What's up everybody, thesaiyanjedi is back with the latest chapter of "Shinachiku's First Adventure!"
Okay, sorry again for the long delay in this one coming out, but this one took a lot of work to plot out! No, really, this one was a monster! I'll get into it more when we get to the end. So strap yourselves in, because this chapter is action packed!
So, with all that said, lets get to reading!
Chapter 49: The Final Battle, Part One
The battlefield outside the Gates of Konoha were silent. The enemy Uragi Rimonō said nothing as he stared down the boy who had so arrogantly vowed to defeat him.
"Insolent little welp! Who are you to challenge a god!"
Uragi fired a beam of crimson energy from his hand directly at the boy, but Shinachiku instead released a chakra arm from his body to take the blast, then after that one disintegrated he immediately created another one and launched it directly at his opponent. Uragi blasted that arm as well, but the boy then shot out dozens of them.
"ENOUGH!"
Uragi sent out a pulse wave that destroyed all of the arms at once. And yet, much to the old man's annoyance, the boy seemed entirely unphased by any of it. "Was that meant to have any effect at all boy?"
"No," Shinachiku stated. "Just to provide a distraction."
"LEAF WHIRLWIND!"
Rock Lee took exactly that opportunity to land a powerful kick straight into Uragi's back. It was successful in knocking him down to the ground. But that didn't last long as he got right back up again!
"FOOL!" He tried to fire a beam of the Power Gem's chakra at Lee, but wouldn't you know it, Tenten stepped in to her husband's aid right before the attack could even begin.
"TWIN RISING DRAGONS!"
Tenten unsealed two scrolls that unraveled in the air in a familiar helix formation. Leaping in between both scrolls, she released a deadly assault of weapons at the demigod before her.
Uragi blasted most of the weapons out of the air, but his overconfidence left him distracted to an identical attack coming from another angle.
"TWIN RISING DRAGONS!"
Burandon had pulled out two scrolls of his own and duplicated his mother's technique. His barrage was just as fierce as hers was, and the distraction Tenten provided allowed for more kunai and shuriken to find their mark.
'That's my boy!' Tenten said proudly within her own head.
Uragi sent out a pulse wave of red chakra that knocked the three members of the Lee clan to the ground. But Rock Lee had had enough.
"Tenten," he said to his wife, "take Burandon and go. What I do next will prove most dangerous for everyone."
The brown-haired woman with the dangling red earrings widen her eyes in realization. "Lee no!"
"Lee! You cannot mean—!"
Neji's objection was cut off when Lee reaffirmed himself. "Yes old friend, the time has come for me to use...the Drunken Fist!"
A feeling of terror passed over all of the former Team Guy, including their master listening from the sidelines in his wheelchair.
"Burandon," Guy instructed, "your father is about to do something very scary. Go with Neji and your mother and get away from here!"
The green-clad boy look back at the battle before him before turning back to face the others. "Forgive me mother, Guy-sensei, Neji-san...but I cannot leave now when my village needs me." Without another word, the boy turned away from them and took a few steps before stopping.
"BURANDON! What are you doing?!"
Tenten's words fell on deaf ears as he started focusing his body, causing a powerful and dangerous aura to surround his essence for the second time today.
"FIRST GATE: GATE OF OPENING! OPEN!"
It was an impressive display of power, but that did not stop the enemy's assault. Burandon would not be perturbed however. His focus continued as he increased his strength once again.
"SECOND GATE: GATE OF HEALING! OPEN!"
The boy was not finished, he kept going. His power kept increasing. On the sidelines, virtually everyone besides Guy, Tsunade, Shizune and Hanami were gobsmacked at the boy's display of power.
'That's...That's my Burandon?' Tenten questioned herself in disbelief. 'When did...? LEE! I told you not to go teaching our son jutsu like that behind my back!'
Neji was no less surprised. 'My word, for that boy to have learned to open the gates at his age...' The former Hyūga prodigy smirked, '...He truly is his father's son.'
Lee, on the other hand, stared at his son in worry more than in pride. 'Burandon, please my son. You are still young and inexperienced with that kind of power! Please do not go beyond the third gate, for your own sake...'
Focusing himself still longer, Burandon opened yet the next gate, which this time increased his body temperature as the boy's sweat quickly evaporated, forming what resembled an intense green aura emanating from himself. Hot wind picked up dramatically, the boy's skin turned red, and Burandon Lee at last felt he was ready to face his enemy.
"THIRD GATE: GATE OF LIFE! OPEN!"
Staring down the enemy with the power that was consuming him, Burandon wasted no time in executing his attack. "REVERSE LOTUS!"
He charged at the glowing man, bent on performing the powerful technique...But as soon as the boy came within range, even at his great speed, Uragi thrust a powerful punch straight into the boy's stomach, causing the poor boy to cough up blood.
"Burandon!" Hanami, Shinachiku, Sarada, and all of his friends screamed for him.
"HA!" Uragi laughed. "Foolish boy! Did you think that a weakling like you had the might needed to challenge a god?!"
Uragi stopped himself however, the boy was getting right back up...and he looked even angrier than ever! His body was still glowing red, a shade darker as a matter of fact.
Lee, Guy, Tenten, Tsunade and even Neji already knew exactly what was coming. "NO BURANDON!"
It was too late, the boy had done it. Despite all of the warnings they had always told him, he knew he had no choice. This enemy required all of the power he had to defeat, and if that meant him putting his life on the line to save his village, then that was the way it needed to be...
"FOURTH GATE: GATE OF PAIN! OPEN!"
Burandon's power was boosted yet again, the largest boost he'd ever felt in his life. Was this what Shinachiku felt like when the Power Gem was consuming him? He wondered.
But there was no time to let his mind wander. He charged at the enemy with his same attack at the ready, now with an even greater increase in speed and power. "REVERSE LOTUS!"
Burandon kicked Uragi straight up into the air and he struck his opponent at inhuman speeds. One blow after another, there seemed no end to the assault. And then it was time of the final blow, a powerful open-handed strike and kick that would send Uragi crashing down to the ground to his doom...Only that's not what happened.
Uragi decided that he'd allowed this boy to deal him enough punishment, and so instead he grabbed hold of the boy's limbs, flipped around in mid air, and forced the boy to take the blow himself instead.
"AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"
Burandon cried out in agony as not only was this blow the single most painful thing he had ever experienced in his life, but he could feel his body breaking down from the opening of the fourth gate. He knew what it was, they'd warned him. His muscle tissue was tearing on the inside.
It was over, he'd done all he could. Burandon Lee was out of the fight.
"BURANDON!"
Tenten's mad outcry of horror echoed throughout the entire battle field, but Lee could barely register it. For him, time had come to a standstill. He had just seen the most horrific thing he'd ever seen in his life. His son was just beaten, nearly killed, by the monster that was once known at Uragi Rimonō.
There were no more words to be said, there was only time for action. The Drunken Fist wasn't going to be enough, there was only one way...He began opening his own gates!
"FIRST GATE: GATE OF OPENING! OPEN!"
"Is he insane?!" Sakura yelled from the sidelines.
"SECOND GATE: GATE OF HEALING! OPEN!"
"What's Lee thinking?!" Sasuke questioned.
"THIRD GATE: GATE OF LIFE! OPEN!"
Naruto shook his head in an appropriate mix of stupor and horror. "I don't think Bushy Brows is thinking much at all right now..."
"FOURTH GATE: GATE OF PAIN! OPEN!"
"Lee..." Tenten uttered as she stared on in...
By this point the mighty Jōnin, the Green Beast of Konoha, appeared exactly like his own son had just a moment ago, equally overflowing with power. But there was a catch...You see, Lee had something else that his son currently did not, experience. That was why he could push his body even further than Burandon ever could.
"FIFTH GATE: GATE OF LIMIT! OPEN!"
The fifth gate opened as Lee felt his immense boost in power multiply even further. But it still wasn't enough! No! The bastard who hurt his son had to pay! And pay he would!
"SIXTH GATE: GATE OF VIEW! OPEN!"
