Previously on Path of Shadows, Path of Lights...
A shower of feathers descended from above the arena, slowly causing the audience to drift off to sleep just as the sound of chaos - fighting, screaming and destruction - filled the air outside the arena. Hiruzen turned towards the "Kazekage", knowing what was happening.
The Konoha Crush had begun.
"What is the meaning of this, Rasa?" A growled, as Mei got to her feet and Hiruzen merely stared down the "Kazekage".
Oh, you know...war with Konoha, Raikage-dono, Mizukage-dono. Want in?" Orochimaru responded.
Mei's one visible eye narrowed. "Hard pass on that bullshit, Kazekage" she said, drawing into a fighting stance.
Hiruzen gestured to the other two Kage. "See? Nobody here wants war except you...Orochimaru."
The Snake Sannin chuckled. "So you figured it out, Sarutobi-sensei? I will clearly have to reprimand Kabuto for not killing those two little pawns after I finish with you. But that's beside the point; why don't we take this somewhere else...just you and me?"
Grabbing the aged Hokage in a chokehold, the "Kazekage" ripped off his robes to reveal the uniform of Otogakure underneath, before leaping upwards through the Kage Box's roof, while he and Kimimaro's bodyguards removed their robes, showing themselves to be a chubby ginger-haired man, a dark-haired boy with six arms, a redheaded girl and a silver-haired boy with another head on his back. The quartet shoved Ao and Raido Namiashi out of the Kage Box, before leaping to the edges of the roof and performing simultaneous hand seals. "FOUR VIOLET FLAMES FORMATION!"
The move, while intended to exclude everyone except for Hiruzen and Orochimaru, was not fast enough to prevent the Raikage and Mizukage from slipping in, A bringing down a heavy fist coated with lightning where Orochimaru had stood just moments before.
"The Mist has been waiting for you to make your move, Snake Sannin" Mei said. "My retainer detected that you were posing as the Kazekage several days ago at our last meeting with his Byakugan, and we have been organizing against you ever since."
Turning to look out over Konoha from atop the box, the red-haired Mizukage shouted at the top of her lungs. "KIRI SHINOBI, PROTECT THE LEAF!"
Zabuza chuckled, as he finished sharpening Kubikiribocho. "I thought you'd never ask!" he shouted, immediately turning and cutting down a trio of Oto nin.
Orochimaru sighed. "What about you, Raikage-dono?"
A snorted, as he entered Raiton Chakra Mode. "Are you fucking kidding me? Kumo is in Konoha's debt for the moment...Sarutobi, consider this the repayment of our debt" he said, as the Hokage nodded.
Could this finally be a step towards true peace?" Hiruzen wondered, tearing off his Hokage robes to reveal battle armor underneath.
The Snake Sannin shook his head in disappointment. "Fine by me. In that case, I must even the odds. Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Edo Tensei!"
Hiruzen gasped at the sight of one of the most dangerous kinjutsu from the Forbidden Scroll, as five coffins rose from the ground. Two of them had the numbers "One" and "Two" on them with the kanji for "Fire", while one had the number "Two" and kanji for "Water". Another had the number "Three" and kanji for "Lightning", while the last one that slowly rose had the number "Four" and the kanji for "Wind".
A handful of shuriken flew from the God of Shinobi's hands and embedded themselves in the last coffin, stopping its' rise.
Orochimaru sighed. "Glad I prepared that spare. Rasa might not have been much help in this fight anyway." The four coffins fell open, revealing several cracked clay statues, whose featured became more defined as Orochmaru inserted talismans in their brains via kunai.
The first two were a dark-haired man in red armor and a white-haired man in blue armor - both recognizable as the Senju Brothers, Hashirama and Tobirama, who helped create Konoha. The second was a mustachioed blonde man in a high-collared grey kimono, and the last was an enormous, muscular, tanned man with blonde hair, a beard and a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his chest.
"F-Father?" A asked, as the Third Raikage turned to look towards him. "My son. It has been too long" the man said solemnly.
"Lord Second?" Mei asked in shock, as Gengetsu Hozuki nodded. "Red hair...you're either a Terumi or an Uzumaki" he said.
"Technically a bit of both. I'm the Fifth Mizukage now" Mei responded. "You certainly seem to be a competent young lady. I can tell that Kirigakure is safe in your hands. And tell me, what of my own family?"
