Naruto: The Shattered Eyes

Marveling at the large water dragon heading straight for him, Suguru knew that his Fire Release would be useless in this battle. Other than to create steam, his fire jutsus would only serve as a way for his chakra to run out much faster.

It would have been a complete waste.

'I guess the restriction I gave myself would have been a restriction regardless.' Suguru chuckled as he took out a scroll.

Being in the Fuinjutsu business meant that Suguru had a stash of expensive items, including stacks and bundles of Explosive Tags. Now... to say that he had a lot would be an overstatement.

But he didn't lack any.

He had... well...

'A whole scroll should do the trick,'

With a large puff of smoke, Suguru summoned a hundred explosive tags, stacked together to form an explosive brick.

'Time to see if it makes any difference.' 

Just as the water dragon arrived before him, Suguru lobbed the explosive brick at its mouth and flickered away.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, a white light shone from the brick, and an explosion rocked the earth.

—BOOM!

The explosion sent water flying in all directions and evaporated the nearby droplets. A veritable cloud of steam had descended upon the battlefield, obstructing vision.

Furthermore, many tree trunks had been blown to shreds, felling several trees and clearing the area. Logs and branches floated on the water's surface.

"Tsk!" Isao clicked his tongue when he lost control of the water dragon.

He could feel his mass of chakra dissipate into the atmosphere. Looking around him, he saw that his teammates had already fled. The Water Fang Bullets and his Water Dragon Bullet had successfully distracted his enemy.

Now, Isao could fight with more leeway and less expense.

'Come!'

He primed his muscles to act. Just in time as well.

A heavy-handed haymaker was headed straight for his head. Isao tensed his muscles and allowed the punch to fly past his cheek. He then countered with a fist of his own, tearing through the steam.

However, the fist, and the arm connecting to his enemy's body, once more disappeared. Isao's retaliation was met with zero resistance. There was no impact.

All he hit was an afterimage.

"..!" Isao inhaled a sharp breath as his instincts screamed.

He barely dodged the incoming roundhouse as it swept through the air above his head. Shock then splattered across his face with the roundhouse kick stopped mid-flight.

"Huh?"

—BLAM!

Isao felt the blunt force of an improvised axe kick slammed right into his gut. The attack knocked the wind out of his lungs and he was sent down to the ground to swim in the waters he made.

A huge splash spread throughout the area, but his enemy was not yet done. He was grabbed by the collar, yanked out of the waters, and thrown into the air.

"Bad luck, huh?" A mocking voice echoed in his ear.

Fist after fist then aimed for his body, with each blow reverberating throughout his ribs. Hooks and jabs were among the many different strikes that rattled his core. Although none of his bones were broken, Isao was still launched into a parabolic arc at the end of the ruthless combo.

This move seemed inspired by that one time Danzo beat Shisui up.

Isao was thus ragdolled into the distance. As he flew, he was allowed a moment of respite. His eyes flashed with indignation as he weaved another hand sign.

[Snake].

'Water Release: Exploding Water Shock Wave!'

Using another chunk of his chakra, Isao spewed a grand wall of surging water out of his mouth. Although not as insane as Kisame, Isao was able to achieve a fraction of his visage. Suguru had no choice but to retreat as far as he could.

With this window of opportunity, Isao flickered away. Suguru saw this and no longer gave chase. Rattling Isao like that was sufficient. As they were both Hitomi's students, escaping was their realm of specialty.

Had Suguru been in Isao's shoes, the latter wouldn't have given chase as well. It was a futile effort to run after an escape artist, after all.

"You still need to be more careful, Isao." Chuckling, Suguru changed directions and disappeared elsewhere.

***

Meanwhile, Isao rapidly caught up with his fleeing teammates. With a grim expression and a battered body, he nodded.

"Let's rush back to the compound and report to the Elders. I have a bad feeling."

His beastly instincts were ringing endlessly in his mind. A storm was brewing.

"Captain... Who was that?" One of the masked shinobi asked.

To which, Isao shook his head, "I don't know. He's like a ghost when he moves. It was very difficult to track his movements. If you encounter him in the future, you need to be very careful."

Isao even had the feeling that the stranger had been holding back.

"I'll have to visit Konohagakure as well... Let's split up once we're close. I have a few people I need to meet."

Hiryu Suguru, Kurama Yumiko, and Inuzuka Hitomi.

Isao wondered what they were up to. It had been a while since they were last together. With Suguru becoming a chuunin and Yumiko being trained by her clan's elders, Isao had opted to go on missions for his clan.

'I wonder how strong they've all gotten,' Isao thought with an excited smile.

Like Hitomi, he was unaware of Suguru's defection. However, meeting with the boy wouldn't be so far-fetched.

***

Suguru overtook Isao's group without the latter being aware of his doing so. After taking a Soldier Pill, he traveled without stopping, flickering at a steady pace to make the most out of his chakra reserves.

After another few days, he finally arrived. In the distance, he could see the different faces of past Hokage carved into the mountain.

However, he felt that something was off.

It was a familiar, off-putting feeling.

"..." Suguru squinted.

What was that feeling?

—Crack!

'Kaisugan!'

Reverting back from his Transformation Jutsu, he activated his Kaisugan and peered through Konohagakure's walls. 

"Ah..."

Suguru easily figured out what was giving him that feeling.

'No wonder it was so familiar. There's a new formation in place.'

A special formation adapted from the Real Mirage Formation of Sunagakure.

Suguru activated his Shinrakugan on top of his Kaisugan. His gaze then zeroed into the formation's core, where streams of eerie, crimson chakra had been bleeding from.

There, he saw Naruto curled up into a ball. Sweat poured from his body, yet he was shivering as if he suffered from extreme cold. With pale lips and a creased forehead, Suguru was sure that the boy was suffering in a way that was very different from before.

'He looks just like Gaara.'

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