Author's Note: One last chapter to wrap everything up before we can dive towards the final battles. Enjoy:
Chapter 124:
Moving towards the Endgame
or
In with the cool stuff
The next morning, following Obito's orders, the remaining White Zetsu clones, a little less than half the initial numbers, launched a continent-wide attack on several areas in order to keep the Alliance occupied while the jinchuriki were vulnerable. Orochimaru also sent all the reanimations he had left to support the bulk of the Akatsuki army into the battlefield.
As the sun started to rise in the horizon, a new days of battles began. However, while few people knew it at the moment, this sunset also marked the end of the war, for this day of battles would be the last.
…
Ninja Alliance HQ
The Ninja Alliance HQ was in a state of chaos and confusion. Reports came in from the scouts, officers asked for orders, while Onoki tried to make a sense of everything that was going on while giving proper orders to make sure everything didn't fall apart.
The reason? Recent scout reports said that Akatsuki had launched multiple assaults at once on many points of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, with a large amount of Zetsu and reanimations. Considering Obito's boast of having an army of one hundred thousand White Zetsu clones and the amount of Zetsu casualties among said clones, the numbers of this assault suggested that Akatsuki was sending everything they had left in one last desperate attack.
"...and tell the Mizukage to head south and stand her ground there. If she's in trouble, she can fall back and ask the Raikage's division for relief," Onoki ordered.
The ninja he just told his orders bowed his head, and disappeared from there, in order to transmit them.
"The fact that this multiple front assault came right after the secret island was attacked is no coincidence," Chiyo chimed in. "They want to stop us from retrieving the jinchuriki."
"I'm aware of that, but what else are we supposed to do?" Onoki said in exhasperation. "Let those armies roam unopposed through the continent?"
"With some luck, the jinchuriki will meet with one of the divisions of the Land of Fire," Ao intervened. "Which would increase the power of said division while keeping the jinchuriki safe and monitored."
"We can't just depend on luck," Onoki argued.
"No, we can't. But what else can we do?" Chiyo replied. "The best we can do is direct the troops from here, and hope that they finish their fights quickly so they can move towards the jinchuriki's position."
"Do we know anything about Jiraiya and Tsunade?" Onoki asked.
"Nothing, sir. As far as we know, they must have reached the place where Orochimaru should be, if the information was accurate," Mabui said, as she checked a scroll. "Then again, we don't know how long it may take for them to force Orochimaru to undo the jutsu. Or if they can."
Onoki prayed that they would be successful. Getting rid of those undead was going to be critical if they wanted to win the war.
…
Land of Frost
"Poison Mist!"
Shizune exhaled a cloud of purple smoke at a group of incoming White Zetsu who were running into her. All of them were engulfed by the cloud, and they suffocated in a matter of seconds.
"I shouldn't waste my time with these small fries, but for some reason I keep attratcting them like moths to a flame," the medic nin said. Thanks to her Sage Mode, she was able to sense every single one of the ninjas and enemies in the battlefield around her. She tried to find a suitable enemy, when she detected a powerful chakra signature coming at her. "Okay, this seems to be a much better opponent. Let's see who-"
"Wind Release: Razor Stream!"
Said enemy released a thin stream of super pressurized air at Shizune, moving it in an arc in order to slice her to bits. Shizune, however, already had a defense in place. She formed several hand seals.
"Sage Art: Water Release Maelstrom Shield!"
A torrent of water burst around the black haired medic-nin, which immediately began to spin around her forming a spiraling tower of water. The slicing attack hit the water column, but it failed to break through it. As the defensive jutsu receded, Shizune smiled at her opponent.
"Not bad, but as you can see, I- wait a minute..." Shizune said, as she could see now who the attacker was. A Konoha ninja in his thirties, with a pretty face –cracked skin and blackened eyes notwithstanding– and long, blue hair that fell down his back. "Uncle Dan?"
"Uncle...?" Dan replied, looking confused. He narrowed his eyes at the woman in front of him. "Wait... Shizune-chan? Is that you?"
"Yes, uncle, it's me," Shizune confirmed. She covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh Kami... I wasn't expecting to see you here... despite the fact that, with your reputation, I should have guessed that Orochimaru would have resurrected you."
"Oh goodness Shizune-chan... you've grown so much. You were nothing but a little girl the last time I saw you... it makes me happy to see that you've grown into such a pretty woman and skilled ninja."
Without further warning, Dan pulled out several shuriken and threw them at Shizune. Shizune's hands projected a pair of blue chakra blades as she activated her Chakra Scalpel jutsu, and used it to deflect all of them. While she was busy doing so, Dan weaved more seals for another jutsu.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Dan breathed a massive stream of fire towards his niece. However, Shizune was quick enough to jump backwards while making more hand seals for a counterattack.
"Water Release: Great Water Wall!"
Shizune expelled from her mouth a huge amount of water, forming a torrent that met Dan's fire attack in the middle. While both jutsu seemed to struggle against each other, in a matter of seconds Shizune's water attack overpowered Dan's fire jutsu, not only because of the elemental advantage, but also because of her jutsu carried more power thanks to Senjutsu.
When the gigantic wave was about crush Dan, the blue haired man jumped into the air, letting the wave crash below him, while landing safely on the water.
"Incredible," Dan gushed. "I would never imagined that you'd grow into such a powerful kunoichi. Not even Tsunade was that strong!"
"Thank you, uncle. That's Senjutsu to you," Shizune said. "And Tsunade-sama is still much stronger than I am."
