Chapter Thirty-Five: Finally getting interesting
"T-they what?" Hinata gasped.
Shikaku Naara sighed at the girl who was watching over them at the moment, "Naruto seems to have recruited Orochimaru and they just literally burnt through eighty percent of the enemy's actual Ninja force as well as the strongest summons of the Mist Village. Now, they're on some kind of path towards the west of the main battlefield with Kakashi and the others, separate from the rest of the battalion which the Kages have started to march north against Madara." Shikaku said out loud, communicating it to Inoichi who sent the information to the other battalions of the Shinobi Alliance.
Hinata bit her lip in worry before taking a step over to the map of the area and looking around it, her Byakugan activating to let her see the entire thing at once. After a few moments of concentration, Hinata gasped, "I know what he's after!" She exclaimed.
Shikaku turned to her and raised a brow, "Eh? What is it then?" he asked, not being able to work it out himself earlier.
Hinata smiled, "He's going to help the Kages," she said with a calm assurance before her eyes widened and she gestured to the large chakra sphere in the center of the room, "What's that?" she asked.
Shikaku looked at the sphere and scowled, "Six new presences... wait... Inoichi!" Shikaku shouted in request as he turned to his friend.
The blonde man shook his head without taking it from the odd Cloud device that was amplifying his powers, "Unfortunately, I am familiar with two of these chakra signatures. One is of Roshi of the Hidden Stone, who was once my enemy, and...well...I hope I'm wrong about the last but..." Inoichi said, whispering the second person's name.
The entire hall gasped in unison before Hinata looked down at her hand.
##########
"FORKED FLAMES FORMATION!" Orochimaru yelled as he spewed forth what appeared to be a flaming snake tongue.
The Zetsu flock was incinerated before they even knew what hit them, causing the three ROOT ninjas to turn around.
"STREAK!" Sakura yelled as she blurred past them, decapitating two before turning to the last and sticking him through the gut with her Executioner's blade, causing the lesser trained Mist ninja to finally notice them.
"WIND STYLE: FULL SUCTION!"
Sakura and Orochimaru knew to grip the ground with their chakra as the ten or so Mist Ninjas were pulled over their heads towards Naruto's outstretched palms.
"CHIDORI SHARP SPEAR!"
Sasuke's electric spear shot forward as Sasuke slashed his arm through the air, hacking the ninjas in half before they even had their bearings in Naruto's jutsu.
And the four pushed on.
Naruto looked over to Orochimaru, seeing the pale man had his Byakugan active as he searched the forest ahead of them, "Almost there, I suspect that group we just passed was trying to find the Kages as well." Orochimmaru said.
Naruto nodded and looked to Sakura, her Scouter Sight shining, "No foreign signatures, they all appear to be attacking that massive chakra construct still." Sakura said.
Naruto looked to Sasuke, who hand his EMS activated while Naruto's was inactive, "Yet... but there are three signatures too many... one is Ero-sensei, and I think another is Yahiko." Sasuke muttered.
Naruto smirked as he looked ahead, "Let's back them up then yeah?" He asked, receiving silent nods in return.
The group of four leapt up high before landing on the next branch in unison, "Move out." Naruto said as they landed.
And like that, they were gone.
##########
"AAAAH!" Tsunade yelled in exertion as she threw a punch at Madara's wood clone.
The clone ducked to the side, giving Tsunade a chance to push forward with a chakra pulse, changing her attack so that it was aiming at the back of the Real Madara's head.
Madara smirked as he received the sight of his wood clone thanks to his Rinnegan, letting him easily duck the punch before sending an earth shattering kick into her stomach, throwing her away.
"ALMIGHTY PULL!"
Madara lowered his leg before turning to the majority of his enemies, all of them facing Madara as Yahiko stood at the back of the group before the clones suddenly seemed to have only their heads yanked towards him, causing them all to lose form as Madara raised a brow at the orange haired man, "Huh, that was actually very impressive." Madara said before punching Onoki in the face.
The old man flew back, but was caught by Jiraiya and thrown back into the mix as the Raikage shot forward to try and punch Madara.
The Uchiha laughed openly at their efforts as he raised his arms in a block, getting thrown far into the distance and nearly out of sight.
There was a few moments of silence before an impact crater formed on a faraway rock formation, giving them a second before they felt a massive chakra spike from Madara.
"WOOD STYLE: FOREST GENESIS!"
Everyone stepped back with wide eyes as the massive roots began to rip through the ground towards the group, but Light landed in front of the Kage group while forming hand seals, "TRUE WIND STYLE: HURRICANE BARRIER!" he shouted before taking a wide sumo stance and pushing his palms out to the sides until his arms were straight.
All the air in the area seemed to freeze before the Wood technique seemed to suddenly be slamming into a wall that began to tear it apart in seconds, forcing the wood to stop it's progression.
Light smirked at his slight success before ducking, letting the discarded scythe be thrown over his head by Madara before the Uchiha's fist hit Light's face.
Madara rolled with the momentum of his punch, coming up between Jiraiya, Tsunade, A and Onoki, who all threw forward a physical attack the Uchiha.
Madara bent over and adjusted his stance. As the loud thump of multiple impacts sounded and echoed with the force.
Madara chuckled as he held Tsunade back by grabbing her wrist and twisting her arm behind her back with his left hand, Onoki face down on the ground under his left foot, Madara's other hand holding Jiraiya by the hair as he spun the shouting in pain man above his head by the ponytail.
A glared at Madara, the black man's fist pressed against the Uchiha's face as he had landed one of his strongest Right-Straight punches. Madara pushed his grinning face against the fist, letting the electricity surge through him to harm all those he was touching, "C'mon, you can do better then that!" Madara yelled happily before letting the others go to step inside the Raikage's guard and head butt the man in the face.
The Raikage stepped back before suddenly everyone was pulled from Madara thanks to Yahiko, letting Madara's Rinnegan eyes spot Light as the man span towards him in a move similar to the Inuzuka's Tsuuga attack, but he was encased in a small tornado that slammed into Madara's chest.
