31 Chapter 31 Fox vs Snake Part II

Orochimaru stared at the newly transformed Naruto.

"Truly unbelievable... the things this child can do.." Orochimaru grinned.

...

...

...

As Sakura and Sasuke made their way through the forest, they had seen the black smoke rising into the air and had grown even more concern for Naruto. However, they suddenly were blown back by a large gust of wind and were forced to retreat and find shelter from the incoming debris. They were both shocked by the sudden impact, what exactly was happening? They wondered.

Suddenly, the light above them was darkened as a large shadow appeared. Suddenly, Gamabunta landed loudly as he crashed onto the ground in front of the two of them.

"Eh? Why is there a giant toad here?" Sakura exclaimed.

Sasuke was also shocked but he didn't really have any words to say as his mouth just hung slightly ajar.

Gamabunta grunted in pain as he slowly picked himself up off the ground.

"This really isn't looking good now, that brat's in trouble!" Gamabunta exclaimed as he pulled himself up off the ground.

Sasuke quickly climbed up to the top of a nearby tree along with Sakura.

"Oi, you came from the battle that's happening over there, tell us what's going on!" Sasuke demanded.

"Please!" Sakura added.

Gamabunta stared at the two on the tree.

"Hmph, you brats wouldn't be able to do anything if you knew, so leave now." Gamabunta grunted.

Sasuke felt pissed off after hearing that, but seeing the size of the toad forced him to consider his words a bit more.

"Please... our teammate is over there!" Sasuke asked as he bowed.

Sakura was surprised to see Sasuke acting like that. He normally wouldn't drop his arrogance in front of others, however, she had to admit that the giant toad wasn't someone she felt they could really face if they pissed him off.

Gamabunta stared at the two, especially Sasuke who was bowing toward him.

"You're teammate, does he have blonde spiky hair and blue eyes?" Gamabunta asked after a moment.

"Yes, that's right, is Naruto alright?!" Sakura asked with her eyes widening.

"If you're asking if he's alive, then he is. But I wouldn't say he's alright either..." Gamabunta replied.

"No way.... that Naruto?" Sakura said in disbelief.

Sasuke also found it incredulous, the two of them knew of Naruto's ability and skill. Which meant that whomever it was that he was facing, was someone incredibly strong.

"Then we at least have to get him out of there!!" Sakura exclaimed as she looked toward the center of the explosion.

"Let's go Sasuke!"

"Right."

The two of them started moving toward but were suddenly grabbed by Gamabunta's tongue.

"Hold it, you can't help the brat right now. You guys'll only get hurt if you go in!" Gamabunta told them.

Both Sasuke and Sakura stared at the giant toad in frustration. They knew Naruto was right there, but now they were being told they couldn't go. Suddenly, they heard a large impact followed by the ground shaking around them.

"What was that?" Sakura exclaimed.

Gamabunta stared ahead for a moment. "That was Naruto's attack just now."

The two stared at the toad again in shock before silently staring back toward where the direction of the explosion was. Suddenly, they all noticed the arrival of three individuals.

...

...

...

Naruto stared at Orochimaru while growling, Orochimaru stared back with a slight grin on his face as he marveled at Naruto's current form.

"I wonder, with your current form, do you think this village would accept you still?" Orochimaru asked.

Naruto remained silent to Orochimaru's question.

"Can you even understand me now that you're like this?.... Heh, truly what a tragic child you are. Forced to become a monster by the whims of this village and then shunned by the very same fools who did this to you, and I'm the one who's a monster." Orochimaru mocked.

Naruto growled as he narrowed his eyes and lifted his arms, then he slammed them down into the ground. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and prepared himself in response. Now what are you up to I wonder, Orochimaru thought.

Suddenly, the ground below him began to crack. Orochimaru widened his eyes and jumped up right as Naruto's arms came launching out of the ground attempting to catch him. Orochimaru jumped to the side in order to avoid the arms, but then another arm came rushing out of one of Naruto's arms and rushed at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru frowned and sent a snake out to intercept the incoming attack. But as soon as the snake made contact with the arm it began disintegrating to ash and the affects began eating away at the rest of Orochimaru's body. So he quickly opened his mouth and he shed his skin like a snake as he escaped, leaving his old body to disintegrate into ash.

Interesting, looks like this will be quite difficult to deal with. Orochimaru thought as he began circling around Naruto who still had his arms implanted into the ground. Naruto growled as he watched Orochimaru. Then he started to retract his arms from the ground. Orochimaru then approached Naruto rapidly and coated his fist in chakra just before punching Naruto in the face launching him away.

