Author's Note: Okay, some people complained in the reviews that I made the Wood Golem too small, being only fifteen meters in height. After thinking about it, I realized that those complaints had some merit, and went back to the previous chapter and changed it to fifty meters instead. One of the reasons behind the change is that fifteen meters would be indeed too small for the golem to eat whole trees.
Well, now that that's out of the way, enjoy the new chapter:
Chapter 115:
Battling Giants
or
TIMBER!
"Here it comes!"
The Wood Golem had one of its arms rised, hand clenched into a fist, and quickly brought it down. Expecting what was going to happen, every ninja quickly jumped away in order to put as much distance as possible between them and the green colossus. The fist came down with the force of a thousand hammers hitting a sheet of wood, once again opening another crater, cracks spreading everywhere, chunks of rock flying in every direction.
This time, however, almost no Allied ninja was caught in the localized earthquake, most of them managing to come out of it unscathed.
"NOW! It's time to attack while it's wide open!" somebody called out.
"Let's go, Karin!" Shizune said, as she rushed forward while making hand seals. "Sage Art: Water Release, Water Exploding Gun!"
"Sage Art: Earth Release, Tectonic Fury!"
Dozens of elemental jutsu flew towards the now wide open golem. Shizune fired several water droplets at the giant monster, exploding into torrents of water that opened small craters on it, while Karin pulled a gigantic boulder from the ground below and chucked it forward. The golem, however, managed to recover faster than they anticipated, and with a couple of well timed punches, managed to shatter the gigantic rock the redhead had conjured.
Taking advantage of the golem's predicament, two Konoha ninja, shrouded in green auras, were going for a different approach, though.
"Lee, let's aim for the legs!" Gai said, as he and his protegé rushed forward. "Try to aim for the joint!"
"Understood, Gai-sensei!" Lee replied. The two green clad ninjas leaped forward, and delivered a brutal flying kick to the Wood Golem's shin. "Double Leaf Whirlwind!"
"Sakura, Tenten, let's not stay behind!" Neji said, rushing forward as well. "Aim for the other leg!"
"Right!" Tenten said, before making several hand seals in order to imbue her body with lightning chakra, then she pulled out two swords, aimed them forwards, and started to spin. "Lightning Release: Raging Blade Drill!"
"Cherry Blossom Impact!" Sakura focused as much chakra as she could into her fist, forming a blue flaming aura around it, and punched the giant monster in the other shin as hard as possible.
"Eight Trigrams: Palm Spear!" with the additional speed boost provided by the Celestial Gates, Neji slammed his palm into its shin as hard as he could.
The damage done to the golem's forelegs didn't go unnoticed. There was a sound of wood breaking, and some cracks appeared on the construct's shins, and much to everybody's surprise, the golem stumbled back, and even threatened to fall on its back. However, in the end, it regained balance.
"Not good," Gai said, almost in a whisper, as he narrowed his gaze at the gigantic creature. "Everybody, fall back!"
Knowing that the golem was about to counterattack, every ninja that could heard Gai did as he commanded, and even those who didn't just went with the flow and put distance between themselves and the giant monster again.
In response, the giant golem violently slammed a foot down, creating yet another quake accompained by a rain of rocks and boulders, forcing the allied ninjas to fall back once again. The golem them uprooted another tree, and swallowed it whole in no time. Not only it regenerated most of the damage taken, but even slightly increased its size.
"Shit, we were so close!" Karin lamented.
"And it seems that it can grow from eating trees as well," Sakura.
"We need to bring that thing down. Or at the very least, stop it from moving," Tenten suggested, before looking at Karin. "Karin, do you think you could do that with your chakra chains?"
"I don't know," the bespectacled girl replied, as she looked at the golem with apprenhsion. "The only time I tried to restrain something so big was when we faced that other half of the Nine Tails, and back then I had help of people with Wood Release that could subdue it."
"But you are a Sage now. I presume that has to count for something," Neji said,
"I guess it does," Karin said. "Still, the chakra of that thing is ridiculous. Binding it it's not going to be easy."
"Nobody said it's going to be. But we believe you can do it, Karin," Neji assured her. "We just need that thing not to move for a few seconds, so we can take it down for good."
"Hey, what's doing?" Lee asked.
Everybody looked at their giant enemy, and much to their shock, it started making hand seals.
"The hell!? That thing can use ninjutsu!?" Sakura cried, shocked and angered.
The golem finished the hand seal sequence, and clapped his hands together. The very next moment, a few serpentine dragons similar to the one coiled around it sprouted from its body, albeit smaller in size, and letting out roars, lunged at the Allied ninjas as their neck/bodies extended, before they finally detatched from the golem's body.
The wood dragons broke through the already shattered ground as if it were water, sending small rocks and pebbles everywhere, while trying to catch the Allied ninjas between their jaws, slam them with their snouts, or crush them with their bodies. This caused the allied ninjas gathered around the golem to spread even further in order to avoid the attack.
One of them went straight towards Karin, almost as if sensing that she was one of the most dangerous foes present. It was right, of course, as the redhead was about to show.
"Oh, my jutsu hurt your master even more than the others, right?" Karin said, as she leaped back, dodging a bite from the wood dragon. Her hands started to fly through hand seals. "I can assure you that this is going to hurt just as much! Sage Art: Earth Release, Tectonic Grip!"
As the wood dragon continued its chase, rocks and peebles scattered around began to quickly gather together, taking the shape of a giant hand. Once formed, the hand grabbed the serpentine dragon by its midsection, stopping it on its tracks. The dragon started to trash, letting out loud screeches, but was unable to break free.
"Okay guys, I have this one down! Burn this tree to ashes!" Karin yelled.
Karin's request was quickly replied in the form of a barrage of multiple elemental jutsu coming from the many nearby ninja around her. Blazes of fire, streams of water, blades of wind, lightning bolts and chunks of rock all collided against the dragon's head, blowing it up completely. The rest of the body withered and disintegrated into rotten pieces of wood almost instantly.
Meanwhile, Shizune was dealing with one of the other dragons, both dragging its attention to her, as well as trying to blast it with elemental ninjutsu.
"Sage Art: Water Release, Water Exploding Gun!"
Shizune fired multiple bullets of hypercompressed water from her fingertips. However, the serpentine dragon expertly zigzagged around her attacks, managing to dodge them, with the resulting water explosions merely soaking it.
Shizune was about to prepare her next attack when she felt the earth shake. The ground below her feet cracked open as the dragon's tail broke the surface, and tried to smack the black haired medic-nin, who leaped away, narrowly avoiding the hit.
"It hid its tail underground in order to catch me off guard. Even if they're merely wood constructs, these things have a mind of their own," Shizune noticed, before her feet touched the ground once again. The dragon tried to smash Shizune under its tail again. "That won't work a second time!"
Despite its superficial intelligence, the wood dragon wasn't aware that Shizune's Sage Mode granted her enough strength to catch its tail just before it could hit her. Shizune then gathered all her strength, and hurled the dragon back at the Wood Golem.
