The Rise of a Warrior: Naruto: Shippuden

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Three years have come and gone, and while Tatsu and the ninja of the Hidden Leaf have grown stronger, they'll have a whole new group of enemies to face. The era of Team Dragon has arrived, but can they rise to the challenge? Sequel to the Rise of a Warrior: Naruto, second story in my Naruto trilogy. Please read each chapter until the end and check for notes.

37. Reanimation Return, Team Dragon Reunites

Itachi was lying down on his back on top of a lab table, a layer of bandages covering where his eyes should be 'It's only a matter of time now.'

"Are you sure about this?" Kazuma on the other hand was sitting next to him "Keep in mind that once you do this, there's no going back."

"I know, and that's why I have to do it. You know this just as well as I do."

"Alright." so Kazuma channeled his Tenseigan Chakra Cloak, albeit only in his hands "Just remember that whatever happens next is on you."

"I've had that mindset for years, and now it's part of who I am."

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At the same time, Sasuke, along with Jugo, Suigetsu and Orochimaru, had reached the outskirts of Konoha, when they sensed the chaos on the main battlefield 'It's weird, all of us can sense this chakra and yet none of us are sensory types. I guess that proves how potent it is, which must mean that Naruto and the others are causing a storm on the battlefield. We don't have time to stand here staring into space, let's just get moving. Orochimaru, keep leading the way for the rest of us."

"As you wish." so Orochimaru continued leading the way 'It would seem that he's still quite concerned about Naruto and the others.'

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Tatsu raised an eyebrow when he saw Lee being encased in a Version 1 Nine Tails chakra cloak, with everyone else just looking on in stunned disbelief "He just transformed and transferred some of Kurama's chakra and passed it onto Lee. God dammit why the hell didn't I think of that?!"

"That's your takeaway from all of this?" Ino shot him a look, then shook her head and let out a sigh "You never cease to amaze me Tatsu."

"Well you've gotta give it to Shikaku, he definitely knows how to study something effectively in a short amount of time whether it be Kurama's chakra exchange capabilities or theorizing if I can do the same. Hang on a sec, I've gotta check with my roommate. Hikari, you read me right now?'

"Loud and clear Tatsu, and yes as a matter of fact I do have the same abilities as Kurama in that regard. Just make sure not to stretch it too thin, so use a small number of your Shadow Clones while Naruto does the same."

'Way ahead of you. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Tatsu promptly summoned 5 Shadow Clones and sent them out across the battlefield, tagging half of the members of the alliance and giving them each some Genryu chakra, with Naruto doing the same with his Nine Tails chakra, the real one doing the same to Ino "There you go, now are you ready to wreck some shit?"

Ino gave a small smile "I said it before and I'll say it again Tatsu, you never cease to amaze me and everyone else."

"Hey if Naruto can do it then I don't see any reason why the hell I shouldn't be able to do it myself!" he glanced over to see his and Naruto's Shadow Clones finishing up with the transfer of their chakra, lighting up the entire alliance, or what was left of it, in what looked like a swirl similar to what the symbol of the Uzumai clan looked like "Kind of poetic when you think about it."

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Madara observed this from his and Obito's place atop the Ten Tails and scowled "Those two little brats Naruto and Tatsu, he's actually passing off chakra from the Nine Tails and the Genryu respectively?"

"It won't matter in a moment." Obito formed a hand seal and sent three of the tails of the Ten Tails surging forward down towards the alliance.

"8 Trigrams Air Palm!" using her newly enhanced power, Hinata unleashed a blast of air from her palm, as the name of the technique implied, repelling the attack.

"Water Style: Hyper Water Shockwave!/ Lightning Style: Purple Current!" with a single Shadow Clone by her side, Ino unleashed a massive stream of water enhanced by an electrical charge from her Shadow Clone's Purple Current jutsu, repelling the second tail.

"Leaf Hurricane!" Lee repelled the third and final tail with a single Leaf Hurricane, without even opening the First Gate.

Madara raised a curious eyebrow "Those three down there in particular have gained a considerable increase in power from the likes of Tatsu and Naruto."

"We'll see about that in a moment." Obito quickly sent more of the tails hurtling down towards the alliance.

"EXPANSION JUTSU!" Choji and a number of other members of the Akimichi clan quickly stopped all of the tails in their tracks "Ino! Shikamaru! You guys had better be ready for this one!"

"Oh you had better believe that we are." the smoke cleared to reveal Shikamaru, along with one of Ino's Shadow Clones, in their ready positions 'We understand your plan well dad, first we have to start with our Ino-Shika-Cho formation, and if this plan doesn't work then I have to live on and take the reigns. The HQ has already been destroyed, you say that you haven't given me a thing but you're wrong. You gave me everything, you gave me the chance to grow up staring at your back.'

Ino allowed herself to give a small smile 'Daddy, you said that I grew up to perfectly embody the symbolic meaning of the crest of the Yamanaka clan, the purple bush clover, the meaning of optimistic love, but there's more to one meaning of that flower. For the Yamanaka clan, it means to show care and compassion towards those you hold dear, even those who have strayed from their true path like Sakura had. And above all, you told me to never forget that you live on inside of us forever. I won't forget that daddy, no matter what may happen.'

'Neither of us will, you can count on that.'

"DON'T YOU DARE MOCK ME!" Obito prepared to unleash his Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Ino quickly took control of Obito using her Mind Transfer Jutsu, allowing her to redirect the Cutting Sprigs Jutsu just enough so that Choji and the others weren't hit by it "Now Shikamaru, before he breaks free!"

"Right! Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Shikamaru and several other members of the Nara clan quickly took the chance to bind the Ten Tails using their Shadow Possession Jutsu "Trust me guys, you don't wanna underestimate the Nara Clan! Hey Ino we've got the thing, you can stop it now."

It only took a few seconds for Ino to get back to her own body and then disperse her Shadow Clone.

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By this point, Obito was beyond pissed "You know what, just for that one I'm just gonna say this one just for the hell of it. It's the worthless and meaningless connections that you share between each other and fight for, they are what made me into what I am today. Your bonds are more of the double edged sword variety, they may give you strength but I know from personal experience that they can be powerful curses that can only cause you pain and suffering."

"...And now this is happening." Kakashi let out a sigh "Naruto I need you to listen to me, I know that I was the one who told you once long ago that I would never allow my comrades to die right in front of me but the truth is that those words are an admonition that I had been aiming right at myself. I haven't been able to save many a comrade, which is why I keep on telling myself that this time I'm going to protect them, but then I kept on having to face the fact that I couldn't over and over again. I'm gonna be confronting those wounds for the rest of my life."

"Are you gonna keep whining like that?" Tatsu promptly shut him up "Haven't you already drilled it into Naruto and Sasuke by now what Hayate-sensei and my brother have taught me time and time again? That's the point of being ninja of the Hidden Leaf, and just like all ninja we're those who endure for the sake of those we've sworn to protect. Those wounds are never gonna go away but at the same time they're proof that the fallen continue to live on right where it really counts." he placed a fist on his heart "Right in here, if you're just creating a bunch of fantasy friends and comrades inside of a dream in order to protect yourself are just a pathetic attempt at hiding from the truth and everything your real friends didn't mean anything to you in the long run. It doesn't matter if it's a double edged sword or a full on curse I know for a fact that we're all gonna keep our real comrades like the Third Hokage, Hayate-sensei, Jiraiya, Iruka and all of the others right here. You get all of that Naruto?"

"Oh yeah I'm reading you loud and clear." Naruto stepped forward with his Tailed Beast Mode fully restored "You can thank Bushy Brow for that one."

"Oh believe me I do."

Kakashi on the other hand took a chance to get a grip on his Version 1 chakra cloak 'It's a lot more potent than last time and now there's more of it, Shikaku you continue to amaze me even in death. Just because I told you about how the Nine Tails gave me enough chakra to hurl a Tailed Beast through use of my Kamui you incorporated that into your strategy almost flawlessly. Let's just hope that it works.'

"So are you guys ready to wreck some shit?"

"As if you had to ask." Naruto and Lee both dropped into combat stances, the former drawing his Crimson Death sword off of his back and channeling a small amount of Kurama's chakra into the blade and the latter powering up the Third Gate of Life, its power already being enhanced by his Version 1 chakra cloak.

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Madara observed the situation of the powered up alliance and quickly came up with a solution of his own 'Well perhaps now is the right time for me to give Obito a little bit of my own power as well.' he formed a quick hand seal, using his connection with the Ten Tails to push back against the Shadow Possession Jutsu 'I suppose now they're going to try their counterattack.'

"Tailed Beast Bomb!" the first step of the counterattack was for Killer B and Utakata to fire off two simultaneous Tailed Beast Bombs.

"Beam of Light!" the second step was for Mifune and the surviving samurai from the Land of Iron to unleash their Beams of Light with their swords.

"8 Trigrams Air Wall Palm!" the third step was for Neji and a large number of ninja from the Hyuga clan.

