Kakashi's reflexes saved his life, halting his momentum an inch from Kimimaro's skin, Kakashi backflipped into the air. A split-second later, the space he had been occupying was completely obliterated by a explosion of giant, razor-sharp calcium spikes erupting outward from Kimimaro's entire torso.
"Ninja Art: Bone Porcupine!"
The genjutsu had caught him, but Kimimaro's autonomy was governed by instinct to protect himself... a passive defense mechanism that triggered the moment anyone approached him.
Kimimaro exhaled heavily, the spiky bone armor retracting back into his body with a painful crunch. He looked around, acknowledging his failure to catch Kakashi, but his attention was quickly pulled to the left.
A few yards away, the fight was already over.
Sakura lay face-down, bruised and gasping for air. Sasuke was casually sitting on her back, his legs crossed, looking down around with disinterest. Tears of frustration welled in Sakura's eyes. Defeated so easily, so thoroughly. In a desperate final move, she exhaled a cloud of poisonous gas straight into Sasuke's face.
Sasuke didn't even flinch as he took in without bothering. He remained seated, staring through it. "Don't bother," he said coldly. "Orochimaru's experiments made my body completely immune to toxins."
Yamato and Neji landed beside Kakashi, weapons drawn, forming a tight defensive line as Kimimaro looked at the three Konoha shinobi, as he slowly pieced together of the situation.
"I'm starting to realize something," Kimimaro said softly. "How could Tsunade send only four of you on a mission like this, without knowing how many enemies and worse with Lord Orochimaru around?"
His eyes shifting away from Kakashi and locking onto Neji. "Inoichi must have read my mind. I was never actually trusted..." Kimimaro chuckled. "Aren't I right, Neji?"
~~
Neji remained silent unable to give an answer to the accusation but Kimimaro didn't seem to expect one because how else would they have known about the Land of Sound in detail.
"You don't need to answer that," Kimimaro continued. "The reason I left my forehead protector behind was because I was certain you would accompany this team. I wanted to meet you, my friend, one last time... to look you in the eye before I decided a path for myself."
He paused, looking at the sky which was now covered with bone branches, fixing his sight back on Neji. "And now, I have made my choice. Send my regards to Guy-san, Lee, and Tenten. I choose to believe that at least they were not part of the glorious scheming going on behind my back."
With that, Kimimaro turned his attention to Kakashi. "And Kakashi... you are weak," he stated as a matter-of-fact, his tone lacking any malice which only made the critique harsher. "What are you now, twenty-nine? Thirty? And yet you haven't even reached Kage-tier. You should really work on that before attempting to lead another S-rank mission as you would not get a considerate opponent like myself. Consider this fair warning, because I will be taking control of the Land of Sound now that Lord Orochimaru has been captured. I will govern until his return as the Second Otokage. Make sure you pass that message back to Tsunade."
Kakashi narrowed his eye, but chose not to answer in response to Kimimaro raised his hand, gesturing to the calcified spires up around them.
"By the way," Kimimaro added, "you were dead the very moment you stepped foot into this bone forest. This entire domain is an extension of my body, and you are standing at the epicenter of it. If I wished it, I could bury the four of you beneath a mountain of calcified bone in the blink of an eye. But as the Otokage, I cannot afford unnecessary diplomatic incidents involving visiting delegates. Since you know the path you took to get here, I trust you can see yourselves out."
He glanced over his shoulder toward Sasuke. "Sasuke, we are leaving. And Sakura looks quite uncomfortable down there... though whether that's from her defeat or from you using her as a lawn chair, I couldn't say."
Sasuke blinked with a faint surprise crossing his usually impassive face. Kimimaro's behavior had flipped a complete hundred and eighty degrees. He was talking far too much, tossing around sarcastic remarks and dry jokes he would have never made in the past. Sasuke wondered if this shift in temperament was some bizarre side effect of his was because of Orochimaru's capture, or simply the thrill of claiming power.
A few paces away, Karin crossed her arms and huffed, adjusting her glasses with annoyance. "So, you're calling yourself our Otokage now?" she muttered, still nursing a grudge over getting caught in the crossfire of his jutsu earlier.
Kabuto, standing beside her with his hands tucked into his sleeves, smirked behind his specs. "I have no objections," He chimed in. "He certainly has the strength to back up the title. He's already dealt with at least three Akatsuki members single-handedly... monsters that Sasuke and I were struggling just to survive against, let alone damage."
Kimimaro flared his chakra and in a sharp blur of movement, he, Sasuke, Karin, and Kabuto vanished simultaneously in a seamless Body Flicker technique.
A quiet reclaimed the bone forest. Yamato, Neji, and Kakashi held their ground, nobody daring to make a hostile move or give chase. They knew Kimimaro hadn't been bluffing. Surrounding them in every direction were towering spires of bone piercing the sky, a stark reminder that they were still trapped inside his killing zone amd making a foolish move meant instant death.
Kakashi slowly lowered his kunai, letting out a long sigh as he looked at the space where the Kimimaro had stood moments before.
~~
A/N: The first arc is completed with Kimimaro turning out to be Otokage. There will be a minor time skip to Arc 2, about a year.
How did you like the 1st arc? Put down your thoughts.
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