Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Manda Jarred his mouth wide as he Bit down in the Anbu’s section of the stands, killing the civilians he were next to, crumbling that section of the arena in on itself. His status remained unknown, but it seemed by the clues that he appeared dead.

.........

Zaku while completely believing in Orochimaru’s philosophy, he couldn’t help but feel dissapointed that some sound ninja would stoop so low as to be a hypocrite to their own teachings. It made him want to become of a higher authority, so he could inforce the true teachings of his sensei, and no longer have any grey morality areas. His first step on this path would start with Dosu, rid of the past and on to the future.

*SPLAT!*

Dosu’s head had casted a shadow along the floor. Watching that shadow, it seemed that Dosu’s entire head seemed to shatter apart as Zaku’s airwaves broke his skull into dust. Blood and brain matter fell graphically along the floor. The reservoir just next to them began to turn red with fresh blood of his dead former comrade. His face has a streak of red sliding down it, blood from the deed he has done. Dosu was dead, and there was not taking it back. A battlefield was no time for regret, to be sure.

All of a sudden, the cave began to rumble as some smart earth bloodline anbu was trying to collapse the cave system, friend and foe alike. Zaku grunted at this realization of the cave crumbling in. He simply kept a grasp on the melody gauntlet. He looked back at the team before him, the weapon of his former comrade in his arms.

“Let’s go then, ladies.”


.............


Minato had begun to propel the RasenShurken rowardnhim, teleporting right behind him. Orochimaru has expected it to be used at some point, and had planned what he could. He could never have predicted sage mode would be used in tandem with it, but he hoped is tactic would still be as effective.

He had finished lacing the hadnsigns together, minato coming in for his attack. Minato was the fastest Shinobi alive, so there was no outspeeding it. The sheer attack power of the rasenshurkien could not be countered by anything he could whip up so fast, so offensive was out. But defensive....that could work.

“Grass Halberd: Obsidian HellBlade!”

He didn’t look to avoid the attack, counting on his superhuman stamina to endure the hit. Orochiamru’s neck twisted to face his back as well as minato. The swords that were used against Kushina vanished. And out of Orochimaru skin, fingers, and mouth sprouted a dozen black swords, stretching insanely far, piercing minato’s body in several areas. The attack had landed. Minato was turned into a human pincushion! The obsidian blades piercing his sides, legs, arms, and chest. Blood seemed to gush from him in all these wounds. This did nothing to stop the rasenshurkien however. It continued its momentum, hitting Orochimaru at point blank range, splicing his entire body into shreds!

Skin after skin, meter after meter, he was propelled, skimming across the ground. The snake sannin lost several skins of himself, then body parts begun to fall off. His feet were the first to go, then his legs, then both of his arms went. Before long he was reduced to nothing more than. A head with a neck and shoulders. Snake strands remained like they had been peeled from the body, his eyes wide open with shock. Orochimaru could no longer weave justu. He could not walk, or even move any of now obliterated limbs. It seemed he survived purposely due to a slight trajectory change due to his swords striking inside minato, which due to him being hit away, had yanked all of the swords abruptly out of this wounds, releasing them into the air. metal fragments of the swords breaking flying through the air.

“Lord Orochimaru!!!!” Yukimaru screamed at the sight.

 

[Kakashi Sensai]

Emil jumped from the spectators area and onto a tree, a bit of the ruble hit him and he started bleeding from his arm “ow, probably should have watched for that, welp gonna go see if there’s anything I can do to help from over there” he hide in a few trees and started meditating “but first I need to build chakra!”

 

[SageNeb]

Yukimaru turned to Minato, breathing heavily as the 3 Tails' Chakra enveloped his body more solidly. Another tail began growing before what used to be Yukimaru's clothes turned completely into the biju's chakra. Nearly no trace of what he used to look like was visible except his a bit of his physique and hair. A spiked shell like part of the chakra covered his back as Yukimaru was on all fours.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!"

He slowly began gathering a large amount of concentrated tailed beast chakra with a very high density and water chakra into the form a sphere in front of his mouth, before releasing it at Minato.

Water Style: Mini Tailed Beast Ball!

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Soon the leaf-nin too felt the shaking of the cave, only adding to his persistent confusion. Taiyo looked around at everyone who was present and hoped that they too felt the tremors.
"Okay guys, we gotta get out of here before this place crumbles down upon us," He assessed the situation to the group, getting ready to blow their way out.

 

[Godjacob]

"LORD OROCHIMARU!" Tayuya cried out as quickly she dropped the barrier and ran over to her fallen master. As the Sound Oto-cursed to herself she would be far from the only cry of concern heard on this battle-torn rooftop.

"MINATO!" Kushina cried out, as the Edo-Tensei kunoichi ran over to her husband as she held Naruto close to her, the infant continued to cry from natural duress over all this which was completely understandable. Minato himself was in a state of half consciousness, blood dripped from seemingly every spot on his body as the situation only grew more grim as a tailed beast bomb had been fired at the wounded Kage. Kushina acted quickly as she prepared to form hand signs only to realize there was no time for a jutsu on her end. So she set Naruto in Minato's chest before she moved ahead with her arms raised as she planned to use her body as a shield. Closing her eyes for the inevitable impact that was to come....

...only that impact never came, and as Kushina opened her eyes she discovered for good reason as she along with Minato and Naruto had been lifted in the air as they floated on a sand platform that Rasa had generated. With the barrier down that meant the Kage had free access, though only Rasa seemed to have an immediate need for intervention as Mei and Ay looked on. Not at Minato, but rather the Jinchuriki before them as both Kage seemed to have a similar idea in mind. With Orochimaru down, that meant his Jinchuriki were now up for grabs and those were always an asset for any village and both aimed to make their claim as the moved to circle the beast. Though were a bit weary at the power it seemed to display. Unknown to them, a lone clone of Kurotsuchi watched from the scene before she poofed out of existence to rely the information to her regular self and by extension her lord Tsuchikage.

"Lord Kage! Take your leave and move to safety, we shall handle this."

However, a group of new ANBU appeared from nowhere as they moved in front of the Kage and seemed to try to circle in the Jinchuriki. Shisui's own eyes widened as he watched from a distance, as he had the belief that the majority of ANBU had fallen to Kabuto's Genjutsu. So where did these ones come from? Even more curiously, not one of them seemed to be concerned about the wounded Minato as even the prone body of Kin drew the attention of a pair of them.

Where did these guys come from? Why is not even one of them ensuring the Hokage's safety?

Across the village and through the stadium more of these various ANBU appeared and began to lay waste to the Oto-nin and provided aid to the Konoha forces which brought a sense of relief. All the while a figured with a bandaged eye looked on from the Hokage tower in solitude as he seemed quite pleased with the proceedings.

-------------
"Ladies!? Funny coming from a true b..."

Kenji's retort had been cut off, both by Sakura & Ino's intervention as well as the rumbling of the tunnel. Aisha's eyes focused as she along with her wolves Luna & Sky instantly knew this was trouble as they began to quickly follow Zaku as she turned back to the trio.

