Chapter Nine
(Zetsu's Theme begins)
White Zetsu stood in front of Neji's team with a wide grin...
Tenten made hand seals as she quickly opened her scrolls which she brought and rained weapons onto the enemy.
White Zetsu was not spared by the torrential rain of weapons. His limbs were torn and even his head got smashed in.
"Wow that was easy..." Rock Lee breathed out, relaxing his fighting stance.
"No..." Neji whispered as he activated his eyes. "Byakugan!"
Neji studied the enemy carefully as Tenten asked in a curious voice.
"So what did you see???"
"He's regenerating!" Neji exclaimed as the broken parts of Zetsu started to form into more white Zetsus.
Now instead of 1 Zetsu, there are 5 Zetsus before them.
"I told you that you twerps don't stand a chance against me if you guys separated..." White Zetsu mocked them with an evil grin.
"Eat this!" Rock Lee moved at blinding speed to spar with all 5 enemies at the same time.
2 Zetsus had their legs broken and were on the ground and the other 3 had their arms twisted.
"Lee it's useless! Remember Neji said they can regenerate! We need to figure out something else!" Tenten yelled but Rock Lee is a stubborn shinobi, he wouldn't listen to any form of reasoning right now as the fight was a challenging one for the young ninja.
"Maybe if we use speed to hurt him then he wouldn't be able to regenerate fast enough!" Rock Lee yelled back as he quickly unshackled the cements which he tied around his legs and viciously used taijitsu against all 5 Zetsus, who just cracked their bones into place after being injured.
"Neji! Aren't we supposed to help?!?" Tenten exclaimed but Neji held a hand up.
"Wait, there's something strange going on with that Zetsu's chakra..." Neji said in a hushed tone.
Tenten was about to jump in to help her team mate when all 5 Zetsus did something incredible.
"Lion Combo!!!" 4 Zetsus quickly recovered and ganged up on Rock Lee, using one of his special moves.
"How does that feel you moron!" one of the Zetsus who didn't participate initially laughed hysterically but very soon he grabbed Rock Lee off the ground and jumped up into the air yelling "Secondary Lotus!!!"
"Tenten hurry stop him! I still need to observe the guy with my eyes! Something really weird is going on with his chakra flow!" Neji commanded as Tenten quickly rushed in to halt the enemy mid-air but she was too slow as she cushioned the enemy's and Lee's fall.
As the dust settled, Tenten coughed up blood as Lee groaned in pain. The Zetsu who did it to them was standing on top of them, smiling evilly.
"You'll pay for that!" Rock Lee wiped the blood of his lips. "I'll be using that jutsu..." he whispered to Tenten.
Tenten's eyes widened as she shook her head vigorously.
"Lee you can't! That jutsu hasn't been perfected yet!!!"
As mentioned before, Lee is a stubborn ninja. He suddenly pushed himself up with force, overthrowing the Zetsu on top of him, and shouted "Primary Lotus!!!"
"Lee no don't do it!!!" Neji shouted as he was already close to figuring out Zetsu's secret.
The Zetsu that was on top of him was swept up by Lee and few seconds later, he was below Lee, every vital organs crushed.
Lee was panting as his muscles screamed in pain.
"As for the rest of you..." Lee looked at the 4 Zetsus with fiery eyes. "Sixth Gate, Gate Of View!" he yelled as he beat up all 4 enemies with incredible speed.
Neji was helpless as he just stood there. He is 99% close to figuring out the White Zetsu's ability but Neji prayed that he is wrong.
If he is correct, then whatever Lee is doing will end up killing all of them!
Neji realised that if one thing, White Zetsu is not an opponent to be dealt with quickly. That kind of enemy needs observations and analysing, which is all Lee's weakness...
When all 5 Zetsus laid on the ground with broken bones and crushed organs then did Lee deactivate his Hachimon Tonko ability. Lee was ragged. His clothes were badly torn and dusty, and he was bleeding in a few places.
"That did it!!! We won!!!" Lee exclaimed as Tenten pushed herself off the ground and opened her mouth in horror.
"Lee!!" she shouted as she pointed at the Zetsu nearest to them.
That particular Zetsu along with the other Zetsus, easily pull off their limbs that has broken bones and toss their arms or legs aside. That particular tossed limbs then became more Zetsus...
