Disclaimer: Blah blah, don't own Naruto, now onto something I wanted to ask? To any of you all who watch "Jujutsu Kaisen"... 1) HOLY SHIT IT'S SO GOOD! But 2) ... so in regards to Sukuna... does anyone get 'vibes' from him that remind you of like the old school interpretations of Kurama/Kyubi? Like, back in the days of 06/07, when we didn't know shit about the fox and, in most of the fanfiction, the Kyubi was an actual demon and shit? And there'd be multiple fanfics where Kyubi was actually a villain? The point being is that Sukuna gives me major nostalgic vibes of those days of Naruto past... and lowkey, I kinda dig that!
... If you have not started watching Jujutsu Kaisen, consider this your recommendation to do it. DO IT!
Author's Note: I'll have a longer author's note, but I really want to get this out of the way real quick; jfc FUCK 2020! I think that's a sentiment everyone universally agrees on, but holy shit this year drained me of so much energy, and made writing literal hell (along with everything else in my life and the world in general). I think we all could talk shit about 2020, but the point being with this little note is just apologizing about the lack of updates in the latter half of the year, but it's 2021 now and I (for some reason) have high hopes for this year! So... let's see if things go well and hopefully my update schedule gets back on its regular track! :)
Enough rambling now, sorry! Onward to your scheduled chapter!
"Anyway, this is admittedly disappointing. I really was hoping the traitor was Kabuto. It would have been a good excuse to him." Tobi noted, his Sharingan visible from the hole in his mask. "But turns out, it was you. Guess I'll have to kill you instead." His eyes then focused on both Tayuya and Sasuke behind him: "Kill all of you, it seems."
Sasuke and Itachi activated their Sharingan in near unison while Tayuya pulled out her flute. The three Konoha shinobi formed a triangle formation, their eyes moving back-and-forth from Kisame to Tobi.
"I'm guessing the masked guy is Madara, right?" Tayuya asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Yes." Itachi nodded his head as he briefly glanced over towards the exit: "You two need to go. They will kill you both-"
"And leave you behind?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed further as he shook his head: "No. Not happening."
"What he said." Tayuya snorted in response: "Besides, he knows that we have your information. Let's be real here, Itachi; either we all pull through this together or we all die together. Not in between."
"She's correct." Tobi noted with a chuckle as he shook his head: "Smart deduction. Shouldn't expect less from a cognition created from one of your genjutsu, Itachi."
Kisame immediately made a hand sign before opening up his mouth: "Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!"
Kisame spat out a deluge of water from his mouth directly at the three Konoha shinobi. Upon impact, the images of all three vanished.
"They're outside most likely. I'll pursue." Tobi noted with a chuckle as he proceeded to disappear in another spiral forming from the space around him: "Continue what you want to do. Perhaps get this area flooded to make things easier for you to fight."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Kisame replied as he returned to spitting out more water.
After casting his genjutsu, Itachi, Tayuya, and Sasuke rushed out of the izakaya as quickly as possible alongside the civilian patrons in the bar. As soon as they stepped outside, Tayuya bit down on her right thumb before biting down on her left, coating both with blood. She then ran through two sets of hand signs before slamming both of her open palms on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A large cloud of smoke filled the area. As the smoke dissipated, Tayuya's doki summons appeared directly in front of her, all posed to fight. Standing directly in front of Tayuya was a black-colored mole.
"Two summons?" Sasuke asked.
Tayuya nodded her head. She reached into her bag, pulling out her flute in her right hand a scroll in her left hand. She quickly tossed the scroll towards the mole.
"Get that to Masakado. And tell him we need backup!" Tayuya stated.
The mole nodded its head as it grabbed the scroll. The sky above them proceeded to open up in a spiral formation.
"Hurry, get out of here!" Tayuya hissed.
Just as the mole was using the reverse-summoning jutsu, a kunai flew from the opening in the sky directly at the mole. The kunai connected with its head just as the mole disappeared from view.
'What? Did that really hit before it could get away?' Tayuya's eyes narrowed, her right hand tightening on her flute as she turned her head up towards the spiral: "You fucking bastard!"
"Sasuke!" Itachi called out.
The younger Uchiha nodded his head as both he and his brother ran through the same hand signs: "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
Both Sasuke and Itachi breathed out massive fireballs from their mouths directly into the sky just as Tobi appeared from the opening in space. The masked man proceeded to dodge in midair both oncoming jutsus before landing safely on the ground.
"Hmm. So that summon of yours managed to get away before dying. Shame. Guess the plan's leaked, huh?" Tobi noted. He then shrugged his shoulders as he started to laugh loudly: "Oh well! Guess we'll just rewrite parts of it! Nothing will be lost and you all will end up dying for nothing!"
"Stop fucking laughing!" Tayuya's grip tightened as she brought her flute to her lips and blew a single note. "Demonic Flute: Chains of Fantasia!"
Tobi stiffened in response for a moment before he quickly took a step forward. Tayuya's eyes widened in response.
"You're a genjutsu specialist, aren't you?" He noted, his voice changing to a darker, more serious tone: "Let me be frank; your petty illusions won't work on me. Not even Itachi's genjutsu will be able to keep me trapped."
"Noted." Tayuya scowled in response as she changed her fingering on the flute: "I'm not some one-trick genin, though. I'll show you what I'm capable of."
Before either she or Tobi could attack each other, the izakaya they had exited was completely destroyed, with parts of the building getting scattered. Water proceeded to flood down the streets of the village. The water formed into a giant wave, with Kisame riding directly on top, gripping Samehada tightly.
"You both are going to go all out?" Itachi's eyebrow was raised. "You're not going to be subtle about this fight. This will draw attention."
"Killing you will already draw the attention of Konoha, and by proxy Kumo." Tobi noted. "No point in trying to keep this fight secret. The only essential thing is killing you all here. The aftermath can be handled after the fact."
The three Konoha shinobi, the Doki summons, and Tobi jumped into the air just as the water wave crashed down, completely flooding the village grounds entirely. They landed safely on top of the surface as Kisame joined Tobi side-by-side.
After playing a single note from her flute, the three doki charged forward at Tobi and Kisame. The first two doki attempted to tackle into them, but both Tobi and Kisame jumped away to avoid them. The third doki jumped into the air after them and swung its club down against Kisame. Kisame blocked with Samehada, locking the two into a stalemate as they fell to the water-encased battlefield.
"Some real power behind that swing." Kisame said. A grin developed on his face as he looked over towards Tayuya: "I'll enjoy shaving you to bits!" He then turned to face Itachi, his grin quickly morphing into a scowl: "But not as much as I'll enjoy killing you, traitor!"
Upon connecting with the water, Kisame's body sank underneath. He then reappeared quickly behind Itachi, attempting to swing Samehada directly at him. Itachi jumped back, avoiding the attack. Kisame then proceeded to make hand signs, which Itachi imitated.
"I've never seen you this angry before, Kisame." Itachi admitted, frowning.
"Haven't felt this angry in a while." Kisame admitted, scowling: "But of all the people in Akatsuki that could have betrayed us, it was you. I thought you were the one person who understand the world of lies like I did. Thought you were trying to avoid participating in it. Turns out you were well integrated into that world."
Both shinobi finished their hand signs at the same time: "Water Style: Water Shark Bomb!"
The water underneath behind their feet opened, forming a massive shark of water that rushed through the sky at one another. While both jutsus collided with one another, Kisame's overpowered Itachi's and flew directly at the man. The Uchiha bit his lip slightly as he jumped up, avoiding the attack.
"Your Sharingan will help you copy my jutsu if you need it, but that's not going to help you overpower me. My chakra supply is much higher than yours, or nearly anyone in Akatsuki!" Kisame reminded, his scowl morphing back into a grin.
'I'm aware.' Itachi shook his head before shifting in midair.
