Naruto Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Fan Fiction ❯ The False Apocalypse ❯ The Great Shinobi Massacre Pt.2 ( Chapter 26 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The war is well under way as a strange turn of events forces Nazomishi to release his restraints. What horrors will fallow when Zansatsu finally appears?

Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Martial Arts / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.07.2009 | Pages: 10 | Words: 17.8K | Visits: 194 | Status: Completed

The False Apocalypse

The Shinobi Saga

Chapter 26

Shinobi DaiZansatsu: The Great Shinobi MassacrePt.2

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

“Lord Seijuurou, Your battalion is ready.” A sound Shinobi appeared kneeling at Hiko's feet only yards from a fourteen other Sound Shinobi ready for battle. The swordsman's skill was held in high regard with Orochimaru. It was held to such a high degree that he had been given a large battalion to command as he saw fit instead of being sent in with the sound four he was to guide his troops on a special mission to capture the Hokage's tower. Within the group was an elite Jounin commander directly under Hiko, ten more Jounin and five chuunin with skills specially picked for this assignment.

“…” Hiko was about to dismiss the man when a thunderbolt blasted its way into the sky, originating from the exam arena. The loud explosion alerted all the Shinobi to the bolt causing Hiko to turn his head seeing the final moments of the beam as it vanished into thin air.

“W-was that the signal ….sir?” Hiko, still saying nothing turned back to the commander. About to say something else the commander was cut short as his head fell to the ground fallowing a streak of light originating from Hiko's Shirasaya.

“Lord Seijuurou? What happened?” Another Shinobi inquired as he leaped from formation for fear that their commander had said something treasonous. That had to be it, They had heard far too many times how Orochimaru dealt with treacherous questions.

“It's nothing.” Hiko stated calmly as he shook the blood of his blade.

“If I may inquire Lord Seijuurou, why are you still wearing your restraints? Surely it wouldn't hurt to…” The man was quickly silenced by Hiko's unforgiving blade passing through the Shinobi's body from right thigh to left shoulder. The sheer force of the strike blasted each piece of the broken body aside as soon as the stroke had finished its cut. Hiko paid the fallen warrior no mind as he made his way to the rest of the battalion who were now looking at him in shock and horror. Many were thinking to themselves `What did they do? Must of insulted him, idiots...'

Hiko Seijuurou was wearing his traditional spring-loaded overcoat over his blue Hakama.

“Who among you are truly loyal to Orochimaru?” Many were taken back by the question, but soon came to the conclusion that he was trying to get them revved up for the battle. This in actuality was not his intention. He wanted to read their subconscious and see who among them really wanted to do all this. Bringing the thought to their minds would make this mindreading far easier and far quicker. Hiko's goal had been reached.

Master Hiko Seijuurou of the Zate walked forward to the men of the unit examining their eyes and rapidly determined their true loyalties. Between his skill as a swordsman and his ability as a Jedi it wasn't really all that hard. Of the sixteen Shinobi in the initial battalion two were dead and only three of the remaining had the compassion necessary to let live. With one powerful slash half of the men lay strewn upon the ground, staining it with blood and entrails. The others were blasted back from the sheer force of the attack.

“What are you doing Lord Seijuurou, have you gone mad!” One of the surviving Shinobi screamed before receiving a thrust through his skull. The speed at which Hiko moved was unreal, godlike. It was beyond anything they had seen out of their elites before. Only Orochimaru had moved at such speeds and even that they hadn't seen before. Two chuunin stumbled back in fear for their lives as they watched their comrades drop like flies. The third was a Jounin who charged Hiko with a kunai only for his wrist to be caught and the kunai twisted out of his grip.

“Run. You three have no place in this battle.” Hiko stated as a command as he threw the Jounin to the ground. The Jounin fell on his butt as he watched Hiko turn to leave. He didn't know why but he had to know what had just happened.

“Why? Why did you betray us? Why do we get to live!” The Jounin screamed while the others lay motionless and in shock.

“You three hold no true loyalties to Orochimaru nor sound. You are innocents forced into battle by a madman. This is not your battle and you do not belong here.” Hiko replied bluntly knowing all too well that whatever he said wouldn't get through to them.

“You- You can't do this! We trusted you!”

“Go home. Your families need you.” No sooner had Hiko said this than he vanished in a whorl of leaves. Not far away Kimimaro sat laxly on a log surrounded by the bloody bodies of his brigade. He watched intently as Hiko walked out of a nearby forest into the clearing where he sat.

“You are sure we can win?” Kimimaru asked as he watched bright bursts of light in the distance. The battle was well underway. Hiko noticed what Kimimaru was referring to as a massive three headed snake began to tower high over the forest.

“My foolish pupil is too stubborn to lose. Our chances are high.” A great streak flashed through the sky severing the heads of the massive snake off in the distance. A dramatic rain of blood ensued well beyond the moment an enormous thump resounded throughout the village.

“I still can't help but feel like I am betraying Orochimaru.” Kimimaru pushed off from the log as he watched the sky fill with dragons and various summons appear throughout the forest. A fiery bird swooped overhead just high enough to not catch the trees on fire as it blew fire on a nearby encampment. The two swordsmen watched intently as the bird came around for another blast at another encampment full of already retreating shinobi.

Hiko pulled out a vile of blood and chakra crushing it in his palms after forming a verity of hand seals. When he slammed his hands down on the ground he summoned a long, flowing, serpentine dragon. It flew into the sky and dove down into the nearby forest taking a snake into its jaws by the neck, permitting it to fall limp before dropping it to the ground only a few blocks from their location.

“I'm afraid your loyalties are your decision. If you fallow me to the Zate you will find friendship and a purpose at the price of betraying a man who uses you as a tool. Remain loyal to him and we friends must fight. I can only hope you would take the path I consider more fulfilling.” Hiko replied as he watched the snake fall from the sky.

