Wind rushed past Jasper's ears as he dropped altitude. Below, three white coats blurred through the canopy with one of them carrying Gaara in a white bundle.
"Stop!" Jasper demanded.
One pivoted, sending over a dozen shuriken upward. Jasper dipped his shoulder as the blades whistled past his cheek. Diving with an extended hand, he caught the collar of the closest coat.
Momentum carried them both back into the sky as the girl thrashed. "Let me go, ya brute!"
"If that's what you want," he obliged, dropping her. As she fell, he pointed his finger down. "Sage lightning."
Purple current arced towards her. But before the strike connected, a figure vaulted from the branches with a blade at the ready.
Crack!
Jasper's Sage Lightning attack had been intercepted, allowing both the girl and the man to land safely on the ground.
Jasper touched his boots to the soil, only to see that the man's sword was sparking with plasma.
'So that's how he stopped it,' Jasper thought.
The man stepped forward before pulling back his hood. "My name's Shigeru Uzumaki. This is as far as you go."
"Never heard of ya," exhaled Jasper.
"We're not surprised." A woman dropped her hood next. Black hair framed her face with grey bangs falling across her cheeks. She also had purple irises that tracked Jasper's stance. (Raizumi.) Besides her, the girl Jasper had dropped removed her hood. A metal plate sat on her forehead, engraved with the symbol of the light village. (Kaiyo).
Jasper hadn't recognized any one of them. Arthur's handiwork, no doubt.
Kaiyo adjusted her sleeves, probing, "You're not really thinking of stopping us, are ya?"
"How about you just hand over that Jinchūriki?" Jasper threatened.
Shigeru gripped his hilt. "How about no." Then he lunged forward.
Jasper quickly raised his hands.
Crack!
The plasma blade had struck his bare palms. Shigeru was surprised to see that his skin was covered in lightning chakra.
Jasper then grabbed the flat of the steel and shoved to the right, causing Shigeru to release his grip before vaulting backwards. A fist from Raizumi came at Jasper's face, so he quickly ducked under her arm, grabbed her wrist, and used her momentum to flip her over his shoulder.
She landed just fine, but the real problem was the water already churning around Jasper's boots; Kaiyo was doing it.
"Water style: hardened water drill!"
As the soil was dissolved into a liquid basin, geysers erupted, forcing Jasper to take flight. High-pressure columns then shot towards him, missing his frame by inches.
When the final jet surged, he slowly saw Shigeru's figure inside.
Then, splash! Shigeru burst from the water column and clamped a hand around Jasper's neck. Momentum reversed, they plummeted until Shigeru drove Jasper back-first into the mud.
Air left Jasper's lungs as he coughed up blood. Shigeru was still on top of him.
Jasper had once again forgotten this wasn't a game. Meaning, if he died here, he'd die for real. No, he couldn't let that happen.
Veins bulged at his temples. "Byakugan!"
Seeing an opening, he then grabbed Shigeru's wrist and twisted his hips before dragging himself upright. Shigeru snatched his dropped sword from the mud and swung. But Jasper swayed back as the blade sheared off a lock of his hair.
Raizumi finally stepped into his blind spot, throwing a hook. But Jasper sidestepped; he had no blind spots.
The three then engaged in a fierce lockdown of kenjutsu and taijutsu. Jasper not once tried to attack because the real threat was what Kaiyo was doing; she was sprinting forward with a massive water drill encasing her right arm.
Ka-splash!
As it rained down on the area, the trio moved back in separate directions, only to see that the drill had splashed against a black sphere. It was Jasper's Truthseeker Orb enveloping his entire body.
Suddenly, a hole parted in a tight circle from within the dome as Jasper lifted a finger aimed at Kaiyo.
"Cry of the raijin!"
A bolt snapped forward and struck Kaiyo's head-on. "Ah!" she shrieked. Her teammates could only watch in horror before she finally collapsed into the mud.
"Kaiyo!" Raizumi quickly slid to the girl's side. Smoke was curling from her fallen teammate. "Oh no…!"
"You'll pay for that!" Shigeru said, charging forward.
Jasper dismissed the orb just as Shigeru closed the distance. The plasma blade hummed as Jasper ducked a lateral swipe. But Shigeru didn't stop; his speed had doubled and continued swiping to cleave Jasper in two.
