21 Wrecked

"Damn it!" The roots bound Kaname's hands, legs, and neck.

"Fufufu." The white-faced shinobi laughed loudly. "You're extraordinary, Kana-chan. I would like to continue the fun, but I can see your plans and their outcomes. Huhuhu-hahaha! Yes, amazing! You're the first person that showed me my death so many times."

"Let me go, and let's talk then."

"No. And stop playing me for a fool, Kana-chan. You already have a plan on how to break out of these. Even if you can kill me, our fight always will result in... casualties." Orochimaru's head turned towards Hinata and Naruto.

"Huh? Are you-"

"I don't care about those kids one bit, Kana-chan. I just value my life much more than theirs."

"Fugaku-san's Sharingan, it also helps you control the flow of arguments? Did you use it on Nagato too?"

Orochimaru's brows jumped up, "... Pity, with you at my side, the Elemental Nations would grovel at our feet."

"Is that an offer? Come closer. I'll tell you what I think of it."

"Fufufu, I'll pass. I don't know who told you about my Sharingan, but it's of no importance. How did you save Sasuke-kun? The amount of senjutsu chakra in his veins should be fatal, Kana-chan."

"Who said I did save him?"

"Let's be clear. You would drop down on me like a devil herself otherwise. Mind you, face planting my clone into the cliffside and immediately liquidating his head with Rasengan wasn't very nice. But if I killed Sasuke-kun, you would simply raze this place."

'Is he bragging? Shouldn't Fugaku-san's Sharingan tell him all my answers?' Kaname stared at Orochimaru, "Your-"

"Interesting, despite your situation, you're still probing around. Trying to find the limits of my power? I won't tell you anything that you didn't already discover, Kana-chan. You're as smart as your sensei here." He pointed at himself, "I need to grow stronger to fight you. I'll retreat for now."

"And you think I will let you just go?!"

"Yes, I know you will." The Sannin replied confidently, "Ah, I would have forgotten. Congratulations on your wedding - I'll try to stop by tomorrow."

"... Fuck you."

Orochimaru, with a smug smile on his face, disappeared behind the shrubs several seconds later.

"Asshole... <Kuchiyose no Jutsu>." A palm-sized red butterfly spawned on Kaname's shoulder.

"Oh, you got wrecked again, huh, Kaname?" Her personal summon snorted playfully.

"Not now, Matsu. My sword."

"Hai-hai." The butterfly landed on top of the katana's hilt and slowly lifted it in the air. Once the blade was freed from the sheath, Kaname teleported to it.

She liberated her friends with single slashes across the roots holding Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata.

"Kaname-neesan, are you not going after Orochimaru?"

"No!" Her sudden anger frightened Hinata, "Uh, I'm sorry for snapping at you, Hina-chan... I'm just cranky after that fucker caught me in such a simple trap."

"I-its okay."

"How is Naru-chan?"

"I'm using the Mystical Palm Jutsu, but something is blocking his recovery. Excluding severe chakra exhaustion and lack of skin on his body, Naruto-kun doesn't have any outside or inside injuries."

"His chakra pathways were scorched by Kurama's chakra. I'll talk with the fox later. I need to take you to Konoha now. Ino-chan needs my help as well."

"Ah, that's why you're not chasing after Orochimaru."

"Yeah, call for Sōso-san to bring Sasuke-chan here. That asshole may come back. I can't leave you alone here with all of them knocked out." Kaname pulled Kakashi up by his nape.

After Hinata gave a signal to her personal summon, she started stuttering, "Eto-.. This hairstyle- Umm... It suits you, Nee-san."

"Hmm? Ah, my mom fought with this bush on my head for the last hour to straighten it u-"

"Dynamic Entry!!" Might Guy came in, dropping on Kaname like a bird of prey.

She barely dodged a flying kick by moving her head to the side. Kaname caught Guy's leg and threw him over her arm.

"Let him go Oro- K-Kana-chan!? My apologies!"

"Haah... I look like that asshole from the back? I'll have to think of something else, and hi Guy-kun. Hina-chan, keep Naru-chan and Sasuke-chan alive. I'll go for a little trek around Fire City and will come back to get you in 15 minutes or so."

"Yes! Good luck."

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm sorry, Guy-kun. Asuma's team must have found trouble as well. Protect Hina-chan while I'm gone. See you in a jiffy!" Kaname's body combusted into red flames.

------

"How is she doing, Ino-chan?"