"Wind Style: Giant Casting Net!" step four was for Temari and a squad of Hidden Sand ninja to unleash a simultaneous synchronized usage of their Wind Style: Giant Casting Net, the four simultaneous attacks managing to push back the barrage of tails being unleashed in their direction by Madara, only for them to suddenly implant themselves into the ground, sending out a shockwave across the battlefield, leaving the alliance trapped in a sort of makeshift cage.

Despite this, Neji took the front for a moment, his confidence never waving "I will not let the sacrifices up to this point be in vain, and if the need were to arise then I would gladly give up my own life as well!"

"Oh please." Obito let out a loud scoff "A Curse Mark that doesn't vanish until death, a curse that had been given rise to by the main and branch families of the Hyuga clan, an existence where one can only await death inside of a cage. It's actually quite a nice analogy for this situation, all of you are alike including that fool who just died a pointless death."

"That's where you're wrong." Tatsu powered up three simultaneous Genryu powered Rasenshuriken (one of which being formed on a chakra arm that he sprouted out of his back just for the hell of it) with Naruto brandishing his Crimson Death sword and Lee dropping into a taijutsu stance "The will of Iruka, or Jiraiya, of Hayate-sensei, that will isn't dead as long as we're still out there fighting!" and so they all charged into the fray, their formation taking on the form of a massive red colored dolphin made up of a Version 1 chakra cloak (which is meant to honor Iruka), which promptly cut through the cage of tails "So what's the plan?"

"You guys go ahead and go for the left side, I'll take care of the right side!" Shisui promptly flew up onto the scene using his Susanoo.

"Gotcha, now let's do this!" Naruto quickly found an issue as his grip on Crimson Death nearly wavered for a moment 'Dammit this is bad, my shoulder is dislocated again! Now what the hell am I supposed to do?'

"Gentle Fist!" in a surprising move, Hinata quickly used the Gentle Fist on Naruto's shoulder in order to set the bone back into place.

"Thanks for that Hinata, now let's do this! Hidden Leaf Style: Tailed Beast Crescent Moon Dance!" Naruto promptly cut through Obito with his Crimson Death Sword, only for him to phase through it but it did cut his connection to the Ten Tails, with Shisui unleashing his Yasaka Magatama to cut through Madara, bisecting him and also severing his connection to the Ten Tails, with Lee unleashed a Fire Style: Asakujaku and Tatsu unleashing his triple Rasenshuriken to blow both of the clear off of the Ten Tails as the Dolphin Formation slammed straight into the Ten Tails itself. Once that was done, Naruto and Tatsu both landed on the ground "Here's the thing about us. We're not like the two of you, we don't have any intention of severing any of the bonds that we've made up to this point or letting any of them get cut off by guys like you!"

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At the same time, as that was going on, Sasuke and his group reached their destination after about an hour of walking "So this is the place then is it?"

Orochimaru nodded "Indeed it is Sasuke, and it seems to be untouched. It's been left in shambles, but then again I suppose we shouldn't be surprised considering it is way outside of the actual village."

"Let's go then." so they made their way inside and found the back wall littered with what looked like a collection of demon masks "So which one is it?"

"Let's see here, it should be… Oh yes there we go." Orochimaru pulled a small snake out of his arm that coiled around one of the masks "This is the one."

"This place really does give me the creeps." Suigetsu muttered "If you found what we're looking for then can we please just get out of here already?"

"Yes let's go, we have to go to the place where all of the secrets sleep."

"Well that's not unnerving in the slightest." Sasuke muttered.

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Soon enough, the group was discretely making their way through the streets of the Hidden Leaf towards their destination.

Sasuke took a moment to glance around at the Hidden Leaf 'So they're still rebuilding, it's kind of nostalgic to think about just how much everything has changed over the past few years. To think that at one point my only goal was to kill Itachi, and now thanks to me he's seen as a hero for the things that he's done. He single handedly prevented a war, or at least he delayed the war we're in now. At one point I was just the last loyal Uchiha, a member of Team 7, a genin who barely even had his Sharingan and look at where I am right now. I've inherited a power known only to the Second Hokage, I'm a jonin, and I've helped to stop the Reanimation Jutsu which brings the war that much closer to its end. But more than all else, I am Sasuke Uchiha, and I'm a member of Team Dragon alongside my two closest friends. And Lee.' they arrived at their destination 'This is it, the Nakano Shrine of the Uchiha clan.' he formed a hand seal in order to remove the entry stone 'To think that there's not even a trace left to the untrained eye, but then again I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Before either of you say anything let me just go ahead and say this. The exterior doesn't mean anything, what's really important about this place is what we'll find underneath. Now let's get moving." and so he promptly leapt down the staircase to the shrine, with Orochimaru and the others following right behind him.

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It was only a matter of moments before Sasuke and the others had reached the main area of the underground of the Nanako Shrine "Alright here we are, Orochimaru you're up. Do what you have to do."

"So be it then, I might as well get started." Orochimaru promptly removed his cloak "I believe that it would be best if the lot of you stand back." and once they did that he promptly put on the mask, and almost instantly he started groaning in agonizing pain as he ended up summoning their objective, in the form of the Reaper, which then cut open its abdomen, thereby doing the exact same to Orochimaru as a result, causing blood to spew all over the place.

'The first thing that we have to do in order to perform the contents of that scroll is to acquire the mask of the Mask of the Reaper from the Noh Mask Hall of the Uzumaki Clan on the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf, and then one must allow the Reaper of the Reaper Death Seal to possess oneself and then guide it forth, slice open the abdomen of the Reaper and then the Reaper Death Seal will come undone, although the wearer of the mask will then end up as a human sacrifice as a result. But at the same time, Orochimaru will be allowed to retrieve the use of his arms from the stomach of the Reaper, and if he regains that power then he can perform the Reanimation Jutsu and then he can revive the four that I need to meet with. But with that being said, there's still four more things that we actually need for it.'

Despite the burning pain that he was feeling, Orochimaru quickly took off the mask "Listen to me Sasuke, I need you to get those ready now."

"I know what to do." Sasuke promptly pulled out a certain scroll 'Note to self, thank Kazuma for giving me this scroll before he and Itachi took off.' he opened up the scroll, bit down on his thumb and slammed his hand down on it, releasing the four White Zetsu clones that had been trapped inside "So there were five of you exactly, I guess Kazuma knew a lot more than he had been letting on."

"It works out for us either way." Orochimaru proceeded to bind the clones using a few snakes that he pulled out of random places once again, and then he prepared to cast the Reanimation Jutsu "Jugo, Suigetsu, be sure to keep that last one pinned down as well for me."

"Yeah I think we can manage that." Suigetsu procedded to pull the mouth of the last one wide open "I think we both know what you're gonna do with this one."

"Good to know. Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation!" Orochimaru promptly slammed his hand into the ground and cast the Reanimation Jutsu, using the souls that had been released from the Reaper as a substitute for genetic material and the White Zetsu clones as sacrifices for the jutsu to be cast "And now for the final step." in a flash he transferred his essence into the body of the final White Zetsu clone in order to preserve himself from death due to the use of the release of the Reaper Death Seal, granting him a new body as a result "Yes at last, now we will be able to meet those who are all knowing: the previous four Hokage!"

Sasuke studied all of them intently "So this is all of them, the first four Hokage. Something one would never even dream of seeing."

The Second Hokage Tobirama Senju almost immediately laid eyes on Orochimaru "So it's that one again, the shinobi Orochimaru, so what is the meaning of this?"

"My suspicion about what is going on is that he somehow was able to undo the Reaper Death Seal, the very same thing that sealed us away, and then he brought us back using the Reanimation Jutsu." Hiruzen Sarutobi (the Third Hokage) told him grimly.

"No way, it can't be." Minato Namikaze (the Fourth Hokage) muttered "You mean you actually figured out how to undo that jutsu? But how is that possible?"

Orochimaru let out a chuckle "You continuously underestimate me Minato, it was originally a sealing jutsu that belonged to the Uzumaki clan. I extensively studied and researched the ruins and scattered documents of the now extinct clan ever since I lost the ability for me to use jutsu."

"Oh, I see." Minato glanced over at Hashirama Senju (the First Hokage) "Well Lord First, Lord Second and Lord Third, it would appear that we've been brought back to the World of the Living."

Hashirama studied Minato for a moment, his eyes narrowed suspiciously "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"...Oh. Right I suppose you wouldn't know, well anyway I'm the Fourth Hokage sir." he gestured to the symbol on his haori.

"Oh so you're the fourth then, not too shabby then I suppose. So does this mean that the village has remained stable then?"

"I'm not actually sure if it has or not, you see the thing is that I died and got sealed away within the Reaper much earlier than the Third Hokage did."

"Oh is that so, you mean in a different incident from when myself and my brother got sealed away with Sarutobi right?"

"Yes sir, it was completely separate."

"So who is the Fifth Hokage then?"

"That would be Princess Tsunade, your own granddaughter." Orochimaru told him, which left him looking comically downcast.

"...Oh yeah, that's just great. Tsuna. Well I'm guessing that means that the village is screwed then."

"You say that like the thought of your granddaughter being in charge is something that one should dread."

"Well she was my first grandchild so I ended up spoiling her rotten, in the end she even picked up my old habit of gambling." he let out a laugh.

