The Great Shinobi Empires of Jihopan (Naruto Quest, AU Canon)

Databook Updated

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You already felt prepared enough, so you quickly made your way to the entrance of the village. Surrounding the entire village was a massive valley, a thin slit was the only entrance in and out of the Sunagakure. The stoic shinobi guarding the entrance barely paid you any attention, but that was simply due to how focused they were on protecting the capital of the Sand Empire. When you were a fair distance away from the Sunagakure, you placed a hand on the hot sand and used the powers gifted to you by The One Tailed Beast to form a platform of solid sand to raise you in the air.

Sighing, you rushed forward, the air blowing on your face as the sand platform flew you in the direction of the Sand-Rain border. This was another reason you were chosen for this mission, you could easily fly past the harsh terrain of the desert and get to locations in record time. The brutal heat barely affected you and it was this desert that truly brought a stop to many invasions by the Rock and Leaf Empires.

You took a deep breath, focusing on the mission ahead...

---

You reached the border after a few hours of travelling. The desert had turned into solid, if barren ground and in the distance you could see the clouds that continually covered the Rain with its namesake. But more importantly, you saw a massive wall made of thick earth that rose high into the sky, covering the land around it in deep shadow. There was a wide split between the wall where it housed a large building, the checkpoint between the Sand and Rain border. Usually it was only used by merchants brave enough to traverse the lands, but more importantly, it held a sizable amount of shinobi for border patrol.

It was maintained by the Sand, as the Rain refused to ally with anyone other than the Sound. But it did its job well. You floated down from your sand platform and landed on the ground in front of the checkpoint, where a Sand shinobi instantly greeted you. He had dark violet hair that hung over his face in three parts, but the most noticeable part about him was him gaunt and hollow cheeks and piercing, slanted eyes.

"Greetings, I wasn't expecting them to send one of the Desert Three to help us," the man said humbly, bowing in respect. "I am Shishio Tabata, the commander of the Sand-Rain Checkpoint."

You nodded and accepted Shishio's invitation when he invited you inside. The checkpoint was practically a fortress and it was rather barren except for various Sand shinobi standing on guard and a few pieces of furniture. You followed Shishio up to the top floor where you entered an office, most likely his. You sat down in front of a desk and Shishio took the opposite seat ahead of you.

"As the report said, we found Rock scouts around the area. They ran off once we tried to apprehend them," Shishio said. "However, I was able to trail them by myself and eventually found their camp within Rain territory."

"Impressive you were able to do that without getting caught," you noted.

"I am trained for tracking and stealth," Shishio casually stated. "There was no Rain shinobi present and every ninja there were wearing symbols of the Rock, in case you were worried of a possible alliance."

"The thought crossed my mind," you truthfully replied.

"In any case, I would normally have a force of shinobi under my command chase the Rock out, but their squad leader is Ichizo Kamizuru," Shishio continued. "He's a newer shinobi for the Rock Empire but he's a terror in battle. He's defeated plenty of our shinobi."

"Kamizuru? So he uses wasps, then?" you asked, mainly for confirmation. "Also, the report said there wasn't any shinobi of note.

"You'd be correct on both accounts. I...made an error when making the report, due to my lack of knowledge on Ichizo. I did some digging afterward and found out he's the heir to the Kamizuru Clan. Its also where I found stories of his battles against the Sand. I deeply apologize," Shishio solemnly said, bowing his head.

"It's alright," you said. "If I take out Ichizo, then the rest of his squad should collapse and try to escape."

"That is the ideal situation. While you do battle with him, I was planning to gather my forces, surround the area, and trap the escapees. From there, they'll be interrogated for any information. Does that sound acceptable to you?" Shishio asked, gazing at you curiously.

Well, did you like the plan?

[] The plan sounds fine. Let's get the show on the road!

[] You actually had some ideas for a plan...(Write in)

[] You're curious about Ichizo, see if you can find any more information about him before the mission.

[] Something else? (Write In)

"I'd like to research more about Ichizo, I'd rather be prepared if I'm going to be fighting him solo," you said. "Otherwise, the plan sounds fine."

"Hmph. I feel like we should attack as soon as possible, but I'll defer to your experience," Shishio humbly said. He stood up and moved over to the side of the room where a file cabinet was. He opened one drawer and picked out a small black book that had the symbol of the Rock Empire on it. He handed it over to you and you opened it. It was a bingo book of Rock shinobi. You flipped through the pages where you saw pictures of information of various shinobi. You passed by many names, such as Kurotsuchi Ryokuzo, Akatsuchi Ryokuzo, Deidara Hitsume, Mizuno Arisu, Nannari Hitsume, Goda Yohachi and finally you saw Ichizo Kamizuru's name at the end of the book.

"This is information I personally collected on rising threats from the Rock," Shishio explained. "I hope it will be of use."

"Thank you, I also request something to eat and drink, the desert takes its toll," you asked.

"Not an issue," Shishio said with a bow, walking out of the office. You waited for the food to arrive before reading, a simple meal of bread, cheese, and water. As you ate, you read through Ichizo's profile.

'Ichizo Kamizuru is a Jonin of the Rock, and heir to the Kamizuru clan. Due to this he is able to summon wasps to use as he sees fit. Past battles with him have also featured him using Lightning Release jutsu, a contrast from the usual Earth Release jutsu the Rock Empire is known for. As the heir of the Kamizuru Clan, he could potentially have secret techniques beyond the usual standard clan jutsu.'

You looked at the picture Shishio managed to acquire of Ichizo that showed a man with short, spiky sandy blonde hair. His eyes were dark and cold looking, furrowed into a furious glare.

