Naruto:A New Path

The Failed Experiments

"Light it up," Shikamaru ordered with a firm nod. He, Lee and Shino, with an unconscious Kiba on his back, stood outside of the base. A single explosive tag could be seen in the entrance, showing that part two of their plan had been accomplished, though there had been a setback since they didn't plan on being found.
"Understood," Shino calmly stated as he took out a kunai with an explosive tag wrapped around the handle. With a flick of his wrist he sent the kunai flying.
The kunai sailed through the air with a burning paper sound before crashing into the base's entrance.
' BOOM'
The explosive tag detonated in a large explosion that set off the rest of the tags around the base. Creating a massive explosion that kicked up dust that clouded the area. Rocks, walls and chunks of metal could be seen crumbling down and sailing through the air.
"Let's get out of here!" Shikamaru urgently said as he ran away from the massive explosion, standing next to an exploding base hadn't been his brightest idea. He was followed by his team into an area they deemed as secure and waited for the aftermath of the explosion to die down in order for them to make sure that not even a small part of the base stood.
"Looks like it's ov…" Shikamaru started but trailed off when he saw a small flicker of movement on the cloud of smoke.
"What's wrong?" Shino asked in slight concern.
Shikamaru frowned and took out a kunai. "Watch yourselves," he ordered. Before Shino could ask what was going on, a figure jumped out of the smoke.
"Damn YOU!" roared the figure as it landed in front of the team.
Lee gasped when he saw that it was the man they had been fighting, if he survived an explosion like that then they would be in trouble.
Shikamaru was having similar thoughts but didn't voice them. He took in the appearance of the man and knew that maybe he wouldn't be too dangerous. The man was badly cut all over his body, he bled from several places and his eye-patch had fallen off. He had his eye closed and black marks could be seen around it. 'Wait,' the lazy Chunin stopped himself when he realized something,
'Why was he wearing an eye-patch if his eye looks intact even though its closed? He must be hiding something, but what?'
"We can't fight here," Shino voiced, "Kiba and Lee are still hurt, it would be best if we put them somewhere safe."
Shikamaru nodded, without taking his eyes off the man. "Get them to safety, I'll hold him off as long as it takes. Just try to be back soon, it would be too troublesome to die here," he said with a serious look on his face.
"I'll be back soon," Shino affirmed with a nod as he took hold of Lee and fled the area.
"You won't be going anywhere!" the man roared before jumping after them.
' Oh no you don't,' Shikamaru thought as his shadow stretched beneath his feet and launched at the man. The shadow made contact with the man and held him in place, 'Shadow Possession success.'
"I'm really starting hate your damned jutsu," the man growled as he struggled to get free, forcing his body to move against the powerful hold.
' Damn it,' Shikamaru cursed as the hold on the man began to loosen. It was taking every ounce of his strength and concentration to keep the jutsu active. His eyes widened when the man began to turn towards him in a slow pace. Soon their faces met and the man gave a smirk before opening his closed eye.
Neji dodged a chakra enhanced punch, watching with wide eyes as it broke part of the floor without making contact, just how much chakra was the man using? The fist made contact with the floor, instantly creating a large crater that shook the entire room, before using his arm for support and throwing a kick at the unsuspecting Hyuuga. The kick made contact with Neji's stomach with such strength that it blew him towards the room's wall with a loud crashing sound.
Neji fell on the ground with a thud and gritted his teeth in pain. His stomach was in agonizing pain, his back had several cuts from the impact on the wall and he was struggling to breathe right from the terrible strike.
' I was careless,' Neji thought as he got on his hands and knees. He bent his stomach slightly and felt a surge of pain go through his whole body, he began to cough violently before he vomited blood.
"This is the power my master gave me," the man said with his mouth in a thin line, "You were wrong to have come here."
