The Dark Side of Akatsuki. Chapter 25

Suddenly, Orochimaru was struck by the distinct impression that he had made a mistake. Then, a fist impacted into his side. Ribs fracturing, breath violently pushed from his lungs, he was lifted into the air and sent flying, spinning like a rifled bullet across the docks before he crashed into the splintering remains of what had just recently been a warehouse.

How interesting!

After that hit, Orochimaru decided to stop dividing his attention. A mass of snakes disguised in his form rose jerkily to its feet from the wreckage, while his real body had already slipped off to the side, watching the young ones carefully.

Mossball and Dumbass relaxed somewhat, more than would be expected after seeing him stand up from a hit like that. They weren't worried any more. How unusual.

The strangest thing was the mysterious Luffy, who was now adjusting his straw-hat. Three oddities to note there. One, the punch had come from his direction, but he had been quite a bit too far away to have done it. Two, he had escaped from the snake bind nearly instantaneously. Three, Orochimaru had been sure that Luffy was incompetent given the previous showing, but the idea that an incompetent could land a hit on him, much less an overwhelming strike, was ludicrous.

After a moment, Orochimaru found a fourth oddity: alone among all of them, Luffy had barely glanced at his snake-clone before scanning the dust for, and finding, his real hidden form. Interesting.

Now useless, the clone dissolved and slithered off, returning to him as he stepped from the shadows.

"Hey you snake-bastard! What's the big deal attacking us?" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Because it amused me," Orochimaru responded, off-hand. "Ah, I see it now. You're the leader, I suppose." Orochimaru looked the pirate leader over. Smaller and scrawnier than the other two, it was unusual to see them deferring to him.

Dumbass was the next to speak. "Luffy! Nami and Robin are in trouble, so what the hell are you doing here?! Let us handle this shitty snake-man, and you go after the Merry!"

Orochimaru was amused at the thought of it. This said to someone who couldn't even swim or run on the waves. "You're not going anywhere quickly, child. Those snakes were my venomous ones, and their poison is now flowing through your veins."

"Hah!" Luffy laughed, dripping with confidence, as well as a bit of blood. "Poison isn't going to work on me. I'm made of rubber!"

"Dammit, Luffy," growled Dumbass, "That's not how it works!" Then he paused, turning to Mossball. "Is it? That's not how it works, right?"

"Why are you asking me?"

Orochimaru wasn't quite sure what to make of all this. "Are you mocking me?"

"No way. I'm always serious." said Luffy, a hard expression on his face. To his side, Mossball grimaced, probably from his wounds. Dumbass, too, wore a pained look. Naruto, meanwhile, removed a small notebook and started hurriedly leafing through it.

"Luffy!" shouted Dumbass, "Get your ass on that ship and take out that guy who blasted you into the ocean or I swear I'll make you skip meat for a week straight!"

"Wha-?! He's the one that took the Merry?! Alright, yeah, I've got a bone to pick with that bastard!"

With that, Luffy turned in place and dashed to the water's edge. Was this Luffy the leader, or wasn't he? What in the world did he think he was doing? The ship and his sea-serpent, Rangyoku, were more than a kilometer out by now, and picking up speed as the water deepened.

Then Luffy stretched, and Orochimaru felt a shiver run down his spine. The young man's arm shot out over the ocean like a lance, covering the distance in almost no time at all, until it became clear he had just grasped onto something stable. Orochimaru was so mesmerized by the sight of it that he reacted too late to catch the fruit-user. With a hand-seal, he summoned a pair of grasping stone jaws from the ground beneath Luffy, but they emerged too slowly. Roaring his defiance, Luffy flew off into the distance.

Incredible!

He turned to his targets once again. "Well, I'd say it's time to end this, don't you? I'd like to follow after that young man before my partner kills them him."

Then, he furrowed his brow. Something in the air had changed.

Mossball had finished tying a scarf over his head and was emanating enough bloodlust for four trained killers. His three blades were at the ready.

Dumbass had lit another cigarette and was watching Orochimaru as if he were wondering how best to catch and cook him.

Naruto stuffed the notebook back in his pocket and clapped both hands together. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, and, a moment later, was standing beside the most grizzled-looking toad that Orochimaru had ever seen. It was grey and green, but only a fraction of its original coloring was visible. What skin wasn't covered in leather armor was marred by deep, warped scars from slashes and numerous puncture wounds that raised into hard, puckered ridges. Looking closer, he saw that the toad's armor wasn't just any leather; it was snake-leather. At the toad's side was an earthen clay jar.

Also interesting.

Orochimaru took a deep breath.

[NINPO: DOKUGIRI] - [POISON GAS]

From his mouth erupted a great billowing cloud of poisonous gas. Before anyone else could move, the grizzled toad leapt into the thick of it, throat expanding as it activated a wind-element jutsu, sucking in every bit of the cloud of poison into its vacuum of a maw. Once all the poison was removed, it spat the inhaled air into the jar beside it, sealing it with a massive cork.

Then, all the others advanced, closing the distance. Teamwork was a wonderful thing to witness in young ones.

He smiled. This was going to be fun, wasn't it?

Out at sea, Sasuke was hanging on to the side of the ship, readying to attack. Beside him, the serpent undulated its sinuous body, swimming further out to sea. Thankfully, the serpent's head was beneath the water, or it likely would have smelled him out, even over the scent of gunpowder from above deck. The problem was that Danzou was almost certainly far more skilled than he was. S-rank ninja were not to be trifled with. He needed to level the playing field, and he had the perfect method of attack.

The problem was landing it. The chaos, explosions, and lightning strikes up on deck told him that a fight was still ongoing, but he'd need a distraction he could rely on to make this work.

That was when the hand came rocketing into view directly above him. Someone from the shore had just reached out and grabbed on to the wooden railing on deck. Sasuke glanced toward shore and gulped. He hadn't seen body manipulation like that outside the Akimichi Clan. He smiled, and it was completely without mirth. Looks like he had his distraction.

It was two seconds before Danzou noticed the unexpected arm. A leap forward and a single swipe of his sword threatened amputation, but at the last instant the stretching man let go, his hand snapping back away from the ship. Unfortunately, Danzou hadn't come near enough to the edge. Sasuke had missed his chance.

Then the unexpected happened. A familiar-sounding woman from on deck shouted, "Luffy!" and a chain of arms, lithe and feminine, sprouted from the planks of the ship just several feet away from him. Musical tones chimed out as they blossomed, reaching out like lightning to tightly grasp the rubber-man's hand. A second later, Danzou noticed this as well.

He dashed to the side of the ship and looked over to see just what had happened. In that instant, Sasuke caught his eyes.

Gotcha.

The tomoe in Sasuke's eyes unfolded into the kaleidoscope pattern that had been his brother's unique signature.

!!!Suscribe for more chapters in advance¡¡¡

Patreon: patreon.com/Suzy177