“Forgive me Hiko; it is… a difficult change.” Kimimaro replied after some thought. He had been considering this betrayal for weeks and was still finding it difficult to leave the pale Sannin. He and Hiko had become good friends over the past few years. Kimimaro had been driven by a need to be needed, a need to belong somewhere. With this disease killing him he really had little choice. He could choose to serve Orochimaru for whatever few months he had left to live. Or he could fallow his friend to a place where he was practically promised a cure. To him the Zate sounded too good to be true. How could complete strangers accept someone like him as part of, as Hiko called it `a family?' The change was going to be difficult for him but somewhere deep inside he understood what Hiko was saying. Orochimaru didn't really care for him; he was simply a tool of war to that man. To Kimimaro, he could only try and hope this friend was right.

“Change is difficult, there is nothing to forgive. Come, I don't want to be around once the summons start their rampage.”

“Agreed.” And thus they leaped on towards the city to help deal with fortifying the walls.

Things were currently going very well for Konoha and her allies. They had thwarted the initial attack from spies on the inside and the sound four were currently off in battles with various Jounin. Unfortunately, things didn't quite go as planned with Orochimaru.

A group of Anbu appeared in a blur of speed to examine the remains of the snake Sannin. Yoda had immediately leaped away to guard the gates and Sasuke was soon joined by Naruto and Aoshi before leaping away to deal with enemy Shinobi and quite possibly Akatsuki.

“Sir, I think it worked.” An Anbu behind a hawk mask stated. Another walked closer to the remains, picking a stone off the top in an attempt to get a better look at the corpse.

“Help me remove the stones, we need to confirm the kill.” The captain of the group commanded as he knelt down to the nearest stone.

“Yes sir!” The three other Anbu said in unison as they started to carry the crushed stone imprisonment away from the body. When the pale carcass was finally visible the captain knelt down to get a closer look. Reaching down he noticed a pealing piece of skin and began to peal it away. What he saw shocked him to no end.

“Burn it, it's an imposter.” The captain ripped back the white skin to reveal the face of a mutated man. The face was pail but nowhere near as much as Orochimaru's. Upon removing a final stone another face was crushed beneath the earth. Both looked exactly the same. It was one of the sound four they had been warned about.

“Damn it. You mean he's still out there.”

“Yes just burn this one and let's move on. We can't waste any more time here.”

“Roger.” The squad said in unison while backing up with the captain forming a series of hand seals for a fire jutsu.

Within the walls of the city the situation could best be described as utter chaos. Thousands of civilians ran from their homes, many with child in arm and spouse in hand. Thousands fled as Summons littered the skies. Various types of summons quickly broke through the lines of defense and were creating obscene amounts of collateral damage as they clashed. The fallen summons crushed buildings with nowhere else to fall, others fell just to spite their opposition.

Amidst all the chaos Genin and Chuunin of the leaf made every effort to save as many civilians as possible. Sadly those who would have otherwise had an easy time avoiding the summons who mostly dealt with their own kind, found themselves threatened with an ever graver opponent. Each member of Akatsuki quickly broke through the front lines with a group of 16 Chuunin and Jounin fallowing close behind.

Hidan was ecstatic marching down a heavily populated street cleaving heads from bodies in such a sadistic manor, even the shinobi at his disposal found it gruesome.

“AAAhaahahahha Jashin Sama! Be pleased with these sacrifices!” Hidan cackled manically. Again and again his slashes cleaved the innocents in two. The Shinobi under his command stood back letting their commander do all the work, mostly out of fear of what he would do to them if they were to interfere. The best word to describe the Jashin believer was `maniac.' Truthfully it scared the shit out of his subordinates. Secretly they prayed he wouldn't turn on them as his next set of sacrifices.

“Save my baby!” A woman cried to the sky as she ran from the murderous maniac. It didn't take long for him to catch up to her, throwing his scythe while maintaining control with the rope attached at the end. Much to Hidan's surprise a familiar blur of pink and red came down next to the blade smashing it to the ground with a sheathed Katana. The speedy warrior trapped Hidan's scythe between the ground and the butt of a sheathe. The woman covered her baby, cradling it against the ground in every attempt to save the newborn from the raving lunatic only to realize that what she thought would be her end, never came.

“You will not harm another living being that you will not.” The blur's eyes held an unfamiliar emotion those outside of the Zate. It was neither hate nor love; himself nor the Battousai, it was his Kenshin's ultimate persona, the one he had gained upon learning the final technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.

“You… “ Hidan's eyes hardened into a glair while noticing who it was. Seconds later his face morphed into that of a sadistic smirk. “…he eAAaAHAAHAhah JASHIN SAMA. Thank you for granting me this battle for your glory! This fool will learn of your greatness. He will pay for insulting your existence!” Hidan screamed to the sky in maniacal fashion while his subordinates looked on smirking. They couldn't help but wonder what fool would attempt to take on an immortal.

“Are you finished…?” No sooner had Kenshin finished his question than he had vanished in a blur of speed, releasing the force holding back Hidan's blade. The immortal withdrew his need to kill the woman and focused his entire attention on locating the red haired samurai. He looked all around, grunting in frustration at the elusive traitor, with his inability to find him.

“Stop hiding you coward! Come out so I can sacrifice you to Jashin Sama!” Hidan screamed while turning in various directions, attempting to find any trace of an opponent. The only thing that could draw his attention was the woman only ten feet away from him, laying on the ground, paralyzed in horror.

“Fine then, ff you won't come out on your own then I guess the woman will have to do.” Hidan grinned sadistically as he pulled his blade back, ready for a full swing as he leaped towards her at the full speed he was capable of. A rather impressive speed for most shinobi, that was sure. However, in comparison to Kenshin's unparalleled Godspeed, it looked like the crawl of an ant. What Hidan and everyone outside of the Zate didn't know was that Kenshin's speed is by far the greatest of any member in the Zate. Even within the group Kenshin's speed was in a league of its own, it had been since Wolverine's world gave him his own special ability.

“Over here!” Kenshin's voice echoed through the area, detached from any specific location. It was as if he had spoken from dozens of positions around Hidan at the same time. Not a moment later a flurry of blades impaled Hidan from every side. Above, below, around in every direction imaginable, he was run through by what seemed to be fully solid clones. One of the three blades on Hidan's scythe fell to the ground along with the bottom half of the Staff. His weapon was nearly useless.

