Rising from the ground, like a great mountain of sand, a great smile of sharp fangs and a look of empty eyes appeared before the group of ninjas and at the same time, the tail of this beast hit the ground, making the whole place tremble.
(A tail...)
Squinting his eyes and being a bit shocked by what he had just seen, Toru clenched the hilt of the daggers tightly and sighed. He had seen giant monsters before, but the giant mountain of sand that took the shape of a large raccoon certainly left a strange feeling down his spine.
Not only did it look intimidating, but it also needed only the weight of its own tail to shake the forest.
Sasuke also watched this with a displeased expression, as now the problem had grown larger, about fifty meters tall.
"This is not good..."
Watching the sand monster with the Shigan, Toru could see that the lines of death were moving at a speed that was not normal. This only made everything more complicated, as considering that Toru needs to attack the death lines to disable the enemy, the speed at which they move makes it difficult to hit them.
(Those eyes...)
Turning his gaze to look at Toru, Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise at what he was seeing. Toru's eyes were glowing blue like the sky, with X-shaped pupils. There was no doubt, Toru now had an eye jutsu, this made Sasuke clench his fists as he looked at the ground disappointed in himself.
Somehow, Naruto and Toru were outdoing him every time he thought he had gotten stronger.
For a man in this world full of ninjas, to be stronger and more powerful than anyone else is everyone's greatest dream.
"Ino..."
Looking at the girl trapped between the sand and the tree, Toru sighed. Knowing that Gaara had a monster locked inside him, all he could think of was running away Why? Well, because there was no way a twelve year old boy with the mentality of a mad scientist could defeat a talking mountain of sand, no, indeed, it was impossible to imagine himself defeating it. Plus, there was the continuous chakra drain that all of his jutsu use, so rushing in and attacking was out of the question.
However, his mind began to search the recesses of his memories for a solution to this predicament. Then, this idea popped up...
"That should be fine, shouldn't it? I'm sure I'm not going to explode next to Gaara, but... I need a distraction."
A giant monster that was in front of him, if he spent chakra without thinking it would be suicide, plus there was Naruto, which went on the attack by jumping into his own clones without thinking.
(Wait... What?)
Looking at Naruto, Toru felt like shouting 'Naruto you're an idiot' but there was no time for that, as he had to help the idiot so he wouldn't die on the spot.
So, leaving Sakura, Ino, Sasuke and Pakkun, Toru used the triggers in order to quickly swing through the trees and reach the large sand mountain shaped like a raccoon.
"Gaara!"
Reaching the monster's head, Naruto tried to dig through the sand to find Gaara, however, the sand held him by the legs and began to swallow him like a midnight snack.
"Naruto! Summon the shadow clones!"
Trying to hurry, Toru had no choice but to ask Naruto for help, who was confused at first, but then realized what Toru wanted to do. Then, putting his fingers together forming a cross, multiple small smoke explosions started to appear among the trees, coming out from among all that Naruto's clones, which jumped as high as they could and....
"Quick!"
One of the clones shouted and, then, Toru's body flashed and the daggers burst into fire.
Like a flash of flaming light, Toru moved at superhuman speed as he jumped between the clones in order to mobilize. Each clone Toru used as a platform disappeared enveloped in a cloud of smoke due to the force with which he moved. In the end, he arrived so fast to where Naruto was, that Sasuke clenched his fists in frustration at the sight of his childhood friend's power.
*Boom!*
The place where Naruto was being swallowed by the sand exploded, turning a small part of the sand monster's head into glass. The next thing that happened, Naruto jumped and fell into the branches of a tree, at the same time, while Toru was still suspended in the air, he put away the daggers and saw the monster in front of him.
"Shakuton: Netsu hōkai-zai [Element burn: Thermal Disintegrator]"
In less than a second, over a hundred hand seals were executed, then, raising his hand towards the sky, a strange fireball appeared on Toru's palm. Almost instantly, this fireball was shot at the sand monster's face.
*Boom!
A huge explosion echoed throughout the forest, generating a large cloud of dust over the monster's face.
(It didn't work...)
Clicking his tongue, Toru watched as the monster's face regenerated after the explosion that crystallized a small area between the mouth and eyes.
This was already at a higher level of any kind of danger. For a second, Toru thought he should take Ino and get the hell out of that place, since staying with such a monster was certain death, but he still had chakra and ideas going back and forth like bees in a hive. So why not set up a sweet honey trap?
Unconsciously, a smile had formed on Toru's mouth, at the same time as his hair covered his eyes. This scene was very much like that of a mad scientist thinking about his next experiment, that's how this boy's mind was now.
But seeing this, Naruto felt uncomfortable, as he saw Toru laughing softly while touching his chin with a smile on his mouth. Well, it was already the second time he saw Toru with a facial expression other than the usual poker face, so this made him quite uncomfortable, after all Toru was laughing in the middle of a battle to the death.
(Eureka... this is going to do the trick. I may run out of chakra to the point where I can't move, but my life and many others are in danger. So I'll leave it all to chance, because that's how I live my life).
Looking around, Toru realized that he was far away from the place where Ino, Sasuke, Sakura and Pakkun are, so carrying out this sweet honey trap was going to be easier.