Just as Itachi had turned, Tobi appeared directly behind him with two chains attached to his hands like gauntlets. The masked man had attempted to pass through Itachi and grab a hold of him with the chains, but Itachi managed to dodge midair fast enough to avoid the attack. He then breathed out a massive fireball from his mouth directly at Tobi's back, but the flame went through it.
One of Tayuya's Doki jumped up and tried to attack Tobi with its claws, but once again, the attack went straight though his body.
'That's his Kamui.' Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly on the masked man for a moment: 'We need to figure out how to make him tangible. That's the only way we stand a chance at defeating him.'
"You're looking awfully focused on me, Itachi. Not sure if I like it." Tobi noted. His eyes then turned towards Sasuke: "And are you going to do anything in this fight, or are you just standing around waiting to die?"
Before Sasuke could respond, Tobi reached over to his right shoulder and pulled out a spike from it: "Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu!"
Tobi threw the wooden spike directly at Sasuke's face. The younger Uchiha side-stepped, narrowly avoiding the spike. His Sharingan eyes made direct contact with the spike, noticing the chakra inside of it acting up.
'Shit!'
Sasuke used the Shunshin as quickly as possible just as the spikes started to explode outward, forming wooden branches that skewered the area where Sasuke had previously been. He proceeded to reappear directly at Itachi's side.
"Madara can use Wood Release?" He asked, his eyes narrowing on the wooden spikes: "How?"
"Experimentation." Itachi replied, shaking his head: "Wood Release is dangerous, but it's not impossible to fight against-"
"Water Style: Five Sharks Frenzy!"
Kisame slammed his palm onto the surface of the watery battlefield, causing five sharks made of water to form. The sharks quickly swam underwater, causing the battlefield to start to shift heavily, rocking Itachi, Sasuke, and Tayuya to their knees.
"Heh. Don't forget I'm here." Kisame taunted as he pulled himself up to his feet, unphased by the moving water. He proceeded to grip Samehada tightly as he charged forward towards Itachi.
Itachi attempted to pull himself up to his feet, but one of the sharks rushed him, using its fin to knock Itachi back to his feet. Kisame then reached him and swung Samehada directly at him, causing the blade to shave off Itachi's skin.
Itachi was quickly torn apart, morphing into a flock of crows that flew all around Kisame. Sasuke's body quickly did the same.
"Hmph." Kisame scowled in response as he slammed Samehada into the water: "I may be more susceptible to genjutsu than Madara is, but you're going to have to do more than that to land a hit on me."
The crows, in response, proceeded to fly directly towards Kisame, transforming into a series of shuriken. Before they reached Kisame, however, one of the five sharks jumped out of the water underneath Kisame, completely encasing him in its body. The shark was hit by the shuriken instead, protecting its summoner. As soon as the last shuriken made contact, the shark exploded, morphing into multiple droplets of shark-shaped water that scattered through the air.
With the crows' disappearance, Itachi's and Sasuke's true location revealed itself; the two were now standing side-by-side with Tayuya. The shark-shaped water flew directly at them. Both Tayuya and Itachi managed to jump away in time, but Sasuke was unable to get away fast enough and was hit by two of the sharks, which bit into his right arm.
"Agh!" He hissed as blood started to pour from his wounds.
"Sasuke-"
"Fire Style: Blast Wave Wild Dance!"
Tobi spat out a giant vortex of flames that spiraled forward directly at the Konoha shinobi. One of Tayuya's Doki jumped in between them and the flames, forming a barricade. The flames completely encased the summon, causing it to dispel instantly.
"… Shit." Tayuya bit down on her lip hard: "I haven't seen one of my Doki get taken down so easily. This is really fucking bad."
'At the rate things are going…' Itachi took in a deep breath as his eyes began to shift, turning into the Mangekyō Sharingan. 'At the rate my condition has developed, I can't use the Mangekyō for long. Nevertheless, if I want for us to have any hope in surviving this fight, I need to be fighting with this up the entire time.'
A red, ghostly ribcage began to form around Itachi's body. More limbs began to form slowly, creating ghostly arms and a skull. One hand of the ghostly-figure was holding onto an ethereal blade that almost resembled a liquid, with a gourd attached to an extension of right forearm while the other hand held onto a large, ethereal shield. Skin then began to form around the chakra, making way for its final form.
"Itachi?" Sasuke turned to his brother.
"Susanoo!" Itachi began to cough out blood slightly as he staggered himself. Blood started to leak from his eyes as he glared at Tobi and Kisame.
"Taking this seriously, are you Itachi? I see your Susanoo still has the Sword of Totsuka and the Yaa Mirror." Tobi noted with a chuckle. "Good. It might help you have peace in the afterlife if you actually gave this your all."
"Tayuya. Sasuke." Itachi turned his head towards the two Konoha shinobi. He coughed once again, getting more blood out of his mouth, before he shook his head and steeled himself: "Keep up however you all can."
"Itachi, are you alright?" Sasuke asked, his eyes focused intently on his brother.
"Worry about my health after this fight." Itachi replied before turning his attention back to the Akatsuki members. "Our priority needs to be on killing these two."
"Way ahead of you." Tayuya stated as she blew a note on her flute. The two remaining Doki jumped towards them, standing side-by-side Itachi's Susanoo. She then changed the fingering on her flute: "Let's do this!"
Uzumaki Masakado and Uzumaki Susumu snored as they laid in the beds of their shared apartment. Both men had went to bed early and were trying to catch up on missed nights of sleeping on their travel to Kumogakure. The inherent 'stress' of being in Kumo had been long-forgotten in the mind of Masakado as he and his clansman both rested peacefully underneath their covers.
This peace was shattered as a poof of smoke filled the room. Within seconds, Choropū appeared in the room, holding onto something tightly in his arms.
"Masakado-sama, wake-up!" He called out.
Both Masakado and Susumu woke-up instantly and pulled themselves out of bed.
"You look uncomfortable as hell, Choropū." Masakado said, noting that the large mole was obviously too big for the room. His summon had no reaction, which caused Masakado to frown in response: "What's happened?"
Choropū responded by setting down the 'thing' in his arms – the corpse of a mole summon. Both Masakado and Susumu stiffened.
"How?" Masakado shouted.
"How?" Masakado demanded.
"Tayuya summoned him. He died before as he was reverse-summoning himself, holding onto this scroll." Choropū said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll to the elder Uzumaki.
Masakado caught it and opened it immediately. His eyes widened as he began to read the writing.
"Tayuya's meeting with the Akatsuki spy and was attacked while getting info!" He hissed to himself before his eyes focused back on Choropū: "Where are they at?"
"I can get you there quickly." Choropū said before shaking his head: "But get your Hokage first! You may need help against whoever she is facing."
"I will accompany." Susumu offered: "If nothing else, I should be able to provide medical ninjutsu."
"Yes, please." Masakado nodded his head before bolting towards the door: "We need to hurry!"
The two Uzumaki men hurried getting dressed and prepared for combat as Masakado made a shadow clone to go alert Jiraiya. They had to be fast; Tayuya's life and her spy's life were on the line and they could not afford to waste even a second!
As soon as the Susanoo had stabilized, the remaining four 'feeding sharks' in the water rushed forward at Tayuya and Sasuke. Itachi stepped forward, at Tayuya and Sasuke. Itachi stepped forward, the Susanoo around his body moving as well and lowering the Yata Mirror directly in front of his allies. The sharks collided with the shield, causing them to evaporate upon impact.
"So, my feeding sharks technique didn't even make a dent in your Susanoo at all, huh?" Kisame noted as a grin developed on his face. "I've always been curious to see how I fare against it. Guess this is the best way to test that out, huh?"
With those words, Kisame ripped off his Akatsuki cloak. He gripped the Samehada tightly in his hands before impaling himself with the sword in his stomach.
"What the hell-" Tayuya's eyes widened as, instead of cutting himself with his sword, Kisame's body absorbed Samehada: "What the fuck?"
