A month later
Uzugakure
In his dark tower, Sauron felt satisfied with the progress of his subordinates. Esdeath had risen to power in the Empire, and with the help of Grievous and Saeko, she reformed the Empire, getting rid of the self-destructive old nobility. The rest of the rebels were executed to the last, except for a few Night Raid members who fled the country. Now the Empire had become a true meritocracy and was preparing its army for the Great War to come.
Thanks to the maiden Akeno, eight of her greatest minions were now back. Over the past month, Akeno left the Underworld to train in the dark arts at Uzugakure with his eight new teachers. Now she could fight two Nazguls at the same time, honoring her title of Thunder priestess.
With his palantir, Sauron could see old enemies returning to Middle-earth, in a short time they would gather allies to fight the Bright Lord, still unaware of the existence of their true enemies. Sauron was eager to see their desperate faces upon realizing the truth.
However, the Dark Lord's thoughts were interrupted by detecting the presence of a snake in his fortress. Whatever it will serve as a test for his herald.
On one of the beaches of Uzugakure
Kabuto was stunned by the sight before his eyes. A huge army, larger than any elemental nations have known, made up of creatures drawn straight from ancient legends of the past. Thousands of Uruks and other creatures of the Dark Lord emerged from the pits strewn across the island. They were not a barbaric and unruly horde but a strictly regulated army ready to deploy at the command of their master.
Kabuto began to question his presence in this cursed land. Even he, who was used to the dark side of this world, felt worried to see so many evil creatures gathered under one banner. However, the secrets held in the Dark Tower are just too tempting for him.
As he continued his walk with an invisibility jutsu, several red-haired shinobi, sporting dark attire and light armor, emerged from the ground around Kabuto. Before they could react, the ten shinobis executed hand signs which caused a translucent barrier to appear in front of their outstretched arm. Kabuto executed many jutsu against the barrier, but he had to resign himself to give up. Examining it, Kabuto realized that it was engraved with the Uzumaki clan's sealing symbols. He couldn't believe, that the Uzumaki clan had actually survived and seemed to be plotting revenge against the elemental nations.
''Agonizing Scream''
Eight winged beasts with bodies of snakes and wings of bats entered the barrier without any opposition. On their backs were eight riders wearing dark cloaks and capes, not revealing an inch of skin.
Khamul: You dare trespass on our master's lands, you creeping vermin! You can't imagine how soon you will regret your gesture.
Kabuto: Kukuku, no need to show so much aggression against me. Take me to your master and I promise he'll be more than happy to meet me.
Khamul: Hmm! Big words from a little reptile. However, you do not possess anything that interests our lord.
Sensing the aggressive atmosphere, Kabuto summoned Edo Tense. As five coffins erupted from the ground, the Nazguls used their power to envelope them in dark energy, preventing them from opening. Panic gradually took control of Kabuto's heart. Each of his gestures was easily countered by his enemies and his chances of survival diminished every second.
Khamul stretched out a hand towards the sky: It is not against us that you will have to fight, but against her.
Looking above him, Kabuto saw floating a young girl with long black hair, wearing a dark priestess outfit, four bat wings on the right side of her back and four black feather wings on the left side, a skin sickly pale and sporting a tattoo of an eye on his forehead. Normally, even Kabuto would have been charmed by her, but the sense of danger he felt from her didn't allow him that thought.
Akeno seductively: Ara! Ara! Finally, I have the opportunity to use what I learned against someone. Let me thank you for your sacrifice.
Channeling lightning into his hands, Akeno hurled them at the intruder. Kabuto evaded them at the cost of losing his red cloak, revealing his scaly skin and snake tail-like lower body.
Kabuto: Kushiyose no Jutsu!
A huge snake appeared in front of Kabuto and swooped down on the girl. With a sadistic smile, Akeno conjured up dozens of spears made of sacred energy and hurled them at the serpent. His scaly armor had almost no resistance against projectiles and was quickly transformed into a porcupine. One of the spears pierced Kabuto, who saved his life by moult, leaving only an empty shell behind. He launched a Katon technique against his opponent, but the lightning around it formed a barrier for the protected.
Despite his genius, Kabuto couldn't find any way to escape, he was completely surrounded, his most powerful summons were blocked, the barrier even sank into the ground which prevented him from escaping using the Doton and his fighting abilities were poor against such an opponent, since he hadn't completed his Sage Mode training. He is a difficult person to kill, but his fighting skills were lacking.
Leading a desperate struggle, the adversaries clashed for about twenty minutes. Eventually, Kabuto collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. Although the moult technique had saved her life several times, she was spending a lot of chakra. Though futile, Kabuto struggled to crawl away from his enforcer.
Kabuto: Im-Impossible! I can't die here, not like this! I represent Master Orochimaru's legacy, I have no right to die here!
With a heavy step, Akeno put his foot on the back of the crawling snake, directly on one of its wounds.
Akeno: Ara! Macaw! Where do you think you can go under my watch?
The Thunder priestess sent needles of lightning through the wounds of the men at her feet. Kabuto felt a great agony, he himself had already tortured countless people and had no desire to suffer the same thing. Due to the lightning, his body was completely paralyzed.
A shadowy form appeared near Akeno. The latter had a look of reverence when she saw her master. Akeno felt immensely happy to see that her master had witnessed her fight.
Sauron: You fought Akeno well. I will reward you by personally teaching you how to break a person's spirit.
Kabuto was panicked upon hearing the shadow's words. If he could move his body, he would have already committed suicide.
Akeno, feeling his cheeks flush: It will be with great pleasure my lord.