. I know how you fight which makes it easy for me to avoid your attacks and counter-attack.'' Kabuto said confidently.
Naruto said nothing, he ran towards Kabuto. Appearing in front of Kabuto, he spun around and tried to land a powerful kick on Kabuto's waist. Kabuto brought out his knee to block the attack. Naruto disappeared from Kabuto's front and appeared behind him. He had moved fast not giving Kabuto enough time to defend himself. He kicked Kabuto on his back sending him crashing towards the chunks of earth that were lying on the ground.
Before Naruto could do anything else, Orochimaru lunged at him and opened his mouth. Many snakes came out of his mouth with replicas of the Sword of Kusanagi in their mouths. The snakes extended towards Naruto. Orochimaru had picked up his sword after Naruto had thrown it away.
Naruto placed his hand on his gunbai before deciding against using it. If he burned the snakes, the attack would stop coming at him. He held a single tiger seal and gathered chakra, ''Fire Release: Great Fireball!'' Naruto expelled a large fireball from his mouth. The fireball sped towards the snakes, incarnating them. Orochimaru stopped his jutsu seeing the fireball come towards him. He jumped a distance away to avoid the jutsu.
Orochimaru held his right hand and transformed it into large snakes that rushed at Naruto. Naruto jumped out of the hideout using the space where the hideout had collapsed to avoid the snakes. The snakes followed him out of the hideout. Naruto tried dodging the snakes for a few moments before finally he went through a set of hand seals, ''Fire Release: Fire Breath!'' Naruto breathed out a stream of intense flames that rushed at the snakes. The intense flames hit the snakes burning them. Snakes would always be weak against flames.
Kabuto and Orochimaru followed Naruto outside the hideout. The outside created a more breathing space and a good space to use jutsu's at their fullest abilities.
''Have you noticed it, Orochimaru-sama?'' Kabuto asked as he adjusted his round glasses.
Orochimaru nodded, ''It doesn't matter though,'' Orochimaru said, ''With me and you attacking him at the same time we will take him out.'' Kabuto nodded.
Both master and servant charged at Naruto flanking both his sides. Orochimaru went at Naruto left side while Kabuto went at his right. Naruto stood still his eyes calculating their movements. Orochimaru swung his right hand trying to punch Naruto. Naruto brought out his hand to block Orochimaru's attack. Kabuto attempted a high roundhouse kick. Naruto intercepted Kabuto's kick by moving his leg swiftly to block the kick. Orochimaru crouched down and tried grabbing Naruto by his leg. Naruto jumped up to avoid Orochimaru. Kabuto appeared in front of Naruto with his chakra scalpels at hand. He slashed his scalpels at Naruto but only managed to hit Naruto at the metal chest plate of his amour. The attack was unable to break through the metal armour.
Naruto jumped back to create a breathing space between him and the two. Kabuto attacked him from the front. Kabuto attempted to cut Naruto at his head seeing that his chakra scalpels could not break through the other vital parts that were protected by the amour Naruto wore. Naruto leaned back avoiding the blow. Kabuto spun around attempting a kick at Naruto's chest. Naruto also spun around intercepting Kabuto with his own kick. Naruto's kick had more power than Kabuto's, thus he was able to overpower Kabuto. Kabuto was pushed back by Naruto's kick.
Naruto moved closer to Kabuto and kicked the spy on his chest sending him flying. Naruto appeared behind Kabuto while he was still on flight. Naruto delivered a hard kick at Kabuto's back sending him crashing towards the ground.
Before Naruto do to anything, ''Wind style: Great Wind Breakthrough!'' A powerful wave of wind rushed at Naruto hitting him dead on. The jutsu hit him and sent him flying away. The jutsu was so powerful that even Naruto was unable to recover immediately after the jutsu had hit him.
''Wind Style: Wind Dragon!'' Orochimaru added another jutsu on his assault. The wind dragon rushed at Naruto at a rather fast speed. Naruto could not dodge the attack thus he summoned his Susano'o to shield him. The wind dragon hit his Susano'o but did nothing to break through the defense. Had Naruto not activated his Susano'o he would have surely received multiple cuts where his amour did not protect him.
