Sakura's POV (Nearby Chakra Anchor - Western River Plains)

Evening

Sakura felt the full weight of the moment settle squarely on her shoulders. Her career thus far as a kunoichi had been one of mediocrity. As a non clan first generation shinobi of her own family she had never had the access, tutelage, or innate talents that many of her peers did. Even Naruto in a similar situation cursed with a tailed beast had shown more promise than her. Not that Sakura truly minded, she had never imagined herself as much of a shinobi anyway. Sakura had mostly become a shinobi due to her fascination with it all. She had wanted to become one of the extraordinary few, to prove to herself she could measure up to them. To prove to herself she was not only not worthless, but valuable…

The exams had tested her faith in herself. Failing to even reach the final portion of the test nor be promoted. Worse yet watching the battles had made it clear she was behind everyone, even her pig of best friend Ino! But her desperate and seemingly conflicted time in Irminsul had provided her something she needed, confidence. Sakura knew she could survive, even thrive here. She knew in combat she could be useful. She was not that same weak girl she had been in the academy!

Sakura wasn't blind to the situation. They were surrounded by a swarm of highly mobile enemies in high numbers supported by a clan boss. Unless they managed to turn the tide quickly this fight had a timer on it. And her and Hinata simply didn't have that much time left, even Kiba had come somewhat worn and battered. Hinata's plan was a good one, Sakura knew the wasp's entire hierarchy was based on their Queen. Assuming she could manage to take it out it would cause chaos within their foes, likely they would flee in order to ensure the survival of the hive. The fear of failing was heavy but Sakura breathed slowly as she gathered her mettle.

Out of the three of them only Kiba and Hinata were truly able to effectively cull the numbers of their countless foes both at long and close range. Hinata with her long range laser, Kaiten, and her gentle fist. Kiba due to his absurd mobility and speed as well as ability to use his entire body as a weapon. Sakura was more suited to using the created opportunity to either disable or outright kill the Queen. She had even managed to make a much more formidable Fenrir to flee on her own before. But that had been against an aware target. Worse yet Sakura wasn't certain she had fully mastered the technique.

Somehow using her chakra to bolster each of her used muscles in bursts with incredible care. Allowed her to strike with absurd strength. Further bolstering that strength with Chakra Scalpels allowed her attack to smash from the outside and wreak havoc from within. But how would Sakura close the distance? Could she use her new strange technique to augment her movements over time instead of burst? Sakura was certain she could do it, but was unsure how long she could maintain it. She would make it work regardless.

"I'm game!" Sakura declared with much more confidence than she truly felt. She had her theory, now she just needed to put it to practice. Sakura squatted down focusing on her chakra throughout her entire body, such concentration it took she slightly trembled. But all the same she felt some sort of determination to fill her all the same, the same feeling she felt when she smashed Fenrir. While Hinata and Kiba prepared themselves for their own roles they missed Sakura's green eyes appearing to glow with confidence. "CHA!" She called out instinctively. Sakura would not hesitate or allow her doubt to hamper her. If she failed it would only be after giving it her all!

"Heh, what I tell you, Hinata? Just like you Sakura hides a hell of a fire within her. When it shows even I find her intimidating. All we gotta do is smash her a path forward!" Kiba cheered excitedly, getting down on all fours as he prepared to go all out. "Just gotta figure it out now!"

"Excellent, I know you will do us well Sakura." Hinata agreed. "It'll take us a moment to create the opening however. They'll likely launch an intense assault first, it seems they are preparing for their own assault. We should defend ourselves and look out to launch an overwhelming counter assault."

"With that many against us that could be a while. We need to hit them hard, fast, something that decimates them as well as cause some panic… by chance Hinata how many lasers can you fire off at once? If you can shoot a bunch I can pick off stragglers. We need something that affects a wide area without impeding Sakura."

"Kiba's on the right track but easier said than done. Fire off multiple pure chakra projectiles over time is costly; she likely couldn't create enough to matter even with clones." Sakura spat out straining with effort as she channeled. "Though… Hinata your chakra beam is designed similarly to a laser. If it has the same properties of it, it would be possible to reflect it entirely, widening its range and reach without losing intensity. We would just need preferably a mirror, multilayer if possible. Does it?"

"I would hope so I designed it after them. When training for the exams I had hoped to cover the weakness to long range battles most Hyuga suffer from. A long reaching laser works well for such. And I think I may have just the thing…" Hinata answered as she began to dig into one of her pouches. She smiled as drew forth a small hand mirror. "This was a gift from the elders to me from birth. An ornate hand mirror passed along the Hyuga for decades. It is said to be the most reflective and pure mirror one can buy. Surely it would work as you assume. Do you think you could react to it in time to reflect on Kiba?"

"Won't lie and pretend it'll be easy, but yeah with some focus and planning it should be doable. But is this really gonna be all that effective? A laser reflecting a couple times sounds tricky, but doesn't sound like enough to me."

"If you were to do our plan at top speed however, the constant changing of angles will make constant reflections from all directions… " Hinata trailed off.

"It'll create a deadly ass laser storm! Or whatever, sounds risky but I'm more than game. Will you be able to keep up though? Alright then we have a plan, ready when you are Sakura!" Kiba decided as he grabbed the mirror, snapping off the handle he tied it to his chest.

"My eyes will not fail you!" Hinata promised.

However Sakura ignored them as her eyes darted up to the wasps above them. They had formed a formation above them each aiming their stinger down at them. A firing line!

"Attack incoming!" Sakura warned, Hinata and Kiba each noticed her concern and flinched at what was sure to be a massive attack. "Get ready I'll handle it! Create the opening!" Sakura assured.

Kiba nodded shooting off with a boom as he hurtled around the air evasively moving away from the end of the stingers. All the while positioning himself for their ploy. Hinata nodded but stood with Sakura all the same, determined to help defend her friend even in peril. She must've been confused about Sakura's plan. Sakura wasn't even certain about it herself.

"Children now! Rain death upon these humans!" The Queen demanded. At her words she and her legion of wasps shot off sprays of stingers. So many filled the sky above them it momentarily darkened the ground below. "DIE PEASANTS!" The Queen seemed to order them as falling death approached.

Hinata gasped in befuddlement, but needed not worry. Sakura roared as she flooded her muscles and even bones with chakra, maintaining control over it all gave Sakura an immediate headache. Heedless she drove her fingers into the earth gripping into it with inhumane ease. With another roar she whipped to her feet ripping the very ground in front of her apart. Sakura lifted up a huge plate of hardened dirt, stone, and even minerals, the assembly of ground was easily the size of a giant boulder, above her head with a grunt of effort.

Hinata jumped back as Kiba vacated the air above her. Sakura spun with her improvised weapon around before she launched it up into the air with ease. The massive fragment piece met the stingers which stabbed into it and spread cracks throughout but failed to shatter it. Sakura smiled with pride at her feat as the mass closed in on the swarm. The Queen raced forward in front of her hive, slashing with her stinger and managing to cut the projectile in half in an attempt to spare the majority. The halves flying past the Queen and still smashing into the wasps at the flanks but missing the main body of the swarm.

Kiba and Hinata smiled excitedly, impressed by her which filled her with glee. Before the two focused and called out in sync. "Collaboration Jutsu: Indiscriminate Wild Beam!" Kiba appeared in the now stinger and debris free sky and blurred back and forth at absurd speeds weaving through the hive with ease, his movements causing loud booms with each change of direction. Some of the wasps attempted to pursue him but were simply too slow to even keep track of him.

As he did Hinata poised her hands together and carefully aimed it at the moving Kiba, his speed and the small target she had to aim for made this a difficult yet crucial shot. Simple Beam simply would not have the power and range to be effective. It was concerning, the very nature of Indiscriminate Beam was to be powerful yet less precise. But Hinata did not failure to stall or weigh her down, she simply had to succeed. After ten seconds to catch onto Kiba's movement pattern and the timing of his dashes Hinata was ready. Flaring her chakra to begin she screamed out a warning as a thick beam of pure chakra shot from her hand.

Sakura gasped worried but smiled as Hinata's aim proved true. The beam shot through the sky and through several wasps that had begun to charge. Outright incinerating some and bisecting others. Once it hit Kiba it reflected off the mirror as intended and shot off at an angle slicing through another easy dozen. Kiba cheered with a howled he spun himself slightly forming an air platform beneath his feet. "Watch out!" He warned Sakura and Hinata. The casual action led to devastating consequences, the beam still reflecting off the mirror moved with frightening speed in sync with Kiba. Whizzing around and wreaking havoc.

Despite the dense armored bodies and the layers of them intent on defending their queen. The Chakra beam cut through them all with sickening ease leaving their bodies to fall to the ground in a grizzly rain. Tearing lines through the hive it even managed to wing the Queen. The laser burned through her left wing and made her drop slightly flight more unevenly as she voiced her pain. The voice of their leader in pain enraged the wasps that attempted to evade the beam and kill their foes before they harmed their Queen further.

