Fortunately I managed to get this chapter typed out and in time that it wasn't so late. Continues with the invasion and gets the conclusion to it here. As for the disclaimer, I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 25
Existence

"What's happen? Where are they?" Out of everything that was going on perhaps one of the most important was the fight between Minato and Orochimaru. So far both had refrained from using most of the high leveled techniques that they knew since either the Hokage didn't want to cause any significant damage in a populated area or the ones that the Sannin had already tried had been avoided or countered.

"They were supposed to assist in weakening key points of the village to allow my men to further destroy Konoha. Those Uchiha will pay for this treachery me." Orochimaru would have to wait to think that over as he was struck in the side by Minato. Wasn't life threatening but caused a couple broken ribs.

"That was aimed at his heart. At least he'll be feeling it for a while." Minato cursed when he saw that he didn't get his intended target. He had sustained his own injuries during the fight but fortunately nothing that slowed him down. "Doesn't matter how quick that modified body heals. Better end this before it goes too far."

The two were about to resume their fight when suddenly a translucent wall of sorts appeared in-between them. The Sannin recognized what happen. "A barrier. This isn't from the Hokage. It's quite familiar." Already he knew who the culprit was. "I shouldn't be surprise. You've always had a knack for getting involved." Orochimaru's speculation was confirmed as he turned around and saw his former teammate, Jiraiya. "How's it going to be this time?

Jiraiya said nothing right away. Instead he suddenly disappeared before Orochimaru only to reappear behind him, poised to attack. The Oto leader turned around to counter but wasn't fast enough as he was punched squarely in the face. "What do you think?" Jiraiya finally answered with a leveled tone.

00000000

Although the fight between the two Sanin were beginning their fight, there were others that were still going on. One being Kurenai against what was originally one opponent. Not long after they started fighting was it revealed that the person's brother was actually attached to him like some parasite. Essentially became two versus one and only got worse when they 'separated'. It didn't help that they both activated their curse seals.

"Shame really." muttered Ukon. "I figured that a jonin would've provided at least somewhat of a challenge. This is just disappointing."

"Guess they were desperate when the promoted the likes of her to jonin." Sakon added to his brother observation. "Maybe before we kill her we should have some fun." Was clear what kind of 'fun' was being referred to.

Sprawled on the ground was Kurenai, battered but still conscious. "This is insane. It's almost as though I'm fighting the same person then two completely different people. Also doesn't help that I don't specialize in direct combat." Biting down the pain she started to push herself back to her feet. "Need to end this soon. Any further delay and I'm as good as dead." Was a simple idea but hard to accomplish given her current state. "Didn't have had much chance to try this but have no real choice."

Kurenai grabbed a kunai but before she could do anything else, Ukon rushed. She threw her kunai at him but before it reached, it exploded due to the flash bomb that had been attached. Although being temporarily blind for the most part, it didn't stop him from throwing his own kunai. Due to the lack of vision the throw wasn't accurate but would still hit its intended target. Kurenai avoided it but got stabbed in the back.

"Pathetic." scoffed Sakon. Like his brother, he was affected by the flash but to a lesser extent. "You got to be desperate if you have to rely on such a ploy." His gloating ended when Kurenai replaced herself with one of the surrounding pieces of debris. Didn't take long for Sakon to find her and quickly charged in.

"You think this would help? All you've done was delay the inevitable." Kurenai couldn't do anything as she was stabbed in the heart with a kunai. Any gloating turned to complete shock as again the jonin disappeared but this time was replaced by Sakon's brother Ukon who was just as surprised.

"Brother… why?" gasped Ukon as blood started to pool from his mouth along with his gut wound. The life in his eyes dimmed before finally he collapsed dead on the ground.

"How could this happen? I never lost sight of her. When did she-" Sakon suddenly remembered. "That flash bomb. It was to hide what she was really doing." His realization followed by a kunai being stabbed in the side of the neck by a kunai.