Naruto landed gracefully on the ground and deactivated his Susano'o. He ran towards Orochimaru but Kabuto intercepted him before he could reach the snake sannin. Kabuto came at Naruto with his chakra scalpels. He began his assault on Naruto. However, Naruto dodged all of Kabuto's attack before attacking Kabuto when given an opening. Kabuto had his right hand stretched out at Naruto. Naruto caught the hand, before catching another of Kabuto's arm. His hold on Kabuto's hands was tight and restricted Kabuto from moving freely. Naruto threw Kabuto's hands sideways making him lose balance. He jumped up and landed a powerful double foot kick on Kabuto's chest. Kabuto grimaced, as felt that a rib had broken because of the powerful kick. Naruto spun around in air and landed another powerful kick at Kabuto's temple sending him flying away.
Before Naruto could land on the ground after kicking Kabuto, Orochimaru appeared above Naruto and smashed the blond with both his hands to the ground. Naruto's impact with the ground created a crater. Orochimaru jumped at Naruto attempting to kick Naruto at the back of his leg. Naruto brought out both his hands while still lying down. He blocked the kick; however, the force of the kick compelled him a bit down than he already was. Orochimaru jumped back to catch a breather.
Kabuto stood beside his master, clothes tattered and blood stains on his clothes, but otherwise no wounds on him. He was just running low on chakra, which was a big factor since he could not fight without chakra. It was not every day that he had to face such a tough opponent. His body was also getting tired; he could not fight for too long.
Naruto got up and closed his right eye, ''Amaterasu!'' Black flames ignited on Orochimaru's right hand. He had seen the attack once, thus he had tried to change his position upon seeing that Naruto was going to use the jutsu. Naruto could not hit a moving target. Orochimaru cut of his right hand and grew another one.
Naruto felt that using so many high-ranked jutsu's was taking a lot from him. Nevertheless, he did hand seals and then held his hands together, ''Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!'' Naruto said the ground began to shake. A huge forest made of what seemed to tree branches began to erupt from the ground. The forest headed towards both Orochimaru and Kabuto. If Orochimaru and Kabuto did not move, the forest would crush them. With Orochimaru's abilities, he would survive. However, Kabuto could not survive.
Orochimaru took hold of Kabuto and used his signature escape jutsu to sink into the ground. He appeared behind Naruto with Kabuto.
"It's perfect, still would have looked a lot better if it had crushed them," Naruto said to himself.
Naruto looked behind where he had sensed Orochimaru and Kabuto. He rushed at the two. Orochimaru seeing Naruto come at him did hand seals, ''Water Release: Water bullet!'' A water bullet came out of his mouth and rushed at Naruto. Naruto blurred out of the jutsu's path to avoid being hit by the water bullets.
He continued to charge at Orochimaru. Orochimaru sprout out several more water bullets at Naruto as tried to halt the blond from reaching him and Kabuto. Naruto dodged each of the water bullets skillfully.
Naruto was able to reach Orochimaru. Before he could do anything, Orochimaru's mouth opened up wide and a snake came out from his mouth with the Sword of Kusanagi in its mouth. The sword extended catching Naruto off guard as he had been running at great speed. The blade extended to great lengths piercing Naruto at his right shoulder. The sword had broken Naruto's metal plate of his shoulder to do so. The blade pierced Naruto on his shoulder but before it could wound him gravely, Naruto blurred away from its path.
Naruto touched his shoulder. The gash the blade had created began to drip blood, ''My blood,'' Naruto said to himself, ''I was careless.''
Orochimaru grinned, ''The sword of Kusanagi is not just capable of cutting through anything but it can also inject poison to whoever it cuts,'' Orochimaru said, ''It's a very deadly poison. Only Kabuto and I are immune to the poison.''
The poison was not an issue for Naruto. He could handle it. His body was resilient to poison. His body had many secrets one of the secrets was not make him immune to poison. It would be damning to his pride should he be defeated because of a simple poison. Orochimaru was not the build his body to become immune to poison.
Naruto charged at Orochimaru and Kabuto, again. Orochimaru moved to intercept him. Orochimaru attempted to punch Naruto only for Naruto to disappear.
'What?' Orochimaru thought.
''Amaterasu!'' Naruto said as black flamed ignited on Orochimaru. Orochimaru let out a pained scream as the jet-black flames began to consume him.
No matter how many times Naruto sees Orochimaru screaming in pain, he would never tire of it.
