Author's Note: Hey, look at that, an update much earlier than you expected! Yeah, I decided that, since we're close to the end, I might as well don't make you wait anymore and release the last batch of chapters over the course of this week and the next one.
Also, after many years postponing it, I finally went to chapter 1 and edited the part of Minato and Kushina's bodies disappearing. I made that as a part of a subplot to bring them back to life, but I ended up canceling it because it was way too much trouble. I also added a couple disclaimers to warn people which somehow expect this story to be an OP Naruto with 400 bloodline limits and a harem.
Remember when I said that things would get worse before they would get better? Yeah, this is the part where they get worse. Enjoy:
Chapter 129:
The Taste of Despair
or
Newcomers at the Eleventh Hour
Site of the Final Battle
Kakashi and Rin rushed towards Obito from different directions. Once they closed the distance towards their foe, the two of them opened the fight with a punch. Obito extended both his arms arms and caught their fists on his hands. Obito didn't bother to use Kamui to become intangible. Past battles made clear it was useless against Kakashi. Knowing his former rival, Kakashi probably had a clone in the Kamui dimension ready to strike Obito whenever he sent a part of his body there.
He was only half right, though. Aside from a Lightning Clone, there were several Rin Wood Clones as well, all waiting for him to become complacent and rely on his Mangekyo Sharingan once the fight became too difficult. But Obito Uchiha wasn't a one trick pony. Madara wouldn't allow him to become one. Especially not now that he had such a vast array of powerful abilities at his disposal.
Kakashi and Rin then pulled out a kunai each with their free hand, and sttempted to slash at the Uchiha. Obito, however, was already prepared.
"Asurato."
Another pair of arms grew under Obito's original arms, and used them to catch their other arms. Then, a third pair of arms grew under those, and morphed into a pair of chakra cannons. The tip of their barrels started to glow as they gathered chakra, ready to blast Kakashi and Rin at point blank. However, before he could do it, the two Konoha ninjas delivered a powerful double kick to Obito's chest, pushing him backwards and forcing him to release them, while his chakra beams fired in random directions.
Obito retracted the extra arms back into his body, and regained his balance with a couple backflips. Before his enemies had any chance to counterattack, he cast his arms towards them.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Kakashi and Rin were blown backwards by an irresistible gravitational push, sending them rolling on the ground. Meanwhile, Obito's hands flew through hand seals.
"I know Rin will survive this, but I'm not sure about you, Kakashi! Wood Release: Great Spear Tree!"
Multiple thick but extremely sharp roots emerged from underground, and lunged towards Kakashi and Rin, ready to impale them. Upon noticing this, Kakashi forced himself to regain balance. The sound of a hundred birds chirping filled the air as one of his hands was covered in electricity. Whenever any vine came close, Kakashi quickly sliced it off with a precise swing.
"Rin, behind me!" Kakashi ordered.
Rin nodded, and hid behind her larger teammate's body. Of course, she wasn't planning to spend the entire fight hidden behind the silver haired man. Taking advantage of her temporary cover, Rin made several hand seals for a counterattack.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
The earth started to rumble, as a serpentine green dragon made of wood burst from underground behind Rin. The medic nin jumped onto the vegetal beasts' head, and rode it as it plowed through the field of sharp roots summoned by Obito. The dragon was eventually torn to shreds, but it already filled its purpose of letting Rin close to Obito once again. She jumped into the air, while making a hand seal.
"Wood Release: Wood Clone Jutsu!"
Three wooden clones grew out of her body, and shot towards Obito, two of them delivering a flying kick, and the third one with a kunai in hand. The Uchiha, guessing that Rin was baiting him into using the Deva Path on the clones, opted to jump backwards and avoid the clones as they landed, and engaged them in close combat. Obito generated a black chakra rod on each hand and used them to parry the clones' blows and to attack them. The Wooden Clones were much weaker than the real deal, their strikes predictable and slow, and they easily fell once he impaled them with his improvised weapons.
The real Rin, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Thanks to Sage Mode, her punches and kicks hit like a truck, and moved so fast even his Sharingan was having trouble keeping up with her. When he tried to stab her with one of his black rods, Rin caught it with her bare hand and shattered it as if it was made of thin glass, before delivering a brutal kick to the chest that sent him flying backwards.
And that moment, Kakashi decided to make his reappearance, bursting from underground, one of his hands still coated in lightning. Kakashi was already aiming his electric hand thurst to pierce a vital organ, and Obito knew he wouldn't survive such stab.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Once again, Obito was forced to rely on the Rinnegan's most powerful ability. But rather than using it against Kakashi –which would leave him wide open against Rin– he used it against the ground, shattering the earth and propelling himself upwards, avoiding Kakashi's lightning stab at the very last possible second. The Uchiha then arched above Kakashi and landed behind him, putting the silver haired Jonin between himself and Rin, who was no doubt already moving to strike him down.
But not if Obito attacked first. As fast as he could, he made the hand seals of the Uchiha's signature jutsu.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito breathed a massive fireball towards Kakashi, whose back was still facing the Uchiha. Kakashi, however, was fast enough to move aside and dodge the fireball, as it continued traveling towards Rin, leaving a trail of scorched earth as it moved.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
Of course, Rin wasn't going to just stand there and take the attack. The brown haired Sage expelled a torrent of water from her mouth, which given the elemental advantage as well as its superior power, it quickly snuffed Obito's fireball the moment the two elemental attacks clashed against each other, while the water continued forward with the force of a tsunami. With no way to counter it and his Kamui unavailable, Obito only saw one way to dodge the attack.
"Earth Release. Headhunter jutsu!"
Obito sank into the earth as if it was water, letting Rin's attack harmlessly wash over the spot he was a second ago.
Rin smirked. "Not bad, Obito. You developed a knack for quick thinking you didn't have when you were a child," she praised, as she and Kakashi looked around, wondering where would Obito strike from. Then, she started running towards Kakashi, and jumped into the air.