"Wait, Senjutsu? How... how did you learn it?" Dan asked in shock, before he lunged at his niece, kunai in hand.
"It's... a very long story," Shizune replied, as she parried her uncle's blow, before pushing him back with a powerful kick. "One that I can't properly tell while I'm fighting for my life. As strong as I am now, I still need to be focused on the fight if I'm to beat a ninja of your caliber."
"I see," Dan conceded. "What about Tsunade then? Can you tell me what's she's doing?"
"Your death devastated her. Probably even more than me," Shizune revealed. "She spend a few years wandering around aimlessly with me at her only company, until she returned to Konoha for personal reasons. She then married Jiraiya, and had three kids, one adpted and the other two biological."
"Jiraiya? Heh... so that white haired pervert finally did it..." Dan said, sounding between happy and melancholic. On one hand, no one was happy to know that the woman you loved was with another man, and Dan was no exception. On the other hand, if Tsunade was happy, so was Dan.
Dan attacked once again, but his attack was oddly slower, which allowed Shizune to dodge easily. That moment, upon seeing the way her uncle was reacting, Shizune had a revelation, and remembered Jiraiya's tale about his fight with Minato and Kushina, how their spirits managed
"You'd like to know that I'm also married too, and have a couple of beautiful children," Shizune said sincerely. "If only you could meet them..."
"Really? That's-" suddenly Dan froze mid sentence, as if he was having a stroke, much to the medic-nin's confusion. Then, Dan's blue eyes turned white, and his mouth curved into an ugly smirk. "I'm sorry, but you aren't going to liberate his soul with some sob story!"
Shizune gasped upon hearing Dan speaking with Orochimaru's voice. So the snake had finally wised up and realized one of his justu's weak points. That means that Shizune had to defeat and seal her late uncle the old fashioned way.
…
Lightning Desert
Akatsuki had only sent a division made of five people in order to attack the Land of Lightning, and Rasa's Fourth Division had been dispatched to deal with it. Why a whole division for only a small squad, somebody may ask? The answer would be that those five people were the reanimations of five previous Kages: Second Mizukage Gengejutsu Hozuki, Second Tsuchikage Mu the Invisible Man, Third Raikage A, Third Kazekage Yoritomo, and lastly, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju.
In front of the division stood Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, as he watched the undead Kage quintet walking towards them at a steady pace.
"Here they come," Darui, who was a few steps behind the Kazekage, said. "How are we going to take them down, commander?"
Rasa used to wonder why the Kumo jonin seemed to shadow him like that. Sometimes even trying to strike up a friendly banter, as if pretending to bond. He found later that Darui was the current Raikage's right hand man, so being close to a Kage must be natural to him. Still, not that the grumpy Kazekage was going to complain, given that the Kumo swordsman's knowledge would be useful for this battle.
"For the time being, keep them occupied while my children enter Sage Mode," Rasa said, as he looked at his children, several rows back, sitting on the ground in the lotus position, drawing nature energy. "I know my predecessor and have a good idea how to fight him. I take you're familiar with the Third Raikage?"
"The Third Raikage was my Jonin-sensei," Darui revealed. "The only people who know him better than I do are his sons."
"Good. Then I suppose you'll be able to keep him at bay, at the very least," Rasa said, nodding. "The other three Kages are going to be a problem. We have information on them, but no one who had dealt with them in life. This battle won't end without a lot of casualties on our side."
"Maybe, but sadly wars aren't so dull as to leave with no deaths," Darui replied. His visible eye narrowed. "They're getting close."
"Yes. We better begin then," Rasa said.
The Fourth Kazekage made a single hand seal, kneeled down and placed both hands on the ground. Suddenly, a tsunami of golden sand made from the normal desert sand rose over the quintet of undead Kages, threatening to crush them under it.
However, the Third Kazekage took a step forward, and made several hand seals. From under his clothes emerged several clouds of iron sand, quickly growing in side in order to match Rasa's golden tsunami, and successfully blocking the attack.
"Golden sand... so you've been sent to deal with me, Rasa?" Yoritomo pondered, as he watched his sucessor in the distance, surrounded by ninjas of many villages. "Wonder how-"
"Aw come on, I can't believe that guy made me team up with this asshole again!" Gengetsu protested, cutting Yoritomo.
"The feeling's mutual, you eyebrow-less freak" Mu replied.
"Oh, the walking mummy is calling me a freak? Now that's rich!" Gengetsu replied with a mirthless laugh. "Hey, why don't you-"
"Enough you two!" the Third Raikage roared. "NONE of us are enjoying this situation, and your constant whining is only making it worse! Focus on making sure our opponents know how to fight and seal us."
"Well said. We can't afford letting Akatsuki win this battle, and we must do our part to ensure their defeat," Tobirama praised.
"You shut up as well!" the Third Raikage roared at the albino Senju. "This is your fault! Why the hell did you have to invent such a jutsu!?"
"I'm sorry to interrupt such an enlightening conversation, but our opponents are approaching," the Third Kazekage reminded them.
And indeed, the bodies of the five undead Kages began to move on their own once again. Mu took off into the sky, while the remaining earthbound Kages split in order to deal with a portion of the Fourth Division each.
The Third Raikage started to make hand seals. "Guys, you better have some good Wind Release users to counter this, or else you're going to be in a world of pain! Lightning Release: Black Tiger!"