Naruto wiped off the blood that dripped from his eye due to the strain caused by Amaterasu. He looked at Kabuto before blurring out of sight. He appeared in front of Kabuto and attempted to gut him. Kabuto jumped back to avoid being hit. Naruto appeared in front of him and the same process occurred again. Naruto appeared behind Kabuto and tapped his shoulder, ''You are moving slower. This means that you are low on chakra and are getting tired.'' Naruto stated as he gripped Kabuto's shoulder and forced him to face his direction. Kabuto stared at Naruto's cold eye for a moment. Naruto kneed Kabuto and delivered a punch to Kabuto's chest. He then gutted Kabuto causing him to hiss in pain as he coughed blood while he clutched his stomach.
Naruto gripped Kabuto by his neck, ''Tell me about that unique ability of yours.'' Naruto demanded.
Kabuto refused to speak forcing Naruto to 'let him go' and spin around before kicking him with a power kick to his chest.
Naruto narrowed his eye from behind as he felt Orochimaru's chakra flare up.
''Kuchiyose no jutsu!'' Orochimaru yelled as he called forth his summon.
A gigantic snake appeared in a puff of smoke. Orochimaru was now standing on top of its head, ''Orochimaru why have you called me?'' The snake summon hissed out.
''I need your help.'' Orochimaru replied immediately while standing on top of his summons head.
''I will need 100 sacrifices for this, you stole owe me 50 sacrifices from the last time you summoned me. I will add another 50 for not paying up. Adding that you now owe me 200 sacrifices.'' The snake summon, Manda-the snake summon boss-hissed.
Orochimaru frowned but nonetheless agreed, ''You will get your sacrifices, Manda as long as you deal with him.'' Orochimaru said pointing at Naruto.
Manda looked at Naruto, ''An Uchiha.'' He hissed.
''Yes, he is proving to be quiet troublesome.''
Manda said nothing. He sped his way towards Naruto looking at him with eyes of a predator.
Naruto saw the snake coming and did hand seals, ''Wood Release: Hotei Technique!'' The ground began to shake as gigantic hands erupted from the ground. The gigantic hands tried to catch Manda. However, the snake was to slippery for them and evaded each attempt to catch it.
Naruto sighed and cancelled his jutsu. Trying to catch a snake was a rather foolish idea.
Manda came charging at Naruto with its fangs glaring at Naruto. Its raised head charged at Naruto as it tried to devour him. Naruto jumped away to avoid being food for the snake. Manda continued rushing at Naruto trying to devour him. Naruto dodged every attempt until...Manda moved faster than he had been. Naruto as unable to dodge the attack, he unstrapped his gunbai and positioned it in front of him creating a shield. Manda's head hit the Gunbai but did not break it. Naruto tried to hold his own against the snake. However, even for him it was impossible.
Naruto was sent flying away with his gunbai. Naruto quickly recovered and flipped in midair before landing on the ground gracefully. Manda charged at Naruto and surrounded him. Naruto summoned his orange Susano'o. The Susano'o began to evolve into a more of a giant humanoid discarding its skeletal appearance. The Susano'o had two horns pointing front on its head. The horns were sticking out of the hood the Susanoo wore. On both its shoulders and hands, it had guards that resembled metal plates. Swords flared up to life on both its hands. The Susano'o fused both swords.
Manda created some distance between him and Naruto, ''Orochimaru, what is this?''
''A Susano'o one of the Mangekyou Sharingans abilities,'' Orochimaru replied. He noted that it was a bit different from the chunin exams. He was still wondering Naruto was still standing after he had injected poison on the blond. He sighed remembering that Naruto was a jinchuriki. That alone made things different.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes to where Kabuto was recovering. He was glad that his number two was alive and recovering well.
Naruto's susano'o swung its blade releasing a wave of orange chakra that took the form of a blade. The attack travelled towards Manda. Manda moved quickly to avoid taking a hit from the attack. The attack peeled off chunks of earth it had hit. Manda was glad that the attack did not hit him or it would have been nasty. The Susano'o swung its blade releasing another attack, which Manda dodged swiftly.
Manda charged at Naruto only succeeding in being stopped by the Susano'o. The Susano'o raised its blade high and brought it down trying to cut Manda in half but the snake snaked his way out of it.
Naruto's Susano'o dispersed and Naruto fell on his knees, breathing rather heavily. That only happened for a moment as Naruto got up to and went through hand seals, ''Fire Style: Majestic Fire Destruction!'' Naruto expelled a stream of fire that sped towards Manda. This time the snake was not able to do anything as the fire ignited upon hitting it. Orochimaru jumped away from Manda's head to avoid being burned. The flames spread out wide upon igniting, bathing Manda in a sea of intense flames. Manda hissed in pain before shedding his and escaping the sea of flames.