That moment, Obito burst from underground, just behind Kakashi's back, ready to skewer the copy ninja with one of his black charkra rods. But the moment he reappeared, he found himself at the receiving end of a powerful dropkick, courtesy of Rin. Obito grunted in pain as he was sent to the ground, rolling backwards.
"You forget that I can sense you. You won't take us by surprise," Rin stated.
Kakashi turned around, and tzaking advantage of his former teammate being wide open, decided to end the battle there and there, and rushed towards him, ready to stab him with his electricity-wrathed hand. That moment, Rin's eyes widened in shock.
"Kakashi, wait!" she shouted, extending a hand towards him.
"What-"
Too late. One second, Kakashi was moments away from putting Obito out of his mysery, and the next one he found himself trapped between the jaws of what appeared to be a massive venus flytrap plant. Upon closer inspection, the copy ninja realized it was Zetsu, who had emerged from underground just in the nick of time to save his master.
Pushing the pain away, Kakashi forced the jaws of the flytrap open and jumped away from the strange Akatsuki.
"Good timing, Zetsu," Obito said, as he got back on his feet, and used the sleeve of his cloak to wipe out the blood trickling from his busted lip, which slowly regenerated.
"Figured you'd need a hand," the black half replied, as he looked at Kakashi and Rin.
"Rin," Kakashi said, his sharingan glaring at the newcomer. "Do you know about that other Akatsuki? Because he looks very different from the rank-and-file Zetsu we fought during the war."
"I saw him a few times shortly after my rebirth, but I'm afraid I know nothing about him," Rin admitted. "I'd expect him to have similar abilities to the clones."
"Please! Don't compare me with those mooks! I'm on a completely different level!" the white half protested, as he started to make hand seals. "Wood Release: Jaws of the Forest!"
The earth started to shake once again as large venus flytraps emerged from underground, big enough to eat an adult human in a single bite, and lunged towards the two Konoha ninjas, their large maws snapping constantly. Kakashi and Rin jumped away in order to avoid being bitten in half by the undoubtedly dangerous plants.
"Okay, that's something none of the Zetsu clones was able to do," Rin was forced to admit, as she threw a kunai with an explosive tag at one of the carnivorous plants coming towards her, blowing it up into multiple green chunks.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Kakashi breathed a stream of fire towards the incoming venus flytraps, burning them to ashes before they could get any close to him or Rin, spreading flames across the battleground. However, the flames were the cover Obito needed to get close to the copy ninja. He lunged towards his former teammate, ready to sink one of his black chakra rods into the silver haired man's flesh. Kakashi moved to dodge, but for some reason, his body fell prey to a sudden feeling of paralysis.
"What?" Kakashi asked in shock.
Obito smirked cruelly as he sank his weapon into Kakashi's body. Even if he aimed for his heart, the Konoha Jonin was able to move a little and was stabbed in the shoulder instead. Kakashi grunted in pain.
"You can thank Zetsu for his Spore Jutsu! Good luck trying to move again!" Obito said.
"Spore? When did he...?" Kakashi tried to recall when did the plant Akatsuki had doused him with spores, and remembered when he was trapped between the jaws of the giant flytrap. "It was then! But how-"
Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted when Obito delivered a brutal kick to the lower jaw of the copy ninja. Kakashi's head was snapped backwards as his body was flung back, bouncing a few times.
"Kakashi!" Rin screamed. She jumped in front of her fallen teammate, shielding him from the two Akatsuki, as her hands weaved through hand seals as fast as she could. "Wood Release: Wood Clone Jutsu! Earth Release: Earth Dome Jutsu!"
Several clones made of wood grew and jumped out of the original's body, placing themselves between the original and the two Akatsuki, while multiple chunks of rock and earth gathered around Rin and Kakashi, forming a defensive shelter.
"Alright, that should buy us at least half a minute," Rin frantically said, as she turned towards Kakashi, who was lying down on the ground. "Kakashi, are you okay? Can you hear me?"
"Y-Yeah..." he weakly replied. He grunted in pain again as his body twisted. "Ugh! I think those spores are doing something more than just paralyzing my body!"
"I'm working on it!" Rin replied, as she placed both hands on Kakashi's body. A green aura surrounded her hands as she started to treat his teammate. Thanks to her Sage Mode, she could sense Zetsu's chakra inside Kakashi's body. Apparently, the spores were draining his chakra and spreading microscopic roots through his body, destroying his cells. If untreated, it could kill him in less than an hour. Fortunately, the brown haired medic knew what to do. "Alright, I'm healing your wounds while expunging foreign chakra from your body. This won't take long..."
As Rin worked, Kakashi could feel how mobility slowly returned to his limbs, as the constant pain started to slowly fade away.
The dome shook as it was hit by an unknown ninjutsu attack. Cracks started to spread around it, but it resisted. Rin diverted some of her chakra to the dome, in order to repair the cracks. Still, their makeshift shelter wouldn't last much longer.
"Rin, stop. You can't heal me and fight those two at the same time," Kakashi replied.
"Is that a challenge?" Rin asked.
Another ninjutsu attack that made the dome shake. More cracks appeared. This time, however, Rin didn't bother to fix them.
"Bravado doesn't suit you," Kakashi rebutted.
"Okay. How about a rational explaination then? If I don't force those spores out of your body, they'll drain your chakra, use it to multiply, and eat your body from the inside out," Rin explained. Despite Kakashi keeping his usual poker face, Rin could sense how his chakra wavered when she told him what she was stopping from happening. Then, her hands stopped glowing. "Plus I'm done already. Try not to get too close to that thing."
"Duly noted," Kakashi said, as he sat up, just as their shelter was blown away by another ninjutsu attack. A fire one, given the orange flash of light the two of them saw.
