I'm a very sick this last few days the next chap will be a bit late than usual so as a compensation this chapter will be more than 3,000 word :)
Erza's eyes widened at that though, twisting around on the spot, her gaze fixed on the surrounding forest. Erza soon found what she was looking for, a trail of broken branches and damaged trees, likely caused by the wind jutsu that had sent her flying.
Now she just needed to trace the path of destruction back to its source, and hopefully she would find the rest of her team.
With that in mind Erza leapt up into the trees and began to head in the direction she had come from, she could only hope that Mito and to a lesser extent Sasuke were alright.
...
(With Naruto around the same time)
It had been about an hour since Naruto had killed Kabuto and devoured his soul. And currently he was tree hopping, casually leaping from branch to branch as he rapidly passed through the Forest of Death.
So far You had been as good as his word and had been going through Kabuto's memories as speedily and carefully as he could, passing on what the boy knew to Naruto, and damn did the kid know a lot.
It turned out Naruto had been right, Kabuto was a spy and an absolute goldmine of information as well.
First off Kabuto was one of Orochimaru's closest servants and his most trusted spy. Orochimaru wasn't just Kabuto's master though, he was also the mysterious Otokage who had visited Mei and the driving power behind the invasion plan.
The sheer fact that Orochimaru, a known traitor and all round scumbag, had any involvement in the invasion plan instantly had Naruto on edge, the man was a snake and Naruto had little doubt he would stab Kiri in the back the first chance he got.
Suffice to say Naruto would be passing on the Otokage's identity onto Mei along with the summary of his plan as well as the location of Otogakure and the sizes of their forces, the first chance he got.
Also he would make sure to tell her that Orochimaru was hoping to unleash the Suna Jinchurriki during the Chunin Exam Finals and use the boy not just to cause as much damage chaos as he could to Konoha, but as the signal to the full forces of Oto and Suna to start the attack.
Mei would defiantly want to be informed that a mentally unsound Jinchuuriki would be involved, she didn't after all have the best experience when it came to insane Jinchuuriki.
On top of this Naurto would ensure she knew that Orochimaru was planning on using a forbidden jutsu to revive the former Hokages and use them as weapons to kill Minato Namikaze and anyone else that got in his way.
The plan itself when Naruto looked at it objectively was not bad, and had a possibility of working if done right, Naruto could see that much and would pass his own opinion on the plan itself to Mei, but at the same time the involvement of Orochimaru had him on edge.
He hadn't ever met the man but his reputation was bad enough that it made Naruto instantly suspicious.
Kabuto of course had more information than just that, as even now Naruto was finding out more and more about Orochimaru's experiments, the forbidden techniques he knew and had developed and the locations of nearly a dozen of his bases dotted around the Elemental Nations.
Naruto would also pass this information on as well, Orochimaru might be a sick fuck, but some of his experiments and projects could be useful to Kiri.
The most prominent thing Kabuto seemed to know about Orochimaru though was the man's obsession with attaining immortality, to the point at which he had learned how to transfer soul into other bodies, which was a jutsu Naruto was particularly interested in.
And already Orochimaru seemed to have his next potential body lined up, the young Uchiha boy, Sasuke. Apparently Orochimaru was almost as obsessed with the Sharingan and leanrig all the jutsu in the world as he was with avoiding death.
Naruto paused for a second as he landed on another branch, his eyes closing as You transferred yet more to him. This time though what he received wasn't about the Konoha invasion or about Orochimaru at all.
It was about an infamous Missing-nin, one who came from Suna who went by the name of Sasori of the Red Sand. Naruto had heard of him before, the man was an exceptionally skilled and dangerous S-Class Shinobi who specialized in Puppeteering and apparently Kabuto was one of his many spies.
Kabuto did not know a huge amount about the man, but what little he did know was very interesting.
Sasori had apparently joined a powerful, secret organization called the Akatsuki, now Kabuto didn't know much about them, but what he did know was that the organisation was made up of multiple S-Class Shinobi and that they had a vested interest in hunting down Jinchuuriki.
This would not normally bother Naruto, save for the fact that his precious sisters were Jinchuuriki and he would be damned before he let some creepy society take them.
