Game of Shadows - 123 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto nor The Gamer. I own nothing, really.

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 123

[Naruto Uzumaki]

The fight was going nowhere. He knew it, Kurama knew it and the Akatsuki pair knew it. There was literally nothing he could do to stop them, it seemed. It was a matter of time before he just fell.

Despite the impression he’d always had regarding his tenant, Naruto was realizing that its – Their? – reserves of chakra weren’t infinite. He’d known that, for sure, but it was a different thing to know something intellectually and to believe it. After all, he’d never even seen a small fraction of it. Surely it was only finite in name, right?

Wrong.

‘Stupid sword, stupid Akatsuki,’ he grumbled to himself as he continued to fight. The living, chakra eating sword of the shark guy was draining Kurama’s energy like there was no tomorrow. The thing was gulping down the stuff like he would have Ichiraku ramen. God, having one last bowl of the stuff before dying would have been nice.

“Not really the time, brat,” Kurama grumbled in his mind and he gave the beast the point. Then again, it didn’t really matter all that much how much he focused on the fight. They’d been at it for quite a while already and things weren’t changing at all.

Sure, he’d gotten a lucky hit at Sharkboy’s arm, which managed to leave a decent gash on the upper part. And sure, he’d almost hit Sasuke’s brother a few times, leaving his black coat burnt in several places. However… that was it. Nowhere near enough damage was done to his opponents as to stop them and he was already practically on his last legs. Naruto and Kurama’s combined strength had not diminished all that much, but they were nearing the point where they’d run out of juice soon.

Case in point, the fact that he’d long since stopped making clones.

“Well… It was nice to be able to let loose, I guess,” Kurama said then, not quite resigned, but Naruto knew that was the sentiment behind the words. He totally got it, if he was honest. At least he’d go down swinging, that was as much as he could ask, he supposed.

‘It was nice to not be alone for this,’ Naruto thought, more to himself than to his tenant. Evidently, he was still heard, considering the huff he heard from the beast. ‘So, thank you.’

He got no actual response, but that was fine.

Naruto stopped then, standing on all four limbs on top of a dune. His nine chakra tails swinging menacingly behind him. Besides that, he didn’t move though, only growling lowly at the pair of hunters that were out to get him. Both of whom stood there, watching him, not quite warily but still cautious. By then the two knew very well that he was a tricky bastard. ‘As well they should,’ Naruto mused proudly.

“Ready to give up, brat? I’ll admit this was more fun than I thought, but it’s quickly turning annoying,” Sharkboy said, with his irritating, sharp toothed grin still in place. God, how he’d have liked to knock a few of those teeth out. Sadly, it was not to be.

Naruto didn’t reply though, simply just waiting for them to move.

If they wanted him so badly, the least they could do was come for him. So, he stood there, low on energy the Jinchuriki might have been, but without the stupid sword draining his reserves, he had all the time in the world… Figuratively speaking, of course. He still would be able to stay where he was for quite a bit. The Akatsuki knew it too, if the look they traded was anything to go by.

Thus, they rushed at him with no hesitation. Not that Naruto expected any, really. He knew he was the one with the odds stacked against him. ‘I’m used to that though,’ he thought to himself, a grin spreading over his face under the coat of red chakra that hid him from the world.

Determined to go with one last trick, he did his best to avoid the sword of Sharkboy’s. He jumped, and twisted his body away from it, his chakra tails lashing out, just away from the range of the living weapon. He didn’t quite hit the freak swordsman, but he did singe his clothes a little.

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t done yet. He wanted to land one last hit. ‘Just one more, come on,’ the Blonde thought determinedly. Granted, it had been the same thought he’d had before delivering the cut to Sharkboy, but that wasn’t the important part. Call him greedy, but he wanted as many hits in as he could manage.

Sadly, it was not to be.

