Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other series I might use for inspiration.

Lessons for a Young Species

"Halt!" Shaiapouf exclaimed with his right arm extended, hand formed into a stop signal, having appeared in front of the Tsuchikage and his guard in the blink of an eye, along with Youpi, Mosquito, and Bat.

"W-what the hell are these things, jiji?" a perplexed Kurotsuchi asked warily.

"Hear me, you lowly humans! I am Commander Shaiapouf of the Chimera Ant Royal Flying Squad. We are the honourable summons of Naruto-sama, our esteemed God! We have been ordered to prevent you from advancing any further, and have been given permission to eradicate you should you refuse to obey. So I urge you, please….please refuse to stand down! Please attempt to advance and attack our esteemed God Naruto-sama…so that we may eradicate you….!" Shaiapouf trailed off with a malicious tone, a sinister gaze permeable in his eyes as he looked at the Tsuchikage and his crew with disgust, loathing, and killing intent.

'Heh! I should have known that Commander Shaiapouf would say something like that.' Mosquito thought, not knowing whether to be amused or embarrassed by her commander's twisted execution of Naruto-sama's orders.

"Hahaha! Nice one Shaiapouf! You guys, are you really going to let him talk down to you like that?" Menthuthuyoupi asked antagonistically, further fanning the fires that Shaiapouf had just ignited in the hearts and minds of the Tsuchikage and his crew.

"Jiji! Give the order now! Surely you're not going to let a bunch of ants talk to us like that are you?" Kurotsuchi asked with barely contained anger and frustration.

'Ants? Did they really just call themselves ants?' Ohnoki pondered, wondering how on earth these beasts could possibly identify themselves as ants.

Okay sure, the commander of their little team had butterfly wings and antannae on his head, but still, they were butterfly wings, not ant wings, because ants don't have wings, not to mention the fact that apart from the wings and the antennae, the guy looked completely human. The other girl also looked human as well apart from her bat-like features, and last time Ohnoki checked, bats and ants were not the same species, heck, bats aren't even insects or arachnids, they're just bats.

He didnt even want to go into the red skinned guy, that guy was quite obviously no ant species. The other girl, okay, while he could tell from her facial features and her womanly curves that something human was going on there, everything else screamed insect. As far as Ohnoki could tell, she kind of looked like a mosquito, still not an ant though. To say the least, Ohnoki was confused, very confused.

Nevertheless, he didn't have the time to ponder on such issues, not while the enemy was right in front of them, so he did the best thing he could do in that scenario, play mind games. If this man insect thought he was going to dictate the pace of this encounter, then he had another thing coming. He clearly didn't know with whom he was playing with, because Ohnoki didn't live this long by letting his pride and emotions get the better of him, even if said emotions did do just that once or twice in his lifetime before.

"Hn! What are you talking about, grand daughter? Of course I'm going to let them get away with it. Why on earth would I even entertain the ramblings of an ant? Surely this sub human species cannot possibly be worthy of our attention." The Tsuchikage retorted whilst throwing a stiff jab at their potential opponents, a horrifyingly angry and evil expression morphing into Shaiapouf's facial expression at the sound of that, the Commander of the Royal Flying Squad seemingly bursting at the seams with pent up anger and frustration, having hoped that his ploy to antagonise the Tsuchikage would have caused them to attack, thereby giving him the authority to deal with them as he saw fit, that being, to completely wipe them off of the surface of the earth.

"Heh! Hahaha! This old man saw right through you, man! What are you going to do now, Commander? Do you dare break Naruto-sama's orders and attack them anyway?" Youpi asked tauntingly, Shaiapouf giving Youpi a death stare straight out of the pits of hell, but saying nothing in response and making no move to attack him, although his face portrayed everything he was thinking about the brutish chimera ant right at that moment.

"You idiot! Don't antagonise the commander like that! Just whose side are you on anyway?" Bat exclaimed indignantly.

"I'm on your side, stupid! However, unlike our dear old Commander here, I don't try to think beyond the orders that I am given. I trust Naruto-sama to make the right call at all times, unlike this fool who thinks that he is actually smarter than Kami-sama himself." Youpi retorted, eliciting a deathly silence between the ant crew with his blunt honesty.

'Damn that Youpi. What a way to kill the morale of the team. Sure, his words are one hundred percent true. Pouf is a victim of his own intellect and ego. He always thinks that he knows best, and without realising it, he is constantly undermining Naruto-sama's orders by trying to find loopholes to exploit in his orders. He loves, worships, and idolizes Naruto-sama more than anyone else, but somehow his toxic personality has twisted even that love, because he loves and idolises Naruto-sama for who he thinks he should be and who he wants him to be as opposed to who he actually is.' Mosquito thought analytically.

"Are you guys sure you came here for us? Did you really come all the way here just to fight amongst yourselves? What are you, children? How old are you anyway?" Roshi asked sarcastically, causing Ohnoki, Han, and Kurotshuchi to snicker at the expense of the chimera ants, Shaiapouf looking like he was legitimately about to literally explode right then and there.

'This is not going according to plan at all! Kami-sama! What sin have I committed against you to deserve such punishment! Why did you give us such a timid order? You were supposed to order us to obliterate our enemies! Why! Why put me through such shame! Why….' Shaiapouf was cut off from his thoughts as he heard a loud impact coming from the surface, turning around, along with his flying squad only to see their worst nightmare, their beloved God fallen on his back, a large creator around his body, broken and seemingly defeated, with the Raikage standing over him in victory.

"N-Naruto-sama/Kami-sama!" All four of the ants exclaimed in shock, fear, and horror, unable to believe what they were seeing with their own eyes.

"Naruto-sama! We have to go help him! We cannot allow our God to perish at the hands of a lowly human!" Shaiapouf exclaimed.

"B-but what about our orders?" Mosquito stuttered.