Yet again Lee's power amped up to truly superhuman levels! The blood flow was intense and super heated by this point, turning his skin a dark shade of red. The pain from all of these transformations went by unnoticed for Lee in the midst of his rage. This latest transformation also caused puddles of water that were nearby to float up and form a vortex around Lee.
He made his declaration. "Uragi! This is the end! My son will be avenged!"
And so, the Green Beast began his attack. "MORNING PEACOCK!"
Lee dashed at Uragi and kicked him up into the sky, which, if not for the energy of the Power Gem, might have been enough to kill the old man right there. Lee then jumped into the air in a stance and repeatedly punched the enemy in such a rapid succession that the blows were set ablaze by sheer speed and friction. This caused a fan of flames resembling a peacock's feathers around the already glowing red opponent. With one final kick, Uragi was sent crashing back down to the ground in a massive crater, covered with Lee's aura.
The green hero landed back down to the ground staring down his fallen enemy...who got right back up again with only a few minor aches.
"I'm impressed," Uragi said. "The talent of the Lee clan might not be exaggerated after all. But even with six gates unlocked, you are still no match for me."
"Maybe not alone...But what about all of us as one?"
Shinachiku stepped forward, Sarada and Hanami at his side. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Karin were behind him, as were Minato and Kushina. In fact, the entire army of shinobi army had assembled behind the boy.
Naruto placed his hand on his old friend's shoulder and, sharing a knowing look, Lee calmed down and reclosed his six gates. His body fell to one knee in understandable exhaustion.
Shinachiku turned back to everyone, everyone that was behind him. "Uragi may be more powerful than any of us...But he's not more powerful than all of us!"
Naruto was proud of his son, beyond proud of him. But he could also see many of the eyes of those around him were growing weak and weary from fighting this seemingly invincible foe. Something more needed to be said.
"Ninja of Konoha! Of Suna! Of Kiri! Of Kumo! Of Iwa! My brothers! I can see in all your eyes a sense of fear, of hopelessness. But my son is right! No one man is as strong alone as many are together! A day may come when the courage of this world fails, when we forsake our precious people and break all bonds of love and friendship. But it is not this day! An hour of broken monuments and fallen heroes when the Age of Shinobi comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we FIGHT!"
Shinachiku, with confidence, finished his father's speech for him. "By all that you hold dear, on this good earth...I bid you STAND! Ninja of the Shinobi Alliance!"
There was a colossal, thunderous applause for both the Seventh Hokage and his son. That shared speech reinvigorated everyone!
Shinachiku, still powered up with Kurama's chakra, let out a rebel yell and ran forward towards Uragi. Sarada and Hanami followed immediately after. Inojin, Shikadai, Chōchō, Ōkami, Tsuki, Bagu and Sunako followed next. Naruto and Sakura followed after their children, along with Sasuke and Karin. Minato, Kushina, Kizashi and Mebuki followed next. Then came Sai and Ino, Shikamaru and Temari, Chōji and Karui, Kiba and Hinata, Lee and Tenten, then Neji, then Gaara and Kankurō, then Chōjūrō, Durai and Omoi, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, then Jiraiya and Tsunade, then Shizune, Kakashi, Kurenai, Mirai and Guy (who was comically going slower than everyone else since he had to wheel himself), then Suigetsu, Jūgo and Randamu, then Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi, then Anko, Iruka and Yamato, then Hanabi, Hana, Ebisu, Kotetsu and Izumo, Chōza, Yoshino, Shibi, Tsume, Aoba, Ibiki, everyone charged! In one titanic swoop they charged upon their one, singular adversary.
The final battle for Konoha had begun...
...The battle dragged on well into the morning. The Springtime of Youth from Lee and Burandon's heroic sacrifice had fueled everybody's drive to win. Naruto's leadership was the other driving factor; everyone, absolutely everyone united under the command of the Seventh Hokage!
One by one everyone was demonstrating their most powerful techniques to lay waste to this terrible enemy that stood opposing them now.
Jiraiya had enacted his summoning jutsu and called Fukasaku and Shima to him. The old married toads each leaped onto the old man's shoulders, allowing him to enter Sage Mode. Meanwhile, Tsunade had released her Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Sakura had released her own seal as well once more, while Sasuke reactivated his Rinnegan. Naruto and Minato have long been in their Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode and Sage of Six Paths Mode, respectively, although Naruto was seriously beginning to feel fatigued from his son's consistent sharing of Kurama's chakra all night.
In speaking of Shinachiku, he was emerging as the real hero of the night. Blow after blow, Rasengan after Rasengan, everything he had learned up until now was being thrown at the demigod enemy that threatened them all. Sarada was right there at his side, proudly holding up the Uchiha clan name with all she had learned herself.
All of the Leaf shinobi and their allies were unleashing their best jutsu at this singular, invincible enemy, in a display of power and unity not seen since the Fourth Great Shinobi War.
"BLOSSOM FORMATION!"
Kizashi came at the enemy with his signature taijutsu stile, katana at the ready and with sakura blossoms appearing around him. He was deflected with relative ease, but Mebuki then came in with an old tantō sword she used to carry around with her during her Genin and Chūnin days.
"CHERRY BLOSSOM SLASH!"
Mebuki's sword slashed with a flurry of blossoms around her, she was lucky enough to land a slash at Uragi's neck, but the power of the gem was quick to heal the demigod.
"Useless..." He grabbed the elder kunoichi by the throat and threw her across the battelfied at rapid gallop.
"MOM!" Sakura yelled in shock.
"GRANDMA!" Both Shinachiku and Hanami panicked.
"MEBUKI!" Kizashi cried out in terror.
The blow that was coming would most assuredly had murdered the old woman...had she not been caught before hitting the ground by a mysterious force.
"K-Kushina?"
The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero smiled at her old friend. "You looked like you could use a hand." She set her new sister-in-law down on her feet and recognized the weapon she used to carry with her when they were children. "I'm surprised you held onto that thing."
Mebuki chuckled. "Figured it'd work a lot better than a flying pan."
"Hey! Don't knock the frying pan. Cookware can be a weapon of mass destruction in the right hands."
Mebuki chuckled again. "True that."
The two friends ran back into the heat of battle as Aoba was currently lunging at Uragi.
"SCATTERING THOUSAND CROWS TECHNIQUE!"
A flock consisting of countless crows were summoned into being and proceeded to swarm and dazzle the enemy. Aoba emitted his chakra from his fingers and altered it into high frequency waves to freely manipulate the crows. The crows cawed and squawked as they continuously cloned themselves and Uragi became completely surrounded. But while the birds obscured the old man's vision and pecked away at his hide, an angry surge of crimson energy instantly evaporated the entire flock.
Ibiki slammed his hand to the ground. "SUMMONING JUTSU: IRON MAIDEN!"
A gigantic iron maiden in the shape of a maneki neko, the "beckoning cat," appeared from beneath the ruptured ground directly underneath Uragi's feet, split down the middle. The statue clamped around its target before wrapping itself in chains.
With a gesture, Ibiki ordered the statue to carry the enemy back beneath the earth...until the statue exploded in a crimson wave, its pieces scattering everywhere.
Chōza employed the ultimate technique of his clan. "MULTI-SIZE TECHNIQUE!"
Yoshino, Tsume, Kuromaru, Hana, the Three Haimaru Brothers, Hiashi, Hanabi and Shibi all leaped onto the elder Akimichi's now colossal arm and ran up it into the sky before leaping off of his hand to descend down from above.
Yoshino aimed a kunai straight for Uragi's eye socket with all the terrifying ferocity that Shikamaru always claimed she'd possessed. The attack was caught in between two of his fingers, but that was fine because she quickly leaped out of the way for the others to have their turn.
"SECRET TECHNIQUE: INSECT SPHERE!"
Shibi covered the enemy from head-to-toe with his insects. They surrounded him and made a globe shape before attaching themselves to the enemy and began eating away at his chakra. Death would normally be assured from such a technique...But regrettably, the energy of the Power Gem was so densely immense that it was far too much for insects of the Aburame clan. Many of them burst open in a disgusting display of guts and goo before the elder Aburame was forced to retract the survivors.
"GENTLE FIST: EIGHT TRIGRAM VACUUM WALL PALM!"