Fortunately, they were able to jump in order to avoid the next attack, another mass of vines that came after them.
"What the...?" the white half of Zetsu asked in shock. "That guy shouldn't be able to move!"
"Don't underestimate Rin. She's one of the best medics Konoha had the luck to have," Obito rebutted. "That's why I wanted to keep them separated. Though I doubt they're going to let us."
And thus the two Akatsuki resumed their duel against the two Konoha ninjas.
…
Meanwhile, on the main battleground, the thick of the Allied Ninja army continued their fight against the hordes of Ten Tails miniclones. Despite their power and seemingly unending numbers, the ninjas of the Alliance were able to slowly but surely push the army of abominations back and get a little closer to the immobilized Ten Tails.
Two ninjas on the vanguard were Kiba and Tamaki, both in their animlaistic forms, figthing tooth and nail, literally in this case, against the wave of incoming monsters.
While Kiba engaged the larger monsters in one on one duels, using a combination of strength, speed and the sharp claws he had in his new form to quickly tear them apart. Meanwhile, Tamaki engaged on several of them at once, confusing them with her blinding speed before swiftly striking them down.
Tamaki had just defeated a group of enemies, and saw that Kiba was still struggling with his. She was about to shoot him some mocking comment about not keeping up with her, when she noticed more of the smaller Ten Tails Spawns creeping up to him. With no time to waste, the cat kunoichi weaved seals as fast as she could.
"Fire Release: Multiple Blistering Firecat!"
Tamaki exhaled multiple fireballs in Kiba's direction. The fireballs took the shape of cats upon touching the ground, and the elemental felines quickly rushed forward, and slammed themselves against the Ten Tails miniclones that were going to ambush the wolf-man, exploding upin contact, engulfing the creatures in blazes of fire.
Both Kiba and the Ten Tails miniclone he was struggling with noticed what was going on and were briefly distracted. Kiba, however, was able to take advantage of his foe's distraction. He lifted the monster above him, and kicked it into the air, then jumped after it, and delivered a roundhose kick that sent the Ten Tails Spawn crashing down against a group of its brethren that were getting closer.
"Good one, Kiba. That was quite the powerful move," Tamaki complimented.
"Thanks. For keeping my back, I mean," Kiba replied.
"Anytime," Tamaki said, smiling at him. "I mean, we're teammates and friends, right? That's what we do."
"I guess you're right," Kiba awkwardly replied. He then cleared his throat and swallowed, as if preparing to say something important and difficult. "Say Tamaki, with the war going on, and so many of our friends losing their loved ones, I've been doing some thinking, and there's something I'd like to get out of my chest..."
"You do?" Tamaki asked, flushing a little. "I mean...can it wait?" Tamaki said, pointing behind Kiba. "We defeated quite a few of these critters, but more keep coming."
"I guess it can wait," Kiba said, as he turned around, ready to face the new wave of foes. "Just let's continue having each other's back so the two of us can make out of this mess alive."
Tamaki nodded. "You got it."
As Kiba and Tamaki continued their fight, the third member of their group was heading to meet his significant other, who was also in the heat of the battle, fighting Ten Tails miniclones left and right. Not that they were much of a challenge to her.
"HAAAA!" Fu cried, as she cut a Ten Tails Spawn down by delivering an upside down slash with a mantis-like balde that she grew from one of her arms. She sensed other two coming from the sides, but the jinchuriki jumped and delivered a roundhouse kick, sending the monster flying backwards, while forming a small tornado around her. "That's the best you can do, freaks?"
"Fu!" a voice called.
The jinchuriki the Seven Tails turned around, and much to her joy, she saw her boyfriend running towards her. Or running while he fought against the Ten Tails miniclones that swarmed the area. Fu deployed her wings, and barreled towards the miniclone that was fighting Shino, delivering a powerful punch, sending it flying into the sky.
"Shino!" Fu squealed. "I'm so happy to see you! Boy, I have soooooooooo many things to tell you!"
"I'm sure you do. The story behind how you acquired that armor promises to be entertaining," Shino replied.
"Oh, it is! It's an armor made of Chomei's chakra! Chomei is the name of the Seven Tails, by the way! Did you know that Tailed Beasts have names? Because they do! When you think about it, it makes sense that they have names, because why wouldn't they? Calling themselves by-"
Fu was interrupted when Shino tossed a pair of kunai with explosive tags attached to them towards her. The kunai, however, flew past her head and embedded themselves into a coming Ten Tails miniclone. The Taki kunoichi instinctively braced for the explosion just before Shino detonated the notes, blowing the monster into multiple chunks of charred flesh.
"I would love to hear the tales about the events you experienced after leaving Konoha, but unfortunately, this isn't the time nor the place for such a thing," Shino replied in his usual unshakeable calm demeanor, though a little impatience could be sensed in his tone.
Fu was a little disappointed, but as much as she liked to catch up with her boyfriend, she couldn't help but agree with his logic.
"Okaaaaaaaay," she admitted. "But we do get to fight together!"
Shino cracked a small smile. "Of course. That way, you can show me the new abilities you have developed during your training on that secret island. That armor appears to be nothing but the tip of the iceberg," Shino said, noting the organic blade protruding from Fu's forearm.
Fu smiled widely, and nodded enthusatically. "Oh, you have no idea! Watch closely, because you're in for a treat!"
Fu's other arm then turned into a gigantic scorpion pincer, while two additional insect-like arms ending in sharp claws grew from her shoulders, just as more Ten Tails miniclones arrived.
Not far from there, another jinchuriki had reunited with one of his loved ones, and like Fu and Shino, the two of them were fighting together. Mostly because the two of them were known as one of the greatest tag teams of all the Ninja Villages.
As three Ten Tails Spawns surrounded Killer B, the jinchuriki quickly moved away between his foes, who were unable to land a single hit. They were bigger and hit hard, but their size also made them much slower than the agile Kumo ninja. And most importantly, their attacks left them wide open for counterattack. Just as one of the miniclones tried to smash Killer B with a double axe handle.