"Orders be damned! We'll take whatever punishment we have to take for disobeying orders later, even if it means we'll be executed for insurbodination!" Shaiapouf exclaimed as he tried to fly towards his God, only to be halted in his tracks when Youpi shape shifted and extended his arm so that he can catch Pouf by his ankle and stop him from committing a grave mistake.

"What are you doing, Youpi?" Pouf exclaimed angrily.

"Wait, you foolish commander! Look, he's getting up. and he is not injured. He's about to get serious, he was just feeling out the opponent that's all." Youpi said much to the relief of, well, everyone, by everyone meaning every chimera ant on the battlefield.

"I see…"

"Stop embarrassing us and yourself and start acting like a true commander. Our job is to prevent these pathetic humans from interfering, that's all there is to it." Youpi chastised his commander.

"I can't believe I'm being reprimanded by a simpleton such as you….but, you're right." Shaiapouf said, shocked not only by Youpi's intelligence and decision making skills, but even more so by his own incompetence and lack of rationality.

That however didn't mean he was going to stop paying attention to Naruto's battle, even if he had to divide his time between paying attention to the Tsuchikage and his beloved God's battle, for one cannot simply change their nature in a split second. The fact of the matter was that he couldn't stand the very thought of possibly losing Naruto-sama to that brutish Kumo ninja, or anyone for that matter, especially if it happened while he did nothing to stop it, that would just destroy him entirely, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, heck, even physically.

Fortunately for him, their God prevailed, and spectacularly too, beating the brutish Raikage at his own game, by completely overwhelming him with lightning speed and raw power. To say Pouf was pleased by not only the outcome but by the manner in which his God carried himself would amount to a massive understatement.

Yes, he was a displeased by the fact that Naruto-sama allowed them to escape, however, the fact that the Raikage and his goons were running from his God with their tails between their legs, and the Raikage helpless and unable to even move an inch of his body, brought a sense of warmth and pleasure to Pouf that he could scarcely recall ever feeling before. Yes, he was pleased, he was very pleased.

"Heh! Would you look at that? The Raikage is running away with his tail between his legs! Heh! Serves him right!" Youpi exclaimed joyously.

"Indeed, Youpi. Serves him right indeed…" Pouf trailed off maliciously.

"Now, Tsuchikage-dono, what will you do I wonder? One of your allies has been defeated and has deserted the battlefield, whereas we on the other hand remain strong and unharmed. At least the Raikage was brave enough to give it his best shot, do you have the courage and self confidence to match Lord Raikage, oh great fence sitter?" Shaiapouf asked condescendingly.

"You insects don't have much in the way of ninja experience do you? If you did, you would know that in the ninja world, courage is not a prerequisite in order to destroy your enemies" Ohnoki said with a cold smirk, all four of the members of the Royal Flying Squad involuntarily widening their eyes in shock as their bodies, in an instant, became competely trapped and surrounded in a cube made of raw white and transparent energy.

"Particle Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!" Ohnoki exclaimed, the cube shrinking down and doing as its name suggested, that being to completely dismantle enemies at a molecular level, leaving no trace whatsoever of their existence. Well, at least it worked on Shaiapouf, but the rest of the Flying Squad however had other plans, as they all managed to somehow dispell Ohnoki's jutsu with ease, something that was thought to be impossible prior to today.

Each of them did it differently, using their unique skills and God given talents, by God given meaning Naruto given of course. Youpi had the unique ability to expand his body by filling it up with explosive chakra that would eventually explode outward, riducing him back to his normal size but completely obliterating all of his enemies from all around himself. In other words, a three sixty degree attack. Using said ability, Youpi was able to stop the cube from shrinking any further and in fact managed to dispell the jutsu completely.

Bat on the other hand used her sound/vibration release in order to dispell the atomic dismantling cube, releasing a powerful wave of vibrations all around her at the correct frequency required to dismantle the would be dismantling Jutsu. Finally, Mosquito. For her it wasn't so much as dismantling the jutsu more than it was absorbing the jutsu, using the summing jutsu to summon thousands of small mosquito's that specializes in chakra absorption, the mosquito's completely draining the jutsu of it's chakra, thereby causing said jutsu to collapse into nothingness.

This of course, came as a shock to Ohnoki and his team, who couldn't believe what they were seeing, having never seen anyone deal with the particle release in that manner before. However, none of them were able to get a chance to even properly digest that information as the three remaining chimera ants went on the offensive, flying at speeds that neither Ohnoki or his team were able to follow much less keep up with.

It happened in an instant. Youpi turned his arms into two razor sharp tendrils and speared both Kurotsuchi and Ohnoki right through the chest before they could even blink, Mosquito used her super speed to close the distance between herself and Han and used one of her twin hooks to slice Han's head clean off his shoulders, and Bat used her sound release to coat her hand with chakra that was vibrating at incredible decibels, causing her hand to become exponentially sharper than a spear and a sword as she stabbed her hand right through Roshi's chest, the three of them effectively and efficiently killing off the entire Tsuchikage platoon squad.

However, their victory was short lived when all three of them began to notice that instead of blood flowing out of the wounds, soil instead was leaking out of the wounds and the bodies began to crumble into dust and debris. Not unexpectedly, this occurrence both shocked and infuriated the flying squad, and what was most disconcerting was the fact that they didn't understand how they, of all people, the elite Royal Flying Squad, had no idea when or how the Tsuchikage platoon squad had replaced themselves with rock clones.

"I-impossible! How is it possible that I of all people didn't detect the execution of both the particle release and the replacement rock clones!" Bat thought as she tried to use her sound release: vibration radar technique to find the location of the Tsuchikage his team.

"Forget about you! How did I not notice any of this!" Mosquito exclaimed in shock, unable to believe that her chakra sensory skills had failed her.

