"Quite the entrance."
Jiraiya commented, appreciating the dramatics of Anko's entrance as well as her figure in the tight fishnet under the long overcoat.
Hiruzen groaned as he gazed through the crystal ball at the broken window, knowing that someone would file a report and that the order for a replacement would end up on his desk shortly.
"I'll have to talk with her about breaking windows. This isn't the first time, but I'm tired of the pointless paperwork."
Hiruzen silently wished he had something to smoke other than tobacco.
"Dismissed. Leave me to my paperwork, or I'll never find the time to complete all of this."
He waved a hand at the two, tempted just to set fire to the mountains of paperwork and take a nap.
Kakashi and Jiraiya waved before they leaped through the window over Hiruzen's right shoulder, jumping from rooftop to rooftop until they were further away from the central part of the village.
Landing against the rooftop railings, Jiraiya and Kakashi gazed at the Forest of Death not too far away from them.
"So, what was it that you needed to talk about?"
Kakashi asked, having sensed that Jiraiya had something very important to discuss.
Jiraiya explained everything that happened two years ago. The summons, prophecy, what the Old Sage casually revealed about the origins of the ninja as we know them today, and how the Old Sage wanted to meet and train Kakashi.
Kakashi was shocked; he knew all about Hagoromo and his sons, as well as the birth of chakra that the Old Sage hadn't explained to Jiraiya, but he was surprised by the change to the prophecy in the original story and the offer of training from a being older than the Sage of Six Paths.
"That's.... a lot to take in."
Jiraiya chuckled.
"Understatement of the century- no, of the millennium. I can't believe all it took for that Old Sage to reveal this was my grand student.
Jiraiya puffed his chest in apparent pride.
"Maa... What of Naruto's training?"
Kakashi changed the subject, unsure of how he should feel about praise he didn't earn.
Jiraiya recognized this, but let it go instead of teasing him, though it was tempting.
"If he's as advanced as everyone makes him out to be, then I'm sure I can teach him the Rasengan and summoning before the finals, and maybe even show him the giant Rasengan. He has the reserves to make it his own. He may add a nature transformation to it in time."
"I don't doubt that he will."
Kakashi replied, having thought about the variants of elemental Rasengan: Boruto's vanishing Rasengan, Rasenshuriken, Rasenringu, and Dai Rasenringu from Road to Ninja.
"I also came here to inform you of an organization called the Akatsuki."
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and whispered everything he knew about the organization.
- The Forest of Death -
Having collected their Heaven scroll and lined up at the gate, they were ready for the signal to enter the forest.
All entrances to the forest sprang open a couple of moments later, every team sprinting inside, each team trying to get better positioning on their opponents.
With six puffs of smoke, Naruto made shadow clones, and four of them transformed into Sasuke and Sakura. A team of clones would run a distance in front of them, and the other behind them, to warn them of any potential ambushes and act as scouts.
"Good thinking, Naruto."
Sakura praised, having never seen Naruto use shadow clones in this way before.
"It's why the shadow clones were invented."
Naruto shrugged.
"Then why use them as much as you do?"
Sasuke asked
"Because I have enough chakra, and I can coordinate with myself better than I can with anyone else."
Sasuke and Sakura thought that made sense. Naruto clearly had the reserves, and nobody knows themselves better than shadow clones.
"We have one person following us. Rain shinobi with a rebreather on his face."
Naruto dispelled the two clones of himself in the clone teams as the real team jumped from the tree tops into a clearing, where they acted as if they were strategizing.
The Rain ninja, who had been following the clone team in the rear, was confused when the blonde of the team went up in smoke.
'Shadow clone?'
He paused, intentionally slowing down to avoid being discovered.
Letting the two pull out in front, the Rain ninja was once more confused when the two left him and disappeared through the brush and trees. Hurrying after them, the Rain genin saw the two alongside the blonde who had poofed in a cloud of smoke earlier.
'This must be the real one. Most likely the leader or scout of their little group.'
The Rain Genin observed them for ten minutes before reaching into his weapons pouch to ambush them, and looking at Sakura and deciding that taking her out should put this team at a disadvantage and force them to drop out of the exams, but what he didn't know was that the two whom he had been chasing earlier were clones and that they were watching him from much higher tree branches.
Once the Rain ninja appeared to be making a move, the two clones swooped down like eagles and bound him in ninja wire, making sure that the enemy's fingers were separated and tied tightly.
Jumping to the forest floor with their bound and confused captive, the clones dispelled and left the enemy for the team to decide what to do with them.
"It appears we have a rat."
Naruto smiled, his kind smile looking far too scary to the bound genin.
"Where's your team?"
Sasuke asked, drawing a kunai and stabbing it into the dirt between his legs.
"Ha, like I'd tell you, leaf trash."
