Naruto-Rise of the Uzumakis!! Pt.1 Ch.45

Naruto Shippuden: Rise of the Uzumakis!
Part:1

Chapter 45: Arrival of the Shinobi Witch! A Wielder of Glass!

The look in Draiko's eyes clearly showed fear and shock; a look Naruto never saw Draiko show in his life. He knew that whoever this Mai person was, she obviously was a huge threat to him. Which also meant she was a threat to Naruto as well.

Naruto quickly switched to defense mode as he and Draiko began to look all around their area. But all they saw was the reflected light from the lightning gleaming off the glass dome around them.

"So, who's this Mai person?" Naruto asked Draiko. "Is she a friend of yours?"

Draiko spat at the idea of Mai being anywhere close to his friend. "Psh! Hardly! Remember I told you that I used to work for Tobi?"

"Yeah."

"Well, so did she. In fact we were big-time rivals in our day. She had this weird obsession with Tobi and always wanted him to acknowledge her for her powers. But due to my powers and superior fighting skills, I always beat her."

"Wait a minute, if you were able to beat her before, why do you have this look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Well, I just never thought that I'd see her again cuz I literally thought she was dead. But the main reason is that when I used my Byakugan to analyze her chakra, it has a much higher tone to it; as if she's... stronger."

Suddenly, an eerie cackle broke throughout the dome.

Draiko and Naruto were now back-to-back ready for a fight against this new foe.

"What an astute observation, 297!" said the dark mysterious voice of a woman. "I almost forgot about those evil little eyes of yours."

Draiko then had an annoyed look on his face. "Yep, that's definitely her." He then looked up before shouting, "Why don't you come out where I see you, Mai! We already know you're here, so show yourself!"

Mai began to cackle at Draiko as an image of a mature woman's face appeared on the glass as if it were projected from a projector. She had an evil look in her eyes, dark-blue hair that was in a ponytail, and a black star tattooed smack-dab in the middle of her face; almost like a permanent mask.

"297, it's so great to see you again. I thought you were dead." Mai said.

Draiko smirked as he faced the giant, projected head. "Funny, I should say the same thing about you!"

"Cute. Really cute. Always the little punk smart-ass you were, 297."

Draiko then had an agitated look on his face. "Stop calling me that."

"Calling you what?" asked Mai.

"297. That's no longer my name!"

"Really? Didn't Lord Tobi give you that name?"

"Yes! But I no longer care for that piece if garbage! 297 was my slave name. My real name is Draiko Uzumaki!"

Mai was now the one who looked disturbed, but then became upset after hearing Draiko call Tobi garbage.

"You dare defy Lord Tobi?! After all the things he did for you?"

"Did for me!?  Nuh uh! That bastard ruined my life! He killed my family and turned me into a monster! But no more!" Draiko then pointed his thumb into his chest as he gave Mai a taunting smirk. "I'm a changed man, now. No longer will I walk the path of darkness!"

However, Mai didn't look impressed. "How quaint. No wonder I find you here making small talk with this piece if garbage!" Mai yelled, referring to Naruto.

Now Naruto looked pissed. "Hey! Who are you calling 'garbage'!?"

"For your information, Mai, that piece of garbage happens to be my cousin!" yelled Draiko.

Mai then squinted her eyes at them so as to see the similarities between them. "Well, well, well! What fortuitous circumstance be this!?" Mai said before laughing again.

Draiko was now getting tired of her laugh as it ached his eardrums. "Look Mai,  I don't know what it is you want from me, but if I had to guess, I'd say you want another match?"

Mai then scoffed in reply to Draiko. "You? My dear, deluded rival. Who said I came here for you?"

Draiko first had a confused look on his face, but then followed Mai's gaze straight at Naruto.

"Him?" Draiko said before turning back to Mai. "Why are you here for Naruto?"

"You mean you didn't know? That filthy little rat killed Lord Tobi!" Mai yelled with a distasteful tone in her voice.

Suddenly Mai's face disappeared and the inner walls of the dome started to form large glass spikes that were pointed straight at them.

Although Mai's face had disappeared, her voice still echoed throughout the dome. "Although I never intended for you to be a part of this 29- oh, I'm sorry, Draiko, but you are in my way. Not to mention that I, well, hate you!"

Suddenly, the glass spikes shot out from the dome and flew right at the two Uzumakis.

Draiko then threw out his left arm, activated his Rinnegan, and shouted, "ALMIGHTY PUSH!!!" The massive chakra blast stopped the glass spikes in mid-air and caused them to fly right back at the glass wall at incredible speed.

Several of the spikes pierced the wall and were stuck there as the rest ricocheted off of it and landed on the ground.

"Wow, thanks, Draiko." said Naruto.

"Yeah, no problem." Draiko replied.

"What devilry is this!?" shouted Mai as he face appeared again in the glass dome as it showed nothing but pure anger and shock. "How the hell did you get that Rinnegan!? Did Lord Tobi give it to you on the day of his death!?"