'You, can you find out any more about this Akatsuki?' Naruto thought to You as he stood up on the branch he was currently on, his eyes narrowed as he looked around keeping a wary eye out for any potential danger as he did so.
"I would have though you would be more interested in finding out more about Orochimaru and the invasion plans." You replied calmly, his soft silky voice echoing around Naruto's head.
Naruto paused as he heard that. He had been getting ahead of himself, first things first he needed to deal with the invasion and give his report to Mei, the business with the Akatsuki and with Orochimaru's other experiments and bases could come later.
For now he needed to finish here in the Forest of Death, get his team through to the final and then return to Kiri. As long as his sisters were here they would be safe for now, as such he could worry about the Akatsuki later.
'You're right focus on that first.' Naruto responded, his eyes narrowed as he surveyed his surroundings. He had come across quite a few teams in the last hour, none of them were of any particular note so he had just passed by unnoticed.
This was because he was looking for Team Seven, after having seen Kabuto's memories and Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan and Sasuke a distinct feeling of unease had come over him.
Before he could think any further though, he suddenly felt an influx of potent, malicious power not far away in the direction to the right of where he had been heading previously.
Twisting his head to look in the direction it was coming from Naruto narrowed his eyes in concentration as he realised he had felt this power before.
...
(With Erza in the Forest of Death)
It was a few minutes after her run in with the snake that Erza arrived on a branch overlooking her sister and her teammate Sasuke. The moment she did her eyes widened in a mixture of shock, fear and anger.
The area in front of her looked like a warzone, there were destroyed tees littering the clearing, and large craters dotting the surrounding landscape.
Mito Uzumaki was lying against one of these fallen trees, clutching feebly at a bloody wound in her side. It was likely that the only reason she was still alive was due to her Uzumaki and Kyuubi enhanced healing.
If it were not for that, then judging by the blood soaked ground around her and the size and placement of the wound then it was likely that she would be dead right now.
A couple of metres away from Mito, was the writhing body of Sasuke. The young Uchiha was clutching desperately at his neck, whimpering in pain a she did so.
Other than that the only other signs of injuries he showed were a couple of cuts and bruises, none of which were anywhere near as grievous as Mito's.
Standing just in front of Sasuke was no doubt their attacker. It was a Kusa Shinobi, a girl who looked a few years older than them, wearing standard Shinobi garb, with long black hair and a nondescript face.
It took Erza only a moment to realise that she recognized the girl, she was the one that had approached Anko from behind back before this part of the test had even begun. Not that that mattered right now, no all that mattered was that this psycho had attacked Mito.
"I know you are there!" The girl in the clearing called out loudly as she turned to face Erza, a wide grin on her face as she looked up into the trees and saw Erza.
As she did so Erza had to stop herself from flinching backwards as she saw the girl's corrosive, snake-like eyes, the ripped up skin that was hanging off her face, revealing pale white skin behind and the blood that was staining her mouth.
Scowling as she met the girl's gaze, Erza's pulled herself together, her gaze flickering back over to Mito and Sasuke, neither of those two were weak, in her opinion they were probably at least Chunin level.
This meant that the girl she was facing was far beyond the genin level she was claiming to be, and considering it was likely that she was also the one to summon the snake that had attacked Erza then….
"You're Orochimaru aren't you?" Erza said bluntly standing up on the branch she had previously been crouched on, her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the girl/ creepy old man below her, two katana like blades forming in her hands, as she used her Uzumaki Chakra to create them.
"Clever girl." Orochimaru replied leering up at Erza as he did so, reaching up and tearing away the ripped up flesh on his face as he did so and revealing his real face.
A cold snake like face, with incredibly pale flawless skin, androgynous features and distinct purple marking running up the sides of his nose.
"But you weren't the only one to guess. Your sister, Mito isn't it? She guessed the same, not that knowing my identity will do you any good."
Erza's gaze flickered back to Mito as she heard that before she looked back at Orochimaru. "Why are you here in Konoha? Why are you attacking us?"
Orochimaru, raised a mocking eyebrow as he heard that, a sneer passing across his face, as his cold yellow eyes rested hungrily on Erza. "And why would I tell a little brat like you that?"
