Time was of the essences as everyone went their separate directions. They had to gather their forces as quickly as possible to deal with the Forth Great War. At the moment Callie was counting to ten, trying not to get fed up with the backseat drivers behind her.
"I still don't understand sir. If we destroy the Hachibi and the Kyubbi then Madara can't use them to complete his mad plans. At the same time Konoha and Kumo are weakened. It's a win win solution," Kurotsuchi pressed. She couldn't understand why they hadn't slain the Xiaolin Dragon and taken her Wu for themselves.
"You know I can hear you back there! I would think twice before betraying your new allies," Callie snarled at them. She purposely landed on some grabble sending a tremor through the whole vehicle. Onoki let out a cry of pain as his hip was rattled. "Now, this can be a smooth ride back to Iwa or I can make it ten times worse. Now are you going betray this alliance or are you going to make it work?"
"Was that really necessary? I can assure you the old Iwa is dead. That kid reminded me why I became Tsuchikage in the first place. I'll honor the alliance. Now I need to get back so my personal physician can treat my hip," Onoki informed her. He added as an afterthought, "Maybe he can help with your bug problem."
"I'm honored Tsuchikage. Akatsuchi, keep an eye on him. I'll try to make the rest of this ride smoother. I hope the rest of my team is doing okay."
Omi was waiting on top of the Crouching Cougar while Chojuro and Mei exam the ground where Ao was attacked. The ground was littered with strange poles with puppets. "I've never seen such a strange puppet show before. What does it mean?" the little guy asked.
"It seems that Danzo sensor Fu is attempting to get back the Byakugan eye. We have to hurry. I fear Ao doesn't have much time," Mei stated simply. The right side of her body was still marred due to the effects of her own attack.
"I'm…sure…will find him in… time Mizukage," Chojuro assured her as best he could. He could tell she was upset about her disfigurement ruining her chances at a favorable match. If only she could see that he cared about her as a person. Oh well that could wait until they recovered Ao from his predicament.
Auara was having an easier time transporting the Kazekage and his siblings underground. The trip was conducted in relative silence. Everyone was tired and Auara was unsure how to talk with people of such importance. Remembering her manners she addressed the group. "I wish to thank you all for saving my friend's life. We really aren't use to fighting against ninja."
"Yeah we could tell. You don't have the killer drive," Kankaro joked. Temari hit him upside the head annoyed with his callous manner. "Ignore him please. Your friends and you held your own against S-class criminals. You should be proud of yourselves."
"It's hard to believe that danger towards Naruto could have grown so much it now threatens other realities. Naruto and his friends are lucky to have your group as allies," Gaara spoke up.
"Well, he does have a way of making anyone his friend. I hope that he'll listen to reason. The way things are going I doubt we can avoid not killing anyone for much longer. We'll be meeting up with him in twenty minutes or so," Auara said. She hoped that the others were doing okay.
Lu was having a lot of fun. It turned out that while the Raikage could take having his arm burned to a crisp and amputated on the spot, he could not take flying. He was looking violently ill and it was taking Shi's entire medical know how to keep him from loosing his guts. "What is it with ninjas and flying? First Kakashi, now the Raikage. Do you shinobi have an aversion to being in the air?"
"To be fair we don't really have air travel in this world. Most everything is done on foot or boat," Dariu pointed out.
"Just concentrate on getting us to Killerbee as fast as possible. You're sure your friend can find him?" Shi asked.
"The Compass of Erised leads the person to what they most desire. Right now Jermaine desires to find and protect the Eight Tails. So don't worry about it," Lu reportedly calmly. This was the sixth time she had explained this to the group. She was getting really annoyed at repeating herself.
"Can this piece of junk go any faster?!"" E shouted. He was adjusting to his change in circumstances quite well. Most emergency amputees cried a little about losing their limb, but he was barking out orders as if it had never happened.
"We're already pushing just under mach one. How much faster do you want to go? Just strap yourself in and get ready. I fear what were going to find when we get there," Lu replied. "Be safe Jermaine."