"Forget about that! More importantly, where the hell are they now!" Youpi exclaimed angrily.

"I can't find them, and it isn't a barrier either, unlike a chakra sensor, I can detect people even from within a chakra cloaking barrier with my vibration radar. They... they're not here, they aren't anywhere near where we are." Bat replied.

"What? Are you fucking with me right now, teme! How did they use such high level techniques like the particle release or the tsuchi bunshin without being within our range?" Youpi asked incredulously.

"It's rather simple actually…" They all heard a voice that they never thought they would ever hear again, the voice of their commander, Shaiapouf, all of them turning around rapidly to see the floating head of their commander who seemed to be regenerating himself.

'Of course! How could I have not realised that he would survive!' Mosquito thought, realising just how out of tune the Tsuchikage and his squad had put her and her comrades if things that were so obvious were flying right by their heads.

Shaiapouf's survival was rather simple to explain if you knew about his abilities. He was blessed with the ability to dismantle and reassemble his own cells at a molecular level, or to put it simply, to split himself into multiple molecule sized clones of himself and then put himself together into his true form again. So naturally, a jutsu that dimsantled objects and people at a molecular level was never going to actually succeed in killing him, because all he would have to do was simply dismantle himself and then re-assemble himself and everything would be fine.

"You're alive? Heh! Good for you, I was just about to take your position as commander of the Royal Flying Squad!" Youpi exclaimed elatedly, Shaiapouf shaking his head in disgust at the prospect of leaving his squad in the hands of such a simpleton.

"More importantly, could you elaborate on what you were saying, commander? How is any of this simple?" Bat asked incredulously.

"The particle release was a time lapsing jutsu, set to activate at a specific point in time or at the command of the user. The distance of the user is irrelevant because the chakra for the jutsu has already been expanded before the user got out of range and before you ask, the reason we didn't notice is because the jutsu was executed when we got distracted." Shaiapouf explained.

"The hell are you on about? I was never distracted." Youpi argued.

"We all were distracted stupid. When the Raikage put Naruto-sama on his back, we allowed our emotions to get in the way. The commander tried to run to Naruto-sama's aid and you tried to stop him. We were all distracted as a result, and that gave them the opportunity to set up the jutsu." Mosquito retorted much to Youpi and Bat's horror.

"B-but! If they already set up the jutsu then, then why did they retreat? Why did they replace themselves with tsuchi bunshins? How were they supposed to attack Naruto-sama from out of range?" Bat asked confusedly.

"Easy. The answer is that they didn't in fact retreat at that moment. They remained where they were, planning to use the particle release to instantly kill us and advance on Naruto-sama without hindrance as soon as the right opportunity presented itself. However, when Naruto-sama triumphed over the Raikage and The Raikage retreated with his team, they realised that the competetive advantage they would have had of eight vs four was no longer attainable, and that fighting Naruto-sama and the his team 4 vs 4 would be too much of a risk." Shaiapouf explained.

"So they retreated by replacing themselves with rock clones. Once again we were distracted by our celebration of Naruto-sama's victory, and they took advantage of that momentary lapse in concentration to act with precision and efficiency. Of course, they still wanted to land a blow on Naruto-sama, so they didn't cancel the particle release and hoped to at least kill the four of us for their troubles." Shaiapouf concluded his explanation.

"So basically, all of this happened because of our incompetence? It is one hundred percent our fault? You've gotta be kidding me! How can we possibly be so useless!" Youpi exclaimed angrily, hands on his head in frustration, wondering how on planet earth he was supposed to face Naruto-sama now after representing him so poorly.

The others were not fairing any better, Youpi's words hitting them like a freight train at full speed, not because said words were harsh or cruel but because they were so true. Nothing can hurt a person like the truth. No matter how cruel or harsh your words are, if they aren't true, they are meaningless and don't have as much of an effect on the person they are directed to. But if they are true, if the words are nothing but the honest and most sincere truth, then their impact becomes exponentially more devastating.

"I have failed Naruto-sama as commander of this unit. I will tender in my resignation and accept whatever punishment our Lord and creator deems fit. Come, let us go and confess our sins." Shaiapouf said somberly, his body now fully regenerated as he began to fly down towards their God, his squad following close behind, the mood and morale of the Royal Flying Squad at an all time low.

Meanwhile: Tsuchikage and Squad

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me! I can't believe those bastard ants survived our particle release trap! How could this possibly happen?" Kurotsuchi exclaimed with both surprise and anger.

"Come see for yourself if you don't believe me." Han retorted simply, tossing his retractable telescope at the Princess of Iwagakure, only to have it violently thrown back at his face, Han thankful that his reflexes were good enough that he managed to catch the telescope before it smashed his face.

"I don't want to see that shit!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed angrily, feeling like Han was shoving hers and her grandfather's failure at her face by offering her a chance to see for herself, seeing as it was she and her grandfather who were responsible for the particle release trap.

"Han, I expect you to provide me with a full report detailing how exactly they managed to survive our particle release trap when we get back home. Even if you don't quite understand the ability used, give me as best a description as you can. This information will be vital for the next time we encounter those creatures. It has become clear that the brat cannot be defeated without first going through his beasts." Ohnoki ordered.

"As you wish, Ohnoki-sama." Han replied humbly.

"So there will be a next time then? Is it really wise to go after the Uzumaki brat? If we couldn't defeat him when he was out in the wilderness, isolated from his fortress and the rest of his comrades, what chance do we have of defeating him in Onikagakure no Sato? We don't even know the landscape of Demon Country, much less the location and logistics of Onigakure no Sato. Morever, his people will no doubt throw themselves in between us and the Onikage. We'll have to go through all of them just to get to him. How many of our people will have to die to get that far? Can we even get that far?" Roshi questioned the Tsuchikage's plans.

