Pseudo Styles: A Naruto Fanfiction

by Alpha Vii

[Undergoing retrofit] Clan desolation reduced. Development heavy plot line where the canon generation is privy to the cloth they are cut from. Rapid growth, and... escalation prone events.

25. Volume 25: Finale Part 3

Pseudo Styles: A Naruto Fanfiction: Volume 25 (Finale Part 3) The Akatsuki Cascade: Shadow of Light; Eye of Darkness: Part 3: Chapter 1-3

[Important Notice: Retrofit pending. If you are reading this, the chapter has yet to be overhauled. Plot and character points subject to dynamic change. Chapters that have had this message removed have been - for the most part - resolved.]

Alright, these are the last two Akatsuki fights before things go to the boss level. Things are about to get AWESOME! And potentially excessive. To the Rock Lee fans, old and new I offer you this…

The maker of Mount Lee will be IN THAT FIGHT! I actually might regret this when it happens. IT'S JUST A TREE! Who cares if it's the tree from Adam and Eve lore! IT'S JUST AN INNOCENT TREE! It was the one part of the lore people left alone, yet it was the actual victim! Hell, even Kaguya's corresponding demon incarnation just wanted an heir! That's all that tree ever asked for! Not human sacrifices…You know what I need to shut up now, I'm entering a sensitive region that readers/viewers don't like.

CRACK

===Volume 25===

—Chapter 1: Fall of the undead—

—Ambiguous time earlier—

Hidan and Kakuzu were in shock when the tidal wave of genin washed over them. For unique reasons they were able to survive staying together.

Finally the wave ended and they were stuck in the middle of the circle.

Enigma paled, 'Uhh, this presents a unique issue. Hidan's unique physique means that the phases will only affect his body if he's…I'm not entirely sure what. So if say, A spear get's lodged in his heart and he's still fighting like nothing has happened…Kami this is so wrong, yet so simple I can't excuse any interfering! Why was the human puppet so simple?!'

Hidan growled, "Those vests…They vex me! As factory grade as they look, they kept me from getting anyones blood! I should have gone for the arms or a leg, but the round about always leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

Finally Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, and Lastly the head of the Kumo division (Wind girl from volume 15 Kumo chapter. Sorry I forgot to name her! Kaze Tensei from here out!)

Neji narrowed his eyes, "So our enemies limit themselves with perfection? Such a standard will not yield results here! In the past few days alone our peers have dismantled jonin and chunin alike to find their strengths! The notion of perfection is a brittle one that quickly falls before the sands of time! The Hyuga clan, despite our solid foundation, are not exempt from this fate! (Who says I'm a fate hater? Just don't get blinded by it!) We have once again begun the slow climb to reclaiming our title of possessing a superior taijutsu!"

Kakuzu scoffed, "I've been in tune with that clans fundamental principles for the better part of a century! As refined as their 'principles' are there's no way you're in league with the clan elders, while spouting THAT!"

Neji smirked, "Well I guess you're instruments are a bit out of tune! The elder council has been sidelined for the better part of a year! Besides, the ideals regarding households are currently void as an alternative to the caged bird juinjutsu is being found."

Hidan snarled, "So your turning you back on culture?!"

Ino groaned, "Look around you! There's not an angle in here WITHOUT culture! It's been under these places for months and no one even realized! No matter what the Hyuga turn to it will be as culturally valid as the stone they've been sitting on for years!"

Kaze Tensei sighed warily, "The rock they needed to survive time is maintained in their community, not their compound! This mortified the entire shinobi council in Konoha! The places their compounds stood for years would have been in ruin if not for the C.O.P. sacrificing ours! It drew in to question; Whose foundation was strong enough to survive being turned into a pit like the C.O.P? Since they haven't sent their answer yet I assume they haven't found a candidate. Yet in the time the question was posed…" She flung out her arms, "THIS was rebuilt in every village!"

Hidan twirled his scythe before shouting, "Let's see how much that does for you!"

Shikamaru turned to his teammate and asked, "Ready?"

Ino smirked, "Set!"

Kaze smacked her face, "Oh just do it all ready!"

Ino emanated an extremely potent blast of psychic energy that sent the two S-Class shinobi tumbling through the air.

Hidan managed to swing down with his scythe but noticed a peculiar energy approaching him. Like an empty killing intent. He looked up and saw a shadow eating down the cable. The man swore and detached his scythe from the catwalk. He shouted when from his blind spot someone slammed into him, driving him into an arena filled with a number of metal alcoves and pipes that opened and closed. Hidan narrowed his eyes as a pipe surfaced near him, "Well that's disturbing. But it takes more than this to shake the likes of the Akatsuki!"

Suddenly the arena shook as someone shouted, "WHAT?!"

Hidan sweat-dropped, "Did that guy blow himself up again?!"

Kakuzu landed on the ground in a large amount of smoke. He turned when he noticed his partner, "Hidan, We're being maneuvered like sheep! We need to break this hold if we're to control the battle!"

The four genin jumped down and Hidan scoffed, "One problem at a time, you old geezer!"

Shikamaru scratched his head, "Two at once huh? Man that's a new kind of troublesome. Alright; guy with the scythe; While the don't look back method is good for handling the present, your friend there is giving you a chance to anticipate our moves. As strong as you are alone you need to fight as a team or your weaknesses will double."

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, "If this place wasn't so unorthodox I'd call you an imbecile for denouncing shinobi standards so eagerly." The man looked at the 'Gargoyles' and thought, 'What the hell did our leader keep within spitting distance? No shinobi could create such a deathtrap for controversy!'

Enigma's light clone cringed, "Umm, this guy's piecing us apart!"

A.N: Alpha's grin falters, "Uh, would it be a bad time to say our internal aspect processor just evolved?"

E.N: "Are you insane?! The current one already shook off this world's hinges! What the hell do you need an upgrade for?"

A.N: Alpha raises his hands, "I'm not a bio-mechanic! I didn't write my genes! I can't even read them…well...not on that level anyway. Science hasn't displayed enough aspects to complete that rigging!"

E.N: "So it's inside our fifty year history blindspot then."

Hidan groaned, "So you're scared of a bunch of kids? That's rather low of you. Aren't you the one who does anything for the right price?"

Kakuzu scoffed, "Two things: First, I'm disturbed by the barrier. It sings of witchcraft and represents too many variables for typical fuinjutsu. Second, I'm not being paid for taking down a bunch of no name shinobi brats. The only one who might have a bounty here is the person who could create this kind of hex. Unfortunately I don't know any S-class shinobi who could do this!"

Hidan rolled his eyes, "So it's a kekkei! Big deal! Either way I'll be getting some sacrifices!"

