Chapter 66
"Konoha Senpu!" and with that, Gai kicked the scythe-wielding Hidan towards Ao and his friend, who both cycled through the same set of seals together.
"Sution: Grand Water Prison!" and both sprouted out a massive torrent of water out of their mouths, as the water formed a large prison and surrounded the undying bastards, when Kakashi and Gai came and looked at the purple-haired kunoichi standing in their way.
"One down, two more to go," he warned, and yet she remained unaffected.
"It won't matter. As long as I stand, none of you shall pass," and the masked nin had vanished once more, and so that made them all rather cautious as Hidan cursed them out from the water prison.
"We will see about that," and then suddenly the air shifted as everyone stopped in their steps as the sounds of battle vanished, and even the purple haired kunoichi turned her gaze towards the clearing in doubt.
"What the hell was that?" Even Gai noticed it, but only Kakashi saw what had happened in truth because of his Sharingan.
"Something happened to Pain," he whispered in response, and the girl seemed distraught as her eyes widened.
"No. Nagato," she gasped, and she was about to jump away when suddenly a hand tore through her chest.
"AGHHH!" she grunted in agony, as all of them were stunned by this new development.
"What is going on?" Kankuro of Sunagakure gasped at the sight in front of him, and Kakashi was just as surprised as them all.
"YOU!" Konan of Ame gasped as blood dripped down her mouth, as the masked nin crushed her heart in his hands, and looked her in the eye.
"What have you done?" she asked, as she clung to life.
"It seems like death has made him rather impatient," he answered, and Kakashi wondered who he was speaking of.
"You and Nagato have outlived your usefulness. It is time for you to die," and they were allies. Konan of the Akatsuki was one of the founding members of the Akatsuki, and yet now she had been betrayed by her own team.
"You planned all this," and Kakashi saw the realization dawn in her eyes, and he did not know the details of what was going on, but it seemed as if the masked nin had an agenda of his own.
"What do we do, Kakashi?" Gai asked, and the truth was he was out of an answer himself. But he knew that out of the two of them, the masked man could never be their ally.
But in the end, any intervention was now useless for the Konan no Akatsuki was already dead. The masked nin had crushed her heart, and there was no coming back from that.
"It's time that I wrap this up," and the masked man tried to pull back his hand, and yet, despite her injuries, the girl grabbed onto it and refused to let go as her life began to vanish.
"If you think I will let you get away with this, then you are mistaken," she warned, and her body began to unfurl like a book, as that sole sharingan hidden behind the mask widened.
"If I am to die then the last thing I can do is take you out with me!" and he finally noticed the thousands upon thousands of Paper Bombs unfurling from her, as he screamed at his men.
"GET BACK!" he shouted, but it was too late.
BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM!
"AGHHHH!" they were all flung back, as the area infront of them exploded, and few things could match the explosive power of nearly a hundred thousand paper bombs.
"Kakashi! Kakashi," and Gai's voice broke him out of his slumber, as he opened his eyes to a blurred world.
"You are awake," he said, as he pulled him up, and Kakashi nodded as he coughed up and saw sheer decimation around him.
"How is everyone?" he asked, and Gai had no answer for him.
"I don't know, but you need to look at this," and he pointed towards a shadowy figure standing there at the centre of a dust cloud, and they could only see his silhouette from their place, and yet it was the voice that came out which caught him by surprise.
"I should have expected nothing less from the Angel of Death," and Kakashi could not believe his ears as the dust began to clear out, to reveal the masked nin standing there, as his mask crumbled to pieces while Konan's body lay there on the ground infront of him.
"Impossible. There was no time for you to dodge that," Kakashi countered, and the masked nin nodded.
"Indeed, and as he looked up, a gust cleared out the smoke and showed him his face, and the sight stilled his heart.
"No," Kakashi gasped, as his worst fear came true. Lord Jiraiya had mentioned his suspicion to him, but Kakashi could not find it in his heart to believe him, and yet now the truth was there for him to see.
The last parts of his mask crumbled, and Kakashi saw the light vanish from the second Sharingan, hidden behind that mask.
"You are right. She did manage to kill me," and Kakashi was shaking his head in disbelief.
"It cannot be," he gasped, as the masked nin looked up at him, his face now revealed to all.
"But this is not the first time I have cheated death, have I, Kakashi...."
"Obito..."
0000
SHIKAMARU NARA
Leaving Anko-san behind was not part of his plans, but in the end, they simply had no time. He needed to find and defeat Orochimaru as soon as possible, to turn back all the revived.
Even if Hikari may have managed to turn the four kages to his side, there still remained the question regarding the fifth revived shinobi. Hikari believed him to be a trump card, one that was even more dangerous than the Shodaime Hokage.
Their opponent had not revealed it yet, and Shikamaru hoped not to give him the time to do such a thing at all.
"Shikamaru-kun," Hinata's voice made him turn his head, as the Hyuga girl began to slow down.