Kisame's body began to transform; his head began to elongate and a fin grew on top, relacing his hair. Two additional fins formed on his forearms, his teeth began to grown and sharpen exponentially, and his hands began to become webbed, forming sharp claws at the ends.
Tayuya scowled as her grip tightened on her flute: "This asshole got even uglier. I'm almost impressed."
"So, what does that form do for him?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowing on Kisame.
Before Itachi could respond, Kisame snorted as he clapped his hands together: "Instead of asking a secondary source, why don't I give you a taste of what I can do like this? Water Style: Super Exploding Water Shockwave!"
Kisame opened his mouth and released another torrent of water. This water quickly overran the environment, raising the water level exponentially.
Itachi, Sasuke, Tayuya, and her two remaining Doki repeatedly jumped up, making sure to stay on top of the water's surface. After a few seconds, the water level finally stabilized.
The sounds of screams and 'gurgling' noises could be heard throughout the area. Sasuke's eyes turned to the area around them and noticed many of the civilians of the village were trying to swim. The Uchiha's eyes widened in horror.
'He flooded this entire village. He's going to kill every civilian here.' He realized. His eyes turned back towards where Kisame and Tobi had originally been; the two Akatsuki agents, however, were nowhere to be seen. 'Where are they-'
The water underneath his feet opened-up slightly. Sasuke jumped away just in time to see Tobi emerging from the water, chains now attached to his wrists.
'So that's their plan.' Sasuke's eyes narrowed on the chains as he made hand signs: 'He's going to try and drown us by dragging us underwater.' He finished his final hand signs: "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed out a massive fireball from his mouth directly at Tobi's body. Tobi made zero effort to dodge the technique and the fireball went straight through his body, hitting nothing.
'If he's intangible like that the entire time, then how the fuck are we supposed to fight him? There's no way-' Tayuya's eyes widened as a thought occurred to her, recalling the initial moments of their encounter: 'That has to work!'
Tobi continued to rush forward on the water towards Itachi, running through ten hand signs.
"Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
A giant wooden, serpentine dragon formed and rushed directly at Itachi's Susanoo. Itachi stiffened and raised his right hand, causing his Susanoo to swing the Sword of Totsuka directly at the dragon. The sword cut through its body, causing the bottom half to fall apart before getting sealed into the gourd in the Susanoo's right forearm. The top half of the Wooden Dragon, however, continued to fly directly at Itachi's Susanoo. As it continued to fly, the bottom half grew once again.
Itachi's eyes narrowed: "Your Wood Release techniques can regenerate?"
"Naturally." Tobi chuckled: "The Sword of Totsuka's sealing abilities may be somewhat impressive, but they won't be a counter to my jutsus."
The wooden dragon continued to encircle the Susanoo, forming a bind around it. The Susanoo proceeded to cut into the dragon time-after-time, briefly freeing it, but the dragon continued to regenerate and continue encircling it.
'He's trying to immobilize the Susanoo and force me out of it. Interesting way to counter it, but it's not going to be enough.' Itachi's eyes narrowed.
As Tobi focused on his wooden dragon, Tayuya's Doki summons charged forward at him once again, one extending its claws while the other gripping its club. He shook his head, chuckling: "You already tried this earlier, Uzumaki. Don't insult me-"
"Demonic Flute: Chains of Fantasia!"
Tobi stiffened once again as Tayuya blew a singular note, trapping him in a genjutsu once again. The Uchiha managed to dispel the genjutsu quickly once again, but the brief moment was enough time for the Doki to reach him and strike, the first Doki impaling his chest and the second Doki slamming its club into his body, causing water to kick up like an explosion.
"Heh. Looks like I was right." Tayuya grinned: "You have to be cognitively using that intangibility technique. Genjutsu might not affect you the traditional way, but it definitely seems to 'work' on you for this purpose!"
A few seconds passed by before two Doki were both sent flying back. Tobi proceeded to walk forward, an open hole in chest and his mask cracked. Despite the crack, however, the mask remained perfectly stable and showed nothing of his physical appearance other than his Mangekyō Sharingan, which was narrowed on Tayuya.
"Bitch." He hissed.
'… Okay, admittedly, I was expecting him to be in more pain.' Tayuya scowled, her grip on her flute tightening: 'He's got a hole in his goddamn chest; how the fuck is he still walking?'
Before Tobi could rush at her, a loud roaring noise sounded throughout the area. He turned his head towards Itachi's Susanoo in time to see it decapitate the 'wood dragon'. The jutsu fell apart entirely, turning into fragments of wood that floated on top of the water, with no sign of reforming back into the large wooden dragon.
"Ah, so you found out how to destroy it, hmm?" Tobi grumbled, crossing his arms.
Itachi's only response was to hold out his right hand. The Susanoo around his body began to form two more arms that started to form chakra, creating red spiraling constructs that resembled prayer beads.
"Yasaka Magatama!"
Itachi's Susanoo launched the 'prayer beads' directly at Tobi's body. The masked Uchiha quickly disappeared in a spiraling vortex, causing the beads to connect with the watery battlefield, creating an explosion that caused rain to scatter throughout the battlefield. Waves began to crash throughout the battlefield.
The Susanoo continued to launch its Yasaka Magatama at the water, creating more massive explosions and continuing to scatter more-and-more water and causing more shaking. After a few seconds passed, the resulting explosions sent Kisame flying from underneath the water and directly into the air.
"Dammit!" The Kiri missing ninja hissed as he steadied himself in the air. He noticed Itachi approaching him, his Susanoo gripping the Sword of Totsuka. A grin developed on his face: "Not bad, Itachi. This thing's really as strong as I thought it was."
"At the very least, I'm glad I'm living up to your expectations in combat." Itachi noted, a small sad smile developing on his face as he made a swinging gesture: "Goodbye, Kisame."
"Water Style: Rain Jet!"
Just as the Susanoo was about to cut into Kisame with his sword, the rain droplets around Kisame's body began to conglomerate around his back before exploding. The resulting explosion sent Kisame flying downward, avoiding Itachi's sword just in time.
"Nice try, but you'll need to do more than that, Itachi!" Kisame shouted.
Once again, the rain droplets around Kisame exploded once again, sending the shark-looking man flying directly at Itachi's Susanoo at a rapid speed. The man directly collided with the chakra-construct before Itachi could even react, causing the Susanoo to stagger.
"Shit." Itachi cursed as the water under his feet began to shake heavily.
'What the hell?' Sasuke's eyes widened. 'How did that Kisame move that fast? That explosion technique he just used launched him at a speed that rivaled the Raikage's speed…'
"If my memory's right, your Susanoo gets its reputation as 'impenetrable' because of that Yata Mirror shield." Kisame commented, his grin widening as he took in the appearance of the off-balance Susanoo. "Now, let's see how much that thing of yours can take from a direct hit without being able to block! Water Style-"
Before Kisame could launch himself forward, adamantine sealing chains rushed forward towards his body, encircling his waist and his arms. Kisame was then pulled back.
"What the…" He nearly growled as he turned his head back to face the source of the chains, Uzumaki Tayuya, with multiple chains protruding from her hands and arms: "These are the Sealing Chains of the Uzumaki Clan, huh?"
"Damn right." Tayuya snorted.
Tayuya used all of her might to force Kisame backwards more, but upon making contact with the water's surface, Kisame started to dig his feet into the water, like makeshift dirt. Within seconds, he was able to start resisting her pull.
"These things… they bind chakra, right? Yeah, I can't bust out with my chakra. I can tell that." Kisame noted as his grin returned: "But they can't do anything about me 'physically' overpowering them, right?"
"You can't break these chains, dumbass!" Tayuya hissed.
"Sure, but I bet I can break you." Kisame's grin widened once again: "Let's find out!"
Tayuya nearly growled as she continued to apply pressure, trying to drag Kisame back further. Kisame was not budging, however, and maintained his position on the surface of the water.