Enigma groaned, "Oh I'm so about to piss of Jashin's apprentice!" 'While I COULD fight him, it's a conflict of interests! I'd trounce that guy and it'd mean nothing to him. That's why the fights are being done like this. Naruto vs. Sasuke happened for a reason. Technically…(Alpha shouts, "Shut up!")…Fine! But you weren't much better Alpha! ("It's a matter of not making it worse!")

The scythe wielder charged at the genin.

Kaze narrowed her eyes before grinning. She went through a basic movement for wind and thrust her palms at the ground.

Hiden cocked a brow and opened his mouth for a taunt, however within that moment a blast of wind knocked him to the side. As he skidded to a stop he swore, "What the hell?!" The man turned to Kakuzu, "What just happened?!"

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. After a moment he groaned, "This must be some kind of training ground. That attack came from an entirely new direction, and the girl used that to surprise you. We must adapt quickly or we'll die faster!"

Hidan rubbed his bum, "Way to be a downer." Hidan turned to search for what made the training ground unique. Nothing caught his eye, but the sound of a ticking mechanism drew his attention to the ground. (Thank you rotary deathtrap/treasury aspects! You're like the inside of my brain incarnate!) Hidan cocked an eyebrow, "Who keeps a timer where no one can see it?!"

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. Finally his eyes widened and he looked down, "So it's a clock." Behind his scarf the man grinned, "Well fortunately all clocks have the same weakness!" Kakuzu drew a kunai and shoved it into one of the pipes, "Grinding their gears!" He drew a ninja-to and drove it into the wooden platform satisfied when he heard a loud clank.

Kaze sighed, "How long till he finds out?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "If he's as smart as he sounds…Three minutes."

Hidan opted for keeping himself moving at steady rate. In a sense like a predator gaging their prey, "Alright, so these little upstarts have a few fancy sparks. It's been years since I've had a half decent sacrifice, but maybe ending these pathetic antics will put me on Jashin's good side!" He attempted to drive a slow wedge between the genin and break their formation. Their response however further annoyed him.

Instead of holding their formation and reinforcing it, the genin abandoned their 'foothold' and formed two groups. Neji defending, and Shikamaru as support. Kaze defending, and Ino as support.

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and gave a suspicious growl, "What is this? Genin shouldn't be able to adapt formations at all! The typical team setup has the jonin teach a team two or three formations for emergencies. This is…unnaturally fluent for even jonin! The fact that the girls are from different villages yet produce such an effect is unrealistic!"

Hidan rolled his eyes, "Aren't you over thinking things a bit?" The man broke off and engaged the boys as the distance ceased to diminish.

Neji took an odd stance almost the polar opposite of the gentle fist. Instead of alining to his opponent, Neji's arms were out to either side. His torso however was still facing the Scythe wielder.

Hidan used the lack of forward defense as an invitation, "No need to make throwing a fight so obvious!"

Shikamaru faulted, "You haven't even attacked yet, and you think he'd surrender?"

Hidan threw his scythe to take off Neji's arm.

Neji smirked, "Earth style: Gentle palm: Eight trigrams: Counter!" He swung his arms forward and they intercepted the thrown weapon in a tremendous clap, "TWO PALMS!"

Hidan paled when the blades where repelled by the amount of force the boy applied.

He cocked an eye when Neji leapt forward shouting, "Four palms!"

Hidan rolled his eyes as he moved to grab the obvious right palm. To his shock Neji rotated violently and struck the man's wrist with the other palm, "Damn…" But Neji wasn't done.

The boy spun deeper into Hidan's guard and slammed a hand into the man's opposite elbow.

Hidan scowled, "What…?"

Finally Neji slammed both palms into Hidan's shoulders from directly underneath. The sound of a deep crack was heard from both joints.

Hidan staggered back as his balance was momentarily ruined by the upward force.

Neji smirked and continued, "EIGHT PALMS!"

Hidan paled, 'He's not DONE!'

—Meanwhile—

Kakuzu watched the first four strikes land but missed what made the disturbing crack as the two kunoichi launched their assault.

Kaze jumped forward and Ino went through stances before shouting, "PULSE!"

An invisible wave launched Kaze forward. She went through wind movements mid air and the wind picked up as her technique developed.

Kakuzu smirked, 'A wind user eh?' He flew through hand signs and shouted, "Fire style: Intelligent hard work! (*Cringe* What? I'm sorry WHAT?!)"

A.N: Alpha cringes as well, "Um, I realize this probably had to do with some kind of bullying backstory, however some things…I really can't figure out how to make sound good without excessive context! There's an alternative name but it really didn't do my conscience any favors. This is probably a sign that I've pursued the fire/wind controversy a little too far. Especially having seen the jutsu description, this scene is gonna have some NASTY consequences with my karma and reputation alike."

The intensity of the flames caused Ino to worry about her friend, "KAZE?!"

The girl began to sweat from the initial heat but finally released her jutsu, "WIND STYLE: REVOLUTIONARY BREAKTHROUGH!"

Despite the multitude of fortifying seals, the paint and skin of the arena were torn off from the initial blast of wind before the seals finally adjusted.

When the two jutsu collided the fire billowed to an insane tornado of hell that shot strait for the forgiveness of the upper atmosphere.

Kakuzu was mortified, "What the hell!? Fire consumes wind! How are the jutsus balanced?!"

Ten seconds passed before the pyre finally ceased. The heat from the flames was sucked up in a wild burst of wind that threatened to pull those present into the sky.

—Meanwhile—

Neji pounded Hidan with the eight, sixteen, and thirty-two palms before sending him soaring with a final blow.

Hidan flew towards the giant pillar of rising air before suddenly it threw him skyward like a cannon ball.

Hidan reappeared on the ground, before his head cocked back, "Wait a minute, I can't even die! What the hell was that?" (Yeah, you don't want to know.)

Kakuzu growled, "So the curse kicks in when a body is compromised?" He swore, "Then why are the genin protecting each other from it?" The man turned to his partner, "We need to find a source of material advantage!" Kakuzu stepped to the edge of the arena and looked for an optimal battle ground. He spotted one with a huge amount of earth and scattered rivers, with few visible sources of shadows. He turned to Hidan and shouted, "Follow me!" Kakuzu jumped down to the lower field.

Hidan having seen his odds dwindle cursed, "Damn it partner! I hate it when you do stuff like this!" He followed his partner off the edge.

Kaze turned to Ino before looking to Shikamaru, "How do we proceed?"

Shikamaru held his fingers in a kind of cage for a moment before answering, "Diverted Pincer."

Kaze grinned, "Lemme guess; Me and the Hyuga?"

Neji cocked his head before sighing, "Oh that will mess with the big guy in all sorts of ways."