Madara slammed his hands into the drill as it begun to dig through his chest armour, one hand forming the Dragon seal as the other was pulled into a fist, "FLAMEVEIL FIST!"
**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM**
The wind and fire chakra ignited, causing a large explosion that threw everyone far away from the area, letting the part-way retreated Shinobi alliance see the near burnt to a crisp Light as well as Tsunade roll to a stop at the back of the group. The army looked up as one as they saw a blur of lightning armour that was the Raikage shoot right back at the small dot that was their enemy.
The lightning covered blur came to an exact stop before the Madara dot before the Raikage crashed to a stop in front of Tsunade and Light, though he rolled to his feet as the rest of the VSMadara team landed protectively in front of the trio of Kage.
Onoki turned to the army battalion, "What did we say about evacuating the area?!" he shouted angrily.
Jiraiya spoke up quickly as they felt Madara's chakra spike, "FORGET IT! GIVE ME A STRONG WIND JUTSU!" Jiraiya shouted in panic as they all saw the Uchiha begin to sprint at them all.
The group was quiet for a moment before they all heard a grunt of exertion from Light as he ignored his painful burns to sit up and aim a hand at Madara, he panted heavily as the air around the entire battalion seemed to freeze for a moment, "Do it." Light said weakly.
Jiraiya's cheeks bulged as did the cheeks of Fukusaku and Shima, """SAGE ART: GOEMON!"""
"WIND STYLE: GALE OF THE APOCOLYSPE!" Light shouted weakly before his outstretched arm literally exploded.
For a moment, everyone thought that he had been attacked, but then they saw that he had sacrificed a section of pure wind chakra from his own chakra coils along with his arm to empower the move far beyond anything anyone in the area had seen before.
The wind chakra formed a Wind Dragon that picked up Jiraiya's flaming ocean before splitting into thirds, bring three burning hurricanes at Madara, enough to wipe out an entire ninja village if necessary.
Yahiko grinned as he watched Madara hesitate, 'Heh, looks like even someone like him knows his limits.' Yahiko thought, pretty sure that nothing would be able to stop what he saw as one of the strongest attacks he'd ever seen, surely enough to wipe Madara from the face of the planet.
"PERFECT SUSANO'O!"
Yahiko was simply amazed at how wrong he could be at times.
##########
Tobi chuckled as he saw a ridiculously massive explosion in the far distance before seeing what appeared to be a blue old fashioned samurai stand up taller then the mountains, "Looks like my job just got a little bit easier." He muttered to himself before he used the shared sight from his stolen Rinnegan to look out of his front runner's eye.
Han killed a man in a single punch before Yugito leapt over his head, her blue chakra tail bisecting two ninjas before Kushina whipped her chains over them as they ducked, killing or forcing back an entire row of ninjas just as Tobi arrived on the scene.
Tobi landed casually in the gap between his Six Paths of Pain and the opposing battalion, "It seems we are expected." Tobi said without the slightest bit of shock.
Two ninjas came to the front of the group with scrolls on their backs, "Target located! Bringing in the special squad." The one on the left said as he and his partner took off the large scrolls.
Tobi's eyes narrowed at their movements before deciding that their plan shouldn't see the light of day. He quickly grabbed the gunbai from his back, "TRIPLE FLAME TORNADO!" he shouted as he launched the attacks forward.
The ninja on the right threw his scroll out as another three ninjas leapt in front of the scrolls, "FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!"
"EARTH STYLE: MUD WALL JUTSU!"
"LIGHTNING STYLE: THUNDERCLAP!"
With each tornado destroyed, the three ninjas were run through by a chakra chain to each of their hearts before the two scroll users clapped their hands together, ""LET'S GO! SEAL RESONANCE!"" They shouted in unison.
##########
Around the many battlefields, certain people looked up as they felt a call inside their chakra signatures. They closed their eyes as they felt the seal tattoo'd on the back of the hands glow.
##########
Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other as they felt the chakra heat up against their skin, "Looks like it's time." Sakura said quickly.
Sasuke nodded before looking up to Naruto as the blonde glanced back at them with a raised brow, "While you are supposed to be in hiding we have been drafted to fight Tobi, though to be honest I want to continue with you two." Sasuke said as he nodded ahead.
Naruto and Orochimaru looked ahead and nodded as they once more focussed on the massive blue samurai that had appeared in the distance, the chakra construct seemed to be slowly reaching for it's sword as they got closer.
Naruto looked back at the concerned faces of Sakura and Sasuke, causing him to grin, "No worries guys, besides," he said, activating the Sharingan in both of his eyes, causing Sasuke and Sakura's eyes to widen, "I think I'll be able to see this to the end." Naruto said with a chuckle.
Orochimaru glanced over his shoulder, showing Sasuke and Sakura his Byakugan front on for the first time, "That's a perfect Susano'o construct, the pinnacle of the Mangekyou Sharingan. We'll need to disrupt the core of the technique to take it down," he said before clapping his hands together, "And I know just how to do it." Orochimaru said with a creepy grin as he licked his lips.
Sakura shuddered at his expression while Sasuke was still stuck on the fact that Naruto had looked at them with the eyes of his family, but he was distracted by that fact in two simple movements.
Naruto placed a hand on each of their shoulders as he somehow appeared behind them, showing the two of them that he had full control over the Shunshin technique, "You two ready?" He asked.
Sasuke and Sakura nodded before holding hands, sending chakra into their respective summoning seals as Naruto let go of them, "Late Nii-kun." Sakura said with a tired smile as Sasuke simply nodded to Naruto.
*POOF*
##########
Sasuke and Sakura arrived in a plume of smoke alongside their special ops team. This was the first time the group had met considering the secretive circumstances that their leader put them together under.
The new Combined Squad One was here.
