Author's Note: Up to this point, the final battle has been pretty close to canon, even if I tried to give it my own spin in order to stop it from being a direct copy-paste (you guys know how much I hate those), but from this point onwards, things will diverge more and things won't go the way you expect to.
Even then, I'm sure you'll enjoy what I have prepared:
Chapter 128:
The Ten Tails: The Living Cataclysm
or
Go go jinchuriki!
Konoha, Hokage Tower
For the past few weeks, the Hokage's office had been vacant. While the administrative staff continued work as usual without Jiraiya and most of the ninja personnel, none of them ever thought in using the office reserved for Konoha's highest commander.
Then, a burst of smoke happened seemingly spontaneously, and the office wasn't vacant anymore, as from the smoke emerged Jiraiya and Tsunade.
"Good, we're here," Jiraiya said, as he moved towards the desk, and started to look for something inside the drawers. "Okay, where is that thing..."
"Too bad we didn't think of telling the toads to create a gateway to the Allied Ninja Forces HQ," Tsunade said, as she rubbed her arms while Jiraiya looked for whatever item he was trying to find. "We're going to take a lot of time to reach Naruto."
Shortly after Orochimaru's final defeat, Jiraiya was again contacted by Kosuke. Turns out, after the attack on Genbu Island, Shima had been keeping an eye on Naruto per Jiraiya and Tsunade's request, and both he and his fellow jinchuriki had been ambushed by Obito and a bunch of reanimations. Needless to say, the two of them decided to join Naruto and the others in order to help them, but they were too far away from their position.
Fortunately, there was the Reverse Summoning Jutsu. Like he did many years ago, Fukasaku put a special temporary seal on Tsunade that allowed her to be summoned towards Mount Myoboku. Then, using Gamamaru's getaway to the Hokage's office, they returned to Konoha. And now, they would be heading towards the north, to help Naruto. They only needed his exact position.
"AHA!" Jiraiya said, pulling out what appeared to be a map of the Elemental Nations. Pushing some of the documents and office supplies to the side, he placed the map on the desk, and made a hand seal. Three symbols appeared on the map, all three of them in the Land of Fire. Two of them appeared to be together in the central part of the country, and the third one was in the northeast part, close to the border with the Land of Hot Springs. "Alright, here's Naruto. And these two are Kaida and Hagane. Nice to see that all three of them are still good."
"I had forgotten about those tracking seals you had placed on the kids before Naruto went on his first mission out of the village," Tsunade said, looking at the map. "Didn't you say you were going to remove them after they became Chunin?"
"I guess I did say that, but I kinda forgot. It's been quite a few busy years, you know," Jiraiya said, as he rolled the map and put it on a pocket. "Aren't you happy that I didn't?"
"Hurrah for convenient forgetfulness," Tsunade deadpanned. "Come on, let's go. Our children need us."
Jiraiya nodded, and the two of them left the office via the window.
…
Site of the Final Battle
Naruto, Hinata, Fu and Killer B watched in horror at the colossal abomination towering over them. Its massive size made the Tailed Beasts and Hinata's Avatar of Kalika look puny in comparison. Neither of them knew how they were going to fight against something so large, even with the power the four of them had together.
"So... that thing's the Ten Tails?" Fu asked, her voice quivering a little. "Wow... its size is a little worrying."
"That thing is the combination of several of our siblings, of course it was going to be big," Chomei replied. "And it isn't even at its full power, still lacking Gyuki, half of Kurama and me."
"I'm afraid this won't be like fighting a normal Tailed Beast," Hinata said, as she eyed the monster. "And Kami knows what kind of power that creature has..."
"What the hell? Why can't I sense anything from that beast?" Naruto asked. "Its chakra should be massive, but I'm sensing none!"
"You're right, its chakra is massive," the Nine Tails began. "And as for why it can't be sensed... think of it like Earth's curvature. The planet may appear flat from our point of view, but that's because we're so comparatively small our eyes can't see it. The same thing goes with the Ten Tails' chakra."
Naruto both deflated and shaken. "Geez... that fills me with so much confidence..."
That moment, Naruto felt something: his connection to his Truth Seeking Balls had been restored. Meaning that Obito had opened a gate to the Kamui dimension. And indeed, looking towards Obito's position, he could see the rogue Uchiha teleporting. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Naruto quickly recalled his nine Truth Seeking Balls, all of them flying out of the spiraling portal just as Obito disappeared.
"Yes! Come back to me!" Naruto cheered.
"Don't celebrate so soon, Naruto. That monster is not just a Tailed Beast, but a force of nature," Saiken warned. "That means that it's nature energy itself. So the Truth Seeking Balls won't be of much use against it."
Naruto deflated again. "Of course. It was much to ask that Obito had made a mistake," Naruto said, now realizing why Obito decided to use Kamui again.
"Still, I'd say it's still better than not having them. They can still be useful," Utakata said.
Obito reappeared on top of the Ten Tail's head, with Madara landing next to him. Madara then crouched down, and placed his hand on the bark-like skin. Then, two stalks of flesh shot from below them, and latched them onto the two Uchiha's spines, allowing them full control of the beast. Madara, however, grunted disapprovingly.
"Just as I feared," Madara said.
"What were you fearing?" Obito asked.
Madara turned at his disciple, and shot him an unamused glare. "Because of the haphazardly way you revived the Ten Tails, its chakra is mostly unstable and imbalanced. If either of us tried to become its jinchuriki, the imbalance would eventually kill us from the inside out. The Ten Tails needs to be complete before I can become its jinchuriki."
"That's just a minor inconvenience," Obito said in a dismissive tone, as he looked at the enemies below him. "Even if it's not at its fullest, the Ten Tails' power is unmatched. All we have to do is beat those fools down below, and have the Ten Tails devour its remaining pieces of power."
"Very well then. Let's do it your way, given that we have no other options," Madara said, as he turned his gaze to the three jinchuriki and the Hyuga.
"Don't act so disappointed. You want to see the Ten Tails in action, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so," Obito replied.
Madara smirked. "Yes, I admit that's a bright side to an inadequate situation, in my opinion at least. Well, let's see what this creature is capable of."
The Ten Tails let out another ear-piercing, screeching roar, before it dragged itself towards the Uchiha's enemies, causing the earth to tremble, and leaving a large trail of clouds of dust in its wake.
Of course, the sight of the titanic abomination charging towards them caused Naruto and his friends to panic even more.