A.N: Alpha groans, "No I haven't forgotten about the Hyuga incident's potential effect on Neji. Yes I realize Phantom halted the event. To explain what… You know what? I'm not about to explain all four of the graves I dug/filled throughout this story. It'd overload some people, not to mention burn through my energy reserves."

—Earth field—

Kakuzu and Hidan were assessing the environment for potential 'surprises' and had found none. Kakuzu sighed, "Every time we switch platforms the element of surprise goes back to those brats."

Hidan groaned, "So we'll stay put. Hunker down, and lay a trap. Either way this dome means our chakra won't run out."

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, "Maybe, but a battle of attrition only works to our benefit If the enemy supply lines aren't able to keep up. We're in the middle of their home! Not to mention they just arrived to battle. We just raided the sound village and have used up some stamina."

Hidan tapped his chin, "Actually something has been bothering me about these troops. Orochimaru jammed the villages radio transmissions, and messenger birds take most of an hour to fly between the closest villages. That first kid was here within the first hour. Granted I thought he was a leaf messenger at the time. But these troops took no more than five hours to respond! Forget about the Uzumaki! How did Mist get here so fast!"

Kakuzu paled, "Hidan while I admire that you're using that dilapidated instrument behind your forehead there's another issue you've just ignored."

Hidan looked up, "What?! And was that comment really…"

Kakuzu shouted, "Why haven't we seen the Uzumaki!? They should have been the first to arrive at full speed! What the hell is keeping them?"

Kaze suddenly landed in the arena, "Aw, looks like someone's seeing the bigger picture! Yeah, according to their C.O.P. HQ's intel…The Uzumaki are about to go to war for the first time in history."

A.N: Alpha's face turns clammy and pale, "Oh flaming ducks with chakra! Enigma what did you teach them?"

E.N: Enigma raises a finger before he sees the ghost, "Oh shit! Holy shadow! Blinding Hell! Wha…What have we done?!"

C.V: Shudders in his coma.

A.N. + E.N: "MISTAKES WERE MADE!"

Neji lands on the earthen grounds and asked, "Did I miss something?" He takes the standard stance for the gentle fist.

Kaze shrugged, "Not much. Anyway how's your elemental variation coming along?"

Neji tensed, "As much fun as rebuilding the gentle fist is, Hinata's the spearhead of that project. Mine works, but it's limited, especially with the structural integrity of the C.O.P. training grounds."

Kaze cocked her head, "It's an earth style right?"

Neji sighed, "Yeah."

Kaze looked down and sweatdropped, "Yeah, Neji?"

Neji turned to face her, "What?"

"Just do it."

Neji groaned, "Fine!" He sprinted forward and shouted, "EARTH STYLE: ROTATION!"

Kakuzu slammed the ground and shouted, "EARTH STYLE: STONE BARRICADE!"

Hidan eagerly took refuge behind the giant stone shield, but a peculiar sound drew out his next question, "Is it supposed to sound like that?"

Moments later a small circle of chakra appeared in the middle of the wall and began growing at an accelerating rate.

Kakuzu swore, "MOVE!" The two men jumped to either diagonal before Neji's sphere punched a hole through the stone.

The Hyuga prodigy skidded on the earth and shouted, "HELL YEAH!"

As the sphere deteriorated Kakuzu noticed a large amount of earthen chunks fall from the shell, 'He shredded through with my own stone? This kids a real piece of work!'

Neji retook his stance and asked, "Still think the Hyuga clan is stagnant?"

Hidan braced for another attack but a shadow drew his attention, "Kakuzu, my man? Didn't you say there where no shadows?"

Kakuzu looked over and scowled, "It's a trap!"

The two attempted to take flight but an invisible barrier slammed into them.

Hidan looked up and asked, "Since when did fuinjutsu become so subtle? I swear I've never seen an undetectable barrier before!" He quickly dodged an attack from Neji but a blast of wind launched him into one of the few trees in the arena.

A.N: Alpha groans, "Umm, I'm running into an issue with this battle. I've got the ending, and the starting point. The two are…Not cooperating. I'm having trouble getting past the zombie brothers in this one. The goal is to appeal to Kakuzu's intellect and Hidan's religious values. I'm kinda…stuck. No other fight has lapsed over three days. I've taken…A lot of breathers to adjust to this fight, but nothing has encouraged further progress. I'll come back to this if I find the inspiration, but for now this battle is on hiatus."

E.N: *Duh duh DUH!* "You…You what? You're throwing in the towel? The fanfic is over?"

A.N: Alpha's eye twitches, "Oh come on! You…Well…YOU know me better than that. Don't encourage that assumption! No I'm not calling it quits. Just a time out. As I am right now this fight is abnormally difficult. BTW when I say three days, that means all 3-6 hours I have the right energy for in a day. After wasting 9+ hours on one fight, it's time to call it a…well, a hiatus. Besides, my tolerance for an ongoing scene is running out and I'm not about to take a shortcut just to make my quota."

E.N: "It's also possible you just picked an awful matchup. Funjin Akuma's new tota might have given enough kick for us to do this. But it only occurred to us after they moved to an earth field. I don't like it, but this fight might need an overhaul. And we haven't even gotten a review for the newest volumes yet."

A.N: Alpha groans, "Oh I hate cliffhangers! To be continued…"

===Chapter 1-2 Bridge===

—Chapter 2: Fall of the Doujutsu / Rise of the heirs—

Enigma furrowed his brow, "What's going on? The light clone is drawing a blank?" Suddenly a weird thought occurred to the boy, 'Alpha?!' Enigma sighed, "Well no use crying over spilled milk…That is unless you feel guilty about it, in which case: GO, CONSCIENCE!"

The boy turned to the last fight, "Here we…Hey aren't we forgetting someone?" Enigma counts on his fingers. Suddenly his eyes narrow.

E.N: "Hey Alpha?"

A.N: Alpha pouts, "Aren't you the one who says we do this too often?"

E.N: *Groan* "Did you miss a fight? There are ten akatsuki here right?"

A.N: Alpha rubs his forehead, "Okay first, For the readers sake; Madara is still manipulating Nagato, so that's definitely a one piece fight."

E.N: Cocks an eyebrow

A.N: Alpha sighs, "That's not what I meant! Yes I ditched a fight. But my reasons are pretty basic, albeit counterproductive. We've already explained the why/what, but not the how behind the Jubi fight. Anyways, get back to announcing! I'm not about to spoil it…more."

—

'Madara's' eyes narrowed at the number of naive brats approaching him. As the wave finished he turned to the boy on the rooftops, "You'd send an army of flies to attack someone on level with the first Hokage?"

Enigma shrugged.

Meanwhile Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata stepped forward.

Naruto sighed, "So this is what your ancestor left to this world?"