' I can't go on,' Neji thought as he gasped for air, kneeling next to a small pool of his own blood. Flashes of his team's faces entered his mind, remembering that he still needed to meet them in a few minutes, he had to win and meet his team after all a Hyuuga never broke his word. 'I have to do this, I only need one attack to win,' he thought as he began to stand, feeling his body protest against his wishes. He managed a kneeling position and shifted his weight to his left leg before pushing off of it, beginning to stand.
The man watched as Neji stood and frowned, part of him telling him that he didn't want this. He shook his head, that part of him had died long ago and he only lived for his master now. If this kid entered his master's base then he would have to die, simple as that.
With a groan Neji managed to stand on his two feet. He looked at the man in front of him and activated his byakuugan, he would keep his word. 'I won't lose here,' he thought in determination, 'I have to meet my team.'
Neji took a deep breath as he walked towards the man. He analyzed the man's chakra coils and knew what he had to do. He broke into a run and took out a pair of kunai, he would need perfect accuracy if he was to do this.
"Fool," the man muttered with an almost sad look on his old face, "Why must the young die?"
The man's chakra swirled around him before he charged at Neji in an incredible speed. The Hyuuga saw the man and spun to his right, now with one kunai on hand before taking another one out of his pouch. The man didn't seem to register this and charged once more, only this time he used chakra to enhance his speed. In an instant the man appeared right in front of Neji with his fist held back, ready for a punch. Neji saw this coming and before the fist could make contact, he managed to block it with his hand and cut off the chakra being poured into it.
The man's eyes widened when he saw the kid catch his punch before he used his left hand to punch him. Neji ducked under the punch and delivered a strong palm strike to the man's stomach, pushing him back enough to give him the time to jump away from him. A single kunai was on his hand before he took out another one, he inwardly smirked when he noted that the man hadn't noticed the lack of kunai.
"Give up now child and I'll make your death painless," the man suggested with a hint of sympathy on his words.
"You'll never beat a Hyuuga," Neji retorted with a smirk as he threw a kunai at the man but he easily dodged the projectile.
The man frowned. "I gave you a chance kid but I still respect your pride," he admitted before charging at Neji.
The Hyuuga slipped into his taijutsu style and hardened his gaze. The man threw a punch but it was easily knocked aside by the Genin. Neji responded with a palm strike to the man's left bicep, making him grunt in pain. The man threw a kick but the Hyuuga blocked it with both of his hands, now with no kunai on hand. Chakra left the man's enhanced knee before he used his left hand to punch at Neji. The Genin used the knee for leverage and jumped away from the man while taking out two kunai.
Before Neji could land on the ground the man launched at him once more. Neji saw the attack coming and threw the two kunai at the man, making him stop his run to dodge them before charging at him again. This small pause was enough for the Hyuuga to land on the ground and duck under the punch that had been aimed at his head. The man kicked at Neji but he managed to block it with both hands but couldn't stop the man's fist as it made contact with his chest, pushing him away with less strength than before.
"W-what!" the man gasped out when he noticed that his punch hadn't had the effect he desired. Neji smirked and pushed the man away with a well-placed kick to his chest.
The man grunted in pain and staggered backwards, the kick had probably broken something. He looked at Neji with a frown on his face, he had done something to his body. Something that made him unable to pass chakra to his limbs but he didn't know what.
"You lose," Neji stated with a satisfied smirk on his face as he took a single kunai from his ninja pouch. The man noticed that the kunai had a kind of seal wrapped around the hilt and frowned in confusion. "Now I'll show you…" chakra began to swirl around Neji as a blue light emitted from the kunai, "The power of the Hyuuga!"
"We're almost there," the Naruto clone gasped out through pants. It was no easy feat to run with Choji on its back, the clone thanked the original Naruto for having trained in order to handle it.
"Good," Ino agreed as the light at the end of the hallway got closer. They had been running away from the woman they had encountered earlier since it wasn't smart to fight her in a place with no much room.
Suddenly there was an echo in the hallway, throwing everyone off, before the ground began to shake and pieces of the floor and walls began to break. "Let's get out of here!" the clone exclaimed as it ran faster to the exit with Ino in tow.