Hiashi and Hanabi both used their clan's signature fighting style to deliver an open-palmed punch so hard it caused a vaccum effect in the air pressure. The combined attack from father and daughter did force Uragi back a couple inches, but his still withstood it. And when the old man attempted to deliver the Eight Trigram technique to sever his chakra points, Uragi, merely caught his arms in the air and blasted the old man out of the way. As for Hanabi, she tried the same technique, but to equal failure.
"FANG PASSING FANG!"
Tsume and Kuromaru spun at a ferocious speed to deliver a succession of beast-like attacks. Uragi blocked them, but then Hana and her trio of dogs took a turn.
"FANG ROTATING FANG!"
Hana and the Haimaru Brothers rolled at a ferocious speed, so fast that it created a buzz-saw-like shape. Over and over again they delivered savage, animalistic attacks, but with a shout of "Enough!", they were cast aside and hit the ground with a large thud.
"HEY!" a loud, booming voice could be heard. "Remember me?"
Uragi looked up to see the still towering, gigantic form of Chōza Akimichi looming over him as he slammed his colossal fist on the enemy's body, creating another crater in the earth.
It seemed like the battle might be over...until Chōza felt his fist heat up from the intensity of the red chakra. It was so much that the elder Akimichi was forced to retract his fist in pain, thus giving Uragi the opening he needed to land a Power Gem-enhanced chakra punch straight to the giant man's stomach. The blow was so strong that it was almost enough to kill the old man and reunite him with his dearly departed friends Inoichi and Shikaku. The force of the attack knocked Chōza out of the fight and forced him back to his original size.
Isumo and Kotetsu stepped up as one. Nodding, the two old friends enacted a collaboration attack that they had utilized for decades. Kotetsu got out his Conch Shell Mace while his partner performed his jutsu.
"WATER STYLE: STARCH SYRUP CAPTURING FIELD!"
Isumo expelled a wave of high-viscosity, chakra-infused water at the enemy's feet. The technique appeared to entrap the enemy's movements, allowing Kotetsu the opening he needed to swing his mace for a critical blow. Unfortunately they failed to notice that Uragi had channeled chakra into his feet to allow him to walk upon the starch syrup instead. Thus, when Kotetsu was about to land his blow, Uragi instead grabbed him by the threat and tossed him directly into Izumo, knocking them both to the ground far, far away.
"Pathetic," Uragi scoffed. "Is all of this the best—?"
"FIRE STYLE: FIRE DRAGON BULLET!"
Ebisu exhaled a blast of intense flaming breath from his mouth that blasted straight at Uragi...to comically little effect. The old man then nonchalantly blasted the perverted shinobi away with a single blast of crimson chakra.
"Is all of this the best this village has to offer me?!"
"No! But maybe one of our villages can offer you a challenge?!"
The old man snapped his head around to see four of the five kages standing there with their loyal escorts at their side. The feminine quality to the voice he'd overheard alerted him that it was Kurotsuchi who'd shot her mouth off.
Uragi merely stood his ground as his former servants prepared their attack.
"EARTH STYLE: GOLEM TECHNIQUE!"
Akatsuchi expelled from his mouth a large, humanoid creature, one made up of solid rock! The golem was twice the size of its own creator and upon receiving the signal, the thing stomped over to his foe and was about to pummel him with his ferocious stone fist.
"Golem!" Akatsuchi shouted, "Its time to clobber this—!"
BOOM!
One blast of the Power Gem's chakra. That was all it took to blow the rock golem to smithereens, its fragments flying all over the place as particles of dust hung in the air.
As Akatsuchi appeared deflated, Omoi broke the silence, "Well...that was anticlimactic."
Karui agreed, "Yeah, how about you and I show them how its done?"
Receiving a confirmatory nod from their Raikage, the two former teammates leaped into the battle together with their swords drawn.
"CLOUD STYLE: FRONT BEHEADING!"
"CLOUD STYLE: CRESCENT MOON BEHEADING!"
Both of them swung their weapons as one, Karui in a single quick and powerful motion from their opponent's front, and Omoi in a single, large, crescent moon-shaped arc from his behind. To their shock, Uragi caught both swords at the same time and, using the power of the gem, disintegrated each the their weapons with ease before blasting them both with near critical blows.
Uragi had no time to gloat the ease of yet another victory before Kurotsuchi shouted "EARTH STYLE: EARTH FLOW SPHERES!" She condensed the mud and stone around the area and shaped it into an enormous wave of spikes that shot out from the ground. The spikes were so sharp that contact with one could skewer straight through any opponent. But Uragi was able to dodge most of them and those he could not he blasted apart with the unlimited power of the gem.
"MUTILATION!"
Chōjūrō got out his mighty sword Hiramekarei and, while Uragi was busy dodging and blasting away of Kurotsuchi's spheres of raw earth, he used his blade to create a large amount of blue chakra needles that launched out of the sword and embedded themselves directly into Uragi. Chōjūrō was no fool, he knew that the Power Gem was the source of the enemy's godlike power and so the needles would not disrupt his chakra as they normally would. But what it did guarantee was for the old man to become immobilized long enough for his fellow kages to get in their own vengeance against the traitor as well.
"Kurotsuchi! NOW!"
At Chōjūrō's signal, the Tsuchikage performed her combination jutsu. "LAVA STYLE: ASH STONE SEAL TECHNIQUE!" She shot thick ash from her mouth that wrapped around her target. "WATER STYLE: WATER TRUMPET!" She then launched a large jet of water from her mouth through her hand, making the technique resemble a trumpet. Together the two attacks solidified the ground, entrapping the enemy in a stone prison.
"Darui! NOW!"
The Raikage then readied his next attack, and he was full prepared to make it count. Gaara had used his sand to create a midair platform for him to run across as he dashed towards his enemy, finally leaping off the sand and staring down the Taka leader.
"LIGHTNING STYLE: BLACK PANTHER!"
Darui generated black lightning from his body and willed it into the form of a large, ferocious panther. With a static roar, the beast lunged at Uragi where it electrocuted him hideously. Kurotsuchi used her Water Trumpet once again to splash the enemy while the panther was shocking him, doubling the damage.
"It is done," Darui stated bluntly as the light from the gem died out and it appeared that nothing was left but a scorched, smoking carcass...
...And then the light returned again and Uragi blasted his way out of his stone imprisonment with a mere surge of power.
'I-Impossible...' Darui could not believe is eyes...But he was too furious to linger as he then unleashed one of his most devastating jutsu upon his enemy. A halo of bright energy spread across the Raikage's hand, which then encircled his hand and then, the technique was unleashed.
"STORM RELEASE: LASER CIRCUS!"
An onslaught of energy beams shot out of his hand and straight out towards his opponent...But to Uragi's horror, the old man used the power of the gem to directly counter all of them, and then blast all three of the kages that had struck him—Chōjūrō, Kurotsuchi, and Darui—far away from him like a bunch of lousy pests.
Gaara stared on, taking in what had just happened to his fellow kage's at the hands of the monster they were facing. 'This is futile. Uragi's power is too great for us to continue taking one-on-one...So be it.'
Rather than continue fighting, Gaara instead used his sand to take to the air to rejoin his family and their friends.
Uragi, seeing the Kazekage himself seemingly fleeing for his life, laughed maniacally.
Gaara flew over the battlefield to where Naruto and the others were. Calling out to them, he landed before them and was quickly greeted by both his daughter and his elder siblings.
"Naruto!" the Kazekage shouted.
The Orange Hokage turned his head to speak to his old friend. "Gaara? What is it?"
"This is a loosing battle. The other kages and several of our forces are being defeated easily. It is as though none of our jutsu are having any effect at all."
"Did he kill them?" Sakura questioned.
"I don't think so."
"Why not?" Kiba asked bluntly. "If he's so damn powerful then why doesn't he just finish everyone off and be done with it?"
Sasuke knew the answer. "Because of me."
"What are you talking about?"
"We have the Soul Gem now, Shinachiku already used it to bring me back from the Pure Land. If he kills any of us then he knows we can just use it to being them right back again."
