Orange, Spirals and Everything Nice

Thirty-Six: One Team

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters or the setting of the story. They all exclusively belong to Mr. Masashi Kishimoto in all its rights.

The Ikizokus clearly are not to be underestimated. Their jutsus are unique and powerful as they can surprisingly use all types of elements. They also have enough stamina to maintain a lengthy fight against the strongest Konoha ninjas. 

"Well, well. If it isn't the war hero himself. So this is the power of the kyuubi, huh?" the bulky Ikizoku member commented as he fought against Naruto with the latter in his full-on kyuubi mode. 

"Yeah, and I'm gonna beat your ass for mercilessly killing those innocent people, you bastard!" Naruto cursed which earned a roar of laughter from the man. 

"Aren't you a little too soft for a hero?" the man commented as they clashed again. Him effortlessly defending himself from Naruto's rasengan barrage and Naruto quickly evading his lightning and earth style attacks. "Besides, you can't kill me if you want to keep your memories." he added and laughed again.

Their current nemeses aren't just strong, but are also smart and tricky. It also added to the ninjas' disadvantages that the Ikizokus are knowledgeable about their signature jutsus. Thanks to the price of fame. 

Naruto cursed under his breath as he furiously thought of ways to defeat the man without purposely killing him. Even if he was really itching to!

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Lee had opened his fifth gate of life after battling for a while, back at the east village. His opponent, who's commendable for being strong, was draining him continuously of his chakra. The blue beast surely had never encountered an enemy as treacherous as his current enemy. 

Kiba, who's also a short range fighter, was slowly getting sloppy on his attacks, too. The petite, long-haired member of the Ikizoku clan they were battling with, smiled mockingly at the duo. The woman was probably the youngest of the clan but she didn't lack anything when it came to her fighting abilities. 

The villagers that they saved a while ago informed them to be careful of the petite woman since she was quite fierce. Her crafty genjutsu is her specialty but she could only use its full power once she had sucked out all of her enemies' chakra, leaving them immobile. The villagers also added that once they're caught in her genjutsu, they'd be trapped in it for life. 

Unless their will to escape from her trick is greater than her powers.

"There is a way to defeat her." one of the villagers said back at the temple. "And that is to fight your way out of her trap, her genjutsu. You must not lose your true self to her no matter what, and if you manage to pass that, then you'll be able to defeat her without losing your own memories."

When Sakura relayed the information to her team, Sasuke suggested to try and finish the job by fighting a genjutsu user with the mighty sharingan. It was a probable choice but if the Uchiha drains his chakra during this first encounter alone, he might not be able to last in case the enemies will have more tricks up their sleeves. 

Everyone knew and acknowledged that the impressive abilities of the lone bearer of the sharingan is much needed during the main battle.

That's why Kiba and Lee stepped up to fight against the young villain.