Chapter 73

The entrance that we entered the Otogakure Fortress-Lab through was hidden under a massive Hinoki Cypress that stood over forty meters tall with a trunk over two meters in diameter. The Hinoki stood on a hill in the middle of a clearing, with its massive canopy ensuring that the clearing needed no other trees to blot out the sunlight. Unfortunately, the tree itself wasn't doing so well, as a carpet of scale-like leaves covered the forest floor and what leaves that remained on the tree were brown as if winter had come early. It left spots for shafts of sunlight to peek through.

A faded Shimenawa-style shrine rope with a number of talismans that had gone yellow with age hung loose around the trunk, letting me know this wasn't an ordinary tree. As if to confirm that fact, a snuffling noise in the back of my mind presaged a pulse of spiritual energy as Inoshishi-no-Kami's voice filtered into the back of my mind, not fully pulling me into his realm, but still communicating with me via the connection of the Blade of Inoshishi-no-Kami and my designation as his Champion.

"This tree used to house a decent-sized Kodama Spirit, now I sense nothing from it. It's as if the Kodama was drained of all its spiritual energy and left to wither and die. Be cautious, I sense the taint of Jigoku deeper underground. It has mixed with the faded echoes of the Pure Land and the Land of a Thousand Dreams. Something offensive to Kami and Men occurred here, and is still taking place." Intoned Inoshishi-No-Kami's voice in my mind.

Regardless, we entered through the opening in the hill framed by a pair of gnarled roots snaking down into the soil like the fangs of a snake biting into the hillside. Stairs leading down into the depths of the earth were lit by a number of Arc Lamps, which were, funnily enough, not one of the technologies traded to the Elemental Nations by the Polar People. They had traded us proper light bulbs that worked off their steam generators. This must be something that Orochimaru figured out on his own via experimentation and reverse engineering.

I was so busy marveling at the Arc Lamps that I almost didn't spot the trap seals set on the landing of the stairs until it was too late. Fortunately, Kibagami was more on the ball. As we descended, he held up a closed fist, the Konoha Shinobi Hand Signal for hold in place.

"Trap array ahead!" He called out.

"Good eye." Praised Saisu.

"Akimichi, you're up again." Smirked Fang.

I made my way as close as I dared to the trap array and frowned. It looked like an array that would shut the entrance behind us and electrocute anyone standing on the landing with a deadly amount of Raiton Chakra. It appeared to be drawing power from some kind of main powering array in a different part of the base, which meant that the Raiton Chakra it could output would even be enough to kill a Jonin. The array would burn out after ten seconds, but that was all you'd need with that level of power. Unfortunately, there wasn't a way to defuse it without setting it off, which was typical for Orochimaru. I told all this to Saisu, and he frowned in thought.

"All right, everyone back up. Shiori, I want you to put up a Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth Wall) to block the entrance from shutting. Any follow-on platoons will have to squeeze through one at a time, but that shouldn't be a problem if we can clear the way for them. Then we deal with this array like we did that last one. Nobody steps on the landing till it's over." Commanded Saisu.

"Understood." Nodded Shiori.

"On it." Agreed Kibagami.

A few moments and a single jutsu later, there was an Earth Wall blocking the entrance from closing while Kibagami had his bow out and once again had an explosive tag wrapped around an arrowhead. We all backed up and he fired, setting the trap off. There was a grinding noise as if gears were turning in the walls at the same time as several of the Arc Lamps winked out while the landing of the stairs lit up with a cascade of blue-white electricity. Fortunately, our precautions paid off as the sliding stone door that was set to block the entrance jammed up against Shiori's Earth Wall and failed to close, while the brief but intense burst of Raiton Chakra burned itself out after ten seconds. We continued downward without a single casualty.

The stairs spiraled down along the walls for more landings with similar lighting traps that we set off without any casualties. We had finally made it to the bottom of the stairs after that. It was an atrium, with a tunnel entrance leading down the hall to the North. We had to be at least thirty stories underground by now, having descended around a hundred meters down the stairs.

I wasn't certain how much deeper this base could go, but I knew from intelligence that there was at least one more floor underneath this one, the primary lab space. We had to be close to the bottom, though. If you strained your ears, you could sort of make out the sound of fighting coming from the floors above through the stone and concrete.

"I think we just bypassed a lot of the battle." I pointed out.

"No shit." Chuckled Fang.