"Go back to your daddy!" the black haired Sage yelled.
Sadly, her aim wasn't as good as she was hoping, and missed the Golem by a large margin. The wood dragon crashed against a nearby tree, which was toppled down by the impact. Fortunately, the impact was strong enough to break the serpentine creature in several pieces.
Despite the fact that two of its serpentine dragons had been destroyed, the others managed to keep the rest of the Allied ninjas busy, and taking advantage of their predicament, the Wood Golem advanced once again, the ground shaking with each of its steps. Even with the remaining wood dragons, the rest of the ninjas fell back. That's it, the rest minus one.
Karin stood there, defiantly staring at the incoming colossus. Though aside from determination, her face also appeared to be pensive, as if coming up with an idea.
"Karin?" Sakura asked, upon seeing that the redhead didn't move. "Karin, what are you doing? Come on, we need to get away from that thing."
"I have an idea," Karin said, her eyes fixed onto the approaching giant. "It's kind of risky, but if it works, we'll have a good opportunity to destroy that thing in one hit."
"What? What idea- HEY, WAIT!" Sakura yelled, hurring after Karin, who started to sprint towards the golem. "What are you doing!? Are you insane!?"
"You don't have to follow me!" Karin replied. "Though I could use a bit of your help doing this!"
"Sakura, Karin! What are you two doing?" Shizune yelled. She was going after them, but unfortunately another wood serpent got in her way. "Dammit!"
As Karin and Sakura ran, the earth shook more and more violently with each step the golem took, no doubt the tremors being worse because they were getting close to it. Though Sakura could observe that the footsteps of the wooden consctruct were becoming deliberatedly heavier.
"Karin, I think that thing noticed us, and it's trying to stop us!" Sakura warned the redhead.
"What makes you think that?" Karin asked.
The golem delivered another stomp, this one with enough force to crack the earth even further, and send a rain of boulders and rocks towards the incoming kunoichi. The two of them managed to nimbly dodge the incoming chunks of rock, and use their chakra enhanced strength to destroy those they were unable to dodge.
"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought," Sakura said.
"HA! That's the best you have, you oversized vegetable doll?" Karin taunted.
It seemed the golem heard the two kunoichi, because the next stomp carried much more power. It produced a shockwave that spread outwards in a circle, tearing the ground apart, sending the two kunoichi flying into the air.
"WHOA!" the two of them said at the same time.
"Regain your balance! We're almost there! We can't let this thing stop us!" Karin said, as she managed to land on her feet on the unstable land. She then jumped from one flying chunk of rock from another, followed by Sakura.
"I still don't know what the hell do you plan to do!" Sakura protested, following the redhead.
"You'll see shortly! Almost there!" Karin said, her feet touching the ground again. "Now rush forward and don't stop!"
"Karin! We're getting close to that thing's feet!" Sakura urged, panic seeping through her voice.
"I know! Use a mud jutsu to make sure it doesn't stomp the ground again!" Karin told her.
Even if she wasn't sure of the plan, Sakura started to make hand seals. "I'll need to put quite a lot of chakra into it to trap that thing. And even then, it won't last for long!"
"I only need a few seconds! If you can buy me that, I can do the rest myself!" Karin said.
Sakura relucntantly nodded, finished her seal sequence, and slammed both palms into the ground.
"Earth Release: Mud Trap! Earth Release: Crushing Avalanche!"
That moment, the ground between the golem's feet turned into mud. A tiny patch at first, but it quickly spread outwards, forming a large brea pit, deep enough for the golem to sink its feet into. It tried to break out of the trap, but the mud restrained its movement. Sakura's second jutsu manifested in a series of large rocks appearing above the pit of mud and falling onto it, creating a pathway that Karin could use to cross without being trapped.
"Well done, Sakura! Now get over here!" Karin told her, as she rushed under the golem's legs, hopping from one rock to the other, until she reached the other side. And once she was at an appropriate distance, she made her move. "Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Multiple chakra chains shoot from Karin's chest, guts, arms and hands, small at first, but growing in size as they moved towards the golem. The chains wrapped around the arms, legs, body and the serpentine dragon coiled around its body. The redhead then grabbed all the chains, and using chakra enhanced strength in combination with the senjutsu enhanced strength, gave a mighty pull.
The golem, who was trying to remove the chains clinging to its body, was pulled backwards a little, but nowhere near enough to make it fall on its back. The wood colossus managed to pull the chains back, forcing Karin to direct chakra to her feet in order to stay stuck to the ground.
"Karin, hold on!" Sakura said, as she crossed the mud pit through the rocks she had created. "Help is on the way!"
Sakura quickly rushed towards Karin, and helped the redhead to push the golem down. However, even with the two of them combining their strength, it wasn't enough to topple the migthy green monster.
"It's too big!" Sakura said, as she continued to pull. "The rest need to push it from the front, so we can pull it from behind!"
"Hopefully the others will realize what we are doing!" Karin said.
The rest of the ninjas fighting the golem had fell back in order to escape from the shockwaves and tremors caused by its stomps. Fortunately for Karin, it happened to be the case, since Neji was observing the two kunoichi with a mix of interest and fear through his Byakugan. At first he didn't know what they were trying to accomplish, but once Karin released her chains, it was crystal clear.
"Neji? What are they doing?" Gai asked.
"They aren't trying to topple that thing on their own, are they?" Tenten asked.
"That's exactly what they're doing," Neji said, his eyes still fixed on them. "But they're unable to do it on their own."
"Then what are we waiting for? We should help Sakura-san and Karin-san! Especially now that that monster has been stopped on its tracks!" Lee said.
"Lee is right! Come on, we can't let this opportunity pass!" Gai enthusasthically agreed. "Everybody, let's go!"
Following Gai's lead and rallying cry, the nearby Allied ninjas all charged forward once again, firing elemental jutsu, while others leaped at the golem and struck it with all their might. Shizune, thanks to her senjutsu enhanced strength, and Gai and Lee, thanks to the Celestial Gates, were able to deliver quite the blows to the mighty golem, who started to tumble back.
While this happened, Karin and Sakura continued pulling the golem down from behind, and their efforts, with the help of the other Allied ninjas, finally paid off, as the golem lost its balance, and started to fall down on its back.
"Yes! We did it!" Karin said, as she looked in triumph at the toppling figure of the Wood Golem. However, she noticed that Sakura wasn't besides her anymore, but was running away like crazy.
As a shadow loomed over her while growing larger, it dawned upon Karin that the golem was about to fall right on top of her.
"SHIT! WAIT FOR ME!" Karin cried, as she run away as fast as she could.
The golem's back hit the ground –fortunately, Karin was able to escape in time, with a couple seconds to spare– once again producing a shockwave that made the whole earth tremble. That moment, Kurotsuchi flew down and started to bark orders.
"Quickly! Destroy the wood dragon wrapped around its body!" the Tsuchikage urged. "Before it gets back on its feet!"