Shikamaru shook his head, "That shouldn't matter. We've all seen what he can do with all the power he's got. He could easily wipe out this entire village and everyone in it in a single shot if he wanted, so there'd be no one left to use the Soul Gem. So why hasn't he just done that?"
Shinachiku answered for them. "Its because he's toying with us. He wants us all to see how invincible he is first. He wants to beat us down and humble us all with his new sense of godhood before he wipes us all out."
"How do you know that?" Sarada asked her boyfriend.
He turned to her with a knowing frown. "Because if I still had that power, that's what I would do."
There was a long silence as everybody took in the weight of the situation...Of course, leave it to Randamu to completely spoil the moment. "Well, this world's fucked! Who's up for some sake and hitting the strip club!" The only reaction he got from the others were irritated glares from everybody, particularly from the women. "What?"
"He's got a point!" Sarada protested. "He's too powerful!"
"I have to admit this is a real drag," Shikadai complained.
Inojin surmised, "So long as Uragi still possesses the Power Gem, I fear we may never win this battle."
That's when it happened. That's when the most obvious light bulb ever finally went off in the boy's head. "That's it."
"What's it?" Chōchō questioned.
"We steal the gem. If we take away his power, he'll be as mortal as the rest of us."
"And how the hell are we supposed to do that?" Ōkami complained.
"We keep fighting, we distract him until one of us gets in close."
"Do you really think we can?" asked Tsuki.
Shinachiku paused in thought before answering. "We have to. Its our only hope of ending this."
Bagu looked over at the battle still being fought. "Well, the adults have his attention now. I'd say that's plenty distraction enough."
The others looked to the battlefield to see that Anko was taking her turn against the godlike enemy, but fortunately there was more to her plan than it seemed..
"MANY HIDDEN SHADOW SNAKE HANDS!"
A wave of multiple serpents shot out of the Jōnin's sleeve, more than usual for this technique, and grabbed hold of Uragi, the crimson chakra surrounding his body singeing the snakes heads and mouths as they sank their fangs into their target and flung him into the air. Anko swung her body around and guided her snakes to fling him in the direction of one of her allies.
"WOOD STYLE: FOUR-PILLAR PRISON TECHNIQUE!"
Yamato converted his chakra into the timber beneath the ground of the battlefield allowing it to grow rapidly, willing it into the formation of a wooden prison cell. The top of the cell was open for him the fling Uragi inside, and as soon as the enemy was where he wanted him, the door slammed shut.
"NOW! SEALED BOMB SQUARE RELEASE!"
Iruka rapidly, with his full ninja speed available to him at his age, placed an array of exploding tags all over the wooden cell. With a quick hand seal, the old teacher detonated the tags, causing a massive explosion that could be seen from the village and the city.
Many of the shinobi forces needed to shield their eyes from the force of the explosion, and some among the crowd asked aloud, "Did it work?"
...The answer was no. Walking slowly out of the fiery cinders of his former cage, Uragi fired three more blasts of crimson chakra at Anko, Yamato and Iruka, bringing all three of them to their knees.
"IRUKA-SENSEI" Naruto, Shinachiku and Sarada all shouted as one.
"YAMATO-SENSEI!" Shikadai and Inojin shouted.
"ANKO-SENSEI!" Chōchō shouted.
The reunited Konohamaru Corps, the former Team Ebisu, reunited on the field of battle before the godlike enemy they were facing now. None of them ever got to be there for the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but now they had their chance to stand as one and defend their home.
"Its funny, the three of us back together like this," Moegi noted.
"Its a while, glad to see you Konohamaru," Udon smiled. "I guess this time's gonna take more than a Sexy Jutsu to take this guy down right?"
"Looks like," Konohamaru replied with a smirk.
"Say Konohamaru," Moegi said, "how about after this is over you finally introduce us to that cute little boy you call your apprentice?"
"Assuming we all live through this," Udon argued pessimistically while wiping his nose. "Statistically the possibility of the village successfully defeating Uragi while in this form is roughly 3,720 to 1—"
"Never tell me the odds!" Konohamaru interrupted. "I'll introduce you guys after our job is done here. Right now...Konohamaru Corps! Attack!"
The three former teammates dashed over to their shared opponent, Konohamaru's famous blue scarf flapping in the breeze. Leaping into the air together, but coming in a different angle, Moegi got the first blow.
"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!"
Focusing her chakra into her fist, she let loose with a massive critical strike that slammed the enemy into an enormous crater left in the earth. Clearly, those classes she took under Lady Sakura had paid off.
Udon came in next. He focused his chakra into his dominant hand and felt a wave of electric current flow around it,, creating that all-too familiar chirping sound. He had worked long and hard to learn the signature technique of his childhood idol, Sasuke Uchiha, and while he knew he could never come anywhere close to Sasuke's level, if this was enough to at last make the traitor Uragi pay for his crimes, then that was what mattered.
"ROAR! CHIDORI!"
The electric jutsu shocked the old man nice and hard, almost scorching him. But Udon rapidly leaped out of the way for the true attack to make leave its mark.
Konohamaru formed his most signature jutsu in one hand, one that his idol had taught to him long, long ago and which had served him ever since. Like Naruto, he'd studied and trained long and hard to take it as far as he could, and along with Naruto they'd each passed that knowledge down to Shinachiku. Now, this single, growing orb of chakra might be the key to victory this day.
"BIG BALL RASENGAN!"
Konohamaru slammed the enlarged jutsu straight into the enemy's chest, triggering yet another huge explosion.
"YEAH!" Shinachiku cheered from the sidelines with Sarada joining in. "Way to go sensei!"
Naruto stared on in distress, he could clearly sense the truth. "No...its not enough."
The dust cleared...Uragi was still standing, the aura of crimson chakra more intense than ever! Konohamaru huffed and puffed as he remained slack jawed in horror.
"Be gone." That was all the old man said before he blasted all three of them to the far end of the battlefield, all the way to Konoha Gate. The impact was so severe that it shattered several of their arms and legs. The Konohamaru Corps were unable to move.
"SENSEI!"
Shinachiku and Sarada saw the entire thing. The kids were angry, really angry, especially a certain blonde-haired boy.
"Kit."
Shinachiku heard a familiar voice inside himself again. 'Kurama? What is it?'
"Listen kit, there's no way we're going to be able to beat him like this."
'What else can we possibly do? We need to extract the Power Gem from him to bring and end to all of this!'
"And absolutely none of your forces have managed to lay even a dent on him...But there may be another way."
'...What do you mean?'
"Think about it kit, if external attacks are doing nothing to him, then maybe there is some other place where he is more vulnerable."
Somehow, someway, the boy was able to piece together exactly what the fox was suggesting. 'But...But how? How am I supposed to fight inside of his—?"
"Not inside of his kit...Inside ofyours."
'What?! How?!'
"The Uchiha girl, your parents...Take from them what you need."
"Shina?"
Sarada's concerned voice shook the blonde out of his mental conversation and back to reality.
"DAD! AUNT INO!"
The boy's furious outburst caught the Yamanaka woman and his own father off guard, but they both rushed over to his side when he called them.
"What is it Shina?" Ino questioned.
"I need you to commune a message for me. Please tell them exactly what I say."
He then turned back to his father and his girlfriend. "Dad, Sarada...there's something each of you have that I need..."
...
...
...
"ENOUGH!"
Uragi Rimonō's voice echoed across the landscape of the Konoha battlefield. In fact, it echoed across the entire city! It was like the voice of a god itself, an angry god, one that was hell bent on exacting its rage on the people that were its own subjects.
"Hear me well Uzumaki! Your forces have done well to defend your flawed, disgraced excuse for a world! But now I've grown bored of this game! Let all the shinobi and children of this world say their prayers because my reinvention of this world begins NOW!"
Karin felt her blood run cold. "Sasuke...I can feel it...He's powering up to maximum. He's going to blow up this entire village! EVERYTHING! Men, women, children, he doesn't care anymore!"
Sasuke stared on with a forlorn expression. "So, that's how it is then? Let just hope the kid's crazy plan works."
The Village Hidden in the Leaves was being engulfed in a vast red light. The energy of the Power Gem was charging up, forming an intense aura that pulsed with pure destructive chakra energy.