As the life started to drain away he peered back and saw who the culprit was. "You depend too much on what you see." commented Kurenai with an icy tone. "It's why you easily fell into my genjutsu. Now join your brother." Removing the kunai blood gushed from Sakon's neck and it continued to flow even when he tried covering it. Before long he died as well.

"Glad to see that you were successful." Coming over was Kakashi, who looked battered in his own right. Not far behind was Anko who wasn't faring much better. "Saw what happened. You definitely earned your promotion to jonin." Kurenai simply gave a grateful look.

Back at the barrier, Minato was banging repeatedly on it but was having no success. "You stupid fool. Let me in right now." All the demands went on deaf ears as both men continued fighting. He turned away from it as he saw Kakashi and the others making their way over toward him.

Recognizing that as Hokage he has more urgent things that need to be trended to. "Help deal with the enemy opposition. Save everyone that you can as well." Understanding their orders all three jonin started to head out. With one last look back at the barrier Minato started to go as well but quickly stepped back to prevent from getting hit by an attack from the side. The jonins were going to intervene but were stopped. "I can handle this. You have your orders." With reluctance they left. "Mind telling me who you are?"

The individual stared at the Hokage, his expression lacked any emotion. "Kimimaro Kaguya. By the orders of Lord Orochimaru, you shall not live." His decree was follow by a large bone coming out of his hand and was held like some kind sword. Without another word Kimimaro charged at the Hokage.

"He's fast." Reacting quickly, Minato avoided the upcoming strike and used a kunai to block the second attempt. Still the blow was strong enough that it pushed him back a bit. "Apparently he's strong as well. Not going to be easy to deal with."

00000000

"So they waited. That was thoughtful." The attempt at levity from Asuka got nothing as the Namikaze brothers stared intently at the opposition in front of them. "How should we do this? Group attack or-" Rest was left unfinished as Naruto threw some explosive kunais at Gaara which was blocked by the sand defense. It would be followed by Haku going after Kankuro who backed away. "Ask a dumb question. Are you the same?" Her question was directed toward Temari who was the only one that remained.

"Thankfully I'm not. I have more sense than that." informed Temari in a serious tone. Taking her fan off her back she opened it completely. "Let's make this quick." There was no argument from the Aburame.

00000000

"Are you just going to keep running?" After the group split up, Haku had tried to attack Kankuro. However, the Suna shinobi would block or avoid all the attempts but strangely he never tried to get close to attack. "What's he up to? He forfeited in the preliminaries before showed what he specializes in."

Things would start to change as Kankuro finally stop running and removed the bundle that was strapped to his back. "Enough games. Let me to introduce you to Crow." The bandages were removed to reveal something that resembled a wooden figure. With a few gestures with his fingers the wooden figure went after Haku.

The young Namikaze backed up to avoid the early attempt while grasping the new situation. "He's a puppet user. Meaning he prefers long distance fighting. Just need to take care of the puppeteer and that'll take care of the problem." Haku looked to where he last saw Kankuro but he was nowhere to be seen. "Not surprising. The users are usually vulnerable when they use their puppets. Just need to survive long enough to find where he's hiding." Sounded like a simply plan but he knew that wouldn't be the case.

00000000

Naruto went in for a quick attack. Might've regularly worked but this time a collection of sand blocked it. The same sand would then wrapped itself around him and began to squeeze him. Bit more pressure the blond would've been crushed had he didn't disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Enough games. Show yourself."

Hiding a good distance away was Naruto. Much like how their exam match started, he had tested things by having shadow clones attack to see how Gaara would've responded. Reason had something to do with earlier in the fight the redhead had tapped into the more of the biju's power to where the right side of his body was covered in sand to appear as a mixture as a humanized version of the one-tailed. "Great, he's mad. Not as if it wasn't going to be hard already." Further complaining ended when Naruto had to suddenly avoid oncoming wind attacks that actually took chunks out of the tree that he was hiding behind.

"Found you." Appearing behind the blond was Gaara. Before Naruto could even try for a counter he found himself captured in the same sand trap that his recent clone was in. "No more running. No more little tricks. Now is the time for you to die." With what could best be described as a sadistic smile he started to put the squeeze on him.

