Chapter 198: The Strange Crystals
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 198: The Strange Crystals
As the first rays of light began to pierce through the mist covering the island, the group started moving again.
For now, they had decided to head toward the center of the island. If there was anything of interest here, it was likely to be there.
After a few minutes of walking, they began to notice some rotting trees along the way, giving at least some evidence that there used to be life on this island.
"There was likely a lot of vegetation in these lands before this fog appeared," Yamato pointed out.
"I'm more curious about the source of this fog. And why Orochimaru sent Sasuke to a place like this," Kakashi said.
"From what I learned from Jiraiya, Orochimaru often sends his followers to various places to collect anything or anyone that catches his attention. The man is an obsessive collector," Naruto commented.
"That is true," Yamato agreed with a touch of bitterness in his voice.
"Orochimaru is obsessed with gaining knowledge, and he's willing to go to great lengths to achieve his goals. He has no moral qualms about his methods, either."
Kakashi glanced at Yamato. "There's little chance that Orochimaru himself will be here. If he is, we'll come up with something. For now, our mission is to find Sasuke and uncover whatever plans they had for this island."
Kakashi cast a brief glance at Naruto, pondering if the current Naruto could handle someone like Orochimaru.
Their sparring session the other day had left him both shaken and curious about the young man's full potential. 'At this point, only Jiraiya might know what he can truly do.' Unfortunately, Kakashi hadn't had the chance to speak with the Sannin before leaving on this mission.
"There's something strange ahead…" Naruto spoke suddenly.
"Strange how? Do you sense someone's presence?" Yamato asked.
"Kind of… more like remnants of chakra. Several of them." Naruto's expression shifted. "Wait, I do feel a living presence, but it's very weak.
We should hurry if we want to get any information. I'm sure that person is dying."
Hearing this, Kakashi had no choice but to quicken their pace, even though it made detecting traps more difficult.
After all, the person dying could be no other than Sasuke.
Kakashi wasn't sure how he'd react when he saw him again. At the very least, he wanted a proper explanation. He also wanted to know if Sasuke felt any guilt for what he had done.
If he did, there might still be a chance for him, but if he didn't...
"What is that?" Yamato was the first to spot something strange through the thick mist.
"Is that glass? …Wait, there's someone inside," Kakashi pointed out.
"That's where the chakra residue I felt earlier was coming from. There are probably more of these around this area," Naruto explained.
As they got closer, they were able to examine the object more thoroughly.
It was a pink-colored crystal, and an adult man was trapped inside, frozen in what looked like terror.
The man's face was contorted in a horrified expression, his hands raised as if to shield himself from something. He wore simple gray robes with numbers written on them.
"Is this some kind of special jutsu? I've never seen anything like it," Yamato commented.
"It could be a bloodline ability," Kakashi suggested. "There are many strange abilities out there, and we can't claim to know them all. But more importantly, those clothes…"
"I believe we've found one of the prisoners who escaped from the hideout. The others were wearing similar outfits," Naruto added.
Kakashi nodded. "Yes. From what we heard, several prisoners fled along with Sasuke, Kabuto, and that woman… Guren."
"Could this be the work of that 'demon' the fisherman mentioned?" Yamato suggested.
"The old man said the demon resides under the waters surrounding the island, so it's likely some kind of sea creature. But here, on land…" Naruto touched the crystal's surface. "This is definitely ninjutsu. I can feel the earth-elemental particles used to create this thing."
"A bloodline variation of earth jutsu… hold on." Kakashi extended his hand.
Sparks of electricity began to form as he touched the crystal.
As he did, the entire structure crumbled with little resistance, releasing the man inside.
"Naruto was right. Something created with earth particles will be vulnerable to lightning due to the impurities in the earth that help conduct electricity," Kakashi explained.
Yamato moved quickly to catch the man but realized it was too late for that person. "Unfortunately, this one won't be telling us anything new," he said with a shake of his head.
Naruto pointed ahead. "We're likely to find more if we go that way."
"Let's proceed with caution. Naruto, you take the lead since you're the sensor. Yamato, you take point. If anyone gets trapped in a crystal like that one, I'll free you immediately," Kakashi ordered.
He was the only one capable of using lightning release, making this the safest option.
"We're close," Naruto said after walking for less than a minute.
Soon enough, another crystal emerged from the fog.
Like the one before, it had a man trapped inside. This was another prisoner like the other one, judging by his attire.
Before they could consider freeing him to check if he was alive, Naruto spotted many more crystals ahead.
"Looks like there was a large battle here. These prisoners were fighting this crystal release user…" Yamato concluded.
"But they didn't finish the job," Naruto remarked, scanning the area.
Suddenly, someone emerged from the mist and lunged at Naruto.
"Die!" shouted an unknown blue-haired woman.
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