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Naruto's POV (Ruined Den - Western River Plains of Irminsul)
Evening
"A Naruto Gun… listen, it sounded better in my head," Naruto complained. "Besides, the nine themes are on point, and I already have an artillery move…"
"Why not "Dance of the Nine: Fu Jin's Strike?"" Sasuke asked plainly with a raised brow.
"Shit, that is better." Naruto agreed as they finally reached the corpse. However, both flinched as they realized it wasn't the charred, broken mess. Now Blechumi lay face down, smiling cruelly into the ground. Naruto and Sasuke jumped back defensively, alert that the fight wasn't over. Attempting to regroup to begin anew.
"Embarrassing." Belchumi bemoaned as he rose slowly, somehow doing so without hands. "Simply embarrassing. To be so thoroughly trounced by mere humans, but then again, who truly could blame me? When I was in the Elemental Nations, mere upstarts like yourselves were not nearly so impressive. One does not expect a true fight from an insect after all."
Naruto didn't bother answering as he drew Riptide and began channeling chakra into it. He would wipe the bastard out with an all-out attack!
Sasuke, to his left, Sharigan spun violently as he began to blur forward. Sasuke was faster; he would counter his attack, and Naruto would blow him away!
"Forgive me for forgetting just how ugly combat could be. Let me show you just how massive the difference is between humans and me, the next evolution…" Blechumi continued as he suddenly pointed his middle finger at Naruto and pointed a pointer at Sasuke. "Lightning Thread: Swift Ensnarement!"
Naruto and Sasuke could only blink as a glowing and pulsating thread suddenly touched their foreheads. A mere instant later, both screamed out in naked pain. Both were utterly enshrouded in electricity, which shocked them endlessly. Both collapsed and writhed against their will as a lethal amount of volts flowed through them.
"That deer clan I spoke of previously used lightning to enhance their movements and controlled it with shocking accuracy. I, of course, slowly gained their trust and learned the technique for myself. Ninshu is what they call it. Combined with my thread style inspired by the Blechumi, you can see just how useful my time in Irminsul has proven." Blechumi lectured as the two writhed in pain. "The wolves offered something less artful and intricate but no less effective when dealing with maggots like yourself. That pain is only a fraction of what you gave me. Allow my enhanced physicality to close the gap, sort of speak." Blechumi suddenly whipped his hand toward himself. With the motion, Naruto and Sasuke whipped forward, stunned by the brutal, shocking attack as they approached Blechumi. The man flourished his giant feather before whipping it out at them casually. The large, delicate-looking feather offered no give despite its appearance; it was much more like steel. Blechumi batted them both with one stroke, the instrument smashing into both of their midsections simultaneously. Naruto gasped for air as his ribs nearly snapped from the blow. The two flew back, breaking through two small trees and careening into two tiny heaps.
"Now lie there and die for me, humans." Blechumi spat as he stalked off. "I need to help Tamaki kill the female shinobi, enslave her and the others-"
"Besmirched Longbow: Flash Impalement!" Sasuke called out. Blechumi could scarcely gasp as he was suddenly stabbed through with a glowing fire blade. He stumbled forward before a roughed-up but lively Naruto appeared, kicking him away and into the river.
"This is far from over, you bastard!" Naruto promised as the now roughed-up duo stood before the now-soaked and furious Blechumi.