Sasuke shivered, "So that's what our curse of hatred bestows on us? To wither into the cracks of history?" He seemed to bite something back, before turning to his blond teammate, "What you said before we left. Were you serious?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, but don't waste your time trying to measure yourself against the dead. Madara never mastered the mangekyo so he must have died from his demons. Our predecessors trusted us with their demons. That's how incarnation and reincarnation work."

Sasuke sighed and lowered his head. When he lifted it again a fire had entered his eyes, "In that case I won't be using the mangekyo for this. Besides, three against one is already a terrible misuse of power."

The elder Uchiha scowled, "Are those eyes blinding you maggot? It's two against three, and your facing two S-Class shinobi!"

Hinata glanced at the Deva path, "No. He's an SSS-Class, and he's not even conscious. You're an unknown but your age suggests you're past your prime. That with the intel from obito, and you're no late bloomer either."

'Madara' froze, before his gaze flooded with KI, (Literally!) "Amaterasu!"

Naruto snarled and leapt before the black flames, his own KI flaring.

Enigma's eyes widened as he felt the Phaze network fluctuate, "DAMN! He's mastering MY ability?! Screw unpredictable! That's pushing intuition's limits! Luck my ass! That's KI manipulation!"

Naruto flickered in place and the black flames were purged from his body. He smirked, "Mom will be pissed to hear that assessment. Nothing angers the Habanero as much as manipulative people!"

'Madara' narrowed his eyes before a sinister smirk developed on his face, "Let's see how you do without your magic forcefield!…"

Enigma narrowed his eyes and his gaze could burn chakra metal, "TRY IT! PSEUDO ART:…"

"Tsukiyomi!

"PSYCHE IMBALANCE!"

A.N: Alpha crossed his arms, "I'd call it cheating, but I HAVE been waiting to use that technique."

The Tsukiyomi converged on Enigma and the boy threw out his arms. The two S-Class genjutsu mixed together in his body and the effect was immediate.

—

'Madara' watched as the world around him was absorbed into the genjutsu. (In the 'real' world he's still standing.) What he saw however was far more terrifying than the scene of the tsukiyomi, since it wasn't even close.

The space was surrounded by two disks with a number of different height pillars. Above the disks, the pillars where white. Underneath, the pillars where black.

Enigma's gaze was one of absolution, "You want to fight in MY mindscape? By the way, those spires are MY demons! And there's a damn legion who would PAY to rip you apart as well as the other that would enjoy putting you back together!"

His voice suddenly came from everywhere as his fists impacted each other, "It's them or us! But here all bars on my power are gone! Since I'm more interested in a natural battle I'll say this once:" The voice began a grade a roar, "GET - OUT - OF - MY - HEAD!"

—

'Madara' fell to his knees before the genin his anger at it's peak and his body's chakra billowing to it's peak. He turned his head to the genin, "That boy just crossed a line! You shall suffer for his mistake!" The man turned to the Deva path, "Call in the others! We're razing this place to the ground!"

The Deva path despite it's distress nodded, "Reinforcements will be arriving in fifteen minutes."

Naruto cracked his knuckles and asked, "Can you last that long? A guy I beat with the power at my disposal, and a fanboy of my teammates soul." Naruto's eyes narrowed before he turned to Sasuke, "Dude how did you get such a diverse fan club?"

Sasuke groaned, "A lesser known curse. I'm still pushing Enigma to find a cure."

Hinata smiled, "I'm pretty sure it will take a similarly potent lesson to cure you of that as the mangekyo."

Sasuke sighed, "Fitting. It's just as much an eyesore." Sasuke activated his sharingan at it's basic level before he noticed something weird, "Speaking of which, Is that guy even moving?"

'Madara' froze when he saw Sasuke's eyes. His own narrowed and he spoke quickly, "Release!" He stepped back when nothing happened, "But this is…unheard of!"

Sasuke held up a kunai and checked that his Mangekyo hadn't activated by accident. His eyes narrowed and he quickly wiped them with his sleeve. When the image was verified he chuckled, "Enigma has some explaining to do!"

Naruto asked nervously, "What?"

Sasuke turned to his teammate with a smug grin.

Naruto stumbled, "Four?! Four tomoe?! The sharingan evolved again?!"

Enigma chuckled, "Man, I didn't think It'd actually work that way, but technically the eternal mangekyo amounts to six tomoe with those rings. At this rate Sasuke is pushing the Mangekyo down a few pegs towards obscurity!"

'Madara' Flipped a kunai before throwing it to the Deva path. He spoke quickly, "Make em count!"

The Deva path held out his hand and the kunai began to rotate like a slow drill, "Almighty push!"

Madara leapt at Naruto with a much darker kunai.

Naruto watched the blade obtain black flames as it approached him. He drew a similar kunai and poured wind chakra into it. He move forward with shearing movements and the blade began to give off a high ringing.

The two blades met and the flames leapt up into the air in a mini spiral.

Nagato launched the kunai at Sasuke at a ridiculous speed.

To Sasuke however, the blade seemed no faster than a typical projectile. He weighed his arm before grinning. He launched both hands up faster than a stage two sharingan could even track and caught the blade. To his surprise the kunai released a burst of energy before shooting back at the Deva path at an equal speed.

At the second batch of sonic feedback Enigma's eyes widened, 'Uhh, That's like volley ball with railguns! And at this range?!' "Sasuke have I ever told you that you're scary as hell?!"

Sasuke shrugged, "If you say so." He drew a dark ninja-to and leapt to support Naruto.

The Deva path meanwhile reappeared to one side in a phase. He drew another kunai and attempted to blast Hinata off the catwalk with an almighty push.

Hinata retaliated by jumping skyward but when her face turned to him it was one of victory, "Almighty palm!"

Nagato's instincts were delayed by the tsukiyomi's effects and the host body's reaction time was far to slow to dodge. Hinata shot towards the man in a split second and her hand was loaded with one of her more devastating gentle step techniques. The impact sent the Deva path soaring into a wild tumble before he crashed into one of the inner pillars.

The Deva path stood to his feet…

A.N: Alpha groans, "Oh I completely forgot about that! The characters in the Narutoverse have a much higher tolerance for damage than some other anime. In addition the minimum damage for a mortal blow is significantly higher in the Narutoverse than our dimension. On our earth the Deva path just compromised his skull. In the Narutoverse he got off with a nasty bruise. I'd say it was chakra related, but the fortifying technique is it's own skill, and I'm not sure if that's the actual cause or if the mortality bar is just higher. In my head it's called mortality mode. Sorry If I accidentally call it that randomly."

…before slamming his hands down, "Summoning jutsu!" A large falcon appeared with a metal coated beak.

