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Daichi looked at the situation and noted the position of everyone. 'Shikamaru and his team led one of them deeper into the forest. But since my clone is with them I don't have to worry. Kiba and his team are fighting in the clearing nearby in the opposite direction. None of them are hurt. That's a good sign. Iruka's lost quite a bit of blood but he'll be fine in a minute or two. Now all that's left is Mizuki… But that might be a problem.'

The boy glanced to his side and inwardly shook his head. Daichi was standing near his friend and could clearly feel the rise of the Nine Tails' malicious chakra emanating from him. 'With everything that happened today there's no doubt that everyone would be on edge. If they sense the presence of the Nine tails chakra then even if Mizuki is caught it might not end well for Naruto. I need to quickly calm him down.'

The Genin placed a hand on Naruto getting his attention. Naruto saw the seriousness in Daichi's eyes and gave him a questioning look.

"You need to calm down Naruto."

"Are you really telling me to calm down? After everything that happened. After Sasuke almost -"

"Yes. Sasuke will be fine. Right now fighting Mizuki angry won't help."

Naruto stood still and struggled with himself for a few seconds but then slowly let out a deep breath of air. The hidden chakra of the tailed beast slowly receded and Daichi internally let out a sigh of relief.

But at that time Mizuki spoke. "I told you all. He's the Nine tails. That chakra just now. It was the Nine tails. If he isn't killed the whole village would be destroyed."

Daichi could see that along with anger and hate there was also fear in Mizuki's eyes. The rogue instructor, seeing that his words weren't getting anyone to turn on Naruto, looked at Daichi. "Daichi. I know your parents died in the Nine tails attack and it's why you became an orphan."

The Genin was silent for a few moments before he nodded his head. "You are right. The Nine tails did kill my parents."

Naruto held his head down and clenched his fist but he was silent. He didn't have the strength to look at his friend.

"But I don't see a giant mountain sized fox anywhere. So you must be mistaken." The gamer ninja had a smirk as he looked at the Chunin.

Naruto was shocked hearing that and turned his head. He saw Daichi giving him a big smile and he had small tears in the corner of his eyes.

"He's not your friend." Mizuki tried one more time to turn the Genin against his friend but it was useless.

Daichi narrowed his eyes as he glared at the grey haired ninja. "Who exactly are you to decide who my friends are?" He then looked at his friend and took note of his condition.

'Naruto's trying to hide it but he's exhausted. If I had to guess I'd say he's been using the shadow clone jutsu multiple times already. There are also multiple wounds on his body. The nature of those injuries suggests it came from someone who was much faster.'

Daichi's eyes then glanced at Mizuki. 'Of course it's him. His speed in this transformed state is much greater than a normal Chunin ninja.'

Daichi took a closer look at Mizuki's body and noted something. 'I see… It won't be long now.'

"I'm sick of hearing him talk. Daichi. Let's kick his ass." Naruto was about to bring his hands to make the shadow clone seal but his friend stopped him.

"Naruto, if you don't mind, I'd like to fight him alone. There are a few things I want to find out from him."

Naruto looked at his friend and was confused. "I'm not gonna let him just get away with everything he did."

"Neither am I. But right now you're exhausted. You're in no shape to fight him."

"But-"

"And someone needs to protect Sakura and Sasuke. Right now my real self is focused on healing Sasuke's injuries and if we're both fighting here and someone attacks them, it'll be trouble."

Hearing that Naruto became silent and looked at Mizuki with anger.

"I promise. I'll make him pay. He will face the consequences of his actions. He's not getting away."

Naruto looked at Daichi and finally relented. He turned back and went near Sakura, Sasuke and the real Daichi while the clone faced Mizuki.

"You really think one Shadow clone is strong enough to beat me? How arrogant." Mizuki sneered at the boy.

The gamer ninja chuckled as he looked at his enemy. "I could say the same about you. Down an arm, your plans failed and you still have the audacity to make threats…. The truth is Mizuki… You're insanely stupid."

The transformed Chunin gritted his teeth as he looked at the Genin. "You. This is all your fault. If you hadn't helped that demon-"

BANG!

An instant later a punch struck Mizuki's gut sending rocketing backwards. His back crashed through a couple of trees before tumbling and rolling on ground and coming to a stop. Mizuki felt pain all over his body and was struggling to get up.

'Wh…What the… I couldn't even see him move.'

As he tried to get up he heard footsteps getting closer. The rogue ninja looked up from the ground and saw Daichi standing a few meters away, most of his body hidden in darkness. The rogue ninja had fear as he looked at the boy.