Ino turned back and saw the woman running towards them, she would need to fight her alone since Choji was hurt and the clone would dispel after one hit. "I'll handle her," she told her teammates.
"W-What?" the clone gasped out in surprise.
"Don't worry, just get Choji to safety and I'll try to beat her," Ino assured with a serious look on her face.
"D-don't worry about me Ino," Choji said as he got off the clone's back, panting slightly, "I was only hit on my back, I'm still able to fight even though it hurt."
"What!" the clone roared in rage, "You mean I was carrying you all this time, when you could've just walked!"
"That's right," Choji said with a nod.
"Damn you," the clone muttered with a clenched fist.
"Enough of your comedy act!" the woman snapped. "I'll kill you for your insolence!" she brought her staff down but before it could make contact with the ground it was knocked away by a water bullet.
"Water Style: Raging Waves," Ino exclaimed as she put a hand around her lips and shooting a powerful stream of water at the woman.
The Sound ninja saw this coming and jumped away from the attack but was suddenly hit by a giant fist that threw her away from the two ninja and the clone. "Let's go," the clone ordered as they ran out of the base.
"I'm going to kill those kids," the woman growled with hate on her visible eye. She brought her left hand to her mask and tore it off her face, unleashing a powerful purple chakra.
' CLANG'
The sound of metal on metal echoed through the large room. Naruto and Isamu locked blades with sparks coming from the power behind them. Wind chakra poured around the blond's blade and it begun to cut through the man's large sword. The man noticed this and used his free hand to slap Naruto away.
The blond was pushed away from the Sound ninja and studied the man. Isamu would surely win at strength but he still had the upper hand since his chakra enhanced blade could overpower the man's bigger blade. The man's sword had a simple black hilt wrapped in black bandages, a red stone peeked out of the bandages matching the large red blade of the sword. The blade now had many cuts but it would still hold from the looks of things.
"You're a fun guy," Isamu admitted with a smirk on his face. He stabbed the sword into the ground and began to stretch his arms, "It's been a while since I fought someone who could put up a fight. By the vest you wear I assume you're a Chunin, correct?"
"How do you know about ranks?" Naruto interrogated with a frown on his face, "Could it be that you were a ninja before?"
Isamu smirked and put his right hand on the handle of his sword. "You're pretty sharp to have guessed that," he praised, "I was a ninja once upon a time but I never really belonged there. My superiors often scolded me since I didn't believe in protecting the weak, I've always believed that a weak person is of no use. They might as well be dead. Lord Orochimaru believes this as well which is why I follow him in the first place but when the time comes I'll kill him and be the new leader of Sound!"
Naruto frowned. "You're a really screwed up person, did you know that?" he asked as he dropped into his taijutsu stance.
Isamu only smirked before taking the sword out of the ground and charging at Naruto. The blond infused chakra onto his blade and ran at the man. Both ninja brought their blades forward but before they could make contact, the blond sidestepped with a small jump before launching at the man once more. The Sound ninja could do nothing as the blond's blade cut through his right ribcage. Blood splattered out of the wound as Naruto kicked at the wound.
The man cried in pain before swinging his sword at Naruto. The blond saw the attack and managed to jump over it but not without receiving a cut on his right leg. He twisted in the air and threw a smoke bomb at the man's face. Causing Isamu to break into a fit of coughs as smoke filled the area, blocking Naruto from view.
"Damn it!" Isamu cursed as he tried to find the blond through the smoke, "Where did he go?"
"I'm over here," came Naruto's voice from behind the man, making him turn around.
"No, I'm here!" his voice came again but now from Isamu's right. The Sound ninja looked around in confusion, how was the blond moving so fast?
"I'm here!"
"No, here!"
"I'm over here you bastard!"
"You need to calm down."
"What? I'm always calm."
"Not you… him!"
"Me! You idiot I'm not even loud!"
"There's more than one?" Isamu asked himself, "Is he using clones?"
Soon the smoke was cleared from the area revealing hundreds of Naruto clones surrounding him. Isamu gulped, from the looks of things they were solid clones and it would be dangerous to fight them all.