"We are surrounded," she said, and Shikamaru stopped at once, as he looked around and saw dozens upon dozens of men emerge out of all the nooks and crannies of the cave.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
As he was trying to process this new dilemma, he found himself interrupted by a loud round of applause, as a shinobi came forward from the far end of the cave.
"It's him," Hinata answered, and she did not need to say, for no shinobi in Konoha would ever fail to recognise that face.
His skin was pale and thin, and somehow he had managed to heal his arms as well. A dark purple covered his upper eyelid, while his golden slit-like eyes glowed in the darkness.
"I must say I am quite impressed," and Shikamaru felt his throat as he heard that voice, for now he stood in the presence of a Sanin. One who could take his life at any time.
"But I should have expected nothing less from the Shikaku Nara's son," he added, as Shikamaru grit his teeth.
"Orochimaru," he whispered, as the Snake Sanin smiled.
"You are just as smart as your father, and yet you fail to see the most obvious truth," he taunted, as he broke into a laugh which reverberated throughout the cave.
"Do you really think that you can defeat me?" he asked, and by now, he had counted the number of shinobi surrounding them, and most of them were wearing medical gowns or prisoner suits as the realization dawned on him about their true identity.
"You say that, and yet you have us surrounded by a hundred men," Shikamaru countered.
"These are not men. Not really. These are rejects. Failures whose life has no meaning except in how they can serve me," the Snake Sanin answered without any remorse or guilt.
"You are a monster," and unlike him, Hinata could see the traces of the heinous experiments the monster had committed on these men.
"You call me a monster, and yet your own village once praised me for my work," and painful as it was, Shikamaru knew that to be the truth, and then the Sanin's eyes moved towards Hinata.
"The Byakugan, it is a fascinating doujutsu but I never could get my hands on it because of that accursed seal of your clan," and then he wet his lips like a hungry reptile.
"But I am afraid that changes today," he smiled, and Shikamaru prepared himself for the fight.
"Why don't you pull back these men and face us yourself, or are you simply a coward," and the man snickered.
"Your words have no worth to me. Infront of my eyes, you two are nothing but pests," he shouted, and that may be true, but Shikamaru had come here with a plan.
"What is in the last coffin?" he questioned, and those golden eyes narrowed.
"I grow tired of your questions," and with that he turned away, and simply waved his hand.
"I want the girl alive, as for the boy," and the men all sprang into action at those words.
"...Kill him," and immediately, Shikamaru found himself getting attacked from all sides, as Hinata stepped forward and pushed chakra into her palms.
"KAITEN!"
BOOOOOOOM!
And the dome of chakra repelled all the attacks, as Shikamaru prepared himself for the fight and took out a dozen kunai from his pocket and threw them forward.
"Go, and remember the plan," and just as her ninjutsu ended, they both found themselves surrounded on all sides, as lightnng arched over Hinata's body as she lowered herself as she faced the back of the cave.
"Ninpo: Hekireki Issen!" and then in a dazzling flash, Hinata cut through the hoard and vanished as Shikamaru began counting down in his head.
'Five'
"Ninpo: Kimeikan Shinsho!" he shouted, as a massive shadow spread and bound all of the men coming for him.
"HAHAHHAAHA!" the Sanin laughed, as he counted down.
"What do we have here! It seems like your own ally has abandoned you," he taunted, and that was not quite true.
'Four'
And Shikamaru struggled to hold down so many people all at once, but he would not have to. Not for long.
"You were right," Shikamaru admitted.
"The truth is that in a fair fight between is there is no chance that I could win against you," and he grit his teeth, as the Sanin frowned.
'Three'
"But that would only matter...," and now Shikamaru began to cycle through a new set of handseals rather quickly, as he heard a thud from behind him.
'Two'
"...if I planned on playing fair," and with that, his seals were complete, and he let go of his jutsu as he activated his trump card.
"Ninpo: Kangō An'eitei" (Chimera Shadow Garden)"
'One'
And suddenly a deep darkness covered each nook and cranny of the cave, and in such enclosed surfaces his technique became rather effective, and he saw the Sanin frown, and yet it took a few seconds for the effects to register, as the man scowled.
"You bastard," and he tried to jump away but it was too late by then, as Hinata's vice pierced through the darkness.
"KAMINARI!...."
.
.
.
At the entrance of the cave, Hinata Hyuga stood with a massive bow made out of sheer lightning glistening in her hand, as she focused all her chakra into her next attack. In a fair fight, they did not stand a chance against Orochimaru, but Shikamaru-kun had devised a trick just for him.
A gamble, in which they could end the battle in a single attack.
"Raiton:..." she shouted, and her entire body burned, as lightning natured chakra raced through her entire being.
"....KAMINARI!"
A barrage of lightning rushed out of her bow and tore through the cave, as Hinata was flung back from the recoil herself.
BOOOOM! BOOOOOM!
0000
As always, you can read ahead and support me through my Patre 0n. Your support and patr 0nage are what make all this possible. So, drop a sub if you can. It would help me out quite a bit.
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
Have a fantastic day!
PS: You can go and yet an early look at my new fic as well over there as well.