A New Path

Ch. 44 NaruIno Combination

"I won't be stopped," Kimimaro muttered with a calm look on his face. He bent his knees slightly, preparing to move when needed. His swords were gripped tightly on his hands as he kept his eyes peeled for any sort of movement. He drew a short breath before speaking once more, "There is no way that I'll ever fail Lord Orochimaru."

Naruto frowned as he gathered chakra on his right hand. The seal there responded and his blade appeared on his open hand. "Ino…" he muttered to the blonde kunoichi standing next to him. Ino turned to him, wondering how they would go about the fight. "I want you to stay back for now."

"W-what?" she stuttered in disbelief, with a bit of anger on her voice.

"I'll be the bait," he explained as he prepared to move. "Just wait for an opening and attack with all you have," with that he kicked off the ground, charging straight for Kimimaro. Ino stayed behind for the time being, telling herself that if Naruto was in the smallest amount of trouble she would attack.

Naruto gathered wind chakra on his blade as he ran, its size and sharpness increasing. Once close enough, he slashed at Kimimaro but he easily blocked with his two swords. Naruto gathered more chakra on the intertwined blade, beginning to slice through the bone swords. Kimimaro's eyes widened slightly, never witnessing his bone being sliced by another blade before. Seeing as his swords wouldn't hold out more longer, he kicked at the blond with his right leg.

Naruto took noticed the incoming kick and quickly raised his left leg, blocking the incoming kick with his knee. He proceeded to push against the intertwined blades before jumping away and landing a few feet away.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed as a pair of clones appeared at his side.

Both clones stayed behind as Naruto charged at Kimimaro once more. The jinchuuriki jumped in the air before reaching out with his right hand and forming a Rasengan, still with a bit of distance away from the enemy. Kimimaro wondered briefly what he was doing before taking notice of the two clones standing behind the incoming ninja.

The clones ran through hand signs, pointing their attacks at the air-bone Naruto. "Wind Style: Devastation!" the clones dispersed as a powerful wind shot towards the original Naruto. The air pushed against the blond, increasing his speed as he approached the enemy ninja.

Kimimaro frowned as the attack grew closer, now knowing why Naruto had used the clones. He quickly jumped to the side, dodging the incoming Naruto that was forced to disperse his Rasengan and flip in the air in order to land safely. The Sound ninja turned to Naruto only for his eyes to widened as a torrent of water approached him. Not expecting the attack, he took it full force and was hurled through the air before crashing against a tree.

"That was great Ino," Naruto praised as he moved to stand next to her.

"I know I'm great," she smiled before turning back to Kimimaro with her expression turning into a frown. He was already standing with a look of anger on his face. "But he's already back up. I thought that my attack would buy us a little more time."

Naruto smiled bitterly. "We'll need a lot more than that," he turned to Ino, giving her a curt nod, "We have to attack together if we want to stand a chance."

"It's about all we can do," Ino nodded as she turned back to the enemy.

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes on the two Leaf shinobi. He had underestimated them and dropped his guard but he would make sure that it wouldn't happen again. "You two will not go unpunished for this," he growled as his swords dug back into his skin. He then pointed both hands at the Leaf ninja, "Take this."

Sharp pieces of bone shot out of Kimimaro's hands, heading straight for the couple just as Naruto ran through hand signs. "Wind Style: Devastation!" the powerful gust of air shot through the area, blowing away all of the incoming projectiles as it headed for Kimimaro.