He tried to break free but found that it was impossible by any of his regular means. "Wish I didn't have to use this but it's not like I have many other options." "Wind Style: …" Even in his demented state Gaara sensed something different coming from the Namikaze. "Whirlwind Blades." From his body blades composed of chakra induced wind exploded from Naruto's body and they struck the fellow demon at various spots of his body. Another thing it accomplished was free him of the bind he was in.

"What do you know? It worked." The boasting ended when Naruto fell to a knee and a bout of exhaustion came over him. "Just like before. Even with my high chakra capacity that still takes a toll. At least he should be in worst shape than me." Looking over, Naruto saw that the attack did do significant damage to Gaara as the wind blades had gotten through the sand and cut into him while also even hacking off one of the monstrous sand created arms.

Standing on shaking legs, Gaara noticed the injuries he suffered and while they hurt it caused his mind to become further unhinged. "He continues to hurt me. Can't let it happen." His anger rose with the failure. "No one will prevent me from confirming my existence." Reaching the breaking point, Gaara pressed his hands together in a single hand sign. "Force Sleep Jutsu." The user to fall asleep and with it an incredible amount of demonic chakra was released.

As if responding to the feeling, even more sand gathered around him to where it repaired the previous damage and grew to where he now towered over the forest. "Yes! I'm free!" The voice that came out wasn't anything like Gaara's. It was higher and even possible, more insane. "I finally can have some fun."

Getting some distance away Naruto peered up in shock. "He did it. He let the demon out." He felt a trembling and saw that his knees were shaking. Steadying himself he tried to ready for what was to come. "Like this wasn't going to be hard enough. I'll be lucky to survive, let alone win."

00000000

"Needle Jizō." Jiraiya had his hair grow even longer and had it completely cover him and spiked out to pierce into the snakes that tried to coil around him. "Needle Hell." The same hair that protected him moments ago shot out and went straight for his enemy.

They never hit as Orochimaru used the snake from earlier to block it. Discarding the snake looked at the man in front of him. "You still persistent it seems. Even back then you didn't know when you were overmatched."

Although both Sannin were roughed up, Jiraiya seemed to be in the worse condition. Even still, he maintained the same confident look that he had when they started fighting. "You see it that way. I see it as not giving up." His expression became more somber. "Once I hoped that you would come to your senses after realizing how much you fallen."

The disappointment just seemed to please Orochimaru. "I've not fallen. I'm rising toward something that you couldn't even begin to comprehend." He raised his hand and tore a part of his face to reveal another, younger feminine, looking face. "What do you think? Does my new look not please you?"

Jiraiya's shock was evident. "You did it." He could hardly get the words out. "I know you wanting immortality but I didn't think that even you would use something like the Living Corpse Reincarnation."

"A normal person could never learn every ninjutsu in their lifetime but I found a way to remove that obstacle." With the swipe of his hand the face was changed back to his previous one. "However, it would take even me years to learn them all and this body will fail me before then. Fortunately I'll soon have access on a bountiful resource."

"The Uchiha clan you mean." Orochimaru didn't seem the least bit surprise at that revelation. "Their Sharingan will make learning jutsus easier and you'll have a large stockpile of possible host bodies." A small smile appeared on Jiraiya's face. "But it would seem as though things are not according to plan." This time the snake Sannin didn't seem please.

"My issues with them will handled in due time. For now, I shall deal with you, once and for all." That was something that his friend and teammate had no problem agreeing with.

00000000

Ducking under an attempted, Kushina retaliated by stabbing the Suna shinobi in the neck. "How many more are there?" She quickly wiped off the blood that had sprayed onto her face.

"If you have to ask you don't want to know." Tsunade muttered. Shortly after all the fighting started they had relocated to one of the safe zones. The Sannin would occasionally takedown an enemy but much like Shizune and Hinata, who were stationed elsewhere; she was treating to the injured that were there.

