Chapter 33: Chapter 33- Fighting two Akatsuki members
Ren Uchiha POV
He'd never been to a desert before.
Sure, he had sent Shadow Clones to this location. Along with every other location that he deemed important and needed to be marked with Hiraishin. But this was the first time he'd stepped into a desert himself. In both his lives.
He didn't like it very much. And felt that the common saying about sand being rough and coarse and getting everywhere couldn't have been more true.
But mission was mission so he stayed silent and continued to run toward Suna from the nearest town.
The reason he didn't simply Hiraishined to Suna was because he didn't want to alert them of the fact that he could come into their village and leave at any time. The same reason for why he wasn't flying.
Still, with his and Kushina's speed, it wasn't long before they were close to Suna.
The smoke was the first thing they saw. A thick dark plume that rose above the large stone walls that protected Suna. The smell of burned corpse was the next thing that assaulted their noses as they reached closer to the hidden village.
Eventually, they reached the entrance of Suna, and waited for someone to come and receive them.
No one did.
"The situation here must be worse than we expected if they hadn't even posted any guards over here own entrace." Kushina-Sensei said with narrowed eyes before she flared her chakra to alert the sensors of their presence.
Even then, it took Suna Shinobi almost two minutes to arrive at the gates, and when they did.
"Who're you?" The Suna shinobi asked as they surrounded the two of them. "And what does Konoha shinobi want from Suna? Can't you see that we're busy.Whatever your business is, it can wait."
Rude. But it's not like he couldn't understand where they were coming from. Sure, Konoha and Suna were allies. On paper. But in truth, they were the type of allies that can turn on each other at a moment's notice.
And right now, Suna was weaker than it had ever been before. Or that's what he thought at least.
"We received your Kazekage's distress signal an hour ago." Kushina said succinctly. "Hokage-sama sent us to help."
The leader of this bunch scrutinised them for a long moment before he gestured to his fellow shinobi to lower their weapons. "Very well then. Follow me. But no funny business, no sudden movement, and only go where we tell you to go. Understood?"
He rolled his eyes beneath his mask while his Sensei gave a curt nod. "Understood."
In no time, the both of them were taken inside Suna and that was when he saw the true extent of the damage.
Entire swathes of land had turned into glass. And much of the remaining buildings had either been destroyed, burned to the ground, or were in the process of burning to the ground.
Charred bodies were scattered across the landscape, or at least as far as he could see, given that the rising smoke from the debris significantly decreased their visibility.
He frowned at this as he noticed a few bodies that belonged to children.
This was worse than when Deidara had attacked Suna to steal Gaara. Far worse. It was as if an entire war had been fought within the village and they were here to witness the aftermath.
'Not as bad as when Pain destroyed Konoha but close.' He thought. 'And unlike Konoha, Suna doesn't have plot armour, where the main villain will simply change his mind due to the hero's talk-no-jutsu and then give his life to revive everyone he'd killed.'
Suna has suffered a massive blow here, and he wasn't sure if they'll ever recover from this. In all likelihood, he was currently witnessing the downfall of the second major shinobi village in the Elemental Nations.
Worst part was that he didn't even know who caused this much destruction. His guess would've been Deidara and Sasori. But Deidara must be a young boy at this part in the timeline. Plus, Deidara used explosives, not Fire Release Jutsu, which was evidently what had the cause of the destruction before him.
He asked his shinobi escorts about their attacker but they refused to say anything and beelined toward one of the remaining buildings in the village. A building that had now been turned into a temporary hospital amidst the chaos.
Gods… there were so many injured people here.
"I can help your people. I know Iryojutsu." He informed the Shinobi in the lead.
The guy looked like he really, really wanted to take him up on his offer but in the end, he simply shook his head.
"You'll meet with the Kazekage, and he'll decide on what you should do." The shinobi and then led them within the main building. A building that he guessed must've been the shinobi academy now that he'd taken a closer look at it.
The interior of the building was chaotic beyond imagination, with injured shinobi sprawled everywhere in orderly rows, while the limited number of medics raced around, striving to provide whatever assistance they could.
The notion of a scenario like this unfolding in Konoha unsettled his stomach unpleasantly.
He didn't particularly cared about the average person in Konoha, as they were all but strangers to him. But Konoha was still his home and he would rather die than see it fall to such a state.
The few people who retained their awareness cast weary, skeptical glances at him and Kushina but refrained from taking any action, likely deterred by the vigilant Suna shinobi accompanying them.
Eventually, they arrived in front of a room that was being guarded by two shinobi.
"Stay here." The leading shinobi told them before he went inside the room. Two minutes later, he came out and gestured for them to go in. "No funny business." He told them again. And just like before, he rolled his eyes behind his mask while Kushina-Sensei gave a curt nod.