Daichi got closer and looked at the man with an emotionless face. "Call my friend that word again and I'll break your legs next. This is your only warning."

The Chunin struggled and was breathing harder and harder. He struggled and slowly got to his feet. 'Shit. I need to escape. It's too late. I can't get the scroll now. I have to get out of this village.'

Mizuki turned around and was about to jump when he saw Daichi standing there. "How did you-"

That was all the chunin got to say before he was blasted back to the clearing near Naruto and the others. Mizuki skidded on the ground and rolled several times before hitting a boulder.

He didn't even have strength to get up after getting hit with Daichi's two powerful blows. He saw the boy walking up to him and just staring at him with a cold expression.

"What connection do you have with Orochimaru?"

Mizuki turned his head and looked at the boy standing near him. 'This isn't possible. I was supposed to be invincible.'

He could only look up at the night sky in helplessness as a painful realization came to him. 'My plans failed. It's all over.'

—-

At that moment the future team 10 and team 8 appeared and went near Naruto's group.

"Ha. Looks like we beat the bad guy first." Kiba had a smirk as he looked at Shikamaru and Choji.

"It was never a competition." Ino answered while Shikamaru just sighed. He looked at his former teacher lying several meters ahead of them with Daichi interrogating him. The young Nara just shook his head as he thought about everything. "Looks like Mizuki is done for. He can't even move."

"Serves him right." Ino said as she glared at the man. She then turned to Sasuke.

"His chakra is fading fast. His strength is waning." Shino spoke and Hinata also nodded in affirmation as they gazed at their former teacher.

Kiba looked at the unconscious Uchiha and he was concerned. "Daichi, is he going to be alright?"

The medic ninja gave everyone a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I've healed most of his injuries. He should wake up in a couple of minutes."

Sakura had a big teary smile. "Thank you Daichi. If it weren't for you…"

"Don't mention it, Sakura. It's my job as a medic after all."

Just then, Iruka walked up to them and looked at everyone. His eyes went down to Sasuke and he let out a sigh of relief as he sensed the Uchiha's chakra signature getting stronger and stronger.

He looked at his students with a big smile. "All of you did well. You're going to be great ninjas of this village one day."

Everyone had smiles on their faces except Naruto. He looked down and was silent. Iruka looked at his favorite student and frowned.

"What's wrong, Naruto?"

"Sensei… I couldn't even protect my headband. Mizuki took it from me and destroyed it… I…"

Iruka had a gentle smile and walked up to the boy. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and spoke. "Sometimes we meet powerful opponents when we least expect it. Our goal should be to survive that encounter and become stronger for the next battle. Your life for that headband… I would take that trade any day."

"Sensei…"

Before Naruto could say more Iruka took off his headband and tied it around the boy's head. "You are my student and a Genin of the Leaf village. Mizuki can't take that away from you."

Naruto had a big grin and nodded his head.

Suddenly Daichi looked up and turned his head in the west direction. "We have company. Don't worry. They're friendly."

A few seconds later several ninjas appeared in the area and looked around. Prominent among them were Kurenai, Genma, Kakashi, his summon Pakkun, Asuma and Anko.

They saw Mizuki on the ground with Daichi talking to him while another Daichi healing Sasuke with the students and Iruka near him. Anko took a closer look and saw the Forbidden scroll on Sakura's back and inwardly let out a breath of relief. "Looks like you kids had quite the party."

"More like a nightmare we wished we could have escaped from sooner…" Ino said under her breath.

"There were three other prisoners here. Where are they?" Asuma asked.

"We took care of them. That guy called Haroshi is unconscious about 100 meters west of here." Kiba replied with a grin.

"We managed to trap his partner Seijo about 160 meters north east." Shikamaru answered for his team.

Anko nodded to the Chunins behind her and they disappeared to said locations.

Genma saw Sasuke's unconscious state and frowned. "How is he?" He looked at Daichi and asked.

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"He suffered several internal injuries and an artery was cut near the heart but I got here just in time. I've healed most of the damage. He'll wake up soon."

The Jonins let out a breath of relief and then turned to the culprit laying on the ground a few meters ahead of them. As they looked at the man responsible he suddenly started screaming. Steam started coming from his body and before everyone's eyes his skin turned dark brown and body shrank.

—-

A few Minutes ago.

As Daichi looked at the defeated Mizuki he gained memories from the shadow clones assigned to Kiba and Shikamaru's team. He inwardly smiled as he went through the memories.

'Looks like they learned how to work as a team to take down a stronger enemy before they were even assigned to a Jonin.'

He focused his attention back on the enemy in front of him and spoke. "What connection do you have with Orochimaru?"

