Chapter 26:

Hatsu seemed helpless as the sand Anbu he was facing pulled her fingers, manipulating the kunai and shuriken she had thrown, taking him off guard.

The barrage of Kunai and Shuriken all hit their target as Hatu's body was riddled with the razor-sharp edges of the blades.

"That's the end of you." The female Anbu said.

Hatsu's body suddenly burst into a small pool of water, the shuriken and kunai falling to the sand clattering against one another.

"A substitution! When did he!" She shouted, outraged she had fallen for the simple jutsu.

Hatsu quickly swiped down from behind her, aiming his kunai's blade at the back of her spine. At the last second, she was able to turn and jump out of the way of his attack, her reflexes prooving to be too sharp.

Hatsu stopped on the spot as he twirled his kunai into a reverse grip in his hand. The female Anbu pulling her chakra threads to use her projectiles to attack once more, but to her surprise, nothing happened.

"Sorry, but I am already familiar with your chakra threads technique. It won't work on me anymore." Hatsu said with a smile, his filled teeth glistening in the sunlight.

"You arrogant fool!" The sand Anbu shouted as she flicked her arms down, connecting more chakra threads into the sand around Hatsu.

"You already played right into my hands!" She shouted as she pulled her chakra threads back hard, exposing a large amount of kunai with explosive tags wrapped around them.

Hatsu sighed as he lifted his kunai before tossing it into the ground.

"I already told you. That won't work on me anymore." He said with a blank expression.

Suddenly all of the explosive kunai that the sand Anbu was pulling with her threads suddenly changed direction, all of them shooting towards her instead of Hatsu.

She was alarming startled and had no chance to react, screaming as all of the kunai she had laid out to use as a trap exploded all around her. Hatsu watched as her figure sailed out of the black smoke from the explosion before it hit the ground with a thud.

He walked over to her slowly, regarding all of the damage she had sustained from her attack. Her demon mask had fallen off, leaving her half scorched face exposed for Hatsu to see.

She was breathing heavily. Her body burnt and profoundly damaged, yet she still managed to look Hatsu in the eyes with a devilish look.

"You won't win..." She spat, giving a small chuckle.

"Lord Kazekage will..."

She was suddenly cut off as a monstrous roar sounded in the far distance causing Hatsu to turn and look.

"What in the blazes was that?" He said, turning to look back at the sand Anbu who now lay dead on the ground before him.

"Well, I had better give the others a hand."

-Meanwhile-

Ozawa was retreating as quick as she possibly could with the princess over her shoulder, who was still kicking and screaming about the whole situation.

"How dare those sand ninja do this! My father will hear about it!" She said screaming as Ozawa was forced to jump high into the air to avoid a barrage of shuriken.

"Will you stop running so fast!" The sand Anbu shouted as he chased after them waving his hands in the air at Ozawa.

Only one sand Anbu was currently on their tail, but with no cover to hide, the princess was exposed to too much danger.

Ozawa continued to run as fast as she could doing her best to dodge and deflect the odd shuriken that got to close, the sand Anbu seeming to throw them like it was a game at random.

Ozawa was starting to get tired now, and the scorching desert sun was making things even worse. She spotted a large ravine in the distance, knowing that it was her's and the princess best bet she darted towards it, the Anbu following the two of them, gaining more and more ground as he continued to shout at them.

"Princess I am going to have to put you down and fight this guy. When I do, you need to get out of here as fast as possible and hide."

"What! I will do no such."

"You must! It is your only chance of staying alive!" Ozawa shouted, cutting the princess off.

The princess sealed her lips as the realization of the situation was finally sinking in. Ozawa jumped onto the start of some large rocks before climbing over to the other side. It was a valley surrounded by two cliffs on either side, a path going in a sort of zigzag line.

"Now, princess!" Ozawa shouted as she put her down. Deciding this was her best bet.

The princess looked Ozawa in the eyes and gave her a nod.

"You have to survive." She said to Ozawa.

Ozawa returned her nod and placed a kunai in her hand.

"Please take this princess. Just in case."