Jermaine was flying through the air as fast as he could as he followed the blue directional dragon towards his target. He had used his elemental control to reduce his weight so he could reach his destination as swiftly as possible. He was still exhausted from his fight against Jugo and now he was going up against an even tougher opponent. "Well good thing I know how to survive the streets of NYC. That Kisame can't be that much of a pushover."
Jermaine had to make a quick course correction as a bolt of lightning nearly struck him. More electrical discharges shot into the air and it took some creative loopty loops to avoid being charred. "Yo looks like the party has started without me. Well time for the full court press!"
Kisame was enjoying himself. Samehada was swelling beyond comprehension after absorbing both Killerbee's and his demon's chakra. He rotated his blade a full one hundred and eighty degrees shaving both Killerbee and Sabuchan of their skin and chakra. "I've never seen Samehada so happy! So much chakra, so little time."
"Shut your mouth and just die already!" Killerbee shouted. He drove his super vibrato raiton knife forward intent on piercing the chest cavity. His Hachibi chakra cloak was down a few tails, but he wasn't concerned. Vibrating lighting danced across Kisame's skin, but still no damage as the attack was absorbed. With a swift slice Killerbee was forced back ten feet.
"Killerbee be careful! He's not a pushover! He can absorb your chakras with his sword!" Master Sabuchan warned. He twirled his large battle ax gaining momentum. He moved in to decapitate the fish man, but the Samehada had a mind of its own. It seemed to bend around and shred battle ax to pieces leaving the music master defenseless.
"The two of you are making this way to easy!" Kisame cackled. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. He grinned maliciously cackling a bit. "Is this the best the eight tails can offer? I'm going to enjoy cutting your legs off!" He was still laughing when the Wings of Tanabie plowed right into him.
Kisame was dragged through the trees, his sword scrapping the forest floor. A few of the shark teeth's were scratched and some of them even got stuck in the dirt. Snarling the Akatsuki member bit into the Wu and spat it in the other direction. Getting to his feet he dusted himself off and glared hatefully at the two ninjas. "Just what kind of stupid stunt was that?"
"It wasn't us you fool," Master Sabuchan informed him. He eyes darted about searching for their elusive helper. Killerbee was too impatient to wait and was already charging in. This time he was going to create such a lightning vibration it would kill him! But someone beat him to the attack.
"Leaf Hurricane!" Jermaine shouted smashing his foot in Kisame's face. Then while still hovering in the air due to his Jet Bootsu Wu he kicked him once in the chest and the other in the groin causing major discomfort for the Seven Swordsman. "Yo, I know your pride has taken a major bruising. Lee told me how much you were feuding that Gai didn't recall you. Enough chit chat I'm not about to roll over for a fish dude."
"So Kumo sent reinforcements did they? My name is Kisame Hoshigaki and do I have the honor of knowing whose life I'm about to end?" Kisame questioned, Samehada fully exposed and engorged, was resting comfortably by his side. It was literally growling in pleasure.
"The name is Jermaine the Xiaolin Dragon of Gravity! I like to see your pretty sword absorb that dude. Oh I'm an ally to Leaf and on loan to Kumo. I'm here to protect my rapping bro from the likes of city scum like you. So why don't you just give up now. Its three against one," Jermaine said dropping into his battle stance with his weapon at the ready.
"My brother sent you to help me? Well if you can fight as well as you rap I guess you'll do. Let's see what you got kid," Killerbee said spitting out some ink out of his mouth. He covered his knife handle with it. "Let's skin this stupid shark."
"Right bro, follow my lead," he told him. He zigzagged forward charging up his weapon. Keeping a careful eye on Kisame he loaded his slingshot. "Grava Guard, Goliath Slingshot Gravity!" He fired several stones that exploded in gravity wells. Jermaine smirked under his mask as Kisame tried to absorb the attacks, but was having a bit of trouble. He got a little to close to one and started being pulled to the ground.
"Here's a technique I learned in another reality. Swift!" A shower of gold stars rained down bashing the guy in several places. The basketball star jumped straight up so Killerbee could charge forward his chakra cloak fully restored. Both swords clashed together parrying back and forth. Kisame drove the sword up flipping the eight tails completely around.
"He's fast and that sword of his is hungry. Luckily it can only eat six tails at a time."