"We must flee, now!" Aisha said as Kenji held back his reservations as he realized that she was right as he, Ino & Sakura followed the wild Inuzuka and her companions along with the Oto-nin as they left Dosu's corpse and began the race to get out of the tunnels.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Sakon saw Tayuya yell toward Orochimaru, as he knew exactly what he teammate was going to do next. I hate it when she does this...

“Barrier coming down!”

He yelled to his teammates, as the four connections snapped, the barrier vanishing in on itself. Jirobo and Sakon both jumped out of their respected corners, kidomaru no doubt along with them. Jirobo was quick to collect Kin, grabbing the rather damp jinchurki with his beefy hands. Sakon and Ukon made it next to Tayuya, ukon had separated mid landing and grabbed a hold of his master’s remanant body. Sakon had seems to be unraveling a scroll from his back for this scenario.

“Tayuya, you couldn’t have waited for like, ten seconds?” Sakon complained, placing the scroll on the ground.

Sakon slammed his hand on the scroll, a red symbol sprawling across the ground. It was a pre made trap, a trap Sakon was often known for placing. The red symbol seemed to be like an alchemy circle, a red triangle lie where the sound four were, safely inside it. Ukon groaned as he looked at the other three members of the sound four.

“Look...you guys will know what to do. We need to retreat. like yesterday.” Ukon said, his eyes watching the ninja that had jumped down.

“We are vastly outnumbered. We bit off more than we could chew.” Jirobo murmured.

Manda has noticed the giant purple barrier go down, the one he was told was where his master was. Looks like SOMETHING didn’t go to plan. Manda hissed, confident he killed the anbu he was fighting. He sprang up to the Kage tower, his sheer size nearly collapsing it upon his entrance. He smashed down, killing five anbu who weren’t even looking his way. He coiled up and gave off his threatening presence.

“That’s as a good enough a que as any...let’s take It!” Ukon proclaimed


.............


Zaku had been sprinting toward the exit, his implants behind him giving him some extra air power, acting practically as thrusters. The thrust people’s him faster than the team. Past Sakura, Kenji, and then the new wild child, he had passed all the girls. Light began to be seen at the end of the tunnel as he propelled himself to the end, ending up right at the base of the chunnin exams arena. He was met with the figure of Tomiko, seemingly having Kou strapped to her back. He gave a sigh of relief, knowing now that Tomiko wasn’t killed in her crippled state.

Kou was shocked by Tomiko’s speech. It seemed to blow whatever argument or consoling he made out of the water. He had no idea what a Kage was, but he assumed that it was something of a high position. He thought of Tomiko fighting for the weak, and it seems like she was fighting for everything Boss was fighting for. Were they both from the same village? Kou noticed zaku first, as Tomiko’s backs was turned to him.

“Boss!!” His eyes lit up, even in his weakened form.

 

[kyuukestu]

Hinagiku

Although she'd been heading towards the Hokage's battle a little scenario below her caught her interest. Underneath the influence, her jutsu the tunnels beneath the village seemed to be collapsing and more than a few genin seemed to be lingering among the caverns. In the grand scheme of things the death of a few genin was hardly worth mentioning, but she wasn't exactly a heartless person that'd watch as they died for no reason. They were still, however, her secondary concern, her main interest was that they'd managed to kill one of the oto-ninja and another was among them. While she wasn't heartless, emotions didn't fuel her decisions. Emotions didn't win wars, and that's exactly what this was. She would save them if she could, but the corpse came first, it had possibly vital information that could save them from another surprise attack, and if the lives of a few genin would result in a more prepared Konoha, then they truly would've been no nobler death they could die. However... trading a current certainty for future uncertainty wasn't quite the most rational decision. Lives that could definitely be saved now shouldn't be traded for lives they might've been able to save in the future.

Either way, there was no need for her to stress over these moral and logical decisions, the shadow clone jutsu was a thing after all. A clone would be more than enough to guide them out of the cave and her main body would attend to the corpse in case another 'collection'. She'd already failed at acquire her first corpse, and she wouldn't tolerate another one, a ninja's body was a treasure trove of secrets and she would certainly get her hands on one of these troves before sending it over to the intelligence division.

Traveling through the ground, Hinagiku sank to the position of Dosu's corpse, creating a shadow clone on the spot and sending it after the group of genin. While her shadow clone vanished from sight, she treated Dosu's body to a series of sealings, ensuring that nothing planted in it beforehand would be able to suddenly destroy the corpse. After she'd finished that she wrapped the corpse in sealing bandages and once again applied a seal over it. She then carefully sealed the entire corpse into a scroll, and sealed the scroll itself. Finally satisfied with her job she tucked the scroll away safely. She would send the corpse to the interrogation division and they would look through its memories, they were bound to find something of value in there.

While her main body prepared to leave, Hingiku's clone managed to catch up to the fleeing children. It hands had jutsu finished forming a series of hand seals,"Earth Release: Rock Spear Pillar." Numerous pillars of earth shot from the ground and into the walls and ceiling of the cave, temporarily stabilizing the structure. "Those won't last long, hurry up!"

Sagisō

"You don't need to worry about that, I won't be betraying my village anytime soon. The Hyūga and the Leaf are not one in the same, one is perfectly capable of existing without the other, and that's the way I like it." A restless finger found its way into a stray coil of hair, wrapping the locks around the tanned skin of its owner. "Besides, I've still got things to do, so I won't stay in this village much longer... After I've caught up on my clan's techniques, I plan to travel to Takigakure and from there... well, I'll see when I get there."

Although she'd participated in the Chunin exams, that wasn't exactly the purpose of her journey. She was looking for a husband after all, and holing up in the leaf wasn't exactly helping her cause.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori stopped in his tracks after feeling a faint pulse of chakra reach him. He wasn't a sensor type to his knowledge but anyone could feel a chakra pulse strong enough to reach him. "It appeared to come from the Hidden Leaf, did something even stronger enter the village to destroy it?"

"The only thing I can think of to expel such strong chakra at this volume is a Tailed Beast, but I thought they were all sealed in jinchuuriki who were not allowed to leave the village? Is this even possible? I have to find out!" Mori quickly ran back to the Hidden Leaf, he wasn't too far away from it. But if there truly was a Tailed Beast in the village, he might very well die before he even reached the village.

Once Mori got to the village, he was shocked. There was a large purple snake on the Hokage Tower and the ominous chakra he felt grew stronger as he got closer to the village. How did he miss this? Was he that caught up in his fight with Reaver?

Mori ran into the village whilst every cell and instinct told him to leave because of the incredible danger that loomed, he kept going with the intention to save the civillians. He got to the medical outpost and helped to evacuate the wounded people. Normally he would let the ninja to die but this was different, they wanted to protect their village and he would do the same thing for his own village. "Where is the source of that ominous chakra and what is that giant snake doing here?" The only person he could think of that used snakes was Orochimaru and he defected from the village a while ago. Had he returned to destroy his old home?

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura listened to Azumi and Sagiso. “So there are Hyuga outside th leaf village.” He thought to himself. He then turned to Sagiso. “Tell me, what’s your relation with miss Hinagiku? She called you one of her daughters and you called Furijia your sister, but you’re clearly not from this village.” He said. “I just want to know.”