The end had come...
...
...
...
"FLYING SWALLOW!"
Mirai was able to use of her chakra blades with chakra flowing through one end to cut a past the intense aura. It left a deep gash, but one that was rapidly healing. Still, the unexpected blow was enough to force the demigod to stumble backward, near a lone tree that had outlasted all the carnage of the battle.
Mirai stumbled out of the way to allow her mother her own turn to attack.
"DEMONIC ILLUSION: TREE BINDING DEATH!"
Kurenai disappeared from sight in a mist before Uragi's very eyes. Then, he felt a his mobility robbed from him as he beheld the mirage of fast-growing trees coiling around him. Once he was immobile, Kurenai emerged from the trunk of the tree before stabbing him through the chest with a kunai. The blade was quick to evaporate from the energy of the gem, and that genjutsu she knew would likely not last very long against an opponent like him. But it was enough to do momentary damage while Guy and Kakashi took their own turns.
Kakashi had created a clone to wheel Guy into the battle with his mighty battle cry fully ablaze. The former Green Beast of Konoha had his solid metal nunchakus at the ready. When they close enough, Guy flung his nunchakus at Uragi's head with all the strength he could muster. They had virtually no effect of course, other than to give the old man a headache and leave him momentarily busy...
...Fortunately, that was exactly what Kakashi was counting on.
"LIGHTNING RELEASE: PURPLE ELECTRICITY!"
Before Uragi could get over his dizziness, the Sixth Hokage leaped in and thrust his electric jutsu straight into Uragi's left lung, just barely dodging the enemy's heart. Why? Because that was where the Power Gem was residing inside Uragi's chest and so the Son of the White Fang reached his hand out to reach for it.
A crimson-colored arm stopped Kakashi's, even as the self-proclaimed demigod was impaled. "So falls the clan of Hatake."
Uragi sent out a blast of energy at Kakashi with his other hand. It was enough power to blast a hole through his shoulder!
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Shinachiku and Sarada all yelled in shock.
The force of Uragi's blast was also enough to knock the great warrior back into his old rival, knocking Guy out of his wheelchair and to the ground, unable to move his legs.
Shizune leaped in next, pulling aside her sleeve and ejecting her poison-tipped senbon at Uragi's skin. Some of them made contact, but she could already tell that the poison was having far less effect in this instance than it would on a normal opponent.
"Hahahahahaha!" Urgi laughed. "FOOLS! Even with all of you together you can accomplish nothing! What possible hope have any of you left to stop m—AAAGGHH!"
Uragi's boisterous speech was cut off when he felt glowing golden chakra chains strangling him by the neck as others wrapped themselves around his hands and bound his feet, forcing him down to a kneeling position.
"Kushina!" Uragi's cursed, knowing that only his former minion could possibly be behind this.
CLANG!
A single kunai embedded itself into the ground...a familiar kunai with three prongs protruding from it.
In a single, instantaneous flicker, Minato appeared directly in the face of the old man. He wasted no time in landing his devastating blow.
"FLYING THUNDER GOD TECHNIQUE: RASENGAN!"
The Fourth Hokage slammed his signature technique into his former master. The resulting explosion blasted him down into another crater left within the earth, one which he could not escape from thanks to Kushina's imprisonment. Any other opponent short of perhaps Madara or Kaguya themselves might have been finished after a blow like that...But at the moment, Uragi was anything but an ordinary opponent.
Recovering from the damage, he was able to then grab hold of the chains and channel the gem's power straight through them to the red-haired maiden herself. The blast was of enough intensity to severely stun her, which in turn broke her concentration and allowed her binds to break apart. He also fired a blast at Minato, one that came so quickly and without the slightest provocation that even the Yellow Flash was caught off guard.
Jiraiya, with the old married toads still on his shoulders, made some quick hand signs and cast his own attack. "SAGE ART: GOEMON!"
On Shima's command, the Toad Sage created a large volume of oil that he spat at Uragi's feet, then Fukasaku performed a Wind Release technique to propel the oil while Shima performed a large Fire Release technique to ignite it. Within an instant, the oil on the ground under Uragi's feet was burning at temperatures upwards of 1,000 degrees.
Normally this would be more than enough to trust to incinerate any opponent, but in this case they could afford to leave nothing to chance...That is why Tsunade released her Strength of a Hundred Seal and, with a rebel yell, pounded the earth with enough force to literally make the entire village and perhaps even much of the entire Land of Fire quake!
The fissure opened up beneath Uragi's feet and the demigod fell in...Or at least he would have, had he not used to powers of the gem to shield himself from the truly monstrous attack.
"Old fools." He blasted both of then, knocking them both to the ground and knocking the two toad's off of Jiraiya's shoulder.
Over from where they were standing, Naruto and Sakura were holding hands, each of them in pain from having to watch how simply Minato, Kushina, Jiraiya and Tsunade, four of the people that meant the most to them, were so easily defeated.
"Naruto...?"
The Orange Hokage looked to his wife. "I know."
Sasuke took his place next to his former teammates. "You realize that this has got to be the single craziest plan anybody has ever come up with, right dobe?"
"I have faith in my son Sasuke. You should too."
"I do have faith in the boy, but how do we even know that this will work? Not to mention the insane risk that it puts on you!"
"Sasuke!" Sakura snapped. "My husband is well aware of the risks, thank you very much."
The newly-resurrected Uchiha raised an eyebrow and smirked at the pinkette's passionate defense of the blonde. Oh my, how times have changed.
"Okay Naruto," the Uchiha said, "if you're sure."
Naruto smiled in fatherly pride. "I am."
Standing side-by-side, Shinachiku and Sarada looked out upon the battlefield before sharing a knowing glance.
In the next instant, both of them bit their thumbs and slammed their hands down on the ground. "SUMMONING JUTSU!"
In twin puffs of smoke, two creatures appeared alongside them: a toad and a snake, each of which was the size of their summoner.
"Shinachiku Uzumaki," the toad uttered, "so pleased to see you again."
"Lady Sarada," the snake hissed, "how may I be of service?"
"Gamasenshi," Shinachiku said, "our village is is in the midst of a fight for its very survival. I need you to lend your sword to help defend it."
"I must ask the same of you Hebihime," Sarada added.
Shinachiku had to admit that was feeling just a little bit creeped out standing next to the daughter of the late Lord Manda. It wasn't any kind of personal prejudice, its just that he did use to be an ophidiophobe back when he was a child.
The two summons looked out to the enemy that they were facing. They each could sense the power resonating from the human consumed in red chakra, and quite honestly it was enough to intimidate to both of them. Even so, they were a proud warrior of Mount Myōboku and the heiress of Ryūchi Cave, they were not about to run away from the field of battle now.
"SUMMONING JUTSU!"
The four of them turned their heads in shock as they saw a third puff of smoke go up, revealing a slug the size of the little girl who'd just summoned it.
"Hanami?!"
The pink-haired girl smiled cutely at her big brother's utterly shocked expression. "Mommy let me sign a contract when you and daddy weren't looking."
Both the Uzumaki boy and the Uchiha girl stared with open jaws and eyes as wide as dinner plates, but they both needed to shake themselves out of it in order to stay focused on the task at hand.
"Okay, we just need you three to help keep Uragi busy while I enact my plan to end this battle once and for all. Gamasenshi! GO!"
"Hebihime! GO!"
"Suragutome! GO!"
The three summons charged at their opponent. Gamasenshi drew his tantō as he leaped high into the air and came down. Before finishing his descent, Hebihime coiled its body around the enemy while trying to dig her fangs into Uragi. Regrettably, the intense aura from the Power Gem was enough to sting even the Snake Princess's fangs.
Gamasenshi brought his sword down for a critical slash...the old man caught the blade in his hand and incinerated it with his touch.
"WHAT?!" the toad warrior cried out in shock.
Suragutome, the slug maiden, split itself into hundreds of smaller clones of itself that then swarmed over the enemy before reforming with the enemy within itself so that the enemy might suffocate from lack of air. The response to this was for Uragi to let loose with the power of the gem and cause the slug to explode into smaller clones that reformed into a whole.