"Yeah, but if it keeps absorbing your chakras then I doubt my element or Wu can make a dent in his defense. You got any other tricks up your sleeve?" Jermaine asked.
"Just one kid. You might want to stand back this is going to get messy," Killerbee spoke. Entering his mindscape he began talking to his demon. "I know you want to go on path of destruction, but we can't with Master Sabuchan and Ponta around. Heck even that rapping Jermaine could get hurt. Look even with the kid's help I can't do it alone. I need to use version two if were going to make it out of this situation."
"So you admit you can't do without me? Well it's nice to know when you're needed. Here comes a flood of demonic chakra," the Hachibi said. A rush of demonic chakra encompassed the Cloud ninja transforming him into a skeleton like demonic human.
"That's got to be the grossest thing I ever seen. Is he in control at the moment?"
"For the moment he is. Bee is the only one who can exist in complete harmony with his demon. Still I don't know if it will be enough to beat Kisame."
It was a battle of wills as both Kisame and Killerbee fought. Bee pounded Kisame with all his might. The swordsman whirled his blade about shaving some of the demonic clock, but it was too much chakra even for him. Bee's demonic tackled him to the ground and started gutting him in the chest. Jermaine rushed in and gave him a vicious right hook and elbowed him hard in the face. He kicked him in the knee caps and finally pushed him back with a Graviton Well attack separating sword and owner.
"That was the worse smack down I ever gave someone. He's lucky I didn't grow up in the Bronx or worse Hell's Kitchen."
"It may have reverted me to version one, but I think we did it kid. Now we just have to finish the job."
"Heh, heh, you actually managed to hurt me. I'm impressed," Kisame laughed. The trio watched in horror as he used the stolen chakra to heal himself. "I see you understand now why my nickname is the tailed beast without a tail. I get stronger in direct proportion of how strong my opponent is. I never get tired and with the three of you feeding me I can't be defeated."
"This is not good, not good at all."
"Get that sword it the source of his power!"
"How will you get in when it's a part of me?" Kisame laughed as he bonded with his sword. Faster then the eyes could see he performed a series of hand signs. Out of his mouth spewed an ocean of water. "Water Style: Big Wave Explosion!" The entire group let out screams of horror as they become entrapped in a giant semi sphere of water. The fight had just gone up a whole other level.
While Jermaine was fighting for his life and the others were escorting Kages back to their homes the group of Konoha ninjas consisting of Lee, Kiba and Akumara, Sai, Sakura, and Hinata along with Jack, Stacey, Clay, and Dagwood had caught up Naruto's group. They were dressed for battle. They had come to tell them what the Jonin council had decided.
Raimundo was the first to spot them. He had been keeping an eye on Naruto while Yamato tried to explain to the hotel manger how they damaged his property. "Hey, look sharp guys it looks the cavalry has arrived. From the looks of it they have some grim news for us," he commented as the group arrived. Hinata ran up to Naruto and hugged him tightly happy to be reunited with her boyfriend. The others looked on smiling wanly. Their facial expressions were frozen halfway between sad and tired. "Jack, talk to me what happened man? Why aren't you back at the village restoring it?"
"My Jackbots can handle the last of the repairs. Plus the people from Wave are doing a fantastic job. But we're not here to give you a progress report," Jack told him wearily.
"We figured that. What happened back there? Why do all of you all look like you fought in a war," Kakashi demanded.
"It was sort of a mini war. Danzo's ROOT operatives attempted to carry out a horrid dharma and slaughter Lady Tsunade and along with us. He planned to study our bodies and take our Shen Gong Wu to help him in his conquest of the ninja world. It was difficult battle and more then once our lives could have entered the next cycle. Yet with the grace of Krishna we emerged victorious," Stacey informed him. That was putting it mildly considering how a majority of the ANBU were still nursing wounds.
"You guys aren't hurt are you? Hinata, they didn't injure you did the? I swear if they did I'm going to shove a Rasengon so far up the guy's ass he won't be go to the bathroom for a week!"
"I'm okay really Naruto. All of us are safe thanks in part to Sai. He saved our lives."
"Not to mention he's been a big help giving us the dirt on Danzo and his plans."