"Her aorta was ripped apart, Chōji. I stitched the parts, but..." Ino's hands were blazing in healing green light, "Whoever she is, the damage around her heart is too massive - I'm just postponing her death."

"You just need to hold out until Kaname-sensei gets here."

"We won't have that much time, Chōji. Each individual Akatsuki is a Kage-level shinobi. Are you sure that the seal you had wasn't faulty?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Shikamaru. Kaname-neesan must be busy with something else."

"... Troublesome. Despite the order to stay back, Asuma will need our help sooner or later. Get ready, Chōji. Ino, you stay here and keep this woman alive. We'll jump in on my signal."

"We're not ready to fight Akatsuki, Shikamaru." Chōji shot back.

"I know! But neither is he." Shikamaru huffed, pointing at Asuma's back.

'Like I would let soon-to-be father die here!' the blonde nodded her head and observed two cloaked mercenaries.

"Asuma Sarutobi." The masked one greeted the team's captain, "It must be my fortunate day... I'll collect all the remaining Twelve Shinobi Guardians bounty in one place. I even got a bonus pseudo-jinchūriki."

Without a care in the world, Asuma just lit up his cigarette, "*Phew* Yep, and you must be the one from Kana-chan's report, Kakuzu the Tentacle Lover." The Akatsuki stared back in anger at the jōnin, "I would be worried if your eyes could kill right now."

"AAAAH!!!" Kakuzu's partner shouted in fright.

"Huh?!" A boy with dark-grey hair laid unmoving below Hidan's feet.

"It's a boy!"

"Did you kill the jinchūriki, you fucking moron?!" Kakuzu shouted at his partner.

"No! I just choked him a little, and... this happened!" Hidan poked the boy's head with his foot.

Asuma enjoyed the smoke inside his lungs and slowly exhaled, "I see Kana-chan decimated all the decent Akatsuki recruits, huh? Only idiots were left."

"You have no idea..."

A triple-bladed red scythe attached to a steel cable struck the ground on Asuma's location.

"How did you call me?! Jashin-sama will punish you, fucker!" Hidan shouted after the jōnin.

"You need a much better aim to catch me." Konoha's shinobi dodged the weapon and threw several shurikens at his enemy. Asuma's counterattack hit the Akatsuki squarely in his chest and forehead. "Huh? That easily?"

"... Kakuzu! He is mine! Jashin-sama wants his blood!" Hidan shouted, pulling the shuriken out of his head.

"Do what you want."

'Shit! What's going on? That should be lethal. First things first, his weapon, if I can't kill him, I should still be able to cut off his arms and legs. Luckily, Kakuzu doesn't seem eager to join the fight for now. This scythe? It looks heavy. Looking at its design, it was made for wounding an enemy, not killing one.' a thick smoke came out of Asuma's mouth, hiding him from Hidan's eyes. Without giving him a chance to react, Konoha's jōnin threw two shurikens and charged.

"Ha!" Completely forgoing his defense, Hidan let the small blades hit his neck and slashed at Asuma.

*POOF*

"A smoke clone?!" Hidan's heavy scythe pulled his arm upwards, exposing his body for an attack.

Asuma was right behind his clone. As planned, he found the Akatsuki completely open. The jōnin used his trusty chakra blade to cut off the scythe-wielding arm.

"You fucker! That hurt!" A black spear dropped into Hidan's hand from his left sleeve into his palm, "DIE!"

"Whoa!" Using the blade in his right arm, Asuma deflected the point of the spear to the side. Following the momentum, he turned around his axis and impaled Akatsuki's heart from his back.

"*Cough*!" Blood filled Hidan's windpipe.

'One down, one to go.' Asuma let go of his weapon and walked forward, letting Akatsuki's body drop onto his knees. "It's time for you, old-timer."

"Hmm. Not yet."

"Wha-?" Looking over his arm, Asuma noticed the black point of the spear thrust towards his head. He immediately ducked under the attack, making the weapon hit his forehead protector. The spear slid of the piece of armor and lightly scraped the top of his head, drawing blood.

Asuma jumped back.

Hidan, with a chakra blade in his back, smirked back at jōnin, licking the blood of his spear, "Your sins will be judged by Jashin-sama!"

"<Futon: Jade Hurricane>!"

Hidan coughed out blood, dropping on his knees, "Stop that! It hurts like hell!"

"<Futon: Jade Hurricane>!" Asuma's blade popped out from Hidan's chest and flew back to Asuma's hand, "What the heck are you?"