The princess held it tight and nodded as a tear fell from her eye before she turned to run, leaving Ozawa alone to face the Anbu that was chancing them.

Ozawa watched as the princess ran and ran until she disappeared out of sight.

"I will win princess." She said, her resolve burning in her purple eyes.

"My, my. How touching." A voice said from behind her.

Ozawa turned on her heel into a defensive stance to face the Anbu. He was stood high atop the rocky cliff that Ozawa had climbed over to get into the valley.

"Where is the princess?" The Anbu asked as he drew his sword from his back.

Ozawa clenched her kunai tight at the sight of the blade.

"You won't touch her." She said before throwing a burst of shuriken at the Anbu.

The sand Anbu easily deflected the shuriken with his blade before twisting it back into a reverse grip, the back of the blade placed against his forearm.

"I would like to take my time enjoying you little girl... But I have a mission to do. Tell me where the princess is and I promise to grant you a..." He said, suddenly stopping to think about what he was saying, placing his hand on his chin to think.

"Well no, you're getting a slow death either way for making me chase you so far through the fucking desert!" He shouted before jumping high into the air.

"Here we go!" He yelled in a crazy tone.

Ozawa jumped backwards and avoided the attack, but the Anbu ninja was very fast as he darted towards her reading his blade to an attack.

"Time to die little girl!" He shouted.

Ozawa blocked his first strike to her throat with her kunai, the sand Anbu spun around his sword suddenly chancing hands, another attack coming down to the top of her head.

Ozawa was able to block the attack, but he was much stronger than she was and the force of the block knocked her back.

"Not bad!" He said, laughing before jumping in to attack again.

"Let's see how you deal with this!"

He was spinning fast and jumping all over the place as his blade seemed to strike out of nowhere almost unpredictable. Ozawa blocked the first strike but was quickly put on her back foot as she was forced to duck and dive out of the way of his strikes.

She soon found her back pressed against one of the large cliff walls. The sand Anbu thrust his blade aiming for her face, but Ozawa was able to avoid it, his blade getting wedged in the rock behind her.

Ozawa used a palm strike to hit him in the chest before she slashed with her kunai. The Anbu let the first strike hit his chest but grabbed her wrist before she could slash him, her attack having no effect.

"I don't think so little girl. The only one here who will be putting something inside one of us is me." He said, giving a sickening chuckle from behind his demon mask.

Ozawa smiled, and it seemed to confuse him a little.

"Sorry but you aren't my type!" She shouted as her wrist suddenly turned into water, freeing her from his grasp. Ozawa used his confusion to strike him in the groin with her knee, dropping him to the ground with a large groan of pain.

"Y-You bitch!" He shouted as he tried to get his breath back.

Ozawa quickly dashed up the cliff face using her chakra to stick to the wall with her feet before making some quick hand signs.

"Fuck you!" She shouted as she finished the hand signs pointing her finger towards him like a gun.

"Secret Hōzuki Clan technique! Water gun rapid-fire jutsu!" Ozawa shouted as bullets of water suddenly started to fire from the tip of her finger.

The sand Anbu noticed the jutsu and was about to try and jumped out of the way. When he suddenly noticed his hand had been tied to the handle of his sword that was stuck in the cliff wall by a piece of ninja wire.

"When did you!!!" He screamed as he tried to pull his arm free, the wire cutting into his hand, almost taking it clean off.

"Fuck!!!" He screamed as the storm of water bullets hit him, pumping him full of holes as they tore right through him, hitting the sand below knocking up a small dust storm.

Ozawa finished screaming and stopped firing the water bullets from her finger before taking in a large breath of fresh air. She jumped down to check that her opponent was dead and gave what remained of his body a kick.

"That's what a piece of trash like you deserves... Fucking creep." She said as she relaxed her guard.

"I had better go and find the princess." She said.

As soon as she took one step on the ground, the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood up, and she felt a blade cut right through her stomach.

"You shouldn't let your guard down!" the voice said as the blade went clean through.

Ozawa noticed it was another of the Anbu and thankfully not the one she had just killed.

"He must have managed to get past the others and followed us here..." She thought as she turned around to get a better look.