The Rain ninja sneered.
"Trash, are we? Then I suppose that makes you worse than trash."
Naruto mocked, his calm expression unchanged, clearly finding the bound genin foolish.
"Sakura."
"Right."
Sakura stepped up.
"What the hell is this girl going to do? Press some flowers for me?"
Naruto shrugged.
"They'd likely be your first and last."
Naruto commented, surveying the tree tops and waiting for Sakura to take care of it.
Sakura snapped her fingers in front of the bound ninja's face, pulling him into a genjutsu in which he relived his death in gruesome ways.
'Demonic Illusion: Hell viewing Technique.'
It didn't take long for the bound ninja to break out into tears, and only after a full minute of the tears did Sakura punch him on the head to dispel her own technique, even if she could have dispelled it in a much easier way.
"Where is your team?"
Sasuke asked again, the kunai he had stabbed into the ground now close to the bound ninja's left eye.
The Rain ninja briefly thought about telling them to fuck off, but when Sakura started to form handseals for another genjutsu, he quickly squealed like a pig, revealing the location of the team meetup spot.
Naruto created a shadow clone and had it take the form of the mist ninja, watching it jump across the tree tops before gazing down at him.
"If you're lying, then you're dead."
"I'm not lying, I promise." The Rain ninja's voice wavered, his neck straining as he looked up at Naruto. The dim light of the forest's canopy cast shadows on Naruto's face, making his blue eyes appear almost glacial.
It didn't take long for the clone to come back and hand Naruto another Heaven scroll.
"Let's go."
Naruto tossed Sasuke the spare Heaven scroll.
"It can be used to negotiate for an Earth scroll if another team has an extra."
Sasuke nodded, silently pocketing the scroll before Team Seven once more began tree-hopping, leaving the screaming bound ninja there.
Creating three clones, Naruto assigned them to guard their rear after two of them transformed into Sakura and Sasuke.
After another twenty minutes of tree-hopping, Naruto's frown deepened just as his clone—acting as a decoy—was caught by a sudden, violent gust of wind, vanishing into a puff of smoke against a distant tree.
"Heads up, we have someone on our decoy clone team, and based on how easily they dealt with the clone....."
Naruto didn't want to scare them, but he guessed that the opponent who sent his clone flying was at the very least stronger than he was now.
"They're strong?"
Sasuke asked rhetorically, having guessed as much when Naruto didn't finish what he was saying.
Naruto quickly reached into his pouch and retrieved a scroll before creating fifty clones and tossing the scroll at one of them, watching the clones run back toward the opponent to stall them.
"What did you give them? What was in that scroll?"
Sakura asked, glancing over her shoulder to see the clones disappear in the tree tops.
"A concentrated explosion. It's something like an explosion tag, but infused with much more chakra. I haven't tested it anywhere because of how much damage it would cause, but I'm more than confident it'd work. Kakashi-sensei thought so too."
"What's the plan? If they're as strong as you believe, then they may manage to deal with your clones and avoid the explosion."
Sakura asked, worried.
"I'm aware."
Naruto replied before he grabbed the arms of Sasuke and Sakura and practically hauled them on his shoulder before pouring chakra into his legs and running at his max speed, ignoring the complaints of Sasuke.
- With the clones -
Arriving at the scene, the clones observed a grass ninja dodging the strikes of the disguised clones with a strange snake-like flexibility.
"My, I have to admit, you're better than I was expecting."
The grass ninja creepily said, having dodged playfully, but recognized that the two in front of her were more than the average chunin could handle.
The lead clone of the fifty tosses the scroll, making sure he was away from the explosion before he formed a half-ram handseal
*Boom*
The large trees shook, the ground caved, and the nearby animals either ran or died, as the explosion spanned 300 feet on all sides and 50 feet deep.
The teams in the area wisely chose another route, not wanting to meet whoever or whatever caused that explosion.
- With Kakashi and Jiraiya -
While near the forest, the two heard the loud explosion.
"Hmm, that was."
"Not right? Yeah, considering I'm sensing someone with Kage level reserves."
Kakashi's eye narrowed, jumping the fence of the forest of death, quickly followed by Jiraiya.
"This could get your team disqualified, Kakashi."
Jiraiya reminded, but followed nonetheless, trusting him.
"I'd rather they fail than be dead. This chakra is dark and distorted, and I've felt it before. Orochimaru. We need to hurry, he's on the tail of my team, and he's catching up."
Kakashi replied quickly, using his Thunder Steps to move faster.
Jiraiya tried his best to keep up with the body flicker, amazed by Kakashi's speed.
'Minato, you'd be proud of what I'm seeing.... and you too, Sakumo."
Running full speed, Kakashi and Jiraiya arrive in time to see Sasuke destroy a mud clone with a large fireball, and Orochimaru rise from the tree branch Sasuke was standing on, sinking his fangs into him.
