(I'll keep this short. This is the last chapter for this story before I just ice it for a while. Not long while just taking a break from this and Rise of the InuKitsune to get my other stories up to date. Then it'll be back into rotation for this story. Elemental Uzumaki is the one story that'll stay on rotation since I need to work on it more honestly. Especially when it was the first story I started. Anyways, please go to my bio and read the poll on there. Also, enjoy this chapter right here.)

Chapter 6: Travel

"How long has she been like this?" Hiruzen asked the doctor next to him. His eyes staring down with an unreadable expression on his face. Laying on the hospital bed before him was one Anko Mitarashi. The woman was currently writhing in pain in a coma. The curse seal, the very first one made and tested by Orochimaru, was slowly dissolving away from her body but it was taking her with it. The skin around the mark was turning a sickly gray and purple with the veins around turning black and visible.

"For two days now. At first, when she came in for a check talking about pain, we simply thought it was an injury from the invasion. After a checkup, we found strange deterioration from her shoulder and assumed it was possibly poisoning that she got from fighting one of the enemy shinobi. Considering one side was Suna and the other led by the former Orochimaru, it was a high possibility. Though, I have to say that whatever this is, it is most certainly worst." The doctor explained while Hiruzen felt himself scowl and curse his former student. He knew Orochimaru had no care for any one of his subordinates or any of the people he used for his experiments but to see that even after his demise, he was still ruining the life of one of his top shinobi.

"This is indeed troubling. And there is nothing you or the rest of the staff can do to fix this?" The doctor shook his head while Hiruzen sighed while running his hand down his face. It was bad enough they had plenty of other shinobi and kunoichi hospitalize from the invasion, one Rock Lee had his career as a shinobi in jeopardy, and then the Suna Siblings currently wishing to speak to him about new treaty terms since word got around that the Kazekage, their father, was killed before the invasion even started. He would need to set up a meeting with them soon and hopefully they could put this whole thing behind them before dealing with their current issues.

"I suppose we'll have to wait for the return of Tsunade. She's the only one who could help in this situation as well as our other emergency patients. Boar." An ANBU member appeared kneeled before the Hokage baring the mask of a wild pig. "Send a messenger hawk to track down Naruto and Jiraiya with a message of importance. I want them to speed up their search and return with Tsunade as soon as they can." The ANBU member nodded his head before disappearing in a swirl of leaves to get the message sent. Hiruzen sighed once more and shook his head while staring down Anko writhing in pain more. He then turned his head to the other side of the room to see the other patients here with her.

There were four of them and each one was in the same condition as Anko. All of them were at first the bodyguards of Orochimaru when he set up the barrier and then became their prisoners when he was killed. Though it seems around the same time Anko was placed in here so were they. Prisoners, they may be, they were also those who were part of Orochimaru's guard. They would know things that none of the lower Oto shinobi they had captured would know. As such, it was much more beneficial that they did what they could to save their lives. In the end, it could also give them points and being much more cooperative with them.

He just hoped that Jiraiya and Naruto returned with Tsunade before the worst-case scenario happens.

(NFoD)

Naruto and Jiraiya were currently in a town relaxing when the old fart decided to ditch the blonde when a very pretty lady was giving him some, in his words, "Fuck me eyes." Naruto simply rolled his eyes before deciding to roam around town to see what was up. There wasn't much interesting here besides a couple of gamble spots and an interesting store that sold various antiques from around the Elemental Nations. The blonde reaper wasn't all that interested and simply went to his hotel room to relax while he waited for Jiraiya to come back.

He was reading a scroll from one of the many that Minato and Kushina had left him together. This one was on one of the specialty jutsu that they created during their times. For Minato, it was his infamous Rasengan that decimated Iwa's army during the Third Great War along with his Hiraishin. Kushina's was one that he was more interested in knowing about.

"Leviathan Trident. A water jutsu. It looks pretty interesting to me and it is also a B-rank jutsu." He smirked to himself before rolling the scrolls up and sealed them away. "Good thing they taught me the secret of the Shadow Clone Technique. I should be able to get the Leviathan down flat but that Rasengan is a whole different level. I'm just glad my chakra control has improved so much that the first and second steps shouldn't take too long." Flopping backward onto his bed he placed his hands behind his head. Deciding that ero-sennin would take a good while before he came back, he would get in a quick nap.