"Really? I'm surprised Sai, I thought ROOT members stuck together no matter what. How were you able to resist when you have a curse seal on you?" Yamato asked puzzled. He recalled their first mission together and how devoted Sai was to ROOTs philosophy until Naruto managed to change him. Still he didn't any bond could undo a seal like that.
"I had some help, but in the end it was my will to protect my friends from needless bloodshed that allowed me to bypass the effects of the seal. However we did not come to reminisces my newfound freedom. We have come from Konoha with new orders. But first we are curious if you have had any contact with the Xiaolin teams since they're arrival at the Kage Summit. It's vital we know what the situation is with Danzo. If he tried something then four other Kages could come after us."
"No, I haven't heard anything from Lu or the others. I'm worried that something bad happened. She's not answering her phone and I can't raise the others on their communicators."
"It's possible that if they encountered resistance from Akatsuki members, namely Sasake's Hawk Team or even Madara himself, the negative energy produced by them could have damaged the communicators. If that's the case then we have some stragglers out there with no way to contact us if there being run over by a stampeding heard of angry bulls," Clay remarked. It took a few seconds to decipher what the cow boy was trying to say.
"If they are okay they'll try and make contact with us. Then genius here can fix the phones. Right now that doesn't matter very much. You might want to sit down for this. The Jonin Council came to a lot of really tough decisions. I mean it you really need to sit," Dagwood pleaded. After Yamato created some chairs to sit in it was time for some serious business.
"I think I'll start with Lady Tsunade's current status. She's still in a coma, but has recovered from most of her injuries. Her chakra reserves are starting to replenish themselves. The medicine that the Dragons brought has really helped in her recovery. Shizune is hopeful she'll awaken in the next month or two. Until then both she and Grandmaster Fung will continue to keep a diligent eye on her to make sure there are no more assassination attempts," Sakura began. Her eyes were brimming with unspilled tears. She was really worried about her mentor chances at a full recovery. She had used up so much her life force protecting the village. Would she ever be the same if she woke up? Plus the next part of their news was still upsetting her despite earlier assurances it wouldn't.
Lee, sensing his girlfriend's distress held her in his arms comforting her. Clearing his throat he decided to continue the briefing for her. "As soon as ROOT had been dealt with, the Jonin decided to issue emergency commands to stabilize our precocious political situation. They decided that Danzo had to pay for his treachery. We knew that you had sent two Dragons to keep an eye on him at the summit, but with the loss of communication we had to assume the worse. Grandmasters Chase and Chakra, along with Dojo have been sent on a search and kill mission."
"Why send those three out instead of hunter ninjas? It's their duty to dispatch of nuke nin. Besides, they could track Danzo and his bodyguards down faster," Kakashi pointed out.
"Normally they would, but even with the village nearly two thirds complete we couldn't spare the man power. Many of the hunter ninjas were asked to help with the interrogation of ROOT operatives. The Jonin council thought a former Prince of Darkness and the top ranking member of the Order of Concordia could handled the situation. With Dojo assisting them they should be able to eliminate Danzo quickly without causing damage to other realities," Kiba answered.
"With Danzo-sama being declared a nuke ninja a replacement for the title of Hokage had to be found quickly," Sai stated, a little bit of emotion creeping into his tone for the first time. He looked at Naruto and gave him his fake smile. "Naruto, while the Jonin were impressed by your bravery against Pein and how developed your skills are, they felt that you weren't mentally or emotionally ready to lead Konoha. Instead they selected Kakashi sensei to be Hokage for the time being. Congratulations."
Kakashi looked a little shock by the news, but took it in stride. He may have never wanted the position, but right now he had to step up and do what was best. "Thank you Sai, I'll accept the position for the time being. I'm still hopeful Tsunade-sama will recover before this position is made permanent."
"You'll make a great Hokage Kakashi sensei. Still, not all of you had to come to deliver the news. What else did the Jonin council agree on?" Naruto asked anxiously.
"Naruto-kun please don't get angry," Hinata pleaded.
"Why would I get angry Hinata-chan? What's going on?"