"...That actually explains quite a great deal. To think that this is the man that many consider to be the God of Shinobi, he's almost nothing like what he was when I brought him back before. Well at least I have one that could be considered sane.'

"It's the Reanimation Jutsu again." Tobirama noted "To think that a jutsu of my creation is being used in such a casual manner.

"Well to be fair it really isn't all that complex for a jutsu, but then again you shouldn't have created it in the first place. Lord Second many of the policies that you created and jutsu that you had developed have caused problems further down the line, even now."

"Why you son of a- Are you planning to attack the Hidden Leaf all over again?!"

"Good question."

Hiruzen let out a low growl "I took away your ability to use jutsu at the cost of my very own life and yet even now you're still up to your old tricks, and even this time you revived your own former master in order to pit me against the Hidden Leaf."

"Quite the accusation."

"Well that's just great." Hashirama muttered "We have conflict no matter what the era may be now don't we? For sure it can't be called a great jutsu, you see Tobirama that's why I told you that time-"

"Will you shut up!" Tobirama snapped "In case you hadn't noticed I'm trying to speak to this stripling."

"What, but I was-"

"I told you to shut up!" this left Hashirama comically demoralized 'So much for the dignified God of Shinobi.'

Orochimaru held up a hand to them as a way of telling them to shut up "Please do not misunderstand, I no longer have any more intentions leaning in that direction. Why do you think I have yet to suppress your personalities, you see there are certain circumstances in play at the moment and I am merely creating a stage for discourse per his desires."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"I'll take it from here." Sasuke slowly stepped forward "I am Sasuke of the Uchiha clan, and there are a few things that I want to as the four of you."

"So you belong to the Uchiha clan do you?" Tobirama studied Sasuke intently for a moment, and then his eyes fixated on the Raijin sword strapped to Sasuke's waist "And yet you've earned the power of Raijin at the same time, perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye."

"Perhaps there is but that doesn't matter right now, I'll get to you in a moment." Sasuke slowly laid eyes on Hiruzen "Lord Third, there are some things that I need to confirm with you about my brother Itachi and what he had to do."

"So you know then?" Hiruzen let out a sigh "It was Kazuma I take it?"

"It was, but only after I killed Itachi in order to avenge the Uchiha clan. I chose to honor the sacrifices that my brother had made, but Itachi has been brought back to life due to Kazuma using a power that I know next to nothing about which is a detail that I'll ask him about later on once all this is over, and now I want to confirm what I've been told."

"So it came to that then did it?" Hiruzen breathed a deep sigh "I not only had Itachi kill his own brethren and bare the false charge of treason, but I also had him keep tabs on the Akatsuki from the inside while Kazuma and Izumi did from the outside. Since he was young ,Itachi was sure to pay attention to all of the teachings and signs of our predecessors that no one else ever gave heed to, he was a sensitive child who understood the past and shinobi of our village. Perhaps it was due to that that he was never bound by the trappings of your clan, he was able to think about the future of shinobi and he always had misgivings regarding those futures. Even when he was at the age of 7 he thought quite like a Hokage should, we left everything to Itachi and we left it in his hands alone. He executed his missions perfectly, he slaughtered his entire clan and he stopped a revolt, and he single handedly prevented a coming war. He was even able to infiltrate the Akatsuki as a spy to protect the Hidden Leaf Village, and he did all of this on the condition that I protect you Sasuke."

"...I see, so it is true then after all."

"So it is." Tobirama's tone was laced with venom "All of this is just another part of the cursed fate of the Uchiha, though I never expected them to be on the brink of extinction. To think they would even plot a coup de tat of all things, I must admit that I envisioned it would eventually come to something along those lines. The rebellious elements baring the will of Madara have been smoldered."

"And yet Lord Second, you were the one who drove them to it." Orochimaru noted "It could be said that the seeds were sewn with the Uchiha Hidden Leaf Police Force that you yourself was responsible for creating. Keep in mind that those who control crime also tend to be disliked very easily, and the more authority such a group has the more conceited it can become. By building the police station next to the prison under the pretext of monitoring criminals, at the same time you would be able to shove the Uchiha clan to the margins of the village, and that helped to foster the followers of Madara."

"You little-"

"Enough brother!" Hashirama's tone was firm and clearly filled with anger "Tobirama, did I not tell you time and time again that you should not slight the Uchiha."

"I gave the Uchiha posts that they were very qualified for, and if another Madara were to emerge then I thought he could just be dealt with right away. As you know Elder Brother, the Uchiha clan is one that is possessed by evil."

"Such anger and resentment." Orochimaru noted "It was as if Madara had been responsible for leaving some sort of psychological scar on you, to cause such fear of the Uchiha clan."

"Be silent you stripling, you know nothing about Madara."

"Whether he knows or not doesn't matter right now." Sasuke told him calmly "Lord Second, this question is one that I have for you. What is it about the Uchiha clan, what exactly is it that you know?" he was met with a deep sigh.

"Very well then young one. The Senju clan and Uchiha clans have a long history, and as such it is a long history of battling against each other. In fact, the two clans were, at one point in time, bitter enemies."

"I'm aware of that much at least, but how is it that the Uchiha can was, in your words, possessed by evil?"

"It was said that in contrast to the Senju clan, who based the source of their strength on love and compassion, the strength of the Uchiha clan was based on the power of their jutsu. However, the truth of that is quite different."

"In what way?"

"In the way that there is no clan that feels deeper love than the Uchiha, and that is why they made the choice to suppress and seal it away."

"What do you mean by that exactly?"

"Once a member of the Uchiha clan comes to know and understand love and compassion, it becomes as if all of their emotions that they had previously checked were suddenly released in an instant. Strong love and power awakens, which such potency that they are able to exceed even the likes of the Senju clan."

"But why would that be a problem? One would think that it would help the Uchiha to bond with the Senju."

"Under normal circumstances, but the fact is that it is quite problematic. This great power hides within it the possibility of losing control. When an Uchiha has known deep love, but then ends up losing it, it is replaced by a burning hatred of even greater magnitude that changes them for the worst, which is something that I've seen happen numerous times in my lifetime, and that is when a special condition emerges."

"What sort of special condition?"

"When an Uchiha writes in agony over the pain of losing a great love, or from feeling such great levels of disappointment in themselves, the unique chakra is released in their brain reacts with the optic nerves, resulting in changes appearing in the eyes of that person. This phenomenon is what is known as the Sharingan, eyes that reflect the heart. The Sharingan taps into the power of that person's heart, and as such it results in a rapid increase in strength, along with the power of their hatred as well. There were many sensitive people among the Uchiha, and nearly all of them exposed to strong emotions were taken by darkness, and the fell to evil as a result. The deeper the darkness gets, the greater the visual prowess until that person cannot be stopped, just like the case was with Madara. He cared intensely about is younger brother, and the case was likely even moreso than your own elder brother. I believed that I had arranged and guided things such that the power of the Uchiha could be used to serve the village effectively, but if the village would be benefitted by their own self destruction, then so be it. Either way, in the end they proved to be of great use to the Leaf Village."

"That's enough Tobirama, stop saying such things!" Hashirama rounded on him "You are currently speaking to an innocent Uchiha child!"

"What's more important than anything else is the Hidden Leaf Village, the village is the keystone to everything, and I know that you know that all too well elder brother!"

"Enough of this." Sasuke drew the Raijin blade from its sheath at his side, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan flaring into life and turning an electric blue color "The fact that the two of you fail to understand is that I am neither innocent nor a child, not anymore."

'This boy has more than just the basic tomoe pattern, not only does he have the Mangekyo Sharingan, but also the power of Raijin as well.'

"Lord First Hokage, this is what I have to ask you. For years now, since my family was massacred on that night, I struggled to find my own path. I was content for so long with fighting my brother to the death to avenge those that I had lost, and protect those I now had. But then I learned the truth about Itachi, and I found myself wanting to make him be seen as the hero he truly was, and honor his will by protecting this village and its people. But now I've seen all of it from his perspective, there somethings I now need to know, and you're the only person who can tell me them."

"Very well, what is it you wish to know?" asked Hashirama.

"My question for you is this: What does it mean to be a village, and what does it mean to be a shinobi?"

"A village and shinobi, you wish to know what they are then?"

"My brother knew fully well that he was being used by the Leaf Village, and yet despite that he made the choice to defend it with his life, and at the same time protect it from an even greater evil within the shadows, and he died with pride in being a shinobi of the Leaf. What exactly is a village that one strives to protect with such ferocity, even if it means killing the people you call your family, or to sacrifice your life for it, and what are shinobi that have created a world with such circumstances in the first place, and consider them to be worth abiding by? I intend to listen to your response and decide on what the truth is, and then I will make my decision." he promptly deactivated his Eternal Mangekoy Sandagan "I have no intention of declaring vengeance against the Leaf, for its people are innocent. But I need to decide for myself, is the village in which they live and fight for truly worth protecting."

"I see." Hashirama glanced back to see Tobirama's glare hardening, and he promptly flared his chakra in order to call him off, shattering the floor beneath them as a result "Don't even think about it Tobirama."