Upon finsihing the seal sequence, A brought his hands together, which began to crackle with pitch black electrictiy. A black lightning bolt shot from his hands, flying towards a large group of Allied ninjas. It grew in size as it moved forward, while taking the form of a black tiger with white stripes. The elemental tiger let out a roar as it prepared to pounce over its preys.
"Lightnging Release: Black Panther!"
However, before the elemental tiger could lay a claw on any Allied ninjas, it was intercepted by an equally large panther also made of black ligthning. The two electrical felines struggled against each other, until they destabilized and exploded into a mass of pitch black electricity. The Third Raikage was taken aback at first.
"Another Black Lightning user?" A asked in shock. "It can only be..."
"Sup, boss. Long time no see, huh?" Darui asked, as he landed in front of him, cleaver in hand. "Sorry for blocking your jutsu like that, but hey, can't let my comrades die, can I?"
"Darui," A said, and he smirked. "Good to see you boy. You seem in good health. And that Black Lightning jutsu was amazing! I knew I made the right choice by picking you as one of my students!"
"You flatter me, boss. Still, let's hope you don't find fighting me too dull," Darui said, as he started to make hand seals. "Storm Release: Laser Circus!"
Darui brought his hands together, a halo of light spreading around them, and shot from his fingers multiple beams. Said beams homed onto Darui's target, the former Raikage, all of them finding their mark, resulting in a chain of explosions. However, Darui didn't hold his breath for the result, and indeed, once the resulting clouds of smoke and dust dispelled, A was still there, completely unharmed as if the attack didn't have any effect.
"Tch. Just like I feared," Darui said, taking a step backwards, while placing his cleaver in a defensive stance.
"If you knew such an attack wasn't going to have any effect, why use it?" the Third Raikage asked.
"I still had to try," Darui replied.
That moment, A's body was engulfed by a cloak of blue chakra and lightning bolts. Then, in a fraction of a second, he was in front of Darui, and thurst his hand forward.
"Hell Stab: Four Fingers!"
Even if he was unable to match his speed, Darui was able to block the lethal attack in time with his lightning-enhanced cleaver, while also deflecting the finger jab aside, since taking the attack directly would have resulted in his weapon wrecked. Still, the hit produced a shockwave so powerful, it hurled the Kumo Jonin backwards several meters, falling on his back and dropping his cleaver in the process.
"Damn!" he cursed, as he tried to get back on his feet before his former leader would kill him then and there.
However, before the undead Raikage could continue his assault, a mass of kunai, shuriken and other weapons rained upon him, and while none of them caused any harm, they did hindered his charge. Darui then felt as if an invisible force pulled him backwards, but said force made him land on his feet.
"Hey, you okay, pal?" a new voice asked. Darui then saw that it wasn't an invisible force that had pulled him back, but a hodded Suna ninja who had used chakra threads to do so. There were a trio of puppets standing besides him.
"Yeah. Thank you, uh..."
"Kankuro," Kankuro said, before shooting another chakra thread at his fallen cleaver, and pulling it towards its owner, who caught it expertly. "You're quite brave for facing that guy alone. He looks to be quite the piece of work."
"I am one of the ninjas who know the Third Raikage the most, hence I must be among those to face him," Darui explained. "And you're right, 'piece of work' is quite the accurate term to describe-"
"Watch out!"
The two Jonin were alerted by a cry of warning as the Raikage charged forward, plowing through the mass of ninjas in front of him, either throwing them away or trampling over them, in his path towards Darui and Kankuro.
"Tamotsu, time to shine!" Kankuro said, as he motioned a hand, and one of his puppets, one carrying a large shield, jumped between them and the Raikage. "Mechanical Light Shield Block!"
The seals on the large shield started to glow with a blue light, as a shield of chakra spread outwards, covering not only the puppet, but also those close around it. The Raikage once again struck with a four-fingered jab. The blow carried so much force, the resulting shockwave almost made everybody else lose their balance, and the earth shook a little. But much to Darui's surprise, the puppet didn't break.
"What the...? What kind of puppet is able to withstand my strongest blows?" A asked in shock.
Kankuro smirked. "A puppet that's being controlled by a Sage!"
"Sage...?" Darui repeated, as a realization dawned upon him. "Oh, I see. I was told that after I was sealed by the Gold and Silver Brothers, a trio of Suna ninjas that were also Sages defeated them... this must be one of them... with his help, then we can defeat the Third Raikage with less casualties than I feared!" he thought.
With renewed resolve, Darui rejoined the battle against his former mentor.
…
Land of Fire, Southwest Part
Mei Terumi's Third Division had been assigned to intercept Akatsuki's forces int the zone that were heading to Konoha. Part of the reason behind their deployment was that the reanimations of the three remaining former Swordsmen of the Mist had been spotted there. And indeed, despite being reduced to just three and not even fighting together, they took no time into making themselves known with a high body count.
At least, Mangetsu was.
With a mere swing of Mangetsu's blade, a Konoha ninja and a Suna ninja both fell to the ground, dead, as a pool of their colelctive blood formed around them. The former leader of the Seven Swordsmen made it appear so easy, almost as if his enemies were untrained children. His fake Hiramekarei proved to be just as good as the real one still in Chojuro's hands.
He turned around, and saw a frightened Kiri ninja, his trembling hand gripping a kunai. He stumbled backwards when Mangetsu turned at him.
"You're a Kiri ninja, hence you must know who I am," Mangetsu replied. "In that case, you should try not to die uselessly against me."
The Kiri ninja seemed to heed Mangetsu's advice, and turned around to flee. However, Mangetsu aimed a finger at him.