An attack from Itachi Uchiha disturbed Naruto enough for his partner to start eating away at the Jinchuriki’s chakra. From there, it spiraled out of the blonde’s control really quick. His last drops of energy vanished from in between his fingers and he got slower and weaker. Until, lastly, the scaled weapon hit him straight in the chest, tearing apart his clothes and sending him flying off.

Hitting another dune, Naruto was left there, in the middle of a crater. The grains of sand fell around him slowly covering his arms and legs. He’d have been worried about being buried alive, if not for the fact that he had more concerning things to worry about. Besides…

A hand gripped his neck then and brought him up.

“And so the hunt ends,” Sharkboy said as Naruto brought his hands up to try and claw at the man’s arm. It was useless, but he’d fight until the very end. Even if his fingers and nails did nothing to the Akatsuki agent. Even if it was for naught. He refused to just… give up. That wasn’t him. “If it makes you feel any better, you’ve been our most difficult mission so far,” the swordsman added. “Now, please, while the struggle is amusing, it’ll be annoying while traveling,” the Sharkboy finished with, raising his fist.

However, the strike that Naruto knew was coming never arrived. Instead, the arm that held him yanked to the side abruptly, pulling the blonde with it. There were many sudden movements that followed, but two things stood out for Naruto.

An almost inaudible whistling and a cackling sound.

A very familiar cackling.

Then, before he could fully process what had happened, he felt something else that was familiar.

“Curious, very curious,” Kurama whispered in his mind, voice low as if he were talking to himself. It also reminded Naruto of why he was so familiar with the feeling that settled over him. It was exactly like that of the Nine Tails’, the presence of something far above a ninja.

Another chakra beast.

The next thing he was able to process was that he fell to the ground, even though Sharkboy’s hand was still gripping at his neck. It felt weaker though and then… Then, looking at it, he saw that the arm was no longer attached to the freaky swordsman.

“You have some nerve,” a voice said. A voice that Naruto had been sure he’d never hear again. Ignoring the fingers that wrapped around his throat, he turned to look. He had to make sure.

‘That’s… that’s not a genjutsu, right?’ he thought to himself, almost fearing what Kurama would tell him. Surely he hadn’t looked into the Uchiha’s eyes, right? He was sure he had avoided that.

“It’s not,” the chakra beast replied, still sounding thoughtful. “That’s not the unbelievable part.”

And Naruto knew what Kurama was talking about, because not only was his brother, Eiji himself, standing right there, in front of him. The other boy was also covered in a coat of chakra very similar to the one the blonde had when he’d used the Kyuubi’s chakra, except that it was blue instead of red and had spider legs on his back instead of tails. That was Eiji though, there was no mistaking him.

“I thought we were past the days when I had to cover your sorry ass, Naruto,” Eiji said and the blonde could almost hear the smirk on his face. Above all else, he sounded relieved. Just as relieved as Naruto himself felt.

“I had them right where I wanted them,” He shot back, unable to muster any kind of annoyance.

“Go to Suna, Naruto. Put up a barrier and stay there,” Eiji said then. He never turned towards him, but that wasn’t strange. He could see with his threads, after all, and Naruto was sure that he’d already made sure he was fine. Illogically, it stung a little that he didn’t bother to give him a single look with his eyes, but he got it.

His brother was too busy in a staring contest with the Akatsuki pair. Sharkboy seemed almost entertained with holding the sleeve of his coat over the stump that remained of his arm. To his credit, the swordsman didn’t seem too bothered by that, occupied with looking at Eiji together with Itachi. Naruto would have gone as far as saying that they were… wary of his brother, considering that they didn’t immediately engage him.

“Go, Naruto. Now,” Eiji repeated, more intently.

Naruto wanted to argue, he really did. He wanted to say he’d help. He wanted to offer his seals. There had to be something he could do, right? He knew that Eiji had been hunting these people for a while already and was experienced dealing with them. However, Eiji always had his team and now that didn’t seem to be the case. He couldn’t just leave him, right…?