"I'm on it!" Lee said, as he run across the golem's body, rushing towards the dragon. The wooden serpent noticed both Lee and its intentions, as it tried to snap him between its jaws, but the green clad Special Jonin was too fast. Channeling as much chakra as he could through his body, Lee made his move. "Konoha Great Whirlwind!"
Lee jumped and delivered a spinning roundhouse kick that pretty much shredded the dragon's head into tiny bits of wood.
"Yes! Well done, Lee!" Gai cheered.
Not wasting any time, Kurotsuchi started to make hand seals, before clapping her hands together. "Everybody, move away from the golem, or else you might be turned into ashes! Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
Kurotsuchi brought her hands apart, summoning a cube of white light. She threw the cube at the fallen giant, and this time there was nothing to intercept it. Pouring as much chakra as she could, Kurotsuchi enlarged the cube of light until it covered the whole golem. There was a bright flash of light, and the cube disappeared. Were the golem once lied, there was now nothing but a rectangular shaped mark.
"Yes! The golem is no more!" a Kumo ninja cheered.
"All hail Tsuchikage-sama! It was her who sent it into the oblivion!" an Iwa ninja said.
"Hey, two Konoha kunoichi helped as well! Don't leave them out!" a Konoha ninja protested.
Before it could escalate into something uglier, Kurotsuchi intervened.
"Enough!" Kurotsuchi yelled. "We might have defeated a migthy foe, but this battle is far from over! We can celebrate later, now find some more enemies to kill!"
The Tsuchikage's orders had the intended effect, and soon most of the Allied ninjas dispersed across the battleground, in order to put an end to the remaining enemies.
"Commander," Neji called, as he walked towards Kurotsuchi. The Hyuga had his Byakugan fixed on her. "Are you okay? You may act tough, but I could see that you expended quite a lot of chakra on that one jutsu."
"I know, but I need to keep a brave face. The troops can't see their commander look weak," Kurotsuchi said. "It would be bad for their morale."
"It would be worse if they saw you die," Shizune interjected. "Come on, let me patch you up. I can do something to curb your exhaustion for a bit."
The Tsuchikage wanted to protest, but the rational part of her told her that she should listen to the black haired medic-nin. Sighed in defeat, the young Kage floated down towards Shizune.
…
As the battle against the Wood Golem happened, in another part of the battleground another fight was also making the ground tremble. Not because any of the combatants were as big as the aforementioned golem –though they were bigger than a normal human, that's for sure– but because whenever their blades clashed, the power behind each of the strikes faced against each other produced a shockwave that made the floor quake.
Two chakra constructs, one vibrant red, the other pitch black, with the shape of the upper half of humanoids encased in heavy armor. Itachi's was wielding a sword made of yellow flames on one hand, and a shield in the other, while Fugaku's was wielding two long katanas on each of its hands. So far, they did nothing but trade blows, but Fugaku was able to parry every one of Itachi's strikes, much to his frustration.
"I can't see any gap in his defense that I can exploit," Itachi said, his Sharingan carefully analyzing every centimeter of his enemy. "Even if I already defeated Father once, the situation changed too much. Any advantage I might had over him is long gone."
"Itachi!" Sasuke shouted. The elder brother looked at Sasuke, who didn't summon his Susanoo. "Let's attack from afar! The two of us together!"
"Sasuke, why aren't you using Susanoo as well?" Fugaku asked, the same question crossing Itachi's mind. "I thought you had the Mangekyo Sharingan!"
"I don't need it to beat you!" Sasuke spat back, though Itachi doubted his younger brother could back up that claim. "Come on, Itachi!"
Itachi nodded. The shield on his Susanoo disappeared, and its now empty hand summoned three spinning magatama linked by a circular thread, which were launched towards Fugaku's Susanoo as if they were a shuriken.
"Yasaka Magatama!"
"Amaterasu!"
Sasuke ignited the magatamas with his jutsu, forming a ring of spinning black flames. Fugaku's Ssuanoo brought its katanas together, merging them into a double bladed sword, and started to spin it as fast as it could. The double sword spinning raising a powerful wind, but that wasn't the move's purpose. Instead, the spinning blade served as an improvised shield that deflected the flaming magatamas, sending them away.
The chakra katanas caught fire, but Fugaku solved that problem by simply tossing them away, dispelling them and letting the black flames to fall on the ground, before instantly generating two new katanas, and joining them together into a new double blade.
"Dammit, no effect," Sasuke cursed, as he flinched, clearly fighting to stay on his feet.
"He has problems even with just Amaterasu. No wonder he refuses to use Susanoo," Itachi noted, as he worriedly looked at his brother. "Sasuke, are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me! Focus on the enemy in front of us!" Sasuke snapped.
Sasuke wasn't merely trying to distract Itachi from his issues, as Fugaku was preparing to attack. The black Susanoo raised its double sword above its head, and started to spin it again. A powerful tornado started to form around Fugaku's Susanoo, but the Uchiha brothers doubted that once again the wind was the attack.
And their assumptions turned out to be right when the black Susanoo tossed the spinning double blade at them.
"Sasuke, behind me!" Itachi cried.
Sasuke thankfully moved behind Itachi's Susanoo. As the spinning double blade flew towards them, raising powerful winds, Itachi quickly resummoned the Susanoo's shield on its left hand, and put it between itself and Fugaku, parrying the blow. The double blade continued spinning, grinding against the shield, resulting in a shower of sparks spreading everywhere. Eventually, both the shield and the double blade were send flying away in different directions.
"Not even the Yata Mirror was able to completely nullify an attack of such power," Itachi lamented. "This is going to-"
"Itachi, watch out!" Sasuke cried.
Itachi's Sharingan registered Fugaku and his Susanoo moving to close combat distance, both blades coming down from different angles for a devastating strike. The elder brother only had time to raise his Sword of Totsuka in order to parry both blows. Still, his Susanoo was unable to absorb the force behind the double strikes, and was pushed backwards.
"Itachi!" Sasuke repated, before turning his eyes towards Fugaku. The youngest Uchiha formed hand seals as fast as he could before unsealing a Fuuma Shuriken, which was instantly inbued with both electricity and fire. He tossed the shuriken at the enemy Susanoo, while making more hand seals. "Double Elemental Release: Plasma Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu!"
The flying star of steel, fire and lightning replicated itself a dozenfold, just before they all crashed against the black and red Susanoo, resulting in several explosions of fire and electricity. Sasuke was hoping that all the chakra he had spent on that jutsu was worth it, but when the smoke dispelled, he was disappointed to find that the damage done was lesser than what he expected. Fugaku's Susanoo had some missing chinks of armor, but that was about it.
"An impressive attack, son," Fugaku praised. "The last time I saw you, you were barely able to use the clan's signature jutsu. Yet now you're able to use two elements at once."
"Now you realize of my potential, don't you?" Sasuke bitterly replied. "One can go far when you have a willing teacher or mentor."