At this point Hidan looked like a pincushion, run through with over twenty swords. He cursed as blood ran out his mouth and nose. One sword was even sticking strait through his skull from back to front, exiting between the eyes. Hidan struggled to free himself from his prison of blades, but to no avail Kenshin had him pinned in place from every direction imaginable. Movement was impossible. Held in place by the numerous clone supported swords Hidan finally fell back into his usual routine of mockery. “What, you thought that would work? I'm immortal damn it! Haaahahahahah Jashin sama will kill you! Don't you get it, You can't beat me!”

“No, but I can.” Hidan looked up to a building where a feminine voice came from. On top of the building Kenshin stood Next to Rei who was performing dozens of hand seals in sequence.

“Immortal does not mean invulnerable that it does not.” Kenshin said smiling as Rei finished forming her jutsu.

“Say high to the four winds for me. Katon - Shounetsujigoku (Fire Release - Inferno)” Rei finished the final hand seal and threw her right arm out to her side, gripping the shoulder with her left hand. Fire began to spin around the length of her arm, getting faster and faster, rapidly starting to suck air in around it. As the fire span it sucked more and more air in making it burn hotter and brighter, growing ever more powerful. “Shine! (ã—ã Shi-ne…it means DIE!…and yes that is conjugated as a command…from the word Shinu… it just doesn't work too well in romanji… -_-` )

Rei thrusted her arm forth and the fire took on the form of a long and flowing dragon. As it left her arm the dragon took on a blue hue, burning even hotter and brighter soon turning to a pure white.

“What! No you can't do this, Jashin sama will save me. JASHIN SAMA!” His screams were soon cut short as the white hot dragon descended upon Hindan. The fire burned so hot that his skin began to melt before the dragon even touched him. The nearby buildings felt the devastating blast as curtains evaporated and glass liquefied under the intense blaze. By the time the attack ended there weren't even ashes left to acknowledge Hidan's former existence.

Seconds later Yugito leaped up onto the roof patting Rei on the shoulder. “Impressive, why did you even need him for that?”

“It's hard to control flames that hot, I needed Kenshin's clones to hold him in place.”

“So… you could have got all the weaklings.” Yugato stated as she calmly licked the remainder of some blood off her hand. It was painfully obvious where she had been.

“But then you wouldn't have had your fun now would you?” Rei stated with a smirk.

“True, Nibi did enjoy the fat one…”

“Right…”

Elsewhere in Konoha Kakuzu walked through Konoha surrounded by his subordinates. They were quite content marching down a marketplace blowing things to kingdom come. Kakuzu didn't really care what they did, all he was hoping for was to run into a decent bounty. He knew quite well that Konoha was full of them. Much to their discouragement this area had already been evacuated by the time they got there.

“Damn it, why did we have to get the market sector. There's no one to kill, seriously couldn't we have gotten the residential sector.” One Kiri Shinobi asked with a sadistic grin plastered on his face. He turned to Kakuzu as he noticed a very pissed off voice coming from behind himself.

“Shut up, you sound like Hidan.” Such complaining about not having enough people to kill was a common complaint from Hidan and it pissed Kakuzu off to no end. In fact it pissed him off to such a point that he had attempted to kill Hidan at least a dozen times already. Oh the great satisfaction he took in ripping that pompous little head of.

“Your partner that's a good thing right?” The Kiri nin asked energetically just before noticing a hand coming his way.

“Hidan pisses me off.” Kakuzu said bluntly as he picked the poor man up by the neck, squeezing till his neck popped, killing him instantly. This sudden reaction laid down a bit of law around Kakuzu. Primarily, don't piss him off.

By the time the thought had registered in their minds a volley of kunai rained down taking out at three of the nin surrounding Kakuzu. The leader himself stood motionless as he was hit with several kunai himself, not that they actually did any damage to him. No his iron skin technique prevented that fate.

“You will surrender or we will kill you.” An Anbu captain stated bluntly while drawing a blade from his back to solidify his threat.

“Stand down captain.” A calm voice said from behind the Anbu who reacted by turning his head just enough to catch a glimpse of the one who would give him commands.

“And you are?”

“Hitokiri Zansatsu, First Division Captain of the Zate. I will handle this one personally.” A kid? There was a kid behind him trying to give an Anbu captain commands. What the hell was wrong with this kid. The only thing that could go through his mind was that it was some stupid Genin trying to act cool. The fool…

“No one gave me a memo to bow to a mere Genin, go help with the evacuation effort.” One of the subordinate Anbu sated turning fully to what looked to them like a boy, one of the boys participating in the chuunin exams none the less.

A smirk appeared on his face as his figure vanished, much to the surprise of the Anbu. `Shunshin?' One Anbu thought turning back to the enemy forces just in time to see a wave of streaks fill the sky just before the boy rematerialized between the opposing forces.

“I said I have things handled, Captain.” A click sounded as Nazomishi finished sheathing his blade and the sky was soon filled with a rain of blood. At least half a dozen cuts adorned the bodies of the entire set of Kiri shinobi, spouting blood into the air in such quantity the bloody rain lasted for several seconds as the dead fell to the ground. Seconds later the Anbu took notice of the collateral damage that had taken place from the attack. Enormous gashes were torn into the nearby buildings and numerous corners fell to the ground into the bloody aftermath.

“Hitokiri Zansatsu you say? I knew I would find a decent bounty. Tell me, how well do you know the Battousai?” `Without Hidan around, maybe I can finally do things my way.'

“Kenshin is my Second Division Captain why wouldn't I know him?”

“So that's why he killed Konen, this should be interesting, twenty million bounty.” After seeing what the man had done to his subordinates he knew the claim was true. That thought confirmed, the bounty hunter grew excited at the prospect of his potential haul. Kakuzu flexed his muscles and entered a hand to hand combat position while activating his iron skin. If this was a swordsman he knew all too well that he would need it.

“Oh trust me it should be much higher.” Nazomishi drew his blade slowly and released his grip on the sheath as it vanished in a burst of light. The killing intent rose quickly while the Anbu made the decision to monitor the fight from a distance and help out of the kid were to start loosing. At this point in their minds it seemed unlikely if he was able to produce as much if not more potent killing intent than the S-rank Nuke nin. Top that with the enormous amount of weight crushing the ground beneath his feet with every step and you had an interesting battle worth seeing.