“We have to go,” Kurama said, reluctantly, very much so. Hell, Naruto hadn’t even known the chakra beast could make a sound like that. The Kyuubi sounded… hesitant, shameful even. “We’ll get in his way… Tell him, however…”

“You better not die,” Naruto repeated a second later, leaving out some extra words. That was the message the both of them wanted to send, so that was what he said. He received a chuckle in response.

“I’m not dying until I see you become Hokage,” Eiji replied and the blonde could definitely hear the smile on his face. He noted, however, that he sounded tired, so very tired.

‘Eiji was in Iwa,’ Naruto remembered then, and he wondered just how his brother had gotten to Suna. ‘Surely he didn’t…’ He didn’t finish that thought though.

“Go, Naruto, please,” Eiji said and the blonde nodded, flickering away.

He felt awful doing that, he felt like trash. He heard the echoes of voices from years past. The scorn and hate of Konoha’s citizens as they cursed his very existence. Their words twisted, accusing him of leaving his own brother alone with enemies that could see him killed. Pointed out how much of a coward he was, for running away to save his own hide instead of defending his friend, his family.

“Don’t be stupid,” Kurama told him, and Naruto could almost dare to call the chakra beast’s voice soft. Almost. “There was nothing more for you to do,” the Kyuubi continued. “You’d have gotten in his way. You’d have made it more likely for him to die.”

‘I know…’ Naruto replied weakly as he moved, Flickering away. It felt like an ice knife was being driven right through his gut just by using the technique. He wasn’t lying. He knew the beast was right. He knew Eiji was right. However… it made it hurt all the more.

“Any other fight, I wouldn’t have accepted running away,” Kurama continued then, sounding supremely annoyed. Downright angry, really, and Naruto was surprised to notice that it had been a while since he’d heard his tenant sound like that. “That sword… We have nothing to fight against that.”

‘And Eiji does?’

“... More than we do, at least,” Kurama admitted. “... We will repay this favor though. I won’t owe a human of all things.”

‘I’m a human too, you know?’ Naruto pointed out weakly.

“Your point?”

‘... But yeah, we are paying him back,’ the blonde agreed, Flickering again. ‘Glad to know we agree on something.’

“... Yeah.”

[}-o-{]

[Eiji Satou]

“I liked that arm, you know?” Kisame asked and he felt his eye twitch. He wanted to be done with it all yesterday. He was tired, his everything hurt and he was annoyed. The day couldn’t be over soon enough.

“I suppose I can’t ask you to go the fuck away, right?” Eiji said, almost deflating. Tsuchigumo was a blessing though, because she had enough energy to keep him going like a permanent fix of caffeine straight to his system. ‘God, I love you, Tsuchi,’ he mentally voiced, getting an appreciative bark in response.

“Sadly, we can’t do that,” Itachi replied, looking as weary as Eiji felt. Although, to be fair, he wasn’t sure if that was due to the Uchiha’s illness or the situation… Or both, for that matter. Regardless of it all, Eiji still would have to deal with them, it seemed.

‘Never did find out if Itachi’s situation was different in this world or if it’s as my notes say,’ he noted mentally. It was a shame, but he’d do what he needed to. If the man was truly on Konoha’s side then… Well, with some luck, he’d understand.

“No time for hesitation,” Kage told him, and Eiji agreed.

“Finally gonna start the fight?” Kisame asked with Samehada twisting where it rested over the swordsman’s shoulder. The weapon was as eager for the fight as its wielder, evidently. Eiji, for his part, sighed and resigned himself.

Through it all, he kept his eyes closed, only sensing the world through Senjutsu and Web Sense. No way he was opening his eyes at all in the presence of Itachi Uchiha. He wasn’t even sure how Naruto had managed to not fall under a genjutsu, really. Had Kurama’s help been enough to stave off the illusions? It seemed the two had been working together in the fight just then, after all. Was something else going on?

Regardless, he wasn’t going to risk it.

It was still weird to fight with his eyes closed, even if he was aware of just as much as he was with them open. His eyes had no value with his sensing skills in use, but no matter how much he’d trained to fight without them, it’d never feel quite right to keep his eyes closed. Even if he knew everything that was going around, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he wasn’t seeing anything.