"Unfortunately, such attack won't be of help in the long run. If you expect to defeat me, you should use Susanoo," Fugaku told him. "Your brother can use it, why can't you?"
"This has to be a joke. Even in death, you can't help but compare me to him," Sasuke replied, his eyes flaring with anger.
"It is not my intention to put you down, but in this situation, it's inevitable," Fugaku began, his stare hardening. "If you can't use Susanoo, then you can't help your brother. Worse, not only you aren't helping him, but you're forcing him to protect you while he fights me. You're nothing but a distraction to him."
"SHUT UP!" Sasuke roared, a purple aura flaring around his body, followed by his Susanoo forming and taking shape.
"This is bad. Father's words only made Sasuke even more unbalanced. Now he uses his anger to maintain his Susanoo, but that won't last long," Itachi worriedly thought. "I need to end this fight as soon as possible!"
Itachi poured more chakra into his own Susanoo. Itachi started to float as his Susanoo's lower half developed, first the bones of two legs, followed by muscle and skin, and finally armor. Fugaku, however, showed that his skill with Susanoo was at least on par with his eldest son's, and Fugaku's Susanoo also reached the full armored humanoid stage.
Sasuke's Susanoo didn't reach that stage.
"So, it's going to be you and me, son," Fugaku bitterly said, as a memory came to his mind. "Like our last encounter."
"And just like in our last enocunter, I shall be the one to come out on top!" Itachi said, as his Susanoo stomped forward.
…
Meanwhile, apart from the rest of the battles, Tsunade and Nagato continued their duel, each of them aided by the animals they were able to summon, many of them locked in a duel of their own, while Tsunade fought Nagato, his multi headed dog and his chameleon. Nagato was forcing Tsunade on the defensive by showering her with missiles generated by the Asura Path. Taking advantage of her predicament, the chameleon opened its mouth, ready to snatch the Sannin with its tongue.
Tsunade, however, already expected this and extended her hand towards it.
"Bansho Ten'in!"
The giant chameleon was yanked towards Tsunade by an invisible force, and the moment it was close enough, Tsunade sank her fist inside the reptile's flesh. The punch was hard enough to undo the summon.
"Yes! One vermin less-"
Tsunade was interrupted when she saw the giant multi headed dog ready to pound her. Unable to use the Deva Path again, the blond Sannin was forced to jump back. And it was that moment when Nagato choose to strike, as his hands weaved through hand seals.
"In your current predicament, you can't avoid this attack," Nagato announced, as he finished his jutsu. "Wind Release: Wind Scythe!"
Nagato motioned his arms in a wide arc outwards, creating several crescent shaped blades of wind, which flew towards the airborne Tsunade. Unable to use the Preta Path while she was moving, Tsunade did the only thing she could: call one of her summons for help. Said help came in the form of the giant bird, who dived down and shielded Tsunade from the wind blades with its own body. Not only had Nagato's jutsu enough power to cause enough damage to dispel the summon, leaving a cloud of smoke behind, but there were still a couple of blades of wind left that continued their way towards Tsunade. The blond woman braced herself as the attack connected, leaving deep gashes on her left arm and right side. Blood quickly began to pour from them.
"Heh..." Tsunade said, as she quickly brought one hand to the side, where the worst wound was, and started to heal it. "You managed to land a pretty good hit. Not bad, kid."
Nagato didn't say anything. That moment, the earth started to rumble, forcing Tsunade to jump away once again, a second before the giant centipede broke through the floor, sending rocks and peebles flying in every direction.
"As famed as a medic you are, you won't have the time to heal your wounds," Nagato said, sounding like he was warning her.
"Kid, one doesn't get to be the best medic who ever lived if I was unable to heal myself while fighting," Tsunade retorted, sounding almost offended, as her feet touched the ground, her healing uninterrupted. "There's more to being a medic than mere medical knowledge."
"Let's hope you can back up those words with actions," Nagato said, remaining still.
That moment, both the centipede and multi headed dog rushed her. Fortunately, she could sense that her lobster had defeated Nagato's giant panda, unsummoning it. She mentally ordered the lobster to come to her and help her deal with the animals harrasing her. Unfortunately, lobsters weren't exactly known for their speed on land, and it wasn't close to her.
The first one to attack was the centipede, who slammed its head against Tsunade. She almost felt her body jumping away on her own, but she realized that was what the enemy was expecting, and instead of dodging it, she stopped healing herself and took the attack head on, grabbing the centipede by its mandibles. The dog then moved to attack the apparently defenseless Tsunade. "Apparently" being the key word, as with a mighty heave, Tsunade hurled the giant arthropod against the large canid, sending the two of them rolling aside.
Tsunade wasted no time and continued healing her injured side, and that moment, she could feel the rhino she had summoned being destroyed by Nagato.
"Shit, there goes another of my animals. Guess Nagato decided to focus on them while I'm busy, so he can overwhelm me with numbers," Tsunade thought, realizing the redhead's plan. "Now I only have one animal left."
Speaking of which, the giant lobster finally managed to reach her position. And just in time, as the centipede and the multi headed dog were back on their feet, and ready to attack again. The dog charged first, its many heads barking furiously, but it was intercepted by the lobster, who tackled it away. That still left the centipede to deal with Tsunade.
"Basho Ten'in!"
Of course, there was also Nagato himself, as the redhead reminded her through his actions. Tsunade was yanked from her position and hurl into the air towards Nagato. The centipede attacked in tandem, ready to eviscerate the Sannin between its jaws. Tsunade, however, was far from helpless, and cast her right hand towards the giant arthropod.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The gravitational push not only hurled the giant centipede back, but it also propelled Tsunade backwards, away from Nagato and the rest of his beasts. Nagato, however, wasn't going to give Tsunade any time to breathe, and his hands quickly flew through hand seals.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Nagato expelled a huge conical shaped torrent of water from his mouth at the still airborn Tsunade. The Slug Princess, however, wasn't impressed.
"I saw what you were doing there, but it won't work this time!" Tsunade said, just as she landed with a loud boom, the ground cracking beneath her high heeled shoes, seconds before being engulfed by the incoming torrent. She raised a single hand forward, which started to glow with a white light. "Gakido!"
Through the power of the Preta Path, Tsunade absorbed the water jutsu, converting it back to pure chakra and adding it to her own reserves.
"Not bad kid, but you miscalculated!" Tsunade gloated.
"I can assure you, I did not," Nagato calmly replied.
That moment, Tsunade felt the earth rumble. Her one visible eye widened upon seeing the giant ox charging towards her, while letting out a loud bellow. Tsunade panicked, as she was still absorbing Nagato's jutsu, and thus couldn't move. She tried to absorb it as fast as she could, and finished just when the ox was on top of her. Tsunade jumped back to avoid being gored by the giant beast's horns, and even if she was able to dodge the horns, she was hit by one of the animal's legs, which send her flying, until she crashed against a tree, who promptly snapped in two.
