Chapter 17: One Against Four

Surely, he wouldn't be at an advantage against the four of them. After all, these guys had the ability to keep everyone away from Orochimaru and Lord Third while trapping them. Kuzo thought that if he headed toward them now, he would die.

But why were they heading toward him?

Did Orochimaru send them to kidnap him? Maybe Kabuto knew something about him from Danzo, and now, they might think that he's the best vessel for Orochimaru.

This could be true, and this could be wrong.

However, they were heading in his direction, and he doubted that this mountain range was a way to any important place.

But he didn't have to wait for them to make the first move on him to know that he should attack.

After all, this is the world of shinobi.

You get taught assassination arts to ensure your safety, not self-defense arts.

Besides, he felt quite hungry to know what kind of power they had.

'So, how would this go? I need a plan before they arrive.' He scratched the side of his head for any ideas that could be helpful. His time was tight, so he had to hurry.

Suddenly, he was hit by an idea. He then slapped his head. "That's it."

He reached into his pocket, grabbed a scroll, and opened it up. There was a seal on it. He then made a hand seal of a tiger and said, "Release."

Fu was an expert in Fuinjutsu and traps.

Kuzo had inherited all of that, and he would use them now.

From that scroll, a puff of smoke appeared, followed by a puppet he had made when he was at En No's house. On the puppet's body, there was a seal with the word 'curse' on it.

Kuzo created a shadow clone. The shadow clone aimed its hands at the puppet. The next second, the puppet stood up and moved its finger.

-x-X-x-

Kuzo was hiding in the tree. Next to him was a puppet that had the consciousness of the shadow clone he had.

Kuzo thought that he was losing a good amount using Mind Transfer Jutsu along with the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

But that was just an investment.

After all, when he would defeat them, he would get more chakra reserve and more jutsu and power.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted.

This investment had more rewards than risks.

In front of him, four shinobis appeared. They wore attire with a white Yin-Yang symbol. One of them had a headband from the Sound Village. He was tan and had six arms. Another man was white-haired with two heads. There was also this huge guy who was almost bald, and he was full of muscles. And lastly, there was a red-haired girl on their team.

These four had the ability to take down two jonins in the anime using their curse mark power. It would be foolish to face them head-on.

Kuzo turned his head to the puppet which held a kunai, and he nodded at it.

The puppet understood its role, and it jumped out of the bush.

The puppet attacked the white-haired boy, who jumped backward in surprise. He then punched. Apparently, Kuzo got more experienced and had his senses enhanced after devouring Danzo's right-hand consciousness. The puppet dodged the fist by jumping above it. Holding the kunai with both hands, the puppet slammed down.

Before the puppet could do anything further, the one with six arms aimed one of his hands at it. From it, spider-like webs were released and covered the puppet. The puppet was no longer able to move.

Kuzo, who was hiding, was noting all of this.

'That guy is good at ranged attacks. I'll leave him a shadow clone to kill him. The last thing I want is for him to use his Orochimaru's seal power.'

The spider-like man opened his mouth. From it, a long clay matter extended, piercing the puppet like a spear would.

At that moment, the puppet lifted its head and looked at the one who hurt it.

From the puppet's point of view, it should be it using Mind Swap.

The paper that had a curse word on it started slowly burning.

At that moment, the consciousness of the shadow clone and the spider-like man were replaced.

"Where did that puppet come from?" asked the red-haired girl.

"Tch, it hurts," said the two-headed man. He was around Kuzo's age, but he looked like a scary ghost that one wouldn't treat like a teenager.

"Stop complaining, Sakon," said the woman.

So the white-haired ghost boy was called Sakon.

"Whatever. Anyway, good job, Kidomaru," said Sakon. The six-armed man was Kidomaru, apparently.

Kuzo now realized it's time for his plan. Now, the shadow clone couldn't harm himself in this new body completely without disappearing, for any little damage would be transferred to the original body. And with so little damage, the shadow clone could disappear, and Kuzo would have wasted a great deal of chakra for nothing.

Kuzo, the real one, reached his pocket and grabbed a few explosive tags. He then threw them.

Kidomaru's body reacted and jumped, grabbing the explosive tags.

"What are you doing, idiots?" said the muscular man.

Apparently, they thought that he was grabbing the explosive tags to throw them away.