"Kiba I'm ready, let's give it our all!" Hinata called out. Kiba nodded and Sakura watched in amazement as Kiba rebegan his wild and seemingly random flying through the air, combined with Hinata's beam reflecting off it their attack only increased in furocity. The single beam shooting out in so many directions it seemed more like dozens of them coming in from all directions, as opposed to the single beam of death it was. As planned the two worked Hinata called out directions controlling their chaos. The beams slaughtered wasps yet never ventured too close to their Queen.

Through the chaos of the whirling beam, booms of Kiba kicking off air, beating of wasps wings, screams of dying wasps, and falling bodies of felled foes. Sakura was focused and calm, her eyes locked snugly on the Queen. Tracing a path carefully Sakura saw her opening clearly. "This time I need to use it to close the distance." Sakura reasoned to herself. Directly above her high in the sky was the Queen, the beam and wasps seemed chaotic but Sakura saw the wasps were unknowingly being hoarded away from their Queen, in fact the beam in its reflecting chaos even had created a visible gap of laser or wasp. Though with the unpredictability of lasers this would be risky, if it shifted in the wrong angle the laser would hit her before she could do anything. If it did it would almost certainly be a critical wound if not outright kill her. But Sakura could not afford doubt, not anymore.

Sakura kicked off the ground with all her strength, her body flooded with constantly controlled chakra. The force of her mere jump caved in the ground below into a deep hole as Sakura shot off the ground high into the sky. The Queen buzzed loudly in shock, yet all the same struck out with its stinger. It appeared a clan boss was nothing to underestimate.

Sakura knew all too well how deadly this simple sting would be. The size of it would make it nearly split her in two, the venom would flood her body and paralyze her, death would be either by instant organ failure, consistent bleeding, or by suffocation by blood and or venom. It was not too long ago Sakura would've been much too fearful of death to attempt something like this. Now she was more worried about causing the death of her friends. Confidence or desperation filled her, and she moved with it, no doubt for once in her life.

She attempted to backhand the attack away, as if redirecting a mere punch. Sakura inwardly cursed her foolishness, size mattered in physical combat, even with her boost she couldn't hope to merely swat it away. Science would say her hand would shatter from the blow before the rest of her followed. Sakura was shocked as she felt the massive weight and power behind the Queen's attack come into contact with her hand as she attempted to smack it away, and with ease Sakura batted away the attack managing to make the Queen spin with her power. Sakura not even losing momentum in her flight toward the Queen wasp. This new technique of hers, she was strong…

This new technique of hers was something else, it was almost like the super strength of the famed Tsunade… filing away the knowledge for later Sakura reared back her fist at the open and screaming Queen. While her strength was impressive she could not afford to risk the Queen surviving this attack, they may not get another chance. "Cherry Blossom: Nerve Impact!" She called out as she smashed her fist into the exoskeleton thorax of the Queen. With a sickening crack her fist shattered it and a wetness made it clear to Sakura she had struck true. A mere half instant later Sakura flared her chakra through chakra scalpels into the nervous system of the Queen. The massive Queen shot up into the air unnaturally stiff and still. Sakura was grimly aware of why, her attack now fully realized was not only an absurdly powerful blow that shattered the outside defenses, her chakra would be shot within and attack the nervous system of her foe directly. Likely it fried it and the brain attached to it as well. Likely killing the Queen in an instant.

However Sakura's vision darkened for a moment. With a blink she regained vision but a light nausea was pooling in her head. Using such consistent and precise chakra control for an extended period of time was no easy feat. And Sakura was experiencing the backlash of it physically and mentally. Much more than her mere headache earlier, she needed to use this new style sparingly. Stunning her as she fell to the ground with the corpse of the Queen. 'I can't recover yet!' Sakura thought alarmed as she fell to her death.

Kiba however snatched her out of the air, rebounding off it multiple times to bleed off their force. Before he gently hopped them down to the ground beside Hinata. "Holy shit Sakura that was nuts!" He congratulated. "Now that is repping our team! We're gonna be unstoppable now!"

Hinata nodded but the three didn't dare fully relax as the couple dozen or so wasps still remained in the air buzzing with such volume it was nearly deafening even at a distance. They watched as the massive body of the Queen smashed into a river causing the waters to rise and overflood the area a bit. Realizing for certain their leader was dead the wasps' intelligent eyes honed in on them. The three were tired, Sakura was low on chakra and she was certain Kiba and Hinata were on the lower end by their stooped stances. However the group were shocked as the audibly disturbed wasp began to prepare for combat.

Instead of attacking them however they turned on one another. A bloody free for all filled the sky as wasp on wasp violence reigned rampant. While others seemed to flee, panic was evident as they left the area in all different directions.

"So we killed their boss and their response is to take it out on each other?" Kiba asked dumbfounded. "Seems odd to have an immediate power struggle. You'd think they'd prioritize revenge on us. Know I would."

"Perhaps they realize they simply cannot and fell into despair due to such?" Hinata mused.

"From what I've read on wasp behavior before, their societal structure is built entirely around their Queen. She is the most important member, defended till the last, and solely responsible for reproduction. With normal wasps on Earth there would be a few drones with the necessary organs to replace her. But with the Queen being so large and powerful I doubt they have such preparedness. Combine that with some level of high intelligence and you have a political bloodbath." Sakura agreed. "Though this is reliving, we should get moving. Lee and Shino are both fighting as well. They might need our help."

"Maybe, I hate to say this but I feel as though it may be necessary to trust them to pull through for now." Hinata said, sounding disturbed by her own musing. "The two of them are quite powerful and resourceful, and I can see some kind of hole in the barrier. It seems Mono and Muuni were successful in bypassing it."

"So shouldn't we help those two regardless? If they are already dealing with the barrier it's all the more reason for us to rally with the others and challenge this big bad together." Kiba pointed out with a raised brow.

Sakura hummed as she pondered over it however. "Her point isn't that Kiba, it's that they made an entrance and entered yet the barrier is still up. It suggests there is some sort of struggle going on inside of it. We can assume while not weak, our Okama allies are not as strong as us. Might be worth us checking on them, especially since we know the others are still out there. Naruto, Sasuke, and Yuno haven't shown up after all. With the master and wolves not being here as well we can assume the others are dealing with them. Knowing Naruto and Sasuke they'll tear through them and be on their way shortly. It would be our best move to reinforce Okama. Besides we all know Naruto will check on them regardless of logic."

"I guess you two are right." Kiba said with a sigh. "Fine, let's kick ass quickly so we can check on the others.

Their choice made the three raced off to the pulsating new entrance to the giant scarlet barrier. Heedless of the danger that lied ahead.

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Shino's POV (Nearby Chakra Anchor - Western River Plains)

Evening

The air was still, as nothing but tense breaths filled it within a small grove of trees between two rivers surrounding the Chakra Anchor. In said patch of trees and rivers stood the two of them. Shino and Suzumebachi finished their sequence of hand signs nearly simultaneously, shattering the tense silence and lull of battle with their cries.

This mission had proven far more troublesome than Shino had thought possible. Not only had the struggle to free, protect, and now escape with their allies proven quite the ordeal. But their entire path had been doggedly blocked by mortal enemies of their clan, the Kamizuru.

Shino, as the heir of the Aburame, was aware of the Kamizuru as their former greatest foes and now the most hateful enemy. But in the last war, their numbers diminished significantly, and the remaining members were ashamed and unremarkable. So much so that the Aburame had largely considered the rivalry over. Shino had thought it unlikely he would ever encounter them at all in his life. Yet now he was facing his third. Annoying when Shino cared little for settling an unimportant score with an enemy long defeated. Emotional grudges never were his forte.

"Earth Style: Sudden Pitfall"

"Earth Style: Plate Canon!"

Shino didn't bother flinching as the ground beneath him gave out. His eyes spotted sharp and long spikes at the bottom, ensuring landing would be death. He had predicted this sort of move from her. Stone shinobi often relied on their elemental jutsu to bind, imbalance, crush , or defend. His own jutsu activated and provided the perfect counterattack. Before Shino could fully begin falling, his own jutsu caused a flat sheet of earth behind Shino to shoot forward; Shino caught it with his feet, jumped off it, and backward launched himself back as the plate of earth sought his foe.

Attempting such a simple tactic would never be the opening ploy of a true Jounin, not on its own. Shino had figured she would try to unbalance or cause him to backpedal in fear from the initial attack, using the moment to close the distance between. Shino had grilled each of his allies regarding their foes thus far and was well aware of the woman's lethal ace. She could control Shino utterly with a mere touch from her right hand. However, the woman was nearly beheaded as the plate met her charge; she barely slid under it, throwing several kunai, as she did.