With another burst of speed Nazomishi blasted off at Kakuzu delivering a series of powerful kicks at Kakuzu's ribs, fallowed by his left arm, then a slash towards the head with his shimmering blade and then into a leg sweep. Every attack was blocked or evaded with relative ease thanks to Kakuzu's iron ability and knowledge that this one should be at least on a level with the Battousai. He remembered thoroughly how underestimating that kid lost him a heart.

Kakuzu charged Nazomishi while throwing a kunai and drawing another, preparing another strike. In reaction Nazomishi bent backwards to avoid the first kunai, completing the maneuver by flipping and kicking Kakuzu's held kunai into the air. Kakuzu figured this would be fallowed up by something and kicked off in reverse to avoid any oncoming attack. Inevitably he was correct. Upon landing Nazomishi immediately went in for a swift slash across Kakuzu's chest.

Kakuzu smirked as he avoided the slash by just over an inch. Starting to ponder the attacks and formulate a counter assault Kakuzu felt an agonizing pain arch across his chest. A massive split opened wide in his skin and began to glow just before erupting in flames. The fire acted like a jet engine blasting Kakuzu's body into the air and back nearly ten feet, finally slamming him into the ground.

`What the hell was that, I was sure I avoided it…'

“Sentoryuu- Zaiten Seibai (Heaven's Punishment) It's a genjutsu that makes everything I do lag behind by a fraction of a second. You may have known where you were but where you see me is where I was. You saw where the blade was half a second earlier. As a result my blade seemed further away than it actually was in addition to you being hit before you could sense it.”

“Then what was the fire.” Kakuzu said with anger as he rose to his feet glad the wound was superficial. The thing that caught his interest was that his wound had been sealed up by the scorching heat of the fire. `I need to avoid close range combat. It's much harder to sow skin when it's seared shut.'

“The special effect of my blade, anything it cuts will explode as soon as air fills the wound. But now that you know that it's time for a new blade.” In a flash of light his blade vanished and with another blade appeared in his right hand.

`How is he doing this, he couldn't be able to keep up with my movements at this speed.I should be moving faster than Kakashi with the current weights on, and last I checked Kakashi should have had the upper hand in that department.' Nazomishi glanced over to the Anbu for a moment and noticed the subordinates were having a hard time keeping up with their eyes. The captain seemed fine but these speeds should have been dominating Kakuzu with little effort. `At a thirdI should be on par with Orochimaru's max. Much more than this and I'll start losing myself again, he's done something and I need to know what.'

Nazomishi charged forth with his single blade sheathed, aiming for Kakuzu's head with the new blade. As predicted with the Force Kakuzu ducked and Nazomishi spun around moving into a hidden Battojutsu only for it to miss it's target by a few inches even with his Genjutsu working.

In a series of similarly attempted strikes Nazomishi found himself on the receiving end of a downward hammer strike which he blocked just in time with the side of his blade. The blow held such power that Nazomishi was driven nearly two feet into the ground while kicking up vast amounts of debris. As the dust cleared it became evident that Nazomishi stood there with his arms supporting the blade above his head where he absorbed the intense power of the blow. Beneath his feet the ground lay shattered in the form of a small crater.

“Nani?” Kakuzu's reaction was evident by the shock on his face. The thought that anyone could block such a blow and not have their spine turned to mush was unheard of.

“Iron skin eh? I'll take that thank you.” `Maybe it can help me figure out how he's predicting my movements and moving so fast.' Nazomishi's hand in a burst of movement entered a death grip on Kakuzku's arms permitting his blade to fall to the ground to vanish back its seal with a flash of light. The massive zombie man could only look on in shock as the iron jutsu which hardened his body was being sucked away like a vampire would a virgin's life. It didn't take long for that realization to signal him to leave, even if it meant leaving his arms. He detached the tendrils to his arms taking with him everything from his elbows back.

“What did you do?” Kakuzu demanded of the blue haired fool.

“I owe no explanation to the dead…” While shrugging off Kakuzu's demand Nazomishi finished off the remaining iron in the arms and threw them aside.

“Now that your iron has been converted, it will be used against you.” Nazomishi spoke in a condescending tone as he formed an orb the size of a bowling ball in the palm of his hand. Waving the orb out in front of him the hunk of metal divided into several dozen smaller orbs which then morphed into shuriken.

Kakuzu couldn't help but wonder why this kid hadn't tried attacking him at speeds the Battousai had used. Was he incapable of it or was he simply trying to show off. Of these the latter seemed to be confirmed in his mind as he took notice of the heavy indentions the Hitokiri's movements left in the ground. In reality he was wrong. Nazomishi wasn't holding back his speed for any such reason, he simply knew from his fight with Naruto that removing the weight would be detrimental to everyone. The seals holding back the berserker state of the cursed seal were made dramatically worse by the creature lurking within his mind. His current state of control relied on the weight seals across his body as an anchor to hold it all in. Even a few seconds without the seals in their current state could wreak havoc on his mind. It was in essence a nasty catch two. On one hand he wanted so badly to release his weights and end things quickly. On the other he did not want to risk the possibility of terrorizing the city and becoming the enemy. The risks terrified him deeply.

The musings ceased instantly as Nazomishi threw his arms forth sending the shuriken at Kakuzu, weaving around his person at incredible speeds. Kakuzu avoided them with relative ease, moving to the left and right dodging as if they weren't of any threat at all. It wasn't until one came down from above and in an instant grew to the size of a man that Kakuzu finally decided to take the pesky shuriken seriously. The massive shuriken crashed into the ground with Kakuzu barely avoiding it by leaping to the side.

“Defeating me won't be that easy boy.” `It took him a while to make this one big. It must have some sort of lag time;otherwise he would have done it sooner…good my arms…' In the skirmish he had gotten close enough to his arms to retrieve them with his tendrils. He smirked beneath his facemask as he required his dismembered limbs.