"Sorry, you were too slow," Manetsu said, as a blob of water started to form around the tip of his extended finger. "Water Release: Water Gun!"
"Water Release: Water Gun!"
Mangetsu fired a bullet of pressurized water from his fingertip at his target, but said water was intercepted by a second one, not as powerful, but enough to interrupt its trajectory, resulting in an explosion of water, forming a large puddle on the grassy ground. That moment, Suigetsu, Sewing Needle in hand, landed in front of him.
"Hey there, bro," Suigestsu greeted him. "Ready for round two?"
"Suigetsu," Mangetsu said. "What are you doing?"
"Eh, felt like our previous battle ended in a rather inconclusive note," Suigetsu said, shrugging a little. "And you know how much I hate leaving a job half done."
"You didn't even get the job started. Despite having Chojuro's help, you were still unable to beat me and needed to call Ameyuri for help," Mangetsu said, as his body slipped into a fighting stance, his sword in front of his face. "You should leave and let somebody else with more suitable skills to deal with me fight me instead. I already hate how Orochimaru is forcing me to kill so many people, and I don't want one of them to be my brother and last member of our clan."
"My, my, I knew you were cocky, but even I know my limits," Suigetsu said, flashing his brother a toothy grin. "Okay, I admit you're right about that. But I'm somebody who learn from past battles, either be victories or defeats, and I've been preparing for this. I promise you this won't be like the last time."
"I pray you're right, Suigetsu," Mangetsu said.
And without further warning, the former leader of the Seven Swordsmen and head of the Hozuki Clan shot towards Suigetsu like a bullet, and swung his fake Hiramekarei at Suigetsu. The younger brother parried the blow with the Sewing Needle. That moment, Suigetsu released one hand from his sword's handle, curled it itno a fist, and reared it back.
"Water Release: Water Arm Jutsu!"
Suigetsu's free arm swelled up with muscles just as he motioned it forward, punching Mangetsu's blade out of his hands, and then trying to impale his undead brother with the now free Sewing Needle. Mangetsu then jumped back, doing a backflip, while expertly catching the falling Hiramekarei with one hand. The sword started to glow as he channeled chakra through it.
"Hiramekarei: Release!"
Menagetsu threw his sword at Suigetsu, who ducked just in time, letting the sword pass above him. However, he then saw how the flying sword made a U-turn behind him as if it were a boomerang, ready to impale him as well.
"Water Release: Greater Water Gun Jutsu!"
Suigetsu started to run around, both to dodge the flying Hiramekarei and the large blobs of pressurized water his brother was shooting at him. While all the water blasts failed, one of them managed to throw him off balance, resulting in the younger brother tripping over his legs and falling to the ground facefirst. Just as Mangetsu recovered his sword. Suigetsu tried to get back on his feet, but wouldn't be fast enough to dodge Mangetsu's next move.
"I'm very sorry, brother," Mangetsu said, as he raised Hiramekarei over his head, glowing brigher as more chakra was being poured into it. "Hiramekarei: Release!"
Mangetsu slammed his sword into the ground, sending a blue underground shockwave, which looked like the glowing fin of a shark sticking out of the water surface, cracking the earth as it moved forward. As Suigetsu got to his feet, he hastily made several hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
Suigetsu expelled a stream of water from his mouth at the incoming shockwave, causing the chakra and energy it was carrying to detonate prematurely. Still, Suigetsu was caught inside the explosion and was hurled backwards, the Sewing Needle blown out of his hands.
Even if Mangetsu could see that his brother had survived the explosion, he also saw that he had lost his weapon, and was now vulnerable.
"Foolish brother, why did you had to come and face me alone?" Mangetsu cried, as he rushed forward, ready to end Suigetsu's life. "I told the Sewing Needle wouldn't be of any help against me!"
"How about this sword, then?" Suigetsu replied.
Then, from within the cloud of smoke raised from the explosion, Suigetsu appeared, wielding the Splatter, much to the undead ninja's confusion, and used it to parry Mangetsu's incoming strike. Suigetsu smirked, as the edge of the Splatter started to glow with a white light.
"Boom," Suigetsu smirked.
Mangetsu was caught off guard by the sheer unexpectedness of his brother carrying a second sword on top of the Sewing Needle, and couldn't react in time, letting the explosion catch him, blowing Hiramekarei out of his hands while being blasted backwards, falling on his back.
"Kumori, now!" Suigetsu called.
Suddenly, several kunai with sealing tags attached to them rained from above, embedded themselves into Mangetsu's body. Kumori then landed behind Mangetsu, and made a single hand seal with one hand. The sealing tags started to glow, and the kunai started to crackle with electricity. As the electricity ran through Mangetsu's body, it started to degrade, turning it into something akin to jelly, making impossible for the undead swordsman to move anymore.
With a sigh of weariness, Suigetsu walked towards his brother. "I know I can be pretty cocky, but I even I know my limits. I wasn't going to fight you again alone, with a sword that proved ineffective. But I needed you to believe that."
"I... see," Mangetsu said. His lips curved into a small smile. "That was pretty clever of you, using a second sword."
"I got the idea from you, brother," Suigetsu admitted. "You mastered all seven swords, and I plan to do the same one day. And this battle seemed like a good opportunity to start."
"I'm glad that I inspired you so much, little brother," Mangetsu replied. "I'm sure you'll be an even better swordsman than I."