"What are you saying exactly, Roshi? Are you saying that you want us to allow the son of the Yellow Flash to live and thrive while we do nothing about it? Do you want to explain that to our people, huh? What do you think they will say or do when they find out, and trust me they WILL find out, that the son of that bastard Yellow Flash is alive and has his own ninja village, and we aren't doing jack shit about it? Will you stand before them and explain that you won't get revenge for our people because you're scared?" Kurotsuchi asked with both incredule and disgust.

"Our people are safe, our people are thriving. They are doing just fine. Isn't that enough? Aren't they tired of losing loved ones to that man and his bloodline?" Roshi asked.

"You must be growing senile in your old age, Roshi. What you don't understand is that every man, woman, girl, boy, and child would gladly stab and remove their own eye if it meant getting revenge on the Yellow Flash. Needless to say, they would gladly give their own lives if it meant ending that cursed bloodline." Han retorted.

"Then let us give them a choice. You say that they will find out about Naruto even if we try to hide this information, right? Then, let us tell them the truth without trying to influence them. Let us lay it all out on the table and let them decide." Roshi pleaded.

"I was planning to do that anyway, stupid! As soon as we arrive I will call for a village assembly and tell them everything that happened. I'll also make sure that every ninja and citizen understands the pros and cons of going to war with Onigakure, I'll make sure they understand that we would be facing the risk of eradication if we lost, and in fact even if we win. And then I'll let them decide by way of vote. Everyone's vote will be kept confidential so as to make sure that no one is influenced by the loud voices of a small minority. We'll make sure everyone has a voice in this matter." Ohnoki explained.

"You must really be rattled if you're going this far. You're taking him even more seriously then you took the Yellow Flash." Han retorted.

"Of course I am. The last time I underestimated a Namikaze my village was almost eradicated by one man. I won't make that mistake again, especially when the Namikaze have combined their blood with the Uzumaki." Ohnoki replied.

"But jiji do you think the Raikage will want to form an alliance with us after what happened? What if what happened makes him not want to anger the Namikaze brat?" Kurotsuchi asked warily, instinctively realising that an alliance would have to be made in order to defeat Onigakure without her dad even saying so.

"On the contrary, my dear granddaughter, what happened to the Raikage may in fact be a blessing in disguise. Before his battle with Naruto, I was ninety percent certain that any offer of an alliance by me would have been rejected by the Raikage. But after this, I'm ninety five percent certain that my offer will be accepted." Ohnoki said confidently, much to Kurotsuchi's confusion, something that Han did not fail to notice.

"You must understand, Kurotsuchi. The Raikage has an unbreakable will. He is unyielding and unrelenting, and he does not know the meaning of the word 'fear'. Even when the Yellow Flash had a flee on site order on him, The Raikage was the only man in the world who continued to challenge him time after time. The Flee on site order and the fear that everyone had at the mere mention of that guy's name did not apply to the Raikage."

"Of course, he lost every time he and his brother confronted the Yellow Flash, but that did not deter him one bit. So you see, you need not worry about the Raikage's will to fight. I bet you right now he is already planning out his next encounter with the Namikaze brat." Han explained for the sake of the youngest member in the group, Kurotsuchi unable to help herself but to think of how amazing and brave the Raikage was and what a strong willed individual he was.

"I suppose there is no need to ask about the Mizukage. That guy really hates the Onikage. Well I can't blame him, he killed his father after all." Kurotsuchi thought out loud.

"The Mizukage's participation is as good as secured. Speaking of which, how did he fair against the Namikaze brat's monsters, Han?" Ohnoki asked curiously.

"Same as us. The ants were distracted the same as the ones we faced. They used a water prison trap to set them up, and used water clones to conceal their retreat. The ants were able to escape the water prison trap, but the Mizukage was already long gone." Han replied robotically.

"Smart lad. I was a little concerned about how useful he would be because of his youth and his obvious desire for revenge. But perhaps the lad has a good head on his shoulders after all." Ohnoki retorted.

"..."

"Okay, it's time to go home. This is no place to hold a war council. We've done all we can here. Head out!" Ohnoki ordered as he and his squad disappeared in a burst of speed, all four of them flying away at a rapid speed, having held the entire conversation in the air.

Back with the Onikage:

To say Naruto was disappointed would actually be an overstatement in this particular case. He wasn't disappointed at all, in fact, things had gone exactly as he expected them to. He had expected the chimera ants to succeed in their mission in stopping the advancement of his enemies, but he had also expected for them to be caught off guard by the tricky and underhanded nature of ninja tactics, he had even expected their reaction to the situation. So no, he was neither surprised nor was he disappointed.

"I...I don't understand Nyawruto-sama. Are you saying that you expected us to fail? That you never believed in us from the get go?" Pitou asked with a heart breaking tone and facial expression, like a kitten that just got kicked in the ribs by its owner.

Pitou was on her knees, prostrating herself before her God, along with the rest of her squad. She was about a metre in front of them, next to Shaiapouf, who was also prostrating himself in front of his God, his squad doing the same a metre behind him.

"Oh, I believe in you alright. I believe you have the potential to be the most amazing summons in the universe. You're already the most powerful, but you're not the most experienced summoning species. It's no surprise really, you're less than seven years old, so when it comes to experience, you're far behind the rest of the ninja world and summoning world. The ninjas you faced today are not only elite ninja with much more experience than you, but they have also benefitted from generations of shinobi knowledge and tactics that have been passed down throughout the centuries." Naruto explained, taking a momentary pause to allow the ants to digest the information before carrying on.

"The fact that you all survived is the most important thing, because now you have first hand experience about what it means to face off against an elite ninja with killing intent. No amount of sparring can make up for the real deal. I'm hoping to avoid it, but war seems to be the inevitable outcome between me and the Five Kage Nations and that means it is an inevitable outcome for you as well."

