Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 258: A Troublesome Situation
"Ice Dragon!" Ino brought forth a massive, wingless dragon made of ice that was formed using the one that was created by her movement technique.
The ice construct moved at an extremely fast pace, not leaving the black beast much time to react. It attempted to create a wall of flames to block Ino's attack, but the dragon broke through it and landed a direct hit on the white mask, cracking it in the process.
The black substance that had been forming the beast seemed to dissolve into nothing, and the mask flew back to its owner.
"I did it!" Ino wanted to jump with joy for her small victory, but then she saw that the rest of her team was not doing so well.
A burst of lightning hit Chouji and sent his giant body flying away, leaving Shikamaru exposed.
And the next instant, Shikamaru had to release his shadow jutsu to avoid some nasty wind blades aimed at his head.
"Ahhh!"
Ino turned towards the scream and saw her Sensei clutching onto his bleeding arm while his opponent, the silver-haired Hidan, was laughing like a maniac.
"I got you now!" Hidan exclaimed with joy. A strange red circle manifested beneath his feet, and his skin became covered in bizarre black tattoos.
"What is happening to him?" Ino tried to approach but was promptly stopped by Asuma.
"No! Stay away from here!" Asuma shouted. His instincts were already telling him that he was in an extremely dangerous situation, and he had to keep his students far away from him.
Kakuzu did not take the chance to continue his assault on Shikamaru and instead was observing the white mask that had just returned to him. His green eyes then moved to Ino. "You have damaged one of my hearts… I will have to take yours in exchange."
Ino felt that his attention was now completely on her. She could feel her blood run cold.
'This man is truly dangerous…' Realizing how much trouble her team was now in, she could hesitate no longer and activated the formula embedded on her belly, hoping that Naruto would come quickly before someone died.
"I'm sorry… I should have called you sooner…" Ino muttered.
"You really should have… Idiot."
The voice came from above her, and when she looked up, she saw the figure of Naruto just floating in the air, glancing back at her.
"Naruto!" she exclaimed, bringing everyone's attention in her direction.
Kakuzu, who was about to begin his assault… stopped the moment he heard that name, and then he looked up and saw him. "Naruto Uzumaki…" he said with furrowed eyebrows.
"That's the other Jinchuriki! When did he get here?!" Hidan said.
"This is bad." As one of the smartest members of Akatsuki, Kakuzu understood better than his partner just how much more difficult their mission had become. He had lived for many decades, and it had been mostly thanks to his wits, which were now telling him to get away from here. This was not an oponent they were ready to face.
Hidan, however, was not aware of the danger he was in and just glared at Naruto with rage.
"Wait a minute…" Naruto returned the stare to Hidan. "Didn't I kill you already?" He pointed at the silver-haired ninja.
"Ha! Kill me?! Keep dreaming, boy. I am the great Hidan of Jashin, and I am IMMORTAL!" Hidan laughed.
"I've heard that one before…" Naruto muttered. But he had to admit that this one had come back from the dead… just like that other silver-haired ninja he killed years ago. 'Is there something about silver-haired men who refuse to stay dead?.'
"Careful!"
He heard the voice of Shikamaru right before a burst of lightning attempted to pierce his chest.
Naruto disappeared from the spot and reappeared next to Ino. Now that she had activated her formula, he could use her as a jumping point until the chakra was exhausted.
He glanced at her for a moment. "We'll talk later about your recklessness, but now I'd like to be informed of the general situation… and what is wrong with Asuma?" He could feel some strange energy around the Jonin.
Ino gave him a brief summary of what happened while he stopped a few more attempts by Kakuzu to harm him.
As he scanned the area, he immediately found her, just a good two hundred feet away, lying unconscious on the ground.
'That must be Fu, the Jinchuriki of the Seven-Tailed Beast… and she's just right there for the taking.' He couldn't help but feel a bit excited. Another Bijuu had fallen into his lap, and he wasn't going to let this chance go to waste.
"Ahhh!"
Just as Naruto was about to move, they all heard Asuma screaming in agony.
He had been paying attention to the other Akatsuki member as well, and he was sure that Hidan hadn't moved from the spot at all. All he had done was use a small spear to stab his own leg, but it was Asuma who was clutching onto his leg and bleeding profusely.
"Maybe I should take care of that situation first." It looked like Asuma was not going to last long if he didn't do something about it. He immediately unleashed a hundred clones to distract Kakuzu, as well as protecting Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji, while he moved in front of Hidan.
"Are you going to try again? Go ahead, Naruto Uzumaki! I cannot die!" Hidan opened his arms, welcoming an attack from him.
Naruto wasn't stupid enough to take the bait. It was obvious that Hidan had done something to Asuma and any injure on Hidan would somehow be shared with the Jonin.
"Wait! Don't kill him! He's done something strange to our Sensei!" Shikamaru still felt the need to warn him.
Naruto could perceive the strange energy creating a connection between Hidan and Asuma, but even with his enhanced senses, he couldn't see it properly. And thus...he could not break it apart.
While he was starting to get frustrated, an idea came to his mind.
"Right!…" He took one of his special kunai out of his robe's pocket and threw it into the air.
While everyone was wondering why he did that… Naruto disappeared completely from the spot in a flash of light.
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