"Naruto, when we were at the hot spring resort, you said you learned a super cool jutsu. So, let me ask you a question - is that jutsu, by any chance Kuchiyose no jutsu?"
Without looking away and keeping his hidden-eyed smile, Toru could already see the outcome of this fight. To him, this was somehow becoming amusing, so much so that he could barely hide his smile.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu? How did you know that-? Toru, you're not planning?"
With trembling hands, Naruto imagined what Toru was thinking. But this wasn't possible, how did Toru know the summoning jutsu?
"I want to see what you're capable of summoning. So, how about giving me a demonstration of your power?"
Looking at Naruto with a smile as he held out his hand, Toru was having a strange feeling welling up from deep in his heart, he was excited.
But his excitement was gone when he saw Naruto's painfully intense summoning, which summoned a small toad that didn't even know where it was standing.
"Huh, what am I doing here, who are you?"
Sighing wearily, Toru felt disappointed. He had expected a lot from the boy who has the nine-tailed fox locked inside him, but in the end he could only see a small toad looking at everything with curious eyes.
"Naruto... you know we're going to die if you don't summon something decent?"
"Ahg! I know, I really do. I promise I'll get it right this time."
After that failed attempt, the little toad hid in the bushes as Naruto prepared to summon something big.
Toru seeing that a large sphere of chakra began to surround Naruto, the smile full of excitement returned to his face and then, biting his thumb and making some drops of blood fall, Toru touched the ground with his hand at the same time as Naruto and....
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Two large smoke explosions appeared out of nowhere in front of the sand monster. And after a second, two large beasts appeared imposingly in the middle of the forest.
Sasuke stood up and opened his eyes unable to believe what he was seeing.
"A wolf and a toad..."
With a majestic silver colored fur, sharp fangs so white and healthy, accompanied by a murderous look of crimson eyes, the leader of the Okami clan appeared, Okamitsuki was summoned by Toru.
At the same time, a gigantic yakuza-like toad appeared at Okamitsuki's side. It had dull red skin color and wore a blue open shirt. In addition, he had strange red lines running all over his body and, strapped to his waist, a large katana stood. This was Naruto's summoning, Gamabunta, the leader of all the summoned toads.
"Ara~ I see that after a few days you summoned me, don't you think that was too fast, brat?"
Looking over her own back, Okamitsuki felt a bit indignant due to being summoned in front of a tailed beast.
(That's... Shukaku? Hm... I figured this kid would get into trouble, but I think this is a bit too much...)
Shaking his head, Okamitsuki saw that Toru was staggering, after all he had just used a large amount of chakra in the summoning, so this caused him unbearable fatigue.
"Before summoning me you should take into account the amount of chakra you have. If you summon me again in this condition, I will refuse to be summoned again."
"Ha~ this is not the time for this. That guy over there, we have to defeat him. His body is too tough, I couldn't do anything to him with my most powerful jutsu."
"You call that little ball of fire powerful? You must remember that when you used it against me I barely felt a tickle, seriously now you want to use that against a beast with a tail?"
As if he had heard a good joke, Okamitsuki chuckled. During their duel in Okami village, Toru used everything he had in order to defeat her, but in the end nothing worked, although the daggers did manage to cut her a few times.
"Ho~ I see something interesting. You must be the leader of the Toads, Gamabunta, right?"
"Yes, you are?"
Raising her eyebrows with some hesitation, Gamabunta didn't recognize this giant dog at all, but apparently she did know him.
"Okamitsuki, leader of the Okami clan."
Closing her eyes, Gamabunta sighed, she knew very little about wolf clans, so she decided not to give the matter any more thought.
"Toru! You summoned a giant dog! Amazing!"
"Ha... it's not a dog as such."
"How disrespectful, I should rip your face off, you brat!"
Looking at Naruto, Okamitsuki licked his lips, making the latter feel shivers, but this was no time to introduce himself and make friends, as Gaara appeared among the sand.
"Asahi Toru, Uzumaki Naruto!"
Emerging from between the sand, over the head of the sand tanuki, Gaara grinned mischievously as he looked at the wolf and the toad.
Almost instantly, the sand hands came out of the ground, making Okamitsuki and Gamabunta unable to move.
"Kukuku Hahahahaha!"
Laughing like a madman, Gaara clenched his fist and hands increased their strength in attack but....
*Boom!
The hands were destroyed and Okamitsuki disappeared, reappearing in front of Gaara.
"A spoiled brat, that's what I see. In my home we punish spoiled puppies by giving them a bite on their front paws."
With a sharp-toothed grin, Okamitsuki felt thrilled at the realization, after all the wolf race was born for war, death ran through their veins and scars and broken bones were their most prized trophies.
On the other hand, Gamabunta sighed as he pulled the katana out of the sheath.
"Let's get this started. Hold on tight, kid."
Leaping forward, Gamabunta raised the katana in an attempt to hurt Gaara, but it was useless, the hands came out of the ground and held his arms.
"Damn, I can't let go!"