Again Kushina took out another enemy, cursing when one more was ready to take their place. "This is getting repetitive." She was going to deal with the person as quickly as the last one but suddenly started to get woozy. It got to the point that Kushina had trouble remain standing. Seeing a possible opening, person in front of her tried to go for the kill.

Just before they could follow through they were dealt with by the chakra strengthened fists of Tsunade. "Are you all right?" asked the Sannin to her friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kushina suddenly fell to a knee and struggled to not throw up. "Actually, I'm not feeling so good." Using medical ninjutsu Tsunade performed a quick evaluation on the redhead. Went for a few moments until she stopped and her eyes widen. "What? What's wrong?"

"Uh…I don't know any other way so I'll be blunt. Kushina, you're…"

00000000

"Run. Run little mouse. Don't let my fun stop." It was that type of maniacal babbling that Naruto heard as he continued to run. Unlike earlier he was more panicked as the one-tailed biju seemed to be even more crazed then its host was. "Let Kyuubi out. Be more fun then."

"Yeah, that's all we'll need. Can't imagine how much damage two demons can do. Need to end this quick." Naruto might've been against but he wasn't left with many other options. "Have no choice. Here's hoping he's cooperative." Using some of his blood that had been spilled, he did some hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu."

Slamming a hand down a large cloud of smoke appeared. When it dispersed there stood Naruto on top of large red toad. "What is the meaning of this?" bellowed the toad. "Why have you summoned me here Naruto? Believed you were told to not to call for me for petty reasons."

"Trust me I haven't forgotten Gamabunta." The blond remembered how annoyed the toad chief after he was able to finally summon him. "But you know that I wouldn't call for you unless I had no other choice.

Gamabunta looked ahead and saw the reason for his summoning. "So you're facing the Ichibi and its host. Guess I'll forgive this transgression just this once." Naruto only felt more on edge from the consent.

"This must be serious if Gamabunta agreed to cooperate as quickly as he did." He didn't have time to think about it further as he had to stay on as the toad suddenly charged in. "Hey wait a minute. Shouldn't we have a plan?"

"We do. Hang on and don't die." Having no choice, Naruto held on, shouting a serious of curses the entire time.

00000000

As the two demon host fought, the people they had come with them were fighting themselves. One was being Asuka against Temari. They were going at but the Aburame didn't fail to notice something off. "What's the matter? Your attention is elsewhere."

"That's none of your business." Temari quickly retorted but the observation was correct. "Gaara's actually released it? He was never known for restraint but to go that far." Her line of thinking was interrupted by quickly backing away to avoid a swipe from her opponent. "Have to focus. This needs to end fast."

She reared her fan back and was going to use a one of her powerful wind jutsus but discovered that she didn't have the chakra needed for it. Furthering her confusion was faint feeling of something going over her legs. Temari looked down and saw that the feeling was from many insects crawling over them.

"I told you that you weren't paying attention. This proves it." stated Asuka in a tone that was similar to her clan. "They won't kill you; just drain enough chakra to immobilize you." Temari wanted to curse but she succumbed to the siphoning and collapsed. When it was certain that she wouldn't be getting up, Asuka let a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that worked."

Time to admire her work would have to wait as she had to get both her and her defeated opponent to safety. She might've not had showed it but Asuka was worried about what was going on elsewhere. Even her insects sense that something was up and was telling her to get away. Not arguing the Aburame took off to let the two forces go at each other.

00000000

"This is insane." That and similar thoughts went through Kankuro's head as both Gaara and Naruto fought. All he wanted to do was to escape but had to deal with the person who continued to come after him. "We shouldn't be doing this. We should be getting as far away as possible. Those two aren't human." That only fueled Haku to attack more heatedly.

"I'd watch what you say about my brother. It might cause me to lose my composure." He demonstrated that by throwing a senbon needle that narrowly missed hitting the puppet user in the head.