Eiji took a deep breath in.

“And so it begins,” Kage said, staying right at the edge of Eiji’s mind in case he needed to do something. All while keeping an eye on Hachi, who was still keeping his Senjutsu going. His one person team was ready, it seemed, as accentuated by Tsuchigumo’s bark.

“I’d really, really appreciate it if you gave up,” Eiji said, with a wry smile on his face as his wires rose around him and his chakra-made spider legs twitched. His mind ran through ideas while Kage helped him plan out a strategy, suggesting changes, offering his opinion and even throwing in some ideas of his own.

“Yeah, no,” Kisame replied, raising his sword before letting it fall to the ground at his side. Eiji felt the man’s muscles tensing, readying for the fight. Itachi, for his part, remained calm, relaxed. It was almost like the Uchiha wasn’t even planning on participating.

He could only hope.

With lightning at his feet, Eiji dashed forward. Nuibari met Samehada and Kisame laughed, like he was suddenly having the time of his life. The younger swordsman, for his part, felt himself grow annoyed. Mainly because his opponent’s weapon made it difficult to face him.

Eiji would, after all, need to fight Kisame with only Taijutsu and Kenjutsu. Anything involving chakra would be useless. Hell, it’d work against him to do so, since he’d only be throwing his energy to the wind… Or to the chakra eating sword, at least. Even Sunfire Cape was out of the question, judging by the way Samehada was trying to twist its way towards him, snapping its jaws at Eiji as if trying to get a bite.

He was fairly sure that it’d have gotten to eat his energy if the stuff were wrapped around him for the buff technique. Hell, Eiji was even afraid that it’d be able to eat away at his reserves even if he didn’t use chakra. Fortunately, from what he was gathering, that wasn’t how it went. It did force him to send Tsuchigumo back to simply providing the bare minimum of chakra. It was a shame to give up on the Chakra Beast Mode, but it was what it was.

At least he still had some buffs on.

‘Thank God for small mercies.’

Fortunately, as he continued using Nuibari to block Samehada from reaching him, he could use his wires and chakra against Itachi. When the Uchiha made his move, the threads rushed at him with all the might Eiji could put in them. On top of that, he shot his Sacred Flock from his back, away from Samehada’s reach, making the lightning birds rush towards Itachi too.

That didn’t do nearly as much as Eiji hoped though, since the Uchiha promptly shot wind techniques to disrupt his attacks. That didn’t matter though, he could continue shooting the lightning jutsu at the man almost forever thanks to Tsuchigumo. Still… Eiji Flickered to the side and blocked Samehada once more as he dodged one of the Uchiha’s own attacks.

The battle had barely gotten started and Eiji was already seen himself cornered. Kisame made all his jutsu basically useless. Itachi would be untouchable unless he could give it his all against the Uchiha. And even a battle of attrition was going to go against him. After dealing with Pain and Konan, even Tsuchigumo’s impressive reserves had suffered, nevermind adding all the energy he’d spent getting from Iwa to Suna.

On top of that, he was sure that eventually Samehada would start eating away at his reserves. No way he’d be able to just… keep Kisame at bay forever. The pair would eventually wear him out and he knew it so… How was he going to turn things to his favor?

Eiji had one thing going for him and that was the wound he’d inflicted on Kisame. He’d have preferred to just kill the guy, but the Akatsuki swordsman was too good for that. One less arm was still good though, and it served to activate Bloodhound and Beast of Prey, so that was nice too. However, the wound was being a lot less useful than one would think. Kisame seemed to just be that much of a troublesome opponent, it seemed.

Another thing he had going for him was the fact that he knew their skillsets, somewhat. Not in detail, of course, but he had an idea of what they could do, so he could deal with that. Unfortunately, it was a lot less useful than it had been against Pain, but it was something. He just needed to find an opportunity, an opening somewhere.

No such thing happened.

