Anko let out a deafening scream that echoed as purple lightning erupted from her form, pillar-like and crackling with destructive power. The ground trembled beneath everyone as the lightning struck downward, illuminating the scene with a violent glow.
The others stared in shock. Alice quickly looked at Margaret, prompting the redhead to run and catch the falling kunoichi. The land was soft, but Margaret had a worried look at Anko's charred form.
Jasper slowly descended to the group, allowing William to rush toward him and grab him by the collar.
"You used purple lightning!" he yelled.
Jasper smacked his arms away, freeing himself. "So what?"
Purple lightning was something not yet introduced until the Boruto series. Absolutely no one else had it in this world since it wouldn't be invented by Kakashi Hatake to replace his former Lightning Blade after he lost his Sharingan.
"So what?!" William angrily repeated. "You… You're not even supposed to have that ability."
Jasper shrugged and said with a smirk, "Guess I'm just that special."
"Special?!" Jada shouted, approaching the two. "You almost killed her!"
Being yelled at by a woman made Jasper's smile falter. So he tried defending himself, saying, "But I didn't, did I?"
Those words only irritated Jada further. Before anyone could respond, Alex stepped forward.
"She's right, Jasper. You went way too far, dude."
Jasper froze. Alex, of all people, was siding with them? That genuinely surprised him. Alex rarely bothered with his antics, and now he was criticizing Jasper? It was a strange shift—one that made him feel out of place.
"You're not all serious, are you?" he retorted with frustration.
"Come with me," Alice suddenly said, grabbing Jasper's arm and pulling him aside. She led him a few steps away from the others until they couldn't be seen. "What the heck is going on with you?"
Jasper looked at her innocently and said, "Babe, I didn't even do anything. Wasn't she the one that got taken over?"
"Don't flip the script!" Alice snapped, narrowing her eyes. "You've been acting different ever since that incident, and I don't like it one bit."
Jasper's expression slightly softened as he looked down and said, "Look, I'm sorry. I just… I don't know. The village's messing with my head."
"Huh?" she skeptically wondered.
"I feel like I'm losing it. That's all. Maybe I just need to take a vacation or something. Ya know, quit pretending to be a ninja here. Just for a bit, of course."
Alice carefully watched him by narrowing her eyes to gauge his chakra. She was a very capable sensor, and her instincts told her he wasn't lying. No chakra fluctuation—no sign of deception.
"Alright," she quietly said. "But no more chances, ya hear?!"
"Promise."
They shared a stressed moment before returning to the others. Upon returning, Jasper's shoulders sagged as he gave a pathetic apology. The group didn't look impressed. Especially William and Jada, who were now fed up with his behaviour.
"Is Anko okay?" Alice asked, glancing toward her.
"I've finished healing her," Margaret answered. "She should wake up in a few hours."
Alex added, "I also managed to remove the curse mark from her body."
"Where's it now?" Jasper asked him, testing if they were still on the same page.
Alex pointed over to William, who was holding a small jar. Inside was a tiny, white snake, coiled up. It was still as if dead.
Jada had managed to kill it the moment it slithered out of Anko.
"I'll teleport her back to her home if it's safe," she said, looking at Margaret.
"It should be safe," Margaret replied.
After doing so, the others looked at the jar for a silent moment. The curse mark's removal was a major step. But the real challenge was what they'd do next: finding the trail that would lead to Orochimaru.
Soon after, Margaret was given the jar to hold. She took a deep breath as she activated her Crow Sage Mode. Her senses sharpened, and she quickly picked up Orochimaru's chakra signature.
Without hesitation, she spread her wings, causing a gust of wind to kick up behind her. She then launched herself into the air. Below her, William's voice rang out, "I thought you said you weren't gonna go alone!"
Margaret turned her head with a grin and replied, "If ya can't keep up, then just stay behind."
Her wings then fluttered faster as they propelled her forward.
Meanwhile, the others had already prepared their methods of travel. Alice, with her telekinesis, was glowing faintly blue as her aura lifted her off the ground to follow Margaret.
Jasper, standing nearby, simply took off into the air as if it was nothing. His flight was fluid and confident without betraying his sternness.
"You can fly, too?!" William called up to Jasper.
Jasper smirked, arms crossed as he hovered. "I'm an Ōtsutsuki, loser," he shot back.
"That doesn't mean anything," William scowled, stomping his foot in frustration.
"You coming, Will?" he heard Alex ask from the side.
William turned to see Alex and Jada standing atop a large water creature—a shark, floating midair. Its body was made of swirling water, held aloft by liquid particles.
"Who the heck summoned that?!" William asked, eyes wide.
Jada chuckled. "I did, of course. I copied Kisame's water shark technique, remember? Now, they're my summoning contract."
William blinked in surprise. He'd known all about Jada having copied much of everyone's techniques to become versatile. But he hadn't known that she had copied Kisame, an Akatsuki member's sharks, as well.
And to think they were pivotal summoning creatures in this world, too.
"Now, come on," she said, gesturing with her hand. "Let's go before we fall behind."
William leapt onto the water shark's back. The creature's body was slick and smooth, but he had a grip to hang on it. In one motion, the shark then kicked off into the air and propelled them toward the others.
When they finally caught up, the group moved in formation across the sky.
William looked around at his friends and believed he was falling behind since he didn't have any method to fly like them. Not wishing to think about how much stronger he needed to get after this, he turned to Jada and asked, "How's Sakura holding up?"
He was referring to her mental state after her parents had died.