Tsume Inuzuka stepped forward as the team's leader, instantly barking orders, "Fall in line! Let me decide." She ordered as she felt Inoichi sink into her mind, imparting the combined intelligence reports of anything related to their enemies. In two seconds her eyes were open and her orders flew.
"Sasuke! Take Roshi of the Lava Release destroy all of his attacks completely, Hinata! Take Kushina of the Chakra Chains and use your gentle fist to disrupt the flow in them, Sakura! Yugito of the Hellfire Release, she's fast but I know you can be faster, Kenta! Take Yagura the Mizukage and seal his staff, after that he'll be way easier to take down, Ja-ki! Take Utakata of the Acid Bubbles and play defencively, your style will stop his bubbles but the acid can still hurt, Kakuzu! Take Han of the Steam Release and end it as fast as you can," she said before taking a deep breath and glancing to the two members she hadn't called out, "Suturaiko, back up Kenta and Ja-ki, Tenten, back up Hinata. I'll take down their stupid leader as quickly as I can."
Tobi couldn't hold in the chuckle that escaped his lips as everyone leapt into position, "So, this Tsume woman has assembled a team just for me and my friends, how kind of her, I need a warm up after all." he thought out loud, trying to intimidate his enemies.
Ja-ki pulled out his sword before swirling it, revealing that it was two katana blades on one handle, side by side, though one was shorter then the other by nearly a third of the length, "Tsume-sama." the Cloud ninja requested softly.
Tsume nodded, "Everyone back!" she shouted, causing her team to either drop into an evasive stance or leap away.
"NINJA ART: BLACK DEATH!" Ja-ki shouted before slashing through the air, sending a blade of black energy towards their enemies.
A swirl appeared in midair that sucked up the attack, revealing Tobi as he charged at Tsume. She was about to bark an order when a chakra chain shot up from underground and almost stabbed through her chest.
Tsume stepped back as a palm moved past her, casually tearing a gap in the chain links thanks to the chakra running through it before Tobi leapt at the person who had disrupted the chains.
"ROTATION!"
Hinata's chakra shell pulsed softly once, causing those of her friends and teammates to be pushed just beyond reach before Tobi came close and her chakra shell solidified. It would've demolished most enemies, but Tobi's intangibility let him glide through harmlessly as he continued his attack on Tsume, who pulled out the Inuzuka Knuckle Dusters, wielded only by the clan head.
As the dust of the rotation settled, everyone was facing off against their enemy, trying to take down this front of the attack.
##########
Naruto's Sharingan eyes turned to Orochimaru, "All I can see is a massive chakra surge, too much for me to tell apart from this far away," Naruto said before closing his eyes, "Guide me through? I need a moment."
Orochimaru smirked as his Byakugan flared to life, "Ah, it appears an entire battalion is within fighting distance of the Susano'o, and I recognise Jiraiya and Tsunade's chakra signatures up near it's chest."
Naruto's eyes snapped open, showing the red marks coming across his face from his Wood Style: Sage Mode, "In the air? Are they wearing battle armour?" Naruto asked.
Orochimaru shook his head before nodding to their right, "A small group of Reanimated ninja are coming towards us, your three o'clock." Orochimaru informed Naruto.
Naruto nodded, 'Are you at full power Kurama?' he thought.
'Nearly, you want the chakra now?'
Naruto's brow furrowed as his Sharingan located the first chakra signature, 'No, keep it as back-up. Who knows what we'll be up against today?' he thought back rhetorically before turning to Orochimaru.
"Give me your strongest Fire Jutsu." Naruto said as he formed a hand seal and a Wood Clone jumped out from a tree as they jumped off it's branch.
Orochimaru smirked, "Hmhmhm, fine, but I'm killing the next group." he said before forming two hand seals and blowing over the hole in his palm, "FIRE STYLE: BURN STRIKE!" he said as he spat out a fire so focussed that it was almost white, the wind chakra shot out of the funnel in his palm, causing the small flame to burst upwards in the form of a King Cobra before diving forward.
Naruto's formed a Large Wind Missile technique, holding it with the pure control of his own chakra as he used his Nature chakra to stabilise it, his clone burrowed into the ball with a Tsuuga just as Orochimaru launched his fire jutsu as it shouted, "ULTIMATE WIND COMBINATION!"
Naruto and Orochimaru leapt back, "Brace yourself Orochimaru!" Naruto shouted.
Orochimaru twisted in the air to be in the same position as he pushed off the next branch, just as their two Ninjutsu collided in the centre of the group.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Orochimaru smirked, "Hm, that brings back memories." Orochimaru muttered as he saw the fire expanding towards the two of them.
Naruto smirked, "Go around?" he asked.
Orochimaru shook his head, "Up and over." he said before flying with his gravity manipulation.
Naruto followed as the shockwave began to hit them. It took a moment, but after righting themselves in the air, they moved forward to see that their combination had killed everything within it's radius, though Orochimaru's Byakugan eyes noticed some more signatures, "Naruto, check down there and get any of the Zetsu, I'll take the reanimated ninja." Orochimaru said before dropping his technique.
Naruto smirked and cut off the chakra to his flight technique, falling as his Sharingan noticed the three small movements from his living targets. Naruto's smirk grew as he readied his Bone Bullet, though this time, a chakra string stayed connected to it from the inside of each of his pointer fingers.
*Thoom*
In two shots, two of the Zetsu had been pierced through the chest as the third Zetsu began to move from the area, but Naruto used the chakra strings to fling the two he had shot and wrap up the third with the chakra strings before Naruto's Wood Chakra Nature flooded down the strings of chakra.
In a few seconds, the three tree-men became nothing more then that; trees.
Naruto landed among the dead and looked over to Orochimaru, only for his eyes to widen as he saw the pale man absorbing the soul of the last person instead of ripping it free, "Hey, who's that?" Naruto asked.
The body flashed into non-existence as Orochimaru stood tall and took a deep breath, he turned to Naruto and grinned as he suddenly seemed...well, chubby, "A revived Akimichi. I couldn't kill a man from my mother's clan, the only way I know to end this jutsu in another way is extremely painful for the victim so," Orochimaru said with an honestly emotional sigh, "It'd just be...wrong." Orochimaru said sadly before looking ahead.