"Why wouldn't you? You're probably going to try and kill us anyway so why bother hiding anything?" Erza asked, attempting to probe the much older and more experienced Shinobi for information.
She had no intention of any of them dying here today, at the same time though she knew her father would need to know why Orochimaru was here, so why not try and get some information out of him whilst she could.
"Cute." Orochimaru said with a soft chuckle.
"But it's not going to work, if I wanted you dead I would have killed you all already. No I merely came here to give dear Sasuke a gift, now that that's done I think I will leave, I have business in the Land of Earth after all."
Erza's eyes narrowed at that. She didn't know what to think about what Orochimaru had just said. He had just told her that she couldn't trick information out of him and then had given her information.
Did that mean he was lying, or did that mean he was baiting her, or was he telling her the truth and expecting her to disbelieve it, or was he lying and expecting her to believe him? It was all a bit confusing really, she had no idea what to make of what he had just said.
"You hurt my sister." Erza said bluntly deciding to leave off her questioning for now and instead get down to business, her grip on her weapons tightening as she began to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra.
She didn't think she had much of a chance against a Shinobi of Orochimaru's caliber, she doubted she could even make him take her seriously.
At the same time though she wasn't going to try and defeat him, instead by drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra, she was making it seem like she was, whilst in fact she was hoping to draw the attention of the Jounin and other Shinobi in and around the forest.
The Kyuubi's chakra was after all very distinctive and currently Erza was channeling nearly three tails of the chakra into her, by drawing that attention to her she was hoping to get some assistance which will hopefully either drive Orochimaru off or potentially kill him.
Already she could feel the Kyuubi's potent power flowing through her, a smooth cloak of red energy having formed around her body, three tails flicking casually behind her as the cloak settled comfortably on her.
Once again her eyes had become red and slitted, her canines had become sharper and now protruded from her mouth. Her crimson hair had risen into the air around her, waving around ominously as she drew on more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra, so much that she began to release vast amounts of killing intent and pressure onto the area around her.
Glancing down Erza noticed that the two blades of chakra in her hand had turned from their original golden colour to more of a violet colour, the previously smooth and elegant blades having become a bit more jagged, having become almost demonic in appearance.
Looking down at Orochimaru, Erza grinned savagely a she saw that she had put him on edge. The Snake Sannin had tensed up considerably, his eyes fixed on her as he watched her for any sign of movement.
The other two in the clearing also seemed to have been affected. Sasuke had passed out no doubt the pressure from the Kyuubi's power and the attached killing intent was too much for him to bare.
As he did pass out, Erza's sharpened eye sight noticed the distinct bloody mark on his neck, in the same area that he had been clutching before, it looked very similar to the 'Cursed Mark' that Kushina had removed from Anko a couple of years ago.
Ignoring that for now Erza's scarlet eyes then flickered over to Mito, noting as she did that she too was reacting to Erza drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra. Unlike with Sasuke and Orochimaru however her reaction was different.
Mito's body had become enshrouded in the same red energy as Erza, no doubt due to the half of the Kyuubi inside of her reacting to Erza's actions.
This was good though as Erza could already see that the wound on her side had started healing faster, and that Mito was stirring, her eyes opening and widening as she watched the scene going on in front of her.
"I was not aware you had so much control." Orochimaru spoke up, his voice quiet yet still audible to Erza. "How interesting."
"We'll see how interesting you'll find it!" Erza growled out, her voice coming out rougher than before as she crouched down lower, having powered up as much as she dared.
So far four tails of power was as much as Erza could safely use and even then she was often partially affected by the raging hatred the Kyuubi's energy contained.
At three tails though she had a lot more control, her willpower strong enough for her to resist the effects of the Kyuubi's chakra. "When I beat you into the ground!"
Orochimaru smiled viciously in response. "Such confidence, but I wonder whether you have the strength to back that up?"
====================
The next chapter we will be moving onto the end of the Chunin Exams where I have my most devious plot already in the works. Which I have already begun hinting at.
========================
If you want to read ahead of the public release on p atreon.
p atreon Link :
|● sybife
P atreon.com/sybife