"These things are strong, and can cause a lot of pain," Killer B rapped, as he jumped onto the shoulders of the miniclone that tried to crush him, hitting the ground instead. The moment he touched the monster's shoulders, he sank his electricity-imbued swords into the creature's head, killing it instantly. Killer B jumped away as the creature fell on its back. "Fortunately for us, they lack a brain!"
"Do not get too cocky, B!" the Raikage, who was grappling with a Ten Tails Spawn twice his size, chastised his brother. He then lifted the monster, and delivered a ligntning-enhanced suplex so powerful, it opened a crater upon impact, releasing lightning bolts in many directions. "Don't you dare underestimate the enemy! These creatues might not be much of a match for us individually, but there are too many of them!"
"Relax bro, I am no clown! I'm not going to let my guard down," Killer B replied, as he cut down another miniclone, who tired to slash him with its blade-like appendages. "Recently I've been fighting a lot, so I'm trusty! But you, on the other hand, may be a little rusty!"
"Rusty? Ha!" the Raikage laughed. "I may be cooped in that forsaken office more than I would have liked, but I still find time to stay in shape! Now watch this!"
The Raikage crossed his arms in front of his face, before thrusting them to the sides. Letting out a yell, his Lightning Chakra Armor flared with power as electricity crackled around his body. Then, the Raikage rushed towards a nearby Ten Tails miniclone, leaving a trail of lighthing behind, smashing his elbow against it, killingn instantly. Without even stopping, he then barreled towards another Ten Tails Spawn, this time choosing to end its life with a hand chop. He repeated the process multiple times, chaining multiple one hit kills, leaving a trail of corpses behind. All of this, in less than ten seconds.
"Does this look rusty to you!?" the Raikage roared.
Killer B merely chuckled, and shook his head.
"Ah brother, always so easy to provoke, all you need is a little poke!" Killer B rapped, laughing a little.
The Raikage and Killer B weren't the only fighting duo that had been reunited after an absence. In fact, theirs was almost nonexistent compared to two people who were now fighting together for the first time in years. The air around them started to get cold as the younger of the two started to make hand seals while gathering chakra for an attack.
"Ice Release: Certain Kill Ice Spears!"
From the cold air, multiple ice spears appeared above Haku, and with a hand flicker, he directed the cold weapons towards a group of Ten Tails Spawns. Before the monsters could realize, the spears had impaled them and pinned them to the ground. In the following secods, frost spread around them until they were completely frozen.
A few meters from Haku, Zabuza was cutting down Ten Tails miniclones with his Executioner's Blade. He only needed a single swing with one hand to slice the monsters into two halves, then move onto the next target.
"Not bad, Haku," Zabuza said, his eyes focused on his current opponent, a particularly large miniclone covered in spikes. "Though I expected that after all this time, you have developed something new."
More monsters were rushing towards them. Haku slammed his hands into the ground, covering it in a sheet of ice, causing the miniclones to slip and fall on their backs or on their bellies. Then, multiple spikes grew from the sheet of ice, impaling the fallen monsters.
"Weren't you who tell me to stick to what worked, Zabuza-sama?" Haku asked his former master.
"Perhaps I did," Zabuza said, kicking the spiked miniclone backwards, before making several hand seals. "But it's always good to always have something new in reserve, in case the usual stops working. Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Zabuza expelled a truly massive amount of water from his mouth. The water started to spin into a vortex, and from said vortex a serpentine dragon made of water emerged. The wayter dragon lunged towards the spiked Ten Tails Spawn, caught it between its jaws, and tore into the air. After spiraling a few times into the air, it then crashed into another group of incoming monsters, exploding into a massive torrent of water that pushed the beasts into many directions.
"Truly outstanding, Zabuza-sama. I've never seen such a huge Water Dragon from you before," Haku praised him.
"Hmpf. Even without Sage Mode, I may not be on Mei's level, but that doesn't mean I don't have to keep working to make sure the gap between us doesn't get any bigger. I do have a reputation to keep," Zabuza sneered.
"I did hear of your victory over the Akatsuki's Kisame, Zabuza-sama. I wish I was there to see it. From what I was told, it was an impressive battle. Ice Release: Ice Barrier!"
Haku slammed his hands into the ground once more, this time erecting a wall of ice in front of him, half as tall as Konoha's walls, just in time to block several wooden sharp spears several of the Ten Tails Spawns had chucked at him.
"Impressive doesn't even begin to describe it. That blue son of a bitch and his living sword had more tricks under their proverbial sleeves than I imagined. It was Mei who did most of the work, but I like to think I contributed to that bastard's downfall," Zabuza replied. "Water Release: Tsunami Sword!"
Water started to gather around Zabuza's Executioner's Blade, forming a massive, watery cover. Zabuza then swung his sword towards an incoming group of miniclones, releasing a crescent shaped blast of pressurized water. The water blade flew forward too fast for any of them to dodge, and cut them to pieces before they could even had the chance to react.
As they finished off their current opponents, master and apprentice noticed the earth trembling under their feet, as the sound of booming foosteps drew closer. Turning towards the source of the footsteps, they saw a giant Ten Tails Spawn, probably more than ten meters talk and with an impressive bulk, lumbering towards them. Aside from its size, something that set it apart from the other miniclones was the number of mouths that covered its body.
"Now that's a big one," Zabuza commented, letting out a whistle. "Cutting that thing down is going to be a challenge."
"Perhaps we don't need to cut it up," Haku said, as he started to make hand seals.
"What are you thinking, Haku?" Zabuza asked.
The boy finished his sealing sequence, and smirked towards his former master. "This is a great chance to show you a little something I've been working on. After all, didn't you want to see something new from me?"
"Cheeky brat," Zabuza said, smirking back.