"That thing's coming towards us ready to attack! Should we met it head on or better fall back?" Killer B asked.
"For the time being, run!" Kurama warned. "Let's see what it does, and when we find an opening, we launch a counterattack!"
Everybody seemed to be okay with Kurama's plans, as the four giants turned around and began to run away from the even larger giant chasing them, or, in Fu's case, fly away.
"Fu and Chomei, you better stay above us! We'll try to keep their attention on us, and once they're distracted, hit them from above!" Kurama said.
"Got it!" the transformed jinchuriki agreed.
Despite its lack of legs, the Ten Tails didn't take much time to bridge the gap between it and its preys. Reaching down, it brought a massive hand towards Kurama's form. Naruto managed to jump in time to dodge, but the titanic hand slamming into the ground produced a shockwave that sent the three earthbound giants tumbling away in different directions. Fortunately, they were able to regain their balance and turn against the incoming monster.
"Running away has no perk, no choice but to face that jerk!" Killer B said.
"Understood. Let me attack first, I'll try to create an opening for you to exploit," Hinata suggested, as her Avatar of Kalika charged forward.
The Ten Tails repeated the same action as it did before, and tried to crush Hinata under its massive hand. The Hyuga Clan Head, however, was prepared for such action, and made the Avatar spin in place.
"Six Paths: Heavenly Spin!"
Due to its size, the Avatar couldn't spin as fast as Hinata did, and thus couldn't produce a dome of protective chakra. Instead, blue streams of chakra quickly orbited around the spinning avatar, creating a lesser but still similar effect. When the hand slammed into the Avatar, the force of the spin pushed it backwards, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to negate the force behind Ten Tails' smack, and Hinata's Avatar was also violently pushed backwards as well, the chakra giantess falling on its back as it slid backwards.
"Hinata!" Naruto screamed.
"Don't mind her! Focus on the enemy in front of you!" Kurama reminded Naruto.
Before Naruto could attack, the Ten Tails balled its hands into fists, and slammed them into the ground with as much force as it could muster. The result was a shockwave that pushed the Eight and the Nine Tails backwards with even more force than the Avatar of Kalika, while shattering the ground around them, sending a multitude of rocks flying in every direction.
Their preys knocked down, the Ten Tails lunged forward, ready to consume them. There was, however, one more jinchuriki that hadn't made her move. Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't paying attention to her, Fu dived towards the titanic abomination headfirst.
"Horn Buster!"
Fu's frontal horn glowed with a green aura and doubled in size and length, ready to gore both the Ten Tails and the two Uchihas riding its head. However, before she could reach it, one of its tails moved and slammed into the giant bug before she could have the chance to get any close, sending her tumbling back like a disoriented fly who had been swatted by the tail of a cow.
"Fu!" Naruto yelled, as the Nine Tails Avatar got back on its feet.
"The strength of that thing is massive!" Kokuo said in horror. "There's no way we can survive against that thing in a close fight!"
"The eyeball looks like an obvious weak point. Perhaps you should aim your attacks on that spot?" Yagura suggested.
"Let's attack at once! He can't defend from three different directions!" Naruto suggested.
Both Naruto and Killer B prepared a Tailed Beast Ball each, while Hinata's Avatar of Kalika started to make hand seals.
"Sage Art: Twin Lion Assault!"
"Tailed Beast Ball!"
The Avatar of Kalika thurst its palms forward, releasing two large blasts of lavender chakra. The blasts took the shape of lions whose bodies were ended in large tails rather than back legs, looking like they were ready to pound on their prey, leaving a trail of purple light as they flew.
Obito and Madara, however, didn't look fazed in the slightest.
"Let's show these maggots how big is the difference in power between us and them," Obito said.
The Ten Tails opened its jaws wide, and like the Nine and Eight Tailes before it, gathered chakra on its mouth in order to form a Tailed Beast Ball. This ball, however, was almost three times as large as a normal Tailed Beast Ball, crimson in color with black edges, and blue lightning crackled around it. The Ten Tails then swallowed the ball whole, before releasing it in the form of a wave of destruction. Making a wide sweep, the chakra beam not only nullyfied the incoming attacks, but it still carried more than enough power to blast its opponents.
Naruto and Killer B wrapped their Tails around themselves, forming a makeshift protective shell that took most of the blast. Unfortunately, Hinata's Avatar of Kalika had no such defense, and the lavender chakra construct was blasted into oblivion. Hinata managed to abandon it in time, but the resulting explosion sent her spiraling into the ground, landing with a loud thud.
"Hinata!" Naruto yelled again.
While the Ten Tails took care of its groundbound enemies, Fu decided to test her luck once again. Rather than melee, she decided to use a Tailed Beast Ball as well. In the case the Uchihas decided to absorb it, it would leave them vulnerable to other attacks.
"Tailed Beast Ball!"
As the ball of energy descended upon the Ten Tails, the two Uchihas noticed the attack getting closer each time.
"Oh, that annoying fly is still there," Madara flippantly said.
"She won't be there for much longer," Obito added.
Without deigning to look at her or her attack, the Ten Tails used one of its tails to almost casually swat the Tailed Beast Ball away. The attack landed somewhere far away, detonating upon crashing into the ground. Then, with another tail whip, the Ten Tails violently send Fu crashing against the ground near her fellow jinchuriki.
"Not Fu too!" Naruto shouted again.
"You have no time to worry about your friends, Uzumaki," Madara said, as he made a hand seal.
The Ten Tails once again opened its jaws to prepare yet another Tailed Beast Ball, much to their horror.
"The trick of using the tails as a shield won't cut it a second time!" Gyuki said. "We have to counter it with a Tailed Beast Ball of our own!"
"But our individual Tailed Beast Balls don't have enough power to match those of that monster!" Chomei whined.
"In that case, let's join our forces! Let's pour of chakra into a single Tailed Beast Ball!" Kurama suggested.
Shaking off the pain, Fu forced herself back on her feet, and joined her fellow jinchuriki. The three Tailed Beasts began to gather their chakra into a single point, quickly creating a Tailed Beast Ball much bigger than anyone they could produce on their own. The problem, though, is that it was still about half the size the one the Ten Tails was prepared.
"This is getting rough! No matter how hard we try, our power just isn't enough!" Killer B panicked.
"In that case, then let me try something!" Naruto said.