Lee knew he was doomed this time. There's no way he has enough physical chakra to beat this enemy.
Tenten searched for Neji. When her brown eyes made eye contact with him... She spoke...
"Neji! You are our team leader! You are the senior jounin among us! Tell us what should we do!!" Tenten screamed in desperation as tears pricked at her eyes.
Neji closed his eyes, never deactivating them..
When he opened his eyes, there were renewed strength in them.
"Tenten, Lee... don't fight back anymore..." Neji said in a stern voice as all 15 Zetsus currently laughed at him.
"Are you out of your mind?!?" Tenten shrieked as Lee hung onto her for support.
"Are we that useless to you???" Lee whispered as Neji narrowed his eyes at them.
"No... You guys did help me out a lot... By fighting with him, you guys helped me find out the way he fights... Both of you are already badly injured, it's my turn to protect the 2 of you now..." Neji said in a firm voice.
"1 against 15?!? You do know you are outnumbered right?!? Besides, how do you expect to save your friends when we all have the speed of Rock Lee with his cements unshackled!!!" all 15 enemies suddenly spoke at the same time, their laugh reverberating. "Not to mention all his strong moves! You will never reach your comrades in time!!!" All 15 Zetsus then shouted "Lion Combo!" as they charged at their victims who were huddled in the middle of them.
Neji gritted his teeth and realised he has to push himself further than his limits now! Yes Hiashi-sama did the same to him but he cannot depend on the training he has with his uncle for now! He has to extend the limits of his training and there's no time to test that limit. It's not the time to test anymore, it's now or never!!!
With speed that is much faster than Lee with his unshackled cements, which Neji never knew he was capable of, the Hyuga quickly rushed to his friends and did his clan's famous jutsu, known only to the main family.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!!" he yelled as he rotated so fast that even he himself almost got dizzy.
It worked though. The 15 enemies were all thrown back and groaned in pain as they landed on the ground.
His eyes were still activated so when he was sure they were all on the ground, he stopped his rotation. However, the 15 Zetsus were soon up and quickly activated 6 chakra gates. "Eat this you bloody Hyuga!!!" they all screamed, charging at him again.
"Eight Trigrams 128 palms!!!" he said in a hushed whisper as he hung his head low, which shook both his team mates.
When Neji uses that voice to say his jutsu, he means business...
Neji took on 15 enemies who are as fast as Lee with unshackled cements and using 6 chakra gates. All the while, his team mates witnessed this with wide eyes and their jaws hanging.
The Zetsus all crumbled into dust as they were unable to regenerate, having their chakra blocked by Neji's juken.
"Well that settles it..." Neji said in a quiet tone as he straightened from his fighting posture.
"What?!?" Tenten yelled as she realised the fight was over.
"How did you learn to do that??? When did you get faster than me???" Lee asked in confusion and Neji shrugged but gave them a confused look too.
"I don't know... I guess my adrenaline kicked in when I realised that my team mates were going to get seriously injured..." Neji answered.
Tenten's eyes brimmed with tears of joy and relief that the 3 of them survived the fight with White Zetsu. It had seemed impossible at first but Neji, being the team leader, managed to get them out with his calm demeanour.
She hugged Neji as she cried into his chest.
"I was so scared!!! I thought we were goners back there!!!"
Neji patted her back awkwardly as Lee also started crying.
"That was one youthful passionate fight!!!" Lee sobbed and Neji just raised an eyebrow at his 2 crying team mates, not knowing how to respond...
"So..." Tenten sniffed as she wiped her tears away. "What was Zetsu's secret?"
"Yea, that reminds me..." Lee also stopped crying and tilted his head at Neji.
Neji cleared his throat as he explained.
"He can regenerate which we all know and whoever touches him, he can copy that chakra flow and do the exact same jutsu as his opponent. Except for bloodline limits, that's why he couldn't copy mine. I actually took that last information as a risk as I couldn't confirm it but when he still used your jutsu after I used mine despite touchingmy rotation already, I was all the more convinced that I was the only one able to protect you guys because he can't copy my moves."
"So does his ability work like a sharingan?" Tenten asked, bewildered, and Neji shook his head.
