Chapter 47 - Surprise! The Akatsuki's Plan Revealed!

“Now that’s not like you, un? Going for the kill?”

Ekyt knew Deidara, but this was new- a wooden arm? No…it was a puppet arm. Ekyt noticed the strange number of joints, and the akward, clicking sound it made when it moved. Somehow, it was horribly unnerving to see and hear this.

“Of course…Sasori’s puppets…you gave yourself an arm…huh!” Ekyt pulled his bone free and leapt away. Kunai flew from Deidara’s puppet arm, proving that appendage to be just as dangerous as every other puppet Ekyt had faced. He had come close to death many times because of puppets. But fighting them so many times gave him an idea of how to counter that arm. Unfortunately, this thought process forced Ekyt to forget Kisame, who took full advantage and swung at Ekyt. He couldn’t see Ekyt, since he was still trapped in the ‘Bringer of Darkness’ Jutsu, but he could hear just fine. Ekyt could only partially block with his bone as the sword bit into his skin. The blocking gave Deidara an opening, and he reared back to punch with his puppet arm. Ekyt was caught full in the face, the impact knocking him off his feet and sending him skidding across the ground. He pushed himself to his feet, deciding he had to ruin that pesty appendage of Deidara’s before Kisame broke the genjutsu. Deidara had other ideas. Ones that went ‘bang’.

Three little clay birds darted towards Ekyt. These were designed to home in on him. For once, Ekyt wasn’t holding back with killing, so he could make a more gutsy move than usual. Reaching into his tool pouch, he grabbed a paper bomb and darted straight toward Deidara.

C’mon…Yes! Ekyt cheered inwardly when Deidara’s puppet arm reached out to grab him. With the three birds behind him, Ekyt slapped the bomb onto Deidara’s arm. Immediately, it began to sizzle. Deidara turned to look, and his face turned white. He saw Ekyt’s plan.

He’s going to use that explosion to destroy my arm! Then my clay pigeons will follow him, while he hides behind me. They’ll take the straightest path to him- through me, and right into the flames. They’ll detonate, and he’ll have me done for. I’ve got no choice- I’ve got to save myself first.

“Katsu!” Deidara detonated his clay birds well away from himself and Ekyt. Quickly, he drove his arm into the ground, so the paper bomb would, at most, destroy his arm. He could always get another. But he found his arm was detached. Ekyt’s paper bomb had been a great diversion while he cut Deidara’s arm off. It had dropped to the ground just as the bomb reached it’s end, and Ekyt was a safe distance away.

BWOOOMMMM!

Ekyt couldn’t see through the smoke, but he was sure he had just killed one, if not both of the Akatsuki members. He felt a pang of guilt, but pushed it aside- Ekyt himself had told Orochimaru once ‘don’t believe I’m gone until you’ve made darn sure I’ve got no pulse.’ That in mind, Ekyt waited, trying to sense something. When three more little birds screamed out of the smoke straight at him, he knew that the artist of the Akatsuki had survived. He wasn’t sure HOW he had, but Deidara was alive, and his birds were looking for Ekyt. Without hesitation (thought Ekyt DID wonder why he was suddenly so sure about killing people- maybe the Akatsuki were just so bad they bypassed his conscience?), Ekyt threw three shuriken. Deciding not to stop there, he called out ‘Multi Shuriken Shadow Clones!’ The three became sixty and took out the birds, and kept right on going through the mist. Ekyt heard some small sounds, but his ears were still ringing from the explosion, so he wasn’t sure what he was hearing. As the smoke cleared, Ekyt looked, disbelieving- Deidara and Kisame were largely unharmed.

“You gotta be kidding…” Ekyt muttered. Deidara had managed to create his giant clay bird, which absorbed the Shuriken. Kisame could hear them whizzing through the air and managed to dodge and knock down almost all of them. A few nicked him, but there were no critical hits.

“You’ve gotten strong, un!” Deidara stepped on top of his bird, smiling like the cat who swallowed the canary. “I think he deserves to learn something from all this before he dies, un?”

