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"Blah"- Normal Speech
'Blah'- Thoughts
"BLAH"- Jutsu
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Naruto/Final Fantasy VII
Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 34
Fourth Shinobi War Arc IV

Across the lands of Oni no Kuni battle was raging as the forces of the allied Ninja nations clash with the clone/Zetsu army of Orochimaru and Madara Uchiha, blissfully unaware of the demise of the former.

In one area of the battlefield Neji Hyuuga and Sasuke Uchiha found themselves locked into a heated Taijutsu battle. These two men, both of them members of the two most prestigious Clans in Konoha and both considered to be genius's in their own right.

Neji's Juuken style with its fluid like movements and focus on defence combined with his clans Byakugan whist Sasuke preferred the use of the Gouken style, that he'd copied from Kakashi who in turn had copied it from Rock Lee, with its focus on power based strikes to inflict as much damage as possible combined with the capabilities of his Sharingan to read an opponent's movements to make sure that the long haired Hyuuga could not get a clear hit on his Tenketsu points.

The pair had just exchanged another round of blows that had largely failed to connect on the other when a shadow fell over the pair from above, noticing this the two Ninja looked up and saw Sakura come hurtling towards them, her eyes filled with fire and her fist cocked.

Separating both Neji and Sasuke moved out of the way as Sakura drove her fist into the dirt, the force causing a shock wave to pass over the area as the ground cracked open and formed several deep looking crevasses.

Looking up Sakura glared at Sasuke, as a girl she had looked at him with admiration, proving herself worthy of his heart had been her goal in life. Later after the two of them had been placed on the same team together she'd come to know him in way she'd never believed possible, and through that she'd come to realize that Sasuke Uchiha was far from whom she'd believed him to be. And despite that her heart had never wavered, she had been more determined than ever to stand at his side, to be the light that could save him from the darkness that haunted him.

All that was gone now. With the death of Lee all could see now was a man with no heart, here was a man who had thrown away every chance offered to him to turn back from becoming the very monster that he seemed afraid of, all of it for power.

Her muscles tensed up as she forced Chakra into her legs and charged at her former teammate. Sharingan or no Sharingan all she needed was one good hit and she could crush his bones into dust with a single punch.

Seeing the pink haired Konouchi come charging towards him Sasuke side stepped out of the way of his former teammates' fist as she swung at him. Unperturbed Sakura continued to lash out at the dark haired Uchiha not allowing him the chance to get more than a short distance away from her or give him time to gather chakra for a Katon Jutsu or his Chidori.

Sasuke meanwhile was not amused by the pink haired former teammates tenacity, unlike when they had fought briefly back in the Konoha invasion it was clear that she'd been conflicted however there was no trace of any doubt in her any more. In that moment Sakura was out for his blood.

Gripping the handle of his Kusanagi he slashed at Sakura, whatever feeling of comradeship he'd ever felt for her having been buried long ago when he left Konoha. Sakura however had anticipated, for all his various Jutsu he access to Sasuke could be rather predictable at times, flood her hand with Chakra she caught the blade and held on to it with an iron grip.

Seeing her chance Sakura lashed out at Sasuke with her foot, catching him in the chest the force being enough to send the Uchiha flying several meters.

Watching as this exchange play out Neji took the opportunity to channel his Raiton Chakra through his body and into his hands, his appendages now crackling with electricity he quickly moved into reengage Sasuke who was at that moment picking himself off of the ground, his breathing laboured from Sakura's kick.

Sasuke meanwhile wheezed as he picked himself up off of the ground, judging by the pain in his chest it felt like several of his ribs were either broken or at least cracked. Foolishly he had not considered Sakura to a threat to him, it was quite obvious now that that had been a serious error on his part. He would not going to make that mistake again.

Making sure that he was steady on his feet he turned his attention back to Sakua and Neji, noticing that the Hyuuga's hands were radiated Raiton Chakra. What was this; was he really trying to replicate his Chidori with some cheap imitation? Seems he would to educate his opponent that this attempt to copy his technique was no substitute for the genuine article.

"What is this Hyuuga, are you so desperate to catch up to that resort to blatantly copying my technique. Too bad for you that all you can manage is a poor imitation, easily eclipsed by the real thing." He told his long haired opponent, gathering chakra into his hand as he did so. "RAITON: CHIDORI! One Thousand Birds!"

"Your one to talk about imitating Uchiha, proving that your hypocrisy is matched by your arrogance. Unlike you who resorts to stealing Jutsu and techniques like a common thief, this is the result of countless hours to not just master my clans Taijutsu style but to evolve it." Neji retorted; a sly grin then spread across his lips. "As for my technique being a mere imitation of yours, there is no written law stating that an imitation cannot surpass the original. So come on Sasuke, let us see which of our technique is truly superior."

Hearing this Sasuke couldn't help but scoff. "You've been hanging around Naruto and Lee too long, their stupidity has clearly rubbed off on you." He said mirthlessly.

"Perhaps it has. Maybe seeing their efforts to improve themselves has inspired me to do the same." Neji replied. He then glanced over at Sakura who was currently cracking her knuckles as she readied herself to engage her former teammate again. "I don't suppose ordering you to back down will do any good?"

"No way, this bastard's mine." Sakura retorted.

