Chapter 29 - New summons
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{Houzu pov}
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Through merging with the plant life around him he saw the blonde unleash a rediculous amount of his signature kunai evenly throughout the enviorment. 'Covering all your blindspots huh? Not bad, but this changes nothing. I could simply pull them into my domain.' Houzu thought from his vantage point with a bored expressing on his face. 'That rasengan is deadly though. Despite my reverse curse technique It would be a pain to be hit by it.'
For now he would send out the pawns and get a feel for their fighting style. Making sure to instruct his creations to ignore Hiruzen he would let the horde do as they pleased.
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{Minato pov}
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Cutting down another flurry of vines to ribbons he never recalled having to teleport as much as he has done these past few minutes. The fauna themselves weren't a large threat to himself or the others. It was their numerous numbers that worried him.
Each time they cut down one, ten more would take its place and only increased over time. This dilemma was the reason for his constant transition to one kunai to another.
Despite his immense chakra pool larger than the most powerful ninja within the village the constant use of the flying thunder god technique was still draining his reserves far greater than any other jutsu he had in his arsenal.
In the midst of his brain storming he looked to his teachers to see Jiraiya covering himself with the lions mane technique. The plants only seeming to off themselves by attacking needlessly...
*Slash!*
"!!!" Gritting his teeth in pain he quickly looked to the source to see a pale hand emerged with the ground severing his ankles tendon with a kunai in hand. Jumping away he watched as it retreated underground.
'I didn't sense it coming...his complete presence concealment is worrying, just how much did you teach him Sarutobi sensei?' Hissing in pain he avoided putting too much preasure on his injury. 'He went for my tendon to limit my mobility while I teleport...'
Bzzzz~
Whipping his head to the sounds of insectoid wing patterns he jumped away just in time to see a grotesque insect detonate where he had been moments ago. 'Exploding summons? They must have been what caused the damage we saw done to the valley on our way to the village.'
'If thats the case...' Weaving a plethora of hands signs he took in a deep breath and quickly unleashed a whirlwind of wind preasure towards both the plants and swarm. 'Then I should finish this quickly...'
'Wind style: great breakthrough!'
In a maelstrom of lethal wind preasure both enemy targets were reduced to eviscerated gore. Only a small influx of insects who climbed to a higher altitude remained while his comrades were protected by Jiraiya's still manifested mane. The forest itself in a 100 meter radius was uprooted, its enviorment forcefully changed into a clearing for the three to regroup.
Above him his eyes laid upon his eldest child floating midair atop a ball of wooden vines baring eyes jutting out from partial gaps of the object that looked in every direction baring the same orange rinnegan. The boy's hand raised in their direction as he panted from the partial damage he received from the jutsu. Quickly as they were seen his wounds mended themselves and the trickles of blood seemed to seep back into various cuts they once emerged before they too healed in mere seconds.
Minato grimaced at having to harm houzu, if there were any other alternative to getting him to comply he would have employed it. The blonde shivered, having the sneaking suspicion kushina was going to have him sleep on the couch tonight for this...
Before he could think further the boy had seemed to clap his hand together and speak, due to their vast distance he couldn't hear. Only to be met with a explosion of smoke below the red head to reveal a...chameleon?
It very scaled hide was chard black, atop its head laid a massive horn glowing like a knife held to a roaring fire, surprisingly the reptile had large spanding webbed wings and it tail baring two serpents that perred at the. All of whom had the rinnegan, the eyes glowing amber color made it seem as though a blazing inferno was nesting within the creature.
On each of its opposite sides two other beasts much larger than itself stomped out of the smokescreen. A green gaint bison with long horns covered in foliage and its fur resembling moss while a bed of flowers nested on the mammals back, giving it a majestic visage of one blessed by nature itself.
The other was far less welcoming...
A rhino, it's hide as chard as the chameleon had no flesh on its face, the cause appearing to be from the sheer heat it emitted. The horned creature vacant sockets and nasal passages of its skull plumed with embers and smoke with every grunt and roar it bellowed.
It's very body was in similar shape with glowing cracks spreading to every part of it, giving the appearance of seeming to be second away from detonation. The most bewildering feature was its shoulder plates and spine ridges all jutting out of its back, the tips of each bone that emerged billowed smoke like chimneys. It was truly a hellish monstrosity as it legs stomped viciously into the ground.