Draiko smirked in reply as he pointed to his Rinnegan eye with his thumb. "Like hell he did! I took this straight off of his filthy rotten corpse myself!"

That statement really struck a nerve for Mai as she expressed extreme rage. "You what!?"

"That's right! You see Mai, you're gravely mistaken with your info about Tobi's death. Naruto here didn't really kill Tobi. It was me!"

Mai seemed even more shocked than before, that is, until she began to break out in laughter. "You killed Lord Tobi? Yeah, right! You and I both know you don't stand a chance against him by yourself."

"Heh, you're right about that. I know full well that my own powers and skills weren't enough to beat Tobi on my own. Which is why I killed him at the most opportune moment. Naruto, here, had Tobi nearly completely drained of chakra by the time I arrived. Tobi didn't know it, but I had already broke free of his control. I then used that moment to strike." Draiko then raised his hand and squeezed it into a fist. "And with two mighty swings of my sword I brought the bastard down! After that...." He then closed his eyes as his fist was suddenly engulfed in a shroud of chakra that formed a Tiger Claw. He then opened his eyes revealing his Awakened Byakugan. ".....I finished him off with my Tiger Claws!" he said with a sinister grin.

"So you see, Mai? Naruto's not your target.... It's me! Leave him out of this!"

At first Mai seemed to get angrier and angrier, but she eventually calmed herself down. "Quite a story, Draiko. Unfortunately, since word around the whole world is that Naruto killed Tobi, I can't take the chance of wasting my time killing the wrong person. So since you say you killed Tobi, and the whole world says Naruto killed him, I guess there's only one logical thing to do. Kill you both!"

Mai again disappeared as more glass spikes began to fire at Naruto and Draiko.

The two of them began to dodge the several spikes. Draiko used his sword to deflect several of the spikes while Naruto used his Bijuu powers to blow some of them away.

This went on for a while and it made Naruto very agitated. "This is pointless!" he yelled. "What's the point of fighting here if every corner of this place is a death trap!? We need to get out of this dome!"

Draiko saw his point as he tried to figure a way out of the dome. That's when he saw that many of the spikes were still embedded in the walls of of the dome. "Naruto, I need you to aim one of your Rasengans at the spikes stuck in the wall!"

"Can't I just blast it with my Tailed Beast Bomb?"

"Yeah, fire a highly explosive blast in a closely confined area. That's a really good idea!" Draiko said in a sarcastic tone.

Naruto saw his point and quickly charged up a Rasengan before leaping straight up at one of the embedded spikes.

Several more spikes fired at Naruto, but Draiko used his Amighty Push to deflect them away, saving Naruto once again. This made Naruto successful in slamming his Rasengan into the embedded spike, which caused the already damaged glass wall to shatter and create an opening for him to escape.

"Alright!" shouted the happy Naruto as he finally exited the glass dome.

"Good job, Naruto!" cheered Draiko before he too leaped into the air and joined Naruto in exiting the dome.

Although they were out of the dome they had another obstacle in their path, the lightning defense to the temple was still active, even though Naruto still had the Lightning Scroll on his back.

But even though they were faced with this obstacle, both Naruto and Draiko already knew how to get through it. They quickly used the best of their skills to dodge the fierce lightning strikes around them as they tried to put as much distance between them and Mai.

"Hey, I see Naruto!" exclaimed Hinata who kept watch over the temple from a distance. Now that Naruto was out of the dome, she could finally see him with her Byakugan.

"What's his status?" asked Sakura. "Is he okay?"

"Yes he is, and he has the scroll, too."

"Alright! That's our Naruto!" cheered Kiba.

But then Hinata saw something. "Wait, there's someone else with him."

"Who?" asked Sakura.

Hinata closely examined the man next to Naruto and was shocked to see who it was. "It-It's Draiko! Draiko's with Naruto!"

"That dirty rat!" yelled Kiba. "It's no surprise that he's here. He's probably trying to fight Naruto for the scroll, isn't he?"

"No. He's not." Hinata replied.

This confused the others as they waited for Hinata to give them more intel.

"I, I think Draiko's trying to help Naruto."

Hinata watched as the two Uzumakis quickly made their way down the temple together, and began running as if something was chasing them. That's when she noticed another presence emanating from the dome on top of the temple. Whatever it was it was covered in a dark, evil chakra, which sent a chill up Hinata's spine.

"I think Naruto and Draiko are in trouble." she said. "There's someone else down there after them!"

Meanwhile, at the top of the temple, the glass dome quickly turned into a massive shroud of dark chakra before shooting up into the air and penetrating the dark clouds above. This sudden burst caused the clouds to spread and dissipate, as a figure formed in the air from the dark chakra. This figure was none other than Mai herself as she watched Naruto and Draiko running across the open field before the temple.

An evil smirk crept over her face as she cracked her knuckles. "Now the fun really starts!"