"That's my intention. Though, for the time being let's return this to its current owner," Suigetsu said, as he lazily tossed the Splatter towards Kumori. The masked ninja caught it with just one hand. "Thanks for the assist, pal. I owe you one."
"You owe me nothing," Kumori corrected him. "I'm also a Swordsman of the Mist, dealing with Mangetsu was as much as my responsibility as it was yours. However, given the special tie you had with him, we decided it was for the best for you to be the one to deal with him."
"Still, I appreciate that," Suigetsu replied.
"We need to look for a sealmaster in order to neutralize Mangetsu," Kumori said. "I presume you'll want to spend a few more moments with your brother in order to say goodbye and all that, so I'll be the one fetching the sealmaster then."
"I appreciate that too," Suigetsu said. "Heh, this almost makes up for all the time you made a fool of myself by making me think you were a mute."
"Worry not, Suigetsu," Kumori said, as he turned around. "I will find more ways to make a fool of yourself."
And with that, the masked swordsman vanished.
…
Back at the Lightning Desert, the fight against the reanimated Kages continued. While four of the Kages fought from the ground, Mu flew over the battlefield, bombaring the Allied Ninjas with his deadly jutsu.
"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
Mu created a cube of white light between his hands, before said cube exploded into a beam of white light that fired towards a large group of Allied Ninjas. Seeing it was something they couldn't counter, they tried to run away, and smart enough, they feld in every possible direction. However, many ninjas were unable to avoid the beam of destruction, and their bodies were destroyed to a molecular level.
"Unless you call one of my sucessors, you won't be able to avoid my power! The only thing that can counter Dust Release is another user of Dust Release!" Mu warned from above, as he prepared to attack again.
"Sand Drizzle!"
However, before Mu could attack again, he was pelted by a storm of projectiles made of compressed sand. The Second Tsuchikage quickly flew away from the rain of deadly sand, his body slowly vanishing until it disappeared completely.
"Ah, that must be your famed Dust Bewildering Cover," a calm, stoic voice said. Mu could now see it was a redheaded boy with golden eyes and starnge blue marks around them, floating on a cloud of sand. "That's where your moniker the 'Null Man' comes, doesn't it?"
"So you've done your homework, kid. You must be a very skilled ninja to catch me by surprise like that. Given the way you manipulate sand, are you from Suna?" Mu asked, as he floated around.
"Indeed. My name is Gaara, son of the Fourth Kazekage," Gaara said.
"Heh, the son of a Kage. Of course," Mu looked down, and saw Rasa, accompained by other ninjas, fighting against the Third Kazekage, in a duel of gold versus iron. "Yes, I should have guessed it. However, being the son of a Kage doesn't mean that you can match a real Kage, kid. You should pick an opponent more suited to your experience."
As Mu talked, he quickly floated around Gaara in order to place himself behind the redhead. His Dust Bewildering Cover was the perfect camouflage. The boy couldn't see him, and even if he was a sensor, he couldn't sense his chakra either, since the jutsu erased his presence completely. All that could give away his position was sound, and he could use that to confuse Gaara even further.
"It isn't wise to underestimate an opponent, regardless of how young they may look. Yes, I am young, but, even if I don't want to sound arrogant, I can say I had surpassed my father, at least when it comes to sheer power," Gaara said.
"You're the one underestimating me, son, by being so confident in fighting me," the Tsuchikage said, as he quickly moved again.
"Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I'm being overconfident," Gaara conceded. "But then again, I am the only one suited to fight you. Not only I'm currently one of the few ninjas in our division that can met you in an aerial battle, but among those, I'm the only one who can sense you."
Mu was tempted to call the redheaded child for his insolence, but a swift death would be a more appropriate punishment for such an insult. While he hated being forced to fight and kill fellow Iwa ninjas, he had no reservations ending the life of a Suna scum. Once he was behind him, he started to make hand seals for a Dust Release attack. His invisibility cloak dispelled as the jutsu took form.
"Did you sense this, then?" Mu shouted, as he prepared to fire. "Dust Rele-"
Before Mu could attack, "Gaara" burst into a torrent of sand, much to the Tsuchikage's confusion. The sand then wrapped around Mu, trapping him inside a cocoon, leavinh his head exposed.
"WHAT? How...?" Mu asked, shocked, as he tried to futilely break free from the sand prison. "How did you know I was there?"
From the cloud of sand the Gaara Sand Clone was standing on, the real Gaara emerged.
"Easy. Sensors might not be able to detect you, but not even your famed camouflage can evade the enhanced sensing provided by Sage Mode," Gaara explained.
"Sage Mode...? Of course," the trapped Tsuchikage said in realization. "That explains those eyes, and the marks around them. Wait, then that means-"
"That I noticed that you used your Fission Jutsu, and that your duplicate is behind me as well, ready to strike me down?" Gaara asked, as another torrent of sand poured from the gourd on his back, covering an unseen shape, before it was revealed to be a second Mu. "Yes. I did notice."
Sealing tags carried by sand were slapped onto the sand cocoons. As Gaara activated them, chains of symbols started to wrap around the sand prisons.
"Heh, beaten by a mere child with such ease. Such humiliation... thank goodness I'm already dead..." Mu said with an unamused chuckle. "And thank goodness we didn't have to fight ninjas like you back in my time, other than that asshole Madara."
"And lucky for us, there are ninjas like me ready to fight against undesirables that threaten not just my village, but the world at large," Gaara said, as the seals finished taking effect, silencing Mu forever. "One down, four more to go."