Kisame continued fending off any attack of his own and having him block anything the swordsman sent his way. Itachi continued avoiding and dispersing any attack Eiji sent at him while sending some of his own for the boy to dodge. No openings, no weaknesses.

‘I’ll have to make one, then,’ Eiji thought, grimacing as he parried a particularly strong slash from Kisame. The man was keeping the force behind his attacks changing, sometimes weaker, sometimes stronger. It was disorienting, which was probably the whole point behind that.

His partner did much the same, if in his own way. Itachi seemed to like varying from sending barrages of jutsu at him to sending a single, very powerful, very troublesome technique his way. Eiji would have found himself respecting the two, if he wasn’t so busy cursing them for being so goddamn good.

‘Wait it out, come on,’ he chanted in his mind, continuing to look for a window of opportunity. He dodged and he blocked, dearly hoping that he’d last long enough for the plan that was forming in his mind to work. He could make it.

‘Just need some more time, come on,’ he mused, momentarily opening his eyes to check on the screen that he mentally called.

[Energy Points: 68/1220]

It was so very little, especially if he wanted to activate a bunch of skills at once. The Poised Perk had carried him through most fights where he used Energy skills, since it made them free for a while when he started a fight at full Energy. However, he didn’t have that now. He’d used that card against Pain and Konan, and it only worked once per day.

No, he needed to do this the normal way. He needed enough for a second, at the very least, to take his opponents off guard as he usually did. However… that’d require quite some Energy Points…

Running used 5 per second.

Free Running used 10 per second.

Intermediate Taijutsu used 30 per second.

Intermediate Kenjutsu used 30 per second.

To have them all active for even a second, he needed 75 Energy Points. The same points that recharged agonizingly slow, even after so much time and so many titles and so many perks. Energy Points had always remained his cheat code, the outlier part of his system, the single thing that didn’t even exist in the world he lived in, together with his inventory. They were some of his ultimate cards for a reason.

Now, he just needed to wait for it a bit. Maybe save some more Energy Points if he could manage to last that long. One second could be enough, for sure, but one second also wasn’t that much. If one second wasn’t enough, not only would he have to wait, but he’d have revealed his cards to the enemy, meaning that it wouldn’t be nearly as effective the second time. What to do, what to do…?

“Just a bit more, Eiji,” Kage whispered to him as he continued the battle of attrition that could go either way. “Just a few more minutes.”

And wasn’t that just hilarious? Minutes. He had to survive this fight against two S-ranked individuals for minutes. Every second felt like it was dragged on for an hour. His stamina and chakra were being derailed slowly but surely. And he had to last for minutes. His plan better work or he’d be screwed. There was no way he’d survive if he failed.

His senses strained, closing in on his two enemies and reading their every movement. He needed all the information he could get to keep up the fight. To make the entire battle continue on for a bit longer. A technique was going there, a slash was coming from the side. A technique wanted to make him move towards where Kisame would strike, so he tanked it.

‘Just a bit more,’ he repeated to himself, like a mantra of sorts. He could do it, he could win. Eiji knew he could, he just needed to push his body a little more. Just a bit more.

“Do it, Eiji,” Kage told him after Kisame’s sword moved the smallest bit too far. Just when Itachi was throwing a technique the smallest bit slower than the rest. It was the chance he’d been waiting for. A trap, maybe, but he didn’t think so. His opponents didn’t know, after all, that he had cards that would allow him to use that chance at all. And if they suspected, then they still weren’t sure what he’d do.

So, he went for it.

All his Energy Skills were activated and he put all that energy into one thing and one thing only. He charged forward and Nuibari clashed against Samehada once more. This time, however, the result was different than before.

Much different.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Lots of action as of late, huh? I don’t remember having more than one chapter long action since… What? The Chunin Exams? My memory might be wrong, I suppose, but I’m pretty sure that’s right.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: What do you think is going through the minds of the people that aren’t right there at the moment? I mean, the Team, the Kages, etc.

See you.