Hinata sighed before flying through a set of handsigns. (I know making a clan summon would repel some people, so for now I'm sticking with the idea that the C.O.P. have trained animals. Yeah…that's still gonna bite me.) Five owls appeared before her, each wearing vests with a set of seals on the backs. One of them looked at Hinata. The blunette smiled before poking her fingers together. (Ticks FTW!)

The owl hooted and the flock took to the skies.

The Deva path scoffed, "In a match of summons, THAT was pathetic! I'm done tolerating your little games little fly!"

Enigma coughed, "Butterfly!"

The falcon summon took to the sky and began to fly in a measured orbit around the C.O.P. HQ.

Suddenly the Deva path froze, "What is that snake doing? He's fighting like a sloth!" He shook his head, "I don't have the time to mess with you brats!" Before he could jump away a flash of light drew his attention. The path turned to the air to find the source but found nothing. He prepared to attack, but another flash distracted him.

Hinata pulled out a scroll and summoned a large barrel before moving to another location and summoning another.

The Deva path managed to notice the barrels appear and turned to face the girl. He drew another kunai but fumed when a chakra spike suddenly broke his focus, "Oh that is getting on my nerves!" He had the bird chase down the anomalies while he faced down against Hinata. He turned red when he saw her giggle momentarily.

Hinata tried to keep her laughter in check but finally it broke out, "Oh Kami, it's perfect! The famous rinnegan falls victim to a classroom prank! I thought the Byakugan was the ideal target, but you've got it bad!" She took the stance for the Gentle step and asked, "You can still fight a genin, right?"

A.N: Alpha rubs his brow, "E.N, Please explain how these kids could possibly be ranked as genin?"

E.N: Scratches head, "Uh, I didn't get the whole breakdown but it amounted to an intervention. Naruto mentioned that the C.O.P. wants the standards overhauled before an entire group of academy students jumps from 'rookie' to jonin over the course of one chunin exam. I think they've opted out of the last few exams all together. Now that I think about it, C.O.P. international has the potential skills to overhaul even the jonin standards. I don't think there's a 'genin' level shinobi left in the elemental nations! Even Konohamaru's apprentice is already above the old standard for genin."

A.N: Alpha groans, "Man, I hope this doesn't become a reoccurring issue."

—Meanwhile—

'Madara' continued attempting to subdue the two boys, but after a while he noticed an ongoing theme:

Naruto would redirect and counter his attacks, but never initiate an attack on his own.

Sasuke however would line up combo attack after combo attack, but rarely used his energy defensively.

Occasionally they would create a devastating cooperative attack that would leave 'Madara' winded and the process would repeat.

It was driving the man irate. The two seemed so compatible that any wedge between them was either forced out or crushed.

The two boys withdrew for a moment.

Sasuke sighed, "This is getting boring. Training with Haku, I think my standards for speed are a bit too high, but this fight feels…Broken."

Naruto nodded, but after a moment he had one of his insight moments. (E.N: Checks scroll, "Nope dead as a…You know what? Death is a relative term here anyway!) He turned to Sasuke, "This guy's motive is his devotion to Madara. If his standards are based on someone on that level…"

Sasuke's eyes widened before he cursed, "But that'd be like fighting a civilian!"

Naruto groaned, "Yeah I know. But if Madara inspired him, then maybe…"

Sasuke twirled a kunai and asked, "What makes you think I'd have any better effect on this guy?"

The blond chuckled, "Curse of hatred for one."

Sasuke cringed, "Oh, I hate it when you get to use that line!" The black haired boy sighed before pushing chakra to his eyes. The eternal mangekyo formed and Sasuke glared at the man, "Alright cousin! Before I kick your ass to hell and back, I need to know you can take it." Sasuke closed his eyes.

The man scowled at the weakness in Sasuke's defense but, the moment he made to attack, his body locked up. At that moment he felt it. A KI field that for a moment, equalled that of Madara Uchiha. But then he felt something…He'd never felt before, 'Wha…What is this? It's like his presence…Like it's only…' His eyes widened in horror, 'H…He's not at full power? But it's already like every bone in my body has been awakened! Like every movement I make will sell me out to his judgement! Like one wrong move and I could be killed! IT'S STILL GROWING DAMN IT!' The man stepped back. At this point the idea of calling for backup seemed like showing an open wound in front of a legion of sharks. While it held little consequence it felt like revealing a fatal weakness before death himself.

Sasuke's eyes opened and the Mangekyo appeared (BTW Enigma had shut down his eyes the moment Sasuke started this. Since KI level was/is seen as a distortion, this would be…painful to look at. Sasuke would look more like a humanoid void with this. Think; if Obito's portal were man sized and didn't dilute through a wormhole.)

A.N: Alpha groans, "Darn it! I'm gonna need to make this a two chapter volume. I'm sorry about that, but I've still got a psychological limit to how much I'm comfortable typing between posts. I really depend on you guys for a sense of community. Even if just to know you're out there. That being said I'm not going to have more than one ongoing hiatus per story. I've got the capacity for this fight; but these double fights are hard! You'd think I'd have learned after the mess I made of the chunin exam finals."

The young Uchiha prodigy opened his eyes, "Naruto, do me a favor and…

The blond grinned, "On it!" Naruto split off from the attack but paused, "You die once and Itachi will hear about it."

Sasuke's steel gaze warped for a moment before sharpening, "No need to create that kind of pressure knucklehead!"

'Madara' raised a kunai as his intellect finally caught up with his fear. He analyzed Sasuke warily as the two spoke, 'This brat: He knows his weaknesses, I know that much from their teamwork. But he's made those weaknesses more vulnerable without his 'other half'.' The man took a deep breath, 'However that KI…That wasn't from a genin.' 'Madara's' eyes widened, "You kids aren't genin!"

Sasuke groaned, "Yeah, so what? No one here has an ounce of war experience, yet the civilian and shinobi councils think it would have been reasonable to make team seven the next sannin two years ago?! As much as I appreciate the comparison, that's not how a legacy works. Any team of genin from Konoha could fight Orochimaru and, short of a stunt like reviving a bunch of scape goats, he'd walk away with bruises, broken bones, and some form of limp. That being said, he could have survived fighting a team on the newest genin. While it's counter intuitive, a team of three mainline jonin is about an even spar with those 'genin' teams. It's not a question of power. It's a question of skill. Being gaged by a bunch of civilian nobles who've gotten used to genin being borderline watchdogs? That's not what I consider to be a promotion. That's putting up a decent show. The moment the C.O.P. caught wind of the number of genin summoned for promotion we turned them down. Two or three from one village is absurd for a grading curb. But we heard about six. Leaders of every C.O.P. division agreed that such misuse of political resources was a death sentence to the leaf. Especially knowing where the exams were held, treaties would be voided. Alliances be brought into question." Sasuke hung his head before raising his KI. His head shot up and he shouted, "That's not what the C.O.P. was built for! The council of pranksters was meant to flush the dark corners of Konoha. To bring down those who saw themselves as 'better', 'pure', or worst of all 'perfect'."