"Therefore by summoning you today, I hoped to give you that first hand ninja experience in preparation for the war, but if you died then all of that would have been for nothing. You survived, and therefore have the opportunity to use the experience and knowledge you gained to improve yourselves. That is, believe it or not, something to celebrate. I am confident that things will be different next time, if nothing else, the chimera ants are fast learners. Your true power is your abiltiy to evolve and adapt." Naruto said words of comfort and encouragement to his breathren, and boy did it work, as Naruto could literally feel the mood shift, literally, because of his emotion sensing ability.

"Great Kami-sama, please forgive me, for I have sinned. My faith was once again shaken by your orders, and I even dared to doubt your credibility as our God because of the orders that you gave us. I lost faith in you and my lack of faith is the direct cause for creating the opening that the Tsuchikage and his platoon squad exploited. I am unworthy of being Commander of the Royal Flying Squad. Naruto-sama, please select a new commander for the Royal Flying Squad, and accept my head as recompense for my sins." Shaiapouf said dejectedly.

"No such thing will happen you stupid fool. Do you honestly think Naruto-sama or any of us got to where we are because we didn't make mistakes? Because we didn't embarass ourselves at any point? Because we didn't feel a sense of shame and uselessness at any point?" Fuka said angrily.

"The road to perfection is littered with failure and disappointment. It is a road full of pain and heartache. But that is exactly what you need in order to grow and evolve. Learning from your mistakes and failures, and growing from your pain and disappointment is how one attains true shinobi prowess. Are you so weak and pathetic that you would commit suicide at the first sign of trouble? Because if so, then you really were never worthy of Naruto-sama to begin with." Fuka spoke harshly, but truly, Pouf's eyes widening in surprise as realisation dawned on him, realising what a complete and utter idiot and weakling he was, and consequently vowing to never embarass himself or his God like that again.

"I...I understand. Thank you, Fuka-sama. I will take your words to heart, and I vow to never show my back again, no matter the circumstances. I will become the leader that the Royal Flying Squad deserves and I will become the true and faithful servant that our God deserves." Pouf said with the fire of conviction burning in his eyes, a new found respect and appreciation for the members of the Bloodline growing in his mind and heart at the same time.

In all honesty, up until this very moment, Pouf hated the Bloodline Members more than anyone or anything in the world. He hated how they were always at their God's side, he hated how much love and trust Naruto-sama had for them, he hated how they were the first line of defense against Naruto-sama's enemies, he hated everything about them, because he believed that everything they had should have been what the chimera ants and their King had, because he believed the chimera ants were much better than the lowly Bloodline humans.

However, he now realised that maybe not everything he believed was entirely true. These Bloodline members were not lowly humans, not at all, they were angels. If the chimera ants were the servants and Naruto-sama was their God, then surely the Bloodline Members had to be the angels at their God's side. This very moment couldn't have made it any more clearer for Pouf, the sheer wisdom and knowledge that this lady angel had just imparted on him, her mental fortitude and experience, her grace and her beauty, and the fact that she had Naruto-sama's trust and respect. What else could she be if not an angel?

For the first time in his short life Pouf realised how delusional and misinformed he was, for the first time, he realised how much he still had to learn and how much he still needed to grow. He had arrogantly and foolishly refused to entertain any notion that the chimera ants might be flawed or inadequate in any way whatsoever, seeing it as a sign of weakness to even entertain such thoughts. But now he realised that one had to look at themselves critically and honestly to identify weaknesses in themselves in order to learn, adapt, grow, and overcome said weakness. That was the only way to reach true perfection.

"I'll hold you to those words, Pouf." Naruto said sternly.

"H-hai! Kami-sama! Please do!" Pouf said with both humility and conviction.

'He's finally learning. This is good. Summoning him and his squad for this encounter really was the right call.' Naruto thought.

"Very well. Are there any questions or enquiries?" Naruto asked, directing the question not just at Pouf but all the chimera ants.

"..."

"In that case, you may be dismissed." Naruto ordered, the entire flying squad and assualt squad giving a military salute before simultaneously cancelling the summoning technique, teleporting back to the chimera ant summoning village.

Hours Later: Land of Rivers

"I never expected the ichibi jinchuuriki to be travelling with the Hokage and her elite guard." Sasori said with a deep and grouchy voice, a far cry from his real voice but one born out of necessity in order to maintain his cover.

He was in the sky, far up in the sky, in fact so high that he couldn't even see the people that they were stalking, relying on Deidara's artificial eye enhancer in order to keep track of their targets. They were using Deidara's clay Hawks in order to fly, Deidara having made one for himself and one for Sasori.

"Do you think that they knew that we were coming, hm?" Deidara asked curiously.

"Its not impossible, but extremely unlikely. The more likely reason for this is that the discussions at the Kage Summit must have rattled the Konoha-Suna alliance. With Onigakure no Sato, The Uzumaki clan, The Bloodline, and Uzumaki Naruto himself announcing themselves to the world, a series of ripples or even waves have undoubtedly been triggered. War seems a likely scenario, and if war is about to break out, then it seems reasonable to assume that the enemy would attempt to take out the Ichibi jinchuurki in order to weaken the Konoha-Suna alliance." Sasori retorted.

"Hmmm? You know you might be on to something, Sasori no dana, hn. Now that Uzumaki Naruto has revealed himself, Konoha can no longer use the threat of unleashing the most powerful bijuu on their enemies, and if the Ichibi is also taken out, then the demise of the Konoha-Suna alliance would be almost guaranteed. Still, this is a problem for us, hn. What do we do now, dana? Do we retreat or do we wait for the Konoha team to leave Suna?" Deidara asked with both curiosity and concern.

"Neither. We must attack them right now. The numbers are againat us, but in the next twenty four hours our target will reach Sunagakure no Sato where he will have an endless supply of sand. It will be more difficult to take him out in his own home ground." Sasori counter argued.