'I need to know if there is more to his ties with Orochimaru than what's shown in the story.'

Mizuki tilted his head and asked the boy. "How… How do you know I have something…. To do with him?"

"Your transformation… You're not smart enough to create something with these effects. Only someone with a great deal of knowledge on the human body can make the drug you took. I'm betting it's him."

Mizuki chuckled as he looked at the Genin. "So what if I was working for him? I won't tell you anything."

Daichi narrowed his eyes and looked to the side. He saw the defeated prisoner Zefrek and asked about the prison break.

"You were using the prisoners as a distraction to escape with the scroll. Tell me. Was that really your idea or was it someone else's?"

"You… do you really expect me… to just answer your questions brat…" Daichi saw the burning hate in Mizuki's eyes and sighed.

As they were talking several Jonins arrived at the scene and were surveying the situation. Daichi saw that his teacher was among the new arrivals and gave the man a nod. The Genin turned his attention back to Mizuki. "This is the end of the road for you Mizuki."

"Go to hell brat… Once I get my strength back… I'll kill you…"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Daichi was keeping a close eye on the man's vitals and saw that his body was at the breaking point. A couple seconds later steam started to erupt from the man's body and he shrank in size. He lost all his strength and looked like a weak, old malnutritioned man.

"Aaarhhh… Wh… what's happening… to me? Why am I like this?" He struggled to stand but didn't even have the strength to sit up.

The rest of the Jonins came over and looked at Mizuki. They had no pity for what the man did. Anko whistled as she looked at the former academy teacher's pitiful state. "Damn. I didn't know you medic nins could do that. Brutal. I like it." She gave Daichi a wild grin and a thumbs up.

"Please don't give him any ideas Anko." Kurenai said with a sigh.

"Actually I didn't. He did it to himself." Daichi said with a small shake of his head.

Pakkun who jumped atop Kakashi took a couple sniffs in the air grimaced. "Ergh. I can smell all sorts of weird narcotics coming from his body."

"What exactly happened to him?" Kakashi asked his student.

"As I'm sure you all saw earlier, he was in a transformed state. My guess would be that he took some sort of drug to make it happen. A drug I'm pretty sure was Orochimaru's creation."

"Wait what? You mean Orochimaru had a hand in this." Asuma asked with a concerned tone. The other Jonins were on alert as well. They knew the threat the snake Sannin posed.

Daichi shrugged his shoulders at that. "I don't know for sure or what his involvement in this is. That's something you guys in the interrogation department will have to figure out. What I can tell you is that this drug was an incomplete one. It temporarily gives the user an immense boost but it ultimately destroys the body."

"No… You're…" Mizuki tried his best and with one hand and slowly stood. His attention was entirely on Daichi. The Jonin's were half curious to what he would do and say.

"You're lying. This is supposed to be the…. ultimate power… Lord Orochimaru… He-"

Daichi shook his head and cut Mizuki off. "He used you. Your cells are being destroyed from within. These are the side effects of the drug you took."

"No… that can't be."

"As I said, that drug was incomplete. He used you as an experiment. Based on observing your vitals, my understanding is that the drug you took absorbs the power of the animal you want and combines it with the human genome. It gives quite a boost to the user but that's temporary and then you'll feel the nasty side effects. While it's in use it puts an incredible strain on the cells. It's damage that can't be reversed."

'Well. I can probably heal you. But that's the last thing on my to do list.' Daichi looked at Mizuki and scoffed.

The Rogue chunin was angry hearing that. "You." He was about to step forward but Anko stepped in and grabbed his arm. "Ok. No more of that. You'll have plenty of time to reflect on your actions back at T&I."

"I'd go easy on him. Physically at least. He's quite fragile." Daichi couldn't help but quip with a chuckle. Anko and a few Chunins disappeared with Mizuki and the unconscious prisoners.

At that moment they heard a groan and turned around to see Sasuke awake with Sakura giving him a tight hug. He felt his chest and saw that it was completely healed. Sasuke turned to Daichi and was about to speak but Daichi stopped him. "You're welcome."

He gave the Uchiha a smile and pulled him to his feet. The rest of the Genins smiled seeing their friend up on his feet. The Jonins quickly began escorting the new Genins and Iruka to the Hokage tower.

"I saw some small fires in the market and near the civilian district. Is everything alright?" Daichi asked Genma.

"Don't worry. We got it under control. Thankfully there was no serious injury to anyone or any major damages."

"What? Fire? What are you talking about?" Iruka, who was near them asked.

It was Kurenai who spoke. "Mizuki planned a prison break and it happened while you were all in the forest. A few prisoners set explosions in multiple locations. But the patrol units and Anbu teams are on it now."