"Jiraiya!" Minato yelled biting the skin of his thumb to draw blood. "Way ahead of you kid!" The sage called back doing the same.
"Summoning jutsu!" x2
Like with houzu the three were enveloped by a cloud of smoke only to reveal their own summon in the form of an enormous toad equal in size to the two beasts themselves.
"Sorry for bringing you all here in such short notice, but we need your help." Minato sighed as he placed his hand atop the rough red skin of the summons' head who blew out a mist of smoke from their maw. "Hm! This better be good brat, I was in the middle of a feast before you pulled us here..."
"Hey! We wouldn't have done so if it wasn't necessary, you sour drunk." Jiraiya shouted with a tick mark appearing on his forehead.
In turn the white haired man recieved a green and purple fist to collide with both sides of his face. "Show better respect to your elders you moron! x2" the sannin could only struggle to speak despite two tiny fists pushing into his cheeks.
On each of his shoulders two tiny toads nestled on top wearing miniature black cloaks with looks of annoyance on their aged faces.
Shaking his head in amusement at his sensei's childish antics and the elder sages ways of reprimanding their eldest student. "Now...why did you bring us here minato-boy?" Fukasaku looked to their foes in an attempt to focus on the threat ahead.
Before he could respond both the elders features changes to one of sheer seriousness and unease. Such a change in manner made the yellow flash become more on edge.
"Such cold aura...it's almost suffocating." Shima gulped bringing her hands together in a hand sign, ready for any action the enemy could potentially make.
"Aura?" Minato asked as he looked to the beasts and his son only to not seeing or sense any such presence.
"Activate your sage mode my boy...you'll see it for yourself." Fukasaku instructed. Closing his eyes he stood completely still and took in the traces of nature energy he could siphon off. A red solid pattern slowly manifested around his eyes, only once he opened his lids did they reveal his irises changing to a yellow hue and the pupils becoming rectangular in shape.
Immediately a rush of dark energy was visible to the man. The very forest beyond the clearing was bathed in it. But the energy was anything but idol.
Waves of it were being slowly siphoned into a singular point, much like he himself had done with nature energy. The source being his own child who seemed to take it in with passive gluttonous vigor.
"No wonder it was difficult so difficult to activate sage mode...this energy is oppressing it..." Shima nodded gravely in agreement at his words.
"Indeed child...how anything in this forest is growing properly is beyond me.." She shivered, the dark power seemed so unnatural to her. Alien even...
"We can discuss this notion later, first we have a kid to subdue first." The sanin grunted as he rubbed his cheeks.
"Kid? You summoned us to fight a mere brat?" Gamabunta chided peering at the red headed child standing on a floating ball of vines.
"Houzu? Minato-boy why are you fighting your own child! You should be ashamed~!" The female elder reprimanded, he couldn't recall how many times he had been told that for the last few days. "Now..now ma..I'm sure the boy has a meaningful excuse. Right?" Fukasaku asked him with a hopeful gaze.
"Of course we do! The kid went batshit crazy! It has to be that dark energy Minato, influencing him somehow!" Jiraiya shouted, all the blonde could do was look at his teacher in disaproval. Sure it could be a partial answer to him attacking them but he knew better.
"No...it was my doing, I...wanted to take him to have his mind altered. That's why he lashed out..." The four toads froze in response to his own answer. Out of nowhere he received a blow to the back of his head by Shima who appeared behind him brandishing a black staff.
"You absolute degenerate! Wasn't it bad enough the Yamazaki clan botched their job the first time and erased his memories, now you want to force the poor lad to go through another invasive experience!?" The old woman shrieked, striking him repeatedly.
Minato didn't dare to even defend himself from her attacks, she had every right in doing so. To make matters worse, her words hurt far more than the club itself.
The first blow had disrupted his connection to his sage transformation and now was taking the full brunt of her nature strengthening strikes.
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{Houzu pov}
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Looking on with a deadpanned gaze he bared witness to the group arguing with one another, with his patience waring thin he dismissed his plant ball in order to decend onto his chameleons bump riddled tongue.
Pulling him into its mouth it hastily closed its maw and faded from view due to its Innate ability to camouflage.
"Now...show me what you both can do.." houzu smiled, sending a command to his new summons to attack his foes. With loud earth shaking bellows the two were let loose to do as they pleased in an attempt to brutalize their targets.
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A/N: Should their be another mission after this event or a timeskip? Please give any ideas you have in the comments below.