"So we must attack them before they leave the land of Rivers, hn?" Deidara asked retorically.

"Precisely. But we must have a carefully planned and tactical approach, after all, two of our enemies are the Legendary Sannin, one is the legendary copy ninja, and they have that strange taijutsu user who can use the celestial gates. Defeating them would be tough even if the Ichibi and his team wasn't with them." Sasori said with a grave undertone.

"You make a valid point I have to admit, dana. So what do you have in mind, hn?" Deidara asked excitedly.

"Send a clay clone ahead to the border of the River Lands, have it set up an elaborate and impregnable mine field. We must not allow them to reach Suna no matter what. We'll wait until they rest in the evening before we attack them. The cover of darkness works better with my fighting style, that is to say, assuming I will be even needed." Sasori replied controversially.

"The fuck did you just say, hn? You expect me to fight all of these powerful guys on my own? Are you an idiot or just plain lazy, hn?" Deidara asked incredulously.

"Your attacking style is best suited for mass demolition and destruction. Killing a multitude of enemies in a single attack is your speciality. We'll have you drop your C3 bomb on them. No matter what their abilties are, I expect your C3 bomb to eliminate at least half of them and severely injure the rest. I'm counting on the Ichibi being part of the injured list, which will make it easier for us to take him. Also, the explosion should also serve to separate them from each other. If we can isolate the Ichibi, then all the better for us." Sasori explained.

"I see. Well damn you should have lead with that from the beginning, hn." Deidara retorted excitedly.

"Curb your excitement until after we have captured the Ichibi. Now hurry up and make your prepations. I have my own preparations to make." Sasori ordered grumpily.

"You got it, dana!" Deidara said with even more excitement, clearly not taking Sasori's advice to curb his excitement at all.

That evening:

"Is everyone okay? If you're struggling please speak up! I intend for us to travel throughout the evening and only rest in the morning. If you won't be able to make it, or if you will but will be completely drained by morning, then please speak up. You'll be useless in a battle if you are too drained to fight." Tsunade spoke up as she and her comrades continued to run at a rapid pace through the Land of Rivers.

"Don't underestimate us, Hokage-sama. I know you spoke out on behalf of Temari and I. We aren't the snot nosed genin you met shortly after the chuunin exams all those years ago." Kankurou replied with a confident smirk.

"Hn, that's good to hear. I'll hold you to those words, Kankurou." Tsunade retorted cheekily.

"Tsunade-sama! There's something in the sky falling directly towards us. There is chakra in it, it must be some kind of jutsu." Kakashi said as he and the rest of the Konoha-Suna team came to a sudden halt.

"I'll handle it!" Gaara said as he sent his sand after the object, attempting to catch it long before it reached the team and succeeding in his goal too.

However, it was a very short lived success as the object, with a puff of smoke, suddenly expanded exponentially in size, so much so that the Konoha-Suna team couldn't even see the stars in the sky anymore, the object expanding so far and wide that it was impossible for them, no matter how fast they were, to get away before they got crushed underneath the weight of the object.

"Y-you've gotta be kidding me! W-we won't be able to…!"

"As I said before, I've got it under control." The Kazekage said calmly, cutting off his older brother before he could finish talking whilst also directing all of the sand inside his goard and even breaking down the goard itself into sand as he sent all of it up there in order to catch and stop the gigantic structure from crushing all of them like insects, once again succeeding in his goal, even though it took much more effort this time around as he clasped his hands together in concentration.

"H-he did it. Well done, Kazekage!" Tsunade said with gratitude.

"The job is not done yet. I need to send some of my sand into the ground in order to break it down and create more sand. If anyone can alleviate some of the pressure, the process would go faster." Gaara said emotionlessly.

"I'll do it. Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Jiraiya said after going through the hand seals and biting his finger, summoning two boss level toads, one being Gamatora and the other being Gamaken.

"Hurry up and help Kazekage out." Jiriaya ordered hastily, the toads, instantly realising the gravity of the situation, not wasting any time at all as they helped to hold up the structure.

"Heh? I can't believe that they actually managed to avoid getting crushed by your C3 bomb. As expected I suppose of the legendary sannin and the young prodigious Kazekage." Sasori said, both surprised and impressed by the feats of his enemies.

"Heh! Let's see how they handle the true form of my art. Katsu!" Deidara exclaimed as he formed a one handed ram hand seal, causing thee most monumental explosion a ninja has ever produced, at least as far as Sasori was aware, and he was very aware when it came to the shinobi world, being the best spy master in the world and all.

The explosion was so incredible that even Sasori and Deidara, high as they were in the sky, felt the impact of the explosion as they were blown away by the shockwave. In fact, they were an entire mile away from their original location by the time that they were able to regain control of their clay Hawks again.

'Deidara's C3 explosion release is far greater than I imagined. I may have underestimated the power of this jutsu. We may possibly have wiped the jinchuuriki completely out of existence. If so, how long will it be before the ichibi can reconstitute itself?' Sasori thought before he was broken from his musings by the maniacal laugh of his partner.

"Hahahahaha! Dana! Did you see that? Do you understand now the true meaning of art?" Deidara exclaimed proudly.

Sasori didn't dignify any of that with a response, but deep down, deep down he knew, he finally understood just how amazing Deidara's art was. The ability to create something never before seen, the ability to fill the minds and hearts of those who witness your jutsu with awe and disbelief, if that was the true essence of art, then Deidara had just produced the most incredible art ever before seen.

He had turned a great mountain side into a great canyon with one single jutsu. Who else could do that? Who else could boast about such a feat? In the future, when people pass by this place, they will tell stories about the ninja who built this canyon singlehandedly, single jutsedly in fact. Deidara's legacy will live on forever, transcending time itself much like how Sasori intended for his art to do.