The Uzumaki motioned his hand forward, and his nine Truth Seeking Balls shot towards the forming Tailed Beast Ball. The nine orbs then sunk into the giant sphere of energy. As the Truth Seeking Balls dissolved into the Tailed Beast Ball, their power incorporating into it, it pulsated as it grew in size. It still didn't match the Ten Tails' power, but at least it was close enough.
"Enough of this nonsense. Disappear!" Madara yelled.
"Aim at the lower part of the opposite ball! That way, they will go upwards when they clash!" Yugito urged.
Both Tailed Beast Balls shot forward, meeting each other in the middle, pushing back and forth. And like Yugito had said, the balls started to move upwards as they tried to overpower the other one. After a few moments of struggling, both balls detonated at once, producing a massive explosion that cleared the sky of any clouds.
Even if the explosion happened far from the ground, the resulting shockwave shook the earth to the core, sending multiple chunks of rock into the air, and pushing the three jinchuriki and Hinata violently backwards, bouncing on their backs multiple times. Naruto, fortunately, managed to catch Hinata with a chakra arm before the poor Hyuga could be sent into the horizon.
The Ten Tais, however, wasn't affected by explosion, and was able to remain in place, unaffected by the gigantic blast.
The three jinchuriki felt their forces slowly disappear as they shrank back to their human forms. They weren't even able to use their chakra cloaks.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I've been spending a lot of energy, and those attacks didn't help," Kurama said, sounding a little apologetic. "I'm afraid I'll need some time to regenerate my chakra."
"I'm also at my limit. I need to rest for a bit," Chomei said.
"Same here. It pains me leaving you to your own devices against such a threat, but we have no choice," Gyuki added.
"Damn..." Fu cursed, as she looked at the one-eyed abomination in front of her. "How the hell are going to fight that thing without Lucky Seven and the others?"
"I don't know, but we will!" Naruto insisted. "We don't need to win right now, just buy them some time to rest and recover some of their chakra, and we can do that!"
"Quite the persistent fellow, isn't he?" Madara deadpanned, shaking his head. "Even in the face of certain doom, his confidence doesn't waver."
"You have no idea," Obito said, rolling his eyes. "That blond brat has been a thorn at my side since our mission started."
"I can imagine. But you know what they said," Madara said, as he issued a command to the Ten Tails. "Confidence is the fool's substitute of intelligence."
The Ten Tails opened its jaws again, and prepared to charge another Tailed Beast Ball, much to the Konoha, Taki and Kumo ninja's horror, as they began to panick, not knowing what to do do counter another of those monstrous attacks.
"Perhaps I'm overdoing it, but, this should be enough to beat any fight out of you without killing you or the Tailed Beasts within you," Madara said, as the Ten Tails prepared to attack.
Naruto desperatedly wracked his brain in order to find a way to avoid the incredibly destructive attack.
"I know! Let's fly into the air! Fu, grab Killer B!" Naruto said, as he summoned a cloud of sand beneath his feet.
"Will be able to fly high enough to avoid the explosion?" Hinata questioned.
"We have no other choice! Now let's-"
Before Naruto could finish talking, the Ten Tails fired the giant crimson spehere of chakra for the second time in a row. As Naruto and the others prepared to take off, he suddenly sensed a new chakra signature joining the battle, and indeed, an individual dressed in green and blue with silver hair blurred past him, drawing everybody's attention for a second.
"Kakashi...?" Fu asked.
Because indeed, Kakashi was now rushing towards the incoming attack. He jumped into the air, and touched it with one hand as his Sharingan transformed into its advanced stage.
"Kamui!"
Kakashi created a spiraling vortex that completely sucked the Tailed Beast Ball away, as well as himself, saving the jinchuriki and Hinata from being hit by the powerful attack. Naruto was left with his mouth agape, trying to process what had happened.
"Wait... did Kakashi-sensei just...?" Naruto stammered, fearing for the worst. That moment, he sensed Kakashi's chakra signature once again. Turning around, the silver haired Jonin was there, not any worse for the wear.
"Don't worry, Naruto, it was just a Shadow Clone," Kakashi assured, and he could see how a wave of relief washed over the son of his late mentor. "I needed to make sure that thing exploded in the Kamui dimension. Or else Obito could have tossed it back at us again."
"Naruto! Hinata!" Kurenai's voice called, as she and Haku landed besides Kakashi. "Good to see you two are okay!"
"Nee-chan!" Hanabi's voice said, and Hinata saw her little sister flying towards her. The two of them celebrated their reunion with a tight hug.
"It seems we arrived just in time," Haku said.
"And we haven't come alone!" Hanabi chimed in, as she broke the hug.
Suddenly, Naruto's senses were overwhelmed as thousands upon thousands of new chakra signatures entered the place, many familiar, while most others were unknown. Then, a few seconds later, many more ninjas, not just from Konoha, but from the other four Great Villages, and some of the minor ones as well, started to land all around them.
"The First Division is here!" A announced, as the Raikage and the ninjas under his command landed on the ground, Team Asuma among them.
"The Second Divison has arrived!" Kurotsuchi said, floating above the battleground, as what was left of her battered division joined the battle, including the Uchiha brothers, as well as the remaining members of the Close Combat Squad.
"The Third Division is here as well," Mei stated, as she, followed by Zabuza and the other Swordsmen of the Mist, lead their troops, Anko's Assassination Squad among them.
"The Fourth Division is ready to fight," Rasa stated, flanked by the Sand Siblings.
"So is the Fifth Divisoon!" Mifune said, as his troops followed him, Kakashi's students among them.
"The Medical Division is here to provide relief to the wounded!" Shizune said.
"The Sensory Division has arrived as well!" C stated.
"The Air Force is here!" Konan said, as a large group of ninjas riding flying animals covered the skies.
Thousands upon thousands of ninjas converged upon them. Everybody was here! Even he could sense Shisui, who had now joined Sasuke and Itachi in the Second Divison, as well as Sai, who had reinforced the Air Force with several of his ink birds. There were, however, two people the blond couldn't sense.
"Hey... I'm not sensing Mom and Dad... shouldn't they be here as well?" Naruto asked, as a knot began to form in his stomach. He then felt Kurenai placing a hand on his shoulder. The Genjutsu Mistress smiled at Naruto.
"Don't worry, Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama undertook the task to put an end to Orochimaru, once we were able to pinpoint the position of his hideout," Kurenai explained. "And given that all the reanimations in all battlefields were dispelled, I said their mission was a resounding success."