"Yare yare…" Neji shook his head before turning his attention back to Sasuke, the lone Uchiha crouching low to the ground, no doubt preparing to charge him. "Very well. Hold back, don't engage him until I give you the order to do so."

Sasuke meanwhile, just as Neji had estimated, was preparing to reengage the pair of Konoha ninja. "I will give you one last chance Hyuuga, where is Naruto?" He demanded. "I will not ask you again."

"Forget Naruto, you're dealing with us." Sakura retorted, her fist giving off a slight glow as he focused her chakra through it. "Even if either of us knew where he was you really think we'd let you get anywhere near him."

Sasuke shifted his steely gaze over to the rose haired Konouchi. "Then neither of you are of no use to me." He said in a stern tone. "If you won't tell me then I'll just have to slaughter each and every one of your ranks till I find someone who will tell me."

"Like we'd ever let that happen." Sakura retorted. "Neji let's put him down here and now, no way am I letting him harm any more of our friends."

His hand crackling with lighting Sasuke charged at the pair. At the same time Neji stepped in front of Sakura, as their opponent drew closer he flooded his Tenketsu with his Chakra along with the Raiton causing it to radiate off of him like an aura before he began to spin on his heel.

"HAKKESHOŌ KAITEN! Eight Trigram Palms Revolving Heaven!" Spinning faster and faster a dome of crackling chakra formed around the Hyuuga, seconds later Sasuke's Chidori covered hand collided with the barrier.

Both men focused all of their Chakra into their respective Technique's, Neji determined on repelling Sasuke who was purely focused on trying to on break through the Hyuuga's barrier.

As the two men focused on each other Sakura was observing them, a frown on her face and her fists clenching and unclenching as she waited for either for Neji to give her the order or watch for any opening that would allow her use her strength at maximum efficacy to engage their dark haired opponent.

Despite what it might have looked like given her outburst she wasn't a fool; she knew that Sasuke was not an opponent that could be taken lightly. Given all that he'd reported to have done since his defection he was both powerful and dangerous. Even with her training under Tsunade combined with the ability of the Hyuuga genius was not a guarantee that they could even match for him.

No matter how much she wanted the responsibility of defeating Sasuke to be hers and hers alone, the truth was that in reality there was only one person that could match Sasuke and have a chance of defeating him. However that man was nowhere to be found.

Regardless of this, even if she could not defeat Sasuke herself she would not allow herself to falter. After years of confusion she finally knew what her emotions for the man before her were, the rose colored filter through which she'd seen him through had been ripped away and the cold hard truth was that remained.

And in light of this revelation she would not allow him to harm her friends or anyone else.

Narrowing her gaze she focused on the two men in front of her both of whom looked to be focused purely on each other, everything else might as well not exist. If that was the case then she had her opening. Once more channeling her Chakra into her legs she leapt up into the air sailing up and over both Sasuke and Neji and began to descend behind the dark haired Nukenin, cocking a fist as she did so.

Not to be caught unawares Sasuke noticed the rosette's shadow as she fell towards the ground, before she could aim her fist at the back of his head he utilized Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to vanish from view, reappearing a short distance away as Sakura twisted in mid-air and landed on her feet.

A new target in front of him Sasuke quickly shifted his objective, aiming his Chidori at Sakura's chest. To his surprise Sakura grabbed a hold of his wrist, stopping his crackling hand mere inches away from her chest. Sakura glared at Sasuke, doing her best not to wince from the electricity singing her skin.

Gritting her teeth Sakura leaned back and hoisted Sasuke off of his feet and swung him around before threw him towards Neji, whist he didn't so it on his feet Neji was somewhat impressed by his pink haired squad mates intuition.

"SHŌTEI! Palm Bottom!" his crackling outstretched palm made contact with Sasuke's back, causing him to let out a gasp of pain before he moments vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Damnit, a Kage Bunshin. He must have swapped into it after using Shunshin to avoid Sakura's attack." Neji muttered, he then looked over at Sakura and barked an order. "Haruno, stay alert."

Above clouds gathered causing the sky began to grow dark, the sound of thunder could be heard coming from above. Looking up both Sakura and Neji saw a mass of electrical energy taking a bestial form before in a flash as well as a roar from the electric beast came crashing down towards.

"NINPU: SUKORUKROSURASSHU! Squall Cross Slash!" From out of seemingly nowhere a pair of energy beams erupted, one was comprised of both Fuuton and Suiton chakra that formed an x shape pattern whilst the other was a wave of energy, both of them colliding with the beast made of electrical energy and destroyed it before it could reach the pair of Konoha ninja.

Both Sakura and Neji were left stunned by this. Scanning the area two pair caught sight of their saviours and to their surprise and relief found Naruto and Cloud a short distance away, both of whom were approaching them.

"N…Naruto…" Sakura exclaimed.

"Are you two alright?" Cloud asked as he and Naruto finally reached the pair.

"Thanks to your actions, we are unharmed Strife-san." Neji replied. "I'd even say your arrival is most fortunate."

"The teme giving you grief?" Naruto said lazily as he approached, resting the blade of one of his swords against his shoulder. "Oi Sasuke, quit hiding like a little bitch and get your stupid haircut out here."