"She's hanging in there," Jada replied. "Anyone would need some time off after that."
William rubbed his arm nervously. "I just… I don't want her to turn dark. Not after everything we've worked for."
"She won't," Alex replied.
"How are you so certain?" William stressed. "I mean, we failed to save Sasuke, and so many have already died…"
"Because," Jada said in a serious tone, looking forward. "So long as I'm here, no one's gonna get hurt anymore."
As they continued flying, the landscape below grew less familiar. They crossed over forests, rivers, and mountains, knowing that they were getting closer to Orochimaru's hideout.
Soon, Alice called out ahead, "Slow down a bit, Marget!"
Margaret, gliding ahead, slowed her pace. Then she turned to face her friends. And said, "What do you mean?! We should be excited. We're finally gonna end this."
Alex disagreed, saying, "It's Orochimaru. We need to be careful. He's dangerous, and he won't go down easily."
William was going to add something but then looked over at Jada to notice she had fallen unusually quiet. Her gaze was fixed on the horizon, and her expression seemed distant.
Many of her favourite characters in this world had indeed died. Even if they weren't as special, they were still tied to the important ones.
Was she really that serious about protecting everyone like she said earlier?
William hesitated before softly asking," You okay?"
Jada blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. "Yeah. Just… watching Naruto. He's with Minato. I'm worried about them."
"They'll be safe," he assured.
Jada shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm thinking about what's at stake. If we defeat Orochimaru, Minato and Kushina might… Well, they might leave Naruto again."
Alex, sensing her anxiety, spoke up. "Is that what's bothering you?"
Jada wavered before answering. "Yeah. I mean. I just… I don't want to lose anyone after this is all said and done."
Jasper, overhearing, scoffed. "Whether they're dead or alive doesn't make a difference."
That earned him a scowling look from Jada, showing that the two were most certainly not on the same page.
"Dude!" Margaret said, shooting him a sharp look. "That was way too harsh!"
"It's the truth," Jasper smirked.
"Whatever," she replied, brushing the comment off. "When we get there, just leave Orochimaru to me. Got it?"
"Why would we do that?" Alice beckoned.
Margaret's eyes gleamed with determination. "Because I'm the—"
"—the strongest?" Alex interrupted with a grin.
"How did you know I'd say that?" she replied in surprise.
Jasper scoffed again. "You're not the strongest. Not even close. So stop saying that you are already."
Margaret's wings slightly twitched with frustration. She looked at Jasper, who was flying just behind her with a smug grin plastered on his face. That's when she called him out on his flight speed.
"Even if I'm not," she said, "it's definitely not you. I mean, ya can't even keep up!"
Jasper's smirk widened. With a slight boost, he suddenly sped up and gained a little more distance, leaving Margaret slightly behind.
This made her add in extra Sage Chakra to increase her speed.
"Orochimaru's hideout is straight ahead," she snapped. "If you can beat me there, then maybe I'll think you're on my level."
Jasper, still smirking, agreed to the challenge.
"Wait!" Alice called, trying to get between them. "This isn't a race."
But with a burst of speed, the two shot ahead, flying faster than before. Her wings beat powerfully as he held the lead like it was nothing at all.
Margaret's eyes widened in surprise. She gritted her teeth, feeling confused. How was he flying so fast without any seeable chakra being used?
Her wings fluttered harder, summoning more Sage Chakra.
"Keep flapping them wings, toots," he called over his shoulder.
When she finally managed to close the distance, he began flying backward while easily maintaining his speed. Anger flared inside Margaret. So she clenched her fists, and with a surge of her Sage Chakra, she unleashed a blast of energy from her wings, allowing her to shoot past Jasper.
Finally, she had taken the lead.
The rest of the group watched from behind, quickly catching up as Margaret continued her rate of speed.
It wasn't long until they finally saw her land, prompting them to do the same. Their descent was on the lush grass just outside the seeable cave-like entrance to Orochimaru's hideout.
"See," Margaret announced, breathing triumphantly. Then she pointed at herself with her thumb. "I'm the strongest."
Jasper just laughed and said, "I let you win."
"Liar," she shot back, calming her breath.
"Honestly," he shrugged. "I only did it because I didn't want to fly over the hideout while you were still behind. Figured I'd let you waste your chakra for no reason."
She crossed her arms, glaring. "You're full of it. Just admit you lost."
Then Jasper added something unexpectedly. "Maybe. But I've got my reasons. Besides, I feel like taking Orochimaru myself."
The group stared at him in shock. Margaret's mouth opened, then closed, unsure of what to say.
"No way," she finally protested. "You're not—"
Suddenly, Margaret's Crow Sage Mode flickered and deactivated. Her eyes widened in confusion. She looked down at her wings, which were now shrinking back into her body.
"Did I really use that much?" she asked to no one in particular.
Alice stepped forward and answered, "Jasper tricked you…"
Margaret turned to her and asked, "How?!"
"He knew he could win the race, but he didn't want to. So, he provoked you into using up all your Sage Chakra. That way, you'd be too exhausted to fight Orochimaru when we got there."
Margaret's eyes narrowed. "That's… that's." The truth was obvious: Jasper had planned this from the start. He knew the race wouldn't prove anything, and he had played it perfectly to weaken Margaret. "Whatever! I'll just refocus and—"
Before she could finish, Jasper suddenly called out, "Yo, snake boy! Get out here so I can kill you!"
The group instantly tensed. What the heck was his problem?!