"Even if they may not be in condition to join us in battle, I'm convinced they're still alive," Kakashi added.
Naruto nodded. Yeah, they were right. Wherever they were, Naruto knew they were still alive. And now, he needed to win this so he could come back to them alive as well. He took a step forward, and looked at the titanic monster in front of him, feeling now much more confident than before. He punched the palm of his hand.
"Alright, time to take that monster down!" Naruto said.
"What's going to be the plan?" Hinata asked.
"Naruto, Hinata," a voice called them inside their heads. After a brief shock, they realized it was Ino using her telepathy. "The Alliance HQ devised a plan on our way here in order to take down the Ten Tails. You're the last ones to learn about it. I'll try to make it brief, so pay attention."
"Got it, Ino!" Naruto said.
"We're listening!" Hinata replied.
"First, we will blind the creature..."
Following the Raikage's directions, multiple Kumo ninja rushed forward, split into two groups, one led by C and the other lead by Darui. The first group moved a few steps ahead of the second, and began to make the same sequence of hand seals.
"Blind it!" the Raikage ordered.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Flash!"
The dozens of ninjas using this technique in tandem produced a pillar of incredibly bright white light. The Allied Ninjas were already expecting it and shielded their eyes in time, but Madara, Obito and their pet abomination weren't so lucky, and took the attack in full.
"Now that we disoriented it, destroy its eye!"
Darui nodded, as he and his clansmen started to weave the same chain of seals, before bringing their hands together, forming a finger gun.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"
Darui and his clansmen fired a barrage of chakra beams, which were all directed towards the Ten Tails' eye. The creature instinctively closed its one eye and reared its head back in order to avoid the barrage of bright beams, all of which crashed against its face, resulting in a series of explosions.
On top of the Ten Tails' head, Madara watched the ninjas below him attemtping to cripple the beast under his and Obito's control, and seethed.
"We can't let them take the initiative. Let's wipe them out in one blow!" Madara said, as he ordered the Ten Tails to move forward and attack, even if it was temporarily deprived from the sense of sight.
Letting out a screech of agony, with its eye still closed, the Ten Tails was forced to follow Madara's mental command, and lumbered forward.
"The Ten Tails will attack us in retaliation, that's why the next part of the plan involves hindering its movements..."
Kurotsuchi flew above a large group of ninjas, about half of them from Iwagakure, including her father Kitsuchi, but there were many from other villages as well. She landed in front of them, and pointed forward.
"Okay, guys, our turn! Let's reshape the battlefield!" Kurotsuchi ordered, as she and her troops started weave seals for the same jutsu. "Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"
Kurotsuchi and her ninjas slammed their palms into the ground at once, sending underground waves of chakra towards the Ten Tails' position. Suddenly, sections of the terrain under the titanic beast started to raise or lower seemingly at random, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the ground on its face. It attempted to push its body back with its arms, but the constantly changing terrain caused it to fail.
"And once the Ten Tails can't move, we will make OUR move!"
"Now, quickly! Everybody, attack! Ignore the monster! Take Obito and Madara out!" Rasa ordered.
The entirety of the Allied Ninjas rushed forward, hollering and screaming battle cries, while many of them firing various elemental ninjutsu forward. Unfortunately, the Uchihas riding on top of the Ten Tails weren't going to just let the enemies reach them so easily.
"It's insulting how much they underestimate us," Obito snarled, as he sent a mental command to the Ten Tails.
The Ten Tails screeched in response, and like it did before, raised a hand, clamped it into a fist, and slammed it into the ground with all the strength it could muster, shattering the ground even further, and sending a destructive shockwave that sent both the incoming Allied Ninjas as well as many chunks of rock flying backwards.
Naruto, Hinata and Fu were able to stay mid air, and Naruto created a multitude of sand clouds in order to catch other ninjas close to him. However, it was safe to assume that a frontal attack like that wasn't going to work.
"What the enemy doesn't realize, though, is that the first wave is only a distraction for the second one, that will come from above!"
And indeed, while the Ten Tails smashed its fists on the ground, the air force moved in, all of them diving towards the titanic beast, like birds of prey ready to dig their claws into their next meal. Konan was leading the charge.
"I'll attack first and create an opening! Attack after me!" Konan said, as she dived down.
Obito noticed the airborne ninjas that were upon them. Upon seeing Konan leading the charge, the last member of Akatsuki scowled in anger an irritation.
"Konan. Figured that traitor would be here," Obito seethed. Madara also looked in the same direction. "I'll make sure that bitch doesn't leave this battlefield alive."
"Paper Drizzle!"
From her wings, Konan rained a massive storm of razor-sharp paper sheets towards the two rogue Akatsuki. The two Akatsuki raised a hand towards her, and prepared their counterattack.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Thanks to the two graviational blasts, Konan's paper rain was stopped on its tracks, and dispersed to the winds. The blue haired woman smirked, already expecting such attack to counter hers. In fact, she hoped for one of them to use Shinra Tensei, but the fact that the two of them used it at once was even better than she thought.
"Now, attack!" Konan ordered. "There's a five second interval until they can use that jutsu again! Don't use elemental ninjutsu, the two of them can absorb chakra! Engage them in close combat and overwhelm them with numbers! They can't move without detaching themselves from the beast!"
Like an angry swarm, the airborne ninjas descended upon Madara and Obito, who didn't look that perturbed upon realizing they fell into a trap.
"Look at those insects coming at us. Thinking they have a chance," Madara chuckled condescendingly. He turned at his disciple. "Shall we give them a reality check?"
Obito made a hand seal. "I'm way ahead of you. Wood Release: Thousand Cutting Sprigs!"
The Ten Tails raised three of its tails, aiming their tips towards the thick of the air force, and fired a storm of sharp wooden stakes. The first line of fliers were taken down almost in its entirely. Those behind them were able to move in time, but many of them were still unable to dodge the brutal attack.
"Shit! Fall back, fall back!" Konan ordered, as she tried to dodge the barrage of wooden spikes as best as he could.
Unfortunately, the attack wasn't just aimed at the air forces. Due the angle they were fired, the stakes flew in an arc, curving down towards the thick of the Ninja Alliance ground forces, who all watched in horror the rain of death that came from above. Most of the ninjas ran away trying to avoid the sharp projectiles, but others tried to counter the Ten Tails' attack.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Naruto, with the help of several of his clones, threw five shuriken of wind chakra upwards. They exploded into spiraling spheres of furious razor sharp currents, shredding some of the wooden spears to bits.