"It this it?!" Uragi yelled to the children. "Is this the best that you brats can offer me?! HA! Clearly the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans are in for dark days indeed if these three are the future of their families."
Shinachiku, Sarada and Hanami stared down the demigod coldly as their respective summons recuperated and recoiled from their wounds.
"Shina," Sarada spoke up, "we don't have much more time. If this plan of yours in going to work, then it must be now."
"I agree—"
"Wait oniichan!" Hanami shouted. "Look!"
Gaara came into the field of battle floating on a platform of sand with his arms crossed. "You dare to lecture us about family? Let us all prove to you what family is capable of!"
The Kazekage then focused his sand into two massive hands that further split into four hands, each of which grabbed the traitorous villain by his arms and legs.
Sunako used her own sand to float to her father's side and, along with him, she manipulated her sand into the form of a long, three-pronged weapons of stone solid density and tipped with razor sharp rock.
"SAND SPEAR!"
Both father and daughter launched their weapons at the enemy, both weapons gorging him through the chest, actually causing him to cough up blood...until the sand disintegrated from the power of the gem.
No matter, because now Kankurō took his turn to battle. Unsealing his scrolls, he rapidly released all four of his puppets—Kuroari, Karasu, Sanshōuo and Sasori—to release the full fury of their attack range.
Kuroari slashed with the serrated blades in each of its arm segments and needles launched from its arms. Karasu shot out smoke bombs from its arms to blind Uragi while it slashed with the scythe blade hidden in its torso, stabbed with the knives in its wrists, and speared with the large poison blade in its mouth. Sanshōuo opened its mouth to spout an intense flame thrower at the enemy, just before Sasori spun his propeller blades that have been dipped with poison.
The poison attacks were barely having any effect on the old man, who was quickly healing from the intense barrage of relentless blade slashes. He promptly fired beams at all four of Kankurō's puppets, blasting them all into pieces.
Shikadai stepped in after his uncle was robbed of his weapons, staring down the old man.
"And what do you expect to do boy?"
"I'm the guy whose going to make sure you don't go anywhere for the next few seconds asshole!" The boy got into a proper hand sign. "WIND STYLE: SHADOW POSSESSION EXPANSION JUTSU!"
The combination of his mother's wind chakra and his fathers clan's techniques allowed for the Shikadai to dramatically expand the attack range, ensuring that Uragi's entire body was unable to move. He knew full well that he would not be able to hold this man for too long, so it was pivotal that as many of his friends and their parents landed a critical blow as possible.
Temari leaped in with her gigantic war fan at the ready. "WIND STYLE: WIND CUTTER!"
The gusts of wind came one after another with the force of a barrage of razor sharp scythes. Gashes appeared on every crevice of Uragi's body and blood spurted everywhere, before the wounds healed.
Shikamaru followed his wife. He was armed with his late master's chakra blades, which he'd already infused with his own chakra. "SHADOW IMITATION SHURIKEN TECHNIQUE!"
Shikadai let go of his jutsu less than a second before his father launched his attack. Shikamaru used his attack to just barely miss Uragi's body, piercing his shadow instead, seemingly paralyzing him in place.
'This may not last as long as usual...' Shikamaru looked to his son. 'We need to be ready.' There were no words shared between them, but both father and son understood the message nevertheless.
Uragi was struggling to shake free of his paralysis, but that gave Chōji and Chōchō the opening they both needed to go in for their strike, both of them eager to get payback for what this man had done to their wife and mother.
By popping one of her clan's Three Colored Pills to ensure her chakra reserves could handle the strain, Chōchō was ready to take on a challenge of, quite literally, gigantic undertaking. "SUPER MULTI-SIZE TECHNIQUE!"
Chōchō used the super enhanced version of her clan's signature jutsu to expand her body to a size truly beyond belief. By the time she was done she was the same size that Uragi himself had been when he was in his kaiju form. Once she had finally stopped growing, she slammed her colossal fist and then stomped her foot on Uragi.
The titanic thud silenced everything as nothing happened for several moments...And then Chōchō felt her foot getting hot. She was forced to remove her foot because Uragi has intensified the flow of his power once again, burning her. He then fired a powerful blast at the girl that knocked her out, forcing her back to her normal size as she passed out.
"YOU BASTARD!" Chōji was utterly furious! Nobody did that to his wife or his little girl!
No more pretense was needed. The Akimichi clan head focused on converting his calories into chakra. That chakra took a physical form all too familiar to all of his friends, that of a pair of large blue butterfly wings, which then compressed into smaller wings.
Now in this 'Butterfly Chōji Mode' as he called it, Chōji was ready to dish out his ultimate attack. "BUTTERFLY BULLET BOMBING!"
Chōji burned away all of his levels of fat to convert into chakra, a very dangerous process as part of a life-threatening technique if used in conjunction with his clan's colored pills, rather that with the Calorie Control technique as Chōji was doing now. The Akimichi concentrated his unique chakra into his fist, then put all of his weight and all of his fury into the punch.
Chōji let out a yell of fury as he lay the most powerful punch he could deliver right to Uragi's jaw. It was only through the shielding that the Power Gem's aura provided him that he was able to survive such a blow that actually did succeeded in knocking him down!
Chōji collapsed; his body returned to normal, now noticeably thinner after all of the calories he had burned off. Even though using the Calorie Control technique bypassed the life threatening danger of the technique, the sheer exhaustion and fatigue still required he get immediate medical attention, which Tsunade was quick to rush over and provide.
The three kids watched what had just happened with wonder. Hanami was the one to break the silence. "Is it over oniichan?"
Shinachiku shook his head in disappointment. "I don't think so."
The boy was right. The seemingly invincible Uragi got back up again! He tried toe charge up his power one more time before he felt a familiar tugging of his body again. Shikadai had come back and recaptured him in his Shadow Possession Justu all over again.
"Inojin! Hurry!"
Inojoin and his family leaped in as a singular unit. Sai took the first strike, quickly getting out his sketchbook and scribbling out a ferocious dragon creature. "SUPER BEAST INTIMIDATION DRAWING!"
The dragon leaped off the page and roared to life. It was seconds away for biting Uragi's head off...when the old man's power and struggling finally proved too much for Shikadai to handle and he broke free. Quickly, he released a blast of crimson power at Sai's creation, rendering it nothing more than a gigantic glob of ink.
"MIND BODY SWITCH TECHNIQUE!"
Ino did not allow any time for Uragi to gloat about his victory over her husband's jutsu, instead, she quickly utilized her clan's signature technique. Focusing her chakra, she attempted to transfer her mind into the body of her opponent's own...There was only one problem: Uragi was alert enough to catch her out of the corner of his eye, and thus blasted her to a far end of the battlefield before she could be allowed in.
"SUPER BEAST MENTAL PROJECTION JUTSU!"
Inojin quickly got out his own sketchbook and doodled a three-headed hydra. Bringing the beast to life, he was about to project his creation straight into the enemy's mind...But then Uragi fired two crimson blasts from either of his hands, one which knocked out Inojin, the other which turned his creation into a bloated ink mass like his father's.
Uragi, in a brief moment of rest, took the time to let out a short sigh of relief, almost as if that Yamanaka boy and his father came close to exploiting some sort of weakness...
He did not have much more time think about it as both Shino Aburame and his son leaped before him as one and cast their own jutsu together.
"PARASITIC GIANT INSECT—BUG BITE!"
"SECRET TECHNIQUE: BULLET STING BARRAGE!"
That momentary pause Uragi took gave Bagu an opening to shoot a swarm of wasps directly at him. The intensity of their sting in turn gave Shino time to fling a number of kidaichū onto his glowing red skin. These insects proceeded to burrow into his body in order to gruesomely devour his flesh as chakra.
"AAAHHH!" Uragi cried out from internal pain. He got a hold of himself again and focused the power of the gem inwards, expelling the insects from inside of his body and incinerating them.
Neji leaped in next, staring down the man that had once been his evil master with rage. "BYAKUGAN!"
The once heralded genius of the Hyūga invoked a secret taijujtsu that was thought to be known only to the main branch of the clan. He released every tenketsu from his body, then he span himself around rapidly.