Of course, he would have if someone didn't decide to knock on the door right then!

'I'll take their legs first.'

"Don't be so hostile. Maybe that perverted fool found you a lady friend to be with."

Grumbling at the chuckling horseman, Naruto got up from his bed and made his way towards the door. Reaching for the door handle he opened it with a glare before raising an eyebrow at who it was in front of him.

It was the hotel owner but they had a hawk with a Konoha flak jacket on. The hawk also had a letter attached to its back.

"Uh… I'm guessing that's for me?" It was the bird that nodded before taking the letter from its back and handed it to him. Naruto thanked the hawk before it flew off of the owner's shoulder and out the hall window. Strange, they hadn't left Konoha that long ago. Only around two and a half days since they were on the road. And now they send a letter to them. Did something come up? Opening the letter, he read the message that came straight from the Hokage and a grim look came to his face. None of that seemed to be good and they would need to hurry up and find Lady Tsunade.

He was about to go back inside but the hotel owner was still standing there. He had his hand out waiting for something. With a raised hand Naruto gave him a low five and a thumbs up with his trademark grin before closing the door. The owner looked down at their hand while grumbling about cheap-ass blonde midgets. He then felt some killing intent from behind the door and decided to scurry off before his tenant came back out.

(NFoD)

Up above on a rooftop that was across from the hotel room stood two figures. Both wore a black cloak with a red cloud design. The shorter figure was Itachi Uchiha, the murderer of his clan and tormentor of his little brother Sasuke. The taller person was Kisame Hoshigaki, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Mist, carrying samehada on his back. Both members of a group known as the Akatsuki. An unknown if infamously hired group by few. They were currently on a mission to capture the local blonde container from Konoha which was their original plan when they came and used that woman to distract Jiraiya. Itachi had stopped Kisame since he sensed the hawk in the air making its way to the hotel. He knew that the hawk was one of fire country's Red-Winged Hawks. A special breed that was raised to be messengers and part-time trackers. They were smart birds trained to find almost anyone whose chakra signature they have a memory of. Konoha had a varied selection of these birds to easily send messages across the land. They were also the fastest birds in the country so they were the optimal choice in sending a message when it wasn't possible to send another ninja to do it.

It was the reason he placed a genjutsu around them to hide their presence. One of those birds would be able to identify his chakra and possibly report back to Konoha about him being here. Watching the bird fly out of the window and head back in the direction of Konoha he dropped the genjutsu before looking towards the hotel. Whatever message they received must be of importance. It could lessen the window of opportunity for them to grab the blonde boy. They would need to enact a new plan.

"What now Itachi? You said that was a messenger bird so whatever it is they got could make them return to Konoha." Kisame said while Itachi nodded his head before closing his eyes in thought. Though he opened them up and saw Naruto exiting the hotel to most likely find Jiraiya. The genjutsu he placed on the woman would be ending soon or Jiraiya figured out she was placed in one.

"For now, we continue to monitor him. I have a haunch that they won't be returning to Konoha just yet, but it is most likely they will be moving faster now to finish their mission. We plan and set up an opportunity to grab the boy."

"Right. Can't wait to test this brat. You heard the rumors about him turning into a Reaper of all things?" Both members of the Akatsuki took off from the town to find a spot to watch for when the Konoha duo left the town and to see which direction they would head off to. "Seems like whatever information we had on him is now outdated. He's possibly not even the dead last anymore. Heard he even took the soul of Orochimaru. You think that's true?"

"I do not know Kisame. We'll have to stay cautious when we do intercept him. Whatever happened during the Chunin Exams that caused this new development in skill will have to be investigated. It would be best to have all the new data on what we could be dealing with." Kisame nodded his head while the duo got started on making camp a good distance away from the town. By morning they would follow both of them till the moment was right for them to intercept and capture their target.

(NFoD)

There was a city not too far off in the west from Naruto's current location but not in the direction of where Jiraiya would be leading them currently. The city was known as Ribāfurawā (River Flower) because the river crisscrosses around the city and forms a river lily when looking at a map. There was a bald man who wore a black kimono with grey lining on the sides. He wore tan hakama pants with a sash around to keep them tightly closed. He had glasses on over his black coal eyes. His face was scarred with it going from his top eyelid down to his cheekbone. This man was accompanied by a woman who had pale skin and white hair. Despite that, she looked to be a young woman at least around her mid-twenties. She wore a black haori that had the image of an eye with a cross over it on the back. The color of the image was a pale-yellow color and to a few when they looked to it, the image seemed to glow in the dim evening light.