Naruto's face twitched, "Umm... your mother was an Akimichi?" Naruto asked as he hovered over to land by Orochimaru's side.
The two began walking, "Adopted. But yes, she was a very strong woman until father cannnibalized her. Shame that was." Orochimaru said casually.
Naruto's face froze in a state of wide-eyed-shock as he stared at the side of Orochimaru's head, 'HOLY MOTHER OF LOG! NO WONDER HE'S SO MESSED UP!' he thought to himself as he tried to fathom what he'd just heard.
"So... how'd that go?" Naruto asked, not really knowing what to say.
Orochimaru shrugged as he smirked at Naruto, "Bit chewy, under-cooked. But it's the protein and iron that made it worth it, I was a tad malnourished as a child."
Naruto nodded as he cleared his throat, "Right...cool..." Naruto muttered as he stared at the ground in front of him.
Orochimaru raised a brow as his 'joking' smirk fell, "Ah, I guess my sense of humour is a bit dark for these war-less times." Orochimaru said with a shrug.
Naruto looked up, "Huh?! That was all a joke?!" Naruto asked before blinking, "Aaaand this kinda IS war times."
Orochimaru shrugged as he turned ahead again, ignoring the little fact about the current war, looking up to see the last mountain they had to pass until they could reach the Perfect Susano'o, "Mostly a joke... I wasn't malnourished as a child." he said before nodding upwards.
Naruto stared at Orochimaru, not being able to look away from the creep, "Well... alrighty then." Naruto said before he came to a stop on top of a boulder, "So... this is it huh?" Naruto asked.
Orochimaru hopped up onto the rock next to him, looking directly at the back of the Perfect Susano'o as it fought off the people flying around it's chest and face, "Yes, now to find the core and take it out." Orochimaru said as his Byakugan flared to life again, "Just our luck, it's the center of the Susano'o's forehead with this one." Orochimaru shared.
Naruto nodded as he looked up at the massive ninjutsu, seeing that with each step it casually was causing massive amounts of destruction, killing trees, animals and ninja of the alliance with minimal effort, "Can you disrupt it yourself? Or do you need my help?" Naruto asked.
Orochimaru openly laughed, "Please, a child like you? I don't need you help for this one," he said with a grin as his eyes seemed to gleam, "And anyway, if I can't find and kill Tobi then I want this one." Orochimaru said with another chuckle.
Naruto nodded as he began to hover again, "That settles it then, I'm going to distract Madara and you are gonna break this technique. Got it?" Naruto asked with one last glance at Orochimaru.
The Snake Sannin raised an eyebrow, "Yes... but how exactly are you going to get the attention of something like that when the Kages are currently occupying it's thoughts?" Orochimaru asked as he looked back to the Susano'o.
Not receiving a response, Orochimaru looked at Naruto once more as the blonde seemed to be floating with his eyes closed.
'…..Kurama?'
"Ready when you are."
##########
"PROTECTIVE EIGHT TRIGRAMS SIXTY FOUR PALMS!"
The chakra chains were battered away as Tobi stepped through them, reaching towards Hinata as her technique stopped.
"TSUUGA!"
He went intangible as Tsume tore through him, but continued drilling until her claws slammed into Kushina's stomach, "Aroooo!" Tsume howled as Kushina was thrown towards the final point.
Tenten's whip lashed out and wrapped the last of the Uzumaki's chains up before Tenten's Kusarigama wrapped around Kushina, the chain glowing as she activated the first seal, "Ready!"
Hinata charged with the Hyuuga Staff, whipping it around to deflect Tobi's chains before Tsume and Kuromaru barrelled through the area, Tsume pausing to stop next to Hinata as Kuromaru pressed the attack, forcing Tobi to stay intangible or else get hit.
Hinata and Tsume quickly leapt in formation with Tenten, holding up two more copies of the same seal. Their three chakras sparked, """SEALING ART: SEAL BARRIER!""" they shouted.
Tobi looked up as Kuromaru finished his technique, gasping as he lost his shared sight with Kushina, 'They have a counteraction seal?!' Tobi thought angrily before his shared sight with Han disappeared as well, "NO!" Tobi shouted angrily as with Han sealed, so was the Five Tails inside of him.
Tobi formed a few hand seals before slamming his hand on the ground, 'I guess I have no choice then, it's now or never!' Tobi thought as a seal spread out from his hand.
"SUMMONING JUTSU: GEDO STATUE!"
##########
"Too easy."
Madara smirked as he had his Susano'o perform a polite bow, it's massive forehead slamming into the airborne Yahiko and throwing him towards the ground. As it rose, Madara had it swing it's second right hand back, backhanding the near-unconscious Light and launching him back through the air, just barely getting caught by the Chakra armoured Jiraiya as he finally succumbed to the darkness.
Madara's smirk faltered as he noticed Tsunade suddenly flying up inside his guard with her own flight-capable chakra armour that had been sealed under her clothes, landing a direct punch to the Susano'o's chest and managing to crack it, 'Hm...maybe I should actually fight back, some of these people may end up being dangerous.' He thought as he formed a hand seal.
The Perfect Susano'o sheathed it's two swords before forming two separate hand sequences in time with Madara, "WITH THIS I END IT!" Madara shouted as his Rinnegan flashed.
"HEAVEN CONCEALED!"
A sudden shockwave burst throughout the battlefield as a shadow grew over it, causing many, if not all, to look up and see what was coming for them.
Tsunade was the one to speak up first as her and her comrades landed on the ground, "Is that... a meteor?"
Just as she said this, the beginnings of the massive rock began to fall through the clouds, causing many to begin running, though Onoki was the first to act like a ninja, "I've got this, take him out!" He shouted as he flew up to meet the meteor.