'To think they haven't even moved yet, and I can still feel the potency of their chakra. These two are definitely previous Hokage, and their titles aren't just for show. And to think, Lord Third seems to put out over it. He must be used to it. So then, will you answer me?"

"I must admit Sasuke, you have quite the good older brother, and from what I can tell it sounds like he's an even greater shinobi than I. I don't mind telling you more about the village in order to answer your questions, but it will take time."

"If it's possible, then please tell Sasuke here what he wants to know as quickly as possible, seeing how we don't really have much time." Orochimaru told him.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because to put it simply, there is a war going on right now. Madara Uchiha has been brought back to this world, and he seeks to erase this world of shinobi." this left three of the four revived Hokage frozen to the core, but one of them looking rather deadpanned.

"Honestly, there's always conflict no matter what the era may be."

"I definitely do sense some powerful chakra, over in the direction of 2 o'clock." Tobirama noted calmly.

'Is that… Yes, it is after all.' Minato's head snapped up as he sensed it 'That's Naruto and the chakra of the Nine Tails. I see, you did Naruto and you're fighting together even now. But this other one… Is that Tatsu and his Tenseigan? Yes, I think it must be. It looks like they're fighting together against Madara and his forces.'

"It seems to be the truth, I do indeed sense the chakra of Madara present. If that is the case, then we should all journey to the battlefield right away."

"Keep in mind that you are all under the control of my Reanimation Jutsu, and as such I have the ability to restrict your movements." Orochimaru told them "If you must then you may head down to the battlefield, but only after we're done talking."

"There will be time to talk later. Do you truly understand this, how grave it is that Madara has been revived."

"I do, but still I'm staying with this child, and if the answers that you give are not enough to satisfy Sasuke, then I may as well use all of you to destroy the Hidden Leaf right now. The timing couldn't be any better."

"You said your name is Orochimaru correct? There's something that you currently seem to be misunderstanding. The fact that you've made the Reanimation Jutsu more precise than the last time shall be your downfall. Now that all of us here have been revived at nearly our original levels of power, this Reanimation Jutsu of yours will not be enough for you to bind me. Keep in mind that I am the one who devised it in the first place. You must agree that there is no choice right now brother, I have to act." and then he found himself immobile, courtesy of a certain hand seal formed by Orochimaru.

"You were saying?"

"I must admit, Sarutobi did raise quite the shinobi." Hashirama noted.

"And I must admit, to be praised in such a way by the God of Shinobi himself truly is quite the honor."

"So you acquired my cells and enhanced your power in order to bind us, and it would seem that your instincts have dulled a bit Tobirama."

'Damn him.' Tobirama could only grit his teeth 'Now that I take a closer look, most of his body is composed of the cells of my brother.'

"Now then…"

'The first Hokage, Hashirama Senju himself.' Orochimaru's gaze hardened 'This one is very different, he could undo my binding at any time, so I'll have to be careful not to let down my guard with him.'

"Listen to me Orochimaru, you don't need to fret. I shall prioritize in dealing with the ill feelings that are currently binding this child. Of course I can't know exactly what he's going to decide after he finishes listening to me, but I do know that if we ignore him now, then there's a fair chance that he may end up becoming the next Madara. In that case, even if the war does end and we win, there would be no point to it."

"...This is just typical of you." Tobirama let out a sigh "So be it elder brother, go ahead and do as you please."

"Alright then, so where should I begin this tale? Yes I believe that would be best. In order to tell you about village and shinobi effectively, I have to first speak of the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan, and more specifically, of the friendship that I shared with Madara. First I'll go back to our younger years, back when we first met. It was at a river, but more importantly, it was during a time where ninja were without villages and hired by one feudal lord after another for the sake of numerous conflicts that stained the lands with blood. The two of us ended up bonding over the pain of our hardships and the loss of our brothers through the various conflicts, and the mutual dream we shared to end the wars and fighting, and bring about a world of peace. However, my father Butsuma found out about our meetings and revealed to me that Madara was a member of the Uchiha clan, and he ordered me to spy on him. During our next meeting, the two of us tried to warn each other that our families were after each other, but then my father and my brother, in this case referring to Tobirama, arrived at the same time as Madara's brother Izuna, as well as his father Izuna, and that confrontation led to Izuna almost being killed. As a result, Madara came to accept the reality we lived in, and he agreed to continue the fight against the Senju clan. The years went by, and myself and Madara became the leaders of our respective clans, and the conflict between our families continued, resulting in numerous casualties. It was during one such battle that Tobirama ended up fatally wounding Izuna, though we didn't know it would be fatal at the time. The next time us brothers encountered Madara, he informed us that Izuna had ended up succumbing to his injuries and had left him his eyes to continue protecting their clan, which resulted in him obtaining the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. However, despite having this new power, I still ended up defeating him. I stopped Tobirama from delivering the final blow with his own blade, the sword of Raijin that you possess now, and I made yet another attempt to offer piece to Madara, but he told me that he would only accept it if I ended up taking my own life, or that of my brother. I agreed to his terms and had my clan members swear that the feud between our clans would end, and that no harm would come to the Uchiha clan after my death. However, I suppose that seeing my resolve would be enough, and Madara stopped me from taking my life and accepted my proposal. With peace between the Senju clan and Uchiha clan having finally been made into a reality, the establishment of the Hidden Leaf soon followed. With the alliance between our clans finally being made official, the initial dream we had in our childhoods of a village where children would not be sent into battle had at last come to fruition. We decided that the village itself would ally with the Land of Fire. However, when he heard about my intentions to make Madara into the First Hokage, my brother protested it, saying that things would be done democratically now and everyone, even the Uchiha clan, would not see Madara in the same light that I did. After this, Madara brought me to the Nanako Shrine, as the first outsider to see the Uchiha stone tablet. With his Sharingan, he decrypted that while one interpretation may have been that two opposing forces could come together to create peace, another was that cooperation is a quiet method of conflict, and as such, he informed me that he intended to leave the village. I didn't understand his intentions back then, and I tried to convince him not to leave the village, but I was unsuccessful. The years went by after that and the village prospered, and the other Great Nations copied the village system, as well as some of the smaller nations, which led to the formation of villagers from other lands. However, Madara eventually returned to attack the Hidden Leaf and destroy his previous dream. This eventually led the battle between us in what came to be known as the Final Valley. That battle ended with me killing Madara, and then resolving myself to endure in order to protect the dream we shared. I don't know how he ended up returning to the world of the living. I know for a fact that I killed my friend, and I did so for the sake of the village. That's right, the village is what Madara and I had envisioned right from the very beginning, something that would join one clan to another. It was an invaluable cornerstone that created order out of chaos, and then it maintained it. It protected the children and the innocent, it averted pointless conflict, and it made peace into a reality. However, at the same time, it also gave rise to darkness, the kind that your elder brother Itachi had been forced to bear. Perhaps what Madara said that day was correct after all, maybe he somehow foresaw this state of affairs. But regardless, I am the shinobi who created these circumstances, and what's more is that I considered them to be acceptable, and I believe that shinobi are those who endure for a purpose, but depending on what that purpose is, a shinobi can end up changing, as both myself and Madara did."

"...I see." Sasuke studied Hashirama intently "So in simple terms, shinobi are defined as, those who endure in order to achieve their goals."

"The goal that I was pursuing was building a village, but it appears that Madara had found something else. About this plan of Madara's that was mentioned by Orochimaru earlier, to erase all of the shinobi in this world."

"He's referring to the Infinite Tsukiyomi, where all villages, shinobi and citizens are rendered completely irrelevant. He intends to put everyone in the world under the same genjutsu and then manipulate them as he sees fit, to negate everything that Madara's younger brother, that my own older brother, and even all of the four of you have fought and died to protect. My older brother, as well as Tatsu's, they both inherited your will and they never even had to speak with you. Even as they both shouldered such heavy burdens, and my brother bared such responsibilities for the clan, even killing our own parents in order to prevent a war. He massacred our clan and endured the branding of becoming a rogue ninja, and yet he continued to keep an eye on the organization that wanted to harm the village. Even after the truth was revealed, I still knew of those who ridiculed my brother, the so-called traitor in their eyes. His memory was the only thing that stopped me from ripping them apart with my bare hands." he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists "My elder brother endured longer and harder than most people should have to, and even when he had resigned himself to returning to the afterlife, he claimed that he was proud to be a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. One would thing it was ironic that the one shinobi who understood you more than anyone else was a member of the Uchiha clan."

"Your brother was not the only one." Tobirama told him "I had a subordinate many years ago by the name of Kagami Uchiha, and he was much like your older brother."

"I'm well aware of that Lord Second, and Kagami's grandson Shisui is actually someone that helped to train me. He inherited the power of the Raijin blade, and then he passed it onto me a few years ago, which is how I came to possess it now. I will say though, I thought you despised the Uchiha clan."