Kisame agreed. “You hit me with just enough Shuriken to end your own genjutsu. A rookie mistake for someone like you, but still impress you tried to kill us. You never had the guts to try before. So you DO deserve to know something special. You wanna tell him?”

Kisame nodded toward the direction he and Deidara had come. Ekyt cursed, realizing that he was talking about the third member. If Kisame was here, then it was likely…

“Our target isn’t Naruto. Not right anyway.”

Ekyt froze, knowing right there it was over. He couldn’t match three S-ranked criminals by himself. On the other hand, Ekyt knew that Kakashi and the others hadn’t been followed, so he had done his job. Detaining the enemy was hard enough, but Ekyt couldn’t appreciate it, especially with Itachi Uchiha in attendance now.

“Then who are you after? I know you don’t pay social calls…” Ekyt looked from one enemy to the other, not looking Itachi in the eyes. That was a fight ender itself.

“We all decided that you’re the problem. You seem to have luck against us. Or skill, maybe. Either way, you’re in our way, so now that we’ve got you alone, we’re going to kill you.” Itachi unbuttoned his cloak- stealth was no longer necessary.

Ekyt stood his ground, staring down the three from a short distance. No way out of this one.

“I guess I should be flattered I’m important enough to dispatch three members for. But if you’re thinking I’ll hand my life over to you freely, you’re very wrong,” Ekyt said, almost cheerfully. “I’m not going down without a fight. No shame in losing to a three on one gang-up, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to surrender…it’s just not in my blood.”
Three…Deidara, artist, explosives…Kisame, swordsman, water…Itachi, murderer, genjutsu…they compliment each other perfectly. Itachi is a long or short range fighter, Kisame is a mid-range fighter, and Deidara is a mid-long range fighter. If I run for it, I’ll get gunned down by Itachi easy. If I stay…well, I’ve got a shot of doing damage before they kill…guess I know what I’m going to do.

“Defend yourself.”

Ekyt was rushed by all three, each of them using their own type of attacks. Ekyt used a ‘Dragon’s Fire Wall’ to take care of Deidara and Kisame’s attacks, and quickly dispelled the genjutsu Itachi was using. Ekyt made handsigns, and used his signature ‘Dragon’s Ember Jutsu’. He found it blocked by Itachi’s fire attack- he had copied Ekyt’s handsigns. That gave Ekyt an idea. Jumping away, Ekyt threw two smokebombs down as he pulled his vest off. Then he made hand signs, his arms hidden by the vest.

“Flamma Succendo!” Ekyt landed and stomped the ground, kicking a jet of flames toward the three Akatsuki members. He heard curses from Deidara and Kisame. When the same jutsu didn’t hit him, Ekyt smirked a little.

Between the smoke and the vest, Itachi couldn’t use his Sharingan to see my handsigns and copy my movements. I’ve got to keep that up, and isolate these guys. I can’t beat them three on one, but one on one…it’s a long shot, but I’ve got a chance that way.

-

“Did he really block your Sharingan, Itachi?” Kisame coughed, cursing the smoke and the flames both.

“No…but letting him believe so is advantageous for us. If he keeps his hands like that, he’s less apt to defend himself. His chakra won’t hold out forever, and it’s certain that the three of us have larger chakra pools to draw from. He’ll tire himself out, then be forced to use taijutsu. At that range, he’ll be easy prey for Samehada, bombs, or, if I’m forced- Amaterasu.”

--

“I thought the two of you might want some revenge. After all, they’ve caused problems for you. And it’s a good chance to get even. Not to mention save a life…I believe you both lose something if this one is killed.”

Tsunade spread her hands on her desk, looking at the two recruits. Well, three.

“And what would my role be?” the third one asked, knowing he wasn’t included in the main mission.

“Get Ekyt out of there, even if you have to sedate him. The changes of him being injured are very high, and the chance of death is higher. Both chances grow with each passing second. So, to all of you- can I be assured of your help?”

“Absolutely!”

“Yes!”

