Chapter 7 - Otogakure Update

The chakra grew to the right size in Ekyt’s hand. His Blue Flame Chakra was easy to access; he WAS angry. He didn’t have to force anger. He had been removed from his home, forced to serve his enemy, and now bowing to the same vermin he had tried to get rid off. It made his sick, and angry. And that anger, always so hurtful, was about to be helpful.
“Blue Flame Chakra: Sealing Jutsu!” Ekyt jammed his hand onto Kimimaro’s curse mark. His hand slid under Kimimaro’s skin and into his body. Ekyt found what he was looking for. It was a ‘battery’ of sorts, for the cursed seal. It was a buildup of chakra that took away life energy. Ekyt was about to pull the plug on it. He felt the ‘battery’ in his hand. He squeezed until he felt the chakra flow from it slow, then finally stop altogether. He pulled his hand out, and the Blue Chakra disappeared back into him.
“Watch his vitals. I’ll unseal the curse the minute they change.”
That would take time. In the mean time, Ekyt had a conversation that he didn’t want any part of.


“Ekyt…tell me about the Village.”
Ekyt didn’t want to talk to Sasuke, but felt he had little choice in the matter.
“Sakura still thinks about you, but she’s matured. Most everyone misses you, and wishes you hadn’t left. A few have even forgiven you. But the only one that trains with you in mind- is Naruto. He’s determined to get you back. He’s told me that you’re like a brother to him, a best friend. He’s never forgotten you, or the fight you had. He’s become a chunin, along with the other ‘rookies’ from that time. That’s really all that you wouldn’t know about, not much has changed.”
Sasuke smirked. “There IS one thing- why are you here? You, Konoha’s pride? What are you up to?”
Ekyt stared back dully. “I was forced from the village because of my previous training. I came here because…you were really my only option, weren’t you? Who else would take a samurai? Who else would bother to use me? No one.”
Sasuke drew his sword. “If I were to think your motives were otherwise…you might just taste my blade…”
Ekyt didn’t change his expression. For good reason. He was behind Sasuke, senbon in hand.
“If I were to think that you threatened me for no reason…”
At the same time, they spoke: “I’d kill you.”
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Ekyt held the senbon in place.
“So, answer my question. Why did you leave? You wanted power so bad you were willing to cheat? Think about that. Your brother, whom I’ve had the…pleasure…of meeting-”
Sasuke whipped around. “YOU…he came after YOU…before me…WHY?! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY POSSESS?!”
“Chakra, and the knowledge of how to use it,” Ekyt spat. Sasuke looked sad, a little like the Sasuke of old. But he marched away, leaving Ekyt to wonder what was going through his head.


Lee, Sakura, Naruto, and Hayate met in private.
“We have to bring him back, before the village falls apart!” Sakura told them.
“Agreed. (koff) But getting him back won’t be so simple. (koff) Otogakure is all military, and the village (koff) attacking in it’s weakened state would be suicide,” Hayate explained. He had a big-brother complex when it came to Ekyt, and he had clearly been thinking about this.
“Strength in numbers means nothing! Aren’t we ninja? We’ll stealth our way in, bail his @$$ out, and bring him back! Believe it!” Naruto, of course, was ready for action.
“It will not work that way. We would need disguises, and ways to make sure they are not penetrated. But if we were to watch the Sound Village, and observe, Ekyt-kun might come to us…” Lee offered.
“That’s our (koff) best lead,” Hayate said, earning nods. “Alright, let’s disperse before (koff) the elders find us.”
Everyone leapt off in different directions, save for Sakura and Naruto. They had more to discuss.


Ekyt activated the blue chakra again. He reached in and pried the ‘battery’ open again. Kabuto was watching Kimimaro’s vital signs.
“Heart rate…normal…Blood pressure…normal…lung functions…normal…I think you did it. You actually…did it…” Kabuto was stunned. His chakra is amazing! Even I couldn’t heal him, and I’ve been compare to Tsunade herself, when she was in her prime. Is it a family thing? Or was it pure chakra? Kabuto smiled. He liked puzzles. This one was interesting.
“Your chakra…you can access it freely now. I remember, in combat, you had to wait until I had pissed you off so bad you couldn’t see straight. And you’ve honed it to such control. Your blood pressure has hardly risen itself…interesting how that works…you told me that this chakra is pure emotion. Everyone has emotions, why do you channel your emotions into chakra?”
Ekyt shrugged. “Anxiety. Depression. Whatever it is, I feel it more strongly than most people. The chakra came about as an accident. But it’s saved my life so often…it hurts to use, but every time I have, it’s been worth it.”
Kabuto nodded, wondering vaguely if Ekyt was telling the truth. He’s being honest…if anyone can tell, I can…
At that moment, both were summoned by Orochimaru. Kimimaro would wake up soon enough, and he was stable enough to be left alone. The two ninjas disappeared in a cloud of smoke.