Sasori of course would never admit any of this to Deidara's face, not even under the threat of torture and death, but he also would never be able to bring himself to speak ill of Deidara's art again. He just wasn't the kind of person who could lie to himself. Oh he could lie to others, and he could lie very well, but never to himself, never.

"Come, Deidara. Let us look for the remnants of our enemies. Hopefully the ichibi jinchuurki was able to pull a rabbit out of a hat and survived." Sasori said as he flew his bird closer to the ground, Deidara following behind silently as he pondered about his partner's sudden change in demeanor.

Back on the Surface:

"K-kuchiyose no jutsu…!" Tsunade just barely managed to breathe out as she summoned the last vestiges of her chakra, yet still able to summon a boss level version of Katsuyu despite her frail physical state.

This was actually the second time in a short space of time that she had summoned a boss level sized Katsuyu, the first one having been completely obliterated by the explosion when Tsunade had tried to user Katsuyu to protect herself and her comrades from the explosion. Jiraiya had also summoned the stomach of the fire breathing toad but that too had been obliterated by the explosion, a feat that Tsunade didn't even think was possible.

The Kazekage hadn't been able to gather enough sand, he hadn't even started to break down the earth into more sand when the explosion happened. But Kakashi had surprisingly been useful, in fact, if it wasn't for his timely intervention, everyone would be dead. Tsunade had to give credit to Kakashi for being good at keeping secrets because she hadn't even been aware of the fact that he had a mangyekou sharingan, and one that could open wormholes of all things.

Still, sucking up the entire explosion was impossible, Tsunade had known that, but everything had happened so fast and everyone, in those few split seconds, had done everything they could to survive. Even Kankurou had summoned his salamander puppet and tucked himself and his sister in there, and Might Gai had opened the seventh gate and tried to blow the explosion away with hirudora. Baki had also used his large scale wind style to try and blow the explosion away, ironic as it was to try and blow an explosion away.

Each little effort had been helpful in preventing their complete annihilation, but it wasn't enough to prevent them from getting gravely injured. Tsunade herself had her body snapped into two halves as her entire lower body was missing. She didn't even know if her lower body still existed, for all she knew it was completely eradicated from existence.

From where she was, she could tell that the Kazekage had taken a massive beating from the explosion. He must have only had his sand armor for protection because the sand he normally used for his absolute defense was the sand he had been using to hold up the structure they now understood to have been the bomb. He was completely unconscious, and possibly dead, Tsunade couldn't tell from where she was.

She now found herself ruing the fact that Naruto and Jiraiya had fixed The Kazekage's seal. It would have been better if losing consciousness still meant that the ichibi would be released. At least then whoever was attacking them would have Shukaku to deal with.

Nevetheless, she could tell that Kakashi was almost as bad as she was. He was missing an arm and a leg, and there were burn marks all over his body. Clearly he hadn't been able to absorb enough of the explosion. Gai and Baki were no where to be seen. She didn't even know if they were alive or not, she didn't even know if their bodies still existed or not. Jiraiya was missing an arm, but he was okay for the most part, just barely conscious.

Miraculously the Kazekage's siblings were the least injured of them all. But they were also barely able to maintain consciousness. It seemed that by working together, they really were able to to cut the mortality rate of that monstrous jutsu from one hundred percent to...well, whatever it was right now. She still couldn't confirm if Gai and Baki were alive or not.

"T-tsunade-sama! Where is your lower body?" Katsuyu exclaimed frantically.

"Katsuyu, split yourself and help the others to recover. Start with Kakashi and the sand siblings. Send a few of your smaller parts to look for my lower body while you keep me alive. Hurry, this is no time to go into shock, this is the time for action! Start acting like a professional!" Tsunade ordered hastily.

"H-hai! T-tsunade-sama!" Katsuyu stuttered as she hurriedly got to work.

In all honesty, Tsunade knew that Katsuyu didn't deserve to be spoken to so harshly, and had every right to be shocked by what she had just seen. However, the enemy was still out there and could attack at any moment. Tsunade knew that they would arrive at any moment to finish the job, and therefore it was necessary that they moved with haste. As soon as she could confirm that their lives were no longer in danger, Tsunade would have Katsuyu swallow all of them and then reverse summon herself to the Shikkotsu Forest.

Defeating the enemy was no longer possible. Survival was the only option, and therefore the only target right now. Even figuring out who exactly it was that attacked them was no longer a priority. They had to survive, to live to fight another day. That was the only thing on Tsunade's mind right at that moment.

"Two of them are missing, hn. I cannot find the guy who dresses like a hipstar and Baki, the man known as the Hurricane, hn. They could be dead, or they could be waiting for us to reveal ourselves and strike when we least expect. What do you suggest we do, dana?" Deidara asked for guidance from his more experienced partner.

"Their whereabouts are irrelevant. Can you find the ichibi jinchuuiki? What is his status?" Sasori asked curiously.

"Barely alive by the looks of it, he is unconscious, hn, and there's some kind of slug creature headed towards hi…" Deidara trailed off as Sasori surprised him by suddenly jumping onto his hawk.

"What the…?"

"Hurry! Send the clay hawk to intercept the slug. You must get the Ichibi before that slug gets to him!" Sasori ordered, Deidara finally realising the reason that Sasori had jumped into his clay bird.

"You got it, Sasori no dana!" Deidara saluted as he he gave the mental command to the clay hawk that Sasori had just vacated.

It took only a moment for the clay hawk, being one of, if not the fastest bird that Deidara was able to summon, to get to it's target, Katsuyu gasping in surprise when she realised that she was nowhere near fast enough to get there in time as the clay hawk was moving at a ridiculous speed, the bird extending its talons so that it can quickly grap the Kazekage.