Manda glared at Naruto furiously for making him shed his precious skin. He began to charge at Naruto. Naruto closed his right eye. ''Amaterasu!'' Naruto said as black flames ignited on Manda's head making the snake stop charging at Naruto.
Naruto did not stop there, ''Amaterasu!'' Manda's tail ignited in black flames making the snake shake violently as it tried to shake off the flames. Fighting a colossal summon as Manda was not on his cards that was he decided to end it quickly.
''Orochimaru, I will not forgive this!'' Manda yelled as he disappeared back to the summon world.
Orochimaru charged at Naruto with his sword appearing from his mouth. Naruto brought out his gunbai and blocked the sword from piercing him. Orochimaru retracted his sword. Naruto placed his gunbai back to his back. Orochimaru made the mistake of blinking.
Naruto went through hand seals gathering the chakra he needed. He converted his chakra into wind chakra, "Wind Release: Wind Dragon!" Naruto muttered as the he released a powerful two-headed wind dragon. When the dragon met its target, it would give the target multiple gashes causing them to bleed heavily. Without fast medical treatment, the target would die because of loss of blood. Nevertheless, despite that power, Naruto was not satisfied. "Amaterasu!" Jet-black flames fused with the wind dragon. It took a sometime of practicing for naruto to get the ratio of fusing the jutsu. If things did not balance and there was too much of Amaterasu, the black flames would consume the wind jutsu.
The combined jutsu sped at Orochimaru and hit him.
Naruto smiled slightly at the power of his jutsu. If Orochimaru's girly screams where an indicator. He narrowed his eyes behind him to see Kabuto charging at him. Naruto was quick to side step Kabuto's attempt to hit with his chakra scalpels. Despite being given time to recover it seemed that Kabuto never did recover. Kabuto's movements where rather sloppy due to his tiredness and loss of chakra.
Naruto landed a powerful kick on Kabuto's chest before quickly gripping his arm. Naruto slammed Kabuto to the ground creating small crater due to the impact. He placed his foot on Kabuto's shoulder and his left arm. Naruto snapped Kabuto's arm making Kabuto let loose of a pained scream. It was of no concern to Naruto. He wanted to see if Kabuto would be able to heal himself just as he had been doing.
Naruto picked up Kabuto by his neck, ''Tell me what I want to know.'' Naruto said like a commander.
Kabuto struggled to breathe for a moment. Naruto lessoned his tight grip on Kabuto's neck. This allowed Kabuto to talk, ''My unique ability? I cannot tell you that. I would rather die than tell you. Beside even if I were to tell you, you do not have medical ninjutsu knowledge to be able to replicate the technique. Moreover, I doubt you would be able to understand the complexity of the technique.'' Kabuto said with a smirk.
Naruto did not think twice, ''Tsukuyomi!'' a second later Kabuto dropped down to the ground like a lifeless corps.
Naruto looked at Orochimaru's direction. The snake was breathing rather heavily as he panted. It was obvious that continuously shedding his skin had taken a toll on his chakra.
Naruto appeared in front of Orochimaru. He tried kicking him but Orochimaru quickly brought out both his hands to block the attack. Naruto quickly brought out his other foot trying to kick Orochimaru. The snake sannin jumped back from Naruto. Naruto appeared in front of Orochimaru with his foot staring at Orochimaru's gut. Even Orochimaru had slowed down greatly, which made things easy for Naruto. Naruto kicked Orochimaru on his temple with a high roundhouse kick. He appeared above Orochimaru while the snake sannin was flying because of the force of Naruto's kick. Naruto kicked Orochimaru down the ground. He landed beside Orochimaru and picked him up before slamming him to the ground again. Naruto slammed his foot on Orochimaru's chest before leaning down facing Orochimaru.
''Where is it?'' Naruto demanded.
Orochimaru cursed Naruto for putting him in this situation. He opened his mouth wide but before anything could happen, Naruto drew his sword. Naruto cut through Orochimaru's neck, separating his body from his head and placed his sword back to its sash. Snakes came from Orochimaru's head, his neck and brought Orochimaru's head together with his body.
After Orochimaru had out himself back together, Naruto slammed his foot on Orochimaru's chest. ''Tell me!'' Naruto barked.
Orochimaru glared at Naruto. Naruto felt a spike of Chakra and jumped away from Orochimaru. Orochimaru turned into a large hideous snake composed of many snakes.