"Let's see how well do you like this, Zabuza-sama," Haku said, as he prepared to release the jutsu towards the incoming monster. "Ice Release: Wrath of the Yuki-Onna!"
Once he finished the seals, Haku clapped his hands together, before thrusting them forward. From his hands, a powerful blizzard blew with the force of a gale, the cold being so intense it froze the air's moisture into chunks of ice, while also freezing the ground. The blast of frigid wind hit the giant monster square, and as frost started to cover his body, his movements began to slow to a crawl, until there was so much frost, he couldn't move anymore.
Zabuza then leaped into the frozen giant and slammed his sword against it. The force of the impact shattered the giant into a dozen frozen chunks.
"Not bad, definitely not bad," Zabuza complimented, upon touching the ground again. "Do you think you could do that again twenty more times?"
Haku was going to ask what did he meant by that, when he was alerted by an even bigger rumbling. Looking in the direction of the Ten Tails, he saw that the monster he just take down was just a vanguard, and many more just as big, were stomping their way towards them.
"I'm afraid not. I don't believe my ninjutsu can affect so many enemies of such size," Haku admitted.
"Yeah. These enemies are a bit outside our pay grade," Zabuza said. "Fortunately, some of your friends might be able to match them blow by blow."
As soon as Zabuza said that, Haku saw two gigantic chakra constructs come to life, both of them taking the shape of a four armed woman. One of them was soft lavender in color, while the other was a bright magenta. The two of them quickly stomped forward in order to meet the horde of giant beasts.
"Are those..." Haku narrowed his eyes to see the figures floating inside the chakra giantesses' head better. He was taken aback when he realized who they were. "...Hinata and Hanabi? When did they learn to do that?"
"Hinata? Isn't that one of your teammates?" Zabuza asked. "Didn't you know she could do that?"
"She certainly couldn't the last time we fought together," Haku said. "Then again, I knew her Tensiegan wasn't fully developed. Heh, the two of us will have a lot of catching up to do once this war is over..."
…
"I believe that talk between you and I once the war is over is going to be a little longer than I had anticipated," Shino mentioned, looking up.
"Because how cool and awesome I am?" Fu replied, smiling widely. Or she would be smiling if she wasn't transformed into a giant seven tailed beetle that had no human mouth.
Because Hinata and Hanabi weren't the only ones who had ushered giant forms in order to face the new threat. Fu teased Shino by asking "do you want to see something amazing?" and before he could answer, the Taki kunoichi grew into her Tailed Beast form. Naruto and Killer B mimicked her, their Tailed Beasts already recovered enough energy to allow such transformation.
"Guys!" Hanabi called, sounding agitated. "The Ten Tails is breaking free of the vines!"
"What!?" Naruto shouted.
Hinata directed her expanded eyesight towards the trapped Ten Tails, and indeed, many of the Ten Tails Spawns were working tirelessly to destroy the thick vines and roots that kept it immobilized and pinned to the ground.
"She's right!" Hinata confirmed. "If we don't do something, the Ten Tails will be free again in no time!"
"We can't afford to let that happen. I guess we'll have to take a more aggressive approach and head to the Ten Tails as soon as possible," Naruto stated. "We'll cut a path through them! Fu, can you provide us some aerial cover?"
"You got it!" Fu replied, as she took into the sky. As she ascended, many of the Ten Tails Spanws noticed her, and started to throw sharp wooden spears at her from the ground. She started to quickly move around in order to dodge the storm of wooden stakes aimed at her. Despite her current size, she was able to maneuver around the flying spikes easily, while gathering a sphere chakra in front of her mouth. "Tailed Beast Wave!"
The ball of chakra exploded in the form of a beam of destructive energy, directed towards the mass of miniclones in front of her in a straight line. After a couple seconds of dealy, it was followed by a chain of explosions that carved a path across the conglomeration of monsters.
"Alright, let's go!" Naruto said, as his Kurama avatar stomped forward, followed by Hinata and Hanabi's Avatars of Kalika, and lastly B in his Gyuki form. "Hinata, Hanbi, cover my flanks! B, cover our backs!"
"Understood, Naruto-kun! You can count on us!" Hinata replied.
"You can trust Number Eight and I to cover the rear! None of this monsters will get even close, that's much as clear!" Killer B rapped.
And thus began the charge through the path Fu had carved from above. Naruto tried not to use the Tailed Beast Ball much, since he wanted to conserve energy. Fortunately, the physical power of his Tailed Beast form proved to be enough to deal with his similar sized attackers. When a giant miniclone came to him from the front, Naruto punched it in the face with as much strength as he could, and the abomination was sent flying backwards, landing on his back and slidding on it.
When more than one monster tried to attack him from the same side, Naruto wrapped some of his tails around their necks, and first slammed their heads against each other, before tossing them away in opposite directions. And when they tried to overwhelm him with numbers, Naruto simply charged a Tailed Beast Ball to blow many of them at once.
"These guys are big and scary, but despite their size they aren't a match for us!" Naruto thought.
"Of course! Powerful as it is, the Ten Tails can't mass produce minions with the power to match a Tailed Beast," Kurama agreed. "Plus, with its chakra currently bound, the Ten Tails can't expend that much energy on these things. Still, don't underestimate them."
"I wasn't planning to," Naruto replied out loud, as he slashed an incoming giant Spawn.
While Naruto worked to open a path in a straight line, the Hyuga sisters, each of them with their respective Avatar of Kalika, protected Naruto's flanks from the same horde of monsters. Their four arms proved to be exceptionally useful for dealing with them, especially those with multiple limbs. Unlike Naruto's Tailed Beast form, though, they lacked any kind of destructive, wide area jutsu that could be used to wipe out large quantities of enemies. So they had to use their own jutsu for when their giant chakra constructs weren't enough.
Which was almost all the time.
"Sage Art: Lightning Release Thunder Blast!"