'What the fuck is this guy made of? Holy shit!' She grit her teeth. Her eyes briefly locked onto her two remaining Doki, but before the creatures could charge forward, she noticed Sasuke rushing towards Kisame, lightning forming in the palm of his hands. 'Jackpot! Now if I can only hold onto this guy for just a little longer-'
A separate set of chains tied themselves around Tayuya's legs. Her eyes widened as she saw the image of Tobi's mask underneath the water.
"Surprise!"
"Shit-"
Tayuya was dragged underneath the water, shattering her concentration, and allowing Kisame to break free from the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
"Chidori!"
Sasuke's lightning-covered palm connected with Kisame before the man could jump away. Kisame grit his teeth in pain as Sasuke's lightning pierced his right shoulder. Blood started to pour out of his wound as the discharge of lightning started to scatter throughout his body.
Sasuke attempted to dig his Chidori further into Kisame, but the shark-looking man reached out with his left hand and grabbed his arm.
"What?" Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Got to say, brat, that hurts like a bitch." Kisame admitted with a snarl as his grip on Sasuke's arm tightened. Sasuke howled in pain, causing his jutsu to end and the lightning to disperse. Kisame's grin returned: "But getting this close to me like this was a mistake! How about you and I go for a dip?"
Both Kisame and Sasuke proceeded to sink into the water.
"Sasuke!" Itachi shouted. His eyes narrowed as he ran through hand signs: 'I need to hurry and get him and Tayuya out!'
Underneath the water, Tayuya winced as she was dragged underneath. She struggled to break the chains, but she was unable to destroy them as Tobi continued to drag her deeper-and-deeper under the water.
"Hey!" Kisame called out, his voice echoing through the water. Tobi turned his attention to see the Kiri ninja swimming freely in the water, still gripping onto Sasuke, who was struggling to hold his breath: "Take this one too. I'll finish them both off real quick!"
Tobi nodded his head as he loosened his grip on Tayuya, untangling one set of chains off her as he swung the other towards Sasuke. The younger Uchiha was ensnared and pulled towards Tayuya.
"Now, let's make their last moments painful!" Kisame noted as he clapped his hands together: "Water Style: Raving Sharking Frenzy!"
Twenty water sharks formed underneath the water and began to encircle Sasuke, Tayuya, and Tobi like a circle. Upon their arrival, the grip of the chains started to lighten. Tayuya turned her head towards Tobi to see the masked man starting to swim away.
'Made himself intangible to avoid the carnage no doubt. Tsk.' Tayuya's hands tightened into fists as both she and Sasuke untangled themselves from their chains. As they finished, however, the sharks started to close-in and started to attack: 'Agh!'
'Graaaagh!' Sasuke's mind howled in pain.
The sharks started to bite down on them, their teeth piercing their skin and drawing blood. Both Sasuke's and Tayuya's visible skin started to be cover in bloody bite marks as the sharks continued to bite all over.
'If this continues, they're going to fucking eat us!' Tayuya's mind shouted as she closed her eyes and forced herself to make a hand sign with her right hand. A sealing tag in the pocket of her cloak started to glow and started to float out directly in front of her: 'This better fucking work! Fūinjutsu: Continuous Explosion!"
The sealing tag proceeded to break apart into twenty pieces and attached themselves to the sharks around the two. The sealing papers immediately detonated, creating a massive explosion.
"What?" Kisame's eyes narrowed: 'An explosive tag? No way a normal tag could detonate like that under water, let alone water formed from my chakra! What the hell was that?'
The sharks were destroyed in the massive explosion while the explosion itself served as a propulsive force that sent both Sasuke and Tayuya flying upwards. The two shinobi were sent flying out of the water and flew into the sky. Both immediately started to gasp for air.
'We're alive!' Tayuya closed her eyes in pain as she finally noticed exactly how bloodied up both she and Sasuke were alive. 'Thank fuck!'
"Sasuke! Tayuya!" Itachi called out in relief. 'They got out on their own. What a relief.' His eyes then returned back to the water as his Susanoo proceeded to slam two of its arms into the water: "Now, let's finally do something about this battlefield!"
The Susanoo proceeded to sent a massive burst of chakra into the water, creating a massive explosion. All of the water was sent flying into the sky, creating a torrential rainstorm as the water level returned to normal.
With the water-covered battlefield now back to normal, the devastation could be seen throughout the area. The village around them had now been completely destroyed and many corpses could be seen. While the corpses were now charred from the explosion Itachi's Susanoo had created, they could all be seen gripping their throats, revealing their true cause-of-deaths.
'So many people dead…' Sasuke grit his teeth as he turned his head towards Kisame.
Kisame's body now had burn marks on his shark-like skin. His eyes narrowed on Itachi's Susanoo as his face morphed into a twisted hybrid of a scowl and grin.
"What firepower." He snorted as he cracked his knuckles: "You may have betrayed us, Itachi, but at least you're going out swinging." His eyes then moved to Sasuke and Tayuya: "And at least your allies can keep up somewhat. I've been enjoying this!"
"Enjoying this?" Sasuke grit his teeth as his hands tightened: "Look at all these civilians that died? You call this enjoyable?"
"Heh. I can see this one's definitely a preachy Konoha shinobi." Kisame snorted: "You know, if they didn't die from drowning, they would have died the second Itachi did that explosion technique with his Susanoo."
Itachi's gaze remained steadfast on Kisame, giving him no reaction whatsoever.
"Kid, shit like that is collateral. Any real shinobi knows that." Kisame noted. His eyes then moved towards Tayuya: "You and the red-head are also collateral, you know? Itachi's the only that has to die; you two are just going to die too for being in the wrong place."
Tayuya snorted: "Big talk for a guy who looks a few more explosions away from being tempura."
'… Where is he?' Itachi's eyes narrowed.
As Tayuya, Sasuke, and Kisame all stiffened, preparing to continue their fight, Itachi's eyes scanned the battlefield looking for any signs of Tobi.
"Surprise!"
Itachi's eyes widened in horror as a figure appeared directly behind him.
Tobi was now directly next to Itachi inside his Susanoo, swinging a fūma shuriken in his hand rapidly.
The Masked Man closed the difference between the two and stabbed Itachi with the blade of the shuriken in his chest. Itachi's eyes widened momentarily as he started to choke out blood as Tobi tried to dig it in further.
"I've been waiting for this moment. Even when you're on alert for me, I still managed to get the jump on you. Good thing to know that your Susanoo is not impenetrable against my Kamui." Tobi noted with a chuckle.
"That's… regrettable…" Itachi hissed in response as his hands went to Tobi's hands, pushing back against the blade and preventing it from going any deeper into his skin.
"Regrettable? Interesting choice of words." Tobi shook his head, sighing. "You are someone I have lots of regrets about, you know? My hope that Kabuto was the mole went beyond simply wanting to kill him. You intrigued me, Itachi. You always have, ever since the day you massacred our clan. The willingness to sacrifice even your own clan for the bigger picture… I knew you were the perfect shinobi to integrate into Akatsuki." His eyes narrowed behind the mask: "How can you possibly turn on us this late into our objective?"
"Turn?" Itachi repeated the word, a bitter chuckle escaping his lips before he started to choke-up more blood: "No, I never turned. I was always loyal to Konoha."
"I can see that, now. Shame." Tobi replied, scowling, as he applied more pressure on his shuriken. Itachi's eyes widened slightly as he was briefly overpowered and started to choke out more blood: "Also a shame about your health. I can tell you're not as strong as you normally are, Itachi." A grin quickly developed behind the mask as he shook his head: "Even if I left you be, you'd probably drop dead before the end of the year, wouldn't you?"
"… Perhaps." Itachi replied: "However, I'm the kind of person who never anticipated to live a long life." His eyes then narrowed on Tobi's hands and started to change shape: "And I can't think of a better to spend what time I have left fighting off the greatest threat to my village. Amaterasu!"
'Shit!'
