Naruto: Akatsuki

It was during the day, with the sun directly up high in the sky. Yet, covered by the dense leaves, our surrounding was quite dark and gloomy in contrast.

With series of jumps from one branch to another, we travelled at a quick pace to the particular section of forest that I burnt away.

From what I deduced, there still was some distance left to the destination. Although rough, I determined that around two days length of travel was remaining.

And I currently was full of thoughts.

'This particular location is the northwest territory nearby the border, in touch with the land of grass.'

Land of grass is located right in-between the land of earth and land of fire. In order for the ninjas from Iwa to reach the land of fire, they needed to cross the land of grass.

'And there were obvious signs of war shown by Iwa.'

I've been thinking for a while, 'What investigation is there for team Jiraiya to conduct for the burnt forest?' Although it definitely was the event big enough to attract attention, due to the fire, all traces of mine were burnt away.

And I reached the conclusion for this question a day ago,

'Konoha believes that this burnt forest may have been the doings of Iwa; that Iwa is planning something, such as setting up a trap before launching an attack.'

Due to my action in the past, team Jiraiya was led to this point.

And the problem was the fact that I had no idea of what was going on in the land of grass right now.

What if Iwa somehow managed to reach the border right ahead of us, past Kusagakure?

What if they too are here, right in front of us, investigating the site of my creation just like team Jiraiya are about to?

Unlike Konoha, Iwa was ready for the war. Jiraiya, even if he was a capable shinobi, there was no way that he can win against one-versus-many scenario, with three genins to protect.

'...I have to stop them.' I grimaced. There was no point in hiding anymore, if my lie will place my benefactor in an irreversible consequence.

"Jiraiya-sensei."

Therefore, I spoke with a serious tone, causing everyone to come to a stop momentarily.

"Hm? Akashi?" Jiraiya raised his eyebrow as he turned his head back to face me.

Minato, Hanami, and Saru too looked at me with curiosity in their eyes.

"There is something that I have to tell you—"

I couldn't finish my word, feeling a sudden chill down my spine.

Jiraiya seemed to have felt it as well,

the heavy scent of blood lust all around us.

"I'll hear you later." Jiraiya looked around the surrounding forest with cold eyes, as he slowly took out a kunai from his pouch, "Formation A!"

Hanami clenched his teeth, trying to ease his nervousness, as he mimicked Jiraiya and held a kunai of his own.

Saru and Minato too were of no exception, readying themselves for the upcoming fight with kunais in their hands. The three of them stood in a triangular formation, with their backs facing Jiraiya's back.

'Border. Land of grass. Kannabi bridge.'

The worst possibility has come true.

"...Damn it."

I've come to a conclusion that Jiraiya, Minato, Hanami, and Saru harboured no malicious intention for me, after two weeks of caution. I knew that Jiraiya, although he seemed to have some unknown motive, was mainly helping me out of sympathy.

And if any of them die here, the part of the fault will fall on me, who is the cause of their mission.

'If that were to happen, what difference would I have from those monsters of Ame?'

Then,

CLANG!

At the next moment, the sparks flew as one shinobi suddenly revealed himself out of blue, before slashing a kunai that Jiraiya quickly blocked with his own.

"Jiraiya the Toad Sage. Quite a big fish that we managed to catch, huh." The Iwa shinobi said with a crazed grin on his face, while still in a lock with Jiraiya, "But you are alone, with kids to care for."

Subsequently, the ground below us rumbled.

Jiraiya slammed a kick on the man's abdomen, pushing him away. Immediately after, the four of us used a quick 'Body Flicker technique' to move our bodies away from the area just in time, as,

"Earth Release: Stone Dragon!"

The huge dragon, made of rock, suddenly soared out of the ground that we were standing on top of just a second ago. The dragon, then changed its course of movement and began to descend on us ferociously.

"The four of you, move back, now!" Jiraiya shouted in a serious tone as he began the series of hand seals,

"Earth Release: Rampart of Flowing Soil!"

The ground right below Jiraiya rumbled as he slammed his hands down, before the ground itself elevated to form a thick layer of a wall that stopped the destructive movement of stone dragon.

BOOOOOOM!

These huge-scaled techniques managed to subvert the environment itself; the Iwa ninjas were weren't the ones that could be taken lightly.

Hanami and Saru seemed to be full of nervousness, holding their kunais stiffly. There was an obvious panic in their eyes.

Meanwhile,

CLANG CLANG!

Minato and I immediately rushed backward, meeting our kunais with two Iwa shinobis who were about to ambush on the four of us.

"Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm!"

The ground all around broke into pieces and shifted up and down, completely changing the terrain of the environment. Though Jiraiya, Hanami, and Saru have been separated from us in an instant by this technique, we didn't have enough time to care.

Instead, we were airborne, dealing with the series of physical assaults from two Iwa shinobis. Then, I sighted one Iwa kunoichi performing the series of hand seals, with her eyes locked on the two of us.

"Minato!" I urgently shouted. He seemed to have noticed it as well and nodded, as I pushed Minato with the sole of my right foot, before swiftly rotating around to dodge the stabs by two Iwa shinobis on my either sides.

"Earth Release," Just then, the kunoichi spat out the mouthful of mud that instantly hardened into a mass of dirt, "Mud Bomb!"

While flying from the propulsion force that I previously provided, Minato instantly formed a snake seal with his hands, without any hint of fear as he dove toward the approaching mass of dirt.

Simultaneously, I revealed a small scroll on my left hand that I threw up in the air to unfold it, while catching one flown shuriken with my teeth and evading the other four.

Puff!

"Lightning Release,"

Along with a puff of smoke, the black sword, Ryuma, was revealed in the midair. Simultaneously, Minato spat out the intense lightning out of his mouth,

"False Darkness!"

Pazzzzz!

"Kyaaaaa!!!"

Just as the lightning pierced through the mass of earth and electrocuted the shocked Iwa kunoichi, I grabbed Ryuma with my right hand,

'Ash Blossom.'

Swoosh!

Before smoothly beheading two Iwa shinobis in an instant at the speed that they weren't able to recognize.

Tap.

And now, the two of us landed back on the ground, with one burnt and two beheaded corpses around us.

Minato looked at me with narrowed eyes, "You've got an explanation to give, Akashi."

"...I will," I nodded sincerely while grasping Ryuma tightly, "After this is over."

In front of us stood around ten or more Iwa ninjas. Jiraiya, Hanami, and Saru were nowhere to be seen; we were completely separated from them.

"First, we have to return back to the other three; Jiraiya-sensei is going to have a hard time dealing with those two." I took in a deep breath while getting into the starting stance.

"Indeed." Minato replied with his eyes headed at the front, as his grasp over his kunai tightened, "...Don't hold me back, Akashi."

"That's for me to say." I remarked, before the two of us began dashing to the numerous enemies ahead of us.