Shino met her charge confident in his strategy going forward. His previous bouts against both Jibachi and Kurobachi had made it clear the Kamizuru had improved their jutsu enough to negate the usual tactics of the Aburame. That left him with his sharp but limited Taijutsu, elemental Ninjutsu, and his Rinkaichu. It would be enough, merely another foe for him to fall before he could call it a rest. He bit off his glove as he weaved around the first kunai before catching the second one, deflecting a third, and using the held kunai as his own weapon, launching it back at Suzumebachi. The woman deftly caught it and returned fire. The single kunai raced back and forth as the two threw it back at each other, each time catching and attempting to use it themself. The two repeated the gesture again and again as they marched forward at each other.

Suzumebachi caught the kunai last just as they drew close. Flowing through the catch, she lunged forward, stabbing for Shino's throat. Shino deflected the stab with a swipe of his right hand, stabbing out with his left for her throat. She leaned flexible back, barely dodging the grab attempt, and kicked Shino square in the stomach as she did. Shino stumbled back as the woman smiled grimly and lunged forward with her free right hand. Shino barely caught it by her wrist and swept out the legs of Suzumebachi, attempting to dive on top of her as he did. However, Shino suddenly was launched back and left breathless for a couple of moments before hitting the ground and rolling to his feet with a sigh.

Suzumebachi glared back at him, standing up a small pillar of earth that he was shown to have erected from the ground. It saved her and smacked Shino away.

"The hell are they feeding you hippies these days!" Suzumebachi roared angrily. "I'll accept the bowl cut boy is some kind of genius or something, but this must be a damn joke. I am a veteran Jounin, Head of the damn Kamizuru Clan. I cannot and will not be matched by some green rookies, especially a damn Aburame!"

"I take great pride in my clan," Shino answered simply. They both used this brief exchange of words to plan out this battle. It seemed to Shino they were both more tactical fighters. That initial series of blows had been short but telling for both. A touch from Shino's left hand or Suzumebachi's right hand would lead to an instant victory for either of them. Suzumebachi would gain control over Shino, or Shino would kill her with his Rinkaichu. That knowledge would be the deciding factor in this battle, and the strategy would be formulated around it. "Yet I do not consider that all I am. You said earlier you are not here as a Kamizuru member or a Iwagakure Jounin. You fight to survive, something I can currently relate to. I have no interest in continuing the bloodshed between our clan. I must continue to the Chakra Anchor regardless of risk or impediment. If you insist upon standing in my way I will subject you to both."

"Just like a Leaf Shinobi resorting to diplomacy, all while contradicting themselves by making a threat. "Suzumebachi snorted. "But you are not listening. I cannot afford to let you pass unabated. If I did, my own life would be forfeit. Besides, you killed both Jibachi and Kurobachi, admitted by yourself. I was not fond of the two, but they were some of Kamizuru's finest. I have no choice to avenge them or besmirch their and my own honor."

"I did not believe you would listen to reason. All the same, I find myself tired of this. If you let me pass, you can pretend I managed to best you. No need to risk your life in a fight with no meaning. I do not wish to be forced to deal with you." Shino responded.

"I have been forced to betray my country after being misled, and now I am forced to fight for my own life. Despite that, I still have pride in being a Kunoichi. If I was to not only turn away from facing a Leaf shinobi but give a pass to the killer of my own, I would have no pride left. And right now that is all I have left." Suzumebachi responded. "The problem with you, Leaf shinobi, is you lack guts. You're constantly concerned with what's right or wise, but sometimes you must move forward with nothing supporting you but the hard as the stone will within."

"That does not sound all that different from the Will of Fire ideology we Leaf shinobi conduct ourselves by. Though we recognize the need and power of unity over one's own might." Shino acknowledged. "I suppose we should end this then, the clash of Aburame and Kamizuru, Leaf and Stone, the tough unchanging will of stone or the bright burning flame of the will of fire. The victory will be decided today, more bloodshed over meaningless honor."

Suzumebachi did not wait for him to finish as she raised a finger and shot off a litany of stingers at Shino in a mere second. The Aburame sprinted to the left, threading through trees and rocks for cover. Hearing the stingers stabbing into his cover as he ran. However, as Shino rolled free of his cover, the stingers caught up and pepper the body of the Aburame. However, Shino burst into a cloud of insects, revealing he had switched out with an insect clone.

Shino grimly closed in from behind Suzumebachi, but the woman whipped around and barely dodged the clutch of his lethal left hand. Shino, however, did not let this bother him as he spun on his heel and backhanded her face with his less lethal hand, making her stumble back. Shino stepped after her, attempting to jab her chest with a mere finger of his left hand. However, he blinked in shock. The woman was suddenly shrouded in armor made of hardened mud and stone. His hand harmlessly touched such as he realized she had managed a jutsu. Suzumebachi responded with a much more effective jab to the face. Shino now dizzily backstepped, but it was for naught as he was kicked in the chest by the earth-clad woman. The blow knocked him clear off his feet.

Landing flat on his back, he was helpless as she stomped down onto his chest, Shino's sternum and ribs creaking under the blow. 'She's aware of the weakness of the Rinkaichu! Of course, she is…' Shino did not panic and merely weaved hand signs as she attempted another to finish him off. Completing the earth jutsu, just barely several sharp spines of earth were stabbed into Suzumebachi's armored chest. They failed to stab through but knocked her off her feet and off him for a moment.

Shino rolled to his and slashed the tip off one of the spines with a kunai and, using the large sharp piece of stone with both hands, smashed the improvised weapon into the torso of the woman. She cried out in pain as the armor cracked. Shino tossed the stone off her and thrust his hand for the breached armor; however, her call alerted him to a counter.

"Earth Style: Projectile Mud Cuffs!" Suzumebachi desperately called as mud shot off her armor and suddenly linked around his wrist, securing them in heavy mud restraints. Shino attempted to free his hands or weave jutsu, but they were too far apart, and the binds too strong to break with a mere heave. Suzumebachi chuckled as she kicked the cuffs, making his arms fly above his head and unbalancing him. "Fatal mistake, rookie!" She assured.

Even without her needlessly proclaiming such, Shino recognized it. His idea of using a large stone to smash the armor had been decent, but he should have continued the assault by stomping after, the second he had wasted to chuck the stone had bought her enough time. The attempt of using the Rinkaichu had cost time, time that she used better than he. Now armored and her opponent helpless and wide open, she smashed into his left side with an armored left hook, then another hook to his right. The two weighty and powerful blows lifted him from his feet and drove the air from his lungs. An ugly yet ultimately effective single-hand club to his skull knocked him to his knees as Suzumebachi's chakra flared. Within an instant, the armor shot off her wrapped around Shino, fully binding him. The armor became a clump of stone that had engulfed Shino leaving only his head exposed. Shino cursed as the somewhat worn out but ultimately game Suzumebachi stood over him.

"You were good, Shino Aburame, nearly my match," Suzumebachi assured, sighing heavily. "But it appears I am the victor today. I will offer the mercy of making your death quick and painless. I do apologize for this, but if it's any comfort to you, I don't feel pleasure in killing you, strange when you're an Aburame."

"Considerate of you," Shino answered honestly, still forced to be in his imprisonment. "And I do find that to be some sort of comfort. Luckily, this battle isn't over."

Suzumebachi shook her head, drawing a kunai as she approached. "Leaf hippies… hopeful till the very end." As she approached, she raised her kunai and prepared to finish him off.

However, Shino merely smirked as she drew within striking range. "Earth Style: Earth Shrapnel!" he cried. The earth binding had been clever and perfect for keeping him from using his hands. But the fully bodied one had been a flaw. Shino could touch his palms to it, and with the time he bought speaking had managed to activate a simple but effective earth Jutsu. The stone binding cracked before exploding outwards. Even from within the stone construct, Shino was hit and covered with lacerations from his own technique. Luckily Suzumebachi got the worst of it being outside and within direct proximity of its blast. The force of it cut thin and deep lines alike on her skin as it knocked her from her feet. And flat and dazed on her back, not unlike Shino had been a moment ago.

Having been prepared, Shino recovered much quicker and leaped from his feet to land heavily on Suzumebachi's wrists with both of his feet. The woman cried out in pain and struggled to free herself, but Shino maintained his balance and allowed her to work the pain and struggle out of her system.

"I was not surprised by your skill. Lee had described you as a fearsome opponent. Though I must admit, I still underestimated you. If not for you adjusting my bindings, I would've lost today." Shino lectured from atop her.