"Wasps and lightning jutsu? My automatic defenses should take care of any insects and I have plenty of wind jutsu to counter that. The advantage is mine, but I can't underestimate him." you thought. You were ready to put the bingo book away when you were thrown off your feet by a powerful earthquake. The stone floor had its upper layer crushed and converted into sand, ensuring you had a soft landing. The shaking kept happening and you heard the screams of surprise by the shinobi within the fortress.

Acting quickly, you dove out the window of the office, making a platform of sand to stand on. It was then you saw multiple Rock shinobi on the other side of the checkpoint, using earth jutsu to disrupt the foundation of the building! You grimaced and made handseals as you flew closer to the Rock ninja.

"Wind Release: Godly Wind From The Mountains!"

You breathed out a vortex of wind that brutally blew away the enemy, the force of the wind easily breaking their bones. When they made impact with the ground, you heard a harsh crunch as they went limp. You turned around and looked at the checkpoint, sighing with relief when you saw it was okay, if a bit crooked.

"Did they really think they could kill all of us with such a basic plan?" you asked to yourself. Then from the sky, you heard a loud, droning buzzing. Looking up, you saw a gigantic wasp, easily the size of a house, it's stinger almost human sized! It flew downward until you were eye level with the man you saw from the report. Sandy blonde hair, dark and cold eyes...and a headband wrapped around his forehead that had the symbol of the Rock.

"Sand...? My god, they sent a Jinchuriki to fight me?" Ichizo chuckled, stretching out his arms. He wore a Rock flak jacket over a black undershirt, his pants were matching in color.

"You know of me?" you asked, your voice cool and calm.

"Only one of three people you can be, and seeing how you aren't a monk or the Fourth Kazekage's son, then that must mean you're Nou!" Ichizo declared. "This'll look good on my record when I kill you!"

"I doubt you can even touch me," you replied.

"Arrogant bitch, aren't ya?" Ichizo shot back. "I'll make sure to humble you."

"A question before we fight, this attack you did. It was much too straight forward, why do something that blunt?" you asked.

"Heh, I merely wanted to see who was running this joint. Now I get to erase some demonic scum off this continent! Just another step closer for me to become the newest Tsuchikage!" Ichizo boasted. You quickly looked back at the checkpoint, where you saw Shishio and multiple Sand shinobi beginning to battle more Rock shinobi that came out of hiding.

Then Ichizo flew upwards on the massive wasp and you followed suit until you had reached the top of the massive wall dividing the border. He jumped off the wasp and landed on top of the wall, the flat surface would give you two plenty of room the fight without distracting the others below. The wasp vanished in a puff of smoke as you also landed on the wall.

"Let's go!" Ichizo cried out, biting his thumb to draw blood as he made hand seals. A massive amount of smoke erupted around Ichizo as hundreds of wasps were summoned around him!

BOSS FIGHT: Ichizo Kamizuru

Ichizo's Battle Theme

What will you do?

[] Use Dance of the Cutting Sand to create your sand blades, then cut through the wasps!

[] Cut through the wasps and Ichizo with Sand Shuriken!

[] Use Wind Release: Vortex Orb to rip Ichizo and those wasps apart!

[] Use Godly Wind From The Mountains to blow Ichizo off the wall!

[] Something else? (Write In)

Without making hand seals, you manipulated some sand you kept on you and crushed part of the top layer of the massive earth wall you were standing on. With the sand mixing with the minerals, you formed ten floating swords that you quickly compressed to maximum hardness. Ichizo sent the swarm of wasps at you, but you telekinetically controlled the swords to fly at the wasps, slashing wildly in the air and easily massacring them. When your swords were finished, only a few dozens of wasps remained and surrounded you, but your automatic sand defense easily blocked their stings and swatted them away.

You used Dance of the Cutting Sand on Ichizo, trying to cut him down with the blades. He jumped backwards, skillfully avoiding the swords but eventually he was surrounded by them! With a mental command, the ten blades impaled Ichizo, whose body suddenly exploded into wasps!

"A clone?" you said to yourself, looking around for Ichizo. You heard footsteps behind you, turning your head you saw Ichizo rushing at you, his entire arm crackling with lightning!

"Lightning Release: Great Electric Fist!" Ichizo shouted, throwing his hand forward. Your defensive sand rose upwards, caving inward from the piercing properties of the lightning chakra, but otherwise holding strong. You trapped Ichizo's arm with sand and sent the sand swords at him once more, however he growled and a thin dome of lightning erupted from his body, passing through your defenses and shocking you. It wasn't more than a brief flash of pain, but it gave Ichizo enough time to free himself from your sand and body flicker away from the swords.

"Of course Jinchuriki scum like you would be a pain in the ass to kill!" Ichizo growled. He bit down on his lower lip, biting out a small chunk of flesh so he could use more blood for summoning jutsu! You had the swords float around you for extra defense as Ichizo made more hand seals, clapping his hands and another large smokescreen surrounded him. Instead of hundreds of normal sized wasps, what you saw were ten giant wasps, each of them easily as large as a human! Their stingers were thick and about as long as your arm...

"Those insects of yours will meet the same fate!" you cried out, sending your swords at them. However, the giant wasps were surprisingly agile and flew upwards to dodge them! Ichizo made hand seals and shouted out, "Lightning Release: Lightning Blast!"

The wasp user opened his mouth and a large bolt of lightning fired outward! The ten giant wasps were also flying towards you from the air, dodging your blades!

What will you do?

[] Trust in your defenses! Ignore the wasps and counter Ichizo directly with the blades!

[] Use Godly Wind from the Mountains to blow the wasps and the lightning jutsu away!

[] Fly into the air with Desert Suspension to dodge, then attack from the sky with Sand Drizzle!

[] Use Hidden Mole to go underground, then attack from below!

[] Something else? (Write In)