 

[Godjacob]

"Oh kiss my ass! Least I tried to do something about Lord Orochimaru!" Tayuya yelled at Sakon as she saw them collect Orochimaru as Tayuya took note of Manda's arrival as she turned to the others as she bit her thumb to draw blood.

The ANBU were now conflicted between the Jinchuriki and the more present threat of the snake summon. The Kage had similar worries, though Ay's solution seemed simple enough as he flickered on his LCM and charged Manda at his famous high speeds as he aimed to deliver a high speed electric punch right to the face.

"Don't interfere in my business you pest!"

A few ANBU sought to aid the Raikage as they unleashed some fireballs at the great beast. Other ANBU who had not aided the Kage focused on the Jinchuriki as they aimed to move around it as three of them formed hand signs and placed their hands on the ground as they seemed to try and pin it with some sort of triangle seal.

Mei herself moved by Rasa as Rasa lowered Kushina, Naruto & Minato on the pillar though kept them above ground as Mei had to ensure Minato survived this. After all, she didn't go to all this trouble purely out of being generous; she wanted that leverage for trade negotiations and Minato owed her a favor. Shisui also moved by his down Hokage as he worked to get some emergency medical supplies from his bag. Something needed to be done as Kushina held her husband close and Naruto continued to cry.

Mei however didn't disregard the Jinchuriki priority, as she turned to the Sound Four as they had the other of interest and fired a lava shot at them; careful to avoid the Jinchuriki herself.

"I'll have my friends provide cover. So you ladies better tuck your panties in and get moving! Summoning Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke covered their area as soon enough three hulking figures appeared before Tayuya as they took note of the incoming lava as one of the Doki grabbed a section of the tiled roof and ripped it clean off as it used the chunk to block the lava strike as Tayuya ordered it to do so using her flute. Tayuya gave the musical command for them to act as a guard as Mei seemed to frown in disgust over the summons.

"Oh what revolting creatures."

----------
Azumi's clone gave a nod, as it seemed pleased with the answer and had been prepared to walk away before it overheard Shura's question that concerned this Hinagiku which was a curious note as this information could be useful or at the very least mildly interesting.

Though the clone thought of Takigakure, perhaps when it brought this information back to the real Azumi it would inspire a trip there. After all, for what Azumi had in mind they needed allies from the "lesser" nations anyway.

-----------
Aisha, Kenji, Ino, Sakura Sky & Luna's momentum came to a halt with an Earth-style-nin appeared before them as she seemed to be holding up the collapsing tunnel. They needed not be told twice to take advantage of this moment of good fortune as they dashed as quickly as they could to escape the tunnel using the path that the woman had provided them.

------------
Tomiko glanced over at the figure next to her as she took note of Zaku's presence. Which brought a mixed reception to the Iwa-nin as while Kou had been oblivious to what Zaku had done she had seen with her eyes the cruelty on display but she held back her comments that concerned the matter as she simply desired to know something of Zaku.

"Where are the others? Did they make it out?" Tomiko asked Zaku, her concern for friends as well as the others who had fallen into those tunnels all too clear.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Manda couldn’t follow the Raikage’s movements, as before long he landed a direct uppercut to Manda’s jaw. The snake king yelled as his upper body was sent into the Kage building’s tiles, making a big hole where his head bursted into it. He felt a lot of pain from the hit, but he decided to use this to his advantage.

He snakes a lot of the rest of his body through the hole, and bursted back out through a different hole, his mouth coming up to claim rasa im his gaping jaws.

The rest of the sound for took action. At the same time Tayuya summoned her doki, Kidomaru puffed out his cheeks and spat out several webs, hoping to coat Mei and several anbu with floats of the sticky material. The liquid like webs covered a lot of crowd, restricting movement even if they were to miss.

Jirobo made a single handsign with his free hand, the one not holding kin and stomped. An earth barrier rose in front of the sound four, protecting them against incoming projectiles.

Sakon then activated his trap that he had set around them, a shockwave shooting out , writing writers all over in the air. It’s goal was to disrupt the edo tensei and break its hold On kushina and Naruto, as well as any other third party seals that had been placed around, such as paper bombs.

“Move out, now!”

The members off the sound four one by one lept off the building in a rush out toward the leaf’s gate. Dozens of other sound ninja seemed to stop their attack across the leaf and begin retreating. The invasion has effectively turned into a retreat.


...........


Kabuto lead Kiro and a contingent of sound ninja outside the cave system and out into the front gates of the leaf. Kabuto strokes his chin, looking up at the purple barrier which has now disappeared.

“Hm....looks like something is over. Which means at this point....”

He watched as several members of the sound four as well as many members of the invasion ran, fleeing from the leaf.

“...it should be wrapping up.”


..........


“Hell if I know. I just know that they were right behind me.”

Zaku shrugged honestly, holding the melody gauntlet still. His eyes glanced over as Several sound ninja fighting leaf ninja began to run in the opposite direction he was facing. He immediately knew was was going on.

“Kou, it’s time to go.”

“Wha...? What’s happening?” Kou said groggily.

“The sound is moving out, the good guys remember? If you want to get off the streets and come with me, then I suggest we go.”

Kou contemplated for a few moment, Tomiko’s words still rattling in his head. He had his doubts about the village now that a Tomiko has brought it up, but whatever was going on, at least he have a home. Maybe he could find for himself about the truth of the sound? It didn’t sound like Tomiko had been there before.

“...I suppose...” he tapped Tomiko. “Listen...I well....thank you for saving me back there. I hope that you make it home and become the rockage. I think your deserve it. But I have one last request: Can you let me down?!”

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
When he heard no one reply, Taiyo shrugged this off. I mean, if no one was going to stop him from blowing his way out, then he might as well.
I'm sure it'll be fine, I mean, what could go wrong?
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" The Leaf nin went through the motions and soon a hole was created, but at the cost of worsening the crumbling.
"Gotta get out of here fast," As the rocks began crumbling down, Taiyo leapt from one to another before reaching the hole he created. To give himself one final push, he used another fireball for propulsion.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

"I'm probably the only Hyūga outside the leaf...but that was a matter of circumstances. If you must know, she's my aunt...though I guess I've been adopted."

Pulling her hand from her hair she leaned over, gently stroking her unconscious sister, "but you're right, I'm not from here. I'm from Nadeshiko village, in the land of water. I'm actually traveling around. According to our village customs, only the shinobi strong enough to defeat a Nadeshiko kunoichi in single combat can become their husband!"

While certainly odd for anyone who wasn't from Nadeshiko village, it seemed perfectly normal to Sagisō for her to search the world for a husband through life-or-death combat. That being said, she obviously couldn't stay in the leaf since that would hinder her original goals. After staying for a while, she would leave on her journey, only returning occasionally.

 

[SageNeb]

Yukimaru only got enraged further by the interference of others and he slowly began thinking less clearly. At that point he couldn't figure out who was friend or foe. His second tail had fully grown before a trio of ANBU tried capturing him. He let out a monstrous roar which caused them to fall of the roof.

Tailed Beast Shockwave!