"We should be close to a single set of stairs down that leads to the Labs." Remarked Shiori.

"Which means we're closest to the supplemental objective with the Demon Country Samurai." Mused Saisu.

"It also means that we're gonna be waiting a long time for any reinforcements." Cautioned Kibagami.

"We also didn't take any casualties, though thanks to Wonderboy over here helping us through the sealing arrays. There's what? Eighty of us? Three Normal Squads plus the Command Squad? What do we have to lose by pressing the attack?" Questioned Fang, nodding at me as he did.

"They could be protecting the Lab as a priority." I hedged.

"With fighting already going on? I doubt it." Scoffed Fang.

"Fang's right, I doubt they'll be keeping eighty troops back to guard the Lab. Not when the fighting's already going on elsewhere." Offered Shiori.

"They won't need to keep eighty back if they have enough of that Samsara stuff." I insisted.

"Quiet!" Ordered Saisu, shutting us up.

As we shut up, there was the sound of footsteps from down the tunnel leading West. A lot of footsteps, in fact. Straining my ears, I tried to pick out individual footsteps to get a number count. I wasn't the best at that, so it took me a bit longer. Just another thing that my experience in this war was helping me rectify.

"Sounds like thirty enemy Shinobi?" I frowned.

"Twenty-Seven. A couple of them are in lockstep." Retorted Kibagami.

"That's not enough to deal with eighty guys." Insisted Fang.

"We're about to find out. Second Squad, to the right of the tunnel, First Squad, to the left, Third Squad in reserve. Let's try and catch these guys in a little crossfire as they enter the atrium!" Commanded Saisu.

As the squads took up position, pulling shuriken and explosive tags and getting ready to rain fire on any Otogakure Shinobi that dared to attack us from up the tunnel, I couldn't help but frown. This seemed too easy. For all the cleverness that had gone into the trap arrays, it seemed strange that a counterattack would be able to be flanked like this. It felt like we were missing something, and it could spell disaster for us.

As the first of the enemy troops entered the atrium, a storm of thrown shuriken, Ninjutsu, and explosive tags rained down on them from two sides. I barely had time to see what the enemy looked like before the explosives, Shuriken, Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet), Raiton: Raikyu (Lightning Release: Lightning Ball), and other Jutsu went off. I added my own fire to the mix with the Kōton: Kōtetsu no Dangan (Steel Release: Steel Bullets), which didn't do any favors for seeing what the enemy looked like.

When the dust cleared from the barrage, however, far fewer enemies than had been expected had been killed. Only nine out of twenty-seven enemies lay on the ground, bleeding out or otherwise dead. The rest had an odd, grayish, rocky, cast to their skin. I realized they must have injected themselves with the Samsara we'd been warned about and now were effectively living statues.

"Fuck, they've injected the Samsara!" Spat Saisu.

I immediately began to buff myself, using the Kōton: Kōtetsu no Tai (Steel Release: Body of Steel), the Oni no Karada no Jutsu (Ogre Body Technique), and the nintaijutsu techniques of the Gogyō-Ken (Five Element Fist) to enhance my physical capabilities. Kibagami bulked out with the Tenno Seidō no Karada no Jutsu (Heavenly Bronze Body Technique) while Fang did likewise with the Shi Hōkō Kyōka (Four Directions Enhancement). Saisu and Shiori were readying themselves to give support.

Even as we did that, the enemy charged First and Second Platoon in two groups of nine and began to massacre them. In the initial moments of combat, we lost eighteen troops dead or wounded to the group of Otogakure Chunin that were hopped up on the Samsara, even as Third Platoon moved to plug gaps in the line. Just as we were ready to charge in and turn the tide, however, there was a noise like stone grinding on stone from behind us.

I turned around to see two Otogakure Jonin, one Dark-Skinned like you'd see from Kumogakure, with a shaved head and tattoos. He was wearing a seal-scribed lamellar vest on his wiry frame with no shirt on underneath and carried a seal-scribed Katana. The other was a large man with an Earth Country-style Braided Queue and a scar across his right cheek, just under his eye. He wore an Earth Country-style Lamellar coat made of blackened, chakra-metal plates edged in bronzed chakra metal and etched with minute seals. His open-faced helmet was a chakra metal Samurai Kabuto with a gilded boar crest that was not only etched with seals but also carried a spiritual energy enhancement as well. He carried a short, chakra metal Dao bearing a spiritual energy enhancement.