Suzumebachi settled down with not a look of fear but resigned acceptance. "Of course, the cuffs kept you from using jutsu, but when I enlarged them, it allowed you to channel your chakra into the stone via touch. A clever tactic and a gutsy one to rely on. I suppose I was wrong about you as well. Ironically defeated and impressed by an Aburame on the same day…"

"I find all people can be ignorant and heedless. Including myself and you." Shino responded. "For years, the Aburame saw the Kamizuru as nothing more than a felled foe to look out for. Something similar could be said for you and Kamizuru regarding us Aburame. This battle showed me we're both more than that. That the grudges we hold are nothing more than a burden to carry. I thank you as my elder for imparting your wisdom."

"Can't be that much older than you bastard. So what? You intend to preach to me before murdering me?" Suzumebachi responded dryly. "Is this your version of interrogation? Make me suffer endlessly by waxing philosophy before ending me? If so, I'll tell you whatever, if you shut up and just finish this."

Shino silently pondered what to do. In truth, this was no fundamental matter to consider. This woman was a sworn enemy of his clan and village. Just mere moments ago, she kept attempting to end his life. The woman had not shown mercy when in his shoes. While her reasoning was understandable, it simply didn't change things. If he let her live, she could come back to haunt them, and indeed, she would seek vengeance.

"Stop stalling, Shino." Suzumebachi started. "You're calculating, decisive, clever, but you still lack experience. Your left hand, that lethal weapon of yours, is shaking badly. You're still pretending to be the mindless soldier the Aburame loves to produce. But you're not… My advice is to avoid the whole trading names and eye contact thing early on. Makes killing them easier. That's the scariest part, it becomes easier. Though for you that probably fills you with hope, Aburame."

Shino sighed heavily as his mind was made. "Like I said earlier, I am a proud Aburame, but more than that, I am myself. I am certain I will regret this, I am certain you will be a foe again, likely in the near future. But if I am honest I have caused much pain and death as of late. I have never shied away from the job of a shinobi, but I tire of killing so mindlessly. I will spare you; consider it an offering from not the Aburame, but Shino, me myself to end this pointless feud." Shino said as he crouched down to face her directly.

Suzumebachi laughed maniacally at such a seemingly momentarily lost in the moment. "An Aburame with a heart? You really are something different! I'll take your mercy and this defeat, but rest assured I'll come for you in the near future, seeking my rematch one day. Then it'll be my turn to be a strange Kamizuru and spare you. Shino The Strange Aburame…"

"I look forward to that day," Shino assured her before dropping a rough elbow into her face. Knocking her into a painless unconsciousness. His insects slowly returned to him now that the wasps were gone with their master bested. They informed him of Lee and Choji's battle nearby. Sakura, Hinata, and apparently Kiba had managed to best the wasp. It seemed something had even been done to the barrier, and his allies repeated some sort of chakra pulsating on it that was foreign to the same that fueled it. "The barrier is our key objective; with Lee and Choji now present it seems to suggest the rest of our allies are on the way. That would make my destination clear…"

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Choji's POV (Nearby Chakra Anchor - Western River Plains)

Evening

Leifazu continued cackling from within the water, her shrill laughter nearly deafening and still growing in volume. The river churned faster in turn with her laughter, as if her presence alone was causing the water to boil in disturbance. It sent chills down Choji's neck, the fact that she had survived a blow that should've shattered all her bones and even seemed amused by it. It was intimidating, and the woman seemed entirely insane and more concerningly determined to be their end. How the hell did someone survive a full on, off guard, blow from a giant?

"So what are we in for Lee?" Choji asked worriedly. He was not blind to the fact he was weaker than most of his peers. In fact, even with his recent power growth due to the Master, he was sure it hadn't changed. When Choji had detected the multitude of his friends fighting it had been hard to choose where to go. But he had sensed Lee was not only locked in a one on one battle, but against what felt like an absurdly powerful opponent. Leifazu's killing intent seemed to passively ooze from her body, unfocused but potent all the same. Helping Lee, a friend of his that had saved his life against Mizuki, had been an easy choice, but only now did it occur to him this may have been a bad idea. "This lady seems positively nuts, and based on the fact you seem pretty beat up, she isn't a joke. How did she survive that, though? I nailed her with the hardest kick I could manage; there should barely be anything left."

"I cannot be certain of the how, but it seems this woman bolsters herself physically and her hatchets to an absurd degree. Her durability makes anything less than the hardest blows worthless damage-wise. Her Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu are sharp as well. I am certain she is, at the very least, Jounin level, nearly as fast as my own sensei. Even together, I fear our combined youth alone would not be enough to close the gap between us. However, if you could buy me a few seconds, I could open the third and fourth gates. I'm confident this would allow me to close the gap, perhaps give us a fighting chance." Lee gave a breakdown of his current plan.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Hold her off… Alright, screw it all or nothing now! You can count on me Lee!" Choji swore, fear was most of what he felt now, but he wouldn't shame his clan by retreating!

"BREAKS OVER!" Leifazu's voice peaked out before suddenly the river erupted outwards, the waters being parted by dozens of glowing blue chakra slashes. "Uzumaki Style: Beheading Wave Spray!" The chakra slashes closed in towards the two. However, Choji reacted quickly, grabbing Lee and wrapping him up in his giant hands for protection. He debated shrinking back to increase his odds of evading the attacks. But his giant form allowed him to protect Lee on the go, which he decided was more valuable. Molding chakra around himself, he dropped into the ground, and his body became even more rotund and circular. His hair grew out and began to cover his body and harden. Forming razor sharp lines of hair spikes.

"Spiked Human Bullet Tank!" Choji roared as the giant ball that was his body rolled forward at impressive speeds. He grit his teeth as prepared for the impact; the slashes were powerful, but in Human Tank form his body was more durable. Many of the slashes hit and even caused superficial cuts. But Choji grit his teeth as he continued his roll through them and to where Leifazu had been. Crying out in part a warcry and in part a cry of fear he closed in, hearing Leifazu chuckle as he drew close. Unable to see, Choji wasn't sure how she countered, but hearing her yell made him flinch as he realized she wasn't evading him as planned.

"Uzumaki Style: Dual Raging Waves!" Leifazu's voice broke out his focused charge and was the predecessor to the pain. Feeling two attacks rush over him on his left and right, Choji screamed and flew back from the blows. His skin was burned and bruised throughout the attack, and he deballed, falling back as a giant as the now free and focused Lee fell free from him as well.

"Big boy started out alright, but it'll take more than size for me." Leifazu snarked as she spun her hatchets in her hands excitedly. "Let me get rid of you so Lee and I can have a true fight!"

Lee, however, interrupted as he yelled out himself. "Youthful Aura: Life Awakening!" His hair began to stand up at its ends, turning his regular bowl cut into a wild mess of gravity-defying hair. His skin began to turn red, and his veins violently bulged appearing on the surface of his skin. His pupils disappeared, eyes becoming pure white pools of determination, and the water around him hissed from the heat he was exalting from pure chakra output. "This form was the limit of my power before; now, it is merely another escalation," Lee informed. "Let me show you the vigors of youth!"

Choji hit the ground with an airless cry, watching Lee closely all the while before he noticed something Lee was standing on thin air. Allowing himself a moment to breathe and adjust to his pain, Choji let himself shrink. In that instant, a boom sounded as Lee managed to close the gap between him and Leifazu. Amazingly, Leifazu avoided the punch that Choji could scarcely see. Twirling around it and chopping at Lee's head. Choiji flinched as Lee barely reacted but audibly gasped as the hatchet stopped a mere inch from his head as if lodged in the air itself. Lee used the shock of them both to suddenly go for a loose leg kick. Leifazu, seemingly unconcerned with the basic strike, ignored it, slashing once again for Lee's neck this time. However, instead of the painful but undramatic leg kick Choji came to expect, the blow launched Leifazu from her feet, leaving her twirling in the air in front of Lee. Lee merely offered a light jab and sent Leifazu careening back. The woman stopped her flight with her hatchets and raced back again as Lee did the same.

Choji blinked in shock. That exchange had been flurried and back-and-forth, yet Choji had scarcely caught it all. If any of those attacks had been aimed at him, he would've been helpless to stop it. All the same, Choji raced forward in standard size. Lee had said he wanted the fourth gate open, suggesting he was certain the third gate's ability alone couldn't overcome her. Lee was fighting to keep Choji from being torn apart, but still needed an opening to open the next gate. Though Choji was unsure how he could, he was determined to provide it.

All the same, in the time it took for Choji to get close, their second violent exchange had begun. Leifazu threw both hatchets directly for Lee's face, who tanked the blows with a grunt, using the moment to draw in fully close. Lee ducked a wild haymaker from Leifazu and offered a straight kick to the ribs. However, Leifazu caught the blow and smiled cruelly as she swept his legs out and caught them in the air with her hands. She laughed as she twirled with the helpless Lee before launching him away into a tree headfirst. The violent sound of wound snapping and Lee smashing into the hard ground behind the tree was sickening to Choji.