"H-how can he use so many?" Isamu gasped in disbelief.
"We're one of a kind!" the clones exclaimed.
"Get him," the original Naruto ordered from the wall he stood at with his arms crossed.
"Alright!" they cheered as they launched at the man in a frenzy of punches and kicks.
' I have to get back to the others,' Naruto thought as he watched his clones attack the man, 'I'm not sure if my clones will manage to finish him though.'
Suddenly a dark purple chakra erupted from the man, instantly dispelling all the clones that surrounded him. "What the hell is that?" Naruto asked himself as he watched the chakra illuminate the room.
The Sound ninja watched as blue chakra flared around Neji. The kunai he gripped on his right hand glowed a blue color before shooting a beam of light behind the man. He turned around to see that the light had enveloped one of the kunai the Hyuuga had scattered across the room. A beam of light shot out of the discarded kunai and hit another kunai Neji had thrown.
The man's eyes widened, Neji had planned this all along. He watched as one by one the seven discarded kunai were enveloped and connected by a blue light. From the looks of things he was surrounded by the blue streams of light. He tried to move but found that he couldn't, it was as if his body was being constricted. His eyes widened when the blue light turned a deep green color, whatever it was wouldn't be good.
"It's a seal," Neji explained in a calm voice, "This is one of the Hyuuga secret jutsu that were made with the aid of sealing. It's extremely hard to set one up but its power makes up for that setback. It first pushes gravity against you from where the seals, or kunai in this case, are located; making it impossible for you to move since they're all pushing against you."
"How does this attack end?" the man grimly asked.
"The chakra around the seals bursts in a high temperature that will kill a person on the spot," Neji informed with a serious expression on his face, "You were indeed strong but it seems as if I prevailed on this fight."
The man could do nothing but stare at the young ninja in front of him. It was indeed true that the new generations were always better than the previous ones. Part of him felt glad to see such promising youth while the other was ashamed at his inability to fulfill his master's wishes.
"I love you gandpa!"
The image of a young boy with jet black hair filled the men's thoughts, reminding him of his past life. Tears filled his old eyes, memories coming back to him. Memories of the old days that held his most painful and happy moments. Memories that he had thrown away when he had come to Orochimaru in an attempt to ease his pain. 'At least, I had a purpose back then,' he glanced at Neji through teary eyes and smiled, 'I'm glad, I'll be able to see my grandson again.'
The green light enveloped the area where the man had been standing, lighting up the whole room from the burst of charka. Neji watched the attack with a calm look, it had been his duty as a ninja to kill the man and he had seen the look the man had before dying. It was the look of a man that was happy with his fate, as if he were glad to leave this world.
The light died down revealing that nothing remained of the man. Part of the floor had melted and the ground had a deep red glow from the high temperature of the attack. Neji gave one last glance at the area before turning to leave, his mission had been successful.
Ino panted as she leaned against a tree, next to her was Choji with a tired look on his face and the Naruto clone that kept a steady gaze on the base's entrance. There was no doubt that the woman would be coming so it was best to rest as much as they could before fighting her again. The clone wouldn't need any rest since it was just a mass of chakra.
She gazed at the clone and frowned. There was a cut on the clone's left leg and it looked kind of deep. A thought entered her mind and she gasped. "Is Naruto okay?" she asked the clone with a worried look.
The clone sighed. "I told you before, I can't see what he sees," it explained with an annoyed look.
"Then why is there a cut on your leg?" Ino asked with a frown.
The clone looked at its left leg and found a deep cut. He put some pressure on the cut and winced. "W-what? What happened to me?" it yelped, "C-could it be that I'm the real one and yet I haven't noticed it? Am I insane now from the constant use of clones?"
"Calm down," Ino said with a sigh, "I'll just ask Naruto later." The clone looked a little agitated but nodded regardless.
"Ino look!" Choji exclaimed in shock as he pointed at the base. Ino quickly turned around to see a purple light coming from the entryway.
