Naruto:A New Path

Lee's Desperate Attack

"Wind Style: Devastation!"
Wind shot towards a calm Kimimaro. The Sound ninja watched the attack in disinterest, a weak jutsu like that wouldn't do much damage to him. Using chakra to plant his feet on the ground, he took the attack without moving. The wind pushing against him but not doing much. He was pushed back a bit before the attack finally seized.
He turned to the two Leaf ninja with a frown, "This will not be enough to defeat me."
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" yelled Naruto as hundreds of clones filled the area.
"Here we go!" they cried as they charged at the enemy while Naruto and Ino stayed behind.
Two bone swords came out of Kimimaro's hands as the first group of the clones ran at him. The Sound ninja cut cleanly through the first before taking a step back to avoid a kick. He proceeded to duck just in time to dodge a tackle from one of the doppelgangers. He stabbed one of his sword upwards and impaled one of the clones before he swung both swords to the right in order to cut through a pair of clones.
Ino watched as Kimimaro fought the army of clones, feeling a bit outclassed by how he was handling them. Kimimaro was actually beating the clones with ease, not one had managed to hit him so far. She was starting to understand why Naruto was so wary of him.
"Listen up Ino, here's the plan," Naruto began, watching as his clone's numbers were decreasing. "We're only going to stall him long enough to get Sasuke back. If we can manage to do that, then our mission will be over," he slipped into his taijutsu stance just as the remaining clones continued their assault, "Granny Tsunade said that a Jonin would be on the way. Let's do our best until then."
"Right," Ino smiled knowing that they had a better chance than before. If they only needed to stall until someone got there then they had a much better chance.
Kimimaro dodged another punch before cutting the arm off of one of the pesky clones. Two clones ran at him with extended arms from opposite directions, ready to strike their enemy. The Sound ninja spun to his right, making the clones dispel each other before sidestepping a clone's mindless charge. With a flick of his wrist he cut through the clone before swiping at his left, dispelling one more.
He prepared for another wave of clones when, much to his puzzlement, the rest burst in clouds of smoke at the same time. Focusing his eyes he caught part of the smoke swirling rapidly before a blue light became apparent.
Naruto charged at Kimimaro with a Rasengan on hand. The Sound ninja prepared to jump away, only to be held down by a pair of hands coming from the ground.
"Rasengan!" he exclaimed as his attack neared the Sound ninja.
Kimimaro's eyes narrowed as he dug his swords into the ground, dispelling the clone underground before sidestepping the attack. Naruto's eyes widened as he received a knee to his stomach. He spat blood before using his right hand to grasp Kimimaro's right arm, stopping one of the swords from cutting through his neck.
"Water Style: Liquid Bullets!"
Kimimaro was forced to jump away as water bullets shot past him. He frowned at the kunoichi that intervened on his fight, "It doesn't matter if there's two of you. I'll still kill you in Lord Orochimaru's name."
"Got any more plans?" Ino couldn't help but ask, unable to mask the worry in her voice.
Naruto chuckled as he bit his thumb. "Just one more," he muttered as he ran through hand signs before slamming both hands on the ground, "Summoning Jutsu!"
A human-sized toad appeared before Naruto. It had purple skin with a white underbelly. Two katanas were strapped to his back, giving its warrior status away, "What'cha summon me for?"
"I want you to keep him busy," Naruto ordered with his eyes on Kimimaro, "He can sprout bones out of his body, be careful."
"You got it," the toad smirked before leaping at the Sound ninja with both katanas on hand.
Kimimaro raised his swords to stop the toad's attack. He let out a small grunt due to the force behind the toad's blades but managed to keep their blades intertwined. The toad kept on putting more pressure, forcing him to jump away in order to put a little distance.
The Sound ninja frowned, the summon would get annoying if he didn't take care of him quick. He leapt at the toad, wanting to use the momentum to his advantage, and brought both swords down on the toad. The summon met the attack with his own blades without much trouble before pushing off the ground, taking Kimimaro by surprise.