Choji cursed as he raced forward, desperate to stop Leifazu from pushing her advantage. He leaned forward as he made the signature hand sign of the Akimichi. Partial Expansion was his go-to jutsu; while basic and limited, it simply felt comfortable and easy for him. But during his time as an unwilling servant, he came up with a new way to use it. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" His legs suddenly grew, launching himself forward like a missile, which Choji was ashamed to admit with his big-boned nature, he made for an effective one. He smashed into the shocked Leifazu, smacking her away and causing Leifazu to bow a tree from her impact with it.

His second blindside attack proved as effective as the first. Lee had only needed a moment to recover from the throw. And zoomed in at ridiculous speeds. Leifazu, to her credit, recovered, and her hatchets raced in; only their whistle alerted Choji to the fact he was their target. Diving to the left, he saw one fly by but cried out as the other stabbed into his right shoulder with crushing force. All the same, Choji managed to grip the hatchet, stopping it from pulling free of him with one hand. Choji panted in pain as he watched Lee come within striking distance.

Lee closed in with a wild flying kick; Leifazu attempted to dodge it but was shocked as Lee kicked the air mid-flight and adjusted his path to catch and smash the woman through the tree, driving her into a deep gouge into the earth. Lee merely kicked off pursuing her doggedly to push his own advantage. Leifazu clawed desperately, attempting to rise to her feet, but the mud was slick and slowed her down. Lee appeared behind her, and when Leifazu suddenly lashed out with a backward kick, he turned with her to maintain his position behind her. Choji flinched as the still free hatchet drew close and aimed at Lee's back, having no time to even warn him. The blow knocked Lee off balance, causing him to stumble forward into a flying knee to the chest by Leifazu for a devastating combination; this time, the blade had even drawn blood, causing a thin line on Lee's back. Lee, however, merely tanked the blow and, using both hands, pushed her knee back to unbalance her and offered a flurry of punches so quick to her face that Choji could scarcely see it. She stumbled back, Lee snapping forward in front of her low before kicking her into the sky with a double kick.

"I figured this may be necessary to defeat you." Lee acknowledged Leifazu. "While unyouthful, there is no doubt you are talented. But talent alone will only get someone so far. The true measure of a person is their drive, the hard work and time spent that has created their strength. It is why Choji and I's youth will overpower you today." Lee spoke, appearing behind Leifazu.

"Nothing you've hit me with this far has done much lover boy! GIVE IT TO ME HARD!" Leifazu manically replied, her grin disturbing and her eyes oddly affectionate. 'Lee was right, she really is a pervert, a powerful one.' Choji thought worriedly.

"AS YOU WISH!" Lee suddenly cried, kicking Leifazu in the back so hard the air cracked from the blow. The woman flew from the blow like a lawn dart. There was another boom as she was sent back the other away, another one, another one. With each one Leifazu's body violently was battered back and forth in midair, each blow setting her up for the next as well as keeping her from the ground.

Choji was gobsmacked at the onslaught. Before, he struggled, but now there was no chance of seeing Lee, only the slowly more and more bruised Leifazu as the woman was mercilessly battered all the while.

"IT'S NOT ENOUGH!" Lee cried out. "I HAVE MORE! Youthful Aura: Awakening of PAIN!" Lee suddenly was enveloped in a green-looking aura as his speed increased, and each blow he landed sounded like he was splitting stone instead of striking a human body. Choji was amazed at just how strong Lee was, he had created his own opening! With the new power up used, Lee's power and speed increased, his attack changing. Leifazu was kicked in the center of Lee's rampage and was kept there as the blows sounded off in conjecture with such ferocity it kept Liefazu helplessly pinned. "REVERSE LOTUS!" Suddenly, as it had started, the barrage ended, Lee appearing above Leifazu and wrapping her up entirely with bandages with a flick of his wrist. Reeling her in violently, Lee smashed her directly in the face, the blow propelling the woman straight down with the loudest explosion of air yet. Leifazu smashed into the ground, causing it to shake from the blow; the collision threw earth and water into the air. The blow was so powerful the nearby ground shattered and caved in slightly.

Choji could only watch on, stunned. Lee was even more powerful than he had remembered. For him to have utterly overwhelmed their foe was nothing less than awe-inspiring. With a boom, Lee arrived at his side, cracking the ground beneath him. Choji's hair stood on end, and even being near him made Choji feel nervous. This was the same goofy guy he called his friend… he was nearly as strong as Naruto or Sasuke!

Lee went to speak, but an eruption from Leifazu's crash site interrupted them. Leifazu burst free from her crash site with a burst of chakra and marched forward to face the two directly. Choji felt sick at the sight of her.

Leifazu's face was bruised and covered in blood from a cut on her head and bleeding from her nose. Said nose had been violently broken, it now crooked to the right. Her outfit and skin alike had been torn asunder from the barrage of blows. Patches of both missing, likely battered or shaved away from the final impact. Her left arm was snapped, a bone sticking free just from her shoulder. However, the true horror of it all settled on Choji a moment later. Each place with missing skin or a marred bit wasn't bleeding as it should have been; a solid sheening red was in its place.

"Impossible!" Choji cried out. "No way anyone could survive that kind of attack!"

"Certainly felt incredibly painful," Leifazu responded. " last time I felt something that hurt like that was those Akatsuki bastards. Though they at least were stronger than me. For you two, that attack was the only chance the two of you had. You caught me off guard with just how powerful you became after that little youth thing. Didn't realize I was in any real danger. You're just full of surprises Lee."

"Your bones and body should be outright pulverized," Lee replied. "Now I see how though…"

"The blood!" Choji realized. "She can control her blood!"

"Ding ding ding!" Leifazu said, extending her arms and allowing her single hatchet to return. "It's a trait of my own unique bloodline limit, a powerful and forsaken style of jutsu hidden and banished by the Uzumaki. I am a user of Blood Style. I can fully control, generate, and even harden my blood within and outside my body. As you can see, this allows me to easily control my hatchets using dried blood and weaponize and bolster my body. With my ability, I can hold my body together with blood, make it hard as steel; nothing less than some considerable force can truly harm me, and even then…" Leifazu's arm snapped back into place as she finished her explanation. "I can force myself to keep going. Now that I see you as an actual threat, I can't afford to hold anything back; explaining my ability is merely my way of assuring our fight will be entertaining. From now on, I will fight in earnest."

Choji blinked as Lee wasted no time in blurring forward and attempted to kick Leifazu in the face. The woman, however, now was able to react, meeting his flying kick with a punch that shook the clearing with their power. The two began a violent dance of Taijutsu and Kenjutsu. Lefiazu now had no problem matching Lee's speed and power; with every punch and kick thrown, she matched it, all the while seeming unaffected by his blows. Though impressively, Lee matched her blow for blow, the two landed brutal blows, not backing down an inch as they traded haymakers. Not bothering with defense as much as focusing on crushing each other with unrelenting offense.

Choji shook off the shock, enlarging his hand. He punched into the ground, pulverizing a section with ease. He grabbed several larger pieces and set them out. Having prepared his impromptu volley, he awaited an opening.

Lee ducked a jab, launching a powerful uppercut that snapped up Leifazu's head. A kick that sounded as if it had split ribs was his follow-up. However, Leifazu again caught the kick after using the pinned limb to keep Lee in place. Mercilessly, Leifazu lashed out with her hatchet directly to Lee's face. The blow landed true, smashing Lee's nose and landing a decently deep cut just below his eye. Somehow, Lee survived the blow, though he seemed disoriented as he stumbled back. Leifazu attempted to follow up, but Choji had already moved.

A longer piece of earth, not unlike a rough spear, flew through the air, smashing into Leifazu. The stone shattered against the tank of a woman, managing to stun her. A second more round piece knocked her from her feet and onto her ass. And the largest of three landed on her, crushing and crumbling the ground beneath it.

However, his attacks proved ineffective; Leifazu slashed through the final stone as if more annoyed than hurt. Appearing in front of Choji before he could blink, Leifazu backhands him, making him spin from the power. Choji cursed as he dropped to his knees, his head reeling from the blow. However, as Leifazu prepared to finish him off with a downward swing, Choji gritted his teeth and grabbed and ripped the hatchet from his shoulder. Vision blurry from the pain, Choji roared as she slashed a double-handed swing for her torso as she aimed at his head. Choji wasn't strong or fast enough to be of much help, but if he could land a solid blow, Lee should be able to finish her. She was faster and stronger than hell, he was certain she would land her blow, but even in death he would land a powerful blow of his own, setting up Lee perfectly! Choji would risk his life to stop her!

Lee appeared at his side, saving Choji from his sacrificial gambit. With both hands, Lee caught Leifazu's hatchet arm as Choji completed his swing with all his might. The hatchet struck true, ringing as if Choji had attempted to split stone but embedded itself into her ribs and knocked her back, Leifazu gasped in breathless pain stunned. Choji watched as Lee followed up, twirling and swinging two double hammer fists directly into the handle of the hatchet, driving it deeper and sending Leifazu rolling back from the power.