A spiraling vortex began to appear around Tobi's body, sucking him inside. At the same time, black flames began to appear from Itachi's eyes directly at Tobi's position. Before the Masked Man could suck himself in, however, the flames connected with his hand, where he had been gripping onto the fūma shuriken.
"AGH!" He growled in pain as the flames traveled up his arm before he was fully sucked in.
As soon as the masked man was gone, Itachi pulled out the shuriken from his chest. He started to choke up blood again, with more blood starting to pour from his eyes, which turned back into the standard Mangekyō Sharingan. His breathing grew heavy as he turned his attention back outside of the Susanoo.
A spiraling vortex opened up next to Kisame, revealing Tobi once again. The Masked Man was gripping onto his right arm, which had the sleeve completely burnt off, revealing massive burns.
"Hmm." Itachi shook his head: "You managed to extinguish the Amaterasu?"
"No. I just ditched the flames in my pocket dimension." Tobi hissed in response: "That dōjutsu of yours… I once tried to replicate your Amaterasu, but clearly mine pales in comparison to yours."
"Doing alright?" Kisame asked.
"I'm fine. It'll heal quickly." Tobi replied, shaking his head, before turning his attention back to Itachi: "I did land a decisive blow on him. If we keep pushing him and his allies, we'll kill them in no time."
"Heh." Kisame grinned in response: "You can count on me!"
"You alright, Itachi?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm fine." Itachi replied as he made a hand sign: "Just keep fighting you two. We need to be especially careful right now."
"Yup." Tayuya nodded her head. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out two kunai with sealing tags attached to them and threw them at Sasuke and Itachi: "Hold onto those and activate the seal immediately."
Sasuke caught onto the kunai while Itachi made an opening in his Susanoo, allowing the kunai to fly towards him so he could catch it. Once the two brothers grabbed their kunai, Tayuya pulled out her flute again.
"Time to play a Grand Finale that will send these assholes to hell!" She exclaimed as she brought her instrument to her lips.
"Ah, Kabuto-san. Pleasure to see you here." Metoro greeted.
Kabuto nodded his head as he walked past by the Konjiki Brothers and took in the sight of the ocean over the horizon, as well as the many familiar islands in the distance.
It was not the first time Kabuto had been to Umi no Kuni – The Land of the Sea. One of Orochimaru's many hideouts was in the country and it was often a strategic location for him to hide out on if he was trying to lose someone on his pursuit.
'Now that I think about it, I wonder if Amachi is still here.' An image of a man entered Kabuto's mind; a relatively non-descript man with black eyes and short grey-hair that somehow fit in a ponytail. 'I should check his lab if he's still here. I know he was researching some type of Kaima transformation of sorts. I doubt he'd just abandon his research because Orochimaru-sama passed-'
"We got the message you'd be on your way to visit us earlier today, but we didn't think you'd be over here this quickly." Etoro admitted with a snort, pulling Kabuto from his thoughts: "Weren't you all the way in Konoha or Kumo or some shit? How'd you get all the way down here?"
"Swift Release works wonders for long-distance travel." Kabuto replied with a chuckle: "Although I will confess, I was surprised to find out you all chose Umi no Kuni for your settlement."
"Hey, you suggested picking a country that had no shinobi village." Etoro shrugged his shoulders: "I mean, we're kinda close to Mizu no Kuni and Kirigakure, but they're still doing shit with their reconstruction after their civil war. We'll fly under the radar here."
"That all makes sense." Kabuto nodded his head. He then turned back to the brothers, his eyes narrowed: "So, am I able to use some of your captives?"
"Naturally." Metoro nodded his head as he gestured behind him and Etoro.
Kabuto's eyes focused on a few unconscious civilians behind the two men, tied up. Kabuto nodded his head as he walked towards the offerings.
"This'll be a nice start, but I'm going to need more." He stated.
"How many more?" Etoro asked.
"To be honest, I don't know." Kabuto shrugged his shoulders: "My Edo Tensei is going to require one person for every use, and I need to continue until I find the correct one."
His hands tightened into fists: 'I have all the DNA samples from every Uchiha who perished in the Second and Third Wars. I even have DNA samples for shinobi whose bodies weren't recovered.' A smirk developed on his lips: 'Just you wait, Tobi. I will figure you out today. And once I know who you are, I'll be able to use that information if needed.'
"Sure, sure." Etoro nodded his head as both he and Etoro turned around and started to walk back to the nearby village that they took over: "We'll get more people for you, then. Just start your research and we'll be back with more."
Kabuto stood still, watching the Konjiki Brothers walk off for a moment, before he turned his attention towards the captive civilians. His smirk widened as he placed his right hand on the shoulder of one of the people: a young man with scruffy blond hair. The man woke up in that moment, gazing into Kabuto's eyes.
"Well, if nothing else, I'm about to get access to an army of Uchiha Edo Tensei summons." The silver-haired shinobi noted as he adjusted his glasses with his left hand: "Now, time to begin my trials. First test subject: Uchiha Setsuna."
The blond's last moments were agonizing.
"Demonic Flute: Revolt of the Demon World!"
As Tayuya begins to play a melody on her flute, her two remaining Doki open up their mouths, releasing worm-like chakra spirits, with many mouths on their bodies. The spirits fly towards Tobi and Kisame, who both jump away before the creatures could reach them.
"Heh, very interesting." Kisame commented with a grin, his eyes focusing on the spirits before moving towards the Doki: "You really got an interesting summon there, Uzumaki."
'Yeah, you're about to see how interesting it can get.' Tayuya internally snarled as she started to up her tempo with her melody: "Demonic Flute: Demon's Lair!"
In an instant, the two Doki exploded. Before the two worm-like chakra spirits could dissipate, they launched the many mouths on their bodies, scattering them throughout the battlefield. The mouths opened up and released Yin Chakra, creating a dome of white chakra.
"The hell is-" Kisame's words died as he felt an overwhelming draining sensation rush through his body. He was immediately brought to one knee: "H-Holy shit…"
"This…" Tobi grit his teeth as he felt his own energy starting to leave his body: 'This jutsu is attacking our physical energy! I'm too connected to this world right now; I don't think I'll be able to use Kamui like this!'
'What a ruthless technique.' Itachi noted, turning to face the Uzumaki with a smile: 'Suppose that should be expected of Jiraiya-sama's successor as Konoha's Spymaster.'
'The seals she gave us are keeping us immune to the effects of this jutsu.' Sasuke realized. His eyes then moved to the sky. The massive amounts of rain in the air had affected the weather, and he could see lightning traveling from cloud-to-cloud: 'I need to take advantage of this!'
Sasuke jumped forward, lightning surrounding his right hand. He held his hand upward, causing the lightning in the sky to start descending from the sky, forming into the shape of a lightning dragon.
"Kisame, to me!" Tobi hissed as he clapped his hands together while Kisame jumped over to his side: "Wood Style: Wood Expulsion Jutsu!"
"You're not doing anything! Be gone, with the thunder clap!" Sasuke growled as he lowered his hand. "Kirin!"
A wooden dome-like structure, resembling a dragon's hand, surrounded Kisame's and Tobi's bodies. Simultaneously, the lightning dragon in the sky fell downward on top of them. The lightning crashed onto the wooden dome, creating a massive explosion that scattered earth and wood throughout the battlefield.
When the dust cleared, both Tobi and Kisame were revealed, still in the same physical condition.
"Goddammit." Sasuke grit his teeth in response: "How strong was that defense?"
"Strong enough to fight a bijūdama. Your pathetic lightning is nothing in comparison, brat." Tobi growled in response. He took a step forward as he felt another 'drain', almost bringing him to his knees. 'That jutsu wouldn't have taken as much chakra out of me if it wasn't for this area of effect drain on me…' His eyes turned to face Tayuya, who was still playing the same melody: 'Change of focus; kill her now!'