The others of the VSMadara team looked up in shock as the old man took action, becoming nothing more then a speck before the entire meteor shimmered with a chakra pulse.
About twenty later, Onoki shouted in effort as he landed back on the ground, holding the massive meteor above him. He grinned at the blank faced Madara, "HA!" Onoki shouted in victory as he hoisted the meteor up.
Madara nodded as he looked up, "Very good, but what will you do about the second one?" Madara asked with a chuckle.
Just as he finished speaking, everyone noticed a second meteor coming through the clouds, easily four times larger then the last. Onoki couldn't stop it, noone would be able to.
Madara smirked as even his Perfect Susano'o was shattered from above, letting Madara fall to the ground harmlessly as he waited for the meteor to strike.
Ninja ran, they shouted defensive jutsu, they prayed.
They were all, going to be crushed.
"TAILED BEAST BALL!"
A large black ball suddenly shot into the massive meteorite, causing the entire sphere to shudder before the chakra expanded.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
The Shinobi alliance and the enemy dodged the now people-sized chunks of space-rock that began to fall upon them, still killing a few, but saving thousands.
Madara scowled as he turned to see who had managed to stop his attack, only to see, sense and feel something that he believed impossible.
This...boy, his rival's chakra signature, his strongest weapon's chakra signature...this boy...was Naruto Uzumaki.
Madara grinned, "The Nine tails... there you are." he muttered as Naruto landed between Madara and the Kages.
Naruto glowed golden as his Demonic Chakra Cloak formed around him. His face had the markings of Wood Style: Sage Mode and his eyes, the Mangekyou Sharingan in one and Eternal Mangekyou in the other as he took a deep breath and turned to face Madara, "Hi...you?" Naruto asked with an awkward smirk.
Madara blinked at Naruto's introduction before frowning, "How is it that you feel just like Hashirama did." Madara said, not really asking, just acknowledging the fact.
Naruto smirked as he crouched slightly, "Easy, I defeated him in battle and took his secrets for myself." Naruto said before forming a hand seal as he continued talking, "But I guess you wouldn't know what that's like would you? Defeating the First Hokage." Naruto taunted.
It worked rather effectively as Madara bared his teeth, "The mere mention of that name puts me on edge!" Madara nearly growled as he moved into an attacking stance, "SHOW ME!" he roared as he charged forward, eyes glowing as they changed from Mangekyou red to Rinnegan blue.
Naruto used his extreme speed from the cloak to match Madara blow for blow, the Sharingan not being able to read the Rinnegan like a normal eye.
Naruto ducked under an overarm punch before lashing out with a kick at Madara's head, Madara caught Naruto's foot and grabbed his leg, spinning to throw him back towards the Kages as they finally snapped out of their shock.
Naruto flipped upright and his eyes widened as he saw Madara form an extremely fast paced set of hand seals, 'No time for anything fancy!' Naruto thought as he formed the Snake hand seal.
Madara brought his hand to his lips, "FIRE STYLE GREAT FIRE ANNIHILATION!"
Naruto's chakra reached into the earth, "WOOD STYLE: HALF TURTLE SHELL!" Naruto shouted.
The shell Naruto summoned was massive, guarding everyone close by from the fire even as the fire set the wood alight with flames.
Naruto turned to the Kages, Jiraiya, Konan and Yahiko, "Get back! Orochimaru and I have this!" Naruto shouted.
That made everyone pause.
""Orochimaru?!"" Jiraiya and Tsunade shouted in shock.
"NINJA ART SUMMONING: PYTHON DRILL!"
Everyone looked up to see a giant brown python appear in a plume of smoke, mid-spin with it's fangs out as it whipped up a tornado drill with it's chakra, slamming right on top of Madara and making the onslaught of fire stop immediately.
Naruto lowered his wooden shell as Orochimaru's snake disappeared in a poof of smoke at the same time Orochimaru landed just in front of Naruto, "Explain later, we'll fight now," Naruto said before scowling as he looked back towards the mountainous ranges further in land, "And it looks like you will be needed again soon." he said with a nod.
Everyone's attention turned to the massive cloud of smoke, showing Tobi's ultimate weapon; the Gedo statue.
Orochimaru instantly began explaining what he knew about the statue, "Only those with the Rinnegan can summon the Gedo statue – the only being capable of withstanding not only multiple, but ALL of the Nine Bijuu's Chakra – to contain the power of all Nine beasts and perform a technique with it. Though I know not what this technique does, whatever the result is makes the user ruler of his domain. In this case, the planet," Orochimaru said with his eyes closed, having perfectly memorised the words, "The legend says; It feasts on it's offerings with nine dragons, taking their power into it's own body to unleash the true demon upon this world and take it's Master to the throne of his domain."
The group was quiet as Orochimaru opened his Byakugan eyes, refocussing on them, "I believe the Legendary Sannin and some back-up should be enough to handle it. Though you'll be handling the Uchiha by yourself for now." He said with a smirk towards Jiraiya and Tsunade.
The group was intensely quiet for a moment before Naruto cleared his throat, "Guys, Move!" Naruto said with slight urgency, that's when they all felt the next chakra pulse.
"UCHIHA FIRE STYLE: GREAT FIRE DESTRUCTION!"
Naruto's eyes widened as he realised the destruction the fire would make on top of his wood dome, so he quickly formed a few hand seals as he turned back to his defensive dome, "SAGE ART: EXPLOSIVE STYLE: IGNITION BLOWOUT!" he shouted, sending the chakra from his cloak into the move as if began to fade.
Naruto's wood dome pulsed yellow on the outer side, and upon impact with Madara's searing flames, exploded back at Madara, forcing all of the flames to go out in a powerful explosion as Naruto's chakra cloak faded back into his coils for Kurama to recharge back to full before he used it again.
Naruto took a deep breath as he formed a few more hand seals, though his eyes widened as three hands landed softly on his back and sent forth individually powerful bursts of chakra that melded into his own coils perfectly, "SAGE ART: WOOD STYLE: MULTI-WOOD SPEAR JUTSU!" Naruto shouted.