"I can't believe he would go that far." Iruka couldn't help but ponder when and where it all went wrong.

As they jumped through the trees Asuma eyes the Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. He knew his father wanted him to be their sensei. "How exactly did you capture your enemy?"

Ino grinned. "Well…"

—-

Flashback.

Daichi's clone came to assist the three and the clone quickly healed their minor injuries and even restored most of their chakra and stamina.

"Thanks Daichi. You're the best… Um, is Sasuke going to be alright?" Ino asked her friend.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine. I'll make sure of it." The shadow clone Daichi replied with a calming smile and was about to battle Seijo but Shikamaru stopped him.

"Daichi. If it's possible, can you leave him to us? This is our fight."

The Genin noted the expression on the faces of the three and immediately knew they were serious. 'They must be angry about what happened with Sasuke. I would be too.'

Daichi nodded and stepped back. "He's yours. But if things turn for the worse. I'll be stepping in."

Shikamaru nodded and he, along with his teammates, turned their attention to Seijo. Ino was the first to attack the prisoner with her shurikens.

Seijo easily evaded the weapons but the next second, had to jump from his spot to escape a fast moving shadow and landed on a tree branch. "It won't be that easy to capture me brats. I'm a Chunin."

"Yeah. The weakest Chunin in the village. You can't even defeat us. And we aren't even on a Genin team yet." Ino said with a mocking grin provoking the man.

Seijo was angry as he looked at the grin on the girl's face and at that second a giant body quickly came at him from the shadows.

"Human boulder jutsu!" A large round spinning body quickly came straight at Seijo but he easily avoided Choji's attack and landed several meters away. As he dodged Choji's attack he was also keeping an eye on Ino's position and saw that she was trying to use the Yamanaka clan jutsu on him.

"I won't fall for that trick. I've seen your battle style. So I'll take you out first girl." Seijo turned his attention and sprinted after Ino.

Ino eyes widened in slight fear and immediately sprinted through the forest with the prisoner right behind. Shikamaru and Choji immediately followed after them.

The prisoner took note of the route his prey was running and inwardly smirked. 'Several meters ahead is a large open clearing. That Nara's hidden attacks and Shadow possession jutsu won't work so easily there. I know the speed of his shadow possession jutsu so I'll be able to escape as long as I keep in mind his position at all times. That Akimichi kid also can't control his movements that well. In that setting, taking them out will be a piece of cake.'

Seijo was catching up to the girl in front of him quickly and just as Ino was near his grasp and near the edge of the open space, she increased her speed and threw two kunai to the side triggering the hidden traps they set up nearby.

Several shuriken were launched from the bushes and aimed to where Seijo was going to land. He took his kunai and immediately deflected several weapons. Just as he landed, Choji's giant spinning figure flew over his head and made him look up for a split second. His eyes turned to Ino who was looking at him with great caution.

Seijo smirked seeing the young Akimichi's attack miss. 'That Nara is closing in. Based on the speed with which his shadow moves, I still have a couple of seconds.'

But at that moment, against his calculations Seijo suddenly found himself becoming paralyzed. 'No. This jutsu.'

"Shadow possession jutsu successful." The smug tone in Shikamaru's voice was clear to everyone.

As Seijo was struggling, Ino stood with a grin and cut a very thin ninja wire that was tied near a tree. The next second multiple ninja wires sprung up from the ground and wrapped all around Seijo, completely trapping him.

"Now Choji!"

At Shikamaru's signal the Akimichi rushed at the Chunin with everything he got and slammed into him, knocking him out. Just before Choji struck, Shikamaru let go of his jutsu and stood safely observing everything.

The three Genins and the hidden Daichi looked at the Chunin and they made sure he was unconscious. The Genin was impressed with what he saw. 'When Shikamaru used the shadow possession jutsu multiple times he made sure to showcase its speed to the enemy. Shikamaru made the jutsu speed consistent and made Seijo miscalculate the speed of his technique. He was keeping an eye on Shikamaru's position and became overconfident thinking he could escape the jutsu when Shikamaru used it.'

Daichi remembered how Ino was leading the man to this location without making it obvious. 'Ino lured him here and then Choji not only distracted Seijo by flying above him, but Shikamaru used Choji's shadow that was cast over Seijo as an extension to his jutsu and instantly immobilized him. Then Ino triggered the traps and Choji ended it with a finishing blow…. Not bad you guys. Not bad at all.'

"Well done you guys. You three make a great team." Daichi said with a smile.