Reaching into his cloak, Tobi threw a series of fūma shuriken directly at Tayuya. The Uzumaki's eyes widened for a moment, but she proceeded to jump away, maintaining her melody. Kisame then jumped towards her, water forming around his fists.
'She can't properly fight as long as she's maintaining the jutsu.' Itachi realized in horror as he extended his hand outward: "Yasaka Magatama!"
Itachi's Susanoo launched forth a spiraling magatama directly at Kisame's position. The magatama connected with his body, creating a massive explosion that launched him backwards and creating another heavy burn on his stomach.
"Urgh…" Kisame groaned as he caught his footing on the ground, turning back to face Itachi with a grin: "Well, you're going to get more active again, huh?"
Itachi responded by making hand signs: "Fire Style: Art of the Phoenix Flower!"
With one hand, Itachi tossed a volley of shuriken at the same time as he breathed out a stream of fire, igniting them. The flame-covered shuriken flew out of the Susanoo and into the battlefield towards Tobi and Kisame, the downpour in the sky not extinguishing the flames.
"He's trying to distract us from the Uzumaki." Tobi called out, his eyes still narrowed on the Uzumaki as he dodged Itachi's shuriken: "Focus on her still!"
"Roger!" Kisame called out, jumping away from Itachi's shuriken as he ran through hand signs: "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"
The rain above Tayuya's head began to change shape, forming into a spiraling vortex and opened up, creating a massive downpour. Before it could hit her, though, Itachi jumped forward, his Susanoo extending its Yata Mirror like a shield over Tayuya's head. The giant vortex connected with the mirror, completely nullifying the jutsu and causing the water to trickle down to the ground.
As Tayuya moved away, still playing her melody, Tobi jumped towards her, spinning another fūma shuriken in his hands like a blade. Itachi then made a gesture with his right hand, causing his Susanoo swinging the Sword of Totsuka at him. Tobi side-stepped away, narrowly avoiding getting pierced by the blade.
"You're making this a lot more complicated than it needs to me." Tobi said with a hiss. "In the end-"
"Chidori Senbon!"
Tobi jumped up just as barrage of a thousand senbon-shaped lightning bolts flew towards him. He was unable to fully get away as three of the scattered bolts hit his back. He grit his teeth in pain as his eyes turned towards Sasuke, whose hand was still covered in lightning.
"That area of effect is really slowing down them down." Sasuke noted, nodding his head in approval at Tayuya. "Good work, Tayuya."
The Uzumaki nodded her head as she still played her melody.
'… On second thought, let's try another plan.' Tobi told himself as he made hand signs: "Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
Kisame immediately cued in on Tobi's plan. A grin developed on his face as he made hand signs of his own: "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Another massive wooden serpentine dragon was formed from the ground as rain droplets formed into a massive dragon of water. The two elemental creatures flew directly at the same target: Uchiha Sasuke.
"Sasuke!" Itachi called out.
Sasuke proceeded to jump around, avoiding both techniques. The two dragons, however, reversed course and proceeded to keep flying towards him.
'I understand the wood dragon still pursuing me, but I don't recall Water Dragon Jutsu being something that can easily reverse itself like that.' Sasuke's eyes narrowed for a moment on the dragon, his Sharingan studying it: 'Even with Tayuya's jutsu draining his physical energy, that Kisame guy is really able to pour so much chakra and water into this thing…'
"Let's make this interesting, eh Tobi?" Kisame asked with a smirk as he made a hand sign.
Tobi nodded as he made the same hand sign: "Wood Style: Ouroboros!"
The wood dragon's and water dragon's speed increased massively at the same time until they surrounded Sasuke's body. The wooden dragon bit down on the water dragon's tail while the water dragon did the same to its wooden counterpart. Upon contact, the area between the two dragons became encased in a golden glow before forming a wooden dome, with the two dragons forming its outer ring.
"What?" Sasuke's eyes widened as he stared at the dome surrounding him. Lightning encased his hands as he tried to cut through the dome with his Chidori, but the lightning had zero effect. "What the hell is this?"
Immediately, water started to pour into the dome. Within seconds, Sasuke was entirely underwater.
'Shit!' Sasuke's attempts to destroy the dome grew harder, but nothing worked; the wooden dome around him remained intact. 'I'm going to drown at this rate!'
"Dammit." Itachi cursed as he gestured, causing his Susanoo to raise one of its additional forearms: "Yasaka Magatama!"
The Susanoo launched another barrage of spiraling magatamas directly at the ouroboros. Kisame ran through hand signs as multiple water walls formed between the two, creating a barrier that the magatama hit instead.
"Kisame, you're just stalling." Itachi's eyes narrowed as his Susanoo fired more blasts: "That won't stop me!"
"You sure about that?" Kisame snorted in response as he ran through the hand signs for more water walls.
Within seconds, Itachi's magatamas blasted through another wave of water walls. After a moment, Itachi's attack managed to connected with the ouroboros, destroying both dragons instantly and breaking the dome, freeing Sasuke. The younger Uchiha started to gasp for breath immediately.
"Thank God-" Itachi immediately turned around towards Tayuya: "Tayuya!"
He was too late to react; Tobi had closed the distance between himself and the Uzumaki, stabbing her through the chest with a wooden spear.
"Agggghhhhh!" She growled in pain as her flute-playing finally came to an end, blood pouring from her open wound.
With the melody silenced, the battlefield lost its translucent color. Tobi and Kisame both immediately had their bodies straighten-up once more, the 'draining sensation' finally ending.
"Ah, finally. I will confess, that last song you played actually hurt a lot over time. Really slowed me down. You've earned my respect, Uzumaki." Tobi praised as he made eye-contact with Tayuya.
"G-Go to hell…" She growled.
"Hmm, maybe one day. Save a nice place for me. But before you go, let me make your last moments on this earth as painful as possible." Tobi said, grinning behind his mask: "Demonic Illusion: Shackle Stakes!"
Tayuya's eyes widened as time around her came to a halt. The Uzumaki found herself locked within a genjutsu where spikes protruded throughout her body.
She could tell she was in a genjutsu; however, her body, as injured as it was and with so much chakra expended, could do nothing to combat it, not even disrupt her own chakra flow.
"AGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Tayuya!"
Itachi's Susanoo swung the Sword of Totsuka at Tobi, forcing him to jump away. Tayuya's body staggered for a moment with the wooden spear still sticking in it before her eyes closed as she succumbed to her injuries.
'Tayuya…' Itachi closed his eyes for a moment as he shook his head: '… I fell for that trick. I am so sorry…'
Sasuke quickly rushed over to her side, picking up the red-head's unconscious body. He held his head to her chest, listening for her vitals.
'… She's alive. Barely.' Sasuke shook his head as a scowl developed on his face: 'Placing her in a genjutsu on top of the physical damage. That was done to torture her!'
"You fucking asshole!" He snarled as he turned to face the masked man.
"Huuhhh?" Tobi shrugged his shoulders in mock-confusion, adopting his 'cheerful' Persona for a moment: "Did I do something?"
"You…" Sasuke's hands started to shake as lightning surrounded it: "QUIT YOUR FUCKING JOKES! CHIDORI CURRENT!"
Lighting rushed through Sasuke's body through the ground directly towards Tobi. Before the lightning could connect, however, the masked man disappeared in a spiraling vortex.
"DAMMIT!" Sasuke growled as he looked around the battlefield: 'His space-time bullshit's back. So where's he going to spawn?'
Itachi immediately stiffened as he turned his attention away from the battlefield and towards the area within his Susanoo. He waited for a seconds, looking for any sign of movement. After staring for a few seconds, he saw the faintest image of a spiral formation.
'There!' Itachi's eyes began to change shape once more: "Amaterasu!"
Black flames quickly appeared in the spot of the spiraling vortex, but the masked man never appeared from it. The flames proceeded to fly through the vortex into Tobi's pocket dimension.