…
At the Land of Frost, Shizune contined her duel against her undead uncle. His irises kept that eerie white color as opposed to their usual blue hue. He also kept oddly silent, as
"Uncle Dan? Uncle Dan, are you still there?" Shizune asked, as he traded kunai swipes with the blue haired man, to no response. "Curses. Orochimaru must have supressed his personality. Guess he realized the weakness of that jutsu of his."
"Earth Release: Sharp Rock Pillars!"
Dan slammed his hands into the ground, launching a row of stone spikes that protuded from underground towards Shizune, spreading in a cone. The medic-nin curled her fingers into a fist as she channeled chakra through it, covering it in a blue flame-like cloak of chakra. Shizune then threw a punch forward, shatteting the incoming spikes into multiple rocky bits.
"The stone shattered under my fist, and I don't even feel pain. Senjutsu-enhanced strength is simply unreal... and I love it!" she thought with a smirk, as she looked at her held fist. "When this is over, I need to master Tsunade-sama's chakra-enhanced strength myself as well. It was a mistake giving up on it."
Dan, however, didn't give up, and made more hand seals, ready to reuse the remains of his previous jutsu to kill his niece.
"Earth Release: Earth Spine Grudge!"
The rock fragments still in the air were frozen in place, almost as if time had stopped for them. Then, after directing themselves towards Shizune, flew towards them at great speed. The medic-nin, however, already had the perfect defense, as she made more hand seals.
"Sage Art: Corrosive Cloud Armor!"
Shizune's body started to emit a thick purple steam that quickly formed into a purple cloud, covering the medic-nin completely, obscuring her from Dan's eyesight, as it slowly expanded outwards. The moment the rock bits flew into the cloud, they quickly decayed and eroded until they were nothing but dust, leaving her completely unharmed.
"You can't beat me when I'm using this jutsu. This cloud will corrode everything solid in a matter of seconds, meaning that you can't get close nor use Eartn Release jutsu against me. And this poison in particular is fireproof, meaning that it also protects me from Fire and Lightning jutsu," Shizune explained. "There's nothing you can do to harm me."
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, my dear Shizune," Dan replied, thought it was Orochimaru's voice that came from his mouth. The reanimation started to make hand seals.. "Because your beloved Uncle had a deadly jutsu that no cloud of poison will be able to stop. Spirit Transformation Jutsu!"
Once the chain of seals was complete, Dan's body started to float as it became translucid, completing its transformation into a spirit. Dan flew into the cloud of poison, which as expected, didn't have any effect on him, until the found the surprised Shizune, who could only yelp as Dan possessed her body. The cloud of poisonous gasses around her quickly dispelled as a result.
"You're dead, Shizune. The possession will-" But Orochimaru-as-Dan was interrupted when "Shizune's" body poofed, leaving Dan's spirit behind. "What the...?"
"Sakura, Karin, now!" Shizune called.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Several chakra chains shot from an unseen direction, and wrapped themselves around Dan. Despite being a spirit, the chains were able to touch him as if he was solid. And indeed, once the chains made contact, they bound Dan's chakra, forcing him to cancel the jutsu, making him solid again. That moment, Sakura landed in front of Dan, and started to make hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Prison!"
Suddenly, rocks of many sizes appeared above Dan, and started to land on top of him with loud crashed, until he was completely buried under the rubble. The moment the jutsu was finished, Karin quickly slapped several sealing tags around it. As the tags were activated, chains of symbols spread around the rocky prison, making sure that Dan wouldn't be able to either move or use chakra.
As Karin and Sakura cheered for their victory, Shizune walked towards the rock prison, and placed a hand on it, as if trying to feel the undead being inside it.
"You thought you could use my uncle's power against me, didn't you, Orochimaru? But after Tsunade, I was the worst opponent you could have directed Uncle Dan towards," Shizune thought. "It was great to see you again, Uncle Dan. Hope you can return to the peace of the afterlife that Orochimaru tore you from," she whispered, before turning around at her still celebrating students. "Come on girls, no time to celebrate! There are still plenty of enemies that need to be beaten, and ninjas that need to be healed!"
"Yes, sensei!" the two of them said at once, as they followed Shizune deeper into the battle.
…
Lightning Desert
The Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, was surrounded by a multitude of ninjas from many villages. All around him were quite a lot of kunai, shuriken and other weapons that the Allied ninjas had thrown at him, to no effect, since they phased through him as if he were a ghost.
"Come on guys, I'm not even trying to fight back!" the exasperated Mizukage said, almost begging.
"And we're trying to kill you! But our attacks have no effect!" an Iwa ninja protested.
"Because I'm a genjutsu! In order to find the real me, you have to get rid of my Clam Summon!" the Mizukage pointed out.
"We tried to attack the clam and it didn't work either!" a Kiri kunoichi replied, just as exasperated.
"Because that's a genjutsu too!" the Mizukage yelled. "You have to get rid of... ugh, I don't know why I am even trying, you guys have to be the most useless, dumb lot of ninjas I had the displeasure of fight! And I've been married three times, so that should say something!"
Suddenly, a puddle of water mixed with oil started to form at Gengetsu's feet, while expanding outwards. As it did, bubbles started to emerge from the puddle, floating around the undead Mizukage. Gengetsu frowned upon seeing this.
"Guys, you better fight more seriously now, because this Orochimaru guy is going to make me go all out on you!" Gengetsu warned.
"We were fighting seriously!" an Ame ninja protested.
"Water Ballon Jutsu!"