“Sakura…I remember when we tried to get Sasuke-kun back…we failed, with five of us. How can four of us hope to get him back?” Naruto hoped that Sakura, being a year old, might have an answer. Sakura, it seemed, was preoccupied with something. But she shook herself out of her daze to tell Naruto what she thought.
“Sasuke-kun…he left by free will. Ekyt-kun had nowhere to but the Sound Village. He doesn’t want to serve them, so he won’t fight us when we find him. And we WILL find him. The Leaf Village is falling apart, all because of that stupid elder! That damned four-eyed freak! When we get Ekyt-kun back, I’m going to lock him in a room with Elder Asshole and watch Ekyt beat him until blood comes out of Akira’s ears!”
Naruto, serious for once, asked Sakura a question. “Sakura…what do you think of Ekyt? I mean…you know. How do you think of him. As a friend? Or something more?”
Sakura didn’t quite know how to respond. Thankfully, Naruto cut her off with one of his trademark displays of bravado
“’CAUSE WE’RE GONNA GET HIM BACK, AND SASUKE, AND WE’LL HAVE A TEAM AGAIN! BELIEVE IT!”
Sakura smiled, thankful she didn’t have to answer his question. She wasn’t sure she knew herself.



Orochimaru was waiting for Ekyt and Kabuto. Kabuto landed kneeling, while Ekyt stood upright.
“You are new, so I won’t punish you- this time. When I summon you, you are supposed to kneel. Observe Kabuto.”
Ekyt, controlling his rage, forced himself down to one knee, head bowed.
“You summoned us, lord Orochimaru?” Kabuto asked/stated.
“Yes. I wish to assess our newest acquisition’s skill…This is the game we’ll play. If you can last 3 minutes against me, then I will give you a treasure, something even I would hate to part with. If you can’t last three minutes- well, then you don’t have to worry, do you?”
Ekyt kept his head bowed. “Fine. Lord Otokage.”
Orochimaru hadn’t been called that before.
“What did you call me?”
Ekyt, confused, looked up. “Lord Otokage? I did get that right, didn’t I?” Ekyt wasn’t sure why Orochimaru was surprised. Wasn’t that his title? (For the record, it IS, but Otogakure isn’t recognized as a Village by the Land of Fire, so they don’t recognize Orochimaru as “Lord Otokage” either – N(owing his stuff)G(od what a bad joke!))
Orochimaru smiled again. “You did. I’m so used to Lord Orochimaru, that I forget that I AM the Otokage. You caught me off guard…interesting…perhaps you planned it that way?”
Ekyt didn’t say anything. He HADN’T planned it that way. But if Orochimaru wanted to believe that…
“Well then. Kabuto, kindly proctor our match, and do stop me if I seem to get close to…killing him…”
Ekyt didn’t like this. Suddenly, he was out on a roof, enclosed with a dome of opaque black material. This is the dome…he used on the Third Hokage! Does he take me that seriously? Can I last three minutes? Wait, he’s not a man of his word, I can’t trust that he’s telling the truth! But I have no choice but to fight him…and to kill him, if that what survival means…damn it! Konoha…Please forgive me. The jutsus I created that you forbid…I need them! Now!


Tsunade looked the young man up and down. Fourteen years old, former member of ROOT. He would have to do. They needed Ninja, and fast. She couldn’t be choosy.
“So, Sai, welcome to Team 7. You’ll meet your team in a little while. For now, please tell me anything I should know about you. Your files from ANBU are sketchy, at best…something about a personality issue is what I gather.”
Sai stared at her, not speaking. Most people joke when breaking tension…and they smile… Sai’s mouth curled into one of the most insincere smiles she had ever seen.
“You have nice breasts,” Sai told her, still smiling.
Tsunade was up in an instant, ready to rip the kid’s head off. Then she remembered the ‘personality issue’ that had been in his files. By that point, Shizune had grabbed her and restrained her. If Shizune hadn’t, momentum would have carried Tsunade into Sai. ANBU or not, Tsunade would have killed him. Or at least maimed him. Maybe not as badly as Jiraiya when he tried to spy on her in the women’s bath house, but pretty bad. She forced herself to calm down.
“About the personality thing…we’ll have to work on that. Saying something like that will generally get you…hospitalized, at the least. Especially with who you’re working with. She’s beautiful, but has a temper as bad as mine, with less restraint. And she’s used to hitting guys (Obviously Sakura and Naruto, lol), so she won’t hesitate to do it to you. Just to warn you.”
Sai was still smiling, nodding as if he understood. He didn’t, that much was evident. Tsunade was still smarting over his crack, so she decided to hot-drop him in to Naruto and Sakura’s team without really briefing either one. It’ll foster teamwork…in addition to getting me a little revenge, if he insults Sakura…