The he started to form hand seals.

Tiger → Ox → Dog → Rabbit → Snake

<Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu>

A large gust of wind then surged toward Naruto sending him tumbling backwards. As Naruto flew back he slammed his arms back into the ground stopping him from flying further back. Then he slowly started moving closer toward Orochimaru who poured more chakra into pushing Naruto backwards. Naruto then sent his arm into the ground enlarging the size and them slamming it down onto Orochimaru.

Orochimaru frowned as he released the jutsu and dodge by flipping to the side. However, Naruto sent his other arm out and grabbed hold of Orochimaru. Then he swung his arm and dragged Orochimaru against the ground before tossing him into the air. Naruto grinned as he saw Orochimaru's pained expression as he was tossed. Then he jumped up into the air and appeared behind Orochimaru and swung his arm, separating Orochimaru's top half from his lower half of his body. However, snakes appeared out of the top and lower halves and interconnected with each other, causing Orochimaru's body to become whole again.

Orochimaru had a pained expression however as he landed back onto the ground. Naruto landed several tens of meters away from Orochimaru and wore a smug expression on his face. Orochimaru frowned slightly as he had to once again reassess Naruto's capabilities, even if the current form was no more than a beast acting only on instinct alone. But the sheer power and force alone was nonetheless overwhelming.

...

...

...

After experiencing the sudden blast the blew them away, Hinata, Kiba and Shino were having second thoughts about continuing on. Especially so for Kiba, since Akamaru was shivering uncontrollably in fear within his coat. Seeing his partner like this only convinced Kiba that going there was a really bad idea. But despite everything, for some reason, Hinata still wanted to continue onward. Just as they were busy discussing things they saw a large toad falling nearby.

Seeing that baffled them as they had never seen a toad of that size before, let alone one wearing a coat and carrying an equally large blade.

"What the hell is that?" Kiba exclaimed.

"I don't know, but it looks like it came from where the blast occurred earlier.." Hinata replied.

"Hinata's right, it came flying from where we are heading, which means something capable of blowing away a creature of that size away is present there." Shino confirmed.

"Then why the hell are we still going that way?" Kiba shouted.

"We never should have come this way, this is crazy!"

"But...." Hinata murmured.

"No buts! We are turning around now!" Kiba commanded.

"Kiba, I think we should check out the toad." Shino suggested.

"Eh? What the hell are you talking about Shino?" Kiba asked in surprise.

"Chances are, based on that toad's appearance, it's a summoned animal. So we may be able to determine what's happening from it." Shino replied.

Hinata looked at Kiba pleadingly, causing him to sigh in frustration.

"Fine." Kiba sighed in defeat.

The trio then made their way toward the giant toad. As they got closer they discovered Sasuke and Sakura as well. But Hinata noticed that Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Which only caused her to be worried, and her bad premonition only worsened.

Seeing the newcomers, Gamabunta looked over at them and saw that they all wore the same leaf shinobi forehead protectors. So he made no aggressive action toward them, Sasuke and Sakura also noticed the trio's arrival.

"Eh? Sasuke, and Sakura, what are you guys doing here?" Kiba exclaimed.

"Well.... we were heading toward the battle that's happening, but then this guy stopped us." Sakura answered.

"What, why? Are you guys crazy!?" Kiba shouted.

"Didn't you guys see all those crazy explosions? It's tearing up the forest!"

"....." Sakura looked down.

That's when Hinata finally put two and two together, noticing Naruto's absence from the group and the fact that despite the increasing danger, why the two of them would still go.

"It's because Naruto is over there." Sasuke finally spoke.

Kiba looked shocked upon hearing about Naruto, then he once again looked over at the direction of where the explosions occurred. Hinata looked at the source as well as she finally knew why she had a bad feeling about what was happening. Suddenly, they felt a tremor.

...

...

...

Naruto and Orochimaru stared at each other for awhile. Neither making a move, suddenly however, Naruto suddenly started releasing small red and blue chakra orbs into the air. Then he brought his tails up toward the top of his head and began bringing the chakra orbs together. The orbs slowly gathered into a black sphere. Orochimaru stared at the process as he wondered what exactly Naruto was planning on doing with all of that chakra. Soon, all the orbs had gathered and combined into a single large black sphere, then Naruto began condensing the chakra massive chakra orb into the size of a small fist sized sphere. Orochimaru's eyes widened as he saw the amount of dense chakra that Naruto had gathered. However, what surprised Orochimaru was that instead of using it Naruto opened his mouth wide, causing cracks to appear as his mouth widened, then he swallowed the chakra orb.