An opening was seen, so Shigeru thrust an open palm. "Sealing jutsu: palm strike!"
"Tool creation!"
Smack!
A green shield had materialized in the nick of time, causing Shigeru to slam into the construct instead. Before he could react, Jasper the shield extended into an axe and shank! the green blade passed through flesh and bone.
Shigeru's head detached before bouncing in the mud as the body crumbled.
Raizumi was awestruck when she saw it. Her purple irises quickly changed into her Sharingan. She was angry.
Even Jasper was surprised; he thought they were all Uzumaki. But an Uchiha here of all places? No, he simply couldn't let her use whatever convoluted techniques she might have.
So Jasper planted his feet. "Fourth gate: gate of pain, open!" His skin flushed dark red as sweat vaporized off his forearms. The moment he vanished from his spot; he threw a straight punch at Raizumi's face.
Swoosh!
The fist grazed right past her ear.
Raizumi quickly recovered and slammed her palms together, causing wind to swell outward and her chakra to spike in massive waves. The pressure was so dense that it was pushing the grass flat.
'She's too dangerous!' Jasper said after analyzing her chakra network.
Right then and there, he flared his eyes.
Shank!
The Truthseeker Orb from earlier had quickly impaled Raizumi's lower back.
The wind died, and her chakra vanished as she fell forward, face hitting the mud.
Jasper finally closed the Fourth Gate and deactivated his Byakugan. When his skin returned to its normal shade, his knee buckled, and he hit the ground with a hand. Again, he spit another mouthful of blood.
It had been a while since he'd pushed himself this hard. The last time was with Arthur. And because of that fight, it'd taken him weeks to recover.
But it was alright since he still had Kaguya's Regeneration ability. His muscle fibers were slowly stitching back together. All he had to do now was wait.
Suddenly, the dirt shifted.
Jasper raised his head only to see Raizumi pushing herself up on trembling arms. A jagged hole leaked blood down her side as a lot of sweat dripped from her chin.
Jasper quickly stood to try and recompose himself. "You look like death."
"Shut up!"
"Oh, come on. I'm only here for Gaara. Someone like you's not worth my time. But..." He flared the Byakugan. "If you really wanna go at it again."
Raizumi widened her stance as her hands twitched. Was she really going to fight him under those conditions? She had little to no chakra left, and based on her stance, she probably couldn't even throw a kunai properly.
Jasper crossed his fingers. "Lightning clone jutsu!"
A duplicate of him materialized just as Raizumi turned and bolted towards the treeline. The clone wasted no time sprinting after her.
When the trees swallowed them both, Jasper dropped to a knee again. He stared at his trembling hand.
The clone wouldn't last long. Perhaps a few minutes at best before it completely vanished. That was because Jasper was almost out of chakra.
Things might have been different had he not already fought Naruto's group.
It didn't matter, though. Raizumi was bleeding out; she'd die eventually if left unchecked anyway.
Jasper, therefore, pushed himself up and walked over to the bundle encasing Gaara. He gripped the canvas and tore it open to see Gaara laying inside. The Kazekage's eyes were shut, but his chest was still rising in shallow increments.
Jasper was unsure of things now since Alice was too far away to reach.
The Akatsuki wanted Gaara. The Leaf wanted Gaara. The only person who didn't seem to want Gaara was Jasper.
"I'll have to just leave—"
'You've secured the Jinchūriki,' came Pain's voice inside Jasper's skull. 'Good. Now bring him for extraction.'
Jasper's mind raced, having almost forgotten that the seal on him acted like a beacon. Wherever he went, members like Konan would know. And if Konan knew something, so did Nagato.
Jasper hesitated as he stared at Gaara's red hair. "Wait, Pain. I left Sasori behind. Let me go back and—"
'You have your orders.'
The mental link severed was then severed.
There wasn't much he could do now. If he disobeyed, the consequences bordered on death.
"You have your orders he said," repeated Jasper. There was no way he was going to risk his life over the Kazega's. So he picked at the frayed edge of Gaara's canvas wrap and threw him over his shoulders. "Well... Sucks to be you, Gaara."