He slammed his hand against the ground and summoned multiple coral heading the direction of the sand protecting the Hokage and his family before leaping and using his tailed beast chakra in order to make an arm attacking the family.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

“That’s an intresting custom.” Shura said after hearing Sagiso talk about her village custom. He then walked around a bit. “Good luck with that, from what I've seen from our short team up, you’re a great fighter, you’re also good with one of the most important part of combat, tactics.” Shura said. “Awfully talkative today aren’t we.” Shura thought to himself. “You know, unless you’re older than you look, you’re a bit young to be looking for a husband.” He added.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

"Unless you're younger than you look, aren't you a bit old to not have a wife?" Sagisō cocked an eyebrow at Shura, posing another question in response to his question. Although it might've sounded like a joke the tone of her voice made it difficult for one to determine if she was generally concerned about her fellow Hyūga's love life, or was simple retorting. She stood from her seated position on glared down at Shura, setting her hands on her hips in a very lecturing mannor. "If you don't find a wife how is the Hyūga clan supposed to grow?" For the moment she seemed genuinely angry that Shura hadn't invested more interest in the his future partner, or more importantly the future offspring of the clan. Obviously those of age should've already set about finding future partners for the growth and development of the clan. "Well? What's your excuse? "

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura raised an eyebrow. “Do I look old to you? Is it the mask?” He said as he put his hand on his mask. “I don’t see why you’re getting so worked up over this, I’m only 16 and I have better things to worry about than finding a loved one.” Shura said with a blunt tone. “I’m focusing on becoming stronger so the Hyuga clan can remain the strongest clan in the leaf.” He explained. “There’s more than one way to help the clan grow.”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

"Ahaha~ Well spoken! Then show me this strength of yours!"

Pulling her palm back Sagisō took a stance, in the next instance, she'd already fired a Vacuum Palm at Shura. In her excitement, her byakugan had automatically activated itself. "Since we're talking about the strength of the Hyūga then, of course, we'll only be using the gentle fist." Without waiting to see if her attack had landed or not Sagisō chased, intending to pressure Shura with a series of blows.

 

[Retro Master]

Kiro watched with Kabuto as Sound ninja began to exit through what was left of the Leaf’s front gates. Judging from Kabuto’s words and the visible reactions of some of the ninja with them, things probably didn’t go according to their plan. Kiro knew full well from the start that it would be extremely difficult for the invasion to result in a success, which was why he was originally hesitant on siding with Dosu and Zaku. But now that didn’t matter since the invasion was over. His path for power led him to Orochimaru and now he was ready to take it.

However, his confidence seemed to falter when he saw the shape Orochimaru was in. In the hands of Ukon, Kiro saw the shredded up remains of the snake. Was that the result of the power he sought? To be ripped into pieces? The Fourth must’ve been the one to do this, to leave Orochimaru without a body. Without knowing the damage the Yellow Flash had received, Kiro could only base the results of the battle on Orochimaru’s remains. If the snake was dead, then Kiro’s path for power would be hit with a major roadblock.

Kiro looked over at Kabuto to see if he could read him. Unlike the other Sound ninja, his expression remained calm, almost as if he wasn’t unnerved by the results. “I’m guessing he isn’t dead.” Kiro spoke up, assuming rather than fully questioning the usually reserved ninja. Kiro didn’t expect Kabuto to reveal anything but he also figured that Kabuto would provide him with some information. Atleast something to keep Kiro from doubting the path he had just started to walk on...

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori didn't know if this was the real life or if it was just fantasy. The giant snake got knocked into the Hokage Tower by someone who he could only assume was the Raikage, sand was hovering in one place and lava was visible for a second. "Lava and sand? Fourth Mizukage and fourth Kazekage." Were they helping Konoha because they wanted to get on their good side? He doubted it, the Five Great Villages were too self-centered to be that kind. More likely than not they helped because Orochimaru might attack them next and the Hokage would owe them one. But where was the Tsuchikage? Surely he wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by, right?

All the large and powerful chakra nearby in one spot made Mori nauseous. He always was sensitive to large amounts of chakra and the increase of the Tailed Beast chakra wasn't helping him. He stopped helping to evacuate the wounded ninja and civilians and threw up behind some rubble. After evacuating the wounded people, he walked through the village to find any people caught under rubble before stepping in a sticky substance. "A spider web? But it is too big for that. Is this the result of an experiment of Orochimaru? He might be young, but he was caught up enough with other villages to know that Orochimaru experimented on people, especially children. Mori shuddered, he had to get his feet freed from this stuff before Orochimaru caught him and did whatever he felt like to his body.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura turned towards Sagiso when as she fired a vacuum palm at him, he flicked his arm and deflected the attack. “Very well, I’ll show you.” He said as he began blocking Sagiso’s blows. Shura o served Sagiso’s attacks before swiftly throwing a palm strike towards Sagiso’s stomach when he saw an opening.

 

[Godjacob]

Tayuya was quick to follow her sound companions, though she lingered back momentarily as she played her flute and commanded her Doki to cause a ruckus among the ANBU before she recalled them and dashed towards the village gate with the other Oto-nin.

Anko among other prominent ninja saw this as she scowled. No! She was not gonna let that monster escape, this was their chance to rid the world of that scum and Anko had not been one to waste opportunity as she turned to some of the Konoha forces within the stadium.

"Don't let them escape! Orochimaru is with them and we can't let him get away!" Anko called out as she and a few Konoha-nin followed her as they began to tail the Sound Four specifically among the Oto-forces. A few of the new ANBU that had appeared tailed the squad Anko led, though their own motives were harder to discern. Tayuya noticed Anko's squad as she let out a scowl before she faced the others.

"Hey guys, we've got a bitch on our tail!"

-----------
Rasa took a moment to lift the sand-platform that Kushina, Naruto, Minato and now Shisui & Mei were on as he tried to get them away from the incoming shockwaves; the tailed beast's variant had easily blasted the three ANBU that attempted to seal them aside. Rasa then focused on the charging Manda as he prepared some hand signs as he began to form a large spear made of gold dust as he aimed to use Manda's momentum & open mouth against it and tried to make it drive the spear down its own throat.

Ay himself was not one to ease up on the enemy, as he flashed behind Manda with his speed and tried to deliver an electrified elbow to the back of the head.

Shisui in turn felt the vibrations of the shockwaves and saw the incoming Jinchuriki as he knew he had to act quickly as Kushina again acted as a shield as she covered Minato's bleeding body and Naruto while Shisui's eye shifted to his Mangekyo Sharingan and a giant green rib-cage soon covered himself, Minato and his Edo-Tensei family as he tried to use his Susanoo to act as a barrier between them and the outside attacks. While it did an admirable job to combat the shockwaves, it could not stop them fully given the little time Shisui had to set it which not only caused the Uzumaki family damage but in the case of Ukon's shockwave allowed a partial amount of the Edo-Tensei release to hit them.

-----------
Tomiko frowned at Kou's request, more so because she felt he was a good kid in spite of his upbringing and feared that Zaku's continued influence. Still, an argument now would only cause any possible positive opinion Kou had on her to fade and she could not afford that as she slowly gave a nod as she reached into her pouch and pulled a kunai with her teeth and began to cut the bandages that secured Kou and soon enough she sliced through them all which granted Kou his freedom. Though before Kou would naturally bolt to his "boss" Tomiko took the chance to whisper but one piece of advice to the kid before he took off.