The two Jonin were leading another twenty-five, Rock-Bodied, Otogakure Chunin. This fight had just gotten a lot more deadly. I broke off from the group alongside Kibagami, Fang, and thirteen members of Third Squad to face this new threat while Saisu and Shiori moved with the remaining twelve members of Third Squad to help out First and Second Squads.

"Fuck, I knew we missed something!" I growled.

"Good instinct, Kid. A shame you're not gonna be able to survive to hone them." Smirked the Ex-Kumo-Nin.

"Hey! You're not allowed to pick on Wonderboy, only I'm allowed to pick on Wonderboy!" Snarled Fang.

"Yotsuki Shingo, I presume?" Questioned KIbagami.

"Yeah. I heard of you too, Kibagami Genjuro. I'm actually excited to be crossing blades with a guy of your caliber." Grinned the Ex-Kumo-Nin, Yotsuki Shingo.

"Shingo, we're not here to indulge." Reminded the Earth Country-Wushi.

"Unfortunately, my associate, Kwai Han, is right about that. We've got other fish to fry today, you're just the first." Sighed Yotsuki Shingo.

"So what, you're some kind of Ronin, but for Wushi? How's that working out for you?" I queried.

"Don't call me that! The Shogunate of Iron wasn't worthy of my loyalty. I merely pledged my blade to someone who was." Frowned the Wushi, Kwai Han.

"Some Lord! You pledged your loyalty to an asshole who cuts people up for fun!" I accused.

"You shut your damned mouth. You have no idea what sort of bullshit the so-called Honorable Samurai put me through! And all because of who my ancestors were, no less! At least Lord Orochimaru makes no distinction between Dìqiú Rén and Izumo-Ningen!" Spat Kwai Han.

"Yeah, because they're all expendable to him! Just like anyone not named Orochimaru. Face it, you've been played!" I taunted.

"Just for that, I will be your opponent. I can afford the time it will take to gut a brat like you." Scowled Kwai Han.

"That means I can take my time with Kibagami, right?" Prodded Yotsuki Shingo.

"Fine. Just don't take forever." Grunted Kwai Han.

"Fang, take our contingent of Third Squad and deal with the enemy's reinforcements. Choji and I will handle these two until you return." Intoned Kibagami.

"What? Don't order me around, you're not the Lieutenant!" Groused Fang.

"I have seniority, go!" Pressed Kibagami.

"Fine! But you and Wonderboy over there better not get killed while we're doing that!" Warned Fang.

"We'll be fine." Nodded Kibagami as Fang led the thirteen members of Third Squad toward the Samsara-fuelled Squad of Otogakure Reinforcements.

"We will? These guys are Jonin!" I hissed.

"You wanted to know if you were ready for Tokubetsu Jonin and the Big Leagues, right?" Asked Kibagami.

"I guess." I admitted.

"Don't worry too much. I can sense these two are weaker Jonin. If you're ready, you should be fine." Placated KIbagami.

"I hope you're right." I huffed.

Then Kwai Han charged me, swinging his Dao and there was no more time for talk. . .

XXXX

Up in the upper tunnels, Naruto found himself beset by a buncha stupid-looking stony assholes! It wouldn't be so bad, except that every time he tried to put one of them down, he wound up having to hit them super hard to get it to stick! These guys were pretty much the definition of hard-headed, Dattebayo!

"Man, it's times like this I wish Lee were here. He might overdo it but, at least the guys he put down wouldn't get back up again, Dattebayo!" Groused Naruto as he ducked a stony fist.

He lashed out with a pair of punches into the midsection of his Attacker, but rather than break a bunch of the Asshole's ribs like Naruto hitting someone that hard normally would do, it just knocked the Guy backward, cracks forming on his side. Fortunately, a few hand seals and a casting of Fūton: Gōfūsen (Wind Release: Great Wind Spiral) couldn't fix. He even knocked the Asshole into two others for a triple score!

Nearby, Shikamaru was attempting to hold down a number of Oto-Nin so that the rest of their Ad-Hoc Platoon could take 'em out. It was a damned shame, but almost as quick as they got inside, a buncha trap arrays activated and wiped out parts of both Naruto and Shika's Platoons with Raiton Chakra Traps and scattered the rest with some kinda funky space-time seals. Shika and Naruto'd found each other OK, but they were picking up stragglers as they went along. It didn't help that the Enemy seemed to have kill teams just waiting where the scattered groups of Platoons wound up.