"You can be delusional but I'm not sticking around." Operating his puppet it released a poison mist from its mouth. Using the confusion Kankuro tried to get away but looking for where Temari was so both of them could escape. His attempt would be prevented when an ice mirror blocked his path. It was soon joined by several more appeared all around him. "How is this possible? You shouldn't do something like this in your state."

"Guess you shouldn't be underestimating someone." commented Haku. One by one images of him appeared in the ice mirrors. "It's something both your village and Oto will come to regret." In quick succession Haku used the ice mirrors to strike from multiple directions. End result was Kankuro who was punctured by needles throughout his body. None of them were fatal but the result was still affective as the puppet user fell to unconsciousness and his puppet crumbling to a heap as well.

Haku wasn't faring much better as he used a tree trunk to remain standing as all the ice mirrors shattered. "Had enough chakra to do that but don't have much now." With determination he started to slowly make his way over to his beaten opponent. Before leaving, Haku peered over his shoulder to see his brother fight. "Better be careful brother."

00000000

The going on between Naruto and Gaara wasn't really going anywhere. Both sides were using attacks that were causing serious damage to the area. "Is this all we're going to do? If this keeps up there won't be anything left." Naruto muttered as he looked at the destruction.

"Be quiet. The host allowing the demon full control isn't making this easy. You're fortunate that you're not dead yet." Gamabunta's ranting was true as it was the chief toad's evading that kept them from losing already. "Better think of something before it's too late."

Naruto tried to come up with something but nothing seemed to come expect for one. "Never done this before but don't have much of a choice." Closing his eyes he started to concentrate. "Listen and listen good nine-tails. Give me your chakra or you're going to die along with me. You hear me?" There was brief hesitation but Naruto started to feel the fox's chakra flow through him.

"That's done, now time for the next step." He started to channel the newly acquired chakra into Gamabunta. "We got one shot at this Chief. Go for it." Understanding what the blond was doing, Gamabunta did his end.

"Water Style: Water Bullet." A giant ball of water shot out of the toad's mouth and went for the one-tailed demon.

Ichibi saw it coming and almost seemed disappointed. "You're no longer fun." A large wall of harden sand rose up to block what was coming. That would've normally been the case but when water bullet hit it went through it with the slightest bit of trouble. "What?" The hit caused the chest of Ichibi to partially crave in and knock him back a bit.

"Even combining wind chakra with the attack only did only that amount of damage?" Gamabunta surveyed in disbelief. The chief toad wouldn't be able to think about it as he found himself ensnared by the same sand that had been used to try deflecting the earlier attack. Soon both he and his summoner found themselves unable to get free.

"You hurt me. I don't like being hurt." acknowledged a very angry Ichibi. Slowly the sand became even tighter. "You die now."

Naruto stopped struggling and smiled. "Don't be so sure about that." He suddenly disappeared, revealing it to be a shadow clone. Gamabunta would open his mouth and revealed the real Naruto. "Now!" Wrapping his tongue around the boy's waist the toad flung him.

"Kid's an odd one. Might have to be to deal what's to come for him." thought Gamabunta as he watched the blond. "Unfortunately I don't have enough energy to stay around for much longer. Would've been nice to see how this ended though." The toad chief disappeared; returning to where he came from, freeing him from his current entrapment.

Heading straight in, Naruto quickly created a Rasengan. "Going to have one shot at this. Can't let it go to waste." With luck on his side he managed to drive the attack into Gaara just before he captured by more sand. That would finally wake up the redhead from his self-induced sleep as he stared in wide eyed shock. Even with his harden sand armor didn't stop the attack from going into his chest.

"This can't happen." wondered Gaara to himself. "Why does he continue fighting? Is it because he's fighting for others?" Just the thought was hard for the one-tailed jinchuriki to even comprehend as it didn't make sense. Sensing death, he didn't seem to be completely against it.

As Naruto thrust the Rasengan further in he was shocked to see Gaara actually smiling. It was temporarily forgotten as the body of Ichibi started to crack. Soon the biju started to crumble. Although he wasn't restrained anymore, Naruto couldn't stop himself from falling to the ground below and likely not have survived if it wasn't for timely intervention.