"No matter what you think, people are much kinder as a whole than you might think. No matter the nation. You just have to find the good even if you see only the bad." Tomiko advised, as while she had reservations about people like Zaku she could also see that there was a kind side buried within. Tomiko hoped her words, both before this last second word of wisdom and after, would at least make Kou think about what he aimed to do. Tomiko then turned to the entrance of the cave and heard the rumblings as it seemed ready to cave in any moment.

I have no way of knowing if Yasu & Madoka made it out. But if I stand here doing nothing and they perish I will never live with myself.

"Keep him safe and...and try to steer him the right way. I will never stomach what you've done today but at the very least I implore you to do that much." Tomiko said before she took a deep breath as she prepared to enter the tunnel again to go after her friends and anyone else who might have been inside.

----------
Azumi's clone left the Hyuga compound after it overheard the information that concerned Sagiso's aunt who seemed to be a curious figure in all this. Soon enough the clone destroyed itself and transferred its information to Azumi, who used this information to find the buried scroll under a certain tree as she soon held the Forbidden Scroll and then transferred that to another scroll and put it in her ninja bag before she turned to Reaver.

"Let's move." Azumi said, before she felt the presence of someone else as she placed a hand on her umbrella handled and turned to the presence...only to discover it was Takato who cast a shadow possession aimed at Reaver.

"I'm not here to fight Azumi, I just want to talk. Though I figure your friend there might not be in the mood."

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Rotating on her heels she brought a hand forward and diverted Shura's blow aimed at her stomach, using the same momentum she bent her foremost knee and leaned into a body blow, quickly striking out with her elbow to take advantage of her proximity. That attack was, however, just a feint as she bent her knee even further and dropped to the ground, swiveling around her leg like an axis, and using it to perform a sweeping kick towards Shura's legs.

 

[SageNeb]

Yukimaru got more frustrated by his attacks being blocked by the Susano'o and he made three other chakra arms. Then he covered the hands and tails with hard coral and began using them to try and break the Susano'o. Meanwhile he began preparing another Mini-Tailed Beast Bomb to shoot at the Susano'o at point blank, which was very visible to Shisui. Slowly another tail began growing in the background...

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Manda was prepared to have a Kazekage stew, made rare. What he got was a sand sandwich, with a side of Ay. His mouth was stuffed with the sand spear, his strong mouth and throat muscles trying to stop the solid object from going further. While he was fighting this, Ay had delivered a powerful blow to the now vulnerable serpent’s upper neck. This threw the serpent’s head forcefully onto the frame of the building, shattering the entire wall of the complex. He groaned in agony as the builidng’s Foundation began to sway.

“Orochimaru...if you EVER pit me against several Kage again, I will kill YOU myself.”

With that snarky remark, the king of the snakes vanished in a thick cloud of air. This left Yukimaru alone fighting several Kage level opponents, but it’s not like Manda cared about his well being.

...........


“You know Tayuya, you should really speak more like a lady...that language is uncalled for.” Jirobo said in response to the female ninja’s tonality.

“Heh, I’ve got a little game for that reject!”

Kidomaru snickered, his cheeks puffing up as four of his six hands took out hardened webs, taking the form of solid spiked hooks. The rest of the fluid in his mouth was spat out toward Anko and her crew, forming a large spider web that was to warp across them. It covered a lot of area, and in their current trajectory it would hit them within a few seconds. But kidomaru didn’t like to wait, as he tosssed the four hooks on either side of the web’s corners, nabbing them and carrying their momentum with it, closing the distance much quicker than the web itself, dragging the web with it like a net.

Sakon and Ukon, still leading the group, were approaching the front gate, escape just within their grasp. Kabuto and a party of sound ninja, as well as kimimaro aling with Kiro came into view.

.........


“Hm...you’ll find him much harder to kill than you’d think. But...”

Kabuto was worried. It seemed Orochimaru hadn’t died, neither did any of the four. But their ultimate goal to destroy the leaf was a colossal failure. But did at the least the Kage die? If the yellow flash were still active he would have caught them all...well...in a flash. Kabuto assumed at least some of it was a partial victory.

He had begun to heal some of kimimaro’s immediate wounds, along with the medical detail, which had been working on him for some time. Two main assets reverted to such a state. The retreat would NOT be pretty.


.......


Kou staggered to his feet, wobbly and dazed. He wasn’t used to walking since Dosu had landed that hit on him, as well as nearly downing. He carefully stepped toward Zaku, who realized that the boy was in worse shape than he was hinting at. Kou looked back for a second toward Tomiko.

“I may not be as strong as you, but I swear that I will try to find the good, even though there might not be. Though the sound...of they are truly so charitable, wouldn’t you think it would be worth a shot. It would be cool if I got to see you again Tomi.”

Zaku was cautious about the girl. What her true intentions were seemed to be shrouded, at least to him. Although she expressed no love to him, she definitely felt worried for the boy. At first she felt offended by that, but from Dosu’s actions, she was justified. Swiftly picking up Kou and turning to the earth user.

“Hmph. You can believe what you want lady, you should tend to your own allies before you start worrying about us.”

He said, turning his back on her. He moved his ankle to jump, but he felt obligated to stop, his head turning slightly, but not enough to look her in the eyes.

“......but I will try.”

He then quickly lept away, trying to avoid his confident front to be broken any more than it already was. He had gotten Kou, dealt with dosu, and was making his retreat. Everything seemed to be in order.

...........


Reaver had cocked his head, about to create a conversation out of the ‘trophy’ of a scroll that Azumi had acquired from the leaf. Before he could, he felt his body tense up. He was paralyzed, immediately. ....what? He traced back the attack with his eyes, finding it belonged to a Nara clan member. He groaned at the sight.

“Only cowards attack from the shadows!” He said, his jaw just barley able to move. “Your clan isn’t even worthy of trophies! Disgrace!”

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura quickly recovered the arm Sagiso deflected and looked at her as she prepared her strike. He put his arms up to defend until he noticed her dropping down to throw a kick his way. "Crap, a feint." He thought to himself as he jumped and barely dodge the kick. While airborne, Shura aimed a drop kick towards Sagiso.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

'Is he looking down on me?'
The fact that Shura had even fallen for that feint slightly offended Sagisō as it meant he hadn't activated his byakugan. If he really thought he'd be able to take her without even breaking a sweat, then he'd be sorely mistaken. Much like a dancer would move from a flare into a headspin, Sagisō whipped her legs around her body before pushing into a hands stand, launching an upwards kick to intercept Shura's dropkick. Because she'd still carried a degree of rotation from her sweeping kick earlier her remaining leg had enough momentum to attack Shura with another kick. If he thought she was some kind of pushover, then she'd force him to lose a layer of skin before taking her seriously.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura's kick collided with Sagiso's. He then saw the other kick coming and managed to block it with a back hand. Shura used the knockback from the second kick to jump back and think. "Her attacks seem to have gotten a bit more intense, better raised my guard too." He thought as he readied himself.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Calm down. Find out what this junk is composed of and escape before a certain snake finds you." Mori examined the silk that kept him in place when he heard a loud crash. The giant snake was knocked into a building and vanished into a puff of smoke. "Was he defeated?" Mori became more fed up with the silk keeping him in place with every second. "It can't be just regular spider silk, that would have been broken a long time ago." After cutting the silk with his kunai, he discovered that it had chakra in it. "Only Orochimaru can come up with a jutsu like this mess."