"What is that?" Ino wondered out loud.
A figure covered in purple chakra exited the base in a slow pace. Ino squinted her eyes to make out the figure and her eyes widened when she noticed who it was. It was the same woman she had been fighting but something was obviously off.
The chakra died down to reveal the woman's new appearance. She now had darker skin, her fingernails had grown into claws, the left side of her face resembled a snake's head, her black hair was spikier and a tail had grown out of her lower back. The woman's black eyes landed on Ino before smirking in amusement, she wouldn't go easy on the kids anymore.
"This looks bad," the clone muttered with a frown before facing the two Genin, "I'll try to land a hit on her. I'm probably going to get dispelled so hit her when you see an opening. The boss will probably get here after he sees you're in trouble."
"Right," Choji agreed with a nod.
The clone nodded at them with an affirmative smile before charging at the woman with its blade out. The Sound ninja saw this and extended her right arm towards the clone. Purple chakra launched out of her hand, shooting towards the clone. The clone saw the chakra coming and jumped high in the air to avoid being hit. It then took out a kunai and launched it at the woman but it was blown away by the intensity of the purple chakra.
The woman jumped straight at the clone with her fist held back, concentrating the foul chakra onto her fist. She held a smirk on her face but it left her face when she noticed the clone had a smirk of its own. The sound of burning paper came from the clone and her eyes widened when she saw the exploding tag attached to the clone's vest.
' BOOM'
Ino watched as the clone exploded with a frown, no matter if it had been a clone exploding, she was still a little shaken about watching him die. She was broken out of her thoughts when she saw the woman falling to the ground.
"How…?" Choji gasped out in disbelief as he saw the woman flip on the air and land on her feet. She was in a bad condition with the right side of her skin burned and most of her clothes tattered.
"You damned brats!" the woman screeched in fury. The foul chakra swirled around her in a show of raw power, "I will kill you for this!"
"This is it Choji," Ino muttered with a serious look on her face, "We have to use our teamwork to win, hopefully Naruto or Neji will get here to help us later."
"Right," Choji said with a frown on his face, "Let's do this."
' Ino!' Naruto thought as the clone's memories entered his mind. He watched Isamu in front of him with his greatly changed physical appearance. His shirt had been ripped off, his muscles had increased in size, his hair had turned a deep green and finally his skin had turned a dark gray color, 'I have to end this fast or else Ino might get hurt. That woman was easily high Chunin level.'
"Let's get round two started!" Isamu announced with a smirk on his face.
Naruto frowned and ran through hand signs. "Wind Style: Devastation!" Wind shot out of the blond's mouth and hit the man dead on. Isamu didn't show any sign of struggle and charged at Naruto in a fast speed, making him wonder just how much his power had increased.
The blond watched as Isamu approached and infused chakra onto his blade. The Sound ninja brought down his sword to meet the blond's but this time they stayed locked in place. Naruto's eyes narrowed at this, his advantage was now gone due to the man's new power. Using his left hand the blond charged up a wind ball and slammed it into the intertwined blades, causing Isamu's blade to snap in half.
Isamu's eyes widened and screamed in pain when he felt Naruto's blade run through his torso. He tried to move away but the blond delivered a hard kick to his chest that made him fall to the ground with a thud.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as clones filled the area. The army of clones jumped on top of the Sound ninja before Naruto began to run out of the room, he didn't have time to fight the men.
' I have to get to Ino now, they won't be able to beat that woman alone,' Naruto thought as he sped through the hallways of the base. As he ran he made a few hand signs and held the Ram seal in place, 'I'll only use the ones on that room, I don't want that guy to follow me.'
"Have fun with this bastard," Naruto muttered as he used his chakra to activate the exploding tags he had left on the room.
' A SHARINGAN!' Shikamaru thought in alarm as he stared at the man's opened eye. His hold on the man was instantly broken before he launched at the Chunin. The lazy genius took a kunai in hand and threw it at the man, smirking when he saw the man dodge.