"Hey, Shika, you ever think that maybe trying to kill these guys in their own bases wasn't the greatest plan?" Questioned Naruto, shoving a Rasengan into the torso of a charging Oto-Nin and shattering his chest into tiny rock fragments.

"We had to do it, the only other option was to try and catch them out in the open." Grunted Shikamaru as he released a Shadow Tendril from an Oto-Nin that'd just had his skull cracked by one of their Ad-hoc Platoonmates with a Tetsubo.

"Still, it seems like we've been dancing to their tune. Only a matter of time before the music stops and we get caught flatfooted, Dattebayo!" Grumbled Naruto.

As Naruto said that, he dipped aside from a blade of razor-sharp wind from some asshole using the Fūton: Kaze no Yaiba (Wind Release: Blade of Wind). The wind blade that would've slit his throat instead opened a cut on his jawline that Naruto snarled through before going through the hand seals for the Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet). His water dragon snarled and dove toward the Wind Blade User, seizing him in its jaws and crushing him with water pressure, just before a dragon of fire from another of the Assholes slammed into it. The two Jutsu extinguished each other and filled the corridor with steam.

"Fuck!" Swore Naruto before taking a stone-hand punch to the face that cracked his orbital bone and smashed his nose crooked. On instinct, Naruto ducked just as a roundhouse sailed over his head. He lashed out with a fist, smashing into rock-hard flesh and sending whoever had just tried to crack his skull blasting away, but that let him get hit in the ribs with a knee strike that cracked his ribs even through the armor he was wearing and sent him flying away.

"Enough of this, Dattebayo!" Spat Naruto, bloody spit landing on the floor. He went through the hand seals for the Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) and suddenly the steam cloud was blasted down the corridor.

The sight that was revealed was one that shocked Naruto. Most of the enemy seemed tied down by Shika's shadows, while only a few of their own guys had been laid out on the ground. The couple he'd been fighting in the steam had just been mobbed by a buncha their own Ad-hoc Platoonmates. Meanwhile, Shika used his shadows to finish off the ones he was holding down, literally dislocating their arms and legs with Shadow Tendrils before finishing them off with Raiton Chakra-enhanced Kunai Strikes to the eyes.

"Damn, I gotta get better at fighting blind. How'd you manage to do that, Shika?" Queried Naruto.

"I figured out how to fight in darkness pretty early on, Naruto. It helps to be able to do that when your Clan Jutsu are all about shadows." Shrugged Shikamaru.

"Such bullshit, Dattebayo!" Spat Naruto.

"Pro tip, next time you get into Taijutsu with these guys. It seems like since they still have to be able to move their arms and legs, joint locks and stuff are a good way to immobilize them. Then you can finish them off with a Kunai to the eyes. Their eyes seem more fragile than the rest of their body. Striking and Ninjutsu isn't the way to go unless you're really good at either of those." Advised Shika.

"How'd you figure that out?" Asked Naruto.

"Jiraiya had Mom pouring over a bunch of the intel we grabbed from the first Fortress to compile a report for him. Guess who she drafted to help out? Troublesome woman." Answered Shika.

"Figures, shit rolls downhill after all. Come on, we should keep looking for any of the others." Chuckled Naruto before moving toward one of the other, maze-like, corridors. Shika frowned before marking off the corridor with his charcoal stick and moving to follow Naruto.

"You know, I know it's the Vessel thing helping you heal, but I'm a bit jealous at how fast you get over cracked ribs." Muttered Shikamaru.

"Don't be a spoilsport, Shika, nobody likes that guy." Grinned Naruto.

Then they continued on their way through the enemy fort, hoping to meet up with more of their respective platoons. . .

XXXX

Fuuma Yukimura frowned. It sounded like the battle was really raging near the Fang Entrance. Unfortunately, he was only two-thirds of the way done with scribing the Control Seal for the Oni that Contingency: Jigoku would turn Doji into. He had to be finished soon because it would take five minutes for the Spiritual Energy Focusing Array to feed Doji enough energy to fully awaken the Oni Blood within him and complete his transformation. If he wasn't finished in the next couple of minutes, then he'd be cutting it damned close.