The wood dome began to shoot of towards Madara in the form of tree-sized spears that numbered in the hundreds, but Naruto was distracted by his chakra nearly refilling to it's maximum.
Naruto turned behind him, seeing Tsunade, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were the ones that had given him some power back, "How did..." Naruto began to ask, though Tsunade cut him as she turned away from him.
"I just used my medical chakra to relax your body's chakra pathways so Orochimaru and Jiraiya could flush it with Nature chakra." Tsunade explained.
Jiraiya nodded as he grinned with his bar-pupilled eyes and red painted face, "Sage mode has it's advantages, all nature chakra types can be connected." Jiraiya said before placing a hand on Orochimaru's shoulder, "Let's get going Girly-boy." Jiraiya said, using the old nickname he used to pay out Orochimaru with.
Orochimaru twitched before scowling at Jiraiya, "Perverted oaf." He muttered.
Tsunade pushed her way between them, forcing them to turn towards the threat as she took charge once more, "The Sannin will move out in the lead, as will their students." Tsunade said with a pointed look to the front line of the battalion behind them.
In a few short moments, Shizune, Yahiko and Konan were lined up in a row, "To the Five Kage, I think this battle here might be a little out of our depth, but that doesn't mean we can't support Naruto right?" She asked.
Light nodded as he rose up into the air, Tsunade having healed the burns over his body and cauterized the arm so that it had stopped bleeding earlier, "Go get him Naruto, the Raikage and I will be your back-up, Onoki, you can be more useful leading this part of the battalion back against the incoming Mist ninjas." he said calmly.
Feeling a grip on his ankle, Light looked down to see Naruto holding it as he sent a single pulse of chakra through Light, causing the Kazekage's eyes to widen as he felt his coils get filled back up to half-way. Naruto merely smirked and nodded as he let go, letting Light float up into the air uninterrupted.
Onoki scowled as he looked over his shoulder, seeing that many enemy ninja had paused to watch Madara's battle just as many of the allied troops had, 'This is the perfect chance to take a large number of them out while they're distracted.' Onoki thought as he began to lift up into the air again as well and flying over the Alliance as he shouted to them all, "Why have you stopped?! The time to fight back is now! Forget about this battle and forge the way through your own!" Onoki shouted before spotting the closest Mist ninja and diving towards him.
Onoki's fist suddenly weighed as much as a train as it crashed down on the enemy's head, shattering it gruesomely as the other ninjas of the alliance pressed forward, beginning the counter-attack to take back the northern coast.
Naruto took a deep breath as he turned back to Madara, seeing the beginnings of a Susano'o rib cage protecting him from the last of the wooden spear barrage, Naruto took a deep breath before charging forward towards Madara.
The group watched on as Naruto jumped up into the air as he clenched his fist, 'Okay, basically everything about this guy's strongest abilities come from his Rinnegan eyes, so logically, I should remove his eyes... but how to do it so that it won't regenerate.' Naruto thought as he stopped about twenty meters up into the air.
After a few moments of silence, A partially formed Susano'o lifted Madara up into the air, slowly forming completely as he yelled, "Who are you to use Hashirama's Wood Style?!" Madara yelled as if he was personally offended.
Naruto's brow furrowed as his mind flickered to his last conversation with Hashirama, 'Hashirama was willing to make himself seem like the bad guy just so the village was safe and I wasn't hurt... but my bingo book name...' Naruto thought with a smirk before he flexed his active chakra.
"I am the Final Flash! Rebirth of the Hokages!" Naruto shouted as he swung his hands past the seals on his legs, bringing out a handful of Tri-pronged kunai in the process.
Madara's eyes narrowed as Naruto threw a handful right at Madara, forcing him to raise his Susano'o's arm in an effortless block, 'Odd kunai, I haven't seen modified kunai like that before...' Madara thought before looking up.
"NINJA TOOL MULTI-SHADOW CLONE TECHNIQUE!"
The five kunai falling toward Madara from above suddenly became five hundred, causing Madara to raise a brow as he surged chakra throughout his Susano'o, making the rest of it's torso form around him as it's legs began to form to.
The kunai all bounced off the construct harmlessly, causing Madara to frown, 'Well that was a let down.' he thought before feeling the same chakra signature spark not only from where Naruto was, but also right behind him.
*FLASH*
"SAGE ART!"
Madara turned with wide Rinnegan eyes as he saw nearing a hundred clones, all of them with a twirling ball of chakra above their heads, 'Huh, that looks quite powerful.' Madara thought analytically as he calmly watched the clones leap into the air towards him.
"TRUE WIND STYLE: RASEN-SHURIKEN BARRAGE!" the Naruto clones shouted before pitching their techniques ahead at full tilt.
Madara's eyes widened as the seemingly close range technique slammed into his only just formed Susano'o, but to his shock, Naruto's attack was way more powerful then he thought.
The Rasen-Shuriken began to blow up all over the Susano'o, causing it to crack and break all over as Madara gritted his teeth, forcing it to keep form as he concentrated on all the chakra slamming into him from below.
Which is why he missed the strike from above.
The real Naruto dove down towards the forehead of the Susano'o construct, seeing Madara floating right behind the odd prism of chakra. Naruto's Wood Style: Sage Mode in place as black lightning chakra cracked around his body.
"HELL STAB!"
Madara looked up with wide eyes.
"ONE FINGER SPEAR-HAND TECHNIQUE!"
With the rest of his Susano'o cracking around him, Naruto's lightning attack shattered the forehead of the Susano'o, letting Naruto slam into Madara finger first and rip his arm off.
Madara lost control of the Susano'o as he was flung away from his now detached arm, but he merely nodded as he fell through the failing construct of his Susano'o, watching the remains of the Rasen-Shuriken come to a stop at the same moment the chest of his Susano'o began to fade.