After finally cutting himself free from the spider silk, he felt that the Tailed-Beast chakra increased. "No way! Three tails? It better not increase again or else we are screwed!" Mori rescued the last people under the rubble who were alive before deciding to leave the village, the Kage can handle the Tailed-Beast, right?

"Where am I gonna go now? Back to the Rock? The Leaf seems rather stable, or as stable a village can be with a Tailed-Beast in the village. Everyone is evacuated and that cave is going to collapse if that beast decides to go on a rampage. The Hokage Tower was off-limits and the Rock was not on friendly terms with any village. Never thought that I would be in a situation as this one. Huh."

 

[Godjacob]

"Lava Style: Quicklime Congealing!"

As Yukimaru prepared to strike, several shots of sticky quicklime shot through the air and aimed to try and strike the tails, arms & body of the Jinchuriki as said Jinchuriki struck the Susanoo who tried to bare the force of all this but a crack or two began to show form the sheer force combined with only being a rib-cage defense. However, the substance that was shot at Yukimaru would possess not just a sticky substance but also harden and work to immobilize him.

The jutsu came from Kurotsuchi, whose clone that had been left to observed passed the information to her and Onoki as they made their way back up to the Kage section of the arena and waited for the right time to strike. With the rest of the Oto forces having fled this was the perfect chance to make way with the abandoned Jinchuriki as both Tsuchikage and granddaughter floated above the war-torn roof.

"My apologies Hokage-sama but I'm afraid this beast will soon be property of Iwagakure." Onoki said to the downed Minato with a slight smirk which caused Kushina to glare daggers at the Tsuchikage and annoyed Ay, Rasa and Mei to have put it kindly. Though for different reasons than the Edo-Tensei wife as they all had the same ambition in mind as Onoki did. Rasa worked to move their platform back while Shisui kept up the defense as they tried to gain distance from the beast while Onoki hoped Kurotsuchi's interruption would not only work on the beast but also disrupt the tailed beast bomb it tried to form.

-----------
"Oh suck a fat one! Save the manners until after we get these guys off our back!"

Tayuya spat at her ally as she continued to try and gain distance from the persuers, something that had not been made easy as Anko saw the incoming webbing and made some hand sign.

"Ninja Art: Acidic Venom Shot Jutsu!"

Anko shot forth a wad of violet venom from her mouth that struck and melted enough of the webbing to allow herself to pass through unhindered as the Tokubetsu Jonin had fire in her eyes and she was not about to let her former mentor escape so easily as she was in hot pursuit and moved to try and get just close enough to the four. Anko cared little for the Jinchuriki or the Sound 4, her only goal was to ensure that monster did not leave this village alive as she made more hand signs.

No matter what, even if I die as a result, I won't let that bastard escape! His terror ends right here, right now!

"Ninja Art: Striking Shadow Snake!"

Anko unleashed multiple elongated snakes from her right sleeve as they bared their venomous fans and charged at the Sound 4. Though Anko cared nothing of them as the snakes target was the remnants of Orochimaru. The man may have had the mannerisms of a monster, but he was still human. And in his condition, just one bite of one of the verminous snakes should be enough to finish him.

"SHIT! We've got several shitty snakes!" Tayuya cried out as she smacked one on the head with her flute to bash its brains out as she tried to act as defense but would not be able to stop all of them.

"This is where you die! BURN IN HELL!" Anko yelled up as years of pain, betrayal and torment experienced by Orochimaru's hands came flooding from her very being as she aimed to deliver the fatal strike.

-----------
"Reaver!" Azumi yelled out as she gave a cold stare to her ally as he made that comment to Takato who simply focused on maintaining his hold on him. Takato knew he put himself in a vulnerable position given Azumi had not been ensnared by a shadow while Reaver had. Perhaps a bit too much faith placed in someone he trained the last two weeks, maybe it was the belief that his chakra reserves would not have been enough to hold the both of them at once. Regardless, Takato kept his eyes on Azumi just in the event she might strike as Azumi let out a sigh before she spoke to Reaver.

"Relax, he's no threat. I actually know of him. And in spite of my reservations about...that village of his he did provide some aid to me. And this skill can be more useful than you think." Azumi said to Reaver as Takato frowned.

"And you've used those skills well. Making off with valuable scrolls of our village." Takato pointed out as Azumi turned to him with the same neutral expression on her face. Azumi had to wonder how long the Nara had tailed her; though regardless it seemed he found out about the stolen scroll that she'd rather he not found it but none the less she faced Takato as she looked him in the eye before she spoke up.

"In times of war, looting is common practice. I would know, many items of value were stolen from our home by various certain nations during the years of war we were forced to endure." Azumi said as she gave her justification which caused Takato to think back to Azumi's harsh words at the Kage back at the Chunin Exams.

"I'm gonna go on a limb and take a guess there are about five villages you place the blame on for that. Would I be wrong?" Takato asked as Azumi smirked and seemed to scoff at that a bit as she closed her eyes.

"Only in the sense that you think I "blame" anyone. I know they are guilty of this, and you don't go and "blame" someone who inarguable did something. You just state proven facts." Azumi explained as Takato glanced over at Reaver as he kept his hold on him but did little else.

"In that case, I can use "proven facts" to say your friend has been causing trouble here all on his own. Even in the middle of a war." Takato said in reference to the battle that Reaver had gotten into which he caught but the tail end of it with the Iwa-nin earlier; as Takato had been unaware of the underground battle he was involved in earlier than that.

----------
Tomiko watched as Zaku and Kou left, and knowing she had nothing else to say to them she quickly focused as she dashed into the tunnels with the intent to try and find Madoka & Yasu and ensure their safety as they along with others who fell down there had yet to be accounted for. Though Zaku's bit of info proved invaluable as she raced through the dark tunnels.

I know Zaku said that he had guys behind him. So I know some people are still down here. I got to make sure they get out. If my friends are among them, I won't let them die while I do nothing!

"YASU! MADOKA! ANYONE! CAN YOU HEAR ME!" Tomiko called out in the darkness as she began her search.

--------
As Madoka followed Yasu to the path out of here, she overheard a distant, quiet but still audible voice as it seemed to be calling out for something. Madoka closed her eyes and listened closely as she tried to make out whose voice it was before her eyes widened.

Tomiko?

"Yasu, I...I think I hear Tomiko!" Madoka said to Yasu as she turned to the sound of the noise and motioned for Yasu to follow as the tunnel seemed on the verge of a collapse with only a certain ANBU's efforts keeping it up though for how long she'd keep it up remained to be seen.

 

[Fire Mana]

Tomiko?

Yasu couldn't have mistaken that voice ringing through the cave. It carried through the subtle flow of wind coming from the entrance and into his ears. He stopped in his tracks before Madoka motioned for him to follow, saying she heard Tomiko as well.

