Chapter 74

Title: All Forces Gathered

...

Watching the three groups all on course to Rorân, I suddenly looked at the place and remembered that the current royal family still held the seal that suppresses the Chakra of anyone who steps into the place.

The entire city was built on technology, even the Puppet clan I made were all mechanical in both body and mind.

I wonder...Kaguya did say they would destroy the place from the future she saw, however, I wouldn't want that to happen, this city was the only city on the planet that relied solely on technology, and there was no way I was gonna allow it to be destroyed.

It's definitely not because Hinami and Ria poured their tears and blood into the city...

Definitely not.

General POV

And with that thought, Shun raised his palm, and suddenly, countless seal symbols appeared in the sky above Rorân and encapsulated the city in a protective dome, preventing anything from entering or exiting.

"What a mess." Shun sighed as he rubbed his temples in irritation. The feeling of weakness that he felt made him feel...human... not that he wasn't, but successively using high level Jutsus like this was bound to take a toll on him.

"The rest is up to you lot now, show me a good fight." He said, relaxing on his chair, the several screens showing the three groups enlarged further.

...

"What is that?" Sakura muttered audibly as she saw a Golden veil suddenly forming over the far away city in front of them.

However, the very next moment, the dome disappeared leaving her confused as to what she just saw.

"That's Rorân, an independent country inside the Wind Country." Kakashi replied as he squinted his eye at the city. He too had seen the golden veil as soon as it formed.

"That's their protective dome. It's said to be able to suppress chakra to a Nil." Temari added with a look of awe. Growing in Sunagakure, she knew of the notoriety of Rorân.

A city created by a normal person without chakra for others without chakra. It boasted the greatest defense amongst all nations of the world while also remaining the richest.

It is said that they practically hold the economy of the world in their hands and the Shinobis could do nothing about it.

"How is that possible?" Naruto asked, confusion and curiosity piqued at the prospect.

"No idea. It's said that a benefactor from the Uzumaki clan drew a massive Chakra suppression seal around the village in its infancy stages." Temari shrugged

"Is that why the buildings are so tall? The closer we get the more prominent it becomes." Sasuke asked as his Sharingan rotated.

"Apparently, they can't expand but rather, they grow. It's a weird city but a beautiful one."

"The most beautiful one actually." Kakashi added.

"Eh? Even more beautiful than Hana?" Naruto asked, referring to Hanagakure.

Kakashi shook his head. "Hanagakure is beautiful due to its nature. This one...it literally goes against nature. A city built in a desert, yet isn't affected by it's environment. You'll come to understand if you're able to enter." Kakashi said as he increased his speed.

Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Temari took that as their queue to increase the pace.

...

"Seems like they've alerted that place." Itachi's deep voice rang out as he ran beside his partner towards the city.

"Seems like it. I do pity them though. Having your chakra suppressed is one shitty feeling."

"I doubt they'd need your pity. Deidara perhaps, but not Sasori." Itachi replied to his teammate. "And even with my chakra suppressed, I don't believe our bodies will be too."

"Nah. It only works on Chakra." Kisame replied as he licked his saw-like teeths much to Itachi's disgust.

"Then we should make haste. Wouldn't want to have the Jinchuriki escape from us in such a blessed environment."

...

"So that's the Chakra Suppressing Array the Tsuchigami clan has used to protect their small haven..." Sasori, a handsome, fair skinned young boy with red hair said in admiration as he observed the dome which now seemed to have become invisible.

Wearing a smirk, he looked at the young man opposite him and said. "You do know this poses no threat to me right? My body doesn't really need chakra to work."

The young man, stoic as ever shrugged. "Chakra isn't the only form of energy, and you thinking this array activated because of you is mere arrogance on your part. You aren't worthy of it."

After saying it, he looked elsewhere where an exhausted Gaara was squaring off against Deidara.

They both seemed to be at the end of their ropes, yet neither seemed to want to lose. Gaara's was understandable since he was a Jinchuriki, but Deidara...

"How interesting." He muttered inaudibly.

"Ah. The Jinchuriki. So he's a threat enough for you but not me?" Sasori asked as his smirk turned sinister.

"You're not really a threat per se, don't overestimate yourself. You're a genius in your own right, but to us? You're akin to a cub baring its fangs at its father, not knowing it's the king of the jungle."

"That...was a weirdly used metaphor." Sasori said, unbothered by the unmoved man in front of him

Since they began fighting, he felt like he wasn't really fighting a human, well, that was obvious considering his opponent also had a body akin to his.

But even at that, his expressions, words and even the look in his eye...For some reason, Sasori felt he wasn't really fighting a human.

"Well then, why don't we continue where we left off?" Sasori said as his puppet arms morphed into an array of lethal weaponry, ready to strike with deadly precision. The metallic appendages gleamed in the dim light, each one a testament to Sasori's intricate craftsmanship.

Across from him, the transformed man exuded an air of power, his burlier form emanating steam from the open compartments.

Shun, who was watching this, couldn't help but Marvel at the Genos-like transformation from One Punch Man that the man just took.

"What an interesting specimen. I'm even more motivated to capture you and do some research." Sasori cackled, fueled by a mad glee, lunged forward with blinding speed, his puppet arms carrying with it a deadly intent.