“…Agreed.”

Tsunade gave a small nod. “Alright then. Kakashi tracking dog is waiting outside the door. He’ll guide you to Ekyt. If he can’t, it won’t be hard to miss him if he’s really tangling with the Akatsuki.”

--

Ekyt skidded backward, having been punched hard by Kisame’s giant blue hand.

Damn, I got too confident! I should have known a Sharingan as developed as Itachi’s could read my elbow movement and match a handsign to it! I’d better think quick…Reaper Death Seal? No, Itachi could throw it off, Kisame’s chakra pool is too large, and Deidara’s explosives would kill us both before the jutsu could be finished at such a range. Taijutsu is out, but if I keep using chakra like this, it’ll be my only option. Worst of all, I can’t even look up, because if I do, Itachi has me with his Mangekyo Sharingan…this is bad. If I had someone backing me up to break Itachi’s genjutsu, I’d be fine…well, at least for a couple minutes. I could give my dual explosions trick a try…create a gap in the landscape. What would that do? Unless I delay the second attack as long as I can…that’s the best move I’ve got, and it uses almost no chakra…here we go!

Ekyt threw explosive tags attached to kunai as he skidded. They landed near the Akatsuki. Ekyt detonated them, knowing he didn’t get the Akatsuki. But he felt it in the air- it was full of the agent that made explosive tags explosives.

“Bad move, un! You just leveled the playing field in my favor! Explosives are my game!” Deidara started to form his birds.

“You think so? Dragon’s Ember Jutsu!” Ekyt’s fire couldn’t hurt him, but the subsequent explosion could.

“Oh man, this kid’s clever! But not clever enough!” Kisame leapt straight toward the flames, his sword in front of him. Samehada could ‘eat’ chakra- Ekyt hadn’t counted on Kisame making a move like that. But there was still one more move he could make. Ekyt took the chakra cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it at Kisame. Kisame was busy fighting with the Dragon’s Ember Jutsu, so he didn’t notice the cigarette arching through the air and landing right at his feet.

“Kisame, move!” Itachi ordered. Kisame turned to him, not seeing why Itachi had told him to move. Just the pause Ekyt needed.

FWOOOF!

A second explosion that was more like a wave of fire erupted. Ekyt thought of using a water wall to protect himself, but Itachi would only copy his handsigns. Instead, Ekyt took off, running up a tall tree that could withstand the explosion. From there, Ekyt saw that Itachi and Kisame had somehow dodged the explosion. But where was Dei- up!

Ekyt jumped down a branch just as a hand snagged his vest. He shrugged out of it, tugging a couple scrolls free on the way down. Deidara threw the vest back at him just as Kisame hit the tree with his sword hard enough to knock it over. Ekyt fell off the tree, landing hard in a heap.

Move! Damnit! Move! He urged himself. Kisame and Itachi were casually walking over, while Ekyt was fighting with a concussion. I have maybe one move left…but what can I do? From where I am…one last move.

“Thorn Rose Dance!” Ekyt slurred, rolling over and yanking out part of his spine, using his Kaguya heritage to his advantage. His spine was long and sectioned, making it a whip with the ability to cut as well as crack. Laying prone on the ground, Ekyt cracked his whip, first at Itachi and Kisame, then, surprisingly, up at Deidara. He managed to hit Deidara, unseating him from his perch. If the impact had killed him, it would have worked to Ekyt’s favor. But instead, Ekyt was now facing three largely unharmed Akatsuki enemies, and he was injured. His last gamble hadn’t paid off. All he could do now was crack the whip and keep them away while trying to regain his bearings. He couldn’t stand- his concussion was severe. Severe enough to cause him to feel nauseous, see spots, and even have the ground spin. Fighting against the Akatsuki like that…

“It’s over…” Ekyt whispered to himself. Kisame’s sword was suddenly in his view.

“So this is how it ends…I did my best, Naruto. All of you…sorry I couldn’t do more.”

The fight was gone from Ekyt. Samehada had it’s next victim lined up.

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