If we both heard her than there's definitely no way I'm just hearing things! She's safe!

He nodded to Madoka before following her, still silent as the pair moved towards the voice.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori heard a faint shout coming from the cave and ran inside. "There are people in here and I would rather die from a rampaging Tailed-Beast than live and let people die that I could have saved! Earth Style: Rock Push Jutsu!" Pillars shot out of the ground across the entire cave and kept the ceiling up, although at the cost of around 95% of his chakra. "No time to lose, where did that shout come from?" Mori ran towards the direction the sound came from, exhausted but running on pure adrenaline.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Sakon turned around, and watched the incoming snakes go through the opening Anko had made and up to attack the four. He smiled, as it gave him the perfect opportunity to display his special style of taijutsu. Ukon seemed to realize this as well, as they meleded babck into the same body, Orochimaru’s head now being held by Sakon’s hands. Now flipped around, Sakon lunged at the snakes.

“Multiple kicks barrage!”

Out of his legs, two other legs appeared, the legs of the body of ukon who had melded with him. They struck at an alarming rate, like a meat grinder! They smashed in the skulls of each one o the sktriking snakes into they were nothing but limp meat strands dangling from a sleeve. Sakon smiles at this and reserved up for a roundhouse kick.

“Mulitiple kicks gale!”

He made a roundhouse kick in the air, chakra seeming to flow around his kick. A gale of wind, shaped like a tornado seemed to generate from it, at close range of Anko seeing as he was close enough to kick in the snakes protruding from her hands. Kidomaru saw an opportunity, spitting four long threads from his mouth that connected to the four sharp hooks on the web. He yanked back on them, and like a fishing rod, brought the net back. The net was aiming to wrap around Anko now for a second bout while she had no available arm with the shadow snakes for now, and on top of that the wind gale would try to heard her into falling for the trap. Hook, line, and sinker. Pun and all.


..........


“I don’t care if he’s an ally or not.” Reaver said, calling slightly, but not by much. “His clan fights with shadows, and hides instead of fighting. It’s clans like them that make Shinobi seem like slimey assassins!”

Reaver was greatly offended by some clans and how they operated. The Fuma, Nara, Aburame, and a few others he simply could not stand. If he had his way, they would have a quite literal trial by fire.

“Just because your fellow genin can’t take the heat ain’t my problem, maybe you’d better get a better batch next time! HA!”


...............


Zaku had successfully navigated across the rest of the leaf, Kou and the melody gauntlet in his possession. He had to admit he wasn’t used to the weight load, but thankfully he had a short distance to cross. He landed right next to Kabuto, who had his attention on Kimimaro until he arrived.

“‘Sup sensei.” Zaku said with style.

Kabuto perked up slightly, turning around to him. “Oh. So you survived, that’s a plus.”

“Your talking as if you were expecting me to die.”

“We can talk about that later.” Kabuto said, looking at the melody gauntlet. “...I suppose Dosu didn’t.”

“Got surrounded by genin, next time send someone who isn’t a fool next time to be my partner.”

“Dosu wasn’t incompetent. He did his jobs well and timely. Makes me wonder how specifically he was killed. Which you’ll also have to explain to me in great detail.”

“Yeah that Dosu Guy was all sorts of messed up-“

Zaku covered Kou’s mouth as soon as those words came from him. Kabuto peered over to Kou, whom he just now reconginzed as being there. He adjusted his glasses and analyzed him.

“Zaku. Explain.”

 

[kyuukestu]

Hinagiku

Although she'd been a bit late to the party, Hinagiku finally arrived at the location of the Kage battle, only to hear the tsuchikage trying to make off with one of the spoils of war. A cold, dry laugh echoed underneath her mask, "Old man don't you think you're being a little too opportunistic? I get that you've still got a beef with Lord Hokage from the last war after he wiped out your entire army single-handedly and scared you into negotiations...but do you really think you can walk all over us because the yellow flash isn't around to keep you in check?" From her position atop one of the shattered pillars of the building, she looked down on the battlefield, quickly formulating a plan. She'd been able to see the state of the battlefield from afar due to her byakugan, and she'd just been finalizing the last sections of her plan.

In any case, neither the tsuchikage nor the raikage would be getting their hands on a tailed beast today as long as she had something to say about it. The old geezer was a bit too shameless for her tastes, attempting to blatantly steal the benefits earned by others, and she just plain didn't like the raikage, though the Hyūga incident might've had something to do with her distaste for him. She was certain that even without communication, Shisui would also come to the conclusion that for the benefit of the village either the Mizukage or Kazekage must acquire the tailed beasts. It would be preferable for Konoha themselves or Suna to acquire the beast, but Kiri was a close 3rd and Iwa and Kumo were utterly unacceptable.

However, a battle between Kage's was nothing like the previous small tousles she'd encountered earlier. She'd need to seize every opportunity presented to her while hiding any gaps in her defense. Rushing in confidently would only get her killed, it's often he who rashly moves first who is defeat and Hinagiku had no problems in patiently waiting for this deadlock to break itself. She figured the last straw would be the outcome of that tailed beast bomb the three-tailed jinchuriki was charging, once that had been either completed or resolved the battle would once more burst into action.

Sagisō

He was looking down on her, he was definitely looking down on her, he didn't even bother to attack but rather took a defensive stance. Clearly, he didn't view her as a threat and thought he could reactively respond to all her attacks... how cocky. Pushing off her handstand and landing back on her feet Sagisō stared down Shura, his blatant disregard of her ability causing her to take the fight a bit more seriously. She struck out with an air palm, not toward Shura, but instead right in front of him. The wooden floorboards shattered, an explosion of dust and wooden shrapnel blanketing around Shura blocking both his vision and his sense of hearing. If he didn't activate his byakugan she really would screw him over without mercy. She moved forward with the body flicker technique and promptly disappeared from sight, her figure had disappeared from the room. She'd hidden in ambush and if he still didn't take her seriously, then this battle would be all but over.

 

[SageNeb]

Yukimaru's arms were immobilized by Kurotsuchi's attack but his Mini Tailed Beast Bomb had been finished. He turned into a beam out of instinct to which he shot at Shisui's Susano'o before changing it's direction to hit Kurotsuchi herself which ended the beam in two seconds of changing its direction towards her. He used his coral covered tails to break out of the quicklime before turning towards the new person in the fray, Hinagiku. His instincts told him he was surrounded so he gathered chakra and turned it into thousands of water needles before spreading them around the air in order to try and hit the surrounding opponents.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura took half a step back when Sagiso's attack made the floorboard explode. "She mast have found out I wasn't using my Byakugan." He thought. when the wood and dust cleared, he found that Sagiso has hidden herself. "I have a feeling she's purposely trying to force me to activate my Byakugan, but if I want to hold on it for a just bit more." He thought as he relaxed his body and closed his eyes. "Time too see if my training paid off, feel the area around me, detect any and all distortion in the air." He thought as he focused his mind.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

"..."