Fortunately, despite her age, the Slug Sannin was resilient enough to withstand such a powerful hit. She could felt a couple broken ribs, though.
"Oh boy, this is going to hurt so bad tomorrow," Tsunade lamented, as she started to heal herself as fast as she could. And to make matter worse, she felt the last of her Rinnegan summons being defeated by Nagato and the rest of his animals. Tsunade was now alone while Nagato still had the multi headed dog, the centipede and the ox. "Well, shit."
"Tsunade," Nagato called. "Even with the Rinnegan, you're no match for me. I suggest you mimick the same thing the Raikage did, and run away before I take your life. I don't want more innocents on my conscience."
"Touching, but you know I can't do that," Tsunade replied, as she got back on her feet.
"You can't let your pride to get in the way. Orochimaru knows you have my other Rinnegan, and wants it for himself," Nagato said, sounding more worried. "Obito already has the other Rinnegan, you can't let this one fall in the wrong hands."
"Let me assure you that your concerns have been taken into account, and that no Akatsuki lackey, either willing or unwilling, will take this eye from my socket," Tsunade replied. If she could keep him talking, she could buy more time to heal herself. "Plus, I'm the only one capable of taking you down. You're too dangerous to let other people join this fight."
"You shouldn't be afraid to risk the lives of your comrades for the sake of defeating me," Nagato insisted. "I'm among Orochimaru's most powerful reanimations. Defeating me will deal Akatsuki a big blow."
"Like I said before, you don't have anything to worry about," Tsunade said, as she wiped some blood from her arm with her finger, and smeared it on her palm. "You WILL be defeated."
"Excuse me if I'm not that convinced," Nagato dryly said, as his remaining animals converged to him. "I have two Rinnegan eyes, while you only have one, not to mention that I'm more experienced wielding its power. All your summons have been destroyed, while I still have some at my side. So far, it appears that this fight will be solved in my favor."
"Good point. But you see, I have a little something that you don't have. A certain summon that's going to tip the battle in my favor," Tsunade said, as she made five hand seals. "Summoning jutsu!"
Tsunade slammed her hand into the ground, making Nagato and his animals to tense up, bracing themselves for whatever Tsunade was going to summon. When the initial burst of smoke dispelled, there was a small slug at Tsunade's feet. The slug quickly climbed Tsunade, and perched herself on the Sannin's shoulder.
"You ready, Tsunade-sama?" the slug asked.
"Indeed. You can begin now, Katsuyu," Tsunade said.
"That was your ace in the hole?" Nagato asked blankly. "I was aware you have a summoning contract, but I expected you to summon something bigger to counter the animals still under my command."
"Don't judge an opponent based on her size," Tsunade said, as she closer her eyes. That moment, blue marks appeared around her eyes, and when she opened them, they were golden instead of their usual hazel. "Or else you might get a nasty surprise!"
Tsunade quickly dashed towards Nagato, but the redhead reacted just in time, raising a hand towards her.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Tsunade was once again blown away by an invisible force, though unlike the other times, it did little harm to her. Meanwhile, Nagato jumped backwards while ordering his beasts to attack her at once.
"So, you have Sage Mode. Given that Jiraiya-sensei and Naruto had it, it shouldn't be a surprise," Nagato commented.
"Of course. I wasn't going to be the only one in my family to be left out," Tsunade said, as she regained balance, eyeing the giant animals charging at her.
"Good. That might give you an edge against me. After all, it was what allowed Naruto to beat me," Nagato said, looking now a little more hopeful.
"Oh, you have no idea, kid," Tsunade said, making the ram seal. "Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates!"
Suddenly, massive red torii fell from above on top of the giant animals, pinning them to the ground, leaving them completely immobilized. Several torii also fell on Nagato, but the undead ninja, being smaller and much faster than the lumbering animals, was able to dodge them expertly. Despite Tsunade's new power and his own unwillingness to fight, his body would continue fighting towards the very end.
"Do you like that? My grandfather created that jutsu!" Tsunade said.
"Now you proved to be more dangerous than initially assessed, I will be forced to use my most powerful abilities," Nagato said, as he cast an arm upwards. "Chibaku Tensei!"
Nagato shoot a gravity core the size of a marble into the sky, which quickly began to pull chunks of rock, tree branches, dirt and everything it could attract in order to form a satellite.
"On no, you won't! Not that shit again!" Tsunade shouted, as she leaped into the forming planetoid. The memory of how she almost lost Jiraiya –not to mention Konoha's potential destruction– due that jutsu was still fresh in her mind. She let the gravity core pull her into the forming planetoid, but once she was there, she resisted the pull and punched her way to the core.
Konan had explained to her in detail how every Rinnegan jutsu worked. The Chibaku Tensei was a sphere of superconcentrated chakra that generated a powerful gravitational field in order to form a planetoid. In order to disable that jutsu, the sphere of chakra needed to be destroyed.
Despite the enhanced endurance and resistance provided by Sage Mode, it was increasingly hard to dig her way to the core when more and more rocks were being blasted onto her body. Still, she was able to reach it relatively quickly. She placed her hand onto the core before more rocks could be pulled.
"Gakido!"
Using the Preta Path, Tsunade absorbed the gravity core, disabling the jutsu. The rocks that had been gathered to form the satellite quickly fell to the ground. Rather than fall, though, Tsunade took advantage of her position in order to leap at Nagato, who once again raised a hand to defend himself.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Tsunade was once again blasted backwards. However, she then grew another pair of arms, and fired the hands from those arms like they were missiles, while remaining connected to the forearms through cables. Tsunade's detached hands latched onto Nagato's shoulders just as she touched ground, before reeling the cables in, pulling Nagato towards her. And, after reaching close combat distance, she placed a hand on his forehead.
"Don't worry kid, this will be over soon," Tsunade empathically said. Nagato didn't say anything, he merely smiled. "Ningendo!"
Tsunade pulled Nagato's soul out of his artificial body, and let it return to the afterlife, where it belonged. Without a soul, Nagato's body quickly crumbled into a pile of dust and paper bits, revealing the corpse of the unfortunate vicitm Orochimaru had used to revive the redhead. The blonde Sannin let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, one less headache," she said to no one in particular. She turned around, and run back towards the bulk of the battle. "Time to put an end to this."
…
At the same time Tsunade fought Nagato, Itachi and Sasuke continued their duel against Fugaku. Or more especifically, Itachi and Fugaku fought each other within their respective Susanoo, while Sasuke watched impotently.
Itachi had proved in the past to be a superior swordsman to his father, and he believed that that would translate to the fight between Susanoo, only to find out how wrong he was. He didn't knew why –but suspected that the fact that Fugaku was a remotedly controlled reanimation had something to do with it–, but Fugaku's Susanoo moved much faster than Itachi's, and its blows were delivered with far more dexterity, attacking with quick, wide swings that were difficult to parry and pushed Itachi's Susanoo back.