"No, his chakra spiked when Lee recently touched him but it went down when Lee was getting up. Apparently if he's not in contact with his victim for around 3 minutes, the chakra flow that he copied gets disrupted." Neji continued and Lee widened his eyes.
"Was that why you told me to stop attacking him?" Lee asked and Neji sighed.
"Well you didn't listen anyway..." he rebutted, earning a scowl from Lee and a giggle from Tenten.
(Zetsu's Theme ends)
*~*
(Evening Moon begins)
Gaara was on his sand cloud, the rest of his friends were running on foot. He could have made a bigger cloud and everyone can sit on it but that would mean taking up more chakra for a bigger sized cloud..
"You guys tired? If you are then rest. I can go on ahead." Gaara called out to his comrades.
Sai was riding on a drawing of his lion. "Nah I'm good." he answered with a genuine smile.
"Of course you're good! You're riding on something!" Shikamaru groaned.
"I don't hear Kiba complaining." Sai smirked as Kiba rode on Akamaru alongside Sai. They both high-fived each other, chuckling at the same time.
"Why can't you just draw for us more lions to ride on?!?" Ino yelled and Sai smiled as he suddenly reached down for Ino's waist and pulled her onto his lion.
"Well gorgeous you never told me you were tired. Only you will be privileged to sit on this lion." he smirked and Ino blushed furiously as the rest of the team groaned.
"Well drawing more lions and keeping them running under his command means more chakra.." Shino said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Hinata gave a soft smile at her friends before focusing her activated Byakugan back on the front as she and Akamaru led the way.
(Evening Moon ends)
(Stalemate begins)
Before anyone can respond to that, Hinata screamed.
"STOP!!!"
Everyone halted and Hinata frowned.
"There are chakra threads everywhere and it's all lined with nano bombs!!!" she said in a hushed tone. "Nobody... Move..."
Everyone swallowed their saliva as Hinata hardened the veins in her eyes.
"It's purposely set up. There's too many of them. This will cause a huge explosion if one doesn't know how to maneuver..." she explained and Choji spoke up in a worried voice.
"So how are we gonna fight with nano bombs and chakra threads around???"
"This has got to be one of our best masterpiece yet, hm!" blonde-haired ponytail guy suddenly commented from the air.
He was riding a huge dragon that looks like it was made out of clay..
"It's only a masterpiece due to my help!" another voice snapped and suddenly Naruto and friends were attacked by magnetic sand.
Technically the sand didn't attack them but it attracted all their metal weapons so the ninjas were left empty handed...
That magnetic sand cloud suddenly retreated back into the darkness before them and a red haired, brown eyed man made his appearance.
"Shall we get the art festival started?" he spoke as he gave them a boyish smile..
"Go. I can handle them." Hinata spoke quietly as her comrades widened their eyes.
"I am your team mate so I will fight with you." Shino spoke as Hinata smiled and nodded her head. Kiba was about to open his mouth too but Hinata shook her head.
"No Kiba. You can't join us. Naruto and the others need you and Akamaru to track Amaya."
"But..." Kiba spoke again and Hinata sighed.
"Please. There's no other tracker other than us 3. We'll be fine." Hinata smiled as Naruto pushed the others aside.
"Hinata! What do you think you're doing?!?" Naruto growled as he grabbed her shoulders.
The midnight blue haired girl squeaked in embarrassment as she blushed at her crush, who is still oblivious of her feelings for him.
"I can't allow you to fight with these monsters! They are clearly way past jounin level!" Naruto insisted as Shino spoke up.
"Then you can replace Kiba and join us." he suggested as Naruto's blue eyes lit up.
"Yea! Why didn't I think of that sooner?!?" he exclaimed as their enemies sighed in irritation.
"Are you idiots done talking yet?!?" the blonde haired guy growled. "Sasori, let me deactivate the bombs already, hm!" he shouted at his friend.
"No Deidara!" Sasori spat. "Don't waste your ambush! We took so much time to plant those threads and bombs!"
As those 2 bickered, Kiba lowered his mouth to Akamaru's ear.
"Akamaru, remember both of their scents. Smell the thread and bombs and lead us back on track by avoiding their traps." he requested and Akamaru gave a nod.
