Guren's POV (Traversing - Land of Fire Border)
Guren eyed the group of Leaf Anbu; she had battled many in her time as Orochimaru's heavy. They often lacked the power individually to be a threat to her, but in groups, they were capable of facing most. They had been tracking them since their little foray in the Leaf. And if Guren had set it up correctly would have seen the trail lead them outside of Leaf Jurisdiction. She watched warily as they followed such until it led to their territory's technical line. They surely reasonably assumed she had left the land to escape them. Guren was amused by how easy it could be to avoid shinobi.
It died rather quickly. After all, was she truly all that better herself? While they might mindlessly serve a village, Guren had mindlessly served Orochimaru. The stress of which leads to her fleeing the man. Surely, she could find peace away from him. How hard could that be?
Apparently, it was more complicated than she had thought. Guren had tried hard to live peacefully after her disappearance. After Orochimaru's assault on the Leaf, she knew he would assume she had fallen. One could hardly be blamed for losing to an entire platoon of Anbu after all. To make an earnest living and simply live freely without harming others. Yukimaru had often attempted to persuade her to do so before his demise. She figured living his dream would allow her happiness, perhaps offering peace to her and the deceased Yukimaru.
Guren had found no peace in peace. Despite living the dream Yukimaru had wanted for them, it had been meaningless without him there to enjoy it. Guren had made a decision at that point to get revenge against Orochimaru. To kill the man who had ordered the death of the one person who had meant anything to her.
Quite the goal she had set for herself and plotting it had taken. As one of Orochimaru's former most trusted subordinates, she knew how difficult doing such would be. At least, at first. Finding allies had been easy; reaching out to a surviving Dosu and Zaku bore fruit immediately. Both recognized the death mission the Sannin had sent them on and knew alone they could do little more than be silenced by Orochimaru. Tayuya had been lucky; she had been disloyal for a while and often vented to Guren; at first, Guren had simply allowed it due to her needing companionship. In time, they became earnest friends, and Tayuya decided to aid her in her goal. The other two were more complex but valuable all the same.
Once she had some allies (even if they were relatively weak), she knew she needed to set up a situation where even Orochimaru would struggle to escape. Guren had been surprised by how easy this had been; by reaching out to two parties, she had arranged for them both to attack Orochimaru (unknowingly) simultaneously.
From there, she wanted to ensure the wild car wouldn't ruin her ploy. Kabuto Yakushi is the right-hand man of Orochimaru and the most lethal man in the Sound, except for the Sannin himself. Sure, Guren and Kimmaro had been individually stronger than him (something she now knew had not been entirely accurate), but he was more helpful. He used his intelligent mind, cruel intentions, and healing abilities to be their equal. With him around, Guren doubted Orochimaru could fall; Kabuto simply was too good at his job, Guren supposed. If he was around, he could very much be the difference between Orochimaru living or dying.
Now, with Kabuto taken care of, Orochimaru would be vulnerable. Well more vulnerable since Guren was aware Orochimaru would need to switch bodies soon. He had selected his next body a while ago. But she knew it would take him time to return to full power.
Guren returned to their temporary camp; Dosu was tending to his prosthetic foot while Tayuya cleaned her flute. Upon her arrival, both looked at her.
"We lose the tree huggers?" Tayuya asked. "Getting to meet my cousin was nice, but those nice guys drive me nuts. Like they can't all tell their faker than shit."
"We certainly did," Guren said with a ghost of a smile. "Rest for now; we don't have long before we need to move."
"See, that's what confuses me," Dosu complained. "You suggest we fight Orochimaru, which is already a death sentence. But you suggest we do so while other powerful groups do so. If you wish to commit suicide, must you include us?"
"I hate to agree with Shit Mummy over here," Tayuya said, ignoring Dosu's less-than-polite response. "But this seems risky."
"For one, we must attack with another party and/or parties doing so. Otherwise, we lack the strength to kill Orochimaru. Furthermore, we simply have to pick our moment well. Knowing our former master, he'll somehow find a way to escape the situation. We will ensure when he does so, the exhausted Sannin runs into an ambush."
"Okay… but even if that Snake bastard is greatly weakened, he'd make easy work of the three of us. Hell, even with that creep, Zaku, we'd lack the firepower." Tayuya countered.
"We are not alone; two more will join our side. Besides, I have been planning this for much longer than you know. Kabuto was a test; I'm now confident I can kill Orochimaru, assuming he's significantly weakened." Guren assured. "For the sake of the many he has harmed, for the sake of our lives he's ruined. Orochimaru the Snake Sannin will perish." She promised the group darkly.
"You wouldn't move subtly unless you believed you had a shot. You earnestly believe that the three of us and two strangers can somehow ensure the death of Orochimaru. Seems fanciful. But it works for me all as well." Dosu replied evenly. "I can see plain as the day my group was to perish to test Naruto Uzumaki. Either we achieved an unreasonable victory, died, or would be killed for failure. Orochimaru has always been the type to tie loose ends; it's best to ensure he does not have the opportunity to do so to me."