Kimimaro was pushed higher in the air from the toad's powerful jump. He brought both feet down on the summon before kicking off of it, putting a fair distance away from it. The two landed on the ground without much trouble, both facing each other and ready to attack.
Meanwhile Naruto and Ino made it to the odd barrel, looking at it in wonder.
"So, this is where they're keeping Sasuke," Ino frowned as she turned to her boyfriend, "How will we take it back to Konoha without that Sound ninja noticing. The thing is huge."
"Don't worry about it," he smirked as he prepared a jutsu. "Shadow Clone Jutsu," four clones appeared before the blond, looking at him questioningly, "I want you guys to take this barrel back to Konoha. Ino and I will try to keep anyone from chasing after you."
The clones left without a word, seeing as the situation was serious. Naruto turned back to the toad's fight. It appeared that they were evenly matched so far but he knew better. Kimimaro had yet to use a jutsu which meant that he was holding back or saving his strength.
"Let's go Ino," he ran at Kimimaro with Ino close behind. The clones were already disappearing in the distance. Now all they needed to do was stall Kimimaro, how hard could that be?
Lee found himself on the defensive as Jugo's attack grew more aggressive. He knocked aside an incoming punch only to receive another to his right shoulder. Letting out a short grunt of pain, he raised his right knee to strike his stomach. The Sound ninja quickly raised his own knee to block the attack before punching Lee on the chest with both hands.
Lee was pushed away from the ninja but quickly regained his balance and managed to duck under an incoming punch. He grit his teeth as he jerked his body upwards, headbutting the ninja on the chin. He followed with a serious of punches to his upper body before finishing off with a hard kick to the ninja's side.
Jugo sailed through the air before quickly regaining his balance and landing on a nearby tree branch. The darkened skin on the corner of his face began to spread, now covering most of it. "Let's see how you do against this!" he exclaimed with a grin as he raised both arms.
Lee's eyes widened as Jugo's arms changed into cylinders with a hollow interior. The inside of the arms began to glow bright blue as two orbs of chakra gathered at the tips.
"Chakra Bullet Barrage!"
Blasts of chakra shot out of Jugo's arms, heading straight for the green-clad ninja. He kicked off the tree he had been standing off, narrowly dodging the blasts that impacted against the tree, leaving nothing but debris and smoke. His jaw clenched when he saw more of the bullets heading his way.
He was airborne, dodging an attack like that would be almost impossible. Lee was forced to cross his arms in front of his chest, taking one of the bullets head on. He screamed in pain as he was flung against a tree from the power of the impact.
Lee let out a choked scream as his back slammed against the tree before sliding down into a sitting position. Both his arms burned from the attack and, taking a glance at them, they were in no good condition. Parts of skin had been burnt off with the rest being covered in a bloody mess. He hissed in pain but knew that he had to get up quick, the ninja would be coming after him.
His legs trembled as he managed a standing position. "Gai-sensei… I won't let you down," he muttered weakly, already knowing what needed to be done. The Sound ninja landed on a near tree with a grin on his darkened face, "It seems I need to use them again."
Chakra flared around Lee as he focused his mind. He let out a few grunts as the chakra grew more violent, kicking up dust and breaking off parts of the tree from the cheer power.
"First gate open!"
Chakra continued to swirl around Lee as his eyes glared at the Sound ninja. "Second gate open!" his skin turned a dark shade of red as he continued to build up his strength. Jugo gritted his teeth before leaping at the ninja, he wouldn't let him finish whatever he was planning.
"Third gate open!"
Jugo's arm turned into an axe as he brought it down on the Leaf ninja. His eyes widened in shock as his attack met nothing but air. He took a step back with his eyes peeled for any sort of movement. Just how had the Leaf ninja dodged his attack that quickly? Such level of speed was almost unreal.
"I'm over here!" Jugo heard from his right before receiving a bone-crushing kick to his right side. He staggered backwards in pain before receiving a hard punch to his stomach. Blood splattered out of his mouth as he struggled to regain his breath.
