Chapter 328   - Ch328. Anko Has Arrived! 1

Before Guren could recollect her wits, Anko used the fact she was gripping her wrist and jerked her forward, unbalancing her. Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem for an experienced kunoichi but Guren was quite distraught and the move worked, making her stumble forward.

Before anyone could react, Anko's free hand snapped forward, smashing into Guren's midsection. The force behind the blow was massive but so controlled, Guren wasn't sent flying because it washed through her in a manner that only affected the organs in her stomach before leaving her body through her lower back. This caused the woman to bend over Anko's fist and release a silent scream of pain.

Her intestines instantly liquefied and a resounding snap announced to the world that her spine broke too. Both Anko and Guren knew better though. The part of Guren's spine located on her lower back broke in seven different places, completely paralyzing her.

To be honest, Anko thought Guren should be glad she controlled the force behind her punch enough to go around her spine, otherwise, it would have liquified too. Alas, after seeing Guren's abilities, Anko deemed her too precious to just kill. Capturing her and sending her to the Village on the Other Side through Lady Tsunade would earn her more benefits.

If Guren decided to cooperate and join the Other-sided village... that was not Anko's problem. She knew well that everybody had their price. It was only the question if the Other-sided village had the means to find out and afford Guren's. And if not, well, Some research material that would help Lady Tsunade in her hobby of bloodline-recreation was always welcomed.

That was also why Anko quite admired the administration of the Village on the Other Side. Their ninjas would be hard-pressed to betray them... not because they knew of all the precautions against betrayal the village had but... because the benefits the village provided could simply not be found anywhere else.

Guren slowly slid off Anko's fist, falling down onto the ground like a marionette whose strings were cut while Naruto watched with wide disbelieving eyes at the spectacle.

"That easy?" He grimaced, looking as if he was constipated.

Anko grinned, "After surviving Lady Tsunade's boot camp, dealing with scrubs like this should pose no problem to your awesome sister!" She proudly proclaimed to the world without any shame, putting her hands on her hips and straightening her back while raising her nose high into the sky.

Naruto could only groan, not in the mood for Anko's boasting. "Why were you so late?" He petulantly asked while starting to slowly cancel the chakra cloak around him, trying to make the transition as gentle as possible for his body.

"I had to deal with a lot of thugs all around the town. Killing them was easy but finding them took time." Anko's eyes softened, "I had faith in your ability to survive, you know?" ... 'Plus getting his stuffing beaten out of him in a serious life-threatening battle was good training for him. When sparring against me, he knows there is no danger of him dying no matter how much I hurt him. This will be good for his growth. No pain, no gain, as they say. It was definitely a delight to watch too' She inwardly snickered. 'Not that he has to know about that particular part.'

Naruto smiled, taking his well-earned praise. Unfortunately for him, this was also the moment when his chakra cloak fully dissipated, causing him to feel as if a bijuu smashed him. The strain on his body was enough to make him slump onto the ground and disable him from any kind of movement. At most, Naruto could move his lips and eyes and even that was kinda hard for the exhausted boy.

Recognizing that the after-effects from the bijuu cloak started to kick in, Anko created a shadow clone that proceeded to unceremoniously put Naruto on her shoulder, not minding his painful wincing or silent protests. The boy was hurt badly during his fight and while the chakra cloak healed him, now that its effects were gone, Naruto's body felt all the trauma it was forced to go through. It was overly sensitive and even the slightest of motions brought extreme pains to the boy.

"Oh, man up! I can't leave your helpless self here, in the middle of the battlefield." The real Anko rolled her eyes. She didn't know Raiga Kurosuki but the man was fast. As such, Anko decided it would be better not to leave any sort of temptation lying around. Who knows if the man would have used Naruto as hostage once he found himself in deep shit.

Anko's clone then approached the paralyzed Guren and gently took her body into a princess carry, ignoring the intense and pain-filled glare the woman was giving her. She couldn't just uncaringly slump her over her shoulder. All that held Guren's lower and upper body together were her abdominal muscles, which were a mangled mess.

"Get well, kiddos!" Anko exclaimed, playfully swatting Naruto's butt with a massive grin, causing the blonde to spasm and thrash from the intense pain that surged through his body. He felt that swat all the way on the skin of his scalp! It hurt like a bitch!

Aware that Naruto was silently cursing her in his head, Anko was satisfied and sent the clone off on its way.

"Now then, she looked around, where to next." Anko mused to herself but her question was answered a moment later when she winced from memories of her clone that just popped out of existence. Hinata's location was found.

Anko approached the edge of the bridge and slowly walked on its side, heading towards the place where Hinata faced her opponent.

Anko didn't instantly reveal her presence though. She first observed for a minute, briefly wincing in pain every time she heard the melody of the flute. The genjutsu wasn't very effective against her. After all, it was Anko who taught Hinata how to properly counter them and after Lady Tsunade's training, this pain was nothing special, but it was still akin to an annoying sting. Especially so, because Anko could and did turn her pain receptors off after the redhead's Jutsu first hit her. But it was to no effect. The pain caused by this genjutsu was more mental than physical...

Hinata was faring well. The girl had no wounds on her body. She nimbly and gracefully evaded every attack of her opponent but Anko could see the small tremors in Hinata's body. The girl was obviously gritting her teeth hard to resist the accumulated pain and it was putting a lot of strain on her mind.

It only made the fact she was not yet hit despite facing three opponents that much more admirable.

Hinata's opponent... Anko almost blanched when she noticed the marks of activated Cursed Seal spread on the redhead's body. That at least explained whose flunkies were these ninjas. If it was her past self, she would no doubt already jump at the redhead, screaming like a monkey while trying to kill her in a blind rage full of hate. Alas, that part of Anko was beaten out of her by Lady Tsunade. Instead, Anko carefully analyzed the situation.

The redhead wasn't hurt either as Hinata didn't manage to get past the two hulking humanoid summons. The girl was trying to mask it with all the vulgar things she screamed at Hinata but she was subtly using her speech to cover her gasping for air. Clearly, she was utterly exhausted.

'So that is why she already used the seal, huh? Somebody is running on fumes!' Anko proudly thought.

Based on Guren's prowess, if the bluenette was the leader, the redhead as her subordinate should be at the low-to-mid Jonin level. The fact Hinata could fight her to stalemate and even force her to activate the seal... Anko was immensely proud! The girl desired a cookie and Anko would make sure she would get one.

But, 'The fighting style of the redhead... I gotta capture her too.' Anko unwillingly thought, a bit of dissatisfaction welling up in her heart.

On one hand, the girl probably had a lot of information on Orochimaru and would no doubt be a great asset with her ability to weaponize sound-waves without any sort of device, on the other hand, Anko felt this need to beat her up the second she saw the activated Cursed Seal. Obligation or personal satisfaction... that was the question.

And Anko had a hard time deciding which to choose.magic