The room carried a potent scent of strong medicinal odours, reminiscent of a hospital, but intensified tenfold.
In the middle of the room, a few medics were tending to Rasa who had lost his right right hand and had suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns in a good portion of his body.
The man stared at them, or tired to stare at them at least. But he didn't seem coherent enough to do even that.
"You're… Konoha." The man said with great difficultly.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama." Kushina-sensei said. "Hokage-sama sent us to help you."
"Help…" Rasa chuckled but those chuckled quickly morphed into wheezing coughs that wrecked his entire body.
It didn't seem like this guy would survive past today. Not without the help of an exceptional medic at least. A medic like Tsunade-Sensei. Or him.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama." Kushina-sensei said in a grave voice.
"Help… *cough cough* my daughter *cough* they took her." The Kazekage managed to say before he became too incoherent to talk with them.
The medics promptly ushered the two of them out, refocusing their attention on tending to Rasa.
Once outside, Kushina-Sensei turned to the Suna shinobi and asked. "Your Kazekage asked us to help his daughter. That someone took her. Who did that? Who did… all of this?"
The Suna shinobi looked hesitant but the one in the lead stepped up and started telling them about what happened.
People in Black robes with red clouds. Two of them. Both Traitors from Suna. Sasori of the Sand and Pakura of the Scorch Release. They came here for revenge against the village that slighted them, and took Gaara in the aftermath.
Or so these people thought at least. For they still seemed to be under the impression that Sasori and Pakura (who was still alive, probably due to Universal Calibration) came here for their revenge and took Gaara only in a moment of opportunity.
They still weren't aware that Gaara was the main reason why those two came here in the first place.
Moreover, he was still grappling with the realisation that Gaara was also a girl.
"We'll do as your Kazekage bid us and retrieve his daughter." Kushina-Sensei said before casting a glance at him. "But my colleague here is an accomplished Medic-nin and can provide significant assistance to your people, if you would allow it."
The shinobi wore a complex expression before releasing a sigh and lowering his head in a bow. "Please, aid our people, but only to the extent that won't jeopardize Gaara's rescue."
"You don't need to worry about that." He said and unlocked his Strength of Hundred Seals. The purple mark in his forehead unfurled and gave him access to hundreds of times his normal chakra reserves.
'You can always use my chakra if you want more of it.' Saiken, the 6 tails said from within him.
'I don't want other villages to learn that I've become a Jinchuriki. And that Konoha took the 6 tails from Kiri as well.' He replied back in his mind.
Then he used the chakra from his mark to create over a thousand Shadow Clones, each having more chakra than an average Jounin.
The Suna shinobi looked startled at this but before they could react, his Shadow Clones dispersed, fanning out across the village and offering assistance to as many people as possible.
With the amount of chakra he'd given them, they could use healing jutsu nonstop for the next few hours so he wasn't worried that they would be dispelled anytime soon.
He observed a heightened wariness in the gaze of the Sand shinobi towards him and Kushina-Sensei, but they refrained from taking any further action.
"We're done here. Show us the direction in which Pakura and Sasori left. We'll take it from there." Kushina-sensei said.
—————
"Can you sense them?" His Sensei asked and he shook his head.
"No. They're either hiding inside a Fuinjutsu barrier. Or they've left my range." He said.
"That's unfortunate." Kushina-Sensei said with a frown. "This would've been easier if we were able to sense them. Create Shadow Clones and have them deploy them in a cone formation. We must find them as quickly as possible. The longer we delay, the more their chances of escaping with Gaara."
He nodded and created dozens of Shadow clones who each started flying into the sky and rushed forward.
It didn't take even half an hour for his Shadow Clones to find something.
"I found them." He said and used the Hiraishin mark his Shadow Clone just made to teleport them to that location.
This new location was in the heart of a dense forest and in front of them lay a large mountain. A mountain that was covered in Fuinjutsu seals. The seals being of such quality that if not for his eyes he would've missed their presence.
"Should we work on removing the seal or should just break in?" He asked.
Kushina-sensei studied the seals for a moment before she gestured for him to break it.
"Well, move aside for a bit then." He said and then started creating a Rasegan before filling it with Earth Affinity chakra.
He still hadn't named this Jutsu but it didn't change the Jutsu's destructive potential in the least.
"Earth Release: Rasegan." He said and threw the S-class Jutsu at the mountain.
The ebony sphere of chakra promptly transformed into a black hole, devouring everything in its vicinity until a colossal void emerged at the heart of the mountain before the ball dissipated into nothingness.