Fueled by rage, Sasuke managed to bring his Susanoo to its armored form, but was unable to reach the full form. Still, deciding that it was better than nothing. A purple chakra bow appeared between the Susanoo's hands, and fired multiple arrows at Fugaku's Susanoo. But much to Sasuke's frustration, the black Susanoo parried them expertly with its double sword, almost making it appear as if it wasn't even paying attention to Sasuke. In a certain manner, it wasn't.
"Dammit!" Sasuke cursed, as his Susanoo wavered, his rage no longer being able to sustain the chakra construct, as the anguish and despair he felt over the idea of accidentally killing Naruto washed over his being, making him fall to his knees. "It's no good... I can't use the Mangekyo Sharingan... and without it, I can't help Itachi! Useless! Useless!" he shouted, slamming his fists against the ground.
He raised his gaze, and saw, unsurprisingly, Itachi being pushed back even further by Fugaku. This seemed to snap Sasuke from his brief pity party and return to his sense.
"No, there's no time to whine. Mangekyo Sharingan or not, I need to find a way to help Itachi," Sasuke said, as he got back to his feet and ran towards the two chakra giants. "Or else father's going to kill him!"
Itachi's Susanoo was struggling more and more against Fugaku's vicious attacks. Even if Sasuke couldn't harm Fugaku directly, if he could provide some distraction, it would buy his brother some secods to breathe. His hands flew through seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed a fireball towards Fugaku's Susanoo, which had its back turned on him. The fireball hit its mark, but it didn't appear to cause enough damage. Undeterred, Sasuke breathed more fireballs, all of them hitting its mark. This time, they had the intended effect, as the black and red Susanoo turned around, its ugly visage focused on the youngest Uchiha.
"Sasuke, what are you doing!?" Fugaku called. "Get away from here!"
"Shut up, father!" Sasuke yelled back. "I will help Itachi no matter what!"
Sasuke didn't stop, and continued shooting fireballs at him. This time, Fugaku's Susanoo either moved aside to dodge them, flying into the sky until they were no longer seen, or blocked them with his double bladed sword, as it stomped towards him.
However, the youngest Uchiha had already accomplished what he set to do. Fugaku was no longer focused on Itachi, which gave him some much needed time to regain his force, and launch a surprise attack from Fugaku's back. However, much to his shock, Fugaku's black Susanoo sidestepped, allowing Itachi's red Susanoo to stumble forward, before the former delivered a brutal kick to the later, making Itachi's Susanoo fall to the side.
"That was careless on your part, Itachi," Fugaku said, sounding half disappointed and half worried.
"ITACHI!" Sasuke yelled, as he rushed towards his fallen Susanoo.
Unfortunately for Sasuke, Fugaku didn't forget about him.
"Sasuke, run!" Fugaku warned him.
He winded up the arm holding his double blade, before he tossed it at Sasuke. The youngest Uchiha could do nothing but stare at his incoming doom, his Sharingan allowing him to see the deadly blade coming at him almost in slow motion, but still not slow enough to dodge it. Then, there was a red blur, and Itachi's Susanoo suddenly appeared between Sasuke and the flying blade, parrying it with the sword of Totsuka. Unfortunately for Itachi, his weakened Susanoo was unable to absorb the force Fugaku's double blade carried, and was blown backwards, falling on its back.
"Itachi...!" Sasuke shouted again, this time his voice sounding weaker. His eyes shifted from Itachi's wrecked Susanoo, to Fugaku's incoming one. Once again, a feeling of despair took hold of his body, as an horrible realization dawned upon him: not only he wasn't even able to provide assistance to Itachi, but his presence was a distraction, forcing his older brother to protect him and take hits aimed at Sasuke.
Is this how it was going to end? After all his training, battles, experience... was this his end? Being killed alongisde his brother by the raised corpse of the father that neglected him? Just because he wasn't able to overcome the trauma of awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan?
Rage flooded once again. Though, unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of rage one could channel into strength, for Sasuke himself was the target that rage. He hated himself for allowing this to happen.
"You're so focused on getting over the side effects of the Mangekyo Sharingan, that you can't see the path in front of you. Take a look at what your brother and Shisui did. They overcame their trauma of the Mangekyo Sharingan not because they aimed to do that, but as a side effect of setting a different goal. Try to emulate them. Set a goal. And you'll see how in the end, you can leave that moment behind."
Suddenly, Sakura's words from days ago echoed inside his head. Sakura... even if it was a bitter consolation, Sasuke was glad that his girlfriend wasn't there to see him. Not only because he didn't want her to witness his demise, but because he didn't want her to see him in such a sorry state of mind.
"Sorry, Sakura. I did try to follow your advice, but I was unable to," Sasuke mentally replied.
"Don't say your goodbyes so soon. I know it takes more than this to get rid of you, Sasuke-kun."
"Sakura? Is that your voice I'm hearing in my head?" Sasuke replied. "Or am I'm going insane now? I know the Mangekyo Sharingan can drive someone insane. It happened to Obito."
"Am I the real Sakura? That doesn't matter. What matters is what are you going to do now. It's not too late. You can still unleash the true power of your eyes, Sasuke-kun. You're not thinking clearly."
"No, I'm not," he admitted. "Facing father again... it awakened in me feelings I thought that left behind. How cold he was towards me. How he always forced me to live under Itachi's shadow. How when he finally warmed up to me it was because he had a disagreement with Itachi. And how he led our entire family to its doom for a mad quest for power."
"Not the best moment to overcome the trauma of awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan. But not an impossible task either. You should have done this before, but you can still do it now. There is still time."
"Always the optimist. Sorry, but I don't think I can set up a goal right now," Sasuke bitterly replied.
"Yes. Yes you can. Tell me, Sasuke-kun, what do you want?"
"It isn't obvious? I want to master the Mangekyo Sharingan so I can help Itachi, and don't be a goddamn dead weight he has to risk his life to protect!" Sasuke mentally shouted.
"No, that's not what I mean. What do you want, Sasuke-kun? What do you want to do with your life? What's your reason to be a ninja? What do you fight for? Every action you take, every fight you enter, every enemy you slay... what's the purpose behind those? What do you wish to achieve?"
"I... I want..." Sasuke began, as the ground shaked, Fugaku's Susanoo dangerously approaching with each step. "I want to be a strong ninja. So I can protect what little family I still have. So I can make them feel proud of me."
"Good! What else?"
"I want... to clean the Uchiha name. The Uchiha Insurrection will be something that history will never forget, but I want future generations of Uchiha to be unburdened by such tragedy caused by their shortsighted ancestors. I want future generations of Konoha ninja to look at us again like they did in the past, with awe and admiration."
"Yes! But there's more, isn't it?"
"I want to be happy. I want my family to be happy. I want to see Shisui and Shizune-sensei's children to grow up into strong ninjas so they can look at them with pride. I want to see my brother happy after how much he suffered for me and for the village. I want to tell my girlfriend how much I love her, and that I'm looking forward to the future we have together..."