“You know that boy `thing' is starting to get on my nerves. I'm older than you… boy.” As the battle went on Nazomishi was having less and less fun with it and was falling into a significantly darker persona. The Side effect of his counter seal to the cursed seal was starting to take its toll on him mentally. This battle was starting to push him further than he had intended. For all the advantages of his metal body there was one major drawback. It significantly increased the effort needed to do pretty much anything. From moving to using jutsu, the amount of energy expended was at least three times what others would need to perform the same. Leaving himself with a little under four thousand chakra units was like operating with chuunin chakra levels. He knew he would have to end things soon or risk causing the very thing he was trying to prevent.

“Says the one who looks like a kid.” Nazomishi reached forth with both arms, his fingers curling downward just slightly. His faced tensed, revealing his teeth as he released lightning from his fingertips. The electricity was drawn to his shuriken, arching and leaping from one to the next, forming a net of electricity around Kakuzu. There were enough shuriken that Kakuzu couldn't escape the deadly embrace of the electrical net.

`What is this lightening? It feels like malice, darkness...this energy isn't chakra but what the hell is it.' Without knowing it Kakuzu could feel the dark side of the Force pouring from Nazomishi's person, radiating through the lightning.

Kakuzu stood within the electrical net as his lightning mask burst out of his body, wrapping him in a lightning proof web of tentacles. It didn't take Nazomishi long to realize that this course of action wasn't going to work. Kakuzu's voice echoed through his tentacles as Nazomishi began to loosen up on the lightning.

“You don't know as much about me as you think Zansatsu.” Kakuzu's lightning mask that had been connected just above the tentacles covering his body. Nazomishi's eyes widened as he read what Kakuzu was planning. The lightning mask started to open its mouth as the fire mask revealed itself from within the tentacles of the lightning mask.

Fire and electricity concentrated in front of the mass, firing off a concentrated stream of fire surrounding a volatile thunder bolt. The blasts held such force that the buildings around the battle began burning inside. The initial concussion of the blasts shook foundations and visually distorted the shape of buildings as the searing beams made their way to Nazomishi.

`Fuck…' The Hitokiri thought as he used every ounce of speed he had in him to summon another sword. His previous blade vanished and two blades each over four feet long, connected at the butt of the handle appeared. By the time the blasts fired off Nazomishi started spinning them rapidly while having it float in the air in front of himself. Sustained by his manipulation abilities and the Force, the blade spun so rapidly it acted like a shield from the blast. Wave after wave of energy dominated the area, leveling the nearby buildings while the energy seemed to be absorbed by the blades. The glowing blue and red was a spectacular sight to behold for the on looking Anbu who thought themselves lucky to be assigned to this sector. After that one, no one would really want to come around here and the fight was spectacular.

Fire and lightning twisted and melded around Nazomishi's body. His only defense being the blades that obviously had some sort of seal based property, distorting the energy around him while seaming to absorb much of the energy to directly hit the wall of blades. The whole incident lasted about ten seconds before the masks finally started letting up on their attacks. When it was over steam rose from the obliterated landscape as Nazomishi slowed the spins and gradually brought the blades to a halt.

Stretching his back Nazomishi climbed out of what was now a crater of incineration where once stood the roadway through a market. His blade was smoking with steam; one side had a blood grove, glowing blue while the other glowed red from end to end.

“I don't think that worked Kakuzu…” `I wonder if it's wise to piss him off? It was damn hard to seal all that energy, even with these blades. Meh I'll do it anyway.'

Kakuzu looked on with stunned eyes. That blast should have incinerated any degree of steel structures much less a human with a few swords. “Boy, what did you do? That blast was far too powerful for any shield seal to block.” Nazomishi plunged his staff like blade into the ground and began dusting himself off. That blast really did a number on his now dusty hair. Honestly he was surprised none of it was burnt off after an attack like that.

“Oh nothing really, each of these blades have seals that permit them to absorb vast quantities of a specific element. I just summoned the sides I would need to absorb thunder and fire. Want a taste?” Nazomishi struck his hand out at the blade to his side, smacking it on the tip end of the fire blade. A fireball came roaring out of the blade towards Kakuzu's thunder mask only to be intercepted and negated by the fire mask itself.

“So your masks are immune to their own element. Omoshiroi.” Nazomishi stated as if he were making fun of it. He picked up his blade and separated it in the center leaving one blade in each hand as he entered another battle stance.

“Thanks for the energy, by the way I'll be sure to make good use of it killing you.” Kakuzu was starting to get annoyed by this brat. How the hell could anyone block an attack like that and practically laugh it off? `Fine I guess I have to use them all.' He hunched over and started grunting and groaning as the tendrils holding his back together started unraveling and releasing two more masks. As the masks released themselves from Kakuzu's body Nazomishi couldn't help but watch. It had been about three hundred years since the last time he had seen this.

`Perfect, now his masks are free and I can strike them at will.' Nazomishi sheathed his thunder sealing blade while flinging his fire blade to his right as it became surrounded by a whirling vortex of fire.

“I think you will like this one Kakuzu.” Nazomishi focused his hands together using the force to levitate the blade just over his head. It began to glow as the blade became surrounded by a similar ball of energy to what concentrated in front of the mask just before firing off earlier. As the blade floated above his head Nazomishi formed a verity of hand seals, finally ending on a bird seal. “Fuuton: Kaze Juurensha-Hail of wind bullets.” Cupping one hand over the other and facing the palms towards Kakuzu Nazomishi released a great vortex of wind, blasting thousands of bullet like blasts of wind. The result was made even more devastating as the fire blast absorbed by his sword was fired strait at Kakuzu. The beam was so intense it set the wind bullets on fire, enveloping every bullet in fire. “Katon: Ryuuseiu- Fire release: Meteor Shower”

Each bullet, starting out a little over an inch in diameter grew to over two feet each. Raining down like a hailstorm they pitted the ground with their all scorching flame, leveling even more of the already decimated battle field. The Anbu, now monitoring the fight from a distance were amazed at this obviously Kage level battle. Little did they know that there were at least four other Anbu squads watching similar fights with equal amazement?