Itachi's eyes narrowed, blood pouring from them. 'Where is he?' The spiraling vortex then disappeared for a moment before reforming again above him: 'There!'
Itachi channeled the black flames upward, which caused the flames to be sucked up once more. After a seconds passed, the spiraling vortex vanished once more. Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan turned back to normal and the man's eyes narrowed. Within seconds, another spiraling vortex opened up, directly behind Itachi.
'I'll wait this time-' Itachi tensed as Tobi rushed out of his spiraling vortex, gripping another spear made from wood: "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
Just as Itachi breathed out a massive fireball from his mouth, Tobi's body became intangible, dropping the wooden spear and forcing the fire to pass straight through him. Once the flame had completely went through his body, the masked man closed the distance between him and Itachi and stabbed him in the chest in the same spot prior with another wooden spear.
"Gah!" Itachi shouted as he started to choke up more blood.
A shake came from the Susanoo around his body. Tobi looked towards it for one moment before turning his attention back to Itachi, a chuckle escaping his lips.
"You're getting weaker and weaker, Itachi. Your Sharingan is about to fade, isn't it?" Tobi commented. "This has been a rather interesting experience, Itachi, but it's about time we end this!"
Itachi's eyes, as Tobi predicted, were starting to morph once more, returning to his regular eyes. The Susanoo around them began to fade away and Tobi's grin widened underneath his mask as he stared back at Itachi's regular eyes.
'No… I can't… let it end like this…' Itachi nearly growled in his mind as he channeled his chakra straight to his eyes one final time.
As quickly as they changed, they reverted to the Mangekyō Sharingan, changing into another new shape as he made eye contact with Tobi.
"Tsukuyomi!"
Tobi's eyes widened in horror: 'What-'
He was unable to turn away in time before the world around turned to red-and-black.
"You only are able to use your Mangekyō Sharingan for three jutsu a day! And you had been maintaining Susanoo this entire battle! How the hell did you have the ability to use Tsukuyomi?" Tobi shouted.
"'How' is irrelevant. For the next seventy-two hours, you will relive your past traumas." Itachi said coldly.
"'Seventy-two hours'." Tobi snorted. "Your Tsukuyomi is indeed the strongest genjutsu out there currently, but my Sharingan is strong enough to fight back. You won't hold me for long."
"Let's find out, then." Itachi said as he waved his hand.
Itachi shook his head, looking around the world around him. The base world around them began to change shape, turning into what resembled a war-torn battlefield. Using Tobi's memories, he had expected his Tsukuyomi to change the landscape to the time of the Warring Clans Era. He had expected to watch 'Uchiha Madara' relive the death of his brother, Izuna, and to experience his crushing defeat at the hands of Senju Hashirama once again.
Instead, the Tsukuyomi showed a young girl with straight brown hair and purple markings on her cheeks, getting stabbed by a younger-looking Hatake Kakashi.
'Kakashi-san?' Itachi's eyes widened.
"Don't…" Tobi tensed up as a shiver ran through his body: "Don't you dare show me this!"
"Kakashi…" The girl whispered.
"I said don't!" Tobi growled.
The masked man took a step forward, but before he could get close to the scene in front of him, the Tsukuyomi changed the 'sky' above into a red-and-black colored cave that started to collapse. Rocks began to fall all around Tobi's body. One stone hit his head hard enough, knocking him down to the ground.
"Ugh!" He hissed in pain as boulders continued to fall, crushing half of his body. His body was now frozen, his eyes widening behind mask: "Not again…" He shook his head. "NOT AGAIN!"
"Obito!" A voice that resembled Kakashi's voice shouted.
"OBITO!" A feminine-sounding voiced nearly screamed.
"SHUT UP!" Tobi growled: "YOU BOTH AREN'T REAL! STOP SAYING THAT NAME!"
Itachi remained still as he watched the scene around him. Minutes passed as the rocks continued to fall all around Tobi, nearly fully covering the man. Meanwhile, the young girl continued to get repeatedly stabbed in the heart by Kakashi. The scene continued to play over-and-over as more boulders started to fall down.
"Itachi, stop this bullshit!" Tobi continued to growl as he tried to struggle against the boulder.
"Obito… I'm so sorry…" Kakashi spoke softly.
"I said STOP!" Tobi's shouting grew louder-and-louder, his Mangekyō Sharingan starting to rotate rapidly behind his mask.
'… This isn't Uchiha Madara…' Itachi realized, his eyes widening. 'This man… he must be-'
"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Tobi screamed. "I'M GOING TO TEAR YOUR FUCKING HEART OUT!"
After another five seconds, the boulders were sent flying away. Itachi's eyes widened as he watched Tobi pull himself off the ground.
'He's… defying?' Itachi noted, a horror going down his body: 'He can't-'
Before Itachi could finish his thought, Tobi rushed towards him and punched him directly in the face.
Sasuke and Kisame, who were both poised to strike at one another, immediately turned their attention towards the Susanoo as it began to fall apart. Within seconds, the chakra construct was completely gone, leaving both Itachi and Tobi still standing still, staring at one another.
"Itachi!" Sasuke shouted.
"Sh-Shit…" Kisame shook his head, staring at the masked man: "He got him in Tsukuyomi, huh?"
Before either Sasuke or Kisame could rush to their aid, the Tsukuyomi was shattered. Tobi regained control of his body and Itachi was sent flying backwards – as if punched like in his genjutsu. Sasuke immediately jumped forward and caught Itachi's body before it hit the ground while Tobi fell to his knees, panting heavily.
"Bastard…" Tobi growled as he shook his head. "You… bastard…"
"You… aren't… Madara…" Itachi started to speak softly: "You're… Obi-"
Itachi's words were cut off as he started to cough out blood. His Mangekyō Sharingan reverted back to his regular eyes as he continued to choke blood.
"Itachi!" Sasuke shouted, his eyes widening in horror as tears threatened to fall.
As Sasuke continued to hold onto his brother, Kisame took in Tobi's condition. He noticed the masked man still had not pulled himself off the ground, causing him to tilt his head slightly.
"That bad, huh?" He asked. Tobi's only response was his own heavy breaths. A chuckle escaped his lips as he turned to face Sasuke and Itachi, his eyes narrowing on the image of the choking Itachi: "Hell of a job fending us off, Itachi. I'll never respect you as a person anymore after your betrayal, but I will always respect you as a fighter." He then took a step forward: "And now to end this-"
A poof of smoke filled the area. When the smoke cleared, Choropū was revealed, with Jiraiya, Masakado, and Susumu standing there, prepared to fight.
"… Three more add-ons, huh?" Kisame snarled.
'We need to go…' Despite the condition of his brain and body, Tobi's mind still registered the danger. His Sharingan started to spin once again as he briefly looked over at Itachi. 'Besides… we accomplished our goal… I can tell…'
Masakado's eyes moved from Itachi's body – nearly limp in Sasuke's arms – before going to Tayuya's bleeding body. His eyes narrowed in horror before turning back to Kisame and Tobi.
"You assholes are going to regret this!" He hissed.
"Uchiha Madara. Hoshigaki Kisame." Jiraiya nearly growled as he slammed his hands on the ground: "Neither of you are going to escape here alive! Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Trap!"
Before Jiraiya could finish changing the air around Tobi and Kisame into a toad's esophagus, the two men disappeared in a spiraling vortex, as if they had never been there. With their disappearance, Jiraiya canceled his jutsu with a scowl.
"We were too late! Dammit!" He nearly growled.
"No, we may have gotten here just on time." Susumu spoke-up as he dipped his paintbrush into his paint can, turning it into a light-green color: "Paint Fūinjutsu: Healing Canvas!"
The paint flew out of Susumu's can and, dividing itself in half, flew towards both Tayuya and Itachi and covered their wounds before being converted into healing chakra.