Moments later a point of the earth began to shimmer like water and from it emerged Sasuke, a sour look on his face as he glared daggers at the blond ninja. "Yo, been a while Sasuke." Naruto greeted the dark haired man.

Sasuke didn't respond, choosing instead to continued glaring at Naruto who didn't seem phased in the slightest. "No come back huh, I guess that's fine." He said offhandedly. "I guess talking isn't exactly the thing you want from me is it. What do you Sasuke, this thing between you and me, what's say we settle it here and now?"

Naruto then glanced over his shoulder at Neji. "That OK with you Neji, me taking Sasuke off of your hand?" he asked.

Neji sighed. "Even if I said no I doubt it would make any difference." He said solemnly.

"Naruto." Sakura spoke up, "Are you sure about this? Sasuke's isn't someone to take lightly. He murdered Lee."

The blond Uzumaki looked over at her. "Concerned about me Sakura-chan, I'm touched. Don't worry, I can take him." He assured her. "Besides I think we all know that this is unavoidable."

"Are you sure about this?" Cloud asked. "I can back you up if you want."

"Nah, I got this." Naruto told him. "If you wanna do something I bet there are more Uchiha clones that need to be dealt with. Might be giving some of the others some trouble."

"Uchiha clones?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, snake face clones Sasuke here to make more soldiers." Naruto told the long haired Hyuuga. "Cloud and me ran into a bunch of them on the way over here, buncha ugly bastards."

"I see, that is disconcerting." Neji said, placing a hand on his chin.

"Are you done talking?" Sasuke said impatiently. "You challenge me and then stall. Are you serious about fighting me or are you all talk?"

"Want me all toy yourself huh, pretty clingy of ya Sasuke." Naruto scoffed. "Don't worry, you got my attention. There's an abandoned settlement about a mile east from here, it'll just be the two of us."

Sasuke let out an 'hmph' in response. Turning away he began to run from the small group, his speed kicking up a trail of dust behind him. Sheathing his weapons Naruto turned to give Sakura and Neji a salute before he took off after his one-time teammate and friend.

"Sakura." Neji said, his voice snapping he pink haired Konouchi out of her stupefied state. "Go after them."

"Are you sure?" The pink haired woman asked. "Won't you need me?"

"I'm sure we can function just as well despite your absence." Neji told her. "Besides if this is their final confrontation then someone should be there to bear witness."

Sakura took a moment to absorb the long haired man's words before nodding her head and took off after her teammates.

"What about me Neji?" Cloud asked. "You might need my help if those new clone soldiers turn up."

"I appreciate the offer Strife-san, however it's not required." Neji replied. "I'm sure we can deal with them if we run into them. Like Uzumaki said you should go, the others however might require your aid. If nothing else your presence should be a boost to morale."

With that the two of them parted ways.


Elsewhere the sounds of crashes and cracking filled the air along with several large clouds of dust. Gritting her teeth Tsuande glared at her clone, doing her best to fight down her disgust of the pale skinned creation as she avoided another of its chakra enhanced punches.

'Damn you Orochimaru, this thing its almost perfect replica of me…' She inwardly growled as she raised her arms up to block a kick from her opponent, wincing at the impact.

As she glared at this twisted image of herself an odd notion flashed through her brain, recalling that Orochimaru had used Edo Tenshi to revive their Sensei back and now it he'd gone ahead and created a version of herself in his own twisted image.

The only thing missing was some creation of his based on Jiraiya.

If it weren't for her current situation the blond woman would have perhaps shone so sign of assessment at the idea that her wayward teammate attempting to recreate their old team.

However now was not the time to entertain such ideas, there would be time for that later assuming that she survived. Raising her hand up Tsunade caught her counterpart by the wrist and pulled it in close to her, bringing her knee up and made contact with the pale copy's gut causing to let out a grunt of pain.

Not done yet Tsunade wrapped an arm around her clones neck, placing its head under her armpit, as she lifted her opponent up off her feet before leaning backwards till she felt her feet leave the ground and she began to fall towards the ground, gravity carrying both of them to the dirt below where they both impacted with a large thud.

Not hesitating for a second Tsunade quickly straddled her clones chest and began wailing on it, he fist slamming into its face again and again until the clone reached up and caught her fists in one of its hands whilst grabbing her wrist in the other.

With the former Kage's assault on its face halted the clone then kicked her in the back of the head, for a moment discombobulating her, before swinging both of their arms back and forth building momentum before throwing the woman off of itself.

Shaking her head Tsunade picked herself up off the ground, glaring at her clone who had also gotten up and was walking towards her. Hot feeling of embarrassment boiled inside her at getting caught out like that, it just mean that she'd have to make sure not to leaver herself open like that again.

"That was a cheap shot, it won't work again." The former Kage told her opponent as she got back to her feet. The pale skinned creation said nothing, instead letting out a low moan before lunging at Tsunade, lashing out at her with another flurry of blows once more putting the female Sannien on the defensive.

Gritting her teeth Tsunade did her best to stay ahead of her counterparts assault, knowing that nothing good could come from being hit by even one of punch enhanced by her famous monstrous strength that her old teammate that replicated in his creation.