"Such a claim is not entirely accurate. I treated anyone who I believed would pose a danger to the village with extreme caution, no matter what clan they belonged to, and there's no doubt that the Uchiha clan warranted my suspicions. The Uchiha just happened to be a clan that had been particularly disposed to be considered as such, but at the same time, it is also because they were able to feel such love that there were quite a few Uchiha over the years like your elder brother, as well as Kagami and his grandson, who would be able to transcend the boundaries of the clan and devote themselves to the village. My elder brother believed that the village was something that could eliminate the framework of clans. However, the reality is that this wasn't as simple as one would like to believe. The idealism of my elder brother Hashirama, the danger that was being posed by Madara. Mediating between these two things, as well as protecting and strengthening the village were the duties I had to uphold as the Second Hokage."

"I see."

"Shisui Uchiha was a descendent of Kagami Uchiha." Hiruzen told him "He was also a friend of your older brother Itachi. Many of the shinobi and citizens of the Hidden Leaf, including myself, had embraced the Will of Fire passed down by the First Hokage. But then again, perhaps I was a bit more naive than most of the other shinobi. I wasn't able to continue task of building the village with skill, as passed onto me by the Second Hokage, and that is how I also ended up burdening Danzo with the darkness of the village."

"Danzo is dead, he died during an attack on the Five Kage Summit, in which he sacrificed himself to try and eliminate the threat of what we thought was Madara at the time. He was only partially successful though. Even until the end, he fought with everything he had in order to protect the village, and was willing to dirty his hands as much as necessary."

"I see. It would seem that I had failed miserably as the Hokage, so I suppose that I am the one responsible for creating the situation that exists now."

"Perhaps."

"No Lord Third, you're not the one to blame for this." Minato told him "You did everything that was in your power for the sake of the village respectably. I'm the one that got myself killed during the attack on the village by the Nine Tails. You had such high hopes for me as the Fourth Hokage, and I was never able to live up to them."

"And to think, I was skipped over in favor of you." Orochimaru gave a smirk "All of us had been so disappointed."

"You know Lord Orochimaru, it sounds like you're pouting about this." Suigetsu was met with only a chuckle.

"A little bit I suppose, though it's mainly because the Third Hokage is right there."

"Yes, well…" Minato turned to face Sasuke "If I had lived up to that point, then perhaps I could've helped to foil the plans the Uchiha clan made for a coup de tat much sooner."

"Now then Sasuke, I believe the time has come for you to make a decision. What is the path you choose to take. Will you choose to protect the village and its people, or will you simply cast all of it aside?"

"...You want my answer? Well here it is." Sasuke breathed a deep sigh, then he looked at the four Hokage in front of him and gave his answer "I never intended to raise my hand against the village, not at this point, and at the same time, I won't allow everything I hold dear, as well as the will of my brother be in vain. However, I see now that some things need to change. Aside from all of you, aside from Madara and the Akatsuki, the fact is that the previous Kage are the ones responsible for the current situation in the world. When Naruto becomes the Hokage, I'm going to make sure he changes the village so history doesn't repeat itself. I suppose you could call it a revolution of sorts, but one without any sort of bloodshed. But that can wait, and for the time being, I'm going to be heading to the battlefield. My friends, comrades and loved ones need my help."

"...I see, so it's decided then." Hashirama pulled himself to his feet "Tobirama, get ready to bring us outside."

"Even if I wanted to use the Flying Raijin Jutsu, the fact is that my body is still bound at the moment." Tobirama told him.

"You said your name was Orochimaru right, so what do you intend to do? You did say earlier that you intended to follow Sasuke."

"Of course, the rest of us intend to accompany him." Orochimaru told him "Jugo, Suigetsu, I take it you two will be joining us as well?"

"Of course I intend to go." Jugo told him "It's my duty to protect Sasuke, for he is the legacy left behind by Kimimaro."

"Fair enough."

'Oh great, just fucking perfect.' Suigetsu looked away nervously 'Four ridiculously powerful zombies and three strong as fuck monsters, if I tag along then I'm gonna end up getting myself killed for sure. I'll wait until I see a chance, and then I've gotta make a break for it.'

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Meanwhile, with the dark knights…

'Oh for crying out loud.' by this point, Kazuma was rinsing the blood from his hands, brooding slightly as he did so "I honestly have no idea as to how the hell I became the closest thing to a medical ninja between the two of us." he looked back to where Itachi was lying on the operating table, his eye sockets still covered by some thick bandages "You know you can't just jump back into action like this, adjusting to something like the Mangekyo takes time. You're not in any pain right now are you?"

"Nothing that I haven't experienced before, but even then, the pain I feel now is to a much lesser extent in comparison." Itachi pulled himself to his feet and ripped off the bandages, revealing his new Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan "Combine this new sensation with the fact that I'm perfectly healthy for the first time since I was about 15, and I feel better than I have in years. I'm ready, so let's head out."

"Way ahead of you. Of course it's probably going to take us some time to get there, even with the Flying Raijin Jutsu."

"I'm ready." the two of them grabbed onto each other by the arm 'Sasuke, whether or not you've chosen to forgive me is something I don't yet know, but I do know this: Even though I've always lied to you, even though I've always brushed you off, this time I'm going to keep my promise and stand by your side.'

'Tatsu, I know I haven't been able to much for you as your older brother for years, or anything at all now that I think about it, I promise I'm going to make it up to you by bringing the backup, and in style. You ready Itachi?"

"Ready as I can be. Let's go."

"Right." and so with a flash, the two of them disappeared with the Flying Raijin Jutsu, heading to the battlefield in style.

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Meanwhile, back in the village…

By this point, Hashirama and the rest of the reanimated Hokage, with Sasuke and the others in tow, had taken to the top of the Hokage monument, looking down on the village in a sense of awe and nostalgia "Yes now this is what I'm talking about, this view brings back so many memories for me!"

'This is my chance, it's now or never!' Suigetsu took the opportunity to bolt away from the rest of them, only for karma to kick him straight across the face in the form of a certain horny and equally pissed off redhead 'What the hell?!'

"I should've known it was you Sasuke!" as it turns out, the horny and pissed off redhead in question was none other than Karin, who then went on to verbally tear Sasuke a new one while simultaneously beating the every loving crap out of Suigetsu "I could sense your chakra coming here from miles away and I couldn't fucking believe it, so I tracked it down and look at the the fuck I see here!"

"Oh my, so Karin is here too." Orochimaru gave a smirk "So many of my best experiments are gathered here in one place."

"SHUT UP! Sasuke you bastard, I swear I'll never forgive you for as long as I live!"

"And I don't expect you to." Sasuke breathed a sigh "You're not wrong, I shouldn't have abandoned all of you like I did before. Karin… I'm sorry."

"You… You son of a bitch… As if a simple apology would be enough to… to get you off the hook after… you good for nothing…"

"Well Karin, it seems that you still have a weakness for Sasuke after all." Orochimaru noted with a smirk.

"Hey listen here Lord Orochimaru, this bastard here had the gall to bail on us just like that out of nowhere."

"To be fair, he did absorb me into his being after I tried to take his body, but I've made the decision to help Sasuke now. This is actually perfect timing, since now you'll be able to aid him as well."

"Say what?! Well I guess I have no choice…" and then she started grinding against Sasuke like a tsundere coming out of her shell.

Hashirama and Tobirama noticed this from afar "That girl seems somewhat familiar. Judging by the chakra I sense from her along with that red head of hair, she must be a descendent of the Uzumaki clan. That sure brings back memories, you remember that my wife was from that clan, don't you brother?"

"As much as I enjoy listening to you reminiscing brother, I think we should save all of that for later." Tobirama told him flatly.

"Yes I suppose you're right, we really must get to the battlefield as soon as possible."

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"Orochimaru." despite all of the reminiscing and/or acting like tsunderes that was going on around them, Hiruzen took the opportunity to talk with his former disciple "I need to know something. Tell me, why did you decide to help Sasuke like this? The last time I was in the land of the living, you were trying to destroy the Hidden Leaf."

Orochimaru let out a small sigh "After seeing through Kabuto's eyes, it helped me to realize something. He was trying to imitate the way I live and tried to possess everything as a result, and yet he still failed. As for myself, I'm quite curious about this new path that Sasuke has chosen to follow. Unlike Kabuto, he didn't choose to copy me."

"Now hear me my fellow Hokage!" Hashirama called out to his various successors "As we stand atop the Great Stone Faces that have watched over the Hidden Leaf even well after our demise, let us burn this image of the village into our hearts and our minds." he was promptly teleported down onto his stone face by Tobirama via the Flying Raijun Jutsu.

Minato quickly followed their lead alongside Hiruzen 'So after all this time, I finally get to see my son in person. Naruto, I know that I haven't really been able to do anything for you as your father, but I plan to make it up to you by bringing you a huge present. It's been a long time since I fought in a war, so we had best be sure to stay on our toes.'

"I know this might sound foolish to all of you, but a sizeable part of me is looking forward to seeing my old friend. Just you wait Madara, because I'm coming for you! There will always be conflict, no matter what the era might be, but we shall make sure that this is going to be the end of wars! Now let's go!"