The Anbu were soon pushed back by a chakra shield being erected around the area. Nazomishi stood amidst the blaze within the chakra shield, channeling the chakra to begin the process of a shield with enough built up chakra to sustain itself against this fire for thirty minutes.

`This is impossible!' Nazomishi looked through the dissipating blaze, finally catching a glimpse of Kakuzu. His scouter was giving off reading that Kakuzu shouldn't have ever been capable of. `He's keeping up with me at this level and that shouldn't be possible. Damn it, he must have done something after running into Kenshin. Shit…at this rate I will have to release my chakra sealsjust to keep fighting.'

“I don't know how you got enough speed to keep up with me at this level, but I think it's time for me to end this.” `According to his reaction times he's been holding back, at this rate he could have his masks respond even at my full speed. Fine, then it's time to kick things up a notch.'

“So you noticed. After my run in with the Battousai I took the heart of a man with powerful reflexes. It may not be a full match for your speeds but I don't need it so long as my masks have the time to react.”

“So you took another heart huh.” `Damn it, I thought he could only take elemental abilities with the hearts.' “Then I think it's time to end you.”

“Not quite…” Kakuzu spoke ominously as Nazomishi's scouter started giving off powerful chakra readings from a mask hidden in the fire. The wind mask opened its mouth after spending several undetected moments charging its chakra. A vast vortex of wind was unleashed from the mask enhancing the flames from a normal fiery color to that of a bright blue, almost white flame. The fires raged through the cage match engulfing Nazomishi in his entirety while Kakuzu stayed protected within his fire mask.

“You… Are…Finished!” The ominous voice echoed from within the fire as the blaze surrounding the blue haired man condensed into a fiery dome spinning around a now charred but empty landscape from which the fire was taken. In an instant the blaze was blasted away as massive wings unfurled from with the fire, dispelling it with the vortex generated from their release.

Nazomishi's entire body was surrounded by the full form of his Ryuyoroiichigu. (Dragon Armor)

“To think it came to this…” Coming into full view Nazomishi's entire body is covered in a dragon like armor. His fingers extended into metallic claws with an extra set of hands on the outstretched wings while a massive tail extended from his tailbone and finally his face was in the full shape of a dragon. He could feel the murderous intent leaking from the depths of his mind. It was the emotion, slowly taking hold of his normal sanity every day that he had the seal on his shoulder. Holding back the cursed seal was starting to become more trouble than it was worth.

`Impossible!How couldhis chakra increase that much in an instant!' Kakuzu thought frantically. No man he had ever known could raise their chakra that much that quickly. Standing before him was the first man he had met to equal Kisame's ridiculous chakra levels.

“Sorry, but I can't risk holding back any longer.” The instant release of his entire natural chakra reserves began to distort the air directly around his body as he seemed to breath steam out of his metallic face. “Sentoryuu Sanban Ougi - Enjaku (Thousand Sword Style Third Secret Technique - Death of Buddha)” A steamy breath escaped his dragon like face as his wings moved into a fully expanded position. Another visible breath escaped as the wings and armor began to disintegrate, evaporating and flying into the air like weightless dust. Nazomishi crossed his arms in an x across his chest, spreading his fingers as the entirety of his armor shattered from his body. Nazomishi cringed in pain at the mental strain of the jutsu. In seconds the entire area was surrounded by metal feathers which began to morph into various copies of the duplicate seals. There were thousands of them and Kakuzu was surrounding himself with an elemental barrier forged by his masks, completely unaware that the feathers wouldn't be attacking him. In seconds the seals domed the area with themselves.

“Chakra Imu (Chakra Void)…” Nazomishi's strained voice sounded the instant seal dome came to life. In seconds the barrier and all masks outside of Kakuzu's body were completely drained of their chakra. The abundant chakra in the area was being sucked into the void even sucking all the chakra out of the kunai erecting the barrier to prevent the fires from spreading. Even the chakra sustaining the fires still remaining were soon dissipated under the powerful pull of the void.

“What did you do…” Kakuzu looked around in horror as his masks began to melt and fall to the ground completely and utterly useless. He was so annoyed by the sudden elimination of all his masks he didn't even realize that he had only one left. This was the most frightening technique he had ever witnessed. He could feel it, even the chakra still in his body was draining at an alarming rate.

Nazomishi could feel a primal instinct in his body yearning to be free. Its power was great and fighting for dominance over his logic. This was the second time he had felt it, the last time being back in wolverine's world when he came upon a city decimated by sentinels. It was a deep and enveloping killing intent that wanted to destroy everything. Finally something snapped and Nazomishi rose from his slightly hunched over position and with a sadistic grin plastered on his face he raised his hand and clutched the air. The seals sucking all chakra from the area morphed and summoned forth hundreds of blades to crush Kakuzu from every possible angle. The blades were so numerous and so fast that Kakuzu didn't have a chance to dodge. The old Akatsuki member… was dead.

“What the hell.” One of the Anbu watching the fight looked down, amazed at the finish. The groups were looking upon the devastation with their focus drawn to the single man standing in the rubble. What stood there was not the power that stood before them before. It was more powerful...more evil.

“That chakra it's impossible. He's emitting as much as Naruto!” One Anbu screamed.

“No it's more. I haven't felt this much chakra since the Kyuubi attack. It's at least double anything this guy was putting out after releasing those wings.” Another yelled out to the others about to command a retreat. This power … it wasn't human.

“Hnn. Fools… Such weaklings could never understand my power.” Nazomishi's blue hair had turned blond and his trench coat shown read as fires from the power dotted the area. His voice was similar but far more malevolent. It was deeper and significantly more matured. He turned his head, hearing the words of the distant Anbu. Somewhat amused by this he decided it was time to play. At least that's what he had in mind until he felt a powerful soul coming his way.

“Look out!” With that warning the Anbu leaped out of the way as what was once Nazomishi thrust his left hand towards them and emitted a concentrated blast of pure chakra. The concussion alone blasted the Anbu off the building onto another as it passed and made its way to a flowing serpentine dragon who met the beam with a blast of its own. The blasts clashed just long enough for the dragon to work its way out of the initial path of the deadly beam.