"I'm not a good enough medic to provide them with long-term treatment, but this should last them until we get back to Kumo." Susumu noted, his eyes narrowing: "We need Tsunade to look at both of them-"
"Focus… on Tayuya…" Itachi spoke-up, choking up more-and-more blood. "I… won't-"
"Itachi." Sasuke's voice was harsh, his grip on his brother's body tightening: "Don't talk right now. You're only straining yourself-"
"Sasuke." Itachi interrupted, his eyes meeting Sasuke's Sharingan. "I… I know…"
"'Know?' Know what?" Sasuke spat out, his eyes narrowing on his brother. The tears that had threatened him earlier were starting to return: "You don't know shit! We're going to get you back to Kumo and you'll get better healed-"
"Sasuke…" Itachi's hand started to quiver slightly.
"See, you're starting to move again?" Sasuke pointed, his eyes moving to Itachi's hand. "H-His medical ninjutsu is s-starting to work! J-Just wait-"
Sasuke was silenced as Itachi reached up with his fingers to poke at Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke stiffened in response, his eyes widening.
"Sasuke… I know…" Itachi said, his choking returning. "… I've been ill… I'm deeply injured… I overexerted my eyes… I'm… going to…"
Itachi's hand dropped slightly from Sasuke's forehead. The younger Uchiha shook his head as his grip on Itachi's body grew tighter-and-tighter.
"No. No no no no. Y-You can't do this to me Itachi!" Sasuke nearly shouted as his tears started to fall: "P-Please! Y-You're all I have left, Itachi! Please don't!" He shook his head: "Don't leave me again!"
"Forgive me, Sasuke…" Itachi spoke softly, tears falling down his eyes next to the blood marks.
"Itachi, we're not going to let you die." Jiraiya said sharply. Masakado grabbed onto Tayuya's body tightly, as Jiraiya ushered Sasuke to his feet: "You're going to live."
"H-Hokage-sama… I'm sorry…" Itachi mumbled. "Before… I go… y-you must know… the masked man…" He started to choke out blood again. Both Jiraiya and Sasuke were about to tell him to stop talking, but Itachi's voice cleared up for a moment to finish hi sentence: "He's not Madara. He's… Uchiha Obito…"
"Obito?" Jiraiya's eyes widened. 'Where does that name ring a bell… wasn't that Kakashi's old teammate-'
"For a moment… I saw it… in the Tsukuyomi… that's him…" Itachi muttered to himself for a moment as he started to close his eyes: "D-Don't waste time… trying to heal me… instead… have Tsunade-san… give Sasuke my eyes."
"Itachi, stop talking! Please!" Sasuke pleaded before looking back to Choropū: "You! You're how they got here, right? Get us back to Kumo, now! GET US TO A MEDIC, DAMMIT!"
Choropū nodded his head solemnly as he reverse-summoned the group out of the battlefield. Everyone was quiet as they hurried back to Kumo and ran to get Tsunade.
In their haste, no one noticed Itachi's body grow cold. Nobody except Sasuke.
Nobody – not even Sasuke – noticed Sasuke's Sharingan shift into a tear-filled Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Another one off the list." Kabuto noted as he looked at his checklist, crossing off 'Uchiha Kagami'.
With a snap of his finger, the body of Uchiha Kagami returned to the coffin that it had come from and sank back into the earth. While there was some minor annoyance that he still had not figured out 'who' Tobi was, Kabuto was at least proud of the fact that he was getting a massive boost in power for all of his Edo Tensei summons. He was now getting enough Uchiha that he could almost have an army of undead Uchiha alone!
'An army, hmm?' Kabuto rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before he shook his head: "Next name."
Kabuto walked forward to the next civilian sacrifice: a middle-age man with long, wavy black hair and brown eyes. The man's eyes widened in horror as Kabuto effortlessly grabbed him and dragged him to the seal he drew up on the ground to convert living bodies into an Edo Tensei.
"P-Please! Don't make me one of those things too!" The man begged. "P-Please! What can I do t-to save myself? P-Please-"
"Oh, shut up already, old man." Kabuto scowled as he dropped the man's whimpering body into the seal. He then made the necessary hand signs: "Summoning Jutsu: Edo Tensei!"
The man closed his eyes, sobbing as he awaited for his body to be converted to dust and paper, before being remodeled into another 'undead Uchiha'.
It did not happen.
Both Kabuto's and the civilian's eyes widened. The civilian's body began to shake as more-and-more tears began to fall.
"Oh thank you God. Thank you God. Thank you, thank you…" He prayed, grateful for being saved.
'It didn't work… IT'S THIS ONE!' Kabuto grinned as he looked at his checklist.
Uchiha Obito; a chūnin who died in the Third Shinobi World War at the Battle on Kannabi Bridge. One of his Sharingan was transplanted to Hatake Kakashi, who lost his eye in the same battle. His body was never recovered, having been crushed by boulders, and the only thing was 'buried' were his belongings, with only loose traces of his hair and blood as the only source of DNA for him.
Still, that was enough DNA needed to summon him, and Kabuto failed to summon him.
"So that's who you are, Tobi!" Kabuto started to laugh loudly as he brought his hands together: "Uchiha Obito!"
Finally, Kabuto knew what he needed to know. Now, to figure out how to use that information.
Quick Notes:
1: GODDAMMIT ITACHI! YOU AND YOUR GODDAMN OP ABILITIES, BUT YOU AND YOUR GODDAMN ILLNESS! Ander Arias has heard me complain about this for a while now, so you all will have to stomach it for just one moment; writing Itachi in a combat scene for this time period is fucking hell trying to figure out the balance. Because his Susanoo having both the Sword of Totsuka and Yata Mirror is broken as shit. And while at the same time as being OP and having OP shit, canon Itachi is sick? With an illness, that not only is barely acknowledged in canon about what it actually is, but that is also slowly killing him? And he can barely use his Mangekyō?
Uggghhh... that's all. I just wanted to complain about how fucking weird it is to write a major combat chapter with Shippuden Itachi that is going all out, with the most OP abilities, but also a limited use of his Mangekyō Sharingan and an illness that is actively affecting him. Blah
2: It was mentioned in the last chapter about Kisame being angry at Itachi. My justification on Kisame's anger about Itachi's betrayal is based on two factors. The first being just, well, a superficial betrayal. Kisame and Itachi were close; naturally, Itachi leaving will trigger strong emotions of some kind. But the other factor is that Kisame values information above all else, to the point that he dies in contentment in canon knowing he kept important information away from Konoha's hands. The fact that Itachi was leaking information not only might trigger him based off his past (as it mirrors what happened in Kirigakure with his former master), but it also just stands for everything Kisame detests about this 'World of Lies'. Having said that, Kisame is also someone that still values fighting above all else, so this I think impacted his interaction with Itachi throughout the chapter.
Author's Note: Hey everyone! Chapter 117 is done! ... Late again. Blah. But I'm a lot more motivated to write than I was at any single point in 2020, so here's hoping for a good year! :)
I have to confess that I was also very anxious about this chapter. Besides it being the first that does not have any of the main cast in it (i.e. no Naruto/Hinata/Shikamaru/Anko), the fight in this chapter... it features way too OP characters in general and I was heavily worried I wasn't doing it justice. I have multiple versions of this chapter scrapped and revised and re-written entirely based around whether or not I was writing someone too OP or too underpowered. Mostly centered around Itachi and Tobi/Obito, but Kisame/Tayuya/Sasuke were also major stressors, making sure that I was neither leaving them 'there' not contributing much, nor that I was making them 'too much'. And... blah. I don't know. I'll be very excited to hear what you all think about this fight, because OH BOY DID THIS ONE PARTICULAR FIGHT TAKE A LONG WHILE!
I feel like I have more things to say, but I'm tired... per the usual. XD So I guess I'll leave this here. But I'm in a better headspace this year already than I was at any given point last year. Hoping to have better control of my life and try and keep up with a more regular updating schedule. I promise the next chapter, at the very least, will be coming out sooner rather than later! :)
I'll see you when 118 is finished! Until then :)