Madara came to a stop just a meter from the ground with a pulse of chakra as he looked up, his hands already in a snake seal as he grinned menacingly, "Now this is something new!" Madara exclaimed in what sounded like excitement before his chakra lifted through his lungs.
The airborne Naruto turned and readjusted his flight as Madara's fire jutsu burned through the air behind him, but upon seeing Naruto's smirk as the blonde flashed over to one of the kunai, Madara went to form a complete Snake Seal with both arms so that he could manipulate it's movement throughout the air, only to find that his detached arm hadn't reformed under it's own power, 'That moronic jutsu failed? I didn't even feel it.' Madara thought before sighing, 'I need to get my old body back, and for that, I need my real Rinnegan eyes.' Madara thought to himself before looking at Naruto with a serious expression for the first time as his eyes reverted to his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
Naruto's Sharingan eyes narrowed as Madara's chakra signature suddenly dropped, 'Why did he lower his signature? Does he still not take me seriously?' Naruto thought with a frown as he formed a few hand seals himself, "WOOD STYLE: WOOD DRAGON!"
Madara's eyes widened as he grinned and ran forward, feeling the skin of the face on his chest morph as he began to take in nature chakra, "WOOD STYLE: WOOD SPIRE!" Madara shouted as he formed a hand seal.
Naruto's jutsu was massive, but Madara showed simplicity as he used a small wood spire to throw him into the air, but to everyone's shock, the wood spire just kept growing, pushing Madara even higher as Naruto's dragon turned and begun to chase Madara into the air.
And then, Madara jumped.
The entire battalion stood in complete shock as Madara's last minute jump had him dodge the Wood Dragon, just as Madara's chakra formed into one of the many wind jutsu he had truly mastered, "WIND STYLE: MOTION SICKNESS!" he shouted as he aimed his single hand forward and clicked.
Madara shot off like a bullet, flying after the Legendary Sannin as they neared the other battle field.
Naruto blinked in shock as Madara disappeared, but then he scowled as he realised the man had actually run away, "What the hell?!" Naruto exclaimed before flashing to one of his kunai as every other kunai disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Naruto looked up to see what remained of the Shinobi Alliance was staring at him, causing Naruto to realise that they were looking to him for leadership as A and Onoki landed next to Naruto.
A was the first to speak, "I dropped Light-dono back at the medic camps and told them about your return. That Ino girl was pissed that you came out of cover." A said casually to Naruto.
As the blonde blinked, Onoki began talking to him, "I led the last of the alliance against the enemy forces and we've finished off this front of attack." Onoki reported.
The two looked at Naruto expectantly as he nodded slowly, "Right...well Madara and what I can assume is some of the strongest enemies we can face in this war is that way," Naruto said while pointing in the direction Madara had shot off to, "But that main forces are back east against the last troop of reanimated ninja that's being guarded specifically by a group of Zetsu." Naruto said, not really sure how to address two Kage-level Shinobi.
Onoki and A nodded as if answering a question of Naruto's, "Good plan." Onoki said calmly as he floated up into the air once more.
Naruto blinked as A turned and began barking orders, "Okay listen up! Only the Elite troops picked out by the Kage earlier will follow Naruto and I after Madara and the last of the Akatsuki's forces! The rest of you will join Onoki in finding and destroying the enemy's main force! Just follow him and be ready to bring this day to an end!" A shouted, earning a cheer from the army as most began to turn and run after the dot in the sky that Onoki had become.
Naruto blinked again as six ninjas came to a stop in front of him and A, causing Naruto to nod as a small grin began to grow across his face, 'We can work with this.' Naruto thought confidently as he shared a smile with the leader of the troop.
Iruka smiled softly to Naruto with a nod, "What's the plan Raikage-sama?" Iruka asked as he turned to the large black man.
Naruto stepped back as the Raikage pointed at him, "Naruto here is planning to go after the Sannin and the other three and when he gets there he plans on fighting Madara Uchiha, for that he'll need-"
"Actually," Naruto said, causing everyone to stop as Naruto slowly began to smirk as an old plan reiterated in his mind, "I have another plan," Naruto said as his grin grew and he pointed at Iruka and his team, "You will fight Madara."
Everyone went quiet at that.
"What the hell do you mean we fight Madara?! you're the one with the First Hokage's abilities, he's the only one to have defeated him at any point in history!" A shouted.
Naruto nodded, "That is a valid point but..." Naruto paused as he suddenly jolted and looked down at his wedding ring.
The first seal was glowing.
##########
Tears fell from Tenten's eyes as tried to hold in her pain. She sat with limp legs behind a tree, hoping behind hope that the... thing had stopped it's random attack.
Hinata finished strapping on the supports for Tenten's legs as Kakuzu landed next to the two of them, "Move aside Hinata, I'll have her spine reconnected soon." Kakuzu said softly as one of his tendrils moved quickly between the tree and Tenten's back.
Tenten hissed in pain as Hinata looked up with her Byakugan, "Duck!" she yelled as she leapt up into the air, seeing that from a location close by, Tsume had had the same idea.
Chakra swirled around Hinata as the large finger fell towards the tree the three of them hid behind, "ROTATION!" Hinata shouted.
Forming the chakra shell in mid-air, her attack made the finger pause for a moment before Tsume entered the picture.
"FIRE STYLE: GATSUUGA!" Tsume and her dog roared in unison as they hit the back of the massive Gedo statue's hand, pushing it away from Hinata as she fell back to Tenten's side.
The hand hit the ground heavily, sending out a small shockwave that made Hinata fall to her side as she landed. Hinata groaned as she begun to push herself to her feet, but she paused as she noticed the light shining off of her wedding ring, 'If there was ever a time Ten-chan and I needed him...' Hinata thought as she closed her eyes and focussed on sending chakra to her ring.
Not certain if it had worked or not, Hinata opened her eyes to realise she was covered in a dark shadow. She rolled to the side as Tobi's knee dropped into the ground, barely missing her as he stood calmly, letting her get to shaky feet as he watched with a chuckle.