Hinata's entire body crackled with purple electricity, electricity that she directed towards the enemies in front of her with a thurst of both of her arms in the form of massive pillars of lightning that travelled outwards, leaving a trail of scorched earth behind. The giant Ten Tails Spawns shook in pain as electricity coursed through their bodies, and while they were paralyzed Hinata's Avatar dispatched them with powerful palm strikes.
Given that she was given a brief respite, the Hyuga Clan head allowed herself to check on the others, more specifically, her little sister covering the other flank. Like Hinata, Hanabi was bombarding the Ten Tails Spawns with Elemental Ninjutsu of her own before delivering the finishing blow with her Avatar of Kalika.
"Hanabi-chan, how are you doing?" Hinata asked. "Do you need some help over there?"
"I'm fine!" Hanabi replied. "Though my Truth Seeking Balls don't hurt them as much as they should!"
"The Ten Tails and its spawns are pure nature energy!" it was Naruto who replied. "Truth Seeking Balls did okay against the smaller ones, but I doubt they'd do much against these behemoths!"
"In that case, I'll need to stick to brute force then!" Hanabi said, as her Avatar of Kalika smashed its palm into the face of a giant miniclone leaping at her, followed by a roundhouse kick to another one. Looking at the fallen creatures, she got an idea. "Alright, this should clear some of them out."
Hanabi then grabbed the knocked out monsters, and dashed forward, drawing even more Ten Tails Spawns towards her, just as she expected. Without letting the miniclones she was grabbing go, she made the Avatar spin on its feet.
"Six Paths: Heavenly Spin!"
Hanabi's Avatar of Kalika started to spin around itself. As it picked speed, a small tornado started to form around it. It spread its arms, using the miniclones she had grabbed to extend the range of her jutsu. As the Ten Tails Spawns dumbly charged at her, they were smacked with the bodies of its fallen brethren, knocking them on their back. Hanabi eventually let the ones she was grabbing go, sending them flying against a cluster of Spawns, making them tumble with a loud crash.
"Nice one, girl, such a move! You got quite the groove!" Killer B rapped, as he lifted a giant miniclone over his head, and tossed it against another group of them.
While Hinata also wanted to compliment her little sister, she felt it was no time for such things, especially since they were still so far away from the Ten Tails. The Hyuga Clan Head directed her sight towards the bound monstrosity, and gasped loudly upon seeing what was going on around it.
"Hinata-hime?" Naruto asked.
"Many of the wooden roots and vines bounding it to the ground are about to break!" Hinata warned. It seemed the miniclones were working much harder an faster than they had anticipated. "We need to-"
Hinata was interrupted by a very loud snapping sound, followed by one of the tails of the Ten Tails being released.
"Oh shit!" Hanabi yelled.
"I'll fly ahead and see if I can slow those guys down from releasing their daddy!" Fu said from above as she took off. "You guys keep pushing forward!"
With no other options, they decided to follow Fu's suggestions, and continued to fight with as much vigor as they could.
…
Not far away from there, Kakashi and Rin continued their duel against Obito and the original Zetsu. While Rin was engaged with their former teammate, the two duos still unable to beat the other, waiting for that decisive opportunity to reap a swift victory. Though, as they traded blows, there was something that dawned upon Rin's mind. Something she was deadly afraid to ask, but now that thought had invaded her mind, she needed an answer for.
"Wood Release: Great Spear Tree!"
A multitude of sharp roots emerged from the ground, threatening to impale the medic-nin, and forcing her to jump backwards, while making several hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
From her mouth, Rin expelled a thin stream of super pressurized water that cleanly cut the growing roots coming at her, and the jutsu still had enough power to reach Obito, who was the one forced into the denefsive this time. While his Sharingan marked him the oath he needed to follow in order to avoid the enemy jutsu, he wasn't fast enough, and the water current grazed his cheek. Obito winced as a small cut formed on his face.
"Obito," Rin called before the Uchiha had a chance to counterattack. "I was told of the Nine Tails' attack on Konoha. And how you were the one behind it."
"What about that, Rin? It's ancient history. Why are you bringing up now?" Obito asked. There was a sizzling sound as the cut on his face slowly healed and closed.
"Not even getting into all the lives lost during such a tragedy... how could you do such an horrible thing to Minato-sensei and Kushina-san?" Rin asked, her voice cracking a little. "Didn't their lives mean anything to you at all? You were like a son to them! All of us were!"
This question seem to give Obito some pause, but if he was taken aback, he quickly recovered, as his mouth curved into a sad smirk.
"What lousy father he was, letting two of his children die. It's almost a surprise that Kakashi didn't follow the two of us into the grave, " Obito spat back. "Looking back, I may made Naruto a favor."
"You... you...!" Rin began, losing her composure, as her grief was slowly turning into anger. "How can you say such an horrible thing about Minato-sensei!"
In her anger, Rin pulled out a kunai and dashed forward, closing the gap between her and her opponent in a blink. Obito generated a black rod from one of his palms, and used it to block Rin's diagonal slash. More slashes kep coming, but thanks to his Sharingan and Rin's lack of skill in armed combat, he was able to parry or deflect most of her blows.
"Why do you defend him!? Minato-sensei did nothing but sending us to our deaths! You'd think after my loss, he'll take a better care of you two!" Obito replied, his own anger slowly rising to match Rin's own. This gave him a small boost in strength in order to counterattack and even push Rin back.
Obito's outburst brought Rin back to that conversation he had with Kakashi at the gate of Konoha's general hospital, and how he felt their Jonin-sensei was at least, guilty in part of how the team turned out. If Kakashi had it in him to blame Minato, no wonder Obito's anger towards the Fourth Hokage was so big.