Sakura took a deep breath and looked her teammate square in the eye. "Naruto I know this will upset you, but you have to understand it's for the best. Konoha can't risk going to war against Kumo after what Sasake did. He kidnapped a Kage's brother and gave him to the Akatsuki. By all accounts he is a member of the Akatsuki making him an international criminal. Even if you were to keep your promise to me and bring him back I'm afraid the council would have no choice, but to execute him as the traitor he's become."
"What are you getting at Sakura? That I should go back on my promise to bring Sasake back for you? I can't do that! I want to save Sasake from his darkness not let it kill him! I won't go back on my promise I won't!"
"Naruto-kun listen to me please," Hinata pleaded grabbing his hand. She looked at him with tears streaming down her face. "Naruto, you have already done everything you can to bring Sasake back, but it's failed. I don't think this is one promise you can keep."
"Hinata I,"
"Don't you care about any of us? What about me? Naruto every time you go up against the Akatsuki you nearly lose your life! I nearly died protecting you from Pein because I love you so much! All of us care about you so much that it's hurting us to ask you to give up on Sasake. I know he was your best friend, but sometimes we can change what has happened. We have to keep moving forward. Please, if you go against this order you'll be stripped of your rank. Then how will you become Hokage?"
"She's right you know. There are only so many times you can try to tame a rampaging bull before you have to shoot it," Clay stated simply.
"Your friend has done so much evil, I'm afraid that he won't be allowed to be reincarnated, but trapped in limbo instead," Stacey remarked.
"Even when I was a self proclaimed "evil genius" I didn't try to kill my friends for power," Jack said.
"Him and his friends are destroying multiple realities in order to achieve their goal. A goal that includes making you extinct. You seriously think you can change his heart?" Dagwood questioned.
Naruto just let his memories playback in front of him as he thought hard about what they were saying. It did make sense and it was logical, but he just couldn't give up on Sasake. He couldn't go back on his nindo.
Back with Jermaine, Killerbee, and Kisame the fight had intensified. Kisame was swimming around the group similar to a mutated Jaws going after the fishermen. Killerbee could breathe underwater thanks to his demonic cloak, but Master Sabuchan and Ponta were drowning.
"I got to get them out of here now!"
"Don't! I got this one covered trust me. This is a slam dunk," Jermaine said slipping something around his neck. He held his breath as he maneuvered though the water until he was grasping both Sabuchan and Ponta by the collar. With his last breath of air he shouted, "Gills of Hamachie!" A yellow glow incased the trio. When it faded they were all had green scales, fins, and gills. "Looks like Kisame isn't the only one who can turn into a merfolk."
"Clever trick, but you forget that a shark is home in the water!" Kisame shouted as he rammed Killerbee. He started dragging him away only to be kicked in the stomach by Bee as he struggled to get away. The chase was on as Bee tried to create some distance between him and the others to keep them safe. Hachibi had told him that the water would follow him, but Kisame wasn't playing fair.
"Water style: Big Shark Bullet!" The bullets rammed Killerbee in the chest eating up his cloak. He was forced once again into version two to keep up with Kisame. The shark man was vicious and had more power in this form tearing and biting all over him. Even partially transformed with cephalopod arms he couldn't get a good shot in. "Hate to break it to you, but this time the sharks going to be dining on octopus for dinner!"
Jermaine had been watching everything from a safe distance. Seeing Killerbee in distress he had to act. "Yo, you and coon stay behind me. I'm going to try to do the impossible. Stop the greatest predator in the ocean."
"Good luck young one. Put all your passion into it!" Sabuchan instructed him.
Taking a deep breath he focused all his energies on his Soul Pendent. The Soul Pendent contained the original essences of his element. In exchange for some of his life force he could tap into the zenith of his power and perform moves of unbelievable power. He didn't have to give up as much as he did when he was first given the Pendent as a Wudai, but it would leave him extremely vulnerable afterwards. He would barely have enough chi left for any attacks.
"Soul of Gravity!" The moon shaped pendent around his neck with its silver jewel light up like a beacon. He turned pure black with a silver outline. Opening his silver eyes he started rotating his arms in a swirling pulling motion. The water around them started mimicking his movements creating a deadly riptide that pulled Kisame under. "Yo fish bait, you may rule the water, but gravity still holds power over the tides!"