Growling in annoyance at yet another of Taka's former minions, Uragi fired a blast directly at the Leaf ninja...
"EIGHT TRIGRAM REVOLVING HEAVEN!"
Neji was spinning himself so rapidly that that not only was he able to parry the attack, but somehow he was actually able to reflect the blast right back at Uragi, causing him to groan in momentary pain and fall to his knees.
Now Ōkami and Tsuki had the opening they needed. Even though the male twin was still wounded from his act of self-sacrifice, Sakura's healing of him was good enough that he was insistent that he could do this. And so, with Akamoro and Akamiri at their side, the twins proceeded to tag team on their enemy.
"BYAKUGAN!" they shouted together. "EIGHT TRIGRAMS, SIXTY-FOUR PALMS! TWIN FANG PASSING FANG!"
The Inuzuka-Hyūga twins once again teamed up with their ninken and both sets of partners spun in their coordinated, synchronized dance at speeds akin to a pack of wild animals. The attacks became more precise and focused on close proximity, the blows aimed at Uragi's chakra points and pressure points, blows that were admittedly harder to land due to the protection of the gem's aura.
But this is where the twin's usual attack differed. Rather than land a killing blow themselves, they suddenly surprised their opponent by together flinging him into the direction of their father and a shadow clone he'd made of himself.
"HUMAN BEAST MIXTURE TRANSFORMATION—THREE HEADED WOLF!"
Kiba, Akamaru and the shadow clone transformed together into a gigantic, white-furred, ferocious three-headed wolf with sharp claws and canine teeth.
"TAIL CHASING FANG FANG ROTATING FANG!"
The three-headed beast curled itself into a ball and rolled at a ferocious speed towards Uragi, who was already being flung through the air directly at him. The rotation was ultra violent, and the combined beast form landed a normally lethal blow to the demigod. The impact launched Uragi into the air and when gravity brought him back down, the beast caught him in one of its three mouths, gnawing on the old man before flinging its head to the side, sending him flying once again.
This time, the old man was flung in the direction of Hinata, who had steeled her own expression as she too activated her clan's signature ability. "BYAKUGAN!"
Hinata finished her family's combination attack with a technique she'd mastered after learning of another jutsu her first love, Naruto, had learned to perform long ago. She changed the shape of her chakra released from both of her hands into two large shrouds shaped like a pair of guardian lions.
"EIGHT TRIGRAM SIXTY FOUR PALM! GENTLE STEP TWIN LION FIST!"
Hinata let loose with an utter barrage of strikes the moment the old man had come into her vicinity. For every strike the lion heads landed all over his body, they drained his chakra network of more and more chakra. She was no fool, she knew that the gem was giving him a seemingly limitless supply, but the more she could drain before he regenerated, the easier it would, hopefully, be for Shinachiku to carry out the plan that he'd told Ino to commune to all of them.
Finally, she'd landed the last blow straight into Uragi's chest, before tossing the old man over her shoulder and face first into a puddle of water that was in the middle of the battlefield. As Uragi regained his bearings and tried to regather his power again, he noticed that the puddle of water he'd landed in was starting to rise up and take form. He'd recognized the water man's face, it was one of Uchiha's accomplices, the swordsman from the mist! He was smirking down upon him, clearly about to enjoy this.
"WATER STYLE: TATE EBOSHI!"
Suigetsu morphed his current aquatic form into that of a giant wave that resembled a demon-like fish! The fish swallowed Uragi whole in its gaping jaw, taking him into its liquid form with the intent to suffocate him...at least at first.
"SASUKE! NOW!"
"ROAR! CHIDORI!"
Sasuke leaped into the fray to stab his signature electric jutsu into his teammates liquid form. The result was a massive, deadly boost in electric power for the victim inside. Of course, this was an immeasurably painful experience, potentially life-ending in fact, for Suigetsu also, but if it could maybe help put an end to Uragi's evil, and get him some payback for how the old man had brainwashed him earlier, then it would be worth it.
Uragi would have none of it however. Finally finding his focus again, he charged up the Power Gem again and released a pulse wave of power that splattered water all over the battlefield. Suigetsu was able to reform himself and return to human form, but with scorches and burns all over and, for the moment, he was unable to move any more.
Uragi got back to his feet but was feeling woozy. He had taken so much damage from so many opponents in such a rapid succession that, even with the Power Gem fueling him, he was finally starting to become fatigued. Even worse, he now saw Jūgo standing before him. He was not in his usual form, but rather, he was transformed! Yes, he was already in the second state of his Sage Transformation!
Uchiha's lumbering teammate started laughing like a psychopath. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! You've done it now old man! You've made me angry! You're not going to like me when I'm angry!"
In his current form, Jūgo grew more of his jet booster-like appendages, which he extended and, in madness, he started gathering natural energy.
"MULTIPLE LOTUS NONSELF CONNECTED CANNONS!"
Jūgo released the natural energy he'd absorbed in a powerful chakra blast aimed straight at Uragi. The old man, exhausted though he was, unleashed the full power of the Power Gem to counter the blast. There was an intense beam struggle that further scorched the earth around them, but Uragi was able to win out and blast Jūgo away, knocking him out.
"Are all of you finished yet?!" Uragi yelled out impatiently. "It there anyone else who dares to challenge me?!"
"How about me douche bag?!"
The old man turned too see the absolute last person that he ever expected to see try to challenge him...Randamu!
"YOU?! HAHAHAHA! What hope does a clown like you have of defeating a god like me?!"
"Let me tell you something bub! I might be weird and goofy and some people might confuse me for being insane. But there's one important thing about me that neither you nor anybody else seems to understand."
"And what is that?"
"That I'm somebody's character in a piece of fanfiction that can break the Fourth Wall and carries a magic sachel! In other words...I can do whatever the FUCK I want, no matter if it makes any sense!"
To make his point, Randamu reached into said magic sachel and pulled out of nowhere his most impressive (and bizarre) weapon of all...an 85 pound handheld GE M134 Minigun with 7.65x51mm caliber bullets and a rate of fire at 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute!
"EAT LEAD BITCH!"
Randamu fired the minigun at full gallop! The bullets shot out at an incredibly rapid pace, but Randamu used his power to incinerate all of the rounds for as long as they were firing. By the time the weapon was finally out of artillery, Uragi had fired a blast at it to destroy the bizarre weapon.
"Fool! Did you really think that toy was going to do anything to me?!"
"Nah! I was just killing time until my green friend with the mop top was done powering back up."
Uragi turned his head around and was alarmed to see Rock Lee, still as furious as he was before. By the looks of it, he had been spending this whole time reopening his gates all over again. He was already glowing red, but that aura was changing color quickly!
'Damn!' the old man cursed to himself. 'He must have been opening his gates this entire time and I was too busy with these fools to even notice!'
Lee let out a roar as he was consumed with a glowing green sweat from every inch of his body that was immediately evaporating from his own heat energy to create a intense green aura.
'Burandon, my son...this is for you...' "SEVENTH GATE: GATE OF WONDER! OPEN!"
Lee placed a palm facing forward in front of his face with one hand and then tapped it with his other hand, which he'd formed into a fist, creating an intense amount of pressure. He then formed a unique hand seal resembling a primal beast of the jungle.
"DAYTIME TIGER!"
Lee launched a colossal blast of air pressure shaped like a roaring tiger straight at the old man. The air pressure condensed as it moved and focused into a single spot. When the tiger finally made contact with the enemy, it exploded on command, releasing all of the built-up air pressure in that instant!
The explosion was enormous! It could be seen from the city that overlooked the village and the quake of the earth could be felt throughout most off the Land of Fire!
Uragi threw a barrier of red chakra over himself to protect against the intensity of attack until it finally passed.
By the time it was over, Lee was huffing and puffing in utter exhaustion, his joints aching worse than he'd ever felt before. Opening the seventh gate had ripped his muscle fiber's to shreds. He could see the tired, but still very much alive Uragi Rimonō standing back up even after assault of the Daytime Tiger had overcome him.
"Burandon...forgive me..." And with that, the Green Beast of Konoha had passed out, his body in too much pain to be moved.