"Lightning Release: Heavenly Thunderstorm!"
"Fire Release: Heavenly Firestorm!"
Hinata and Hanabi flew towards the incoming barrage of spears, and started to spin mid air as they released elemental chakra through every point of their bodies, turning into spinning spheres of lightning and fire, respectively, blocking some of the spears while sending lightning bolts and bursts of flames to stop nearby ones they were unable to reach.
"Carapace Shield!"
Reactivating her Chomei Chakra armor, Fu also flew towards the rain of spears. She generated two large shields attached to her forearms in the shape of a beetle carapace, making them as big as possible, before facing them towards the storm of sharp wood. The spears broke upon hitting the extremely hard and durable shields.
Other ninjas protected themselves and their friends and allies like they could, Haku raised ice barriers, while Kakashi, Karin and other Earth Release users raised rock barriers and domes, though some of them weren't sturdy enough to resist the wooden spears. Fire, Wind and Lightning Release users launched elemental blasts into the air in order to destroy the wooden spears. Gaara tried to create as much sand as he could and use them to form barriers around the ninjas close to him.
However, despite their valiant efforts, it wasn't enough to counter the rain of spears in its entirety, and many of them ended up finding their marks. Not only did the sharp sprigs painfully pierced through the thickest of armors, once it impaled somebody, additional sharp branches grew inside their victim's bodies, skewering them from the inside out.
Soon, the battlefield was filled with screams of pain and agony from the ninjas unlucky enough to be hit by such a brutal attack. This prompted Naruto into creating more shadow clones, and besides Rasenshuriken, he also mimicked Gaara by creating walls of sand, while also shooting waves of lava and streams of corrosive mist towards the incoming attacks. But no matter how much Naruto pushed himself, he simply couldn't match the power of such attack.
"Shit, they're massacring us! If I could use the Tailed Beast form..." Naruto growled, as he sensed many chakra signatures around him being snuffed in an instant. But Naruto realized that not even with Kurama's full power he would be able to counter this attack in its entirely.
"Don't despair. We still have a chance. This was nothing but a distraction so the Uchihas won't see the true attack coming," he heard Ino's voice inside his mind.
"Huh?"
Then, the earth started to rumble, and Naruto felt a massive chakra spike coming from near the Ten Tails' position. A spike of chakra former by three people that he knew.
…
While the Ten Tails fought the thick of the Ninja Alliance's forces, three young ninjas sneaked past the titanic beast, getting as close to it as they could without raising any suspicion. So far, it seems that it was working, as neither Obito, Madara nor their pet monstrosity noticed them, despite their very unique chakra signatures.
"Man, look at that..." Kaida said, looking at the Ten Tails in a mix of awe and fear. "That thing is even bigger this close..."
"Will we be able to restrain it?" Rin asked, sounding unsure. "I have restrained Tailed Beasts with my Wood Release before, but that thing is on a completely different level..."
"We will have to," Hagane stated, as he glared at the titanic monster.
"Is this close enough? Or do we need to get even closer to that thing?" Kaida asked.
"I believe this is enough," Hagane said, as he narrowed his eyes at the two Uchiha on top of the Ten Tails' head. "Otherwise we may risk being spotted."
"I don't think they're expecting a trio of ninjas to make any difference against a foe of such power," Rin replied, looking towards Obito as well.
"In that case, let's prove them wrong," Hagane said. "Kaida, Rin, you ready?"
"Yeah, give me a second," Rin replied, as she clapped her hands together, and closed her eyes. In a few seconds, green marks appeared around her eyes and on her forehead. When she opened her eyes, they were yellow instead of their usual brown. "Okay, now I'm ready."
"Me too," Kaida said. "Do your thing, bro."
Hagane merely placed both his hands on each of the girls' shoulders, and channeled his senjutsu chakra towards them, vastly increasing their power. Such peak of chakra wouldn't go unnoticed to their enemies, but it will be too late for them to do anything. Both girls made the same sequence of seals.
"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
Thr two girls screamed as they tried to pour as much chakra as they could into the jutsu, a bright silver aura flaring out of their bodies.
The earth started to rumble, before multiple gigantic wooden vines burst from underground around the Ten Tails, wrapping themselves around its neck, arms and all of its ten tails, stopping the barrage of piercing wooden spears in the process. The Ten Tails screeched in confusion as the gigantic roots and vines slowly immobilized it and bound its chakra. It tried to fight the vines away, but they proved to be too much even for its seemingly infinite power.
With a mighty pull, the vines and roots pulled the beast down, pinning it to the ground, and stopping it from moving completely. It squirmed in the grasp of the mighty wooden hold, but the vines and roots resisted firmly.
"Hot damn... look at that, we did it!" Kaida cheered. "It's completely bound! We totally did it! We submitted that monster to our awesome power! We-UGH!"
Kaida suddenly felt her legs become like jelly, and if it wasn't for Rin grabbing her, she would have fallen to the ground face-first.
"Easy there, sis. You expended a lot of chakra on that jutsu. All of us did," Hagane said, looking at the immobilized Ten Tails. "I doubt we'll be able to do this again."
"Yeah," Rin agreed. She also felt a little feeble. Reaching into her ninja tool pouch, she pulled out a soldier pill and popped it inside her mouth. "Now it's on the rest of them to make the most out of this opportunity."
Hagane slung Kaida's arm around his shoulder, in order to help Rin to carry her. "They will. Now let's go to somewhere safer."
…
Back on the battlefield, both the Allied Ninjas and the Akatsuki watched with a mixture of surprise and awe as the gigantic wooden vines grew around the Ten Tails and immobilized it completely. Obito and Madara both mentally ordered the Ten Tails to break its bindings, but the colossal beast was helpless against the gigantic vines.
Madara was able to sense where that attack came from, and most importantly, who were the ones behind it. One chakra signature in particular annoyed him more than the other two.
"That little girlfriend of yours is becoming quite the headache," Madara hissed, narrowing in the direction of the chakra signature. "If you aren't able to rein her in, then somebody must put her in her place."
Such comment caused Obito to shot a glare at his mentor. "If Rin becomes a bigger problem, I will deal with her myself. Me. You got that?"
Madara was about to reply, when his senses alerted him of a mass of chakra signatures that was getting close, and indeed, turning his sight to the front, he saw a mass of ninjas leaping towards their position, Naruto Uzumaki leading the charge, with Hinata, Gaara and Fu flying besides him. The blond had a Rasenshuriken in hand, which he tossed towards him, while other ninjas around him cast various elemental ninjutsu towards them.