The man went through seals for a fire jutsu, "So you think you have the right to decide right and wrong?!" A high grade fire dragon poured from the man's mouth and coiled around Sasuke.

Sasuke watched the flames close in on him before going through an advanced set of stances, "Not even close." He slammed his foot down and pivoted while shouting, "BURNING WIND!"

'Madara' cocked an eye at the use of a wind style jutsu, but was suddenly required to shield his eyes as the two jutsu's combined.

The energy from the fire swarmed into the polarized wind. (Yeah, it's a good thing shinobi don't rely on electronics, cause igniting burning wind produces a dense EMP field. Especially since Sasuke keeps blowing rings of the stuff. It's like creating a mini solar storm.) The resulting blast knocked The elderly Uchiha back a few feet.

Sasuke on the other hand barely reacted to the blast. He dusted off his shoulder and sighed, "After feeling the wrath of mom's 'worry' hugs, that was almost therapeutic." He turned to his 'dead' relative and asked, "So this is what Madara left in his wake huh?" Sasuke scoffed, "Pathetic. Based on how you fight he left you nothing but his name! That being said…Theirs no way a founder of Konoha would trust such a thing to an everyday shinobi." Sasuke narrowed his gaze and asked in a weighted voice, "Instead of preaching about my dead ancestor, try showing me what he saw in you. I'm not interested in the name of a traitor. I'm looking for the will of my ancestor!"

'Madara' leapt forward shouting, "This IS his will! Weather or not you think you have an ounce of his heritage!" The man drew a very narrow kunai and threw it at the boy. He brought his hands together and shouted, "Shadow shuriken jutsu! (Hey! I've been looking for that!)"

Sasuke watched the wall of spikes approach before leaping into a forward dive. Drawing a kunai he struck three of the projectiles and they diverged around him.

Three of the genin went through abbreviated earth stances and three large walls blocked the storm of steel. The wall sank back down and they saw Sasuke and Madara sparring.

It was like a clash of the best. Each parry was followed with a matching counter. Every strike seemed to carry the intentions of three. Rather than the clashing of steel it was like every time the kunai met a battle was fought between the two.

—Meanwhile—

Hinata looked over as Naruto arrived. She looked up and saw Sasuke nearing his full potential. With a pout she asked, "Didn't he say he'd use kid gloves?"

Naruto scratched his head, "Yeah but the fight wasn't working. That guy has a fixation on Madara. If we kept fighting like that he'd think we were cheating somehow and waste his time rationing it out. Actually Sasuke wasn't thrilled at the idea of fighting him on this level."

Hinata placed her hands on her hips, "So you had him go back on his word?"

A.N: Alpha's eye twitches, "I knew that'd come back to haunt me. I overlooked…How did I manage to overlook THAT?! Note to self: Non-combat instincts are less potent than the event significance they represent!"

Naruto groaned, "Oh no!"

Hinata held the pose before she chuckled, "You're so easy! Look, while your nindo may be your way of life; Sasuke's nindo is very different. If he's fighting like that it means he agreed with…Whatever it is you said. Sasuke protects what he sees as innocent, and fights what he sees as a threat to those he loves. If you both agreed the fight wasn't working, then you've got nothing to worry about."

A.N: Alpha narrows his eyes, "Yeah…I'm still taking that lesson with me. Hinata may be forgiving, but my demons don't appreciate being ignored. I'm not talking about reviews either, but same basic principles apply. Great pep talk though!"

The Deva path finally begins to become accustomed to the numerous and seemingly random pulses of energy. (Yeah, but desensitizing that has the reverse effect as well. You'll see.) He smirked and spoke, "Sorry little princess, but your stall tactic has been a double edged sword! Now you face my combined might!"

Naruto looked to Enigma and asked, "How many fights are left?!"

(Combined Vii network groans), "Hang on a second…"

A.N: Alpha manually goes over the fights… Returns, "This is where/when having Volumes of coordinated chapters is useful."

Enigma takes a moment to review the fights, "Only two left. The zombie brothers and…" Enigma holds up a film, "Oh this is gonna be legendary!"

BOOM

Enigma looked at the film before sealing it away, "That was beautiful!" He turned to Naruto and countered, "Nevermind! I think Deidara just tapped out! Only the zombie brothers are still kicking, and they seem excessively preoccupied!"

The deva path whirled around, "It's been only fifteen minutes! How have S-class shinobi fallen so quickly?!"

Enigma groaned, "First off, you didn't call them out for five minutes. Second…After that increment it's been a whopping thirty minutes! Did you send them through one of the C.O.P. Trapping grounds?!"

The deva path snarled at the last comment, "That was you?!"

Enigma huffed, "Dear Kami no! When I lay a trap it either goes off or gets recovered!"

Naruto chuckled, "Ah, one of my favorite activities; Teaching genin to make traps while screwing over invasion attempts!"

There was a large amount of commotion from the chunin and jonin before the remaining paths poured into the dome, plowing through the channel of genin and striking every one of them down.

—

Kisame was polishing Samehada's scales when a number of genin appeared at random points across the platform.

One appeared behind him and asked, "Is that one of Kiri's legendary swords?!"

Kisame turned and saw a starry eyed Tenten staring at samehada like it was her favorite rare snack, "Who wants to know?"

—

Deidara was chatting with Tencho about potential bearers of his art when (Okay these scenes are a redundant investment.).

—

The Deva path smirked as his counterparts arrived.

'Madara' smirked, "Sorry kid but this fight is already over!" His grin vanished when Naruto responded

The blond pounded his fist and countered, "Oh I figured it'd be a few months before I got to do this again! Nagato, you're not gonna be survive unless your body is somehow being affected by this place!"

Enigma paled, "Oh shit! I forgot about that! Ironically the one thing making Nagato immortal is gonna end up killing him!" The boy groaned, 'Great job alpha, now I have to drag konan into this mess!'

—Land of rain—

Konan was reading a novel when a specter suddenly appeared before her. She cocked an eye and asked, "What's the meaning of this?"

Enigma sighed and scratched his head, "Would it be enough to act on if I said Nagato is about to get himself killed?"

The woman froze before bolting up, "How do you know his name!?"

Enigma groaned, "Put that off for about ten minutes and I'll tell you in person!" Enigma grabbed his hair and paced, "Aw, this is so messed up! Look, Nagato is using the paths to attack the land of sound. I'm pretty sure his body is still in the tower. I think the path's are currently replenishing their own reserves, but if the source goes down…"

Konan's eyes widened, "Nagato would never…"

Enigma shouted, "If he was still conscious! Make contact with his body and I can get you both here, but I'd need one of his summons to do this! I'll explain later but I'm not about to let Nagato die like this!"

