Naruto: The Otherworldly Cultivator

Chapter 257: The Beauty Versus the Beast

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 257: The Beauty Versus the Beast

"What do we have here? Some scrubs from Konoha." The silver-haired ninja approached them. "Come on, Kakuzu, let me fight them."

His partner emerged from the ground. "Don't be too greedy, Hidan… these opponents won't be that easy to kill."

"What are you talking about? There's only one Jonin and three newbies. I can deal with them." The silver-haired ninja called Hidan took out a nasty-looking weapon from his back. It was a scythe with three red blades. "Jashin requires more sacrifices. Those farmers weren't enough, and you didn't let me kill any ninjas in that girl's hidden village," Hidan complained.

Meanwhile, Asuma made some hand signs to Shikamaru to prepare.

Kakuzu frowned. "This is not the time for arguments, Hidan. Let the Jonin and that blonde girl to me. You can go t—"

Not wanting to waste the opportunity while their enemies were distracted talking, Asuma went on the offensive, while Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino assisted him.

Hidan moved forward and blocked Asuma's wind knives with his scythe before attempting to stab the Jonin with a small spear he had in his other hand.

Shikamaru's shadow was already on the way, approaching Hidan at incredible speed, while Chouji charged at the man.

Ino made some quick hand signs and used the humidity in the air to conjure a powerful water jutsu over the heads of her enemies. At the same time, she was having a mental struggle to decide if she should activate the formula and call for Naruto.

She had no doubt that he could handle these opponents without issues. She only had one reason for hesitating in calling him… and it was her own pride as a ninja.

Ino may not be a battle specialist like Hinata, but she did not want to become overly reliant on Naruto to deal with every dangerous situation. She did not want to be the damsel in distress every single time.

"Damn it…" Ino bit her lip when she saw her jutsu being deflected with ease by the one named Kakuzu.

"Careful!" Asuma glared back at her and shouted, feeling that something was about to happen, but he could not take his eyes off his own opponent. The silver-haired ninja called Hidan had a very dangerous weapon, and it required all of his focus to stay out of trouble.

Kakuzu removed his black cloak, revealing a body filled with scars and what looked like stitches. On his back were four masks seemingly attached to his flesh.

One of the masks shot outwards and went directly for Ino.

She saw that Chouji was hesitant to move towards her in order to protect her. "No! Stay with Shikamaru. Don't break the formation!" she ordered her teammate.

Their team had a clear strategy, and she would not allow it to be broken because she was at a bit of risk.

While the white mask that came from Kakuzu was still in midair, some black sludge came out of it and began to form a strange body that resembled a wild beast.

Ino exchanged a look with Shikamaru. In that instant, she was able to convey a simple message: 'I'll take care of this.'

"Water Release… Water Severing Wave!" Ino expelled from her mouth a highly pressurized stream of water that impacted directly on the black beast, cutting its body in half before it could even land.

"Did that do it?" Ino stared at the black mass on the ground… still not willing to lower her guard by any means. Naruto always told her that one must always remain alert and prepared.

And good thing that she did… it only took a second. The head of the black beast moved slightly, just enough to look at her. From the mouth hole of the mask, there was a spark, followed by an intense burst of fire that covered the distance between itself and Ino in just a fraction of a second.

"Water Release… Water Wall Formation!" She called upon her most powerful water defense.

"Ahh!" She was forced to move back as the water began to evaporate, creating extremely hot vapor that burned her skin.

Now she couldn't see anything at all, but she could make use of her other senses to detect the enemy's location.

All of a sudden, Ino felt something on her right.

A black claw was now lunging for her throat.

It was a good thing she had been training to fight at close range, and thanks to that, Ino could react in time to avoid the attack and create some distance between them.

She could now see that the black beast had fixed its body completely.

The damage from her previous water attack was nowhere to be seen.

'Its body appears to be made of some sort of black substance and lacks a flesh body that I can damage.' Her eyes moved to the strange mask from where this strange body had come out.

"That must be its weak point… I just need to destroy the mask."

The creature then began to create more fire and sent it her way.

Ino noted that all the fire techniques this black creature seemed to use were very advanced. The one from before had destroyed her water wall, and that was an A-rank jutsu capable of stopping pretty much anything.

She saw at least a dozen balls of fire coming her way, so instead of creating another wall for the creature to destroy, Ino decided on a different approach.

She circulated her chakra, focusing on her legs, and activated her newest movement technique.

"Crystal Wave Glide!"

The temperature around her was lowered tremendously, creating a layer of frost on top of the grass.

Before the fire could reach her, Ino was propelled upwards by a column of ice that manifested beneath her feet.

Once in the air, she located her target, which was a short distance away. The masked black beast was now looking at her.

"Now it's my turn to attack… Ice Release!"

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