"Smart. Either we waste a Shinra Tensei on those attacks, or we try to absorb them and become sitting ducks," Madara thought in realization.
Then, a shadow was cast above the two Uchiha. Looking up, they saw three Susanoo, one purple, another red, and another green, diving towards them from above. Realizing they had been cornered, Madara and Obito detached the stalks that linked them to the Ten Tails from their spines and jumped away before they could be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, just as the Allied Ninjas landed all around the Ten Tails' body. Well, most of them.
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled from above. "Itachi, Shisui and I will keep Madara busy! Try to release the Tailed Beasts if you can, while that monster is down!"
"I'll take care of Obito!" Kakashi volunteered, as he pursued his former teammate.
"Don't worry guys, I'll do it!" Naruto said, giving Sasuke a thumbs up, as he watched both him and his fellow Uchiha flying after the fleeing Madara. He then looked down at the Ten Tails, and scratched his head. "Okay guys, I need to release your true selves from inside this monster... any ideas? Because I don't think cutting him up will work..."
"Our father and his brother separated the Ten Tails' chakra from its body once. If they could do it, it can be done again," Kurama said, sounding certain. "You have the same power as my father, and that girlfriend of yours has Hamura's power. Between the two of them should be able to do it."
"Err... right. I better call her and we will figure out... uh?" Naruto was snapped from his thoughts as thousands upon thousands of new chakra signatures appeared around him, none of them remotely close to human chakra. However, looking around, he didn't see anything.
At least, not at first.
Thousands upon thousands of tumor-like lumps started to grow around the Ten Tails' body, and from those lumps, creatures of all sizes and shapes came out from them. Some of them were humanoid, other more animal-looking. Some were just as big as a human being, while others were as big as a Boss Summon. They still had a few things in common, such as lack of any eyes, a large mouth full of sharp teeth, and spikes and blades growing all around their bodies.
Without further ado, these Ten Tails Spawns immediately charged towards all the ninjas standing on its parent's body. Many ninjas were taken aback by the sudden appearance of these new enemies, albeit the rest of them were able to defend themselves. Still, the thousands upon thousands of Ten Tails Spawns quickly outnumbered the ninjas standing on top of the Ten Tails.
"We're being overwhelmed!"
"Retreat! Fall back!"
"The Air Force shall cover your retreat!" Konan said, as she and the other airborne ninjas launched their attacks towards the Ten Tails miniclones, giving the ground ninjas some room to retreat.
Hinata and Fu grabed a nearby ninja each and help them flee, while Naruto and Gaara summoned multiple sand clouds in order to help other ninjas escape.
As the vanguard attacking group fell back and rejoined the thick of the army, the Ten Tails Spawns continued to pour out of the titanic beast's body, quickly jumping into the ground, giving chase the fleeing ninjas.
Fortunately, the rest of the army was already working on helping them avoid their chasers and rejoin the main group. Kurotsuchi led a large group of Iwa ninjas towards them.
"Alright, step one, raise a wall! A big one!" the Tsuchikage ordered.
Dozens of Iwa ninjas weaved the hand seals of the same jutsu, before slamming their hands into the ground at once.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Great Wall!"
An extremely long and thick barrier made of rock and earth burst from underground, bisecting the battlefield in two. The wall, being ten meters in height, three in thickness and a few hundreds in length separated the fleeing ninjas from the Ten Tails Spawns that gave chase. The abominations weren't deterred, and began to quickly climb over the wall.
"Now, step two! Create a moat of lava at the base of the wall!" Kurotsuchi said, as she and other members of the Kinryuu clan began to weave hand seals, before once again slamming their hands into the ground. "Lava Release: Eruption!"
The combined power of the dozens of Kinryuu ninjas summoned a large moat of lava at the base of the wall. Just when the Ten Tails miniclones were done climning the wall, they haplessly fell into the lava moat, burning to death instantly. The clones weren't completely stupid, and upon seeing what had happened, rather than blindly jumping into the lava, they began to tear pieces from the wall and dropped them into the lava, in order to build a makeshift bridge.
However, Kurotsuchi's tactic already accomplished its goal, and the ninjas that went to attack Madara and Obito returned safely to the main group.
"Naruto," Kurama called. "I already gathered enough chakra for you to use the Chakra Cloak. However, I'll need to gather more in order to use the Tailed Beast form, so try not to squander it."
"Good, because I'm going to need it," Naruto said out loud, as he and Gaara landed on the ground.
They were quickly joined by Fu and Killer B. The green haired girl looked at the army of the Ten Tails Spawns and let out a whistle.
"Man, look how many of those fuckers," the Takigakure kunoichi said. "Just when we thought we had won, the Ten Tails creates an army out of nowhere."
"I guess Naruto, you, I and a few others could bypass them by flying, but then we'd be alone and unsupported," Gaara said. "And we can't just carry the entire army flying."
"Yeah, it looks like we're in quite the plight. I guess there's no other option but to fight," Killer B agreed.
"Well, we've been doing nothing but fight this whole time, so guess we can endure another battle or two," Naruto said. Then, he noticed who was alongside him, and smiled. "And hey, for the first time, all four surviving jinchuriki are going to fight together! That has to count for something!"
Gaara, however, shook his head. "You three, sure. But I'm no longer a jinchuriki anymore. Remember that Shukaku was extracted from my body."
Naruto, however, placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Even if that's true, that doesn't matter. You will be always one of us, Gaara. Never think otherwise."
Gaara was a little taken aback by Naruto's statement, but the Suna Jonin smiled and nodded.
"Hey, don't forget about us!" Yugito's voice said from within Naruto's head.
"Indeed. Just because we aren't alive doesn't mean that we can't contribute," Yagura added.
"All of us are in this together, Naruto," Roshi said.
"We will do our part, no matter how little it is!" Han said.
"Besides, we do have a score to settle with the bastards who killed us," Utakata added.
Naruto was going to say something, when suddenly an idea dawned upon him. It was kind of crazy and he wasn't sure if it would work, but he had to try it. He owed the jinchuriki sealed inside him that much.