Mei looked towards the city. "Your two great-grandsons, Mangetsu and Suigetsu, are out there fighting to defend Konoha at this very moment. They're both members of the Seven Swordsmen, and are considered the strongest members of their family since you yourself" she said, as a slight smile spread across Gengetsu's face.
Hiruzen just stared in shock at the two previous Hokages. "H-Hashirama-sama? Tobirama-sensei?"
Hashirama giggled slightly. "You've gotten old, Saru!" he joked.
"Well, admittedly, I was just a child last time you saw me..." the aged Kage trailed off.
"Ahem" Orochimaru said, clapping his hands. "I hate to break up the happy reunions and introductions, but-" he snapped his fingers "-I'm putting them back under my control. Time to fight to the death." As the three living Kage, one Kage-level shinobi and four dead Kage prepared to battle, the carnage continued to unfold, as a force of two hundred elite Kiri shinobi joined the battle, attacking Suna and Oto forces in defense of Konoha, while the few Kumo forces in the village aided them.
Meanwhile, Gaara was now being carried away in a delirious state on Kankuro's back, Temari following close behind him; Baki had sent them to regroup on the outskirts of Konoha so that Gaara could recover from his wounds after his match with Suigetsu before continuing the invasion.
Unfortunately for them, however, the shark-toothed boy was hot on their heels in a group with Satsuki, Shino, Naruto and Shikamaru, having been assigned to a task force to capture Gaara and his siblings by Zabuza Momochi, Might Gai and Kakashi Hatake. "Well, hopefully our allies from Oto will delay them enough..." Temari trailed off.
Meanwhile, eight Oto Chuunin and one Oto Jonin were standing in a wide circle around the Hozuki, whose sharklike grin had never seemed sharper. "Looks like there's enough of you here to have a good fight, eh?" he said, pulling Shibuki off his back. "Let's shed some blood, why don't we!" The sound of screaming, maniacal laughter and explosive tags detonating could be heard for almost a kilometer around, despite the din raised by the general chaos of the invasion.
Once again, the four Konoha Genin pursued Gaara and his siblings, this tie getting within line of sight of them. Pakkun, Kakashi's pug summon, sniffed the air from his location on top of Naruto's head. "It looks like they're about to split up again" the ninken warned, as Kankuro turned and unwrapped the package on his back, revealing a wooden puppet with four arms and three eyes.
"I shall stay behind and delay Kankuro-san. Why? Because Shikamaru's tactical mindset, Naruto's Jinchuriki abilities and Satsuki's speed will be more useful against Gaara-san and Temari-san than my kikaichu will" Shino said neutrally, readying himself for battle.
Reaching a section of heavily wooded lowland, full of truly massive trees, Temari stopped to take a breather, letting Gaara down off her back. Before she could catch her breath, however, her brother roared in agony from his headache, before sand poured from his gourd and wrapped around him. "This is bad! He's transforming already!" Temari thought, panicking internally as she feared for her life. An appendage of sand knocked her aside, as Gaara's right side became coated in the particles, shapeshifting partially into the form of the One-Tailed Tanuki, Shukaku.
As the three Konoha Genin rounded the corner, Gaara stared at them, eyes blazing. "WILL YOU GIVE MY EXISTENCE MEANING?" he asked, voice distorted. The battle of the Jinchuriki was about to begin.
Author's Notes:
First off, though it's a little late in the story, I want to cite my three main inspirations for this story: "White Eyes" by adamant39, "True Potential" by DryBonesKing, and Ander Arias's "Son of the Sannin". All three are, in my opinion, some of the crown jewels of the Naruto fanfiction community, and they gave me the idea to write something as ambitious as this.
Second of all, answering questions from Fanfiction dot net:
- Guest comment from chapter 24: No, this is not a harem fic. I don't do that shit, even if some people make it work well - it wouldn't work for the purposes of the story. As for the ships, welllllllll, wait and see!
- DM from GreyMatter1098: Maaaaaaybe Satsuki will leave the village, maaaaaaaybe she won't. Again, wait and see.
Feedback gives me life, so drop it in the comments if you're on AO3, or the reviews on FFN. Thanks for reading!