Ch325. Naruto vs Guren

"I won't let you hurt the old man!" Naruto foolishly exclaimed, pointing at Guren with gusto.

"Heh?" Guren smirked and put her hand on her hip, "You won't let me, you say?"

Before Naruto could again proclaim his answer to the whole world, Guren disappeared from her spot, using the talk as a small momentary distraction.

Naruto noticed too late that Guren was rushing towards him at jonin-level speeds. He could only take a subconscious step back from apprehension as his eyes widened...

Just as Guren reached him, Naruto was almost out of his funk, his hands shooting into the classical cross-shaped seal...

Two things happened at once.

Naruto cast the Shadow Clones which means he was distracted for a split of a second. This allowed Guren to... run past Naruto, straight at Tazuna. Only then did the original Naruto realize he had been had! His opponent was clearly not an honorable ninja!

Guren inwardly snorted, knowing she had already won. There was no way for the blonde moron to reach Tazuna in time to save him and the two clones guarding the old man were no threat at all. Just mere annoyances.

Her mission was clear. Help Gato retain his power over the Land of Waves and make him indebted to the Sound Village. While there was no immediate benefit, Lord Orochimaru surmised being owed a favor by someone like Gato would help with the invasion of Konoha in one way or another. Rich backers were always in demand, after all, and if Sound helped you with underhanded schemes once... well, let's just say expecting to not pay the price and then some was foolish.

Guren reached Tazuna guarded by two Naruto clones and with three hand signs, created two crystal spikes in her hands in an instant, surprising both clones that already steeled themselves to try and buy time for the original. Unfortunately for them, Guren accelerated even further, and before they could even blink, not to mention actually adjust to her new speed, one of them found itself speared through the chest while the other was swiftly decapitated, both poofing out of existence with smoke.

Tazuna fell onto his bum, shaking like a leaf while Guren, half-covered with smoke, menacingly loomed over him, giving him a cold look while holding the two crystal spikes.

At that moment, Tazuna knew he was a goner.

Guren raised her right hand and with a quick swipe, she slit Tazuna's throat with the tip of her crystal spike, her lips stretching into a victorious smile. Even if her group was somehow defeated, forcing them to retreat, with the death of the bridge builder, their mission was as good as completed.

Her smile however froze when Tazuna burst into smoke, revealing it was just another shadow clone. Guren instantly spun around, fiercely looking at the original Naruto who widely grinned. "Got you! Mehehahaha!" He mockingly laughed, pointing at her in the same way he liked to point at Iruka after a successful prank.

"You...!" Guren grit her teeth while her mind worked overtime, trying to come up with Tazuna's whereabouts. Her eyes widened as she realized Tazuna couldn't use Henge. That would mean... "You used the distraction of my previous attack and the retreat of other bridge workers to get Tazuna away unnoticed." Guren's body relaxed but her eyes continued to glare at the grinning prankster.

This was bad. Tazuna was just a civilian and by now, he could be anywhere in the city. There was no way to pinpoint his location through chakra sensing and if he is hidden well, it would be a pain in the ass to locate him. The most viable option would be to reduce the entire city to rubble but... there was no guarantee the bridge builder is actually IN the city. He could just as well be hidden outside of it.

'Not to mention, the Konoha ninjas won't simply let us look for him without intervention. We will first have to defeat them which will give more time to Tazuna to hide and make us a bit tired.' Guren clicked her tongue. The situation didn't look all that favorable for them.

"But... aren't you forgetting something?" Guren sweetly asked, rolling her shoulders.

Naruto was confused. He was quite sure his plan worked. Did he overlook something? No, no, no. That couldn't be. "Stop bluffing." He flatly deadpanned at the blue-haired woman, making her eyebrow twitch.

"My target is gone. That means I will have to satisfy myself by killing you." Guren smirked and her body tensed.

Naruto knew what would follow. He fought against Anko often enough. Guren disappeared in a burst of speed but Naruto was prepared!

Kunai made of crystal abruptly lodged in Naruto's eye socket, its tip exiting from the back of his head, as Guren appeared in front of him with a small disdainful sneer that hid well her own distaste at killing a child.

Guren inwardly sighed, her eyes flickering towards the entrance to the village as she started to contemplate how to locate Tazuna.

She let her guard down so much, she only noticed the chakra surge from the 'corpse' in front of her at the last moment.

Suddenly, a booming explosion shook the ground, sending Guren's body barreling through the air before it hit the ground and started bouncing from it due to the massive kinetic energy that affected it.

Guren only managed to create a crystalline spike and plunge it to the ground in an attempt to stop herself when she was already a few tens of meters away from her initial spot.

'What the fuck was that?' She dizzily thought, her ears ringing and head throbbing. She just ate an explosion point-blank and only thanks to her incredible reflexes did she manage to create a thin covering of crystal armor on her skin. She was uninjured but her body hurt as if she was smashed by a bijuu.

Guren didn't have much time to gather her bearings. Three more Naruto's emerged from the ground near her and proceeded to rush at her. She was still mostly out of it but as jonin, she wasn't as vulnerable as it would seem.

Only two of the three clones managed to evade the thin crystal needles Guren created in the air and hurled at them. Unfortunately for Guren, there was no more room for an additional attack. She hurriedly stood up, slightly swaying on her feet as the crystal spike in her hand transformed into a kunai. She was forced into defence but she wasn't worried her crystal armor should protect her.

The Naruto clones were almost upon her and Guren lowered her body a bit, bracing herself for the upcoming clash. This, however, prevented her from reacting when the clones abruptly changed their directions. Instead of dashing straight at her, they went a bit to the side, one to the left while the other to the right, sliding on the ground to halt when they were right next to her on both sides.

Guren's eyes widened, getting a bad premonition from the wide grins on the clones...

And then she felt deja vu as a familiar surge of chakra emitted from them.

'Fu-' Guren thought as two massive explosions reverberated through the surroundings of the bridge.

A few moments passed and another Naruto slowly and cautiously emerged from the ground a few hundred feet away. "Did I get her?" He quietly asked himself, staring at the smoke-covered place where his clones exploded themselves. The shockwaves from two explosions crashing against each other while her body was in the middle of them should be enough to tear the woman apart inside out. This was Naruto's tactics against jonins. No way would he fight them head-on!

Naruto was about to relax when his senses screamed at him to dodge...

A foot impacted his face with enough force to bust his nose and crack his left cheekbone as he was sent barreling backward through the air.

Guren landed on her feet, instantly having to support herself by grabbing her knees as she heaved and gasped for air. Her body was screaming at her to stop and her head felt as if it was repeatedly smashed into a wall.

She managed to Kawarimi with a crystal clone she had nearby exactly for these kinds of emergencies and only got hit by the initial wave of both the explosions and the subsequent shockwaves. At most, she had nasty bruises all over her body as the crystal armor protected her from both burns and being ripped apart. She could continue to fight. She was used to pain. It was still surprising the genin could do this much to her. She almost fainted from the pain when she didn't expect it and it first hit her!

'I have underestimated the brat too much.' Guren grit her teeth, trying to alleviate some of the pain she felt as she inwardly swore to return it tenfold to the annoying blonde nuisance. 'No more holding back!'