"Splendid! But I can still feel there's something else left..."
"Yes," Sasuke thought, as he got back on his feet. He could slowly feel how the despair and anguish slowly disappeared, being driven away by steel hard determination and burning hot righteous anger. His body felt lighter as the weight of the burden he carried since that fateful day was lift from his shoulders. He glared at the incoming Susanoo. The pattern of his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan formed on his eyes, as a purple aura surrounded him. "I want to find the one responsible for all our misery, the one that started this war... AND MAKE HIM PAY FOR IT!"
Purple light exploded around Sasuke, as his Susanoo formed around him. Skeleton, muscle, skin, and armor. And then legs. His Susanoo then grew in size until it almost matched Fugaku's. A sword appeared on its right hand, while an hybrid between a bow and a shield appeared on its left wrist.
"So... you finally did it," Fugaku said, his lips curcing into a small smile. "Your Susanoo looks impressive."
"Just wait until you see it in action!" Sasuke said, as he commanded his Susanoo to advance forward.
Once again, Fugaku was forced to fight one of his sons. Sasuke managed to land few good early hits, but once Fugaku got a taste of Sasuke's Susanoo's fighting style, he was able to block and parry the youngest Uchiha's blows, and return them in kind. Eventually, Fugaku gained the upper hand, and just like he did with Itachi, pushed Sasuke back with a series of devastating blows with his double blade.
"I'm afraid that your second wind won't be enough to match me, son," Fugaku said, as he struck the purple Susanoo, making it fall on its back, producing a tremor. The black Susanoo raised its double sword over its head, before it brought it down.
However, Sasuke's Susanoo wasn't struck. All of sudden, Itachi's red Susanoo was between the two of them, parrying the blow with the sword of Totsuka.
"Maybe not. But between the two of us, we'll be able to beat you!" Itachi said, as he pushed the enemy Susanoo backwards. Sasuke's Susanoo got back on its feet. "You okay, Sasuke?"
"Yeah! Let's go!" Sasuke said.
Now finally fighting together, the two brothers fought their father. One would attack, forcing Fugaku to parry the blow, and before their father had the chance to counterattack, the other would strike at him, forcing him back. With this tactic, they locked their father on the defensive, depriving him of a way to attack them.
"Keep going Sasuke! Sooner or later, we'll be able to find an opening good enough for a killing blow!" Itachi encouraged.
"Yes!" Sasuke replied.
This time, the two of them brought their swords at once, which Fugaku blocked with the help of his double bladed weapon, struggling against the two brothers.
"Yes, between the two of you, you might have a chance at beating me," Fugaku said. "Unfortunately, this Susanoo isn't at its strongest level. I can still bring it to its perfect form."
Suddenly, Fugaku's Susanoo grew in size again, becoming broader and one head taller than Sasuke and Itachi's. The chakra construct developed a pair of feathered wings on its back, and an ugly mask resembling a tengu. A katana appeared on each of his hands, and merged them together by the handles, creating an even larger double blade.
"I hope you're prepared for THIS!" Fugaku said, as his Susanoo moved to attack.
The Perfect Susanoo moved forward, delivering a powerful blow with its double sword. Itachi's Susanoo took a step forward, and raised its shield to block it. Fugaku was undeterred and kept pressing the attack, forcing Itachi to fall back as he blocked the strikes with his shield or parried them with his blade. Then, all of sudden, Itachi jumped backwards and moved aside, dodging the attack.
"Huh?"
Purple filled Fugaku's vision as he saw Sasuke's Susanoo aiming an arrow at him. Sasuke let loose, and fired a purple bolt of chakra. Fugaku's Susanoo deflected the bolt expertly, but Sasuke fired more arrows in quick succession, forcing Fugaku's Susanoo backwards as he parried them, swinging its double blade.
"Yasaka Magatama!"
Itachi reminded Fugaku that he was still in the fight by firing several red magatama-shaped projectiles. Fugaku tried to deflect them as well, but his Susanoo was still reeling from Sasuke's onslaught, and was unable to block all of them. The magatamas exploded upon contacting, pushing the black Susanoo backwards.
"Not bad. Nice teamwork there," Fugaku praised. His Susanoo managed to regain his balance, and gripping his double sword, its blades started to glow with chakra. "But watch out! You still haven't seen what this Susanoo is capable of! Susanoo: Earth Piercing Heavenly Blade!"
Fugaku's Susanoo stabbed one end of its double blade into the ground, releasing a conic underground shockwave forward, tearing apart the earth as it traveled, sending rocks and chunks of earth everywhere.
"Sasuke, behind me!" Itachi yelled.
As Sasuke hid behind his brother, Itachi channeled more chakra into his Yata Mirror, which increased in size, and slammed it into the ground. The underground shockwave clashed against the shield, producing a huge explosion. However, even if the explosion managed to crack the shield, it protected the rest of Itachi's Susanoo.
"Sasuke, now!" Itachi said.
"You don't have to tell me!" Sasuke replied.
Sasuke's Susanoo jumped from behind Itachi's, and started firing purple chakra arrows at Fugaku's Susanoo. The Perfect Susanoo flapped its wings, and jumped into the sky.
"You won't evade me!" Sasuke shouted, as he started to make hand seals. "Susanoo: Infernal Release, Black Burning Arrows!"
Sasuke continued firing arrows at the airborne Susanoo, except this time they were coated in the black flames of Amaterasu. However, despite its huge size, Fugaku's Susanoo was fast and nimble enough to dodge all of them, and the arrows disappeared into the sky.
"Itachi, I have a way to end this fight for good," Sasuke said. "But we need to bring him back to ground level. I suppose you can't reach the Perfect Level?"
"I'm afraid not," Itachi replied, looking upwards. Fugaku's Susanoo was flying in circles above, them, like a bird of prey ready to strike its unsuspecting prey. "But I don't need to in order to bring him down!"
Then, much to Sasuke's surprise, Itachi undid his Susanoo.
"Itachi? What the hell are you-"
"I can't reach him with my Susanoo active. But I'm light enough for yours to throw me at father's Susanoo once its close enough. If I can latch onto him, then I can bring it down."
Sasuke looked at him, as if judging his idea. His face was a stony mask.
"Very well then," Sasuke said, as he commanded his Susanoo to pick Itachi up. "Just be careful."
"Watch out, here it comes!" Itachi warned.
And indeed, that was the moment Fugaku had decided to swoop down at them, raising a powerful gust of wind as he flew dangeroulsy close to the ground.
"Now!"
With all his might, Sasuke hurled Itachi at the incoming Perfect Susanoo. Itachi's own Susanoo started to form around him, starting with the ribcage, but before it could properly develop, the hand of Fugaku's Susanoo extended forward and caught him between his fingers, shattering it, before flying back into the sky.