Leifazu, to her credit, rolled straight to her feet with a curse, hand touching her ribs as it gushed blood. "Now this is combat, ugly, desperate, life-ending combat! To think tubby had it in him! But if you think such a lethal blow will be enough, you are dearly mistaken! Blood Style: Piercing Geyser!"

The two could scarcely flinch as Leifazu's blood erupted from her body as a litany of flowing spears. Lee managed to twirl around and evade them, but Choji performed much worse. Several slashed at his sides and face, and another pierced through his left shoulder, causing Choji to spit up blood as he collapsed.

"Lights out, weakling!" Leifazu suddenly appeared above the downed Choji. Before she could end his life, Lee attempted to blindside her. Twirling to block his strike, she heaved him back as, once again, blood flew from her body, forming a tentacle and wrapping around Choji. "Blood Style: Arteries Grasp!" The tentacle picked up Choji and whipped him into a stone as Lee and Leifazu began their bone-crushing close encounter yet again.

Choji blacked out for a moment as he smashed through the stone. He could feel several of his ribs snap from the impact, his mind dazed from blood loss. The litany of broken bones, blood lost, and searing burns were slowing him down. He was useless in this battle, out of his league. His dizzy gaze found Lee as he landed a flurry of body shots on Leifazu; however, the woman merely tanked these as a tendril of blood wrapped around Lee's throat. The bowl-cut shinobi snapped it off but was backhanded through a tree for the momentary distraction.

Choji had to help Lee; even the influential hand-to-hand combat expert was slowly but surely being worn down by Leifazu. He needed his help… Choji's wandering hand entered his pouch, and his grip seized around a familiar container of colored pills. He had nearly used these to defeat his friends but had luckily been stopped by Lee. Now he would use them to save Lee. It was said that consuming the first caused great strain, the second great pain and eventual exhaustion, the third… was often lethal, the amount of energy it took from the human body simply being too much… But Choji had no time to consider such. He promised himself to be a better shinobi and a helpful ally. As such, Choji fumbled as he opened the case and choked both pills down…

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Naruto's POV (Nearby Ruined Den - Western River Plains)

Evening

"Insignificant, unremarkable, fleeting filth!" Blechumi roared angrily, his chakra flexing with such force the water and ground beneath rippled. "Are your minds so feeble as not to recognize what I am? So short-sighted as to see that cur such as yourself will only perish standing before me?!"

Naruto cracked his neck and spat out a wad of blood from his mouth. "This guy is starting to lose it fully, I guess. Are you still good, Sasuke?"

"Hn, I managed to bolster my body with chakra at the last moment," Sasuke answered while wiping a cut above his left eye to keep blood out of it. "It appears he has lost his temper and is preparing to show his full abilities. We should be ready for anything…"

"Weird considering the guy was so gung-ho before we started kicking his ass." Naruto snarked. "Quite the vocab on him, too. Does he expect us to listen to this entire tirade and let him power up?!" He roared suddenly as eight clones burst from the ground around him, each firing a wind blast at channeling Blechumi. Naruto smirked at his subtle surprise attack.

However, it was for nothing as Blechumi finished just as they closed in; two massive bursts of smoke stopped them before they struck. The blast dispelled the smoke and revealed the odd objects that had saved him. Two gigantic claws of a crab appeared to have grown out of the ground. "I have never in all my time in Irminsul and the Elemental Nations met creatures as infuriating and unimportant as you! Prepare yourself as I use the full arsenal at my disposal to make you suffer miserably before your most deserved deaths!"

Sasuke had a mind similar to Naruto, appeared behind and slightly above Blechumi, and stabbed down at the man's head with Besmirched Flambe. If the attack hit, it would likely kill even the durable man; surely, even he couldn't survive his head being fried from the inside. However, Blechumi dissuaded his attack without his odd crab claws or even turning around. Instead, a large slit opened on his back as a scorpion-like tail emerged and attempted to stab Sasuke's chest. The Uchiha barely blurred away, caught off guard, regrouping behind Blechumi. Though the two had succeeded in optimal positioning. Leaving the man's front and behind covered, sandwiching him.

"Giant crab claws and some sort of venomous tail?" Naruto asked with a raised brow. "Maybe this bastard really isn't human… maybe some sort of weird hybrid thing?"

"It must be the result of the strange style of jutsu we've seen here. They seem to refer to it as Ninshu and it seems to operate differently than our own Ninjutsu. We should be cautious, it's clear that this man has much more in store for us than we had originally thought."

"Look at the pests confer with each other, perturbed as they realize their foe is greater than they had thought. Perhaps they'll attempt to flee? Or is their arrogance and ignorance so ingrained within their meager existence that they'll foolishly stay?" Blechumi raved, seemingly getting angrier and angrier with each word. More crazed.

"You might be crazy, but Naruto Uzumaki doesn't back down. Besides, I must teach you a lesson for the Blechumi, the Okama, and my friends!" Naruto roared indignantly.

"A Uchiha does not flee; a couple more quirks are far from out of our range of ability to deal with," Sasuke answered in kind with Naruto.

"Of course, of course, of course!" Blechumi screeched. "I'll handle you like all the other pests I've met, I won't allow anything to stand in the way of MY progress! Let's see how your "ability" performs against the new two "quirks"!" The man swung his arms impossibly back as if his joint could rotate fully, both hands facing Sasuke, who wisely scrambled to make himself a more challenging target. Blechumi glared at Naruto, opening his mouth and oddly yelling at him.

The oddity of the moment almost caught Naruto. Why would the blonde assume a mere glare or odd yell was an attack? So when Blechumi's mouth began to glow blue, and an icy blue beam suddenly shot from it, Naruto was almost caught flatly. He barely slid underneath it and dived to the right as Blechumi moved his head to have the beam chase after him. Two clones from the eight flew in and grabbed Naruto and chucked him further to evade a faster swipe of his head. The brief respite allowed Naruto to see Blechumi's backward arm shooting a continuous beam of lighting at Sasuke. The Uchiha blurring back and forth to avoid the insanely fast blasts of lightning.

Naruto barely ducked another wild head swipe from Blechumi, watching as trees and water alike froze from the barest touch of the breath attack. Ice and snow formed wherever it went, and anything it so much as winged would be frozen as well. The eight clones raced between him and the beam, creating a wind wall attempting to block the beam, but it simply punched through it and froze them quickly. Each cracking into shards shortly after. Naruto raced among trees, the ice beam freezing and snapping each of them in two. Desperate, Naruto dived into a river and swam to the bottom and slowly upstream. A mere instant later, the beam contacted the water, and Naruto flinched as he felt the temperature instantly drop. Looking up, he realized the river was slowly freezing from the top. The ice seemingly crawled down to encase him as well. Naruto used wind to shoot out of the river before it froze entirely and landed back on the plain they were battling on. Giving him a moment to regroup as Blechumi struggled to spot him.

He saw Sasuke scrambling toward him a short distance away, just as he had against his own attack. Before Naruto could tell Sasuke to retreat the beam returned as Blechumi rediscovered him. Naruto narrowly avoided the beam just as the wild blasts of lightning chased after Sasuke a mere couple of feet away. 'Great, I'm barely escaping this damn ice attack and he wants to bring… oh, oh, I see!' Naruto realized his ploy with a cocky smile and raced forward to meet him. Once again, the two's chemistry showed as, without communication, the two ran past each other straight toward Blechumi's attacks.

Naruto smiled as he drew Riptide and channeled wind nature chakra into it. "Personal Atmosphere: Slicing Wind Currents!" Slashing Riptide several times, he sent several massive wind blades smashing through the lightning blasts with ease. Sasuke had realized it before he did, but lightning was weak to wind nature. Massive wind power was well within Naruto's ability.

Sasuke appeared calmly before the ice blast with a Jutsu of his own. "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!" Sasuke exhaled a literal sea of flames, which met the ice breath and met as it enveloped it. Ice was countered by searing heat, something Sasuke had in spades with his flames.

Blechumi openly gasped in shock as both of his attacks were overpowered. A sea of flames and massive wind blades closed in, combined with an explosion full of cutting wind. Naruto flinched as the flurry enveloped Blechumi fully. The trees behind him were caught in it as well being ripped to shreds and burned to ash at once. The grass burnt and died beneath the storm, and the mud dried and caked. Smoke filled the sky as a small fire slowly traveled down the riverside.