The transformed man met his onslaught with a newfound strength, effortlessly blocking and evading the swift, mechanized strikes.

Metal clashed against metal, each impact resonating through the area. Sparks flew as the two weaved through the intricate dance of offense and defense.

Sasori's puppet arms proved versatile, shifting from blades to projectiles, attempting to catch the transformed man off guard.

In response, the burly figure executed precise maneuvers, steam billowing with each calculated movement. He retaliated with powerful and precise shots, the deadliness seemingly amplified by the mechanical enhancements.

The clash intensified, the surroundings echoing with the sounds of their battle.

Shun observing couldn't help but shake his head. From his point of view, the two were akin to two androids battling each other with no tricks such as poisons.

It was a battle of pure power, precision, and intelligence and from the way he saw it. Neither lacked in any category.

The man may be an artificially created one, but Sasori was a genius.

"Not to my level, but one nonetheless." Shun rubbed his jaws. "They won't be ending this anytime soon." He said and turned to look at the other two groups.

...

"Why won't you leave me alone you brat!?" Deidara screamed in frustration as he dodged the sand bullets Gaara sent his way. Even he didn't know that he could control his bird to fly so fast.

Gaara didn't seem to have a limit to his chakra, so much so that even after hours of fighting, he was still going strong.

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you just allowed me to capture you."

"And why would I do that?"

Gaara shrugged at the question. "Because you threatened the peace of my village. It's that simple."

"But they're fine aren't they? They're safe."

"That they are. Thankfully I was strong enough. Who knows what would've been of my village if I wasn't," Gaara shook his head as his stoic face scrunched up in anger.

"Trust me. I don't want to kill you. Just come down quietly." Gaara said with even breaths as the two faced off in the skies.

Deidara's face was filled with veins as he watched the brat in front of him threaten him so. He knew the kid was strong, but that didn't mean he was weak.

He still had two more levels of explosives he hadn't used. The C5 and C0.

He had used all his Explosions ranging from C1 to C4.

Initially, he only had the C1 to C4 and C0. The C0 was one he vowed to use on Shun should he have the opportunity. It was a Suicide Explosion that would destroy everything around him for a good Kilometer.

There was no way anyone could escape that. However after his encounter with Itachi, he had created the C5 and further improved the C0. The C5 was a dead switch which would kill him and anyone around him should his consciousness be compromised.

In short, should he be caught in a Genjutsu, everyone around him would go down to the deepest part of hell with him.

As for the C0, he still had a miniscule chance of survival.

"Have you finally decided?" Gaara's cold voice snapped him out of his thoughts, further angering the explosion experts.

But before he could say anything, he heard. "What a sorry sight you are, Deidara."

"Huh?!" Deidara snapped his head to the ground and saw one of the two people who had made him doubt his strength despite being of the same age.

"Kisame. Itachi." Deidara spat in distaste as he called out Itachi's name.

Gaara however was immediately alarmed at the two arrivals, and hearing the name of the Famed Uchiha, he couldn't help but re-evaluate this group.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked angrily

"We were sent over to ensure the successful retrieval of the Bijuu while also checking out how strong the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki is." Itachi answered nonchalantly as his and Kisame's figure turned into a murder of crows.

Subsequently, they both disappeared and appeared on the same bird as Deidara. "It'll be wise if we took this down." Itachi said.

"Then why did you come up in the first place?"

"I dislike looking up..." Itachi began but immediately stopped and snapped his head to an area behind them. "They're here."

'He's here?' He thought inwardly as he felt the familiar chakra of his two little brothers... Sasuke's especially.

"That would be stupid. He's the Kazekage and the Ichibi Jinchuriki you know." Deidara angrily retorted, not noticing the movement Itachi made.

"Your point?" Itachi asked.

"This is the fucking desert." Came his reply.

"And we have Kisame."

"Huh?"

"Do the thing Kisame." Itachi said, taking his eye off the two as he looked at Gaara with inexplicable emotions.

'Seems like those two will hate me even more now.' he thought. He could infer that those two were here to rescue Gaara, which could only mean that they were friends with him.

With his Bijuu extracted, death was a sure thing for the Kazekage, and that would only bring about more hatred.

Letting out a wry smile, he thought that perhaps this would help in Strengthening Sasuke's Sharingan by a few notches, thereby enabling him to counter Madara.

"What thing?" Kisame asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"The thing. He's the Kazekage, which means he can control the sands beneath us, but what will happen if the same gets too heavy for him to control?" Itachi asked as he rubbed his temples.

Was it just him or did no Shinobi ever bother to learn about physics, chemistry and biology?

'Oh, it's just us four.' he remembered. It was all due to Shun, if not, he'd probably be like these guys who only see things at face value.

"Just douse the entire place with water Kisame. That way we can comfortably land... Meanwhile," he said and turned to the now arrived group of five.

"We seem to have some guests."

"Itachi!"

"Itachi-nii,"

"Gaara."

Sasuke, Naruto and Temari called out to the people they first noticed as they arrived.

"It's been a while, hasn't it... Sasuke, Naruto..?"