"I got you brother." Catching the blond, Haku managed to safely land both of them onto one of the few trees that managed to remain standing. Both brothers looked on as what was once the one-tailed become nothing more than a mass of sand. "You did it. You actually beat him."

"It wasn't easy." Naruto was more tired than ever before as he could barely stay on his feet. Playing back what had happened in his head he remembered something at the end. "He was smiling. Almost as if he was happy that his life ended. The burden of a jinchuriki is a heavy one." It would be the last thing that Naruto would think as he passed out from exhaustion.

00000000

"This is insane. What does it take to put this guy down?" Minato's questioning was toward the person who he was fighting. On numerous occasions he did things that would've take most people down but Kimimaro would defend against each of them.

"You've proven quite impressive. Unfortunately Lord Orochimaru has deemed your death as mandatory." Kimimaro announced almost as if he was saying a common thing. He followed it by producing another sword in his hand that came from one of his bones.

The young man's standoffish attitude only annoyed Minato further. "It doesn't help that if I'm not careful he could probably do it." He was briefly sidetracked as he recognized that it seemed that the invasion was nearing its end. Who was to be victor was still questionable. "This has to end soon. Need to find a way to get past his kekkei genkai." With not many options, it left the Hokage with only had one choice. "Have to time this just right and hope it's enough." Minato rushed in and on the way threw a kunai ahead.

"Obviously the kunai is a distraction so he could attack. Sign of desperation to use such a strategy." Kimimaro quickly deduced. "Expected better from a person that was Hokage." The Oto shinobi let the kunai pass him by but kept his attention toward his opponent. He had his bone sword primed to end the Hokage's life until he suddenly disappeared.

"He's behind." Kimimaro turned around to deal with him only for him to started coughing violently. "Not now." The momentary distraction proved costly as Minato stabbed a Rasengan into his chest and continued until it reached his heart. Once the blood stained hand was removed, Kimimaro fell to the ground.

"He actually fought like he did with a possible illness. Guess I'll consider myself fortunate." All of a sudden Kimimaro started to stir but despite his efforts, wasn't able to get up. "He's still alive? His curse mark must be keeping him alive, if only barely. It won't last though." "Stop struggling. You're only quickening your death."

The warning was ignored by Kimimaro as he continued trying to stand but was unable to do so. Underneath him was a puddle of blood coming from his wound. "My life is irrelevant. All that matters is doing as Lord Orochimaru commanded." With one final burst of strength, Kimimaro got up and tried for a suicidal lunge at the blond.

It would prove to be all in vain as the Hokage disappeared even faster than last time and reappeared at the side where he stuck a kunai into his neck. "He was even faster." Removing the kunai Kimimaro again fell to the ground and there was no sign of him getting up this time. "You're truly earned the name of 'Yellow Flash'." Feeling his life slipping away with more blood flowing out, Kimimaro acknowledged his end. "I'm sorry Lord Orochimaru. I failed you." Dropping his head his life came to an end.

"Such loyalty is commendable. It's unfortunate that it isn't returned." Giving a moment of respect, Minato walked away.

00000000

"Must we continue with this?" Still locked within the barrier the two Sannin continued to fight. It had been pretty much an even fight with either side not getting a significant advantage but Orochimaru looked to be in better shape.

"Don't you realize that you're outmatched Jiraiya?"

"What are you talking about? I'm still able to go?" Unfortunately Jiraiya's boast was barely more being empty words. "Need to end this quick. Don't have chakra left to drag this on."

Orochimaru seem to detect the attempted charade as he gave a sadistic smile. "We've known each other we'll enough Jiraiya that such ruses are ineffective. This battle of ours is coming near an end and regrettably it'll be our last." His earlier smirk was followed by him being ready to do something type of jutsu. "Let us end this, shall we?"

With options limited and given the position that he was in, there was only one choice for Jiraiya. "Have no choice. He can't be allowed to get away." As quickly as possible he did a series of hand seals. "Dead Demon Consuming Seal."