Well, since he was asking for it, she decided to let him have it. Earlier when she'd destroyed the floorboards she'd also dived into the hole created and was hidden directly beneath Shura. Unless he'd activated his byakugan he would've found it hard to find her, and since he didn't seem ready to do that she'd just let him suffer a bit. He seemed to be concentrating on something, possibly trying to sense her position, but it was pointless. He was looking for her in all the wrong places and it was already too late. With only a few scant centimeters of wood between Shura and her palms, Sagisō unleashed the Mountain Crusher from both palms, their combined range wide enough to cover both Shura and his immediate surroundings. The blow instantly obliterated the thin strip of wood separating Sagisō from her target, the blow was upon Shura practically the instant it'd been launched. A sneak at attack at what was essentially point-blank range, dodging was almost an impossibility and unless Shura had somehow learned the Flying Raijin she couldn't see him escaping unscathed.

Hinagiku

Flipping backward, Hinagiku hid her body behind the pillar she'd been standing on. 'This is a chance!' When one of her opponents performed a technique to dodge the water needles coming at them from the front, HInagiku would be able to grasp the chance to attack them from behind. Her byakugan allowed her to keep tabs on both opposing Kage and their guards and launch her attack at the most opportune moment. She'd chosen to hide behind the pillar instead of blocking the technique with rotation because she wanted to temporarily hide the fact that she was a Hyūga. Ideally, the moment any of her opponents realized her heritage, would also be the moment she scored a clean blow to their chakra networks.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

“Feel the area around me.” Shura thought again in his head. He then felt shaking coming from below him, his eyes opened abruptly. “There!” He shouted as he quickly jumped back to the edge of the attack and reduced the damage he took. He then smirked. “Heh, it seems I succeeded.” He thought. He then looked towards Sagiso’s location. “I’m sure you’re just waiting for me to unleash my Byakugan.” He said. “Well then, I shall oblige.” He said as he activated his Byakugan. The moment he activated it, Shura disappeared in an blink of an eye and appeared above the hole Sagiso was. He pulled his arm back. “Vacuum Palm!” He shouted as he shot his attack at Sagiso.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

"Oh..."

She was mildly impressed by Shura's speed, but it wasn't anything she hadn't seen before. He was still a bit slower than Kiro with his Lightning Chakra mode, and his attack speed hadn't surpassed Zaku's which broke the sound barrier, whether movement speed or attack speed she'd seen faster, so she wasn't too surprised. She did, however, wonder why he chose to attack from above her...and how was he going to dodge her attack while she was in the air?

Since her palms were already in position, Sagisō ramped up her chakra and fired another pair of mountain crushers, the combination of two stronger variants of the same jutsu easily dealing with Shura's vacuum palm. Now the real question was how was he to dodge in mid-air?

 

[Godjacob]

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened as she saw the incoming sphere of death as she knew she had to act quickly; she formed hand signs as faster as she could as she turned to the tiled floor below her.

"Water Style: Water Trumpet Jutsu!"

Kurotsuchi fired a powerful stream of water as it slammed into the tiled floor and she used the force to propel herself into the air as the Tailed Beast Bomb flew through her water stream and flew under the Iwa-nin as it sailed harmlessly through the air.

"GAH!"

Though Kurotsuchi relief had been short lived as a strike from a pair of water needles of Yukimaru and had been knocked from the sky. Kurostuchi grit her teeth as she felt more of them strike before she coated herself in an Earth sphere as she crashed into the tiled roof as Onoki did the same as making shields to try and protect against the incoming barrage seemed to be a common theme. Shisui already had his Susanoo to shield the Uzumaki family where as Mei and Rasa formed barriers of water and gold dust respectively. The ANBU members that had not been pelted down by the barrage of needles came together to form their own wind barrier to redirect the needles and sent them flying across the sky harmlessly.

"Gur...cursed beast!"

Ay relied less on his armor as an armor and used his speed as he began to flash in an out between the water needles as he worked for evasion rather than protection even if his armor helped lessen the blow of a rogue needle that may have struck.

Kushina, having been struck with Ukon's unknown shockwave knew something was causing a...a weird feeling to spread throughout her body. Though given it had only been partial Kushina knew she still had time before whatever it was fully kicked in and aimed to use the most of it as she made hand signs and sent a set of her sealing chains as she aimed to restrain Yukimaru around the limps, tails and snout to try and prevent it from it from doing more damage.

-----------
Anko frowned a bit as her snakes had been dealt with by the Sound Four a she caught a glimpse of the twister one of them had generated as a defense. Though after a brief moment of thought Anko had a smirk on her face as she pulled out a paper bomb attached to a kunai.

So, trying to use a little tornado to stop me? Well that just means I need to bring up the heat...

Anko tossed the paper bomb as it was sucked up into the twister; being torn from the kunai rather than knocked away as a larger or heavier object would have as the bomb would explode and Anko hoped the force of it would do some damage to them as well. Tayuya's eyes widened as she caught the glimpse of something sparking within Sakon's twister and her thoughts summed it all up.

SON OF A BITCH!

Meanwhile, the ANBU that had been sent to "aid" Anko continued their persue of the four, as one of them took the chance to fire a stream of flames at the web as the hope was that it would melt it before it reached the snake Jonin. Though the majority seemed more focused on Kin with them as one began to form rather...unusual hand signs.

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"Funny coming from a guy who I didn't even see make it in the finals. And odd sense of superiority, especially given how thoroughly that Iwa-nin seemed to handle you." Takato said in reference to Mori's victory as Azumi remained silent before she spoke up.

"In spite of your reservations of their technique, with the right modification it can prove to be quite effective." Azumi said as Takato's eyes frowned a bit as he focused intently on the Ame-swordswoman.

"So, do you intend to leave with the scroll?" Takato asked as Azumi said nothing as she remained expressionless and her body remained still. Almost as if she had been hit by the shadow possession. Eventually though Azumi's hand moved up to the handle of her umbrella as she faced her training partner with a serious...if not, to a degree, subtly sullen expression.

"Deep down we both know that is not the real question. No, the real question is are you going to try and stop me?"

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Tomiko traveled through the tunnel, as she kept calling out to the names of her friends or anyone but seemed to have little luck. That was, till she heard the sounds of footsteps up ahead which drew her interest and caused her to move forward. When Tomiko got a view of what or rather who those footsteps belonged to she had an overjoyed smile on her face as she ran forward and glomped both Madoka and Yasu with big hugs with the one on Yasu lasting a moment or two longer though subconsciously Tomiko seemed unaware of that face.

"MADOKA! YASU! I'm so glad you two are okay!" Tomiko said with a smile to the pair as Madoka gave a smile back; equally happy to see Tomiko was fine in spite of losing her cast during the battle as it appeared which exposed her damaged arms.

"It's great to see you to. Me and Yasu have been looking for you." Madoka informed as Tomiko found it ironic considering she also had been looking for them, but in the end they found each other and that was what mattered.

Though they were not out of the woods yet, as the rumbling of the tunnel indicared as she gazed the two with a serious expression.

"All right, but this place could cave in any second. So we need to g..." Tomiko started to say before several earth pillars lodged themselves into the ceiling of the tunnel which added a temporary security measure which caused an eyebrow to be raised from both the Iwa & Suna kunoichi. Tomiko glanced behind her and squinted her eyes as she saw another figure approach as she figured he was the one who cast the jutsu though there was something...oddly if not distantly familiar about him.