"Even that weird bastard can't be expected to survive that," Naruto remarked as they breathed in deeply before exhaling a gust of wind that forced the smoke clear, determined to see if the man was somehow just fine. However, he and Sasuke flinched as instead of a charred corpse or healing foe, they found a human-sized hole where he had been standing. Suddenly, both were ripped from their feet as the massive crab claws from before burst from the ground and held them in their crushing grip. Both cried out as Blechumi slowly rose from the earth. All the while the claws slowly increased in pressure.

"Yet another "quirk" of mine, as you said earlier." Blechumi haughtily explained as the two struggled to free themselves. "Since I fled the Elemental Nations, I've stolen all the Ninshu I could from these foolish clans. The very abilities I now use to crush you both." The crab claws suddenly smashed the two of them together in a bundle and restrained them together. Blechumi raised his hands and allowed lightning to coat and slowly electrocute them to death. "I've had my fun; enjoy death!" His mouth glowed blue again as he finished, and he prepared to freeze the two solid.

Shortly before he could, , he was suddenly knocked from his feet as a bull flew in from the sky and knocked Blechumi flying with a full bodied charge. This broke Blechumi's technique, allowing Naruto and Sasuke to recover and land on their feet. The bull stomped proudly before transforming back into Muri. The Okama worried, climbing upon Naruto's shoulders. Both Naruto and Sasuke stretched and prepared for the combat to renew as Muri worried over them.

"I got involved as soon as I could!" Muri assured. "Yuno already managed to not only defeat but somehow win over Tamaki? I just came back after seeing that. Just to find the two of you in much more danger. Are we sure we can take this guy?"

Sasuke snorted as he leaped sideways away from the two and slowly weaved hand signs. "You're foolish to think this man could ever beat us, though admittedly it was good you came when you did; even after saying I wouldn't underestimate him, I still did," Sasuke admitted. "Naruto, you know what we need to do now right?"

Naruto frowned as he nodded to Muri. "Yeah, we can't play around anymore. If he's showing his hand, it's time to show ours. Muri, are you ready?"

"Yeah, that's why we came here! Time to finally stop this Master!" Muri declared.

Blechumi laughed as he walked back in front of the three. "I was alarmed when you managed to blindside me like that. But now I see it is merely an amateur Okama coming to the "rescue". "I was certain the Okama or one of the major clans would get involved, but not that they would send some mere runt to deal with me."

"Laugh it up, you bastard," Naruto warned. "But just like you we were holding back."

"The beginning of your downfall is now," Sasuke assured.

"Show me your worst insects!" Blechumi challenged confidentiality.

There was no need for an intellectual response.

"Collaborative Technique: Personal Atmosphere: Level Two!" Naruto and Muri cried out in sync as the air around Naruto boomed and churned in response. The very air around him seemed to have come alive.

"Fiery Presence: Kagutsuchi!" Sasuke cried out as his entire body was coated in flame. The flames crawled among the ground around him and even dropped the level of the nearby river through pure heat.

Blechumi growled angrily at the sight of his foes unleashing their own power. "Do you truly believe you can stand before me as I am now?! Do you truly think whatever meager techniques you've gained mastery of will match my improvements upon the human form?! I am faster, stronger, more intelligent, better in every way! And after I beat the two of you, I will only improve further!"

Sasuke silently stepped forward, Naruto matching his gait as Muri transformed into his standard golden scarf form. "Do you really think the only thing that matters is improving yourself? Is it really the only way one can have worth?" Naruto responded as miniature explosions sounded off between him and Sasuke. The amount of wind and fire nature chakra between reacted to each other by mere proximity. "Changing, "evolving," as you put it. Sure, it's important; we can't remain the same forever, and we can't risk going stagnant after all. Then we would never grow as people or as a society. But you're insistent on it like it's the only thing that matters. Like no one or nothing else matters. What about bonds, what about home, what about the past? All the places, people, and events that made you what you are?"

"Meaningless prattle! My existence is validated only through my growth! Such is the meaning of all life; all we do is to grow our kind and ourselves! I merely act in acknowledgment of such! I will absorb whatever you are worth, becoming even better, making my life meaningful! With the power and influence I wield I will create a better world!"

The flames cleared from Sasuke's face for a moment as he glared at Blechumi openly. "Only caring for the present and future explains plenty about you, Blechumi. Ignoring one's past, ignoring one's roots, makes them blind. Blind and doomed to repeat mistakes others have already learned from. Regardless of whether we had come to this land, your flawed ideology assures that your ending would be the same. Defeated by superior warriors, well and truly short of your goal…"

Blechumi's eyes widened so big as if to pop out of his head. His mouth snapped open with glowing blue light as lighting encased his entire body. Naruto and Sasuke split up, approaching Blechumi from opposite sides. Blechumi whipped his mouth toward Naruto and his hands toward Sasuke. Toward both of them, a breath beam of ice and a massive amount of lightning headed toward their foes. However, in the face of the devastating attacks. Naruto smiled as Sasuke quickly burst around the small gaps between lighting, even tanking the occasional one without reaction. Naruto's approach was different; unlike certain geniuses, his technique wasn't armor that allowed him to endure it, but he could…

"Muri, let's repel this and create an opening. Help with the condensing and control part! I'll supply the power!" Naruto roared, drawing his hands back as a slowly growing orb of howling wind formed above them; as it did, the end of the scarf raised and touched the orb.

'Naruto, are you sure about this? We didn't use this technique against Gaara because we hadn't perfected it! We still haven't!' Muri's voice rang instead of his head.

'We couldn't afford a risk like that against Gaara; we were alone. But here we got Sasuke backing us up; I know he's… a lot; we don't agree on everything. But deep down, I can tell he's a solid guy. Hell, I'm starting to see what Yuno meant.' Naruto responded. 'If we want to save everyone we can't be afraid to take risks!'

Naruto roared out his new technique just before the beam collided with him. "Personal Atmosphere: Gale Beam!" Naruto pushed out his hands at once; the orb of howling wind above him had grown massive, larger than his own body. Muri's control kicked in with the precision required, and the orb shot out a concentrated beam of wind directly for the ice beam. With a terrible whine, the two collided before his own pushed its icy challenger back. Splashes of the ice beam sprayed around the area, freezing random patches around them, but in an instant, the beam was forced back into the shocked face of Blechumi. The man cried out as his top half was frozen. "Sasuke!"

Sasuke appeared in front of the quivering, partially frozen Blechumi with a boom, the air around them heating up and mist spewing from his presence. "I'm not an idiot; I was waiting for you to do this." Sasuke calmly stated before he kicked Blechumi in the chin. A massive boom and explosion erupted from the kick, burning and smashing Blechumi into the sky from the errant kick. "Follow my lead." He spoke simply.

Naruto smirked as, with another flash and boom, Sasuke shot up into the sky now above the stunned and burnt Blechumi. Sasuke began an absurdly paced barrage of jabs to the face and chest of Blechumi. Each left blisters upon the skin and battered him toward the ground. Sasuke finished with a double stomp that drove Blechumi deep into the earth. Pointing his fiery palms down at the buried man, Sasuke revealed his face again to make a final point. "We finish this the way we should've started, with our full might relentlessly till you are either dead or soon to be. Kagutsuchi: Raining Embers." A litany of tiny flaming embers dropped the rubble of earth where Blechumi was buried; just before they made contact, Naruto sent a large blade of wind to meet them. A massive explosion sounded off, and they met it, almost matched by the howl of pain from Blechumi.

Naruto frowned, hating that this was being drawn out, dealing such devastating attacks made him uncomfortable. Doing so repeatedly even more so, but all the same, with Muri and him working in tandem, they blew away the cloud of smoke and debris to reveal a kneeling and heavily burnt but still moving Blechumi. Naruto burst forward with a howl of the wind as he smashed Riptide into the rising face of Blechumi, actually managing to cause a deep gash into his nose, breaking it and covering his face with blood. The blow struck him into the ground, making him bounce off it from the force.

Naruto and Sasuke took a moment to prepare for more powerful attacks. Naruto prepared another powerful barrage of wind strikes as Sasuke created a massive fire orb. However, both flinched as lightning-enhanced threads shot toward them. Sasuke was fine, his armor incinerating it before it touched him. Naruto barely dodged it but flinched as it tracked him, catching him off guard. It yanked him toward Blechumi as Sasuke raced after him.

Cursing, Naruto managed to sever the thread with a flick of Riptide and turned to unleash a slash of chakra at Blechumi from it. However, the two massive crab claws burst from the ground and attempted to smash down at him. In a feat of pure strength, Naruto managed to deflect the first one with a swipe of Riptide. Sasuke burst past him at the second, kicking the claw into pieces with a fiery single blow. Naruto used the opening, intent on closing the distance, but had to backstep a stab from Blechumi's new tail. Naruto smirked as he caught it just before the stinger and held it back as Blechumi attempted to retract it. However, he flinched as the tail managed to wrap around his arm and throat, drawing him in as he choked. Blechumi cackled, all the while drawing back a lightning-covered fist. However, Sasuke appeared, kicking Blechumi in the face and sending him stumbling back before the man could follow up.

