Chapter 207: A Calculation Error
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 207: A Calculation Error
With the assistance of the two Hokages, restraining Hiruzen long enough to destroy the control seal was easy enough, as it only took a moment.
The old man looked visibly relieved once he felt he was no longer being forced to obey Orochimaru's orders.
"Thank you for that," Hiruzen said.
"Under different circumstances, I would have loved to exchange pointers with three powerful warriors like yourselves," Naruto told them before turning to leave. "But there's a ninja I want to kill and a tortoise I want to eat."
"Wait," Hashirama called out. "Allow us to assist you in your conflict against Orochimaru."
"We no longer have a place in the world of the living," Tobirama added. "But I'd love to kick that arrogant snake's ass before returning to eternal rest."
"I also wish to assist you," Hiruzen said, his voice heavy with regret. "I can't help but feel much of this situation is my fault. If only I hadn't been so lenient with my student back then…"
"You've always been too soft," Tobirama scoffed.
Naruto turned away, focusing on the ongoing battle. The Toad Clan had been doing a remarkable job keeping Orochimaru occupied while he dealt with the resurrected Hokage.
The Sannin looked far less confident and arrogant than he had at the beginning of the battle. Naruto noted that most of his own summons had already vanished, leaving only Gamabunta and the two Elder Toads in the fight.
Orochimaru, too focused on trying to finish off Gamabunta, failed to notice Naruto closing in.
As the Sannin landed an attack on the Toad Lord, Gamabunta gave him a mocking grin and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
From within the smoke, a fist emerged, landing squarely on Orochimaru's face.
"Urgh!" The Sannin tumbled backward in a most unceremonious manner for someone of his status.
"Naruto!" the two Elder Toads exclaimed upon seeing him again.
"Your chakra is almost exhausted. You've done more than enough," Naruto said, his tone reassuring. "Thank you for your assistance."
"Yes, we're very tired already…" Shima admitted.
"We'll leave the rest to you, Naruto," Fukasaku added. "Good luck, call us again whenever you need us."
The two toads vanished just as Gamabunta had, their energy completely spent. The looming image of the mountain overhead disappeared, marking the end of Naruto's summoning technique.
When Orochimaru snapped back to his feet and glared at Naruto, large wooden branches erupted from the ground beneath him.
The Sannin broke free of the branches but was immediately assaulted by a torrent of water. Dodging the water, he landed on a muddy ground that began swallowing him whole, only to face a relentless barrage of jutsus.
Fire, water, and earth techniques bombarded him one after another, while trees emerged around him, their branches attempting to restrain him.
"Enough!" Orochimaru roared, his rage boiling over. "How did you break free from my seal?!"
"You cannot win this time, Orochimaru," Hiruzen said coldly. "But you won't receive mercy from me...not this time."
"Sarutobi!" Orochimaru snarled at his former sensei. He then glared at Naruto. "You think I wasn't prepared for this?."
Before the Hokages could strike again, Orochimaru activated the emergency measure he had prepared in case the resurrected Hokages turned against him.
"Go away!" Orochimaru screamed, triggering the failsafe. Chakra was forcibly drained from the Hokages' bodies, and their souls were sent back to the afterlife before they could cause him further harm.
It only took an instant, and the Hokage were not even given time to get a few last words in before their bodies turned into dust.
"Hmm… so you had taken precautions for this exact scenario. Not bad," Naruto said with a nod.
He wasn't bothered that Orochimaru had dismissed the Hokages. He didn't need their help to finish this fight and had already considered the possibility that the Sannin had taken some precautions before unleashing three powerful enemies in the open, with just a control seal to keep them in check.
Even without those three to assist him, he could tell with a quick glance that Orochimaru was nearing exhaustion, and probably running out of tricks to use against him.
"You…" Orochimaru glared at Naruto. "Who are you really? You can't just be a young ninja whose career started less than four years ago. No matter how much of a genius people claim you to be, there's a limit to how much someone can grow in such a short time. I know this from personal experience."
'Does he really expect me to explain anything to him, or is he just trying to earn more time to recover?.' He wondered.
Naruto's only response was to send a kunai flying at Orochimaru's face.
When this one dodged it, Naruto used the 'Flying Thunder God' jutsu to teleport behind him and slammed a Rasengan into his back.
"Ahhh!" Orochimaru, taken completely by surprise was unable to avoid the attack and was sent tumbling away once more.
"Sorry… were you really expecting an explanation?" Naruto asked, retrieving his kunai. He handled it carefully...it was the only one he had at the moment.
He'd only had time to make this single kunai and engrave the formula on the two girls, before setting out on this mission.
Orochimaru had nothing left to say. His resources were depleted, and he still didn't know the full extent of Naruto's abilities.
Seeing Naruto use the Flying Thunder God technique was enough to make Orochimaru decide that retreating was the best course of action at this time.
This mission had never been that critical one, to begin with. Orochimaru had come here to stir trouble between Konoha, the Mist Village, and the Akatsuki by awakening the Three-Tails and releasing it.
But when he encountered Kakashi, Yamato, and Naruto, he saw this as an opportunity to test his new body...eager to the Sharingan to good use. Now, he regretted that decision.
He should have spent more time mastering his new eyes before engaging in a serious fight. Not that he thought that Naruto was going to be such a troublesome oponent to begin with.
Naruto moved to attack again, but once he got close, he saw Orochimaru's body explode into chunks of flesh that transformed into hundreds of snakes that lunged at him.
"I see…" Naruto muttered, ignoring the snakes as he flew into the air. His keen senses told him the real Orochimaru was underground, attempting to flee. The explosion and the snakes were just a diversion.
"Where do you think you're going?" Naruto's eyes glowed with an eerie light.
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