In the next moment, there was a flash of purple before Kakashi flashed past them, a long-haired head flying in the air, decapitated by purple lightning.
The body fell to the forest floor, a pair of hands reaching out and spreading the top of the corpse and crawling out.
"Just as creepy as ever, Orochimaru."
Jiraiya commented, having been a step behind and witnessed the whole thing.
"You're even resorting to giving little boys hickies. A new low, even for you."
Jiraiya glared and launched off the tree at his former teammate, a spiraling sphere of chakra growing.
As the two fought, Kakashi observed Sasuke, seeing that he now had his Sharingan, two-tomoe in both eyes, likely from the fear he felt.
'Naruto is being delayed by.... Kabuto. That explains it.'
Kakashi quickly handed Sasuke to Sakura, having the ability to seal the curse mark, but not wanting to complicate his condition in any way by sealing it while he's already fighting for his life.
Kakashi vanished in a blur, a flicker of lightning at his feet the only warning before he reappeared behind Orochimaru. Purple lightning crackled around his hand, aiming for a killing blow, but Orochimaru's neck contorted unnaturally to evade the strike. Leaping away from the combined threat of Kakashi and Jiraiya, the Sannin immediately began weaving seals.
Kakashi recognized the seals, quickly forming some of his own.
'Fire style: Dragon Flame Bomb'
A large blast of fire roared at them.
'Water style: Water shockwave.'
Kakashi finished the jutsu in four seals, not at the level of two seals, but quick enough.
The jutsu met and created a large cloud of mist that obscured vision.
"Kakashi and Jiraiya, quite the formidable team up, but I'll admit that I never expected Kakashi to be this good. What changed? Did you gain another reason to start training again?"
Orochimaru's voice reverberated from every angle, masking his location to everyone except Kakashi's observation.
Kakashi slipped a kunai into his hand, the blade gaining a coating of haki before he flung it full force at Orochimaru's hiding place.
Orochimaru managed to twist his body, and the kunai missed his heart, making him drop his playful demeanor. He felt death approaching with that blade, and he was pissed. A kunai of all things made him feel this way.
Going through handseals, Orochimaru unleashed nearly invisible, large-area wind blades at them both.
'Fire style: Big Flame Bullet!'
Jiraiya's fire was enhanced by the wind blades, sweeping up and into the sky when Orochimaru dodged.
Kakashi watched the clouds above them grow even darker, rain falling softly, lightning sparking in the clouds above.
Jumping up to the highest tree, Kakashi, raised his purple lightning-covered right hand.
'I can cut lightning, let's see what this does.'
Kakashi was confident he could harness and control the cloud, and if he didn't, he had Haki to protect him.
Extending his purple lightning into a spear, Kakashi's purple lightning acted as a guide and amp; the cloud above bled purple.
"This... what is he doing?"
Orochimaru's eyes widen, a growing sense of dread as he sees a pair of eyes looking down at him from the cloud, and he hurriedly rushes through hand seals.
"Summoning: Triple Rashomon!"
The gates rose high at an angle to block the attack in the clouds.
With a casual downward motion of his hand, the beast of purple lightning roared and crashed into the gates, with unpleasant screeching sounds of the gates crumbling under the attack as if they weren't even there.
"He's gone."
Kakashi felt so, based on his observation: the snake had run the moment after summoning the gates, with his chakra signature growing farther and farther away.
"Kakashi! Jiraiya!"
Hiruzen appeared in full battle gear a couple of moments later, with four anbu behind him.
"What happened?"
"Orochimaru."
Jiraiya replied, jabbing a thumb in the direction of Sasuke's twitching form.
'Kabuto is gone too.'
Kakashi felt Kabuto's signature grow more distant by the second, Naruto's much larger one closing on them fast.
"Orochimaru."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed at the name, regret, sadness, and anger mingling in his voice as he spat the name.
"Lord Hokage, should we sound the alarm?"
The female purple-haired anbu to his left asked.
"No."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"He obviously came here for a reason. If we ruin whatever it is that he wants, then he wouldn't hesitate to slaughter as many as he can before fleeing."
Hiruzen knew his former student well. His goal of coming here must have something to do with why Sasuke was twitching, but he also suspected that Orochimaru had something more dangerous planned. To anger him would turn his wrath upon them before the village was allowed to prepare.
"Kakashi, Jiraiya, report to the tower at the center of the forest after explaining to Naruto what happened to his teammate."
The two nod and watch as the Hokage, alongside his anbu, vanish in a body flicker toward the tower.
- Chapter End -
2.7k word count. I hope you enjoy the chapter, letting Kakashi create Kirin in his own way. Besides, a purple Kirin would look badass.