Naruto smiled even as he was dragged with him, the tension of the tail lessening enough for him to breathe. He stabbed up with a wind chakra nature-coated Riptide and managed to sever it. As he did, Naruto clutched Riptide with both hands and swung the sword more like a bat than a blade directly into Blechumi's open left side. Once again, the blade failed to indeed cut through him as it would any other, but it still sank deep enough to draw blood in what looked to be a massive cut. Smacking the man away and into the air.

Sasuke appeared next to him as the stunned and battered Blechumi rose up high into the air. "Together now, Naruto. Let's see if he can survive this."

"I was waiting for you. I managed to just barely cut the bastard. If we focus on that spot it should allow us to hit him with something not so easily healed. Thinking something with firepower and cutting force all while being precise. Think we can manage?

Sasuke merely nodded as the two prepared their strongest cutting attacks. Sasuke summoned Besmirched Flambe and enhanced it into a great sword. He gritted his teeth as he prepared his. Naruto filled Riptide with his chakra with a deep breath as he prepared to meet Sasuke's. "Collaboration Technique: Explosive Bisection!" The two called.

A wind and fire blade collided in a fiery explosion, but even still, it somehow maintained form enough to create a single blade of wind and fire together. The constant explosion of chakra cut up into the sky and into Blechumi, who screamed in eardrum shattering agony.

The sky filled with smoke, as a massive line was cut through even the clouds and embers drifting down to the ground below. The howling of fast moving wind filled the clearing. The gust from it even strained the two Chunin as they waited. The two watched as finally a blackened form fell out of it, smashing into the ground with a sickening thud. Neither said a word as both appeared next to the downed semi corpse.

Their technique had struck true indeed. Right where Naruto had started the cut was a massive ragged line cut into the man's body. It went past his ribs, through several organs and even his spine, and stopped just short of the rest of him. Not an inch of his skin wasn't covered in heavy burns; it had bubbled and even popped part a deep dark red where blood and skin alike had darkened. Specks of missing burnt-through skin exposed darkened bone and organs alike. Yet still, the man writhed as he faced them, his face fully burnt off and exposed eyes making for a grizzly sight as he snarled at them. Naruto blinked as he slowly realized the muscles, bones, organs, and even his skin were slowly regrowing. He could see incredibly tiny threads weaving them together…seemingly being used as a material for healing. But unlike before, the process was slow; the two had time to gawk for a moment at the grisly spectacle.

"Even now, he heals; if nothing else, the man's endurance is to be praised," Sasuke said with a raised brow. "We should finish this before this form drains all my chakra."

"Surely, he'll surrender now. He has to realize he can't beat us. Besides look at how slowly he's healing, he's nearing his limit. I'm sure as soon as he can speak he'll be pleading for mercy."

"K-ill you…" Blechumi gasped, making Naruto sigh. Even as the arrogant man scarcely had the vocal cords to speak he just had to threaten them.

"I get you aren't as at ease with death as I am. But I assure you we should ensure he's finished before we leave. While we could defeat him again with relative ease, he would wreak havoc on the others were we not there. We can't afford to allow him the chance to impede us again. Nor do I expect the man will let this go." Sasuke explained.

"I get it, I get it." Naruto complained. "I just hate this part; finishing off someone struggling for life. We should let him heal first. Give him something of a fighting chance."

"For what conceivable reason would I ever do that?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"You were all I'm a great warrior a second ago. Doesn't ganging up on a helpless guy go against that?"

"Not if we were in a fight to the death where we justly defeated him! And helpless? He just nearly killed us mere moments ago! Besides, if we let him heal too much, he could launch a counterattack!" Sasuke roared back.

"Yes, I could." Blechumi haughtily said, pointing two lighting-covered hands at them both. "DIE!" This blast of lightning was larger and more intense than any of the last, covering the entire area with lightning. Anything caught within its blast would be fried within seconds. "Perhaps next time, don't bicker in front of an undefeated foe!"

"I don't know, it makes for a hell of a distraction, ya know?" Naruto snarked from behind him. Naruto prepared with a reared back fist coated and filled with wind and chakra. Sasuke was above the man, spinning to unleash a falling spinning kick for his neck. The intending kicking leg was covered in an inferno that literally dripped flames.

Blechumi flinched and attempted to turn around, but it only served to open him up perfectly for their final attacks. Naruto felt his fast smash into and through his ribs with sickening ease as he lifted Blechumi from his feet. Sasuke's blow seemed to snap the man's neck in two; the force of their blows met and sent the man spiraling away in a mass of burned flesh and broken bones. The force of the blow shattered the ground around them within twenty feet and knocked down anything standing in the area.

Naruto and Sasuke landed and ceased their techniques. Both panting a bit from the effort before marching forward to the downed Blechumi. The man had nearly been snapped in two from their powerful dual blows. His torso and neck were bent at unnatural angles, his spine and ribs poking out of his body as he bled. But unlike before, there was no motion from the man or sign of him healing.

"He's done…" Naruto said grimly. "Bastard gave us no choice…"

Sasuke sighed. "He fought well, and we gave him the death he seemed so desperate to seek by making us an enemy. No need to feel guilt, Uzumaki…"

"Don't you ever wonder, about this is all? I get we couldn't let him do what he wanted… I mean, the bastard was a damn slaver. How much more evil does it get… I just get tired of feeling like I'm going around wreaking havoc and leaving bodies in my wake. I thought shinobi were heroes, these days I feel like a damn executioner." Naruto explained.

"Even if it is true, would you not do it all again?" Sasuke asked. "I know the answer is yes, and therefore, you know that it meant something. That the violence and chaos all lead to something. To whatever you deem your goal is. Such is the way of shinobi, we face the violence and darkness of this world, even creating our own as we go along. Learn to accept it Naruto, it's the only way to accept what this is."

"I just want to make the Leaf and the lives of my loved ones the best I can. Didn't expect this would be the cost. I mean can I really call myself a great leader if all I do is destroy?"

"So you'll relent?"

"No… just wondering what my goal should really be," Naruto explained. "We've taken long enough… we should help the others…"

"Smartest thing you've said all day."

'You okay Naruto?' Muri questioned from within his mind. 'You can take a moment if you need it.'

'I'm fine; for now, I have to focus on the here and now.' Naruto answered. 'But sometime soon, I really do need to think things over…'

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Shino's POV (Entrance to Chakra Anchor - Western River Plains)

Evening

Shino landed in front of the pulsating chakra disturbance his allies had pointed out to him. Roughly directly in the direction of the path that had been heading was the giant scarlet dome barrier, as expected. What was not expected was a large, roughly human-sized rectangle that was cut into the barrier. As if someone had formed a door. 'I suppose during the ambush, at least some of us, surely Mono and Muuni must've gotten ahead. The elder had been right in his assumption, and he could bypass it, it seemed. Shino prepared to step through it before some familiar presences closed in on him. Turning to face the group, Shino nearly broke out in a smile.

Hinata, Sakura, and Kiba landed just in front of them. The group is clearly somewhat worn out and roughed up but ultimately healthy. "Shino!" Hinata cried out happily.

"I'm glad you all made it out alright, I never doubted you would. I managed to take out Suzumebachi Kamizuru, yourselves?" Shino asked.

"Only Shino could make taking out a clan head sound like a walk in the park." Sakura sighed. "We were ambushed by the Waps clan, including their boss. Almost overwhelmed before my teammate saved us."

"Heh, I did what I could," Kiba said, only slightly smugly. "But yeah, we managed to scare 'em off after Sakura took out the Queen. It seems like we found a way into the barrier. What are we in for inside?"

"From what we had theorized beforehand, it seemed more than likely Ikam or at least a trusted subordinate of his would-be running this barrier and likely using it to protect them while they attempt to tamper with it. Considering the entrance we see and your presence here, it's more than likely Mono and Muuni used the chaos to go ahead. The fact they managed to bypass the barrier, yet it remains, suggests that thus far, they likely haven't managed to impede the user. Likely, they're experiencing considerable resistance." Shino explained to Kiba, who nodded grimly.

"Glad we got here for the interesting part~!" Yuno called as she and Tamaki landed before the group. "By the way, please don't hurt the stranger, a sort of turncoat in our favor."

"The more the merrier, I suppose…" Kiba agreed, staring at Tamaki in particular.

"We should expect this foe to be considerable and must move now!" Hinata chimed in. "We cannot allow the elder to die; if he does, it'll complicate matters greatly! Besides, the Okama are our allies!"

"So let's move forward, the others will discover this as we have, meaning we'll likely have reinforcements on the way. We should move forth, the elder is too valuable to let die." Shino decided. "We have considerable numbers, let us confront this final obstacle of ours…"