Leaning her head out of the way as the clone aimed another punch at her, the pale fist narrowly avoiding her face, Tsunade slapped it away from her before rammed her hand into the clones chest, knocking it backwards a fair distance.

With an opening now available Tsunade didn't hesitate on capitalizing on in, unleashing a flurry of blows of her own, striking the clone in the face and chest several times before one last blow to the face sent it sprawling to the ground.

On the ground the pale skinned clone coughed several times, specks of blood mixed in with her saliva, as she glared at Tsuande as she walked towards the fallen clone, cracking her knuckles as she did so.

A sly grin spread across the clones mouth, one that Tsunade didn't like the look of, before moments later she parted the and a long tongue, not unlike her creator, shot out of its mouth and launched itself at Tsuande, wrapping itself around her upper torso and neck.

"Gahhh…" Tsunade grunted as she struggled against the slimy appendage as it tightened its grip around her throat, a look of disgust on her face as it began to try pulling her in closer to itself.

A shadow fell over the pair, growing larger and larger with each passing second. Letting out a frustrated sounding growl the Tsunade clone released its hold on Tsunade and retracted its tongue before retreating a short distance. Now free Tsunade did the same.

Seconds later something large and heavy struck the earth, kicking up a cloud of dust large enough to obscure it from view, after a few seconds it began to settle to reveal a large orange skinned toad atop which stood the grinning form of Jiraiya in a kabuki pose.

"Rejoice one and all, the great Jiraiya has arrived." He announced, whipping his head around causing his long hair wave around like a cloak.

"Jiraiya…" Tsuande croaked, rubbing her throat. "What took you so long you lazy bum? If you're here I take it you managed to find Naruto and Cloud then?"

"In deed I was." Jiraiya replied. "We traveled here together but split up once we arrived, if I have to guess Cloud's probably helping out where he can and Naruto's gone off to deal with Sasuke."

"Makes sense to me." Tsuande sighed. "Those two, I don't think Kami himself can stop those two from fighting."

Looking away from his female teammate Jiraiya turned his attention the opponent Tsuande had been fighting, curious at what enemy could be giving the Leaf's Namekuji Hime a hard time. Looking back him was the pale skinned copy of Tsunade its yellow eyes glaring at him coldly.

"On my, I've had dreams similar to this scenario. Me and two copies of you." Jiraiya said. "I gotta say this might be my least favorite version of it."

"Pervert." Tsunade muttered. "This thing, it's a creation of our former teammate, he's also made versions of Kakashi and the other Kage's, combining our DNA with his."

"Is that right, looks like I got here at the right time." The Toad Sannien said as he jumped off the back of the large amphibian, the creature vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Don't be getting cocky, this thing is a difficult opponent." Tsunade told him as she walked up beside him. "It doesn't just look like me, it's got access to my chakra enhanced strength as well as a few of his abilities thrown in as well."

"Hmmm, well isn't that interesting." The white haired Sannien said, rubbing his chin. "If I were a jealous man, I'd think that the pale skinned bastard had a thing for you."

"Will you focus, this isn't the time for jokes." Tsunade said sternly, she then shifted her attention back to her clone, her pale skinned doppelganger glaring at them with venom in its yellow eyes.

Forming a ram seal she blond haired Konouchi focused on the diamond seal of her forehead. "INFŪIN: KAI! Yin Seal Release!" The Byakugō no In began to give off a glow and seconds a series of lines stretched out from it, taking the form of several patterns that stretched out across her face and down her body.

Feeling a rush of power coursing through her like a mighty current, Tsunade launched herself at her clone, her speed far greater than it had been before and delivered a punch at the clone, one that it was barely able to avoid, her fist collided with the ground which cracked and splintering like cheap glass.

"Going all out I see, how cruel of you." Jiraiya chuckled to himself. "Suppose I should get in there, don't want to get shown up now do I…"

Taking a deep breath Jiraiya closed him eyes as he began to, soon he felt a warm sensation wash over him his senses felt sharper than before, able to feel the vibrations in the ground each time Tsunade's feet made contacts as well as hear each individual breath and heartbeat coming from both her and her clone.

Opening his eyes he revealed his iris's had turned yellow and that his pupils were now rectangular in shape. Whilst full mastery of Senjutsu still eluded him the last fifteen years of training had allowed him a limited form of the Sennin Mōdo, and whilst it was a far cry from the full power that his imperfect form possessed this it allowed him the ability to channel Shizen Enerugī but still retained freedom of movement.

With this new power coursing through him the white haired Konoha native dashed to catch up with his teammate and fellow Sannien.

Meanwhile Tsunade was once more engaged with her clone, her pale skinned duplicate having a hard time keeping up with her as she unleashed a series of mighty blows at the clone as it tried with to block or avoid the Godaime Hokage's powerful fists.

Letting out a grunt Tsunade's fists connected with the clones face, knocking it off of its feet and sending into sailing through the air when suddenly Jiraiya appeared above it. Jiraiya flashed the pale skinned mirror image of his female teammate a grin before aiming a Shizen Enerugī enhanced punch at its chest, slamming it into the ground.

Before it could even hit the ground Jiraiya appeared on the ground below, utilizing Kawazu Kumite he planted his foot in the clones back, causing it to flip forward and fall face first into the ground.