Not giving him any time to recover, Lee followed up with a kick to the Sound ninja's chest, hurling him through the air. Lee leapt after him, moving right underneath him with the remainder of his bandages breaking loose. The bandages wrapped tightly around Jugo as Lee began to spin them both towards the ground head-first.
Jugo growled in anger as purple chakra flared around him. The two continued to fall with the chakra shielding them from view. Lee kept his hold on the ninja as they went down but felt the increasing strength of his opponent. His hold began to slip as Jugo flailed widely against his grip.
"This is nothing Leaf trash!" Jugo laughed as his darkened face with a black stripe on the middle came to view, "Die! Die! Die!"
Lee felt pressure against his right side before something impaled through his right ribcage. Blood poured out of the wound as his hold on the Sound ninja finally dropped. The green-clad ninja let out a scream of agony as Jugo moved his back from side to side, deepening whatever had impaled him.
"AAAAAHHHHH," Lee cried in pure pain as the Sound ninja kept on flailing wildly.
Jugo laughed as he kept on moving his body from side to side. One of the many jet-like appendages on his back had impaled Lee and he was savoring each scream. He chuckled as he flared chakra through the appendages, earning another agony-filled scream from his opponent. The force of the flare pushed him away from the ninja but he easily landed on one of the many trees in the area while Lee fell limply on the ground.
Jugo jumped down to take a closer look at the ninja he had just fought. His eyes were closing on their own while he struggled to move even a single inch. His body shook from the amount of pain running through it and his breath was weak.
He smirked as he prepared to deliver the finishing blow. His death had been a fun one and, though it had been a short fight, he had savored each moment of it. "Now die!" he laughed as he brought his fist down on the Genin.
Shino kept his gaze on Kidomaru, the latter with a smirk on his face. The bug-user knew that he was at a big disadvantage since his bugs were out of the fight. It was true that he had been training to rid himself of that weakness but it would take time before he was able to fight properly without the aid of his bugs.
"Let's end this already," Kidomaru ran through hand signs before slamming both hands on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" dozens of spiders shot at Shino as Kidomaru place a hand near his mouth.
Shino used a cloud of bugs to slow the spiders down before jumping away. He landed on a branch while quickly digging his hand into one of his pockets, taking out a single kunai with a tag attached to the end. He flicked his wrist and sent the kunai flying.
Kidomaru smirked as the kunai impacted against the ground before exploding and taking most of the spiders with it. He quickly formed a large bow and jumped up a near tree, taking aim at the bug-user.
Shino was forced to destroy the remaining spiders since they were still after him. His bugs were taking care of most while he did his part with a pair of kunai. As he was about to strike another spider he caught the sound of something shooting through the air. He turned his head to see an arrow made of the brown material heading straight for him.
He quickly jumped away and landed on the ground, keeping a heads up in case another arrow was shot. Once more he heard the whistling sound of the arrow shooting through the air and quickly ran through hand signs. He slammed both hands on the ground, his jutsu now completed, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
The wall of earth rose in front of Shino, blocking the incoming arrow with ease. His chakra reserves were on the low side now, using earth jutsu was taxing on his body since his reserves weren't that great.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Another group of spiders leapt at Shino, making him curse and jump up the wall he had just created. He took out a pair of kunai with two explosive tags attached as the spiders grew closer. Just as he was about to throw them, another arrow shot at him. Shino was forced to jump away in order to avoid the projectile, only to see a second one heading for him. With no time to dodge he flung one of the kunai at the incoming arrow, exploding against it on impact.
Shino, not being able to move away, was caught in the shockwave of the explosion. He was flung through the air before crashing against a tree painfully, part of his head hitting against it. He bit back a scream as he kicked off the tree and landed on the ground, now with a bit of blood trailing down his face.
He let out a gasp when he saw hundreds of spiders moving towards him. As he prepared another kunai he caught sight of movement from his right, noticing another one of those arrows shooting at him. Shino prepared to move away but was stopped by a string of web wrapping around him. He struggled against the web as his bugs worked on taking the chakra off of it.
Shino's eyes widened from beneath his glasses, the arrow was now only a few feet away and his bugs wouldn't be able to break him free fast enough . Feeling defeated, he could only close his eyes in anticipation only to feel something tackle his side. He opened his eyes to see Kiba standing over him with a smirk on his face.