The Gedo Statue turned and began attacking the other half of the sealing group as Tobi faced Hinata, "You are Hinata Uzumaki, quite possibly the best bait for my final target." Tobi said calmly as he marched towards Hinata.
The ex-Hyuuga woman took a battle stance as he continued towards her, though she was pretty sure that if Kakuzu and Tsume hadn't been able to put a dent in his attack them she probably would be able to do nothing.
Tobi suddenly charged as he formed hand seals.
*FLASH*
Naruto appeared between Hinata and Tobi, looking at Hinata with his new eyes for a split second that held eternity.
"UCHIHA FIRE STYLE: BURNING SHACKLES!"
Naruto turned as he aimed one hand towards Tobi, "EXPLOSIVE WAVE!"
**BOOOOOOOOOOOOM**
Hinata's eyes searched through the remaining smoke cloud with ease, spotting Naruto at it's center as he charged ahead, leading with a right fist. Tobi dodged it and seemed to reach for Naruto's face.
*FLASH*
"RASENGAN!"
Tobi looked down as Naruto's attack went straight through him, 'Hm, if he fights just like his father then, no wonder he is so predictable.' Tobi thought calmly as he leapt back.
"SUMMONING: TRIPLE RASHOMON!"
Tobi paused, giving Naruto a moment to go back to Hinata's side as the three of them saw three large gates suddenly lift up from the ground, surrounding up to the kneesof the Gedo statue as a small blur appeared on top of each gate.
"SAGE ART: GOEMON!" Jiraiya yelled as he and his toads spat the technique downwards.
Orochimaru's chakra formed across the ground beneath the Gedo Statue as he finished his hand seals, "DUST STYLE: ATOMIC DISMANTLEMENT!"
The Gedo statue looked down as the solid ground underneath it disappeared, making it begin to fall into a pit that was still filling up with Jiraiya's flaming oil, causing the summoned statue to roar out in pain as it was forced to hold the top of the gates to keep it's head above ground.
That's when everyone in the vicinity felt a massive spike of chakra.
Looking up into the air, saw the combination attack of Yahiko and Tsunade. The orange-haired man used his gravity jutsu to form a boulder the size of the Hokage tower around Tsunade's fist, which she began to swing as she appeared from the sky at five times normal gravity, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Tsunade shouted.
The Gedo statue had begun to climb out of the flaming pit as Tsunade's boulder-punch hit it in it's main eye, causing it to stumble and begin to fall back before it could really stand back up fully.
Tobi's eyes widened as he saw the inside of the now exploded boulder.
Unseen in the sky, Konan moved her hand, waving the explosive notes from inside the shattered boulder onto the other four opened eyes, "Katsu!"
**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM**
The Gedo statue seemed to shout in pain as it began falling backwards due to the explosion, tripping over one of the Rashomon gates that Orochimaru had summoned.
Tobi shouted in rage before turning back to Naruto, 'To win this I need the nine tails NOW!' he thought as he dove at Naruto and his wife.
"BANSHO TENNIN!"
****BOOOOOOOOOOM****
Tobi paused as Madara slammed into the back of the statue, forcing it back onto it's flaming feet outside of the Rashomon trap as Madara formed a jutsu that took all the fire and threw it back at Orochimaru and Jiraiya, who were forced to retreat and regroup with Tsunade and the others as Madara came to stand on top of the statue's head.
This was the final fight of the war, both sides having their strongest weapons in the vicinity and both sides putting everything on the line.
Tobi turned to Naruto, his Rinnegan eye glowing as his remaining three paths came to a stop behind him.
Naruto frowned as Hinata took a stance next to him, 'A partially fucked up Yugito and Utakata and another guy I don't know about.' Naruto thought to himself as his eyes rolled over Yagura, recognising a glimpse of him from his experiences gained by the Third Raikage, 'Hold on, the Fourth Mizukage?' Naruto thought in realisation.
Glancing behind Tobi, Naruto frowned as he noticed the Sannin summon their boss animals to fight off the Gedo Statue that Madara stood atop as it fought, him throwing jutsu every now and then when someone came to close.
But, as Naruto's gaze turned back to Tobi, his eyes hardened, "Hina-chan?"
Hinata nodded without turning to him since her Byakugan was activated, "Yes Naru-kun?"
Naruto sighed in thought, "I...I don't want to ask you to do this but can you distract those three for me?" Naruto asked as if he was regretting the decision as he spoke.
"She won't be by herself."
Naruto and Hinata glanced in unison to opposite sides of their formation as Sakura blurred to a stop next to Hinata and Sasuke faded into existence next to Naruto. Naruto looked to Sasuke with wide eyes as he continued talking, "Hinata, your skills and your staff would be best against Utakata, remove the chakra from those bubbles and they lose their acidity." Sasuke said. Hinata nodded as Naruto grinned at his siblings' arrivals, though he didn't interrupt as Sasuke glared forward at the revived Mizukage, "I've got the Three Tails." Sasuke said before crouching, his entire body hidden under his Reaper Cloak.
Sakura stepped forward, her armour activating the whole way as she took a wide stance, her claws extending as she grinned at Yugito, "I got the speedster, she ran away last time and actually managed to lose me," Sakura said with a surprisingly predatorial grin, "That's not gonna happen again."
Naruto looked around the three closest people to him as a smirk climbed onto his face as he turned his gaze to Tobi, seeing the slight hesitation becoming overpowered by desperation and anger as Naruto purposefully smile to his enemy, 'Now Kurama!'
"I'll kill them all and take the Nine Tails by force!"
"Time to take little Tobi to meet the BEAST!"
##########
Chapter End.
Hey guys, sorry for the major delay. Unfortunately the next one will be delayed too considering I have negative amounts of internet haha ...like actually, we owe money to the internet people, might lose internet completely in the near future so damn.
Please R&R and all that, and if you're a fan of A Stronger Link be ready for some good/bad news depending on how you readers take it.
Love ya and leave ya, Alky out