The sand Anbu was very surprised that his blade had done no damage and was forced to dodge Ozawas kunai that almost slit his throat. Jumping back out of the way, he raised his sword and took a low fighting stance.

Ozawa also jumped back and took a defensive stance, if not for her Hydrification technique she would have been dead and she knew it.

"That's a nice technique you have there... No wonder Pilabo over there didn't stand a chance." He said, standing to his full height.

Ozawa noticed his size and couldn't help feel intimidated at the sight of his massive frame.

"You mist ninja are full of little tricks aren't you." He said as he placed his blade back in the sheath on his back.

"If my sword won't work on you then maybe ninjutsu will!" He said as he started to form hand signs.

Ozawa watched as the sand Anbu started to make hand signs and she decided to counter with her own.

"Wind style, air bullets!"

"Water style, water pistol!" Each of them shouted as they unleashed their jutsu.

The wind bullets collided with the water bullets clashing in the air giving small shock waves off as they cancelled each other out. Both Ozawa and the hidden sand Anbu jumped back, each landing on a cliff face before starting to make more hand signs.

"Try this one! Wind style, great vacuum sphere!" He shouted as he unleashed a massive compressed breath of wind style chakra.

Ozawa had quickly formed her own hand signs while running along the cliff face, her chakra holding her feet to the wall.

"Water style, raging waves jutsu!" Ozawa shouted as she unleashed a large stream of water from her mouth.

Again both jutsu clashed in the air as the water and wind style jutsu's cancelled each other out over and over again. Each of them continued to run along the cliff walls as they continued to fire off jutsu at one another in what seemed like a never-ending battle.

However, Ozawa was starting to tire as her hydration levels were running on low, the blazing sun making things worse.

The sand Anbus wind style suddenly broke through Ozawas water style and he pressed his advantage.

"What's the matter girl, can't handle the heat!" He shouted as he flipped through the air, trying to land a flying kick that would have crushed her against the rocky cliff.

Instead, Ozawa was able to jump out of the way, watching as the power of his kick destroyed the cliffside. Ozawa knew she needed to retreat and find some water if she was to stand a chance against this monster.

But the sand Anbu had other ideas. As he pulled himself free of the debris, he started to form more hand signs.

"Don't tell me you're trying to run away already!" He shouted as he continued to make the hand signs.

Ozawa jumped as fast as she could running along the cliff sides trying to gain as much ground as she could away from him.

"Wind style! Wind dragon bullet!" He shouted as the air around him suddenly whipped up into a small tornado before taking the form of a dragon.

Ozawa realised too late she was trapped between two cliffs and his wind dragon, having played right into his hands. The wind style dragon flew towards her as it roared, smashing into her before closing its vast jaws.

Ozawa's body was whipped around like a ragdoll as the wind dragon violently smashed her off the cliffs and rocks before finally crashing into the ground exploding in a massive blast as it made contact.

Hatsu could hear the sounds of a monstrous battle coming from the distance where he knew Fuyōna to be battling against the Kazekage. Not wanting to waste any more time he rushed over to find Sawano laying on the ground bleeding badly.

Hatsu rushed over to assess the damage seeing that Sawano was still alive but barely.

"Hold on, Sawano!" He shouted as the sounds of blades clashing caught his attention.

He turned to see Kaga battling with his opponent before the two of them clashed in mid-air, landing in a strong stance each with their swords raised. Even Hatsu couldn't tell who had delivered the final blow and he quickly drew a kunai ready to attack if Kaga fell.

Kaga and the sand Anbu landed strong none of them moving an inch, each waiting to see who would fall first. Kaga coughed up a little blood and dropped to one knee, using his sword to help keep him upright.

The sand Anbu turned around and placed his sword over his shoulder, standing tall before speaking.

"Good fight..." He said as his upper body suddenly dropped to the floor, blood spraying from his legs that stood upright for a moment longer before they too fell to the sand.

Hatsu ran over to Kaga who was slowly picking himself up from the ground, his hand placed over the slash on his midsection.

"Ah, Hatsu looks like you won your battle too," Kaga said, smirking.