"You know, I never blamed him for my apparent demise when it was just me. I did blame him for yours, thought, at least at first. How can that man pretend to be Hokage, when he can't even keep his own students safe?" Obito angrily snarled. "And that fateful night on Konoha, I was proven right. One man in the right place at the right time was all what was needed to show the world that man's incompetence. He failed to protect his wife, son and village just like he failed to protect you and me!"
"What happened to us wasn't Minato-sensei's fault!" Rin countered. "There was a war! People die in wars! Minato-sensei had other responsibilities! He couldn't just babysit us the whole time!"
"I know. That's why I said that I only blamed him at first. It wasn't his fault that there was a war, no. But it was somebody's fault, right? We ended that way because there was a war, a war neither of us started," Obito asked, leaving Rin a little confused. "That's why I'm doing what I'm doing, Rin. This is the only way to create a world with no wars or conflict. And if Minato-sensei and Kushina-san had to die for such world to exist, then so be it."
"And if I had to die?" Rin retorted. "If I had to die for such world to exist, would you sacrifice me!?"
This question seemed to stump Obito, albeit only for a moment. He averted her eyes, and let out a sad chuckle.
"Perhaps you had to," Obito said, his shoulder sagging, as the memory replayed once again in his mind. He had revisited that moment so often, it only made him a little numb now. "Since it was when I saw you taking Kakashi's Chidori when my eyes were opened to the ugly truth that it's the reality of this world."
While Obito and Rin's exchange happened, Kakashi continued his fight against Zetsu. However, the two of them had been listening to Obito and Rin's conversation. And more importantly, their reaction towards it.
Because thanks to his Sharingan, Kakashi had noticed that, the moment Obito admitted that he needed to see Rin die, the Zetsu's white half's mouth twitched into what appeared to be a smirk. Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the plant being as the gears of his mind started to turn.
"Something wrong, copy ninja?" Zetsu's black half taunted. "Can't stand hearing your teammate's fall from grace?"
"Yes. It was quite the tragic day, one I will never forget, especially now that I know the far reaching consequences such events had on the world at large," Kakashi replied, as he started making hand seals. "Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Kakashi expelled a large amount of water from his mouth. The water took the shape of a serpentine dragon, and after letting out a roar, ir lunged towards one of the last two remaining Akatsuki. The dual being merely smirked as he made his own hand seals.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
The earth started to shake as large underground wooden roots broke into the surface, surrounding the battleground. Zetsu then merged his body with one of the roots, avoiding Kakashi's water jutsu, which crashed harmlessly against the strong roots.
"You can't beat us, copy ninja," the white half said, as Zetsu appeared for a second behind him.
"We are one with nature. Can you beat nature itself?" the black half taunted, as Zetsu appeared for a brief moment from a root to Kakashi's side, making the copy ninja to turn around.
"Not even your Sharingan can predict when will we appear next!" the white half said, as he appeared behind Kakashi, making several hand seals. "Wood Release: Leaf Hurricane!"
Zetsu cast a tornado of large green leaves towards Kakashi, which looked normal at first sight, but Kakashi could see they were as sharp as kunai. Kakashi jumped backwards while making several hand seals as well.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Kakashi exhaled a cone of flames that engulfed the leaves of the tornado, burning them to a crisp. However, when the fire disappeared, Zetsu had disappeared once again.
"You know, the more I think about that day..." Kakashi began, hoping to lure his opponent out. "I can't help but think the extraordinary bad luck that led to Obito getting to us just when I accidentally killed Rin. The timing couldn't have been worse."
Zetsu once again appeared behind Kakashi, who summoned a mass of smaller wooden roots to impale him with. Kakashi, however, was already expecting this, and turned around as his hands blurred through hand seals.
"Wind Release: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
Upon finishing the sealing sequence, Kakashi spread his arms outwards, releasing several blades of compressed air that shredded through Zetsu's attack. However, before the attack could reach his foe, the plant being already hid within the large wooden vines.
"You know that attacking somebody from behind is the most obvious choice, and thus the one I'll be expecting the most?" Kakashi asked, almost in a mocking manner.
That moment, two pair of gigantic venus flytrap jaws appeared from below him, ready to crunch him between them. Kakashi, however, managed to jump back just in time, before delivering a brutal kick in the face to Zetsu as he emerged from underground, which sent him backwards, skidding against the ground.
"Going for the second most obvious choice isn't that much better," Kakashi boredly said, as he watched the angry Zetsu merging once again with one of the vines. The copy ninja then started to make hand seals at a leisure pace. "By the way, I hope you enjoy this jutsu. It was created by my father. Lightning Release: Forked Lightning!"
Kakashi's hands were coated in electricity, as he threw them to the sides, releasing a storm of lightning bolts. The lightning bolts then began to bounce around the wooden vines, covering the area in electricity. And naturally, several of those bolts managed to hit Zetsu the moment the plant-like creature emerged once again to attack.
This time, Kakashi didn't give his enemy time to flee. Using the Body Flicker Jutsu, the silver haired Jonin appeared in front of the Akatsuki, and lifted him into the air by his neck.
"I already had my suspicions, but you gave me additional reasons to believe that Rin's death wasn't the unfortunate tragedy I always believed it was," Kakashi said, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"You... you bastard..." the white half choked, as he tried to futilely break from Kakashi's grip.
Suddenly, there was a tremor that shook the entire battleground. Both Kakashi and Zetsu turned towards the source of the disturbance, and saw, to one's horror and the other's delight, that some of the Ten Tails' tails had been liberated from their wooden bindings, and probably more to follow. Zetsu smirked.
"You have lost. You won't be able to bind the Ten Tails a second time. Everybody in this place is living on borrowed time! You won't-" the black half boasted, before he and the white half were silenced as Kakashi trapped them inside a Sharingan genjutsu.
"In that case, let's have a chat at a more private place, shall we?" Kakashi suggested. The form of the Mangekyo Sharingan appeared on his left eye. "Rin! I'm going to take this scumbag to the Kamui dimension! Keep Obito busy!"