The moment the balloons barreled towards the Allied ninjas, Temari landed between them and the incoming attack. Her normally teal eyes were golden, with small brown marks around them. Fast as lightning, she unfolded her War Fan and swung it once.
"Sage Art: Magnificent Sickle Weasel Jutsu!"
With a single swing of her fan, Temari created a gale force wind so powerful, it pushed all the incoming bubbles back, which detonated against the many rock pillars scattered around the area. However, the wind didn't have any effect on Gengetsu, as it didn't none of the other attacks.
"Hey, that's quite the arms you got here to blow such a wind!" Gengetsu complimented, as he gave Temari a thumbs up. "But no matter how hard you can blow, you won't be able to harm me until you defeat my Clam Summon, like I've been saying to these idiots all the time!"
"We've been trying to destroy the clam, but that's a genjutsu too!" a Konoha ninja repeated.
Temari nodded, closed her eyes, and expanded her senses. It took her only a few seconds to locate the source of chakra that was creating the insidious genjutsu. The sand blond kunoichi gestured towards a seemingly empty area. "There's the clam! Aim your attacks towards that spot!"
Temari's orders were followed by a moments of silence, as the Allied ninjas hesitated to attack that seemingly empty spot. They already made fool of themselves fighting the elusive Mizukage, and they didn't want to increase said ridicule. Some Suna ninjas, however, decided to trust the daughter of their Kazekage.
"Come on guys, let's do what Temari-sama asked!" a Suna ninja said.
The Suna ninjas started to throw kunai, shuriken, and ninjutsu towards the seemingly empty area. This prompted the rest of the ninjas of the group to follow their lead. And, to their surprise, their attacks connected with some sort of invisible mass. The invisible being quickly became visible, revealing Gengetsu's Clam summon, its shell starting to break under the pressure of the attacks, until it couldn't take it anymore, and it was forced to cancel the summon.
The fake clam and Gengetsu disappeared instantly, and the real Gengetsu was made visible. And, much to their confusion and irritation, started to clap.
"Not bad, guys, definitely not bad! You needed help from this extraordinary lass just to beat my clam, but hey, progress!" he cheered. "So let's hope you guys are ready, because the hard part of the fight comes now!"
"Wait... that was the easy part?" a Taki ninja asked, both astonished and a little frightened.
"Easy or hard, we won't give up until this guy is sealed! Come on, you guys won't fall prey to his trickery anymore as I'm with you!" Temari roused, her voice booming with confidence and boldness. "Now, let's show these Kages of past times what our generation has to offer!"
The group of ninjas around Temari cheered in response, as they prepared to attack the undead Mizukage at once.
…
Forests of the Land of Fire, Northeast zone
After a full of night of sleep, the jinchuriki trio were now completely rested and ready for the battle to come. By using Sage Mode, Naruto and Fu had noticed that there were many battles taking place at once. They deduced that Akatsuki must be going all out in order to keep the Alliance busy in order to catch them.
Not that they were going to let such a thing happen.
They simply decided to move towards the one who was the closest, and with their help, end that battle in no time. Then, they'd move towards another battleground, and repeat the process. They'd do that as many times as necessary, until every single reanimation and every single White Zetsu clone was destroyed.
Unfortunately, no plan ever survived contact with the enemy, and this one wasn't going to be an exception.
Naruto and Killer B were jumping from one tree branch to another, while Fu flew a few meters above them. Then, without any warning, Naruto suddenly stopped on his tracks, prompting his fellow jinchuriki to stop as well.
"What's wrong, Naruto, why did you stop?" Killer B asked. "Did you sense any enemies that are about to drop?"
"Yeah, I'm sensing a powerful source of negative emotions... right there!" Naruto said, pointing forward.
And indeed, that very moment, a spiraling vortex formed in front of them, and from said vortex, Obito Uchiha emerged, landed on a large branch in front of them. The jinchuriki trio quickly adopted fighting stances.
"Hello there, Naruto," Obito greeted the blond jinchuriki.
"So after so many days of war, you finally show up," Naruto said. "Let me guess, do you plan to capture us yourself, after so many failed attempts?"
"Such a sharp observation," Obito said in a mock praising tone. "But yes. You know what they said, if you want something done, you should do it yourself. Well, this is it. I'm done delegating. You and your friends are coming with me, whether you like it or not."
"And you think you can beat the three of us, all on your own?" Killer B asked. "Ha! Now that's quite an ego overblown!"
"Yeah, you might have a Rinnegan now, but Naruto here already has experience fighting against Rinnegan users," Fu said, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Plus, like B-sensei said, he has us helping him."
Obito laughed disdainfully at Killer B and Fu's words. "My chances are much better than you think, you trio of fools. And who said I was going to fight the three of you alone? Summoning Jutsu!"
Before the jinchuriki could react, Obito slammed his palm into the tree branch, producing a large burst of smoke. Naruto could immediately sense six more presences appearing out of nowhere. A cold chill ran down his spine.
When the cloud of smoke vanished, perched on several branches around Obito were six reanimations, three of them he knew, and other three that were unknown to him. All six of them, however, had a Sharingan and a Rinnegan on each of their eye sockets instead of their usual eyes.
"Yagura...Utakata... Roshi," Naruto said, as he looked at the undead forms of the two jinchuriki he failed to save from Akatsuki.
"Hello, Naruto," Yagura greeted him, smiling warmly. "We meet again. It's so unfortunate that we must do so again as enemies. It seems that, even if my mind is my own, my body is now the puppet of Akatsuki."