"Go now!" Hinata whispered as Sakura nodded and the group quietly made their exit.
"Are you guys done?" Naruto interrupted the 2 enemies once he was sure his comrades were far gone from the premises.
Sasori turned to the 3 ninjas left and narrowed his eyes.
"Where did the rest go..." he questioned as Naruto gave his trademark grin.
"Guess they didn't want to stick around to see your lame art of threads." he taunted and Sasori started shaking with anger as Deidara laughed from above.
"Hey kid, I like you, hm. You're a riot! What's your name?" he asked and Naruto smirked at him.
"I'm the famous Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha Village!" he exclaimed proudly and suddenly, the 2 enemies stared hard at him.
"The Kyubi vessel?" Sasori asked as Deidara suddenly threw bombs at the 3 of them.
"We need to take him out fast! Don't let your guard down Sasori my man, hm!" Deidara yelled over the small explosions that went off.
"Byakugan!" Hinata yelled as she scanned her area.
"Shino!" she yelled as Shino held her arm to indicate that he heard her.
"Place some bugs on me and Naruto! I will tell them orders on where the traps are laid! And assign a bug messenger so once I relay the message that messenger will go to all of us!" Hinata managed to choke out as the smoke from the explosion was very thick.
Hinata soon felt something crawling on her hands and she then heard Naruto shouting.
"Eeww! Why would your send your bugs on me?!?" Naruto screamed like a school girl.
Shino sighed as Hinata took some time to register everything.
That's right, Naruto isn't on their team so he's not used to Shino's fighting style...
Hinata has got to stop Naruto's hysterics so she grabbed his shoulders and slapped him hard.
"Naruto! Get a grip on yourself!" she said in a firm voice and Naruto stared wide eyed at her before smiling.
"Hey you're not stuttering or whispering anymore!" he grinned and Hinata blushed crazily.
"Hinata! Focus!" Shino said in a hushed tone and Hinata shook her head as she regained her composure.
"Alright! Let's do this! Shadow clones!" Naruto multiplied himself and then looked at Hinata.
"So team leader, what are your orders?" he winked at her and she almost fainted from shyness but she cleared her throat and turned back to look at the enemies.
Sasori was gone and Deidara was chewing something in his mouth...
Suddenly magnetic sand came out of nowhere again and rained down on them.
Normal rain sand hurts. Magnetic rain sand hurts like fuck...
Hinata looked around trying to figure out where Sasori is as she whispered to Shino's bugs to plant themselves along the chakra threads and eat into the bombs made by Deidara.
"You do know you lost half the battle when you can't even move right?" Sasori taunted as they saw a new figure flying towards them with weapons.
Naruto and his shadow clones were quick to use taijitsu to fight back that new figure.
"What kind of user are you..." Shino whispered but Sasori heard his question and laughed.
"Isn't it obvious? That thing you're fighting is my puppet! I am a puppet user!" he exclaimed proudly and Hinata frowned.
"Sasori... Puppet user... You are Sasori of the Red Sand! And this puppet..." her voice trailed off as she studied it with her eyes and then gasped.
"You killed the 3rd Kazekage and retained his chakra in his own corpse?!?" Hinata exclaimed as even Naruto who was fighting relentlessly, widened his eyes at the revelation.
"I needed a unique puppet and the 3rd Kazekage fits the role." Sasori smiled like a psychopath as he controlled his fingers so the puppet sped up in attacking Naruto.
"Careful! If what Hinata says is true that he is Sasori of the Red Sand, then there is 99% chance that there is no cure for his poison!" Shino yelled at Naruto.
Naruto gritted his teeth as Deidara spat out the multiple bombs he made in his mouth.
"Eat this, hm!!" he threw bombs at the friends again. "I have increased their explosion power as that is art, hm!!"
But Sasori caught the bombs by using his chakra threads and pulled it towards him gently.
"Now-now Deidara, it needs a little more touch to become an acceptable art..." Sasori smiled devilishly as he injected poison into the bombs by using his fingertips. The poison flowed from his fingertips and slowly down the chakra threads and got soaked and absorbed into Deidara's bombs...
"Naruto! Shino! Stay close to me!" Hinata yelled as she registered what Sasori was about to do.
Sasori was fast. He threw the bombs at the friends without warning.