Kushina-sensei simply stared at the giant hole before she shook her head and focused herself. "Let's go in. There are two of them. Which one do you want to fight?"
He thought about it, and considering his high Resistance to Fire, the answer was easy for him. "Pakura."
"Very well." Kushina-sensei said and then rushed inside the hollow mountain.
He encountered the horrifying scene of Gedo Mazo extracting Sukaku from a one-year-old baby Gaara while the girl cried in pain.
The sight fuelled an intense rage within him, prompting an immediate rush toward Gaara
Only to be met with a sea of Scorch Release flames.
Uncaring of the heat dove right through the flames, thinking that his Fire Resistance would take care of it.
It didn't.
-376 HP!
-512 HP!
-869 HP!
-557 H…
In the time it took him to go through those flames, his Health had fallen by over a fifth of his total health pool. His clothes had been vaporised. And even his Permanent transfiguration wore off.
A good thing that he had high Resistance to Pain or intense pain from the 3rd degree burns would've knocked him unconscious.
+1 Resistance to Fire Damage!
+1 Resistance to Fire Damage!
+1 Resistance to Fire Damage!
+1 Resistance to Fire Dam…
"Amenonaka" He thought, activating his right eye to instantly heal himself before he reached Gaara and took her away from the Gedo Mazo, cutting off the connection between them and putting a stop to the Tailed Beast Extracting Process at once.
He instantly created a Shadow Clone to take Gaara away from the battlefield and heal her before he turned to face Pakura.
"You're… just a child." She said in shock before he rushed toward her.
She released another sea of flames at him but he was not underestimating her anymore and used the first form of Susanoo.
A bright blue rib cage surrounded him and while he still suffered some burns, it wasn't enough to stop him as he emerged from the flames and reached Pakura.
A giant spectral hand made out of bones came out of the ribcage and punched Pakura. She was fast enough to block the attack with her arms but that wasn't enough to save her as the punch easily overpowered her and smashed her deep into the ground, creating a large crater.
Out of his peripheral vision, he noticed Kushina-Sensei using her Adementine Seal chains to destroy Sasori's Hiruko puppet, Sasori's true body emerging out from within it in all its young glory.
But then he focused back on his battle as he sensed a large build up of chakra from within the crater. He Hiraishined away just in time and watched the entire ground in that area turn into liquid magma before it vaporised completely, leaving nothing behind but a large hole in the heart of the battlefield.
"Mah, mah. Women these days are so violent." He said teasingly, selecting another set of clothes from his Inventory and employing the Equip function to swiftly don the new attire.
He didn't really want to fight her with his small dick jingling out in the open. Even if she might vaporise his clothes once again in this battle.
"You… I recognise you." Pakura stated as she emerged from the massive hole. A dozen white orbs of death hovered around her, and a giant purple bruise forming on her forearms. "You're Ren Uchiha. The boy who defeated Ringo Ameyuri."
"You're familiar with me. How flattering," he remarked with a smirk. "But I know about with you as well. You're Panuna of the Ball Release."
Pakura's eye twitched. "I'm Pakura of the Scorch Release," she corrected, then shook her head. "But never mind. A dead brat like you doesn't need to know my name."
"So scary." He said with a grin before she launched her flaming balls at him.
In returned her threw a dozen Kunai around her location. And just as those flaming balls were about to reach him, he vanished.
And appeared beside Pakura.
She wasn't fast enough to block his punch this time, and his tiny fists folded her in half before before propelling her like a cannonball straight through the hole he had created in the mountain.
He retrieved his Hiraishin Kunai and quickly flew behind her.
He found her at the end of a deep trench, covered in dirt and debris as she coughed blood on the ground.
He was pretty sure he'd broken a few of her ribs with that last punch. And using Observe confirmed that her Health was less than half.
"Come now Pakura. Weren't you going to kill me?" He asked as he slowly walked toward her. "Or are you only good at killing babies and helpless civilians?"
"I didn't mean to..." she uttered amidst wheezing coughs, struggling to rise. One arm cradled her injured side. "I didn't want to kill those people. I shouldn't have returned to Suna."
"It's too late for regrets." He told her, his mind replaying the scene of the vast devastation she'd brought to Suna.
It wasn't like he even cared about Suna. He just didn't like all the death and destruction caused by her. Which was a bit hypocritical of him, considering that Konoha did the same to Kiri.
He put those thoughts in the back of his mind and rushed toward her.
Pakura seemed to be prepared for him and launched a tidal wave of Fire at him. For a moment, it looked like his form was engulfed within the fire. That illusion lasted until as she witnessed a Kunai landing on the ground beside her, her body freezing in shock and fear.