Within seconds Tsunade appeared, grabbing her clone by the collar and wrenching it up off the ground. Taking a second she glaring at the creation, her face twisted into a look of fury that would make any rational being's blood run cold, before unleashing more blows, each punch fuelled by her anger and frustration.

She hammered away at the clone, not wanting to give it even the slightest hint of any opening chance a moment to recover or to respond. Its face bleeding and bruised glared at Tsunade, as she cocked her fist it spat in her face hitting her in the eye.

The sudden sting from her eyes caused Tsunade to hesitate for a moment, giving the clone all it needed. Gripping Tsunade's arm the clone swung its feet up and planted them on the female Sannien's face and began to stretch out, trying to break her grip.

Recovering from having the clone spit in her eye, Tsunade did her best to keep her grip on the creation whilst ate the same time trying to ignore the pain caused by the pair of feet pressing against her face along with her neck and shoulder as her head was being pushed back and her arm felt as if it were to pop out of its socket at any moment.

Reaching up with her free hand the blond woman grabbed the clone by the ankle, squeezing at it with an iron grip, in an attempt to get the clone to release her leading to a, both of them trying to get the other to release their hold on the other.

For several minutes the two continued to struggle against the others grip, neither of them stubbornly refusing to give in. Realizing that her current situation was getting her nowhere, Tsunade swung her clone around in an attempt to shake it off of her.

Eventually the clone pushed itself off of the former Hokage's face along with releasing its grip on her wrist, the fabric of its collar tearing as it fly through the air.

"RANJISHIGAMI NO JUTSU! Wild Lion's Mane Technique!" Off to the side Jiraiya's hair began to grow rapidly, growing longer and longer. Several tendrils then shot out towards the Tsunade clone, wrapping themselves around its limbs and waist before, with a single jerk of the Toad Sennien's necks, was sent crashing into the ground.

"Tsunade, lets end this quickly." The white haired man called out to his teammate before his cheeks began to bulge as oil filled mouth. "KATON: DAI ENDAN! Big Fire Bullet!" The next moment the dark liquid was expelled from his mouth, the moment it touched the air it erupted into flames before engulfing the bound clone.

The clone cried out in agony as it felt the flames burning away its flesh, trashing about against its restraints, desperate to get away but the tendrils iron like grip made it impossible.

As it continued vainly against its bonds a shadow fell over the burning clone and looking upwards Tsunade could be seen descending from above, her right leg held straight up. "TSŪTENKYAKU! Heavenly Foot of Pain!"

As she drew closer, Tsunade swung her leg downwards, her Chakra infused foot made contact with the clone's chest, its face twisted into a look of agony as it felt its ribs crack before breaking completely and crushing its chest.

Unable to resist any longer the clone could only lie there as the flames consumed it fully, the air filled with the smell of burning flesh.

Their opponent defeated, Jiraiya cancelled his Jutsu, his hair releasing its hold on the burning corpse, quickly patting out the flames before they could consume his head. Smell of burning hair joining the smell of cooking meat.

Shaking her head Tsuande approached Jiraiya as he made hooting sounds as he patted his hair to put the flames out. "You old fool…" She muttered as drew in closer.

Certain that his hair was unlikely to burn away Jiraiya let out a sigh, the smell of burnt hair still filling the air. "I'm getting too old for this…" He said to himself, the toad like eyes of Limited Sage Mode vanishing and his natural eyes returning.

"I'll say. I didn't need your help back there you, I could have dealt with that thing by myself." Tsunade. "But I'm glad you showed up when you did."

"But of course." Jiraiya replied, giving her a mock bow. "There's nothing I would not do for a beautiful maiden such as yourself."

Tsuande rolled her eyes at this. "Idiot." She replied. "We can't hang around, Orochimaru didn't just me he cloned. There are also copies of Kakashi and the other Kage."

"Yes, you did mention that." Jiraiya said, his tone becoming a lot more serious. "Then we better not waste any time then."

With that the two remaining Sannien took off. "Jiraiya," Tsunade spoke up as the pair made their way across the landscape of Oni. "Naruto and Cloud, the two of them left Konoha to prepare themselves to fight this battle. Did it work, are they strong enough to defeat the likes of Orochimaru and Sasuke?"

Jiraiya didn't reply at first, a frown on his face as he kept his gaze fixed ahead of him. "We can only hope so."


Back in the garden connected to the building that had served at Orochimaru's base of operations the sounds of battle rang out, small explosions rocked the area and his sounds of steel cutting the air could be heard.

Raising his rapier Genesis blocked the blades of two of the clone soldiers that were engaging him whilst the others held back, waiting for even a slightest hint of an opening, the slightest chance for them to bring down the target that they'd been ordered to deal with.

With a flick of his wrist the auburn haired swordsman knocked the blades of his two assailants aside before running hand across the blade, causing it to glow with red energy, he slashed the glowing weapon horizontally, catching both clones before him and cut them down before spinning round and doing the same to another clone that had been trying to sneak up behind him.

These opponents defeated Spreading his wing Genesis took to the air, as he did so the remaining Uchiha soldiers began flipping through hand seals. "KATON: GŌKAKYŪ NO JUTSU! Great Fireball Technique!" From their mouths the clones released a stream up at their target who looked down at them.