The dense chakra forced Naruto's body to sink into the ground forming a crater. Now what are you going to do? Orochimaru wondered. Then, Naruto's body began to swell in size causing an even bigger crater to form around him. He slowly opened his mouth and steam began seeping out. That's when Orochimaru realized what was about to happen as he quickly created some distance between the two and bit both his thumbs and slammed them onto the ground.

<Summoning jutsu: Triple Rashōmon>

Three large gates appeared one after the other between Orochimaru and Naruto, each with a distinct face on the doors. Naruto then opened his mouth and shot the condensed chakra orb out of his mouth toward Orochimaru. As soon as the orb hit the first gate a large explosion happened further destroying the surrounding terrain. Tremors shook the ground as the explosion happened.

...

...

...

Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino all stared at the newcomer. It was none other than Rock Lee.

"Shikamaru, why do you have your guard up? It's just that weird guy from before." Ino said.

"Ino, did you forget already? No one is an ally in this part of the chunin exams." Shikamaru replied.

Lee looked at the trio for a moment, but suddenly, the ground began shaking as they felt the tremors happening. The looked over and saw a large blast above the trees going in one direction.

"That can't be good..." Shikamaru sighed.

"Ahem, I have no intention of fighting you guys, but I'm heading over there!" Lee said.

Shikamaru stared at Lee as if he were crazy, but considering his choice of clothes, it wouldn't be surprising if he was.

"That's fine, we'll be going in another direction anyways." Shikamaru replied.

Lee nodded his head. "Then you guys should be careful."

Shikamaru nodded in return as he watched Lee run off.

"Let's go, we've been here long enough, chances are, all the crazy strong guys will be attracted by that explosion, which will make it easier for us to reach the tower." Shikamaru said.

The other two nodded their heads and the three of them continued heading toward the direction of the tower.

...

...

...

As Neji and Tenten were looking for Lee, they also felt the sudden tremor and saw the huge blast tearing up the landscape. As they were looking at it, Neji finally noticed Lee rushing toward it.

"Lee!" Neji called out.

Lee looked over and slowed down for Neji to catch up. "Neji.."

"What are you doing? There's no need for us to go that way." Neji said.

"That's where you're wrong Neji, someone we know could be in trouble over there!" Lee retorted.

"What does it matter to us? No one is our ally in this round of the exams!" Tenten yelled at Lee.

"Tenten, what kind of shinobi would we be if we didn't help out when someone was in danger!" Lee reprimanded.

Neji and Tenten sighed as they realized they wouldn't be able to talk Lee out of going.

"Fine, but as soon as things become too much for us, we're running away!" Tenten responded.

Neji remained silent as he raised his alertness to the max in case of any kind of ambush happening. The trio rushed forward toward the blast.

...

...

...

Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Sasuke, Sakura and Gamabunta all stared in shock at the nearby blast, and they were forced to brace themselves from the incoming shock waves. Hinata felt even more fear toward Naruto's safety, there was no way anyone would be fine being near a blast like that. Which was why she couldn't help herself rushing off toward the direction as soon as the shock waves settled down. Seeing this, Kiba and Shino shouted out toward her and began chasing after.

"What are you doing you brats?!" Gamabunta shouted out.

Seeing this, both Sasuke and Sakura took the chance to escape from Gamabunta and rush toward the fighting as well.

"Damn it!" Gamabunta muttered as he got up to chase after them.

Hinata only had one concern on her mind and it was for Naruto's safety, she would never be able to forgive herself if something happened to Naruto and she did nothing. Please be alright! Naruto! Hinata pleaded in her mind, hoping that nothing bad had happened to Naruto. Kiba and Shino were still busy chasing after her, but were unable to catch up to Hinata, they were only able to match her speed so that she didn't get too far ahead of them. Meanwhile, behind them were Sasuke and Sakura who were slowly catching up toward them.

...

...

...

Naruto waited as he gazed at all the dust and smoke he had created from the blast. Soon, the dust settled to reveal a badly injured Orochimaru half buried in the dirt.

"Cough.. Heh, to think that even the Triple Rashōmon would be completely destroyed in defending against that blast." Orochimaru breathed out.