In the next moment, he materialised by her side once again. Despite her heightened readiness this time, it proved insufficient as he effortlessly sidestepped her defences and delivered a powerful punch to her stomach, propelling her away once more like a cannonball.
Her body crashed through a dozen trees before she skidded to a halt.
He appeared beside her and noticed that she'd already lost consciousness. He noticed that her health was in the red and was decreasing rapidly by the second.
He leaned down and used Medical Jutsu to find that half her internal organs had been ruptured and the same went for her ribs which had shattered to pieces and dug into her lungs.
This was probably the one problem with shinobi. They were capable of doing a great amount of damage, but most of them weren't very durable. A stray kunai to the brain would put down even an S-class shinobi.
Healing her going to be a bitch and a half. But he couldn't help feel some pride in the fact that he managed to defeat an S-class kunoichi with just two punches.
But this really shouldn't surprise him as he'd already defeated Ringo and Mei, both of which were S-class kunoichi as well. And he'd grown quite a bit stronger since then.
He created two Shadow Clones to deal with the task of healing her before he rushed back into the cave in order to help Kushina-sensei with her fight against Sasori.
He arrived just in time to see Kushina-sensei in her 5 tailed mode punching away the 3rd Kazekage puppet's metal sand giant iron nail.
'What an uninspired use of the Sand Release.' He thought with disappointment. 'But then again. Sasori isn't the main wielder of that bloodline so maybe this is the best he could do with it?'
He ignored these thoughts and threw a kunai at the Kazekage puppet.
Sasori remained engrossed in his battle with Kushina-sensei, oblivious to his presence until he was right upon the 3rd Kazekage puppet.
He put a hand on the Kazekage puppet and then…
Yoink!
Put the puppet in his Inventory.
Huh… he hadn't expected this trick to work. But… it did.
Nice!
He used Hiraishin and appeared beside Kushina-Sensei's chakra covered form and then faced Sasori who was looking at him with a scrutinising gaze.
"Where is Pakura?" Sasori asked.
"She left you and ran off." He replied with an amused smirk.
"She will be punished for that when I get my hands on her," Sasori declared before retrieving another scroll and unraveling it, prepared to unleash his 100 Puppets from within.
Only for an Earth Spike to emerge out of the ground and tear that Scroll in half.
"Come now Sasori. I know all of your pretty little tricks. Do you really think I would let you summon more puppets?" He said with amusement as he played with Hiraishin marked kunai. "Just surrender. And I promise to not hand your core over to Orochimaru to study."
Discarding the torn scroll, Sasori then shed his Akatsuki robe, revealing the complete array of his puppet modifications.
"A fight it is then." He said with a shrug before he turned to Kushina-Sensei who was in her 3 tails mode, red corrosive chakra bubbling out of her form. "Do you want to finish this or should I?"
A growl was all he received from her before she rushed forward.
The fight didn't last even 2 minutes, with Sasori's flesh core being turned into pulp by the end.
A pity as he had wanted to study that thing and learn how Sasori managed to shove his consciousness into that tiny thing. But never mind.
"What next, Sensei?" He asked once Kushina shed off her red Tailed beast form and returned back to her human form.
She glanced in the direction where the Gedo Mazo statue had been. The statue had disappeared as soon as its connection with Gaara was cut off so there wasn't much they could do about it.
"Is Gaara safe?"
"Yes. The girl suffered some damage to her chakra coils which'll take time to recover. But aside from that, my Shadow clone healed any other wound she suffered." He said. "Her Tailed Beast Seal was also a mess so I repaired that as well. Hoped those Suna stuck-ups won't mind too much."
"What about Pakura?"
"I captured her, obviously."
"Good. We'll take her to Konoha for interrogation." Kushina said and then paused. "Unless you want to add her to your harem as well, brat?"
"I do. But feel free to interrogate her before that. After all the people she killed in Suna, I believe she deserves a little punishment. Just don't damage her mind."
Kushina-sense nodded curtly. Her emotions still a bit aggressive from having melded with Kurama's chakra. "We'll go back to Suna and return Gaara to them as well as Sasori's corpse. We'll tell them that Pakura managed to escape."
"That seems fine to me." He said as he took the half torn Scroll that Sasori was using to summon his puppets.
Many of its slots were still working, even if the main sealing matrix had been destroyed.
It'll take some time but he was sure that he would be able to retrieve those puppets eventually. Giving them to the Hokage should earn him some points at least.
There was no puppet master in Konoha. But by studying these puppets, maybe it'll open a new path for people who're interested in this art.
"What about the Kazekage's puppet?" He asked.
Kushina thought on it for a moment before she replied. "We're taking it with us as well."
"Very well."
—————
That's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it.
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