The man landed in another one of Shikamaru's shadow and was instantly immobilized. "Dammit!" the man roared in rage. He began to struggle but the lazy Chunin was prepared for it now and was able to hold him in position.
' That wasn't a sharingan,' Shikamaru concluded as he went over thought on his head. The eye he had seen was red but, unlike the real one, it had three small purple triangles around a triangular black pupil. 'But what was it?' he asked himself, 'He's power increased when he uncovered it, could it be a type of bloodline I haven't heard about?'
"Damn you!" the man roared as the marks around his right eye began to expand around his face. Shikamaru winced as the man began to apply more force, making it harder to keep him in place, "I'll kill you!"
Shikamaru struggled to keep control, applying more force on the hold with his hands shaking from the amount of chakra he was using. "Damn it," he muttered with a grimace, "If this keeps up I'll be out of chakra soon."
"Then let me assist you," came Shino's voice as he landed near Shikamaru, making the lazy Chunin sigh in relief.
"About time you showed up," Shikamaru joked as he kept his jutsu in place.
Shino nodded before turning to the man. "I'll take care of him," he muttered as he extended his right hand with bugs flying out of his sleeve. The bugs launched at the immobilized man and began to take his charka away, making the man scream in pain.
"You can let him go now," Shino informed when he noticed that Shikamaru was still struggling to keep his jutsu in place. The lazy Chunin let his hold drop and watched as the man screamed in pain from the swarm of bugs but those screams were silenced when bugs entered his mouth, "My bugs will take away all of his chakra, it's over."
"Good," Shikamaru sighed out with a nod, "This was getting way too troublesome."
"I won't die here!" the bug-covered man roared as a vile dark purple chakra surrounded him. Almost instantly, the bugs fled from the man due to the horrible chakra.
The man's appearance began to change into a more animalistic one. His skin turned a light gray, his hair turned white and his whole eye turned black with four small yellow triangles on the middle.
"W-What is that?" Shikamaru muttered in shock through heavy breathing.
"This…" the man began with a glare at the two ninja. The chakra died down but the raw power coming from the man could still be felt, "Is your end!"
In an instant the man appeared next to the two shocked ninja. A pair of purple arms came out of his stomach and struck both ninja on their chests. They were thrown away several feet but before they could regain their footing, the man appeared next to them once more. Another pair of arms came out of his chest and took hold of the two ninja in a tight grip.
' I can't move,' Shikamaru cursed as the arm that held him squeezed the life out of him. He could feel some ribs breaking from the tight grip but couldn't even make the slightest sound of discomfort. Only short gasps came out of his mouth. He threw a glance at Shino and noticed that he was on his same position.
"You're dead," the man stated in a deeper voice, smirking at the look of pain of his victims.
"Fang Over Fang!"
The man couldn't react as two spinning blurs crashed against his side, making him drop his hold on the two ninja. He screamed in pain as he was blown away by the intensity of the attack and crashed through a tree. Kiba and Akamaru landed next to the two ninja with content looks on their faces.
"You didn't think I would actually lay down and let you do all the fighting," Kiba said with a smirk on his face.
Shikamaru chuckled and shook his head. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm glad you're here Kiba," he joked with a smirk on his face. Kiba chuckled in return before turning towards where the man had fallen.
The man began to stand with blood dripping down his left arm. He glared at the three ninja and gritted his teeth. "I'll kill you all," he growled as he began to move towards them but was suddenly dealt a powerful blow on the stomach by a green blur. He got the wind knocked out of him before he received a roundhouse kick to the face that sent him away.
Lee stood in front of the man on his taijutsu stance. "Lee?" Shino asked in shock, when he had last seen him he didn't look too good and now he was standing in front of an enemy.
Lee grinned. "I could not let my teammates fight alone," he explained, "If we're going to fight an enemy then we'll do it together."
Shikamaru grinned. "Alright then," he watched as the man began to stand with fury on his face. A smirk made its way to the lazy Chunin's face, his whole team was together and it would be a lot easier to beat the man, "Let's end this."