"Trust me, I have a plan." Kidomaru's body hugged the explosive tags. He then put his feet on a tree to support himself before dashing to the center. "It's called going with a bang."

BOOM BOOM

The tags exploded one after another. A large cloud of dust rose, covering the view.

Kuzo could feel his chakra increasing slightly after the shadow clone disappeared. That clone had half of his chakra, and it was almost gone.

'You gotta be kidding me,'

Kuzo could still feel the four's chakra, with one's almost dropping to zero.

When he looked down, he could see that three of them were covered in tomoe-like symbols.

As for Kidomaru, he lost 6 of his arms and he was panting with him lying on the ground.

Kidomaru panted. "What the …hell… just did happen?"

"Are you planning to kill us?" Sakon rushed toward him and lifted him from the collar.

"My mind was replaced. I was trapped in the puppet," replied Kidomaru, puking blood.

"The puppet?" Everyone turned to the puppet, which was just dust.

"That jutsu, it's a Yamanaka clan jutsu," said the girl, "be careful. We have been spotted by him."

And by him, it should mean Kuzo.

Kuzo paused for a second.

So they were after him.

Deciding not to waste any moment, he jumped above the tree, and then, he weaved a series of hand signs.

<<Fire Release: Fire Ball Jutsu>>

Then he spat a large hot fire stream out of his mouth. Many trees were knocked down by the fire that spread quickly. The 3 Sound ninjas reacted quickly. Kuzo felt a shift in their chakra as it increased and became denser, stronger.

As for the 4th member, he was no longer there.

Kuzo saw a spirit-like energy flying toward him palm, which he gladly accepted.

A boost in his physique, chakra, and jutsu happened. A new bloodline-only ability joined his arsenal.

<<Spider Web Jutsu>>

<<Bow Jutsu>>

<<Summoning Jutsu>>

Instinctively, Kuzo pointed his hand at a tree. His sweat, mixed with chakra, turned into a spider web-like and reached it. He then pulled it back.

He had expected that it would turn out like Spider-Man, and he would fly to the tree.

But no. The tree branch was knocked down.

"Shit." Kuzo cursed. The last thing he wanted was to land on the spot his enemies expected him to land on.

Weaving a series of earth hand signs. A boulder flew from the ground and toward Kuzo, who put his feet on it and used it to jump into another spot.

He then started running. The three others were running along with him. He could outrun them, but he had no intention to run.

He had tasted the pleasure of devouring Kidomaru's powers, and he was craving to see what the others had to offer.

He stood his ground, and he looked left and right. The three stopped, their bodies started morphing into more monstrous ones.

Kuzo looked at the muscular guy. If he wasn't wrong, that man, despite being the weakest, was physically the strongest. In the anime, he had been able to lift a mountain-sized Choji and even very large boulders.

It would be nice to have that too.

As for the woman, he needed to be careful against her. She could summon monsters to control and use her flute to use Genjutsu.

As for the two-headed guy, Sakon, he needed to stay as far as possible. That man could possess his body, literally, if he got the chance.

Now, the three used their Cursed Seal of Heaven to transform into monster-like creatures.

"Kuzo Turo. We would appreciate if you came with us on your own will," said the two-headed man, Sakon. "we would forgive you for what you just did."

The woman weaved a series of hand signs. From nowhere, three giant ogres, 8 meters high, appeared.

If he wasn't wrong, these guys had amazing durability and had a technique to lower his chakra.

Sakon had just confirmed Kuzo's doubts. He was being targeted by Orochimaru, to be brought alive.

"You mean, your friend who just exploded?" Kuzo asked, pointing his finger backward. He then realized that there was no one there. "Sorry. I mean who was burned into ashes."

"Doesn't matter." Kuzo reached his pocket, and he looked at the three of them.

Even with the cursed seal of them, he was certain that he could beat them one on one.

But three on one.

That would be too difficult, especially with a range genjutsu user.

"You guys look too good to be left alive anyway. But catch me if you can," Kuzo said, then he threw a smoke bomb into the ground. A large smoke cloud covered the area. He created a shadow clone, and then, he used body-flicker jutsu. For the sensory shinobi, it wasn't a problem to move with the smoke around.

"Over there!" one of them yelled.