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Meanwhile, on the main battlefield…

"Hidden Leaf Style: Tailed Beast Crescent Moon Dance!" Naruto promptly cut through Obito with his Crimson Death Sword, only for him to phase through it but it did cut his connection to the Ten Tails, with Shisui unleashing his Yasaka Magatama to cut through Madara, bisecting him and also severing his connection to the Ten Tails, with Lee unleashed a Fire Style: Asakujaku and Tatsu unleashing his triple Rasenshuriken to blow both of the clear off of the Ten Tails as the Dolphin Formation slammed straight into the Ten Tails itself. Once that was done with, Naruto and Tatsu both landed on the ground "Here's the thing about us. We're not like the two of you, we don't have any intention of severing any of the bonds that we've made up to this point or letting any of them get cut off by guys like you!"

"So you think we shouldn't have cut them?" Obito let out a scoff.

"Were you not listening? He literally just used the Talk no Jutsu." Tatsu pointed out.

"Just be silent already! Fire Style: Bomb Blast Dance!" Obito formed a hand seal and unleashed a spiralling stream of flames from his mouth.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" Madara breathed out a powerful stream of flames himself, the two blasts combining into one larger one.

'Dammit, I'll have to move fast! Thunder Style: Thunder Dome!" Shisui flew down in front of the alliance in his Susanoo and unleashed a dome made of electricity, protecting everyone from the flames, but at the cost of the dome dissipating almost immediately afterwards 'That was a close one, if I hadn't gotten in there when I did, I have no idea how bad that might have turned out for everyone.'

"So be it then. Yasaka Magatama!" Madara summoned his Susanoo and unleashed a barrage of magatama blades, with Obito unleashing a massive barrage of kunai using his Kamui.

"The next round is coming, I've got this one!" Naruto stretched out his arms to manipulate the various chakra cloaks covering the alliance members, which allowed them to deflect the kunai and magatama without too much difficulty "There, I think that should do it."

"You gonna be alright though?" asked Tatsu "I mean you've been using Kurama's chakra to protect at least half of the alliance, god only knows how long you're going to be able to keep this going for."

"I'll make do for as long as I have to or- Shit!" Naruto looked ahead, only to notice that Obito and Madara had vanished "Where the hell did they go?"

'I can't sense anything left, right, behind, below, so that leaves… Above! Get the fuck out of the way stupid!" Tatsu threw him out of the way in time to avoid Obito's attempt at grabbing him from above using Kamui.

Despite his attempt failing, Obito shot a glare at them while still being smug as hell "Just face it you two, you're fighting on the defensive while trying to protect everyone. Tell me, is there any true meaning to all of this?"

"Ignoring his rantings, we've got a serious problem though. That's too much to control the chakra that you got from Kurama all at once, you're gonna wear yourself out before too much longer. Plus it looks like the Ten Tails is transforming again, we've gotta keep our wits about all of this."

"You're growing weaker as time passes." Obito was met with a certain finger gesture that caused him to scowl.

"You want to be alone, so I didn't think you would get it, but we're doing just fine knowing that we've got people by our side to stand with and protect! That's enough to give us the emotional strength we need to keep moving forward! Fire Style: Crimson Dragon!" Tatsu breathed out a large red fire dragon just as other ninja started swarming in.

Obito took the opportunity to warp himself a short distance away using Kamui "If the pain of seeing your comrades die is part of your blood then there isn't any sort of need to protect them, now is there?"

"You know he might be able to sympathize with you, but frankly you're really starting to get on my nerves now. That's not even close to what we're what we're talking about. We know how to endure any pain if we share it with those around us, and we're not giving them up know matter what we have to endure. I don't care if it sounds selfish to say it, but to be all alone just leaves you with a big empty feeling that you can't fill by yourself, and there's no way in hell I'm going to let that happen, and if you've got a problem with that then I say you can just suck on the flat end of my Dragon Blade!"

"You have quite the mouth on you."

"The difference between me and Naruto is, aside from me not being an idiot, I don't bother to listen to people who spout bullshit like they're some kind of messiah."

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Meanwhile, with Madara…

'So that's it…' at the same time, Madara had taken it upon himself to retreat atop a very high plateau to confirm a certain something, and a wide sadistic smile spread across his face as a result of it 'There's no mistake, this chakra belongs to him… It's you Hashirama!'

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Meanwhile, back with the battle…

Unfortunately, the Ten Tails broke free of its Earth Style restraints and let out a deafening shriek as it did so.

'Dammit, the one time I don't bring ear plugs!' Tatsu and Naruto, along with the rest of the alliance, was forced to cover their ears 'It broke free of the Mountain Jutsu that the Hidden Stone ninja were using, and I doubt we have any other jutsu that can suppress it. This is bad, no doubt about it."

"It gets worse, very much worse."

"You want to elaborate on that Hikari?"

"The Ten Tails is intending to unleash the catacalysm, in a matter of moments this land is going to be ripped asunder."

"Okay, that's definitely a lot worse than I was expecting."

"So it's come to this." Obito looked up at the Ten Tails "The creature can't be controlled anymore, thanks to you and your comrades cutting the connection between myself, Madara and the Ten Tails, although I guess it's about time I became its jinchuuriki." this was immediately followed by the Ten Tails creating a massive wind storm throughout the area "Now you see, the real fun is only just getting started."

'I have no choice, this time I'm going to make the Ten Tails disappear! Kamui!" seeing the opportunity before him, Kakashi tried to use Kamui to warp the Ten Tails away.

"Looks like you were waiting for the right moment to act Kakashi, but the thing is that you weren't the only one!" Obito suddenly dropped down in front of Kakashi and started to use his own Kamui.

"Naruto, Tatsu, you and the others take care of things here!" and then Kakashi and Obito both disappeared into the Kamui dimension.

"Shit, Kakashi!" but then Tatsu was forced to brace himself along with the others as the battlefield was suddenly overcome by a number of natural disasters, among them being earthquakes, thunderstorms and floods.

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'Looks like the real fun is about to begin.' seeing the situation, Madara promptly activated his Susanoo in order to protect himself 'That should prove to be enough to clean out most of those vermin.' he looked down to see the opposite, and his gaze hardened 'Or Naruto and the Kamikaze boy, Tatsu I think his name was, end up protecting all of them with their Nine Tails and Genryu chakra cloaks. To think that boy harnesses the power of the Genryu after they drove me away from their precious mountain so long ago. I suppose dragons have standards.'

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"So how about it…" once the cataclysm died down, Naruto stepped forward with his eyes still burning with determination, only now he was back to his base form "Don't tell me… That's the best you can do?" but then he fell to one knee

"Dammit stupid, have you never seen a movie?" Tatsu dropped down next to him and spat out some blood, having lost his Genryu cloak as well "You never say that to the bad guy, no matter what the circumstances."

"Why?"

"Because they immediately unleash something worse if you do." this was followed by the Ten Tails forming a hand seal and bulking up slightly "And that's exhibit A right there. You can pretend to be tough as much as the next guy, but we're micromanaging at this point."

"The Kamikaze boy is right." Madara poinited out "You've given me something to look forward to until now, but the fact is that you've reached your limit, and now I think it's time for you to make your exit."

'Yeah that figures.'

"Don't count on it bastard!" this was when Yahiko and Konan suddenly dropped down onto the scene, as well as a large number of other nameless ninja "We're not letting you get to him, and to that end we're joining together and fighting as one."

"Okay, yeah…" Tatsu spat out some blood "That's a welcome sight."

"So is this rest of the cavalcade, just hang tight for now." Ino suddenly blitzed behind him and started healing his wounds, with Kin doing the same for Naruto "You've been fighting to protect us all this time, now it's time for us to return the favor." with one hand seal she summoned at least six Shadow Clones that rushed out in front of them in defensive positions.

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Meanwhile, in the Kamui dimension…

Having been teleported into the Kamui dimension, Kakashi ended up quickly gaining the upper hand on Obito and aimed his Lightning Blade at him, but stopped because he couldn't bring himself to kill his former teammate, so he tried to persuade Obito to revert to how he used to be so many years ago, only to end up being taunted in response.

Obito then went on to reveal that he was aware of the true story behind Rin dying, how the ninja of the Hidden Mist had forcefully turned her into a jinchuuriki of the Three Tails in an attempt to use her on the Hidden Leaf, and how she purposely made herself die by the hand of Kakashi, in order to protect the village and its people. He then went on to use a genjutsu to show Kakashi how truly empty his heart was, and how the Infinite Tsukiyomi could save people from such a horrible fate.

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Meanwhile, back in the real world…

The situation was about to turn that much worse.

"Yeah okay, just a little bit lower." Tatsu breathed a sigh as he let himself be healed by Ino, but then his gaze hardened at the sight of the Ten Tails supposedly undergoing a new transformation in front of them, its mouth opening up wide "That's definitely not a good sign. Must be some kind of new transformation."

"No it's not young one, the beast is simply reverting to its original form. That was only the form it uses for offense. However, with each form it takes, it looms ever closer to its final transformation, which brings us ever closer to the return of the Rabbit Goddess. Both yourself and the jinchuuriki are in the process of recovering, the Nine-Tails is curently in the process of infusing chakra to its jinchuuriki at the moment. As of right now, it may very well be up to either the Uchiha or the Eight-Tails or Six Tails jinchuuriki."