Orochimaru stood tall, laughing at the wonder in Ekyt’s eyes.
“You are thinking of when I tried to assassinate the Third Hokage. Well, I thought the “Dragon Boy” would enjoy seeing how a master handles his jutsus. It’s not enough to KNOW them, you have to know when to use them. But you must already know that, if you’ve already survived so many battles. So, enough talk. Let’s fight! Kabuto, start the timer!”
2:59
Orochimaru appeared in front of Ekyt, hand slashing down in an axe hand strike. Ekyt dodged it, but Orochimaru had predicted that. His other fist hit Ekyt in the stomach with enough force to send him across the dome. Ekyt righted himself and kicked his feet down hard. He generated enough force to propel himself forward. Orochimaru was waiting with an axe kick. Ekyt swept it aside with a crescent kick, then slammed his fist home against Orochimaru’s stomach.
POOF! The clone disappeared. Ekyt guessed what was coming next, and he used a Replacement Jutsu. Good thing, because 100 shuriken stuck in the log where he had been seconds earlier. Ekyt knew he couldn’t stand still. He didn’t even know where Orochimaru was at this point. It was all guesswork. He had made a tactical error, he realized. In this dome, he was wasting chakra.
Because it wasn’t real.
“RELEASE!” Ekyt shouted. Had he not been trained by Ibikki, Ekyt wouldn’t have noticed the genjutsu. Even now, as he released it, he was wary for more. But he didn’t sense the chakra, and he was still in Orochimaru’s ‘office’.
“I’m impressed. It took Sasuke MUCH longer to see through that genjutsu. Of course, he was but a boy, then. Now, his skills come close to even my own. But you’ve broken my first technique, a very powerful False Surroundings Jutsu. It’s to be applauded. Now, let’s get back to business…”
2:35
Ekyt didn’t answer, instead, he threw eight senbon. Orochimaru leaned backward, dodging them all. Then he disappeared, into a snake’s mouth. This was bad news for Ekyt. He didn’t know where Orochimaru would pop up. But maybe he could delay Orochimaru, or throw him off. Ekyt made handsigns at top speed.
“Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique!” It was the same technique Orochimaru had used. But there was a point to it, especially with Ekyt’s fighting style taken into account. Much like when you threw a fake punch to get your opponent to bite, Ekyt was baiting Orochimaru. He made handsigns again.
Orochimaru sensed the genjutsu, and immediately released it. He was safe inside the snake’s mouth, so no matter what the boy had planned, it was fruitless. Still, not bad for strategy…I wonder what he’ll do next…
That was answered when Ekyt appeared beside him. He had used a Replacement jutsu, and had targeted the snake’s tongue! Not only did this take away the snake’s senses, but he had the drop on Orochimaru! The shocked Shinobi looked over at Ekyt as he finished his hand signs.
“Chakra Scalpel!” Ekyt called. He tagged Orochimaru on the arm, then cut his way out of the snake and leapt back up into the office. Orochimaru was up in an instant, holding his left arm.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Ekyt called. Two more Ekyt’s appeared. Together, they yelled a jutsu Orochimaru had never heard of:
“Dance of the Sickle Moon!”
Dance of the Sickle Moon was a jutsu partly created by Ekyt. It was based off of Hayate’s “Dance of the Crescent Moon”. It involved an intricate pattern of attack with swords and clones, dancing in and out of range, slashing as fast as possible. Ekyt and his samurai training made this jutsu tailor-made for him. He took it and made it his own by adding a samurai blade in one hand and a straight katana in another. One was for stabbing, one was for slashing.
1:53
Orochimaru couldn’t believe that, at such a young age, and without ninja blood, save for a little Kaguya, that anyone could use such a jutsu. His wonder would cost him. The first clone slash high, while the second slashed low. They each swiped with the samurai blade while stabbing with the straight katana, making it difficult to dodge, even for him. Then the real Ekyt popped up and cleaved Orochimaru’s right shoulder, his good arm, while his straight katana went through Orochimaru’s hand.
Ekyt held them there, staring Orochimaru in the eyes. The two clones had dug in with their blades as well. Ekyt pulled his out and backed away. He made handsigns, while Orochimaru was trapped.
“Dragon’s Ember Jutsu!” He punched at Orochimaru, sending a stream of flames directly into his face. Orochimaru’s skin melted away. Ekyt ended the attack, wondering if he had won. But he doubted it. He spun around just in time to see the real Orochimaru stand up. He had hidden in the ground! All that chakra wasted on clones!
:50
“Very impressive, I’ll give you credit. But I think I’m through holding back. Now, we fight- for real!”
This disturbed Ekyt. shoot! I’ve been fighting for real the whole time! How powerful is he?! It doesn’t matter, I’ve got to stop him- somehow! There’s 50 seconds left. My chakra is too low for anything big. Think…what did Ibikki say? Low chakra…easy genjutsu…and Guy-sensei… ‘When your ninja tricks fail, you’ll always have taijutsu!’ And Kakashi-sensei… ‘Don’t go where the enemy is, go where he WILL be…and Asuma-sensei… ‘A little chakra can go a long way. Control it, and you’ll be hard to beat every time…
Orochimaru opened his mouth. From inside, came a snake. From it’s mouth, a sword protruded.
“Kusanagi?!” Ekyt sputtered in disbelief. Orochimaru swung the sword (Still in his mouth) at Ekyt. POOF! Clone. He swung again. POOF! Another clone. That left the real Ekyt. THAT Ekyt had made the handsigns he needed while Orochimaru was distracted.
“Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Techn-” he managed, before the Kusanagi pierced his abdomen…

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