Uragi was huffing and panting. He could still feel the power of the gem flowing through him, he could still taste his newfound godhood! But he'd still been through so much, he was seriously beginning to doubt if he could handle Naruto, Sasuke and the others that were still left to challenge him. He needed to end this. Now!
With no more words, he charged up, digging into the full destructive power of the gem. An enormous bubble of crimson chakra began to form. It was the kind of power that could easily blow up the entire village at least ten times over!
This was it. At long last...the end had come...
"URAGI!"
The old man's eyes snapped open as he slowly looked to the source of the voice. "You!"
Standing before him, all alone, was that blonde-haired boy that had defied him so often this day and caused his so much annoyance. Shinachiku Uzumaki was glaring at him in dead serious determination, a fire burning within his soul.
"Brave of you boy," the old man said. "But look around you. I have defeated nearly ALL of your village's forces! I have laid waste to your city! And now you stand before me all alone?!"
"I'm never alone," the boy said. He looked around the battlefield; his heart was heavy. "I own them, all of them. They sacrificed everything for this chance."
"What chance?"
"The chance to finally even the playing field." Focusing his mind, Shinachiku closed his eyes. 'Now Kurama!'
A familiar shroud of red chakra enveloped the boy's form. The Nine-Tails was channeling his strength into him, at the expense of his father's strength. The boy then pulled two things out of his pocket...two glowing gems, one blue, the other green.
"WHAT?!" Uragi screamed.
"AAAAGGGGHHHHH!"
Shinachiku charged at full speed at the old man, who fired crimson blast after crimson blast at the boy, but thanks to the speed boost he was receiving from Kurama, Shinachiku dodged all of those attacks until he finally made it to the old man himself.
'Please...let this work...'
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Shinachiku poured his chakra and his imagination into the gem, while at the same time grabbing hold of Uragi. The intense power of the gem's chakra was burning his hands even as the fox was rapidly trying to heal him...
...
...
...
And then, the impossible happened. In a flash of mixed blue and green light, the red light that had colored Konoha throughout this terrible, horrible day and night had completely vanished...as had the gem's keeper.
Yes! Uragi Rimonō had disappeared from sight. All that remained in his place was the blonde-haired Genin. The son of the Seventh Hokage stood alone...but he seemed to be in a trance. His eyes were glowing, glowing with the same mix of blue and green that was seen when his enemy disappeared...the same two colors as the chakra gems that he was still holding his hand.
The battlefield became silent. Those who still had the ability to stand up all marveled at what the boy had done and the state he was in now. For all of the heroic sacrifices that they had made today, this boy alone made perhaps the greatest sacrifice of them all.
A distance away from him, those that were closest to him were on the edge of suspense, and a number of them were consumed with fear. Sakura was crying into her husband's chest as Naruto wrapped his arms around her, tears welling up in his own eyes as well.
Sasuke lowered his head, staring at the ground. Karin was right next to him with her head in her hands and tears were welling up.
Sarada was left to just stand there as tears flowed down her face. She knew what the plan was and she was in on it. But to actually see it now...It was unbearable.
Hanami was the only one who could not hold in her grief. As tears flowed readily, she screamed up to the heavens... "ONICHAAAAAANNNNNN!"
Whoa! Exhausted? I know I am. This one has to be the single longest chapter I have written for this entire story, and probably the longest chapter I will write.
You may have noticed that the title of this chapter is "The Final Battle, Part One." My original plan for this chapter was to end the final battle here...But unfortunately, this chapter had so much going on, so many characters that had already showed up to defend their village and do their part to protect their home, that I felt a writer's obligation to not leave any loose ends and give everybody something to do. The downside of that is that it made this chapter very, very long! The upside, however, was that it also made it very, very epic! I put a lot of work and a lot of research into it and I feel proud of myself for that if nothing else. I really hope all of you guys enjoyed it too.
So...about that cliffhanger. You're probably anxious for me to tell you exactly what Shinachiku's plan is and what happened to both him and Uragi at the end? Well...sorry, but I can't tell you. All I can tell you is that it was a major risk that totally changes the landscape of the final battle. Actually, I'm going to challenge you to see if you can figure it out for yourself. Think about it, he used the Mind Gem and the Space Gem together. How could you combine two magic gems, one that grants control over the mind and one that can teleport people?
For each character, I tried to give them their moment by singling out their best, most powerful jutsu. As I've said that required a lot of research, mainly on the Naruto wiki. As a writer, I can say that showing so many strong and experienced shinobi throwing their abilities at Uragi while he has the power of the gem and for Uragi to overcome them so easily really puts Uragi over. Some of you might be tempted to criticize that this makes Uragi too overpowered, but that was always a point of the chakra gems from the beginning, that they give someone who has them the power of a god.
I finally got around to bringing back Gamasenshi after I first introduced him way back in Chapter 5...This is something I'm not necessarily proud of. I introduced him back then expecting to get better use out of him, but as this story took shape that just ended up becoming one element that became harder and harder to find a place to fit in.
On the other hand, I am pleased with the not-so-subtle imagery of the three kids—Shinachiku, Sarada and Hanami—with their own summon, just like Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura before them, and then Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade before them. In case you want to know, Hebihime's name literally means "Snake Princess," since she is apparently Manda's daughter. Meanwhile, Suragutome's name means "Slug Maiden."
This was also the ultimate payoff of Randamu's magic sachel ability. Like he stated so elegantly, he's an fanfic character that can break the Fourth Wall and he has the ability to pull whatever he wants from absolutely nowhere, just like the character he is inspired by, Deadpool. The rules don't apply to him and never have, so he can and will do whatever he wants and doesn't necessarily care whether it makes any sense within his own universe...such as pulling a freaking minigun out of nowhere despite this being a universe where, otherwise, guns and other caliber weaponry don't seem to exist!
As for references, Shinachiku's line "Uragi may be stronger than of us...but he's not stronger than all of us," was taken from, of all things, the 2015 "Fantastic Four" reboot (or "Fant4stic" if you prefer). Now, like most people out there, I don't think this is a very good movie, and as a Marvel fan I dream of the when we finally get the Fantastic Four movie that we deserve! But, that line that Reed says to his team about how together they can overcome Doom does pretty much sum up the message of this battle against Uragi: that when the small and weak band together as one they can often be enough to bring down the big and powerful; the many outclass the one.
Right after that, Naruto's follow-up speech to rally his forces into battle was directly based on Aragorn's heroic speech at the Back Gate from "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." By extension, that enormous charge everybody make towards Uragi was inspired by everybody following Aragorn into battle after he says "For Frodo." Guy's comedic falling behind due to his wheelchair was similar to how in that charge, Merry and Pippin fell behind due to their own size.
Mebuki carrying a tantō with her during her Genin and Chūnin days was another callback to an unfinished comic by the immensely talented LadyGT, a comic with also inspired me to set up a past friendship between Mebuki and Kushina in "Heaven and Earth Together At Last." In that comic she actually carried a baseball bat instead of a sword, but I made a change to it since, obviously, it would be a more effective weapon in wartime battle.
Furthermore, Mebuki's quip about it being better than a frying pan was a callback to a filler episode where some of the kid's mother's use frying pan's to fend off some sumo wrestlers.
Since I already mentioned Fantastic Four, Akatsuchi telling his golem that its time to clobber Uragi was my homage to Ben Grimm, a.k.a. the Thing.
Udon pointing out that the possibility of defeating Uragi was 3,720 to 1, and Konohamaru not wanting to hear it, was based on C-3P0's warning to Han Solo about the risk of entering the asteroid field in "The Empire Strikes Back."
I never got to do much with this one idea, but it was fun to reveal that when Shinachiku was younger he had a phobia. Ophidiophobia is defined as "fear of snakes." Much like some of the filler episodes gave Sakura a (temporary) fear of frogs, I gave Shinachiku a fear of snakes, a very common fear among people. Also, given the treasure hunt nature of this story, one could maybe take this as an homage to Indiana Jones...or not.
Jūgo, for the second time in this story, used the famous "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" quote from "The Incredible Hulk."
I think that's all I've got for this time. I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope I still have you all hooked for the next one.
Until next time, see ya!