Behind the Sannin, a large spectral form of a figure appeared. Moments later some type of seal appeared on Jiraiya's stomach. All of this caught the immediate attention of Orochimaru who started to realize what was being attempted. "It can't be. He wouldn't use that." His momentary distraction proved costly as he found himself caught in the grip of his former teammate. "Stop this Jiraiya. You realize what you're doing?"

"I know exactly what I'm doing." Jiraiya's grip tightened even more despite the attempts of his captor to escape. "It ends Orochimaru. Both of us are going are going to end here." As if following the desire of its summoner, the spectral figure forced its hand into Jiraiya, although leaving no actual sign of penetrating him, and continued to where he also hit Orochimaru. It would pull back and in its grasp was what could be described as the souls of both Sannin.

"You fool. Die if you want but I'll live. I shall never die." Opening his mouth inhumanly wide, Orochimaru sunk his snake like fangs into his former teammate's neck. However, there wasn't any sign of his captor letting go. "What is this? The venom should paralyze him."

"No one is meant to live forever." Jiraiya could feel the venom flowing through his veins but by pure will he refuse to let go. "You fear death and all your ambitions were to help to keep it at bay. But now it's time for you to come to terms with it." Taking a moment to collect himself, he continued. "Now seal."

At the command, the spectral figure took the knife from its mouth and brought it down, cutting through the spiritual forms. It would disappear when both Sannin's souls were sealed away. Both bodies would crumble to the floor, with neither showing signs of getting up.

"Jiraiya!" With the seal no longer being activated, Minato was able to finally get to the fallen bodies. While remaining weary of Orochimaru possibly popping up, he focused most of his concern toward Jiraiya. Right away he recognized the sealing design on his stomach. "You actually use that technique."

With weary eyes Jiraiya look over to Minato. "Took fourteen years but I finally did it. From what I'm feeling, got to say that I'm not regretting the wait." Laughing at his own joke only resulted in him grimacing in pain and having a coughing fit. "Get rid of his body. Be sure that nothing remains."

"It'll be done. Don't worry. Now let me go get help. Tsunade can help to ease the pain at least." Minato was going to leave but was stopped when Jiraiya grabbed his arm and gave him an intense stare despite his condition.

"Don't bother." Letting his hand flop to the ground, Jiraiya took a couple labored breaths before settling down. "There's somethings I have to tell you before it's too late." Minato was going to argue but was stopped before he could even start. "My time is short so let me make it quick. Expect to get all the intel I managed to gather. It's something I place for such occasions. Hope it helps."

"All this time you continued to look after the wellbeing of the village." Minato acknowledged with a somewhat shaky voice. He was doing all he could to keep his emotions in check. "Even after all the problems between us."

"Your anger was justified. I stayed away because I was hurting from losing Hiruzen Sarutobi that I ignored the fact that you were hurting as well." Jiraiya's breathing started to become shallower and eyes grew dim. "Things have been difficult and will only get harder. Only wish I could be there. Take care." With one breath, the live of Jiraiya came to an end. Unable to hold it in, Minato allowed the tears to flow.

00000000

Was long and hard but the shinobi from Konoha managed to drive out the Oto and Suna forces. There were parts of the village that suffered significant damage but nothing that could be rebuilt. There were casualties unfortunately. Only saving grace was that the numbers weren't significant.

When a semblance of normalcy came it allowed those that survived to fully grasp everything that happened. It gave them the chance to be thankful to have survived and mourn those who sacrificed themselves those who made it possible.

And with this chapter the invasion concludes. Bet some of you didn't expect with how I decided to wrap up the fights with Orochimaru and Gaara. My reason for those who died is because I plan on taking this story different from the manga/anime, even more so than I already have, and having them would add more unnecessary additions. Don't worry though. What I have planned their exclusions won't be significant.

Will hopefully have the next chapter out around this time next month. Would like to update quicker but with real life becoming somewhat more hectic, that isn't really an option at the time. Until next time, see ya.