Under the haori, she wore only straps to cover her breast which were around a C cup. Below the waist was a long skirt with a split to show off her long legs. In her hands, she held a book that had the same eye that was on the back of her haori. Her hair came down to her lower back in a ponytail. When it came to her face, she was beautiful to look at. Wearing pale yellow eyeshadow and black eyeliner. There was black makeup that crossed over her eyes like an X. She had a light blush to her face with black lipstick on her plump lips. Her face was soft but had some sharp angles that gave her a royal look to herself.

The mysterious man and woman made their way to the center of the city where most life was at. People all around having a good time as a festival had come this time of year. The woman looked at all the people having fun and smiled with it not even reaching her eyes. Her emerald eyes held no good intention for those around her.

"Such life. Such joy." Her smile turned evil as her eyes glowed ominously in the evening light from the lanterns around them. "I can't wait to end it all for our lord." Her voice was soft almost angel-like and yet nothing she said or desired was in any shape holy.

"Just remember your mission Mutsumi. We are to draw out the new Death Horseman. Don't get distracted by your simple pleasures." The man said to the now identified woman Mutsumi. She simply giggled and opened her book while the eye on it began to glow along with the one on her haori.

"Don't worry that bald head of yours, Akihiro. I know my mission. Can't say the same about you, you old hermit."

"Just get started, you damn witch." He glared at her while she smiled more before looking down at her book. The words in a language not many would know of this world but one of her family kept archived over the centuries. Turning the pages, the smile on her face turned wicked before she began reciting the words there. Her voice echoed throughout the center of the city with many stopping to see what was going on. They assumed it was part of the festival and it was something new they added.

They would all regret it soon.

Mutsumi raised her left hand and gained an ominous yellow-black glow. Many were watching fascinated while others were starting to get worried. Then everything ceased when she punched the earth and everything began shaking.

"Feda corrupcione, exurgens victimas vestras. Surge est bestia, et dominus noster semel iterumque serve! (Foul corruption, rise up and take your victims. Rise beast and serve our lord once again!)" The earth cracked and foul energy flowed from it. Everyone started to panic before a large clawed hand came from the ground and crushed several people. Screaming began and everyone began to try and run. All around the center of the city more of the earth cracked open with different monsters and beast of corruption. They moved to kill all the people around them with not a single person being spared.

The woman smiled before holding her book and turning to another page and looked at the many people dying around her. "O putredo, messis ut de animabus nostris et adde eos Dominus in exercitu. Educ illos ad nos in novam vitam novam rem imperio et non invenies. (Oh corruption, take harvest of the souls and add them to our lord's army. Bring them to a new life under our rule and may they find a new purpose.)" After these words, those that died began to rise as the corruption took over their bodies. Each of their skin turned into a sickly gray with yellow crystals growing from their bodies. The people stood up with the corruption changing them to be monsters with claws and fangs. Their eyes were now shining white. Mutsumi laughed lightly while holding her book open in the air. Soon all the souls that belong to the people flew into the book of hers. Closing it she smirked towards Akihiro who simply scoffed.

"Well done, I suppose. Now we wait and prepare for the Horseman. I will start the procedure to summon one of the Sufferings here." Her face scrunched up in disgust while the bald man left to find a place he could meditate and start the ritual to summon the demon to him. Their plans were coming together. All they had to do was prepare the city for when the Horseman arrived. They would test him and whatever allies he had along with him. He would either pass their Lord's test…

Or they would break him and take his power to free their master.

(Scene! Alright, this is the last chapter for a moment until I start updating my other stories and get them up to standard with these others. Again, this story and Rise of the InuKitsune will be paused from rotation until I get the other stories updated. By the way, the language she was speaking was Latin. And yes, everything you saw at that end was corruption. How will Naruto face this? How will L.O.B and the Shinigami take the fact she stole hundreds of souls? How many times do I have to ask you all to read my bio and vote on the poll there? Figure that out yourself! Until next time my friends, stay safe, stay clean, and stay thirsty.

Jangoman, signing out!)