"Thanks for reminding me that you're still there, guys," Naruto said, as he made the hand seal of one of his favorite techniques. "Because I just realized how can you be even more involved in this battle! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
From five bursts of smoke, five clones appeared around Naruto. However, said clones weren't of Naruto; instead, they looked like the five jinchuriki that whose fragments of chakra sealed inside him. It took a couple seconds to the clones to realize what had happened. While Fu and Gaara were only taken aback a little, Killer B was shocked to see Yugito back in the flesh.
"Y-Yugito-chan? Is that really you?" the rapper asked, shocked.
Yugito stared at her hands, then looked at him in confusion.
"I think? I don't know... Naruto?" she asked. The other jinchuriki looked at him equally confused.
"Sorry guys, but you aren't really alive. I converted some of my chakra into yours to create those clones, so you guys can control them," Naruto explained. "I also converted some of Kurama's chakra into the chakra of your Tailed Beasts and added them to your clones. Though, with how little Tailed Beast chakra you have, I don't think you'll be able to use Tailed Beast Chakra Mode like Killer B, Fu or myself."
"It's okay, Naruto. This is way more than what we could have expected," Yagura thanked him.
"Oh, one last thing. Sealing Art: Hardening Seal!" Naruto said, as he made a hand seal.
In a flash, several seals appeared on the cloned jinchuriki, before they vanished.
"There! That way you won't dispel in one hit like a normal Shadow Clone," Naruto added.
"Guys, look! They're crossing the moat!" Fu pointed out.
And indeed, the Ten Tails Spawns had already created multiple makeshift bridges on the lava, and were now advancing towards the Allied Ninja army. Naruto, however, wasn't intimidated.
"Let them come," he said, punching his palm, as his Six Paths Chakra Mode flared back to life, covering him in a cloak of golden flames, a nine Truth Seekings Balls appeared behind him, floating in a circle. "So they can get a taste of what it awaits to their daddy! Let's go, everybody!"
"Yeah! Ready, Matatabi?" Yugito asked.
"Sure! I'ts great to fight against by your side!" Matatabi excitedly replied.
"Now that we're no longer puppets in either mind or body, let's fight for the right side at least just once, Isobu," Yagura calmly said.
"Akatsuki will pay for the suffering they caused to the two of us," the three tailed turtle replied.
"You're not the only one with a pending score to settle! Come on Kokuo!" Han claimed, as bursts of steam came from his armor.
"I'm with you, Han," Kokuo assured.
"Let's make the most of this brief second chance, Saiken!" Utakata said, bubble pipe ready on his hand.
"Yeah, let's!" Saiken agreed.
Roshi at first didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. Son Goku wondered why didn't he follow the lead of his fellow jinchuriki, and let out a shout and show off, and was tempted to ask what was going through the old man's head, but bit his tongue. Roshi then opened his eyes, and his lips curved into a small smile.
"Let's go..." Roshi began, as he took a fighting stance. "...Son Goku!"
The four tailed monkey couldn't help but smirk. "Took you long enough, you stubborn geezer! But as your race says, better late than never!"
With that, spearheaded by the nine jinchuriki, the Ninja Alliance charged towards the incoming army of Ten Tails Spawns, the air filled with the rumbling sound of thousands of steps, as well as the battle cries of the Allied Ninjas and the inhuman, high pitched screeches from the Ten Tails miniclones. In no time, the two armies clashed, and the battle to reach the Ten Tails began.
Of the nine jinchuriki, Gaara was the one who made the first move. He set his sights on a group of miniclones that were charging towards him. Little did they know that they were running towards their impending doom.
"Hey, Naruto, I don't think you ever saw me fighting in Sage Mode," Gaara said, as he waved his hands, summoning a truly massive amount of sand from underground. "Take a good look at this. Sage Art: Wind Release, Demonic Sandstorm!"
Gaara created a huge tornado out of sand. The tornado quickly engulfed the incoming Ten Tails Spawns, who flailed their arms helplessly as they were blown away by the tornado. Once he had captured enough of them, the redhead made his next move, and clamped his hand into a fist.
"Imperial Sand Coffin!"
All the sand in the tornado suddenly compressed into a sphere of sand, instantly crushing the Ten Tails Spawns to death.
"Whoa! Such an amazing jutsu!" Naruto praised in awe. "Now I can't wait to see what your siblings can do with senjutsu!"
"You will have the chance to witness their prowess," Gaara said. "What about you, Naruto? Even if I couldn't sense the immense power you have now, your new appearance suggests that you're way more powerful than the last time we met."
"Hehe, indeed I am! Now, what could I do to..." Naruto began, before he noticed the Truth Seeking Balls floating behind him. "Alright, I barely got to use these last time, let's not make the same mistake! Now watch this, Gaara!" Naruto said, with a wave of his hand, he sent his Truth Seeking Balls forwards, towards a group of miniclones that was coming towards him. He reshaped the orbs into black spears, and impaled them through the creatures, killing them instantly. "What do you think?"
"Less flashy than the kind of jutsu I'm using to see from you, but it gets the job done," Gaara acknowledged.
"Well, there's still plenty of enemies here that I can use to show you my more flashier jutsu, hehe!" Naruto chuckled.
Meanwhile, another group of Ten Tails Spawns were closing on Yagura. The former Mizukage, however, was unfazed, as he created a large circular mirror of water in front of him, facing the incoming monsters, before using his hooked staff to rotate the mirror.
"Water Release: Water Mirror Jutsu!"
The miniclones' reflection on the mirror jumped out of it, colliding with the originals, and pushing them backwards. As this happened, Yagura started to make hand seals, before slamming his staff into the ground.
"Rising Coral Ripples!"
From the base of the staff, a gigantic row of corals rocketed towards the Ten Tails Spawns in the ground, and were covered in coral before they could even get up. Taking advantage of this, Yugito landed besides Yagura and rushed forward, making hand seals of her own.
"Well done! Let me finish them off!" the Kumo kunoichi shouted, as her nails grew into long claws, which were then coated in blue flames. "Fire Release: Flaming Cat Claw!"
Yugito delivered several swipes at the Ten Tails miniclones trapped y the coral, slicing them to bits while simultaneously setting them on fire.
"Good job, Yugito-san. Those won't get back again," Yagura praised his fellow jinchuriki.
"True. Too bad there are still many of them ready to take their place," Yugito mentioned, as she looked at the incoming horde of miniclones. "Fortunately, even on this body, I still have more than enough energy to bring up some heat!"
"Heat you say?" Roshi asked, as he turned towards his fellow jinchuriki and Iwa ninja. "Hey Han, let's show these kids some real heat! What do you say?"