"I guess they're alright." Ino looked at Shikamaru and Choji with a smile. But the next moment her smile got bigger as she looked at Daichi. "But they're not you. Come on. What do you say I join your team huh?"

She quickly rushed to Daichi and linked arms with him.

"That's not exactly up to me, Ino. Besides what do you say we go to the others. They're probably waiting for us." Daichi laughed awkwardly and then vanished in a puff of smoke.

"He's right. We should get back to the others." Choji spoke and the three made it back to the clearing and saw Mizuki defeated on the ground with Daichi standing over him. They saw Kiba, Hinata and Shino waiting for them.

—-

Flashback End.

"We waited and that's when you all showed up."

The Jonins were very impressed with the way they handled the battle. Asuma smiled as he looked at the three. 'These kids are something else. Not even on a team and already they took down a chunin with excellent teamwork. Guess this is going to be a lot more fun than I thought.'

Kurenai looked at the three Genins that the Hokage wanted her to take on as well. "Did you three have any trouble with your enemy?"

"Nay. Shino drained his chakra while Hinata and I kept him busy with our Taijutsu. He didn't last that long."

Kiba recalled his memories of that fight. He asked Daichi to only step in if they couldn't handle him.

Daichi respected his wishes and the three attacked Haroshi with everything they had. Since Haroshi was interested in the Byakugan he fought with Hinata in hand to hand combat multiple times but with Shino and Kiba also attacking him, the Chunin didn't last for long.

Hinata's Gentle Fist and Shino's chakra draining insects made quick work of the enemy while Kiba sent the final attack that knocked Haroshi into sleep.

Iruka had a proud look as he heard their battles. He looked at Daichi and he recalled the boy helping him finish his fight with Zefrek as well. 'His long range healing skill is really impressive. It's quite effective on the battlefield.'

Daichi restrained Zefrek's body with chakra strings and turned them into lightning strings, paralyzing the man's muscles. Iruka, who was healed, quickly landed several blows to critical areas that put Zefrek under.

Soon the large group of ninjas reached the Hokage tower. The Genins saw the Hokage giving out orders in front of the tower and coordinating the ninjas. Since the Genin's were safe the Jonins left to track and subdue the escapees.

"Sir, we've confirmed that there are no more explosives or traps set in the village." An Anbu gave his report.

"Good. Now with the Sacred scroll returned and the perpetrators behind this attack under custody, your task is to recapture every escaped prisoner."

"Yes sir." The Anbu vanished and the old kage turned to the Genin's and Iruka. He had an unreadable expression as he looked at them and the kids were slightly nervous.

Naruto took the scroll from Sakura and stepped forward. He held the scroll up to the kage. "Sorry for all the trouble old man."

Hiruzen looked at Naruto silently for a few more seconds and was inwardly amused as the boy squirmed. He then smiled and looked at everyone present. "Well done. All of you."

He turned around and started making his way to his office. "Come."

At his order Daichi, Iruka and the new Genins followed the kage into his office.

—-

Near the Fire country border.

"Lady Tsunade. Nothing's happened so far. Maybe this isn't some bad luck. Maybe you just got lucky and won." Shizune said as she followed her teacher.

"There is no such thing as good luck when it comes to my winnings. Something bad is going to happen. I just know it." Tsunade was paranoid and was out of the small city they were previously gambling in.

At that moment a voice came from the shadows that stopped the two Leaf ninjas in their tracks. "Hello Tsunade. You look like you're in a hurry."

The blonde ninja looked at the man who appeared from the shadows. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "Orochimaru. What the hell do you want?"

"Ohhh… Tsunade… Why the hostility? Is that how you treat an old colleague? kukuku…."

Shizune recognized the snake Sanin and was instantly on alert. She concentrated and sensed several chakras nearby. 'He didn't come alone.'

Multiple people appeared from the shadows and encircled the blonde Sannin and her apprentice.

Shizune was slightly sweating. 'This isn't good. This isn't good at all.'

Tsunade narrowed her eyes as glanced at the surroundings and then to her former teammate. 'So you're the reason for my winnings. Of all people…. He's clearly here for a fight. I might have to go all out.'

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Author's note:

Ok guys. Your thoughts. How was the chapter? Did you enjoy the Ino shika cho fight? And Daichi basically stomped Mizuki because that guy was just that weak despite his powerup.

Now, I had a more detailed fight for Kiba's team too but then I scrapped it. I'll showcase their battle skills another time at another opportunity.

As I mentioned before, the Tsunade meeting Orochimaru will be the second incident that will take place. Did you guys see this coming? Do you guess what my plan is?

I'll give you one spoiler. Someone will die at the end of this incident.