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Hinata's POV (Nearby Chakra Anchor - Western River Plains)
Evening
Hinata was used to overcoming great odds. While she had once assumed it was due to inadequacy, she had begun to accept it was merely the path forward for her. Evening awakening her Byakugan had been a struggle; she struggled with every inch of skill and experience she gained and to convince her father she was worth it. And while she often suffered greatly in the process, she had always been so confident that one day it would matter. She was satisfied that things could work out as long as she could muster the courage to go on. But this battle was going as well as most things did for her…
Hinata dodged a massive stinger, throwing a kunai and impaling a wasp as her other hand sent a deadly jap of chakra for another wasp's neck. She then sprinted fully to her left, dodging a line of smaller stingers shot from above. As she did, a wasp flew directly into her path, lunging its large stinger directly for her face. Hinata barely weaved her head around it, gently palming its thorax as she spun around it, the insect dropping still as she evaded. Every creature had nerves and chakra nodes; therefore, nearly all were vulnerable to her Gentle Fist. Another wasp attempted to bodily smash into her from behind, but with her near-perfect vision, she was well aware of it. Backflipping into a leap, she evaded it, jumping just above its head. With a cruel and heavy double axe hand, she smashed it into the ground below. As she landed on its head, she fired off two air palms with one hand a piece, shooting two more wasps attempting to attack her "blindside." However, Hinata did not dare attempt to breathe or rest, drawing a kunai just in time to catch a biting attempt from a new wasp. Wrestling it back her blade with some effort. Her other hand defended her as she struggled, jabbing two more wasps into oblivion. But two more were closing in from behind. With a grunt, Hinata gave in to her strength test, with the wasp spinning as she did. Suddenly, Kaiten erupted, smacking away the dozen or so wasps that had been slowly surrounding her. And allowed her a moment to realize that the Okama were not with them.
While Hinata wished they had the help, she recognized why Mono had made the call he did. Their opponents' actions only made it clear how important this barrier and controlling the Chakra Anchor were to them. This was merely an attempt to stop them from even having a chance to stop them. It only made sense for the two of them to hold the line as they went forth to achieve their goal. They just needed to fight them off…
"Hinata duck!" Sakura called. Trusting her allies, Hinata did just that, hearing a whistling of metal and a meaty thunk as a wasp dropped dead next to her shuriken being buried in its face. Sakura dived in, smashing a wasp with a backhand and evading several flying stingers as she drew closer to Hinata.
The Hyuga realized Sakura was coming to her for the two to rally together and reacted swiftly. Dipping impressively low to dodge the dive bomb of two wasps and skillfully kicking them both away, she used her hands to shoot away two wasps, attempting to blindside Sakura from behind. Hinata spun into another Kaiten to clear her area before leaping forward, kicking way to wasp from Sakura's six as she did the same for her. The two ladies went back to back as they attempted to create a kill zone. Sakura used Genjutsu on the wasps to make them attack one another and kunai on the ones that escaped her illusions. Meanwhile, Hinata used her most destructive technique. "Gente Fist: Indiscriminate Beam!" A wide beam of raw chakra incinerated and cut any insect unfortunate enough to be caught in its path. For a moment, the two managed to hold back the swarm, their pure effort and adaptability managing to cut through the initial attack. Even push them back.
But with so many presents it simply wasn't enough. Even with the two working in tandem, wasps were slowly getting closer and closer before falling. They would have to give ground if even one managed to fire off a stinger or get within striking range. Each time they did such, the risk of the wasps getting lucky or them messing up grew. Indeed, it would cost them eventually. But with the seemingly endless waves coming, they were slowly wearing the two of them down. Sakura faltered with a pant before renewing her efforts with an odd cry of "CHA!"
"I-I'm sorry, Hinata," Sakura said in between breaths. "I'm running on low here."
A stinger nearby took Sakura's head off as she finished, the woman falling to her knees in shock. Hinata gasped as the swarm around them closed in with the opening. Hinata, reacting on pure instinct, snaked her arms around Sakura's, lifting her onto her back with a grunt of effort. Then she spun as hard as she could. Simultaneously, she modified her technique so as not to affect Sakura. "Kaiten!" The massive orb of swirling chakra once again swatted away their attackers. This did not discourage them, however.
The wasps nearly charged headlessly into the Kaiten, forcing Hinata to maintain it. Their suicidal dives were so fearless and purposeful that they turned the Kaiten into a gruesome shredder. The effort slowly slowed Hinata down as her reserves were strained.