Han smirked under his mask. "Do you really need to ask?" Han replied, as he shot forward towards a group of incoming Ten Tails Spawns, steam pouring from every exhaust of his mechanized armor. "Boil Release: Eruption Tornado Kick!"
Han jumped forward as he delivered a steam-propelled roundhouse kick. Thanks to the steam propulsion, he managed to quickly spin while mid air multiple times, almost turning himself into a living tornado of boiling vapor, delivering a series of kicks towards his hapless opponents. Between the force of the attack and the power of the corrosive mist, the Ten Tails miniclones were quickly killed.
Unfortunately for Han, several miniclones noticed that he was wide open while spinning, generated several sharp spears from their bodies, not unlike those the Ten Tails had used on them before, and tossed them at the Iwa jinchuriki. Fortunately for Han, however, Roshi was near him, ready to cover his back at any time.
"Watch out, Han!" Roshi said, as he started making hand seals. "Lava Release: Molten Petal Rock!"
Roshi slammed his hands into the ground, creating a row of pillars made of molten rock, which not only blocked the coming spears –they were sharp enough and carried enough force to pierce through the molten rock, but they definitely didn't resist the itense heat and burned to ashes– but also struck the Ten Tails Spawns, setting them on fire while sending them flying.
"Nice save, Roshi. Guess I got a little carried away there," Han replied.
"It's okay. It's not easy not falling prey to that, given how real these Shadow Clones feel," Roshi said, as he flexed his fingers a few times. "Still, try not to drop your guard again."
"Don't worry. You won't have to save my skin again," Han told his senior jinchuriki.
Meanwhile, near them, Utakata was also taking care of some small Ten Tails Spawns, having trapping them inside bubbles. The beasts furiously pounded with their fists and claws at the bubbles, trying to break them, but to no avail.
"Don't bother, those bubbles are as hard as steel. You won't break them with mere brute force," Utakata said, as he made a hand seal. "Water Release: Explosive Bubbles!"
The bubbles started to glow with a pale blue light, before they detonated in a chain of explosions, dropping the charred corpses of the clones to the ground.
"Alright, next-"
"Sensei!" a voice shouted behind him. A voice that was very familiar.
Utakata turned around, and saw no other than Hotaru running towards him. Unlike that violet kimono and black shorts she used to wear often, she was now dressed as a Kirigakure ninja, forehead protector included. Before he realized, Hotaru had closed the distance, and almost tackled him to the ground with the force of a hug.
"Sensei!" she yelled again, tears coming down her cheeks. "Oh sensei, you're alive! You're really alive! I thought I had lost you! But how-"
Even if it pained him deeply, Utakata forced his disciple to break the hug. It was better to dash her hopes now than let them grow even stronger.
"I'm sorry, Hotaru, but... I'm not really alive," Utakata confessed. "I know it looks like it, but this is only temporary."
"Uh? I don't understand-"
"It's a bit complicated, and it would take too long to explain, and this isn't the place nor the time," Utakata stated, as he looked at another wave of Ten Tails Spawns coming towards them. "Naruto will be able to tell you everything you need to know. Now, we have to fight these creatures!"
Hotaru was taken a little aback. Why was Utakata saying that he wasn't really alive? She had so many questions, she wanted to tell Utakata so many things... but if her sensei had told him that, she better trust his word.
"I don't understand very much what's going on," Hotaru admitted. "But even if this is only temporary, then I'll take the opportunity to fight at your side one more time, sensei."
Utakata nodded in approval, and smiled, as the two of them met the new wave of enemies head on.
…
Meanwhile, away from the thick of the battle, Obito landed on the ground. Turning around, he saw Kakashi landing in front of him. Obito dropped his head, and sighed.
"Why I am not surprised to see you coming after me, Kakashi," Obito said. "And don't try to use countering Kamui as a excuse. I know why you are here."
"If you're thinking I want to convince you to see the error of your ways..." Kakashi said, glaring daggers at Obito. "You're sorely wrong. Perhaps when I learned of your survival, I might have wanted for you to return to your senses and come with us back to our home. But that time... that time is already gone.
"Ninjas who don't follow the rules are trash. But ninjas who abandon their friends are even worse than trash. You taught me that, Obito, and I took it to heart. And you abandoned your friends when you joined Madara in his mad quest for power."
"Am I worse than trash? Perhaps you're right, Kakashi. No ninja that lives long enough avoids becoming trash," Obito conceded, chuckling as if he found the situation funny. "But tell me, Kakashi, if those who abandon their friends are trash... then what are those who let their friends die?"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" came the reply, but it didn't come from Kakashi's mouth. Turning around, Obito saw Rin landing behind him. Her golden eyes glared at him fiercely. "Don't you dare use my death against Kakashi. Not after you killed Minato-sensei and Kushina-san. Not after so many people died as a result of your plan. Don't. You. Fucking. Dare."
"All I ever did, Rin, I did it for you. I just wanted to create a world where neither you nor anybody else had to die pointlessly in absurd wars," Obito said, trying to justify himself. "Madara and I will put an end to this falling system, and put a new, better one in its place!"
"If in order to create that new world so many people have to die, then that world doesn't deserve to exist. I don't want it to exist," Rin replied.
"Great changes are impossible without equally great sacrifices," Obito rebutted.
"And who decides who get sacrificed? You? Madara?" Kakashi angrily intervened. "No, Obito. This ends here. I'll make sure of it."
"Fine by me, then. I'm done trying to justify myself to you," Obito replied. "Come at me with everything you have, then!"
With that, Kakashi and Rin rushed towards Obito from different directions, ready to fight, and possibly kill, the man who was once their cherished comrade and teammate.
Author's Note: And thus begins the first half of the fight against the Ten Tails. I tried to make it different from the manga/anime. It was kind of tricky given the sheep scale of the opponent, but in the end I think I came up with something good, so I hope you guys think I did a good job.
And here's another reason as for why I didn't have Bunpuku share his chakra with Naruto: so I could have Gaara as my part of the "All Nine Jinchuriki fighting together as a single unit" scene. Because Gaara might not be a jinchuriki anymore, but Naruto will always consider him one his people. Plus, now that I think about it, I didn't even write a scene in the story so far where Naruto and Gaara fight together, did I?
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
Omnious warning: things will get worse before they get better.
So, the final battle against the Ten Tails and the evil Uchihas finally begins! What are your thoughts on it? Share your opinion with a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!