“You two report to Jiraiya on the south wall. Things are about to get messy here.” An Anbu captain commanded as he threw some seeds to the ground and massive beams of wood burst forth from the ground providing him a platform to attack. Before he could get too far a man in black robes landed directly in front of him, standing on the freshly constructed bridge.

“Already here!” Jiraiya said with enthusiasm as he slammed his fists into the ground in unison with the men in black robes. Amidst the Zate Hiko leaped off the dragon that initially blocked the beam from the Hitokiri. Almost instantly seals burst forth from their hands traveling down the nearest path to Nazomishi.

“Fools…” The man commented with a smirk. He raised his right hand and surrounded himself in a wall of earth before the seals could reach him.

“He's gone underground. Tenzou the demon suppression jutsu NOW!”

“But… Yes sir!” Tenzou immediately formed the seals and dragon like wooden pillars began to burst forth in a circle around the area. He didn't understand why Jiraiya would want it but trusted the Sannin enough to know there was some purpose to it.

“If I may ask sir what is going on.” Tenzou grunted out while he strained to maintain the jutsu. Something powerful was fighting back against it but he had no idea what the hell it could be. Soon the seals growing from Jiraiya and the members of the Zate traveled up Tenzou's pillars and began to solidify a solid defense.

“There are a half a dozen or so members of the Zate with some level of evil personality to take on the sins their normal personality can't cope with. This one is drawing on Orochimaru's cursed seal and is trying to break free of its host.”

“IT WHAT!” `This is bad, if it's anything like the roomers then this day just got a whole lot worse.' (Talking about the cursed seal)

“Just hold it back, we need enough time to redo the seals he released from his body holding it back. `Damn it Nazo. You knew very well it became stronger ever since you got the cursed seal. If you hadn't pushed yourself so much with Naruto, maybe you could have pushed things a little more but after that…'Jiraiya thought having been especially privy to the situation over the past month. In truth Jiraiya was key in re-forging the complicated seal array.

A swarm of dragons hung overhead as the battle against Nazomishi's Hitokiri raged on, defending the area from outside interference.

“Master Jiraiya his Chakra levels are starting to drop!” A Zate member called from a distance while every scouter present was giving the same result.”

“Where did it max out? We need a one for one ratio for the chakra we seal” Jiraiya screamed to the others as he pumped chakra into the seals praying they would have enough between them to suppress it. Sadly for Jiraiya he had lost his scouter early in the war after running into Nagato's barrier path.

“It peaked at 83,000 Chakra units, it just dropped below 80,000.” A Zate member announced, knowing all too well how much that was. It was like trying to seal a low-level demon.

“WHAT! That's impossible; Naruto can't even get there without his third tail. Somebody contact the captains we need more chakra!” Another Zate screamed for all to hear

“They're all out facing Akatsuki at the moment or holding back enemy forces.” Hiko commented knowing they didn't have enough energy present to reseal this thing. The creature struggled violently in the center using everything in it's power to crush the seals. All the Zate could feel how much it was pushing back. This thing was much stronger than they had originally thought.

“Nazomishi you idiot you should have known better! Hiko how much can you offer?”

“A little more than 20,000 left.” Hiko announced regretfully. Checking his scouter he noticed that they barely had 45,000 between them after all the previous battles.

“Sir I've made contact with Rei. She's on her way with Master Himura.”

“That should be more than enough. Let's hope they haven't used too much.”

“Everybody put your backs into it we need to drop it below ten thousand so it can't get out.” In all the chaos of the moment two more high ranking Zate arrived to hold off interference while Kenshin and Rei made their way to the area at top speed. There was of course one thing they all knew. This was one thing they did NOT need in the middle of a war zone. On his way Kenshin's mind drifted back to the time his `Battousai' tried escaping through a blood clone; defiantly not a fun experience. It took him back by complete surprise. Until that day everyone though he was under complete control of the thing. It took his Kenji, Kaoru, and himself to fight it to a stalemate. If it had not been for the suppression seals every member of the Zate had been taught to treat such things, then their fight would have been a lost cause.

Luckily that experience did reveal one interesting thing about the `Hitokiri's.' A powerful Hitokiri is like a clone of it's host as far as it's skills and abilities go. But that's not what makes them deadly. It's their strange ability to take on their own chakra system. When they take hold in the host's body it adds their own chakra to the host. The worst part of Kenshin's experience with the Battousai was how it figured out how to take half of Kenshin's chakra in addition to it's own. Their exact functioning's were still a mystery and that was half the danger.

Rei's thoughts weren't far off, having read the report Kenshin gave after the incident. The thing she feared most at this point was what Zansatsu could do if it were to tap into the Cursed Seal. If her fears were realized then Zansatsu could easily top 130,000 chakra units while drawing on Nazomishi's chakra, his own and the cursed seal. If worse came to worse and the seal went to level two there would be no stopping it without killing Nazo. She just prayed they could get there soon enough.

---Elsewhere Flashback- Itachi ---

“What are you talking about? If there's some way to…”

“It's out of the question Sasuke, I'm not trading eyes with you and that's final.”

“Trading eyes?”

“It's the only cure for this blindness. To obtain the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan one must take the eyes of another. Madara did it with his brother before falling to his own madness and killing him.”

“Then why won't you do that! If it's so damn powerful then why not.”

“Because these eyes will end with me. Even if I wanted too, it would require you obtaining eyes as strong as mine. You're not going to kill Naruto. No matter how much you want to save my eyes.”

“Then I will train my eyes till I'm strong enough for the trade without doing that.”

“That's impossible Sasuke, even Madara couldn't do that.”

“I will do it. You and Konoha… you're my life and without you I have nothing. If that's what I must do then I have no other choice. I will save your eyes and your not going to stop me.”

`If he needs a Mangekyou Sharingan then I will get him one.' Sasuke thought as he left the room. He knew that the battle with Akatsuki was coming and that would bring a fight with Madara. He didn't know how but he had to get Naruto comply, even if Aoshi wouldn't.

`Stubborn brother, why wont you simply let me go… I would…I'm a lost cause. It's impossible to train a normal Sharingan to the power of a Mangekyou. Naruto is your best friend and I cant let him ruin thatjust for me. And there's no way to train eyes till …you… get…Oh Kami... He can't possibly be planning…he is. Then I will simply have to kill Madara first.'