Using ability of flight the former SOLDIER was able to avoid the multiple streams of flames that were aimed at him before spreading his wing wide Genesis then unleashed a barrage of feathers at them, knocking them off of their feet.

With his assailants down Genesis created several glowing sigils on the ground that moments later exploded, taking out the twisted looking clones of Sasuke.

All the while Madara had looked on from within the protection of Susanno, watching in amusement as Genesis fought off the minions that he had set on him. "Yes, yes. Bravo, bravo." He said as he gave mock applause to Genesis's efforts.

His feet once more touching the earth Genesis narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha patriarch, the man was proving to be troublesome to deal with. Despite all his power and ability from being SOLDIER 1st class he seemed to have no way of penetrating the mass shaped like a skeleton that the long haired man was using as a shield.

His only choice was to find a way to get him to step out from it, a task that was easier said than done. After all only a fool would abandon an impregnable shield and leave themselves exposed to the enemy.

"Yet you're the one hiding behind your shield." Genesis reported. "Do you have so little faith in your own skills that you resort to such a cowardly tactic?"

Madara narrowed his eyes at the auburn haired swordsman. "You think me a fool don't you," He said. "You honestly believe that I am so insecure in my abilities that I would fall for such a childish taunt."

"I've yet to hear you say anything to dispute my claim." Genesis said, pointing his sword at his long haired opponent. "I ask again, will you answer my challenge or will you continue to hide."

Madara stayed silent, his face set into a deep frown. He shouldn't do this, after all why should he? For all this man's bravado the mere fact he had been reduced to throwing out childish barbs betrayed his desperation.

"This really is beneath me, however I assume your childishness will not cease until you've gotten what you want." He said to the auburn haired swordsman. "Very well, I shall humor you. But know this, before you die you will very regret this course of actions."

Taking hold of the hem of his robes the dark haired and in one swift motion tossed it aside revealing himself to be clad in simple dark grey pants whilst his upper body was clad only in crimson covered chest and shoulder armor that looked to be made up of numerous metal plates. An Uchiha fan symbol could be seen decorating his bare forearms that began to glow and seconds later two clouds of smoke erupted out of thin air that quickly vanished to reveal a large orangish/brown Gunbai appearing in one Madara's hands and Kama in the other.

Chuckling Genesis responded by assuming his stance, a small gust of wind kicking up rustling his hair and the feathers of his wings.

My soul, corrupted by vengeance

Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey

In my own salvation

And your eternal slumber

Raising the large Gunbai fan aloft a strong wind kicked up that wound itself around the paper weapon. "FŪTON: KAZEKIRI NO JUTSU! Wind Cutter Technique!" Madara said before swinging the fan creating a large burst of wind aimed at Genesis.

Seeing this the former SOLDER once more took to the air, allowing him to avoid the attack by his long haired opponent. Madara however did not seem the slightest fazed by this.

"Tsk, running away are we. We can't have that, not after all your effort to make this happen." He said as he channeled more chakra into his Gunbai. "FŪTON: GŌFŪ BŌHEKI! Great Wind Violent Wall!"

With another swing of his fan a large vortex appeared, surrounding Genesis trapping him inside. Now trapped Genesis searched his surroundings, looking for any possible way to escape the vortex that surrounded him.

So focused on escape that he almost didn't notice the sound thunder quickly followed by a flash as several lightning bolt emerged from the swirling mass of wind and debris and streaked their way towards him.

Running his hand along the blade of his weapon Genesis's sword began to glow with arcane energy and then with several swings of his weapon it that was then launched at the lightning bolts that were streaking towards him and cut them off.

"FŪTON: KAZEKIRI NO JUTSU! Wind Cutter Technique!" Hearing a voice coming from above Genesis looked up to see Madara hovering above, the Uchiha patriarch channelling more Futon chakra along one of his weapons, this time along the blade of his Kama.

Like Genesis had done moments before moments ago Madara swung the weapon launching, several wind embed slices towards his auburn haired opponent. Seeing this Genesis gathered fiery energy in the palm of his hand, it growing brighter and more intense by the second that he then fired in response. Both attacks colliding with one another creating several burst of energy.

Descending Madara swung his Kama at Genesis, the red clad swordsman blocking the strike with his own weapon resulting in a shower of spark as both weapons collided with each other, both men glaring at each of for several seconds before repeating the action a few more times.

"FŪTON: DAITOPPA! Great Breakthrough Technique!" Channeling more Futon chakra into his large Gunbai Madara unleashed another large burst of wind, the force of which was strong enough to knock Genesis backwards. With some distance between them Madara quickly moved onto his next move.

"KATON: GŌRYŪKA NO JUTSU! Great Dragon Fire Technique!" taking a deep breath Madara unleashed a large burst of flames from his mouth, the large mass of flames shaped like the head of a Dragon aiming it at Genesis.

Seeing this new threat coming his way Genesis swung his glowing weapon once more, the energy slicing the air as it raced towards the mass of flames, cleaving it in half. Genesis then charged towards Madara who in turn fell towards him.

Once again their weapons connected with each other followed by another exchange of strikes, the air around them once again filled by the sounds of metal striking as the two men tried to overpower the other.