"I still have my Tenseigan chakra going for me."

"But that will simply not be enough. The only chance you have right now may be to combine my power with that of your Tenseigan."

"Will my body be able to handle it?"

"There is no way to know for certain, but the fact remains that if the beast is allowed to return to its true form, and she is revived to her fullest extent, then all is lost."

"Right. It looks like the Ten Tails is losing patience, it probably sensed Kurama from where he's sealed inside of Naruto."

"We don't have much time, so we'll need to act quickly. First, you must activate your Sage Mode."

"Right. Thanks Ino, but I think I'm okay now." Tatsu pulled himself back to his feet and stepped forward, and then he fell as still as he could "It's going to take me at least a minute to gather the nature energy I need, and that Tailed Beast Bomb is getting bigger. Will I be able to do this in time?"

"You will have to. The next step is for you to activate your Tenseigan Chakra Cloak, which will increase the speed of the process."

"Right." a certain cyan-colored chakra cloak slowly morphed around Tatsu's body as he called out to everyone present "Whatever happens everyone, we've come too far to give up now. Keep in mind that Naruto here has been putting everything he has into doing what has to be done, and his Talk no Jutsu has only made it more clear. He's been going out of his way to protect all of us until now, because that's the kind of shinobi, the kind of person that he truly is, but that's not it either. He considered all of us to be his comrades with every ounce of his being, so we can't let his will be in vain. Thanks to the example he's set for us, we've all come together not as separate villages or nations, but as one single world!" and then a white-colored chakra cloak suddenly formed overtop the cyan-colored chakra cloak, causing the two of them to merge into one single one, which then led to the two cloaks morphing into one silver-colored cloak "If we're going to die here, then I say we might as well go down fighting to the best of our abilities, and we'll do it together as comrades!" he suddenly materialized a massive silver-colored dragon avatar made of pure chakra, but this was followed by a sickening crack that caused the avatar to dissipate, as well as caused Tatsu to fall to one knee "Dammit, I knew that my body wouldn't be able to handle both of them together!"

"The problem is that you needed the nature energy to stabilize the connection between them, and your speech to the others, as commendable as it might have been, ripped you from the necessary concentration. The nature energy is absolutely crucial."

"Yeah, maybe Naruto has been rubbing off on me. Oh well, I don't have time to worry about that now. Hey Shika tell me something, do you have a plan?"

"I think I've got one that could work out for us." Shikamaru told him "Ino get over here, I need you to connect me with someone."

"Right, I'm on it." so Ino sent one of her Shadow Clones over to touch Shikamaru's head and use her Telepathy Jutsu.

"Thanks. Kitsuchi of the Hidden Stone, can you hear me? I need you to hear me out."

"You're Shikaku's child aren't you?"

"Yes I am, and I need you to teach me the signs to an easy Earth Style Barrier jutsu that even ninja outside the Hidden Stone can perform."

"But one that anyone could perform would be far too weak, wouldn't it be better to-"

"No, it's crucial for my strategy for everyone to be able to perform it. The enemy may have quality going for it, but in this case, we have quantity."

"But these walls will be blown away quickly."

"I know that, but even if they are we can act like they're a shield by creating more. We're going to slow the momentum of the blast with a number of weaker walls rather than try to stop it with just one large one. Of course, I intend to have all of you from the Hidden Stone build me one gigantic wall as well."

"...I think I get it, and your idea just might be worth a try. Alright then kid, here are the hand signs you have to use."

"Right, but before that… Killer B, Utakata, Shisui, I want the three of you to bombard the Ten Tails with as many attacks as you can to shift its trajectory upwards. Okay Ino, now that that's done I need you to connect me with every shinobi on the battlefield. Can you do that?"

"It doesn't matter if I can or not, if I have to then I will." with her forehead veins throbbing from the strain, Ino connected Shikamaru with everyone else present, and started going through the necessary hand signs "Now everyone, do it now!"

"RIGHT! EARTH STYLE BARRIER!" so everyone that could use Earth Style slammed their hands into the ground and summoned a massive number of earth walls just as the Ten Tails fired an absolutely massive Tailed Beast Bomb.

'Here it comes, I have to get ready! Yasaka Magatama!" Shisui activated his full Susanoo and fired off a barrage of Magatama blades, only for it to not even slow the blast down 'Its power is so much greater than I had imagined! The last barrier won't even last a second! DO IT, DO IT NOW!"

"RIGHT!" so just as the Tailed Beast Bomb broke through the last barrier, Utakata and Killer B, both of them in their Tailed Beast forms, leapt down in front of the Tailed Beast Bomb and caught it before it was able to reach everyone, only for the two of them to suddenly be sent skidding backwards by a massive orange figure as it thrusted its sword into the Tailed Beast Bomb, causing it to disappear, the sword to shatter, and the orange figure to evaporate as quickly as it had appeared, leaving everyone completely bewildered as a result.

This was when two certain unique kunai suddenly dropped down onto the scene, followed by the sudden appearance of two certain figures, both sharing the same trademark smile "Sorry I took so long to get here, I'm not late am I?"

"A little bit actually." Tatsu shot him a smirk, despite the pain he was feeling as he was being healed by Ino "But better late than never brother."

"What about me?" asked the second one "I'm not late am I?"

"Nope." Naruto shot him a grin "Your timing couldn't have been better."

"Good."

"Wait, hold on a second." Kin was about as bewildered as any of them "So I know that one of them is Tatsu's older brother, but what about the blond one, and why do he and Naruto look so much alike?"

"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Minato Namikaze, but I shouldn't be surprised you don't know who I am."

"What about the blast from the Ten Tails?"

"Oh you can thank a certain someone for that." Kazuma told her "He used all of the strength he had to seal away the Tailed Beast Bomb, but his Totsuka Blade was destroyed in the process, so we can't expect him to use it again."

"Works for me." Tatsu let out a sigh "We got lucky, truth be told we probably wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for you guys." he glanced over at Minato "Judging by the eyes I'm guessing that got brought back through the Reanimation Jutsu."

"Yes but I'm an ally though, so you don't have to worry." Minato assured him.

"I wasn't worried, more like it's being overshadowed by the excruciating pain. Thank you for keeping an eye on Naruto until now."

"Wait, you know Naruto?" asked Kin.

"Of course I did, he is my son after all. So by any chance, are you Naruto's girlfriend?"

"Uh…"

"Hate to break it to you dad, but she's not mine." Naruto told him "Truth be told, Kin is actually supposed to be Sasuke's-" he was cut off by Kin's hand slapping over his mouth.

"You shouldn't waste your energy talking, and besides I have to concentrate on healing you right now."

"Oh. I see." Minato let out a nervous chuckle "She reminds me of Kushina in some ways."

"Except she's a lot more gentle." Tatsu noted "Just be glad she doesn't like to smack the every loving shit out of us."

"So why exactly did this happen so suddenly?" asked Ino "I mean you sensed both him and your brother coming?"

"You forget that I can sense chakra at will, and we've got the rest of both parties on their way here, so they should be arriving soon enough."

"It's funny you mention that, I can sense a bunch of others coming this way too, and one of them feels familiar… Don't tell me, is that-?!"

"Well done Minato." this was when Hiruzen dropped down next to him "I must say, you are as fast as ever."

"Lord Third Hokage?!"

"I will give no objections." Tobirama and Hashirama were quick to follow "I have to say Fourth, you may be even better at teleporting than I am."

"And are they-?!"

"No doubt about it, it's them." Kazuma told her "All all of the first four Hokage brought back to the world of the living, revived and fully ready for battle by the looks of it. They're not the ones who stopped the attack, the one to whom that honor belongs should be on his way here any moment now. Who brought all of you back though? I know for a fact that Kabuto is out of commission right now."

"Orochimaru was the one that summoned us." Hiruzen told him "But that can wait, for now we have to hurry and stop this war quickly."

"Okay, first question Lord Third. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Orochimaru is supposed to be dead isn't he?"

"That's the thing about Orochimaru. Even when he dies, he doesn't." Tatsu noted dryly.

"That makes sense. Sort of."

"Yeah don't bother questioning it, I stopped questioning what goes on in my life when two things happened. One of them was discovering that you had faked your death for almost a decade, and the other was hearing Naruto employ the Talk no Jutsu for the first time."

"Fair enough. We should be having others arrive on the scene any minute now, but they're taking a little bit longer."

"Well while we're waiting for them, we've got some more incoming now."

Sure enough, this was when Madara dropped down onto the scene "It's about damn time you decided to show yourself, I've been waiting for you Hashirama!"

Almost immediately, Hashirama pointed at him "I'll deal with you later!" that caused him to falter in a comical fashion "But for the time being, I have to stop the Ten Tails, so you'll just have to wait your turn!"

"...Honestly you haven't changed a bit, we were never on the same page." and yet he backed off regardless.

"After all, the beast is charging towards us right now."