''I will get you back for this Naruto-kun!'' Orochimaru yelled before he took off and took Kabuto. Before Naruto could do anything, Orochimaru disappeared from his view and no trace of his chakra was left.
Naruto dropped to his knees, took out his gunbai, and used it as support. The battle had taken a lot of from him despite not showing it to Orochimaru. It was as if he had even managed to hold himself from sweating from the tiredness he felt. He had also used a lot more chakra than he had thought he would. If the battle had continued, it would have been nasty for him. He had used too much chakra with the jutsu's he used.
''That took longer and a lot from than I had anticipated.'' Naruto said seemingly to no one between his breaths.
Zetsu appeared from the ground, ''That is because you where not serious. If you had been fighting fully serious, you would have ended the fight sooner.'' Zetsu did think that Naruto just wanted to frustrate Orochimaru and punish him. It was payback for what Orochimaru had done to Naruto at the forest of death. If Naruto wanted to kill Orochimaru he would have done it, that he had no doubt of believing.
Naruto stood up his breathing relaxed and looked at Zetsu, his EMS was deactivated, ''I guess you are right. Regardless he got away. I will kill him next time and I will do it quick. I have seen enough of him,'' Naruto said, ''Well lets go and get Karin.''
''While you were fighting with Orochimaru I stopped watching and went to look for her seeing that if you had continued fighting within the hideout it would have collapsed. If that had happened while she was inside, she might have been crushed.'' Zetsu stated.
''So you did not find her.'' Naruto concluded.
''No, it appears that the moment you entered the hideout, Orochimaru had her escape to another hideout close-by.''
Naruto nodded, ''Good lets go and get her, we have to search at the other hideouts within this country-Oto-for the mask.'' Naruto said placing his gunbai back to his back.
Otogakure was rocked with the destruction of many hideouts that day. It shocked the villagers as who could do something like it. Orochimaru was not someone one would like to make an enemy. Nobody dared to stand in the way of Naruto while he destroyed several bases. He was searching for the Shinigami mask and Karin. If anyone dared to stand in his way, they would have signed their death warrants.
A week later
Tsunade was sitting comfortably in her office. Over the years, things had calmed down giving her less work to do. She liked the less work she had to do; it gave her more time to do other things. Given the free time she trained Sakura alone as she had taken her as her apprentice. She was proud of Sakura's progress, as the girl had become more like her in fighting style and short temper. Aside from dealing with the elders, Tsunade had nothing that could cause her a major headache.
However, she knew that in a few months she would have more issues to deal with. Sasuke would be coming back to the village; the villagers would certainly make a lot of noise about it. There would also be marriage proposals that would only give her more paperwork to do. She just hoped that the Uchiha would have changed. If he had changed, he would be a less pain to deal with.
There was also Naruto. Even the thought of the name gave her a headache, thus she chose to think too much about the blond. She would think about it when he comes back...if he does return that is. Right now, she was not sure about anything given that Jiraiya had yet to find him.
Jiraiya burst through her window.
''You damn pervert! How many times have I told you to use the damn door?!'' Tsunade yelled.
Tsunade saw a serious look on Jiraiya's face and knew that the pervert had something important to tell her, ''What is it?'' Tsunade asked adopting a serious look on her face.
''I was coming back to give you the report of Kakashi's training trip with Sasuke when I got news from my contacts in Otogakure,'' Jiraiya said, ''Someone destroyed a total of eight hideouts of Orochimaru in a single day.'' Jiraiya revealed.
Tsunade's eyes widened at hearing the news. That person had to be strong to accomplish that feat. So far, no one so far had attempted to attack Orochimaru like that. Not even Jiraiya who knew some of Orochimaru's hideouts had gone to destroy them.
''….And Orochimaru?''
''I do not know so far. His whereabouts are unknown for now. His body was not found in any of the hideouts.'' Jiraiya replied still keeping his serious expression.
''Who could have done something like that?''
''Eye witnesses say that they saw a man, wearing a bright red armour-like a samurai-over a black suit and a war fan strapped behind his back,'' Jiraiya said, ''With that description you could say that Madara had returned from the dead.'' Jiraiya commented to his own words.
Tsunade nodded, as history shows it, Madara appeared like that after defecting from Konoha.
''Here is the interesting part,'' Jiraiya spoke again, ''The person is said to have had long bright blond hair which covered his right eye and wielded the Sharingan,'' Tsunade eyes widened, ''By your reaction you are guessing who it is.'' Jiraiya said.