"Bastard has been targeting the Uzumaki with Ikam for years. Behind my own back. That being said, you best not lead us to early death, you bitch." Tayuya agreed.
Guren didn't bother answering. They all could feel they may not live much longer. She wouldn't lie to her new allies.
Naruto / Kurotsuchi's POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)
Naruto landed, staring intently at Kurotsuchi. Her summon had been a powerful technique that screamed of either stalling or desperation. Based on Naruto's overwhelming performance thus far, he would guess both. But what was her gambit? Why did she think the time would aid her? Best to finish things before she could utilize them.
Naruto stepped forward, prepared to use his superior speed to close the distance before Kurotsuchi could use whatever she was hiding. The earth below him splintered before Naruto could wholly lean into the step. His balance was thrown for a loop as the ground beneath him gave way. It exposed a hollow chamber of earth quickly, the cavern or pit was the size of the arena.
'She used the time I spent fighting the Golem to create a subtle space beneath the ground.' Naruto thought as he dropped ten feet in nearly an instant. Naruto smiled at the impressive trap as he flexed his ankles, willing the chakra-controlled air around him to shoot him up and out of the man-made cavern. Naruto shot forward toward the surface, only for the sunlight on the surface to be blocked out. He saw an absurd amount of dark gray substance falling from above. The substance seemed to cover the sky above him, globs falling like rain on a stormy day. 'A trap that lowers my mobility option. Followed by a technique that is widespread? It must be some kinda restraint technique similar to Pervy Sage's annoying swamp jutsu.' Using his Personal Atmosphere, Naruto spun around and kicked back toward the bottom of the trap. 'Need a way to repel the attack and attack her at once. Otherwise, she'll simply continue spamming attacks. No one should be able to see me down here. Suppose it's time to use it; thanks for the help, Pervy Sage.'
X-X
Kurotsuchi's POV
Kurotsuchi had spent years mastering the Earth Golem technique; hers was a lesser version of Onoki's. She and most other shinobi lacked the raw chakra to use the complete Golem. As such, she could only summon a much weaker and smaller one. Even with this in mind, Kurotsuchi defeated Chunin and pressured Jounin with the technique. It was the achievement that convinced Onoki to send her to the exams. Kurotsuchi had known whoever she may fight would run into trouble once she used it.
Naruto Uzumaki had turned one of her aces into nothing more than mere stalling. But Kurotsuchi was self-aware; she knew she was a tad bit arrogant. Onoki often told her it was something their family struggled with. As such, she had another ace. Molding the battlefield was a familiar skill for Iwa shinobi or kunoichi. It was why they had been feared in the Great Ninja Wars, and Kurotsuchi had known it would be helpful against more troublesome opponents. A pitfall without some sort of kill mechanism wasn't the most effective of traps. Kurotsuchi could think of a method to make it much more effective.
"Lava Style: Ash Stone Seal Rain!" Kurotsuchi roared as she spat out a litany of globs. "Let's see you counter the-"
Suddenly, it seemed like the sound was muted for the entire arena. There was a violent sound of air whistling and whooshing. The perimeter of Kurotsuchi's pit cracked around the edges. Suddenly, the loud sound of wind stopped with an earth-shaking boom. Just as suddenly, the dark gray substance shot out of the pit, impacting Kurotsuchi with great speed. Naruto shot out shortly after standing in the air and staring down his opponent. Kurotsuchi was bound to a tree, only her head and left arm free from the mass of her own jutsu that pinned her. Naruto walked through the air to draw close to Kurotsuchi.
X-X
Naruto's POV
He stopped before reaching her with a smirk on his face. "Man, Kurotsuchi, I didn't realize how scary you could be." Naruto said, voicing a mix of genuine respect and childish teasing. "But I think this fight is mine."
Kurotsuchi growled angrily as she attempted to pull herself free. She lacked the skill to use one-handed jutsu, and even if she could, Naruto was more than close enough to ensure it would mean little. "No… way… I… can't… lose to some Leaf…"
"Why does it matter where we're from? We share the same ambition, have the same career, and enjoy a good fight." Naruto interrupted her with a confused frown. "We're so similar; so why can't we simply be friends while we both push on for our homes instead of focusing on differences and superiority. I think you should work on uniting people and serving selfless. We can't be a great leader unless we're great people. Something I think we're both far off from." Naruto lectured seriously.
Kurotsuchi sighed heavily, forced to hear his words and recognize her defeat. "Maybe we are, but today, you showed you ahead of me." She said begrudgingly.
Kakashi appears, smiling subtly at Naruto to show his pride. He poked at the bound but was yet to surrender to Kurotsuchi. "I assume you surrender?"
"Never." Kurotsuchi replied stubbornly. Seemingly heedless of her position, she struggled as if she could free herself.
"Riiiiight~?" Kakashi replied with humor. "Anyway, since you are completely defeated."
"I resent that hippie!" Kurotsuchi roared.
"Naruto Uzumaki is the victor!" Once again, this was met by meager applause, most of the audience unwilling to support the outed jinchuriki. It mattered little. Naruto made up for their silence with his own cheering.