"Jashin-sama's apostle can't be killed by a lowly human..." The man slowly stood back up. The wound on his chest stitched itself in front of Asuma's eyes. Hidan took hold of his cut-off arm and connected it back to his body.

'Shit! I should have listened to Kana-chan's warning. They're all freaks!' Asuma's eyes turned to his students standing nearby, 'For the new generation...'

Hidan's feet sculpted the soil beneath him, drawing a perfect circle.

"<Katon: Burning Ash>!" Asuma spewed a cloud of ash from his mouth. Once his jutsu surrounded his opponent, the jōnin ignited it with a flint hidden in his teeth.

The flash of detonation blinded everyone. It was Asuma that got extreme burns on his body. Once the dust of the explosion cleared, he looked towards Hidan.

Akatsuki's member body turned pitch black. He had a white, skull-like tattoo on his face. "Hahaha! You lost!"

'Uhh.' Asuma barely stood back up on his feet. "Shit..." he hobbled towards Hidan.

"Hahaha. I can taste your fear and pain! Hahaha!"

'Maybe if I behead him?' His hands clutched the chakra blades.

"Oh, you still think you can fight me?" Hidan impaled his thigh.

Asuma's leg gave out under his weight, "Agh! What, how?!" His baggy pants turned red around his right knee. 'It must be his weird jutsu? Once he stays inside his little circle, whatever happens to him, will happen to me? Blood! Blood is the key!'

"Hahaha, I offer your life to Jashin-sama!" Hidan aimed his spear at his own heart, but the moment he tried to impale himself, his body froze. "What?! Why can't I move?!"

"Kagemane no Jutsu is complete." Shikamaru's shadow took control over Hidan's.

"<Nikudan Sensha>!" A quickly rotating ball fell on top of Kakuzu.

"Ugh, one foot to the side!" Watching the fight, Shikamaru thought of a plan - the best outcome for them is to fall back and regroup. This weird sacrificial ritual had to be stopped, and the circle on the ground clearly played a major role in it. While Chōji was occupying the second Akatsuki, Shikamaru controlled the scythe-wielding man's body and slowly moved him away from Asuma. 'Shit, just one more step! He is fighting back! I-I can't move!'

"Shikamaru!" Ino's shout pulled his attention to his other teammate. Instead of pulverizing his target, the human bullet was stopped with Kakuzu's hand.

"So be it. I just wanted Sarutobi's bounty. But I can't forgive an attack on me!" The masked mercenary pulled back his fist and aimed to kill the young man in front of him in a single strike.

" "Chōji!" "

"<Rasengan>!" Kaname teleported to Kakuzu's side and blocked his attack by putting a ball of chakra on his hand's path. Her katana already falling towards his arm.

"ARGH!" The blade almost cut off his extended hand. The sudden attack of his nemesis forced Kakuzu to jump away.

"Kaname!" He gasped.

"Yo! Tell me, Tentacle Lover, how many hearts have you got for me to take away this time?"

"Hidan, we must fall back now!"

"Haah!? You're scared of a single woman?!"

"Do what you want. <Doton: Subterranean Voyage>!" Kakuzu dived underground, running from Kaname. He knew when a fight was lost.

With one Akatsuki gone, Kaname turned towards the black-skinned one.

"Wait, Kaname-sensei! Whatever you do will be done to Asuma-sensei as well!" Chōji alerted her.

"Ha! That's right! And what are you going to do about it?" Hidan laughed out loud, staring at Kaname, "Hahaha! I'm immortal, you can't kill me!"

"Shikamaru?"

"It's the circle he is standing in. I tried to move him out, but he is fighting back my control. The best I can do is to hold back his hands from finishing Asuma off."

"Drop the shadow control, Shikamaru."

"Huh? Are you-?" Kaname nodded her head. "Haah... Troublesome." Shikamaru let go of his jutsu, but to his astonishment, the spear in Hidan's hand didn't move an inch.

"Hahaha! Whatever, you can't make me leave out of the-?!" Hidan walked out of the circle by himself. The ritual was broken, his skin turned back to its natural color.

"A genjutsu?" Shikamaru whispered.

"You okay there, Asuma?" She called out to her friend.

Extremely tired, the jōnin only gave her a thumbs up.

"I'll kill you for that, bitch!"

"You have no idea how many of Kakuzu's presumed immortal partners I've killed already, moron. From what I have heard from Utakata, you're just a pushover. Come, I have some steam to blow off."