Seeing this, Toru looked at Okamitsuki. The two of them are closer to Gaara, so it would be easier for them to attack him and as if reading his mind, Okamitsuki rammed Gaara, making Gaara fall to the ground.
This made the hands let go of Gamabunta.
"Now you're talking!"
Taking another long leap forward, Gamabunta swung the katana and split the Shukaku in half. This caused Gaara to let out a cry of pain as he held his head tightly.
"No, I'm not going to leave them. Hahaha, I'm going to kill them, I'll kill them!"
Clasping his hands together, Gaara made the sand come back together, forming the giant tanuki again.
"This time, I'll take care of killing them both. I won't let them escape, now watch, death is coming!"
Making a few hand seals, Gaara fell asleep, as if he had been knocked out, and then....
"Yaaaaaaaaahoooooo!!! I'm free, I'm free at last!"
Jumping up and down, Shukaku looked happy due to Gaara relinquishing control of his body to him. This, obviously was a bigger problem that made Toru look down at the ground with a smile.
"Well then, let the show begin."
Pulling out the daggers, Toru glared at Gaara, this made Okamitsuki nod his head while stretching his forelegs and then....
*Bam!
As Okamitsuki held Shukaku by the neck, Toru jumped to kill Gaara, but the hands came out of Shukaku's body and threw him away.
Seeing this, Gamabunta asked Naruto for something.
After that, Gamabunta ran in Shukaku's direction and then a large cloud of smoke covered his body, transforming into the nine-tailed fox. Taking advantage of the fact that his limbs were now able to catch things in his claws, Gamabunta held Shukaku together with Okamitsuki.
"Naruto, wake up Gaara, that will make Shukaku disappear."
Hearing this, Naruto jumped from Gamabunta's head to Shukaku's head, and taking advantage of Gaara being unconscious, he threw a punch, but to his bad luck, the hands came out of the ground, throwing everyone backwards.
"Hahaha, what fun. Now it's my turn."
With a smile, Shukaku filled his entire stomach with air, after that, air shot out of his mouth, hitting Okamitsuki and Gamabunta.
This made them retreat a lot while destroying much of the terrain. But this was not enough for Shukaku, as he himself went on the attack, opening his mouth to bite the Gamabunta/Kyubi.
In response to that, Okamitsuki used its hind legs to kick Shukaku, lifting it into the air. At the same time, Gamabunta jumped up and, using the nine tails as a whip, hit Shukaku to drive him back to the ground, causing a great tremor all over the place.
"Naruto!"
"Here I come!"
Throwing himself once again, Naruto fell right next to Gaara, but before he punched him, sand hands started to come out from all sides, holding Okamitsuki and Gamabunta again, but that wasn't all, as the hands intended to crush Naruto.
*Bam! Boom! Bam!*
Moving through the trees like a fire star, Toru crystallized and destroyed every sand hand that got in his way. All this until he reached Naruto, who was about to meet a sad fate by being crushed by Gaara.
However, Toru was faster and destroyed the hands.
"Wake him up quick, I'm running out of chakra!"
Using Shakuton's daggers, Toru destroyed each hand that appeared. At the same time, Naruto charged a punch to Gaara's face, causing Gaara to wake up. Turning everything that was into sand.
"That was fast... the whiskered brat is strong."
Nodding in approval, Okamitsuki was surrounded in a cloud of smoke before disappearing, after all Toru's chakra wasn't as much as Naruto's. On the other hand, Gamabunta had already done his job, so he disappeared as well. Because of this, right now Toru, Naruto and Gaara right now were in free fall.
In the end, Naruto and Gaara went to land near where Ino, Sasuke and Sakura were. While Toru fell far away from there.
"Ha~ that was... fun..."
With a smile, Toru fell to the ground leaving a crater and running out of air due to falling backwards.
-With Naruto and Gaara-
Apparently, Naruto had just said something to Gaara, something that changed his life, after all they were the same, Gaara was the representation of what would have happened if Naruto had decided to hold a grudge against the village and the world.
But that was settled, there would be no more problems like that in the future, maybe....
"Sasuke, where are you going!"
Seeing that Sasuke had just run off in some direction, Sakura couldn't help but feel worried. On the other hand, Ino was searching for Toru with her eyes, however, she failed to find him.
(Where is he...? I don't see him... I...?)
Looking at her hands, Ino felt something she had never felt before, as she was currently thinking of the worst situations.
(I was useless... I was useless for nothing. If something happens to him... if he is hurt... I want to know where he is...)
Getting up from the ground, Ino began to look for Toru in the bushes, after all Naruto and Gaara fell from the sky, possibly the same thing happened to Toru.
(I can't find him, I can't find him, where is he?)
Looking back and forth, Ino's breathing became heavy, you could clearly see that she was nervous by the way she moved her eyes.
(He's not around, he's not...)
Falling to her knees, Ino looked down at the ground. She didn't know why, she didn't understand this, she didn't understand why she was looking for him so desperately. But this feeling, made her heart ache.
This was not the first time Ino saw Toru hurt, but she didn't want it to be the last either.
(I don't want this...)
With a few tears peeking out of the corners of her eyes, Ino touched her chest, right where it hurt so much, her heart....