"Great technique, kid! This will finish him off," Killerbee shouted spewing ink to cover his descent down. He was racing towards the target getting ready to finish off Kisame in one last attack when he was surprised by a Water Prison Shark Dance attack. Kisame latched onto his prey refusing to let go absorbing more chakra. Suddenly the water bubble burst flinging everyone different directions.
Jermaine landed against some rocks dislocating his right arm and spraining his left ankle. His body armor was torn in several places and his mask was missing. He started gasping for air so he ripped off the Wu returning to normal; however he was still struggling to breathe. Most likely he had bruised a lung. "That is one tough gang banger! I don't see the coon or his master. Ugh, got to find Killerbee and protect him. Can't let the Akatsuki gain more power, would only ugh speed up the destruction of the worlds. Only got enough power left for one last attack. Better make it count"
Kisame had returned to his normal form and was chortling over his prize. The great eight tails was out like a light. "You certainly put up a struggle. I never saw Samehada so happy before. I'm sure he'll enjoy your blood as I cut your legs off!" He leaned in to cut the legs when a small purple money with a hand for tail started scratching his face. He tried to tear the little critter off his face, but it went after his sword. The critters tail lit up and with one solid hit to the handle broke the sword in two! The teeth part went flying somewhere in the forest. "You stupid little createn! Die!" he said chocking the beast.
It dissolved into a silver light and retreated back into Jermaine Soul Pendent. The kid was standing in front of Killerbee breathing hard. "How…did….you…like…my soul beast? It's similar to a summons, but he's more like my guardian angel at times. You ready to give up homme?"
"You're literally on your last leg. You have nothing left and the eight tails is unconscious. Do you really think you can keep me from my prize? It's your time to die!"
Jermaine braced himself for an attack, but it never came. Kisame was hit from behind and thrashing from being electrocuted by a small blue lion as blue lightning recharged Killerbee. He felt himself swept away by someone on a dirt board and was smiling at Lu. "What took you so long?"
"Ran into some turbulence," Lu said laughing, thinking back to the last few minutes. What had really happened was that when they had arrived in the area they couldn't land the Silver Manta Ray due to the giant water dome and foliage. So she took them up a bit higher, set the Manta on auto pilot, and gave three ninjas a crash course in parachuting. Once they had been four hundred feet off the ground they had cut their lines dropping like stones towards their target. She had seen Jermaine in trouble so she had summoned her Soul Beast to distract Kisame while using Discharge to revive Killerbee.
Lu dragged Jermaine back towards the Cloud Ninjas. They arrived just in time to see the two brothers kill Kisame with a Double Lariat attack. She smirked as she saw big brother give little brother a lecture about being responsible. "Hey, I hate to break up the warm and fuzzies, but we do need to get you guys back to Kumo ASAP."
"She's right Raikage. With one more member of the Akatsuki killed they'll be even more desperate to claim the hosts. We need to prepare," Dariu said.
"I'll heal your friend for you. Just get us back to Kumo quickly," Shi said. Lu graciously handed Jermaine to him. Summoning the Manta back she also texted a mission complete to Raimundo hoping he get it.
Jermaine and Lu weren't the only mission success. Right before Fu could impale Ao's body to get his Byugakun he was caught up in a giant whirlpool. He was slammed about for several minutes before a small blue penguin pecked him in the face forcing Fu out and leaving Ao with a hen pecked face. "I told you I was the greatest Water Dragon ever!" Omi gloated.
"Yes you are special little one. Now how about getting us back to Kiri on the double?" Mei asked.
"Come on Ao you can sit with me," Chojuro offered.
"As if I'll sit next to a crybaby. This is the most humiliating moment of my life," Ao grumbled.
Callie had managed to return the Tsuchikage and his bodyguards back home in relatively one piece. After being treated by a medical ninja for poisoning she headed back to Konoha where Crystal and Kimiko had just arrived with news about the summit.
Back with Naruto's group everyone was waiting for Naruto to respond to what they had said. The orange clad ninja opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the Tunnel Armadillo popped out of the ground a few feet from them. The hatch opened and out jumped the Sand Trio and Auara. "Sorry for the interruption, but I think you're going to want to hear us out."