"Dynamic Entry!" Katsuyu heard just before a man with blazing green energy surrounding him came crashing into the bird with a flying kick, the man kicking the bird so hard that it went flying in the complete opposite direction that it was flying, which Katsuyu thought was an amazing feat considering how fast the bird had been flying. The amount of force it must have taken to cause it to fly so rapidly in the opposite direction must have been monumental.

She had been about to celebrate the fact that the Kazekage would be saved after all when the hawk that was kicked by the strange man that Katsuyu now understood to be Might Gain exploded, causing both Katsuyu and Gai to be momentarily distracted by the explosion and blind sided by the dust and debris of the explosion, which is why they failed to see the second hawk that had been flying under the shadow of the first one in time as it had already grabbed the Kazekage and flown away by the time that they realised what had happened.

"These Konoha ninjas are something else aren't they, dana, hn? It's a good thing I took the liberty to create another clay hawk to fly under the shadow of the first one, hn. You can never be too prepared, hn." Deidara said elatedly.

"Indeed. I'm surprised that even with all his injuries he was still able to move like that. But nevertheless this is it for the Ichibi jinchuurki. Come, Deidara, let us hurry up and get out of here. Our objective is not complete until we have delivered the Ichibi to Leader." Sasori said, eager to get out of there while everything was still going their way.

"Seems like we at least managed to kill one of them, not counting the Ichibi of course, who will soon be dead, hn." Deidara said as he mentally commanded his remaining Hawks, the one he and Sasori were riding on, and the one that had the Kazekage, to go full speed ahead.

"What do you mean?" Sasori asked curiously.

"That funny looking taijutsu guy was carrying Baki the Hurricane's head, hn. I know they have an alliance but I never expected the Konoha and Suna shinobi to have such sentimental feelings for one another, hn." Deidara retorted.

"Hmmm…." Was all Sasori said in response, because that was all the life of a Suna shinobi meant to him, having stopped carrying a long time ago about the people of Wind Country.

"Sh-shimata! I have to save the Kaz..h..have to…" Gai sputtered as he went into a terrible coughing fit before suddenly collapsing onto the ground and consequently dropped Baki's head unceremoniously onto the ground.

Katsuyu, seeing the bad condition that her comrade was in, quickly attached herself to him and began to heal and restore him, saving his life in the process. Naturally, the sight of Baki's dead falling from Gai's hands raised a lot of questions that she couldn't answer in that moment. She would later learn that Baki had sacrificed himself in order to save Might Gai's life, which is why Gai had held on to his head so dearly, hoping to at least have something of the great man to bury for his funeral.

The Village of Enlightenment.

"L-lord Boros!" Meleoron exclaimed as he suddenly jumped up to his feet.

"Yo! Why are you naked, you stupid fool? And where the hell is your left arm?" Boros asked incredulously.

Boros is a very tall cyclops-like chimera ant with light-pink, spiky hair and bangs that fall over his face. He has sharp teeth and pointed ears lined with a row of silver earings. He has one large blue eye and light blue skin with dark blue crack-shaped markings that start from his eye and cover most of his body. He is also wearing a set of armor with spikes on the shoulder and forearms and has a pair of matching curved boots. He is also wearing a pair of white harem pants, held by a magenta-colored sash with silver-lined purple blades hanging from it.

Boros was also a member of the Royal Guard, specifically, the commander of the Royal Guard sub division known as the Royal Annihilation Squad, a squad of chimera ants capable of creating mass destruction in battle. They were not suited for stealth missions or missions that required finesse and delicacy to say the least. The other members of the Royal Annihilation Squad were Carnage Kabuto, Lionel the Beast King, and Priscilla the Terrible, also known as the Winged Demon of the forest of enlightenment.

To say Meleoron was terrified would be an incredible understatement. It was not a stretch of the imagination to say that the members of the Royal Demolition Squad were the closest to the King in terms of strength. But that was not why Meleoron was terrified, it was their personalities that terrified him more than anything. This group of ants was by far the most sadistic and most volatile of all the chimera ants.

But terrible as he was, Boros was the most calm and most reasonable of the four of them, so Meleoron's luck wasn't completely in the dumpster. If it had been any of the other three who found him looking like he had just gotten his ass whooped, he would have feared that they would kill him before even trying to find out what had happened.

"Don't make me ask you a second time, Meleoron…" Boros said gravely, the threat of Meleoron's extinction pulpable in every single syllable that Boros spoke.

"I...I have to make a report to Naruto-sama! I have to go to Onigakure no Sato urgently!" Meleoron exclaimed suddenly, his memories returning suddenly as he remembered what had happened.

"What! Tell me what happened? Now! Where is Kami-sama?" Boros exclaimed angrily.

"H-he's fine. He's fine! He asked me to track and follow the Konoha-Suna contingent from the Kage summit. I was caught in a massive explosion, big enough to destroy an entire ninja village. It was the enemy's jutsu, I think it was Akatsuki. They were after the Ichibi. I'm sure of it!" Meleoron replied as quickly and as thoroughly as he could.

"I see….well, I actually….don't give a crap about that." Boros deadpanned, much to Meleoron's surprise and incredule.

"So...can I go?" Meleoron asked carefully.

"Yeah, yeah totally. Go along now. Do your job. And don't let me see you looking like that again. Make sure you at least grow your arm back before you stand before me. There is nothing I hate more than imperfection and weakness." Boros said authoratively.

"H-hai!" Meleoron saluted before quickly scurrying out of there.

'Kuso! First the explosion and now Boros? I can't tell which one was worse.' Meleoron thought as he ran as far away from that monster as he could.

End Chapter

Okay guys that's it for now. Phew! That took longer than expected honestly.

Anyway, yes, Boros from one punch man has made his appearance. Pricilla from Claymore, Beast King from One Punch, and Carnage Kabuto from one punch. That is the Royal Annihilation Squad.

Anyway I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you think.