—Twelve minutes later—

Enigma swore as he jumped to the catwalk, "Son of the tree; I never thought I'd be forced to use this!"

The deva path turned to see what could upset the boy. 'Madara' swore as he realized his mistake, but narrowed his eyes at the boys next words.

Enigma shouted, "Pseudo Style: Aspect Emulation!" Around him the ring of elements appeared followed by the ring of spirits. But the last ring surprised even him. The ring from his mindscape appeared, although only the innermost part, 'Kamikaze Alpha, Really?!' "Aspect Summoning Jutsu!"

Before the eyes of everyone present Nagato himself appeared on the platform with Konan holding his arm.

Enigma cursed before falling to his knees, "Gah that technique feels weird on every level!"

Nagato was in terrible condition but the moment he appeared he phazed. But the result was strange. After his chakra was restored he phazed again. And again. Finally a spectral phaze field activated and the man's eyes opened.

Enigma sighed, "Well that's awkward. The standard phaze is triggered when a body is compromised. Nagato's body is already so compromised that it can't survive on its own even in its best condition." Enigma turned to Naruto, "It's all on you to save him your majesty. I can't do anymore than prolong his cascade."

Naruto steeled his gaze, "All I needed was time. Now to uproot that cancer!"

The remaining paths reached the battle.

Hinata leapt to the side and shouted, "I'll get Sasuke and the old crouton to a different field. Make it count Naruto-kun!" She held her arms forward and shouted, "ALMIGHTY PALM!" The girl launched forward and tackled the elderly Uchiha off the platform.

Sasuke sweatdropped, "Hinata's scary when she wants to be!" before jumping after them.

Naruto sighed as he watched them go. He turned to the path in front of him, "I already cracked your shell once." His chakra flared as he brought out Kurama's sage chakra. His ears and hair turned orange and nine orange tails poured out behind him, "But this time Kyubi's been resting for months! Let's see if you can scratch even a fragment of his power!"

Nagato narrowed his eyes, "A biju's chakra is red! That's not the beast's chakra!"

Naruto smirked, "Emotional chakra is red. Cultural chakra is blue. Nature chakra is neither, but it's enough to beat you!"

A.N: Alpha smacks his head, "I tried. I tried sooo hard to avoid that sink hole. but the first half was flawless so it was like dodging a black hole. My apologies to the artistic community for feeding that cliche!"

The blond leapt forward towards the Deva path with a kunai drawn.

The path raised his own kunai and it shot forward with the speed of a bullet. (HA! No simile for you!)

Naruto smirked before twisting his tails and dodging the projectile. He continued forward before initiating a wild spin with the tails.

The Deva path's recharge bit him in the ass as he was slugged by three tails. By the time he could assume the recharge was complete he wasn't even facing the boy anymore. He'd phased next to the human path. And thanks to reflex got punched in the face by it.

Nagato shook his head and shouted, "The hell?!" He directed the Animal path to summon a snake. But suddenly the Preta path took a kunai to the face.

It took a whole four seconds for the thought to render before Nagato's face morphed into one of horror, "I didn't see it!" He looked to the sky but the summoned bird was still observing the battle, "That's not possible! (Told you so!) Sneak attacks are impossible against the rinnegan!"

Naruto chuckled, "Blind spots? Not so much. But the weakness of every doujutsu is liked to its strength. Hinata turned that strength into your biggest weakness!"

Nagato's eye twitched, "A psychological attack? What, is she?! Half Yamanaka?!"

Naruto scratched his head, "Actually, I think you got it backwards. Most of their jutsu produce a direct effect. Ino is the most advanced Yamanaka I've ever met and her attacks are physically brutal as much as they are psychologically damaging. But that last part is a result of broken confidence, not so much a mental attack as a physically exploited weakness. Hinata has more experience observing the effects of psychological damage than most of the Yamanaka. It's a matter of priorities." He summoned his sword and countered a strike from behind, before pouring in wind chakra and slicing through the kunai to the Preta path.

The path phased again before turning to the boy.

Meanwhile the Asura, Naraka and Human paths converged on the blond.

Naruto took a deep breath. Watching the heavier hitter Asura's approach he had a sense of what the others would try to do. Ironically he figured out that the end goal was for the Naraka path. He opted out of directly confronting the human path and countered the incoming 'scorpion' style chain sword. When the human path attempted to stab him in the back Naruto ducked and directed the 'tail' into the paths chest.

The human path phased immediately and turned to see Naruto duck under the Asura path and grip the legs with his tails.

Using two tails as leverage Naruto lifted the Asura path into the air and brought it down on it's head. With two follow up strikes from his tails the Asura path phased, but Naruto was already countering the last path with his sword.

The Deva path meanwhile attempted to snipe the fox again (Okay this tree is getting worn out. P.S: By the time you're hitting a dead tree…You've hit the late end of poetry.)

Naruto reacted by ducking while slicing the Naraka path's leg.

Do to the loss of countering force the Naraka path had begun teetering forward. It phazed an instant before the Kunai hit.

The action was not lost on Nagato, "If you knew It'd be hit, why waste energy on repelling it?"

Naruto sighed before standing, "Because they're still human, and I don't appreciate the notion of using comrades as cannon fodder, especially the ones that should be resting. And if they were felled in battle as they appear…I won't allow you to lower their image any further. My fight is with you…Not the past."

Nagato's eyes narrowed, but something in him stirred. Never the less he countered, "You'd protect those you have no chance of knowing? With all that power you displayed you hardly need allies to fight me!"

Naruto growled, "This power BELONGS to my allies! Sage chakra contains the energy of the fallen! I didn't make this power, nor do I own it! In this fight I stand for my beliefs and the future of all of this world, but I wont deny the contributions made by the fallen to create the present I live in! To fight alone is to deny who I am, past and present. Without those, I possess no future. With no future, I have no purpose. I WONT LET YOU TAKE THAT FROM US!"

~Crack~

The Animal and Preta path froze mid approach, before the attack style changed.

Enigma smiled, 'It wasn't much, but that alteration signals a change in driving force. One straw may break a camels back…But by that time it's already been damaged.'

The Human path join the attack, but this time as support.

The Preta's course changed to accommodate a hit and run maneuver on the boy's tails.

The Asura path seemed to be waiting for something.

The Animal path Summoned two snakes to her wrists, and launched them at the boy. She summoned a very flat turtle which appeared on her back.

Enigma cocked an eye, 'Then again; That's a pretty big change.'

Naruto noticed the difference almost immediately. Where he'd been seeing zero attack variation there appeared to be at least four at first glance. The blond grinned and drew his sword. He went through earth stances and shouted, "Earth style mud wall!"