He slowly stood up as his body was in tatters. The blast had caused the ground and trees on either side behind where the gates were to become destroyed. Only the surrounding area directly behind the gates had been relatively unscathed. Naruto grinned as he stared down Orochimaru who was breathing heavily. Suddenly, there was a large eruption of lighting within the sky as a black sphere came hurtling down toward the ground. Orochimaru and Naruto both looked up at the sudden commotion and watched as the black sphere landed in between the two of them. Soon, the sphere cracked apart to reveal the pure white figure underneath while the black substance merged to form black clothes around the figure. It opened it's eyeless eyes to stare down at Naruto and Orochimaru.

Right as the Construct had appeared, Hinata arrived followed by Kiba and Shino. Soon Sasuke and Sakura arrived afterward. Gamabunta had also arrived as well and he along with the group that had arrived stared at the scene that had been revealed in front of them. What they saw was a heavily injured man with long black hair and snake like eyes. A pure white figure wearing black clothes and some kind of bloody beast with four tails. But none of them saw any sign of Naruto around in the area.

Naruto stared at the Construct that had appeared and roared, causing the nearby people to cover their ears from the intense sound.

...

...

...

An elderly man walked into the Hokage's office to see the Hokage staring intensely out of the window.

"Sarutobi, you can no longer shield the boy, he has become a danger to the lives of everyone in the village, anyone with any sense can feel the Nine-Tails chakra that's surging outward from him now." The elderly man said.

"Danzo...." Sarutobi murmured.

The Third Hokage truly had no words at this moment, the situation he feared most had come about, Naruto had succumbed to the power of the Nine-Tails and the seal had begun breaking apart.

"It's time to take action, we must stop the chunin exams and restrain the Nine-Tails before it is too late!" Danzo said.

The Hokage looked down toward the ground as he considered the possible actions.

"The Nine-Tails will be restrained and then sealed properly!" Danzo said.

The Third Hokage stared at Danzo as anger swelled up within him.

"He is not the Nine-Tails, he is Uzumaki Naruto, a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf! Danzo!" Sarutobi exclaimed.

"Whatever you call him, he is now a danger. It is your job as Hokage to ensure the safety of the village!" Danzo retorted.

"I will handle this matter, but I will do so my way! Do not interfere Danzo!" Sarutobi commanded.

"As you wish Lord Third..." Danzo replied before turning around and walking out of the door.

As he walked a shadow appeared behind him.

"Find an opportunity to take care of the Nine-Tails!" Danzo commanded.

"Yes!" The shadow answered before disappearing.

Danzo stared out of the window as he looked at the general direction of where the Nine-Tails chakra was.

...

...

...

Soon, Neji, Lee, and Tenten arrived as well and they saw the same scene as the others who had arrived before them. They were confused and weary of what they saw, then they noticed the others and made their way toward them.

"Sakura!" Lee called out.

Sakura looked over to see Lee and the others. "Lee!" Sakura replied.

"Are you alright Sakura?!" Lee asked in concern.

"I'm fine Lee... What are you guys doing here?" Sakura asked.

"We came to help out anyone in trouble!" Lee replied with a thumbs up.

Sakura nodded her head and looked back at the scene before her eyes. Just where was Naruto? She wondered, and who was that man? Where did that bloody beast come from as well? She wondered. But she recognized the Construct in the center of it all, and she couldn't help but shiver from remembering the last time they encountered it.

"Oi! Where's Naruto?" Kiba yelled.

Gamabunta remained silent for a moment before replying. "He's there in front of you all."

"Eh?" Everyone exclaimed as they looked back.

"Where?" Kiba asked.

"The one covered in blood.." Gamabunta answered.

Hearing this caused everyone present to stare at the bloody beast with four tails and they couldn't believe their eyes. Just what had happened to Naruto to transform him into something like that? They wondered.

The Construct began to move as it rushed toward Naruto. Naruto reacted by swinging his arm toward it. The Construct blocked but was sent flying back after receiving the blow by Naruto. Naruto then rushed forward to attack the Construct, creating a sudden shock wave after taking off from his earlier position.

The Construct reacted by turning it's arm in a blade that it swung to slice Naruto. Naruto grabbed the Construct's arm and tore it off before slamming it into the ground. Then he raised both of his arms high up into the air before bringing them down onto the Construct. The blow created a large shock wave that shook the surrounding area as well as creating another crater in the ground.

Orochimaru observed the battle with interest as he focused on recovering, then he saw the new arrivals and saw Sasuke. He grinned as he licked his lips.

...

...

...

Sitting in an empty space, Hateshi watched as the scene unfolded before his eyes. He grinned as he watched as Naruto fought the Construct.

"Looks like things are going well!" He grinned.