---End flashback---

“Amazing, this section of the city is so quiet.” Naruto spoke while resting his arms behind his head. He, Sasuke, and Aoshi walked down an already evacuated street. They had already killed nearly two-dozen Ame Shinobi but that seemed to be it for this sector where they were assigned. It had Sasuke perturbed.

`Naruto's already agreed to go along with it but there's no way I can get Aoshi to agree unless we see Madara by chance.' Sasuke contemplated when it hit him. Their goal was to kill off any enemy near their area right? Sasuke raised his hand to his new Scouter and started a short-range scan of the area.`Alright all I have to do is scan for enemies with chakra signatures matching registered doujutsu and…' Sasuke smirked inwardly as he read the reading. `There are two Shinobi within six blocks with chakra levels beyond ten thousand. It could be one of Pein's bodies but it's worth a shot.' By now Sasuke had drawn the attention of his teammates who looked on with interest until it was obvious that he was finished.

“See anything Sasuke?”Naruto asked.

“Two chakra signatures over ten thousand; One two blocks to the north east, the other four blocks to the south. Both have active doujutsu.”

“So it's either Pein or Madara....” Aoshi activated his own Scouter to monitor the situation before jumping into either battle. He needed to know what he was up against. If he had any luck it wouldn'tbe Madara. “Whoever it is; looks like were taking the one to the south.”

“Yours picked it up too huh?”

“Yea the other was just intercepted by Itachi. Damn I wish we could tell who this one is. Oh well, at least we have our allies registered, let's move.”

“Ryoukai! (Roger)” Naruto and Sasuke answered in unison as they all vanished in a whorl lf leafs.

“Where is the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?” Pein stated flatly as Itachi ended a Shunshin to his location.

“You don't need to do this Nagato. Our goal is peace just as much as it is yours.”

“There is no time for this. It is time to bestow the judgment of god.”

“Your no more a god than I, Nagato. And there's no way your Summoning body can defeat me.” Itachi stated calmly as he thought to himself. `Damn it, I have to find Madara before Sasuke. He doesn't stand a chance against that man. I have to end this quickly.'

“…” Cutting the conversation short Chikushoudo (The summoner path) Pein slammed his hands into the ground summoning a large nine-headed dog. The creature was massive, easily reaching a height similar to the larger dragons flying in the sky.

“I have no time for this…” Without an extra word Itachi looked at the massive dog as blood began to drip out his right eye socket. `I cant waste a single move if I want to survive my fight against Madara.' Itachi thought as the dog became instantly shrouded in a hellish black flame. The dog had no sooner fallen to it's knees when Itachi began to wipe the blood from his eye. As he reopened his eyes for another look at Pein all hesawwas a large blob of sand fallowed by the distinct phrase `Sabaku Kyuu (Desert Coffin),' followedshortly by `Sabaku Sousou (Desert Funeral). Strangely no blood flowed from the crushed Akatsuki but when the sand was removed one thing was very noticeable. The sand user had utterly annihilated the head, removing and crushing the chakra receiver piercings.

“You…”

“You should have killed him first, the summon would have dispelled.” Gaara said flatly as he finished retracting the remainder of his sand, walking away to the nearest enemy.

“Thank you. Do you know how many Akatsuki have been defeated as of yet?”

“No… a third the Zate have already fallen back to hold back a cursed seal given to one of their members… Kankuro, Temari, Windu, get down here.”

“Eh, sorry Gaara, we were scanning the area, there's another Akatsuki coming this waythanks to the summon.” Temari said as she flew down to the ground on her fan. The other two simply leaped off the building they were standing on.

“Shit, I need you three to take care of it, I have to protect Sasuke.” Itachi was about to leap away when an annoying force grabbed him in mid leap and brought him gently back down to the ground.

“Rest a moment Itachi, Jutsu of yoursuses too much energy for you to head straight back into battle at full strength. You can't fight Madara if you're tired.”

“I will be fine, just let me…”

“Sasuke is nine blocks from here, you can get there soon enough if he needs help, just monitor his fight with your Scouter for the moment. They will be fine. Trust me, Aoshi knows whathe's doing and Naruto is no one to sneeze at. If that kind of team can't beat this opponent then there's not much you can do anyway.”

“…” Itachi walked over and sat near a building deciding that Windu was right. They had all been briefed on the enemy abilities anyway. `And I guess the odds of it being him are low anyway. This Aoshi wouldn't be foolish enough to guide them into such an opponent…I hope…'

All together the team from Suna waited for the coming opponent watching the distance close rapidly on their scooters when as if out of nowhere a long tail burst out of the ground crushing Kuroari (One of Kankuro's puppets) with relative ease. Only Itachi and Windu knew the opponent's exact location before the remainder of the obscenely long tail ripped itsway from the ground. The last bit of the tail finally ripped itself from the ground taking the corner of a building with it; revealing that to be the location where the Akatsuki made his Simi surprise attack.

“Kankuro are you alright?!” Temari screamed to the puppet user who's eyes were wide in shock of the instantaneous destruction of his puppet.

“..a..I…”

“It's rude to keep people waiting boy.” Sasori's deep voice resonated along with an awful killing intent that would have further impaired the group had they not been use to Gaara's almost constant exuding of such energies. His tail slithered through the air around his body menacingly as Windu used the Force to draw his Lightsaber from his side to his right hand.

“Akasuna no Sasori, bythewill of the Great Shinobi Nations and the Zate, I shall be your opponent.” With a simple movement and distinct snap, hiss, the buzz of his purple light saber made itself known.

“Stand aside child, I can't keep Itachi waiting for his punishment. Even if you do have an interesting weapon.” Before Itachi could say anything in reaction Sasori's tail shot out it's poisons blades strait towards the cloaked Zate member. Much toSasori'ssurprise the annoying obstacle had some skills, as was well demonstrated as the purple beam seared it's way through the tail, severing a three-foot long section off as the figure effortlessly avoided the strike.

“Your blade is an interesting piece of art. It will make a perfect addition to my collection.”