"Kiba?" he muttered in puzzlement, "Weren't you supposed to be in the hospital?"
Kiba simply chuckled. "And where would you be if I was?" he took in a breath, smelling the area around him and picking out the scent of Kidomaru with ease. "Let's go Akamaru!" the pup yipped as it took the form of Kiba, "Fang Over Fang!"
Kidomaru's eyes widened as two spinning blurs shot at him. He ran through hand sings as he made a small web. "Summoning Jutsu," he slammed both hands on the web, creating a large poof of smoke. The smoke cleared to reveal a giant spider with dark red skin. The spider began to move, only to collide with Kiba's incoming attack. It screeched in pain as Kiba and Akamaru dug through it before it finally disappeared.
Kiba and Akamaru returned to normal and landed in front of Kidomaru. Kiba leapt at the Sound ninja, throwing a punch that was easily caught by one of six hands. Kidomaru smirked as he grabbed the Leaf ninja with two hands before punching him with the others. Kiba grunted in pain with each strike, now knowing that fighting him in taijutsu had been a bad idea.
Kidomaru continued his assault before feeling a set of teeth digging into his skin. He let out a cry of pain, looking down to see Akamaru biting on his leg. "Fucking dog!" he cursed as he kicked his leg from side to side. Kiba took advantage of the distraction and brought both legs to Kidomaru's chest before adding chakra into them.
Kidomaru felt a building pressure on his chest before he was shot away from Kiba, with Akamaru letting go off his leg. His chest was in pain but he still managed to twist himself on the air and land safely on the ground. He looked at his stinging chest to see a large gash on his upper torso with a bit of skin peeled off in a few places.
"I'm going to kill you for this!" he yelled in anger.
Kiba smirked, crossing his arms, "No you're not. I was simply distracting you."
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
Four walls rose around the Sound ninja, blocking his vision of the Leaf ninja. He turned to the top of the walls to see Shino standing there with his hands held together on a hand seal.
"This is where our fight ends," Shino deadpanned. "Earth Style: Mud Spikes!"
Spikes shot out of each wall, starting at the top. Kidomaru's hands shook as the spikes grew nearer before a spike tore through his right side. Blood stained the mud walls and most of Kidomaru's clothes, his three right arms now missing. He let out a mortified scream before more spikes shot out of the wall and silenced him.
Shino panted as he sat against a tree with Kiba leaning against it with his arms crossed and Akamaru at his side. "That was one crazy jutsu Shino!" Kiba smiled excitedly, "When did you learn it?"
"I trained on elemental jutsu once our mission to the Sound bases was over," he explained, "I found that I had an Earth affinity. It works for me since most Earth jutsu are easy to use in trap strategies."
Kiba nodded absently, "Are you okay? You look really tired man."
"I have close to no chakra left in my body," he grunted as he tried to stand but fell back against the tree, "Not to mention the possibility of broken bones."
Kiba smirked as he helped Shino to his feet, "Like I told you. You're lucky I got out of the hospital."
Kimimaro blocked an incoming slash from the toad summon, before swinging his own sword. The summon proved to be agile as it quickly jumped over the attack before swinging his katanas once more. The Sound ninja sidestepped as he parried one of the blades. Now with an opening he pointed his right hand at the toad's side.
"Die…" he muttered as pieces of bone shot out of his fingertips. The attack dug into the frogs skin before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kimimaro turned to his left to see the two blondes, both on their taijutsu stances. He looked around the area and found no sign of the barrel, his eyes hardened on the Leaf ninja, "Where is it?"
Naruto smirked. "It was taken away while you were fighting my summon," he noticed the way Kimimaro's yaw seemed to clench before continuing, "You won't catch up to it now."
"What makes you think I won't?" Kimimaro asked in a dangerously calm voice.
Naruto turned to Ino, the latter giving him a quick nod. He grinned in determination, with Ino by his side he knew that they would be able to stall long enough, "Because we're here to stop you."