"You had a good plan, son. But you should remember that, even if I couldn't hear you from above, the Sharingan allows me to read your lips," Fugaku said in a chastising tone, watching his son struggle inside the giant chakra construct's grip. Blood started to trickle from Itachi's mouth. "I'm sorry son, I didn't want it to end like this."
"You have many reasons to be sorry, father," Itachi said. "But my death won't be one of them."
Itachi closed his eyes, and all of sudden, an explosion of light came from the former Clan Heir, blinding Fugaku. The former Uchiha Clan Head screamed as his eyes were seared by the burning light, made even worse by the enhanced vision provided by the Sharingan. The Susanoo unwittingly released Itachi, dropping him.
Itachi then wiped some blood from his mouth, and made hand five seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Itachi thrust his bloodied hand down, producing a burst of smoke, and from the smoke, a giant raven emerged, braking Itachi's fall.
"You shouldn't trust your Sharingan so much, given that it failed to see the flashbang I hid in my hand," Itachi whispered to himself. "Fly above him!"
The giant black feathered bird obeyed, and placed itself and Itachi above the still blinded Fugaku. Itachi's eyes morphed into his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan form, as he aimed his vision at Fugaku's wings.
"Amaterasu!"
Black flames erupted around Fugaku's Susanoo's wings, consuming them almost instantly. Without wings, the so called Perfect Susanoo plunged towards the ground below, crashing with a thunderous boom.
The Impure World Resurrection's regeneration quickly healed the damage to Fugaku's eyes, allowing him to see again. Despite being wingless, the rest of his Susanoo was still in one piece. He'd only need to pump more chakra in order to regrow its wings and take to the sky.
"This is the end, father," Sasuke said.
Fugaku turned to see his son's purple Susanoo, its sword raised towards the sky, and its left hand coated in a mass of lightning.
"Sasuke? What are you going to-"
Fugaku was interrupted by a thunder. Looking up, he saw that the sky was covered in dark storm clouds. He could see the flash of light produced by lightning jumping from one cloud to another. It was then followed by a draconic figure made of pure lightning emerging from the clouds. Just what kind of jutsu was that?
"Susanoo: Kirin Lightning Blade!"
Suddenly, Sasuke's Susanoo rushed forward, its blade still raised. A powerful lightning fell from the sky, landing on Sasuke's Susanoo's blade, acting as a lightning rod, supercharging it with electricity, before the electrical blade was brought down.
Fugaku's Susanoo manifested once again its double bladed sword in order to parry the strike. However, it proved to be useless as Sasuke's attack cut through his defense as if it was made of butter, before striking the Susanoo itself. All the energy stored in the blade was released at once resulting in an explosion of white light that disintegrated Fugaku's Susanoo, as well as Fugaku himself.
Of course, being a reanimation, not even disintegration was enough to put Fugaku for good, and the bits of paper and dust he was reduced to quickly gathered and formed, regenerating his body. And once he was finally regenerated...
"Urk!"
...the Sword of Totsuka pierced his back, and went through his body, emerging from his chest.
"It is done," Itachi said. "Now I will seal you, father. And once Impure World Resurrection is undone, I'll release your soul into the afterlife."
"I... thank you, son," Fugaku said. "Thank you."
"Is there anything you want to say before I seal you?" Itachi asked.
"Since you're giving me the chance... yes," Fugaku weakly said. "Itachi... I'm sorry for the way I treated you. For what I forced you to do that night. I can't imagine what your life has been after that. Still, I'm proud to see that you become such a strong and loyal ninja, and that your conviction hadn't wavered since the last time I saw you."
Sasuke, his Susanoo no longer active, was now walking towards the two. He hadn't completely heard what Fugaku was saying, but he was able to read his lips. He walked closer, imagining, or at least hoping, that his father would have some last words for him.
"Sasuke," Fugaku said. "Come closer."
Said hope turned out to be true. "I'm here, father."
"Sasuke... I'm sorry the way I treated you too. How I wasn't the father you deserved to have. I tried to excuse myself by saying that being a Clan Head didn't leave me enough time to spend it with you, but we both know that that's a lie. I can't imagine either how the repercussions of my ill fated insurrection affected you, given that you were so young. But... I'm very happy and relieved to see the fine young man and ninja you turned out to be. I couldn't ask for a better son, Sasuke. All I ask you now is to follow the same path you're walking right now. You and your brother will be the ones to give the Uchiha Clan back the honor I made it lose. I love you, son."
"I... I love you too, father," Sasuke said, as his eyes started to get wet. He mentally chastised himself for getting so emotional, but he struggled to fight the tears back.
Itachi took Fugaku's silence as his cue, and sealed him completely inside the Susanoo's gourd.
"Hey, brother," Itachi said, as he walked towards Sasuke, the red Susanoo fading into nothingness. "Are you okay?"
"No," Sasuke replied. "But I will be."
"This fight had to be very hard on you, Sasuke," Itachi said, placing a hand on his shoulder, and slowly pulled him into a hug.
"Is this what you felt when you had to fight all of our clansmen eight years ago?" Sasuke asked.
"More or less. Though I think it was worse back then," Itachi told him. "After all, our clansmen were living people back then."
There was a moment of silence, as the two brothers stood there, motionless. After a minute, Itachi spoke again.
"I believe the battle is still going on," Itachi said, finally breaking the hug. "Now that we're done with this, we should go with the others, and help them."
"Agreed. But..." Sasuke's voice wavered. "Just give me a second."
Itachi smiled at him. "Of course."
Thanks to Sasuke's Kirin, the dark storm clouds around them started to disperse, allowing light to flood the forest around them. And as the Uchiha brothers looked at the shining sky, they could feel how the emotional wounds that had been there since that fateful night eight years ago were finally beginning to close.
Author's Note: And thus, with Sasuke finally learning to forgive himself and mastering the Mangekyo Sharingan, his character arc finally comes to an end. Gotta say, thinking how he was going to do it was a bit of a pain in the ass, mostly because I'm not that confident writing for Sasuke. I hope that it wasn't too corny. And to clear any potential confusion, no, the voice Sasuke heard wasn't Sakura talking to him via telepathy, but a part of Sasuke's subconscious which happens to sound like Sakura, since she's been the one trying the hardest to make sure Sasuke forgives himself. Oh well, I'm glad I can finally put that behind me.
Some people might be a bit upset that Mikoto wasn't featured. Originally I was planning to have Mikoto be part of the battle, but I discarded her for two reasons: the first being that, lacking a Susanoo, wouldn't contribute much to the fight. And second, I felt that her presence was a little redundant, and that Fugaku was just enough. You may say that I could have her fight somebody else, but then her fight wouldn't have much emotional weight behind it and she'd feel like a wasted character. So seeing no winning options, I simply choose not to use her.
Even if not as emotionally charged, I hope you guys also enjoyed the resolution of the battles with Nagato and the Wood Golem.
Next chapter, the aftermath of not just this battle, but the battle the First Division lost as well. In the meantime, don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts on this chapter, regardless if it's a long or a short one. Reviews make me really, really, really happy!
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