"Hey Naruto! Good to see that you're still alive!" Roshi said, sounding a little relieved.
"Yes, and not only you," Utakata added. "Even if I don't know your friends, I'm glad that at least some of us still remain."
Aside from Utakata and Roshi, there was a very tall and broad man wearing a heavy red armor, a thin old man with a long, white beard and a moustache that wore robes of a monk, and lastly, a blond woman wearing a Kumogakure ninja uniform. Given the way she and Killer B were eying each other, it's obvious they knew the other.
"Yugito-chan," Killer B said in an oddly neutral tone, an unnerving contrast with his usual upbeat attitude.
"B! Thank goodness you're still alive," the woman, Yugito, said. "Listen, you can't let this guys get their hands on you, you hear me?"
"Behold, my Six Paths Undead Jinchuriki," Obito announced, spreading his arms in a dramatic fashion. "Immortal, indestructible warriors with full access to the power of the Tailed Beasts. They will be the ones to finally put you annoying lot down! Now attack, my minions! Show them your power!"
Without further ado, the six undead jinchuriki quickly leaped towards their living counterparts, while Naruto, Fu and B prepared for yet another intense battle.
…
Mountain Graveyard, Outside Akatsuki's Lair
Jiraiya and Tsunade stood in front of a vast forest that spread into the horizon. Across said forest, there were gigantic bones of all kinds, such as skulls, ribcages, legs, arms and more, scattered around, most of them larger than the trees themselves. The blond Sannin let out a whistle.
"Well, no wonder this place is called a graveyard. Look at those bones," Tsunade pointed out.
"Rather fitting that Akatsuki choose a place with such an evil aesthetic for their secret base," Jiraiya said, chuckling a little.
However, the gigantic bones weren't the reason the two of them where there. A couple kilometers in front of their position, they could see a lone, massive mountain towering above both the forest and the giant bones. According to the information provided by the clone of their daughter, Orochimaru was somewhere inside that mountain.
"Alright, now time to see if that girl lied to us or not," Tsunade said, as she bit her thumb, as so did her husband. Then, the two of them made the same sequence of hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The two of them slammed a hand into the ground, producing a small burst of smoke each. From each cloud of smoke, a creature emerged: in front of Jiraiya was the Toad Sage Fukasaku, while in front of Tsunade was a mini-clone of Katsuyu. The two summons looked around, taking a minute or two to see the scenery around them, as well as the lack of immediate enemies.
"So, I take it is time, then?" Fukasaku asked.
"We hope, at the very least," Jiraiya said.
"First, we need to check if Orochimaru is really there," Tsunade added.
"Understood, Tsunade-sama," Katsuyu said.
Both summons jumped onto their respective summoners' shoulders, and began to gather nature energy and funnel it into them. After a couple minutes, Sage Mode manifested in both of them in the form of golen eyes, and red marks around Jiraiya's eyes as well as teal blue marks around Tsunade's. They expanded their senses, and immediately got an answer to their question.
"I sense Orochimaru there," Jiraiya said.
"Me too," Tsunade confirmed. "Him and nobody else."
"You think this might be a trap, Tsunade-sama?" Katsuyu asked.
"Orochimaru letting us know about his location in order to have the Rinnegan within reach isn't something that we can't rule out," the Slug Princess admitted. "But we have no other options."
"Plus, if there was a trap, I'm sure the bastard would have more people with him," Jiraiya added. "And either he's very confident about his chances, or he is able to shield people from even the senses of a Sage."
"Okay, enough talking. Time to go there and give that asshole the pounding he deserves," Tsunade asked.
Jiraiya smirked. "You took that out of my mouth."
"No matter how hard the battle becomes, we'll be there with you the whole time," Fukasaku reassured.
"We will fight alongside you as much as possible," Katsuyu added.
Jiraiya and Tsunade nodded, and dashed forward, ready to fight for the final time the man they once called their friend and teammate.
Once the day was over, there would be at least one Sannin less in the world.
Author's Note: If the previous chapter was the last breather of the story, this chapter was the last "lower deck" chapter, so to speak. To wrap up the first half of the war, and squeeze a couple more battles I wanted to write, like Shizune vs Dan or the Suigetsu vs Mangetsu rematch. From the next chapter onwards, all the battles will be headed by the main characters (Naruto, Hinata, Fu, KIller B, Jiraiya and Tsunade) and will stay that way until the very end. As much as I love the secondary and supporting characters their time to shine, I think they already had enough.
That means that no, I won't plan to write the resolution of the Five Kage Battle. I know many of you wanted to see it, but I really didn't feel in the mood to write it, plus it would only drag the pace of the story even more (since it was going to be VERY long).
And hell, I even included it because making it happen entirely offscreen would have been a bit too much of a disservice. Because trust me, there were many other fights that I had planned but I was forced to scrap because I didn't know where to insert them, and at this point the story demanded I got on with the main plot already. One of those battles would have involved Kuninotoko Uzumaki, which I would have used to air once again what I think of authors that turn the Uzumakis into a clan of complete Gary Stus. Another one would have involved Kurenai fighting her undead dad, and showing him the kickass kunoichi she had become, and that she's worth more than a baby factory ("you have to live long enough to give me a grandkid", seriously?).
Oh well, no point in dwelling on that.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
Next week, Jiraiya and Tsunade will face Orochimaru for the final time. How will the battle unfurl? In the meantime, don't forget to leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!