Nagato smirked at the 'naivety' of the boy.

Enigma paled and summoned a cushion before sitting down, "This is gonna hurt!"

Naruto slammed his sword's hilt into the ground and the wooden platform shuddered violently as the jutsu fought against the incompatible material. His tails yanked him into the air when the tremors escalated. He covered his ears as the secondary effect kicked in.

The crater began to emit a heavily dense amount of feedback from the vibrations that centered around the HQ platform and pillars.

Enigma cringed as his bones' frequency was met. He phazed moments later.

Nagato followed soon after and Konan had managed to survive do to a lack of interior composition.

Naruto managed to equip a set of headphones and shielded his body with his tails. The chakra acting as a sonic buffer.

Finally the sound ceased and Nagato finally managed to reappear. The paths followed suit and Enigma shouted from the HQ, "WHY?!"

Naruto smirked, "An homage to the sound village! What you thought the C.O.P. was uniform between villages?"

Enigma groaned, "Actually…I have no excuse to have forgotten that."

A.N: Alpha pales, "Me neither. Seriously, how bad did the Hyuga fiasco shake me up?"

Nagato seemed to restrain a groan, "Refer to this place as some sort of standard again and I'll destroy you!"

The paths stood but the stances they took were lenient.

Enigma suddenly realized, "The phaze field's gone! Nagato's cured!"

Konan whirled around and saw a light in Nagato's eyes. One that had been missing for decades.

The man sighed, "You've got one hell of a tongue kid. But that begs the question; Are you strong enough?"

A.N: Alpha grabs his hair, "Son of a senju! I still have to finish Madara's half?! This volume is a beast, and It's not even the last one!"

—Ambiguous time earlier—

'Madara' landed on a lower platform that was ringed in jets of flame. He took a stance and turned to the Hyuga nearby. He started over to take her out, but Sasuke blocked him.

The boy spoke angrily, "Sorry bud! I'm not through with you! He formed the last handsign is an sequence and shouted, "SCORCH STYLE: DEMONIC FIREBALL JUTSU!" Sasuke shoved his hands forward and an extremely fast moving blue flame leapt towards the man.

'Madara' had a no time to react. The moment he saw the flames he attempted to dodge, however his following arm was caught and his corresponding leg was burnt severely.

Sasuke was already halfway through another set when Madara reappeared.

The man's eyes shot up when he registered the movement. 'Madara' formed three handsigns and called out, "Phoenix flower jutsu!"

Sasuke managed to dodge the deceptively large fireballs before pulling out a scroll. He threw it open and slammed his hands down.

Water poured from the scroll and flooded an inch of the arena.

Sasuke drew out two kunai and shouted, "Scorch style: Chidori!"

'Madara' froze at the name. He prepared to intercept the assassination jutsu.

Sasuke smirked before channeling lightning chakra into the kunai. Rather than a direct attack however he brought the kunai down into the platform.

The water around him bloated up as the electric charge forced its way through. A heavy mist rose into the air and shrouded the platform.

Sasuke leapt into the air and flew through handsigns and stances before shouting, "Scorch Style: BURNING WIND!"

'Madara', despite his years of experience, was perplexed when neither jutsu had any effect. However, the moment the mist reached his legs, his hair began to rise. The elderly Uchiha paled as he felt the charge flood his body. He cursed and shouted, "WHAT IS THIS JUTSU?!"

Sasuke launched a wired kunai at a higher platform and hung in the air. He looked down at the fanboy and asked, "What makes you think it's one jutsu?" Sasuke moulded a distinct set of hand seals before shouting, "CHIDORI SPEAR! (Abbreviated)"

'Madara' fully intended to dodge the technique, but the sheer speed of the last strike was far greater than he ever imagined possible. To his sharingan, the technique was cast and completed faster than even he could react. He saw it happen, but short of a prepared hiraishin, there was no dodging the attack. What was most terrifying was that the current from the water wasn't what struck him down.

—Slow motion—

The beam of light punctured the mist. by the time it reached the water it was already at the minimum power threshold.

The blade latched into the mist.

Rather than jump from drop to drop…The mist had no water in it. The blade expanded into the polarized cloud and the blue glow accelerated as the mist took control of the electricity.

—Regular speeds—

BOOM

The platform rattled as the lightning bolt combusted at point blanc range.

Madara was swallowed by the 'sun' and the phaze field was seen being shot off the platform.

When the man reappeared on the arena he was shaking violently. He looked up at Sasuke and asked, "Wh-who taught you that?"

Sasuke landed on the ground with his hands in his pouches, "I learned the Chidori from my sensei. I learned that application from the R&D team. I developed the chidori spear on my own. I've been told I'm likely the only user of burning wind. And I learned to improvise techniques from the C.O.P. My primary talent is setting up combos. From what I've heard, Madara had a similar skill. As much as he craved power, it concealed what made him strong in the first place. The power I seek is not a source, but a skill. If all you've got is big fancy jutsu, then you're no match for me. If all you've got is a perfect defense or offense, than you're going to lose to me. To me, becoming the best is something that never ends. When someone tries to create an end, I break it to pieces. And If you think Madara was willing to end the world to reach his goal, You never knew him at all! Shortcuts create dead ends, and I'm not ready to kick the bucket any time soon!"

'Madara' scowled, "You never even met him boy! No one living in Konoha has!"

Sasuke sneered, "But they did once, which is more than can be said about you!"

Suddenly the field rattled as a terrible noise filled the crater.

The man covered his ears and asked, "What is this vile tremor?"

Sasuke cringed. As the sound began to regress he answered, "A miserable excuse for a gong." He turned to the upper platform but someone beat him to it.

"WHY?!"

'Madara' grabbed his head, "Kami not again! Not again! No one can break the Tsukiyomi!"

Sasuke groaned, "I here ya. But that's not entirely true. A third party chakra insertion will break any jutsu. Since the Tsukiyomi forces the targets body to maintain the genjutsu, it can be disrupted like any other jutsu."

'Madara' looked up and asked, "It sounds like you've already come to terms with that. Why is this still bothering you?"

Sasuke chuckled, "Because one of my friends claims that chakra isn't the only medium with which that can be done. This is the third time his method has worked."

The older Uchiha narrowed his eyes, "What could possibly be as potent as chakra?!"

Suddenly an energy poured into the arena from the bottom of the crater. It felt extremely suffocating.

—HQ building—

Enigma's shoulders slumped, his head lowering, "So it begins." He appeared on the beacon housing and shouted, "WELCOME TO THE BOSS LEVEL!"

A.N: Alpha cringes, "Oh this feels filthy, but this volume is four days overdue. TO BE CONTINUED!"

===Volume 25 End===