''Naruto'' Tsunade muttered. If the person was indeed Naruto, then it raised a lot more questions. Why would he attack Orochimaru's hideouts? How strong had he become? Another question was that if he was seen this time, it meant that he was no longer hiding.
Jiraiya nodded, ''It has to be him,'' Jiraiya said with conviction, ''I will go to Otogakure and search for clues as to where he might have gone to.'' Jiraiya said.
Tsunade could only nod. Just when she was enjoying her peace, this had to happen.
Jiraiya took out a scroll and handed to Tsunade, ''My report on Kakashi and Sasuke,'' He said, ''I would recommend it if you choose to make Kakashi S-rank in our books after reading the report.''
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya questionably. Jiraiya just shrugged having lost his serious expression.
''I will be going hime.'' Jiraiya said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Tsunade sighed and opened the scroll.
Valley of the End
Naruto stood onto of Madara's head at the Valley of the End. The valley was located at the borders of the Fire country leading to Otogakure. He had already replaced his damaged his amour and was in a perfect condition.
Beside him were Zetsu and Karin, who was shifting nervously. He was not able to find the mask he was looking for. This only meant that he would have to make Orochimaru tell him of its location. Karin was a sensor type, thus she could sense the chakra within a person and get a 'feel' from it. She could tell whether a person was either good or evil by sensing their chakra. The chakra she was sensing from Naruto was off the charts. Not even Orochimaru's large pools could be compared to it. She had fainted the first time she felt it up-close. She was trying to get a read from it and the dense chakra overwhelmed her senses knocking her out.
''Zetsu, lead Karin to the hideout.'' Naruto ordered.
''Where are you taking me and what are going to do to me?'' Karin asked fearfully. Naruto was not generally a good person she could tell by his chakra but there was also light hidden within the dark and dense chakra.
Naruto turned around and looked at Karin, ''I told you, you are a precious Uzumaki. You are valuable to me.'' Naruto said with a small smile.
Karin could feel that he was being honest. Nevertheless, she had questions. Why? Being an Uzumaki was not that of a big deal.
Naruto guessed what she was thinking, ''It appears that you don't know anything about the Uzumaki clan,'' Naruto said, ''Zetsu will tell you about it, I will tell you this, my mother was an Uzumaki,'' Naruto said.
''You are not a pervert, are you?''
An amused expression appeared on Naruto's face, ''Not at all,'' He said. ''Have no fears, you will not be hurt. You are just going to the hideout and stay there for a while and I will come to fetch you, then take you to Konoha.'' Naruto said.
Karin nodded; she really had no choice in the matter. Despite the fact that he was being honest and had been hostile towards her, she could not just trust him on the whim.
''Go, Zetsu.'' Naruto said.
''Where are you going now?'' Zetsu asked, Naruto just smiled at him and looked at the heavens. For a second his Sharingan disappeared and was replaced by a normal black eye instead of his deep blue eyes.
Zetsu led Karin away from the Valley going deep into the forest of the Fire country. He did not need Naruto to say anything. He knew where Naruto was going.
A week later outside of the wave country
Uzuki Yugao or rather Cat her ANBU code name-was running for her life. Her body was heavily bruised and she had lost a lot of blood. Her body had wounds all over her body, some wounds where deep. She was on an S-rank mission with her squad. They had been instructed to get rid of a bandit camp inside the Wave country, the camp was led by a group of A-rank missing-nins. For such a dangerous mission, elite shinobi had to be enlisted.
Her squad did not go near the camp, as before they could reach it the missing-nins ambushed them. They had fought bravely against the assault but the 10 A-rank missing-nins overpowered them using their ambush to their advantage. Yugao's comrades had her escape so that she could give the report to the Hokage since she was the leader of the squad.
Yugao had been running for three hours straight, she did not sense anyone pursuing her but she could not stop just because she did not sense anyone pursuing her.
Suddenly she came to halt, her body was refusing to walk further, her chakra was leaving her and her vision had become blurred. To sum it up, Yugao was worn out and was only able to walk so far by sheer will power alone.
Yugao felt that she could not continue anymore. She mistimed her steps as she was hopping on the trees. She began to fall down, helpless without power to save herself.
She waited and waited to hit the ground but never did the ground. A realization dawned on her that she was not falling to the ground. Her heart raged in fear thinking that she been caught. Her consciousness started to fade away as she looked up.
The last thing Yugao saw an unclear image of a man with blond hair. The hair was the only thing her mind held on to for remembrance.
That's it for this chapter.