"So it is." Minato glanced back at the others "Naruto, you and the others have done well up until now, so leave the rest to us? We can take care of it, and some friends of yours should be here very soon, so just take a breather until then. Lord First, if you would do the honors." and on that note, he suddenly activated a yellow and orange chakra cloak.

"Alright then. Come my fellow Hokage, let's go!"

"Lord Second and Lord Third, I need you to stand in front of me."

Tatsu let out a low whistle "Well I'll be damned, I figured you would pull it off, but to see him do it too? You've gotta give it to the Fourth Hokage, but then again I figure his own son would know that better than I would."

Following Minato's instructions, Tobirama and Hiruzen stood in front of Minato as he placed his hands on their backs "I take it you've already placed your markers? You seem to be quick at striking too." and so the three of them disappeared from sight, instantly being teleported to where various Flying Raijin Kunai were located.

'Now to see the first four Hokage in action.'

"Now let's go! Ninja Art: Four Crimson Ray Formation!" Hashirama formed a hand seal, and with the other Hokage working simultaneously, all of them summoned a massive crimson barrier around the Ten Tails "And now I'll ad this onto it!" he promptly activated his own Sage Mode, yes he has it too because why not, and he formed a quickly hand seal "Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates!" he summoned a number of massive red torri gates that restricted the Ten Tails and each of its tails.

'Well that was totally worth it, this is way beyond the power of the Four Flames Formation, and this one requires four Kage level shinobi to create. Then again, I doubt anyone should expect anything less from the first four Hokage. The Ten Tails can't move on its own now.'

"Sorry I'm late." this was when Sasuke dropped down onto the scene with Jugo following almost immediately after.

"You're late as all hell."

"Which I just apologized for."

"Hate to break it to you duckass, but I don't think apologies are going to be enough, if you take my meaning." he jerked a thumb back at where Kin was still healing Naruto.

"...You had to bring that up didn't you?"

"I thought you guys made up back before the war started."

"You made us kiss, it takes more than that to make a couple make up. But never mind that, we've got more incoming." he glanced back and couldn't hide his smirk "Looks like you and the others took your time getting here Itachi."

Sure enough, Itachi dropped down onto the scene, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan blazing with power and determination, though he look a little bit worse for wear "I'm sorry I took so long getting here Sasuke, but to be fair, taking the full force of a Tailed Beast Bomb will do that to you."

"At least this time you have a good excuse."

"Not good enough it seems." Itachi looked around to see various other shinobi all glaring at him with eyes burning with hatred "I thought Kazuma said you revealed the truth about me."

"That doesn't mean everyone believed it."

"So it would seem. You can all think of me how you wish, but I'm here to do my part in protecting the Hidden Leaf, just as I've always done."

"And then, he's going to become the Hokage." Sasuke was met with various jaw dropped looks from everyone present "Yes I know how that sounds, and you can think of it how you like, but the fact is that if there's one man in this world who understands the will of the Hokage, and knows what it means to be the Hokage, it's him. I know that despite his reasoning, it doesn't change the fact that he still has blood on his hands from various nations and villages, and I realize that many of you may not be able to forgive him, but it doesn't matter right now. What does matter is focusing on the here and now. The fact is that the choices made by the previous Kage led to the circumstances we see before us, and the system has to change, and Itachi is the best person to become Hokage and change that."

"Yeah well here's the thing about that." this was when Naruto pulled himself back to his feet and stepped forward "If anyone here is going to be the Hokage, it's going to be me."

"Yeah, as much as I enjoy watching this round of Who's Going to be the Next Hokage, we've got other shit to worry about right now." Tatsu stood up next and activated his Tenseigan Chakra Cloak "I say we take down the Ten Tails in an all out attack with everything we've got. I owe you one for healing me the way you did Ino, now hang back and get some rest while the rest of us take care of things. Naruto, Sasuke, let's get moving." and so they leapt up to the front.

This was when Lee joined them, his eyes surrounded by familiar blue markings "Sorry I too so long to get here, I had to prepare something."

"Let me take a wild guess, during the weeks before the war you signed the dragon contract and learned Sage Mode in order to incorporate nature energy into your taijutsu?"

"It takes me time to gather the necessary energy, and I can't maintain it for very long, so we'll have to make this fast."

"Fair enough." Tatsu glanced over to see Ino suddenly join them "Uh… what the hell are you doing exactly?"

"I could ask you the exact same thing." Ino told him simply "Tell me something Tatsu, even after all we've been through together, do you and the others consider me to be some sort of weak little girl that doesn't have what it takes to keep up with the rest of you? I thought I told you before that while you might dream of being the greatest shinobi this world has ever seen, I'm going to be the best Water Style user this world has ever seen. Did you think that Lady Tsunade would be the only one of the Legendary Sannin to not train her student properly. I'm almost there too, I just need a little bit more time and I'm going to be at full capacity, and then I can unleash my secret weapon to the fullest extent. I might not be a member of Team Dragon like the four of you are, but Naruto, Sasuke, I'm a student of the Legendary Sannin just like you guys, and I have no intention of just standing back and letting you do everything for me! It's like you said Tatsu, I have to be prepared to give 100% and resolve not to pull any punches, and I have."

"...Looks like even now, you've still got that fire in your eyes." Tatsu let out a chuckle "Alright then guys, looks like we've got ourselves an honorary fifth member of Team Dragon standing before us. Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Ino, let's get moving. I think it's safe to say that we've got a hell of a lot of work to do."

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Meanwhile, in the Kamui dimension…

All while that was going on, Obito continued with berating Kakashi about the miserable failure of reality and the value of comrades, but Kakashi was quick to counter by telling him that while those who break the rules are scum, those who abandon their friends are worse than scum, and in case of Obito, losing any feelings for his friends makes him even worse than that, and how he firmly believed that his comrades would fill the hole inside of his heart.

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From their place on the ground, Itachi and the rest of those presnet couldn't help but smile at the sight of Tatsu and the others coming into their own "Seeing something like this, I have to admit it does bring back some really fond memories, doesn't it?"

"Seems like it." Kazuma let out a chuckle "It is pretty hard to believe though, the thought that even after you have the Eternal Mangekyo, he's the one that ends up surpassing you. It's been a long time since we got to fight together too. I think it was actually that mission to the Land of Snow."

"That sounds about right to me." this was when Shisui dropped down onto the scene and locked eyes with Itachi "Eternal Mangekyo then? Nice, I approve. I think it's time for us to make our own move as well."

"Good enough for me." but then Kazuma sensed something and looked back, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head as a result "What the- Ayame?!"

Sure enough, Ayame dropped down onto the scene, clad in a chunin vest, and she shot him a confident smirk "Didn't expect me to be part of this did you? Sasuke and the others picked me up when they left the Hidden Leaf, they knew that I both want and need to fight alongside the rest of you."

"I thought I said I didn't want you to be part of this."

"I know, but I can't stay out of it. Not anymore. Do you honestly view me as some weak woman that can't keep up with the rest of you, just because I don't have those special eyes? Do you think that those eyes are the only things that make you special?"

"We never said that-" Itachi was cut off by Kazuma putting his hand over his mouth 'Right, don't interrupt her when she's on a role, let her say what she needs to say, and then point out the obvious holes in her Talk no Jutsu.'

"It doesn't matter if I don't have some Kekkei Genkai, I'm here now with the rest of you and I'm going to fight with everything I've got. The fact is that I'm a member of this team, just like the rest of you, and I'm not going to let the rest of you forget that."

"...Well okay then." Kazuma gave a grin as he activated his Tenseigan "Looks to me like the original Team Dragon is finally back and better than ever."

"Hey!" Tatsu barked at him from where he was about to charge in "That's our team name, go get your own!"

"Oh please, we had that first! If anything you're just the sequel!" they glared at each other, then both let out simultaneous chuckles "Let's get moving."

"Way ahead of you, time to show them what we're made of."

A/N:

And thus we dive further into the climax of the Fourth Great Ninja War, with the four previous Hokage having been revived, the group of Hebi having reunited (for the most part), and Itachi having Sasuke's own eyes transplanted into him, thus granting him the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan as a result, the healing process having to be cut short due to the limit time frame.

Naruto and Tatsu's counterattack taking the form of a dolphin was meant to be a tribute to Iruka. I know that being a bird made more sense but that was for Neji's death, which didn't happen here, and since Iruka's name means Dolphin, I thought that it was only right to make it a tribute to him instead. Oh and for the record, since Neji didn't die in this fic, that means a certain pairing may very well become canon, if you take my meaning.

So yes, I had Itachi seal away the Tailed Beast Bomb from the Ten Tails, albeit at the cost of his Totsuka Blade being destroyed. I can imagine some people aren't going to be too happy about it, but it had to be done. I couldn't have him sealing Madara too early, now could I? And to be fair, while we know of the sword's power, we don't know about its durability.

I had to find a way to keep Lee relevant even in the face of the likes of Tailed Beast Mode, a Susanoo and the Light Dragon, so I gave him Sage Mode in order to incorporate it into his taijutsu, since I already gave him the Leaf Dragon God mode back during the Invasion of Pain. Adding onto that, I gave Ino a certain power up too, but since this chapter has gone on for long enough, you'll get to see it in the next chapter.