Locked together Genesis gathered more burning energy in the palm of his hand that he launched as several darts that sailed past Madara's head before curving back around and towards the long haired Uchiha.

Quickly catching onto his opponent's plan Madara turned to look at the glowing darts, his Kama still blocking the man's sword, and swung his Gunbai, the resulting burst of wind knocking the darts off course and sent them flying off in several directions.

That taken care of Madara shifted his attention back to Genesis to find the man grinning at him, momentarily taken aback by this it didn't take long for Madara to realize that his opponent was up to something however he wasn't given much time to dwell on this as the former SOLDIER suddenly vanished from sight.

Muttering a curse Madara's Sharingan darted to and fro, Genesis was going to try something to turn things in his favor. This could not be allowed, a man of his power and experience would not give this upstart even the smallest victory, no matter how minuscule it might be.

From out of thin air Genesis reappeared behind Madara, his glowing blade at the ready to strike the long haired man down. Quickly turning round Madara looked at Genesis, a fraction of a second slower then he'd care to admit to and as such didn't have enough time to use his Kama to block the man's sword.

With no other option Madara instead chose to use his Gunbai to protect himself, allowing the auburn haired swordsman's glowing blade to slice through the large fan, giving himself enough time to shift his potion to swing at Genesis with his Kama only to fall short as Genesis managed to duck out of the way.

Using Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) Madara vanish and reappeared once again on the ground, the vortex of wind surrounding the pair dying away moments later, whist Genesis hung there in the air.

"KATON: BAKUFŪ RANBU NO JUTSU! Blast Wave Wild Dance!" Taking a deep breath Madara expelled another gout of flames from his mouth that then began to expand and take the form of a spiral, creating a second vortex, this time one made of flames, with the intent of trapping Genesis inside and this time with one chance of escape from a painful and fiery death.

At the same moment Genesis created several glowing sigils on the ground, the glowing symbols surrounding Madara. Just as the swirling mass of flames was about the engulf him the sigils detonated, throwing the Uchiha patriarch off guard and forcing him to drop his jutsu as he was knocked to the ground.

Seeing this Genesis dived towards Madara who was picking himself up off the ground and drove his sword through the man's chest only for his body to dissolve into a pile of mud moments later. Shocked by this Genesis flicked the dirt off his weapon as he turned around and saw Madara rising up from a rippling spot on the ground.

"You are proving to be very irritating." The longhaired Uchiha said sternly, glaring at Genesis. "You are outclassed boy, compared to me you are nothing but an ant trying to challenge a giant."

"A bold claim, especially since you've yet to defeat me." Genesis retorted. "And as for being outclassed, I must disagree as it is I who has been blessed by the Goddess. I will not rest until what was borrowed from the planet and you and yours refused to return."

"This nonsense again?" Madara scoffed. "What is it that I have supposedly stolen?"

"Why those eyes of course." Genesis replied. "Long ago Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the one you refer to as the Rikudō Sennin, sought out the blessings of the Goddess in order to defeat the Juubi and it was she who gifted him with the Rinnegan with the intent that it would return to her in time. But instead that power was horded and it was spread, mutating and becoming the various Kekkai Genkai that exist in the world today."

"Ridicules, again you spew nonsense. Even if it were true why would I return a power like Sharingan, it is the power of the Uchiha clan and with it I shall remake this world as I see fit." Madara said. "Enough talking, it's time to bring this pointless skirmish to a close."

"I couldn't agree more." Genesis said before lunging at Madara who in turn used his Kama to block the swordsman's attack.

Another series of blows was exchanged, both men slicing at the other only to have their weapon block by that wielded by their opponent and quickly finding themselves once again straining against the other.

Having blocked another of Genesis's strikes Madara closed his right eye. "MANGEKYOU SHARINGAN: AMATERASU! Heavenly Illumination!" Opening it again the Uchiha unleashed another burst of hellish black flames at Genesis who quickly disengaged and retreated to avoid them.

'Gotcha…' "DOTON: GANCHŪSŌ! Rock Pillar Spears!" The ground beneath Genesis's feet began to shake and several large pillars suddenly jutted out of the earth, surrounding him and cutting off his movement. Just as he was about to fly upwards to escape when the ground began to shake again and another pillar of rock rose up, catching him in the chest and knocking him into one of the other rock pillars.

"FŪTON: SHINKŪHA! Vacuum Wave!" The sound of Madara's voice was heard and moments later another sudden blast of wind kicked up, one strong enough to shatter the rock pillars that surrounded Genesis and sent him flying several meters, at the same time being pelted by the debris from the stone pillars, before slamming into the ground.

Genesis skidded across the ground a short distance before coming to a halt, his body wracked by pain the auburn haired man as he tried to force himself back up when he shadow fell over him followed by a sharp pain in his chest as he was kicked onto his back.

Looking down at the fallen man Madara stepped down on Genesis's chest and pointed his Kama at his face, whilst beating this man to a pulp could prove to be somewhat amusing he had other matters that required his attention. An army composed of the combined forces of the five major ninja villages was a short distance away locked in combat with the forces of those he'd been forces to ally with.

As such it was best to bring this matter to a close.