Hatsu helped pick him up but let him stand with his own strength.

"Sawano is down, looks like his opponent went after Ozawa with the other one," Hatsu said, sounding worried.

The sound of another monstrous roar echoed from across the desert, causing Hatsu and Kaga's hairs to stand on end.

"Is that the captain?" Kaga asked, his eyes wide.

Hatsu nodded as he could feel the immense chakra that was coming from that direction.

"Never mind the captain... Hatsu said as he turned around.

"You stay here and help Sawano, your in no condition to move around too much anyway," Hatsu said.

"What about captain Yuki? He needs our help! I mean he's fighting a Kage for god's sake." Kaga said objecting.

"No... We would only get in his way." Hatsu said with a solemn glance.

"I better try and catch up with the others, you stay here and try to patch Sawano up," Hatsu said as he quickly dashed off across the desert.

Kaga nodded and turned as more and more explosions sounded in the distance.

The Kazekage had managed to soften the blow of his return to the earth with a soft sheet of gold dust breaking his fall. From there, he had pulled himself back onto his feet, his chakra was now running low and his stamina was starting to give out.

"You are nothing more than a monster... A mere jinchūriki... You cannot defeat me!" He said as he punched his fist into the ground beneath him.

Saiken watched as the Kazekage mumbled a few words and punched the ground. The six tails was still in full control of Fuyōna's body as he was still unconscious.

Saiken had to say he was very impressed by the Kazekage. He had proved he was no mere ninja and was putting up an extraordinary fight.

Suddenly ripples started to form in the ground below as the sand began to break and waves began to form like an ocean as gold dust exploded from the desert its self.

The Kazekage slapped his hands together and made a few hand signs before finally placing his hands onto the sand.

"I already told you not to underestimate the Kazekage! This is my ultimate technique!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, clearly enraged.

Inside Fuyōna's inner world, he was currently lead unconscious atop the soft snow. His eyes abruptly snapped open as he took in his surroundings.

"What's going on?" He said, standing to his feet slowly.

"Fuyōna, you have finally woken," Saiken said, sounding happy.

"What's going on Saiken, last I remember I was battling the Kazekage before passing out," Fuyōna said still a little groggy.

"That's correct. I have been using your body to battle against him while you rested." Saiken said.

"We don't have long now that you are awake, my control will fade soon, which means we won't be able to maintain version two," Saiken said, sounding worried.

Fuyōna took a moment to take in all of the information.

"We are in version two?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"I thought we couldn't do that yet?" He asked.

"That is correct. However, while you were unconscious, I was able to take control over your body, which allowed me to use only my chakra to support the form leaving no stress on your body."

Fuyōna nodded.

"Alright Saiken, how much time do we have left?" Fuyōna asked.

"About 20 seconds... And it would seem the Kazekage has unleashed his most powerful technique." The six tails said, sounding worried.

"I fear he is attempting to seal us."

Fuyōna let the words sink in before an idea suddenly popped into his head.

"That's it!" He shouted

"Saiken I need you to fire a tailed beast bomb as quickly as you can to give me as much space as possible!" Fuyōna shouted.

"Ok, I'm on it!" Saiken shouted, not asking any question.

Saiken jumped back trying to avoid the massive waves of gold dust that were crashing down, each trying to pull him under the vast ocean that had formed.

Quickly he ran and slithered as fast as he could between wave after wave, melting any threat of gold dust that came to close to him. Saiken jumped high into the air and his body suddenly grew large and fast as if he was full of water, the black and red chakra forming all around his mouth.

The Kazekage watched in dismay as the six tails had continued to avoid his gold dust ocean before jumping into the air, his eyes straining to see before opening wide.

"Is that what I think it is?" He said to himself, not believing it.

Saiken suddenly blasted a massive red beam of concentrated chakra towards the Kazekage and his ocean of gold dust. The beam was so intense that it let loose massive shock waves into the air travelling at a rapid rate towards its target.

"Curse you!!!" The Kazekage shouted, willing his gold dust to form as many layers as it could to protect him from the blast before it hit, creating a massive explosion that could be seen and felt for miles.