Even with two Jonin, the Samsara, and the hidden sally passage, he doubted that Kwai Han and Yotsuki Shingo could hold indefinitely. Yukimura was loyal to Orochimaru, yes, but he was no fool. He knew that the majority of Oto's Jonin were weak compared to Jonin from the Big Five Hidden Villages. Most weren't much better than a Tokubetsu Jonin from one of the Big Five, while only he, Guren, and a couple others were as good as the Average Jonin from a Village like Kumo, Iwa, or Konoha.

They had Orochimaru to even the odds, but the Snake Sannin wasn't present here, which meant relying on the leftovers from his experiments to help take as many of the Konoha-Nin down with them as they could. Still, with someone like Jiraiya of the Sannin at the head of the attack force, there wasn't really much that they could do to actually repel the invaders.

Yukimura was hoping that the Samsara and a fully transformed Doji would be able to stall the enemy for long enough and inflict enough casualties, that he and a few of the other more powerful Shinobi could withdraw in the Chaos and live to fight another day, preferably at a time when Orochimaru would take the field as well. That was what Contingency: Jigoku was all about, after all, well that and bleeding an enemy force as much as possible.

As he worked feverishly, the minutes dragged on, one bled into two, and two multiplied to four before he finally finished the Control Seal. The instructions inscribed on the seal were clear, kill any Shinobi wearing Leaf Headbands and ignore any Shinobi wearing Oto Headbands. There wasn't time for more detailed instructions.

Fortunately, he'd had the foresight to strap down Doji to the experiment table before he'd begun scribing and infusing the control seal. As he made his way over to Doji's unconscious form, Yukimura slapped the Control Seal on the back of Doji's neck and watched as it melded with the Samurai's reddish skin like some sort of tattoo.

Unfortunately, there wasn't time to gawk. Instead, he made his way over to the Spiritual Energy Infuser. The arcane machinery was scribed with seals and put together with principles derived from the study of the Polar People's Technology as well as Fuuinjutsu. The main difference was the power source. Instead of the steam generators of the Polar People, the Spiritual Energy Infuser drew on the spiritual energy of the petrified Kodama that had once called the tree above the Fang Entrance home. It then concentrated that energy through several Capacitor Seals and fired it from a tuning fork-shaped harmonizer. The resulting waves of spiritual energy would be absorbed by the test subject and the test subject would be transformed.

As Yukimura looked over at the gray form of the petrified Kodama, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the Tree Spirit as its round eyes and mouth made it look like it was screaming. Yukimura buried that sentiment under cold practicality, however, and simply placed the Harmonizer to point at Doji's unconscious form and switched on the infuser. Even if he felt that treating a Kodama like this was wrong, it didn't matter. Contingency: Jigoku had to be enacted. After all, it was the only path he and any of the others had toward survival.

As the machine hummed to life and waves of spiritual energy fired out from the Harmonizer toward Doji, the Demon Country Samurai jerked about on the table, taking in shuddering breaths as his muscles twitched and bulged, growing incrementally larger even as his skin became incrementally deeper red and incrementally tougher. By the time the transformation was complete after the next five minutes were up, Doji would be practically unrecognizable, fully transformed into an Oni. As for himself, Yukimura fully intended to not be here when the machine switched off and the restraints released the fully transformed Doji.

Instead, he would be well on his way toward gathering any surviving Jonin or higher-ranked Chunin and leaving Fort Cobra behind. Let Doji and those who'd already forfeited their lives by injecting the Samsara deal with the Konoha-Nin. The rest of them would be on their way back to Otogakure. After all, Orochimaru may value loyalty, but he doesn't value fools.

And staying to fight would be nothing less than a fool's errand. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here's the second part of the attack on the fort. Things aren't going so well for either side, there's a lot of confusion from the Base's inner defenses and maze-like structure. Even in the fairly straightforward section where Choji's Platoon is, they still got surprised by enemies coming out of a hidden sally tunnel.

Now, Yukimura is planning to unleash the literal beast on the defenders, then take whatever high-ranking Oto Shinobi are left and head for Otogakure. He plans to let the Fully-Transformed Oni version of Doji and any still remaining Samsara-enhanced Oto-Nin bleed whoever's left from the Konoha force while he and his group escape.

Of course, he thinks that doing so will have Orochimaru see him in a more positive light than if he'd gone down with the ship and still lost the fort. Of course, Orochimaru is Orochimaru, so while he might tolerate subordinates doing stuff like that to prove their competence unless you've really gotten in his good books like Kabuto and Guren did in canon, that's not super likely to work out the way you want.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the next part of the battle for the Fort and Lab.

Stay tuned. . .