Nearby Cloud had just finished dealing with a pair of Sasuke clones, since parting ways with Naruto he'd run into several of them engaged with groups of people most of whom he didn't recognize but he assumed were part of the allied army that Jiraiya had informed him of. After several encounters he'd reached an old building, given the number of guards he guessed that this might be where Orochimaru and his allies were staying.

From the various encounters he'd had with the clones troops it was quite clear to him that this batch were not on the level of the ones he'd fought during the assault on Konoha or at the storage facility, that possibly meant that they were unrefined but had been rushed into service to deal with the allied army. Given this it appeared they were relying on overwhelming opponents with sheer numbers, something that they appeared to be quite effective in doing.

Making his way inside Cloud began searching the building, encountering serval more guards along the way, till he came upon an open door that lead to a large open space, a garden maybe, the sounds of fighting could be heard coming from somewhere inside.

Exiting the building Cloud readied his weapon as he followed the sounds and soon enough came across the spot that was being occupied by two men, both of them surrounded by devastation and debris, one of them standing over the other with his foot on his chest.

Cloud's arrival did not go unnoticed. Just as Madara was about was about to bring his weapon down and deliver the final blow Cloud's presence caught his attention. Turning away from the fallen Genesis Madara was in time to see a new figure enter the seen, his arrival causing his eyes to widen and his breath to catch in his throat.

A Jinchuriki, one of the last that still existed and the container of the most powerful. When the destruction of the Gedō Mazō and with it the first eight Bijuu, all his plans and schemes that he'd been carefully concocting had seemingly gone up in smoke.

All had seemed lost, decades wasted and forcing him to ally himself with the likes of Orochimaru. But now, this one coincidence could drastically change his fortunes. After all even a single Bijuu was a powerful weapon and having one under his command should be more than sufficient to bring his enemies to their knees.

It was unfortunate that the long haired Uchiha would not live to enact his newly formed scheme.

Still pinned to the ground Genesis quickly noticed that Madara was distracted by something, what it was he didn't know and to be frank he didn't much care. Seeing his chance he reached for his sword that had landed a short distance away, gritting his teeth and stretching his arm of as far as it would go his fingers barely brushed the handle of his sword, just enough to let him drag it into his hand.

His trusty Rapier once more in hand Genesis once again ran his hand along the length of the blade, causing it glow with a red energy for a second time. With his opponent's back turned Genesis slashed at the Uchiha's leg, the weapon cleaving through the limb resulting in his foe losing his balance.

With a sudden searing pain followed by a loss of balance, Madara tore his attention away from Cloud and down to where he'd Genesis pinned down to see the auburn haired man had picked himself up and swinging his sword at him seconds before the weapon sliced through his neck, severing his head and causing it to fall to the ground.

Breathing heavily Genesis looked down at the fallen form of Madara, whilst he may not say it out loud the Uchiha elder had been a difficult opponent. He'd assumed that without his Susanno the old man would be and that assumption had been very quickly disproved, having dominated him the entire time. If not for that momentary distraction he was unsure if he'd be able to defeat him.

Composing himself Genesis turned to face the new arrival, somewhat curious to who would be foolish enough to try and get close to where two powerful warriors were fighting. Looking over he saw the new arrival and his breath caught in his throat. This should not be possible, what was he doing here? Had he too emerged from the Lifestream just to confront him once again?

"Z…Zack…?"


Darkness. Endless without beginning or end.

Decades of planning and gathering power, all of it brought to an end by a momentary lapse in judgment, leaving himself open to be dispatched by someone that only moments before he'd had at his mercy. The life of Madara Uchiha had been brought to an end in such an anticlimactic manner.

Or so it would seem.

After all, despite his decaying mental state one such as Madara had not lived so long without taking a few precautions, he still had one final back up plan. One final trump card to be played if all else failed.

Sasuke, was that trump card. The boy was the embodiment of his will and through him he'd make the world know why the Uchiha were to be revered and feared.

With these last thoughts the last of the old Uchiha's conciseness faded, swallowed by the darkness and re-joining the river of life from which all souls originated and were ultimately fated to return to.


AN: And with that another chapter of this tale is done.

So yeah, this chapter is pretty late. This chapter is was planned to be the final chapter of 2019, originally planned to come out around Christmas, but it clearly didn't happen. Simple answer the computer that I've been using since 2012 finally gave up the ghost (press F for the fallen). Thankfully I'd managed to get most of this chapter written before that happened and got to take some time off writing, I really needed it, as it gave me time to figure out how to write the Madara VS Genseis fight.

Money's been tight recently so I've not been able to get a new one + all the software so I'm having to borrow someone else's computer so I can't work on this at the same rate that I used to, believe it or not I used to spend just about every day working on something before my computer died, and might have derailed my plans for 2020 to be the final year of this story. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Well regardless it's up now, I hope that you all enjoyed it despite the length of time you all had to wait. The next chapter is going to be Naruto VS Sasuke, originally the beginning of their battle was supposed to happen in this chapter but after some thought I figured that the final fight between them deserved a chapter to itself, even Kishi got that right despite the fact he completely nerfed Naruto for it, then follow that with Cloud VS Genesis in its own chapter.

And with that I'm done, hopefully I can get my writing seclude back on track so I'm not leaving you all hanging for another six months. Plus I really want to get this story finished.

Till next time, peace out y'all.