Rin, still engaged with Obito, quickly looked at the vanishing Kakashi, and nodded.
"Undrestood!" Rin replied, before facing Obito again.
"What is Kakashi going to do? Does he think he can accomplish anything by separating me from Zetsu?" Obito asked, trying to sound confident, but unable to hide how Kakashi's tactic was unnerving him. He then looked at the slowly breaking free Ten Tails. "Even if he kills Zetsu, his death won't accomplish anything."
"I don't know. But I trust him. Kakashi isn't somebody to act without reason," Rin replied.
…
Kamui Dimension
As the two newcomers entered the pocket dimension, Kakashi gracefully landed on his feet, while Zetsu landed painfully on his back. He was already regaining mobility, breaking out of the genjutsu already. Not that Kakashi cared that much.
"Alright," Kakashi said, as he forced the plant being back into his feet. He once again focused his Sharingan onto the creature's eyes, reinforcing the genjutsu. "I have a few questions regarding Obito that you're going to answer. And no, that wasn't a request."
…
Back in the real world, the Allied Ninjas continued their charge against the sea of Ten Tails miniclones of all sizes and shapes, lead by Naruto, Hinata, Hanabi, Killer B and Fu. Unfrotunately, they were only halfway done when the Ten Tails managed to break free completely. With the help of its arms, the titanic beast raised to its full height, and let out a deafening roar.
"NO!" Naruto screamed.
"Shit! Too late!" Fu yelled. "What are we going to do now!?"
"It isn't obvious? We bind it again! We have to keep going, or else all this will be in vain!" Killer B said.
"We need to find Hagane, Kaida and Rin," Hanabi said, as she started to scan the battleground. She was able to find Rin easily enough, engaged in a match against Obito. Her two teammates, meanwhile, had returned to the rear of the army. Their chakra appeared to be weak. "Though I don't think they're in good shape enough to pull a jutsu of that size a second time..."
The Ten Tails roared again, making the earth tremble once more, as a powerful wind blew in every direction from its body. Naruto, Hinata, Hanabi and Fu shivered as they felt a massive wave of nature energy washing over the area.
"What... what was that...?" Naruto asked.
"This... this isn't good Naruto..." Kurama replied, sounding worried. "It plans to do the Cataclysm!"
"Cataclysm...!?" Naruto repeated. He didn't know what was that, but he could tell it wasn't something good.
…
Meanwhile, not far away from there, the three Uchihas loyal to Konoha continued their fight against the man who was once their Clan Head, all four of them using their Perfect Form Susanoo. While Madara proved to be more than a match for Itachi and Sasuke, Shisui's addition proved to be what they needed to maybe not tip the scale in their favor, but bridge the gap between them to the point that it could be called an even fight. Even if Shisui's presence didn't make victory a certainity, they didn't need to win: all they needed to do was to keep Madara away from the Ten Tails while Naruto and the others dealt with the Ten Tails.
Given the scale of their battle, the Uchihas had pushed their rogue clansmate away from the bulk of the army, so their fight wouldn't cause any collateral deaths.
Their tactic involved the three of them surrounding Madara and attacking them from different angles, limiting the rogue Uchiha's ability to block or parry their attacks. Stll, Madara wasn't considered the strongest Uchiha who ever lived for no reason, and he was more than able to maneuver his Susanoo in order to move in time to block or dodge his enemies' attacks.
"Look at that, it seems that I'm not the only Uchiha who's a master of Senjutsu," Madara said, as his Susanoo parried a blow from Shisui's drill spear with its sword. "The clan might be down to a few members, but it warms my heart to see how talented you are."
That moment, Sasuke fired several Susanoo arrows coated the black flames of Amaterasu, while Itachi shot several matagama-like projectiles at him. Madara, however, sensed the attack coming and was already preparing a counter.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Madara cast a powerful repulsive way in every direction that not only stopped Sasuke and Itachi's attacks, but also managed to push Shisui's Susanoo backwards. Despite tumbling, Shisui managed to regain balance.
"So, you know about the Uchiha insurrection," Shisui said. "And don't you feel anything over the fact that our once mighty clan is now down to single digit numbers? Nor that we helped to its downfall."
Madara merely shrugged. "Why should I? What's important about a clan is the strength of its members, not its numbers. I prefer the Uchiha clan reduced to a single digit numbers like you said, as long as the remaining members are strong and skilled, than have the Uchiha be composed by a thousand weaklings. If the other Uchiha died during that coup, then they were weak and their deaths were deserved."
Itachi's face twisted into a grimace of disgust. "Disgraceful."
"And you're the one who's going to lead us to a world without conflict?" Sasuke asked, incredulous.
"Why of course. Power is the only thing that can shape this world into something better. That's why wars happen, because what are wars but struggles for power? And this war... this war is no different, at least on that regard. But it will be the war to put an end to all wars. With the Ten Tails, my power shall be unmatched. I'll have the power to shape the world as I see fit," Madara explained. "And with that power, I shall create a perfect world. A paradise for all to live. I shall fullfill the role the Sage of the Six Paths should have filled one thousand years ago!"
However, before any of the Allied Uchihas could offer a retord, Shisui felt a wave of nature energy washing over the battlefield as it flew into the Ten Tails. Given Madara's expression, he was already expecting it.
"Oh it's already happening," Madara casually said, as he looked in the direction of the Ten Tails. "It's been quite the fun spar, but unfortunately, as much fun as I'm having with you three, I'm afraid I must stop the battle here. Duty awaits. Besides, you might want to find a place to hide from what's going to come next."
And with that, Madara dispelled his Susanoo, and fell to the ground. The moment his feet touched the solid floor, he ran away from the other three Uchihas.
"Don't let him escape!" Sasuke said, as his Susanoo stomped forward.
Unfortunately, it was unable to take another step.
…
As the Ten Tails gathered nature energy, a white aura started to glow around the colossal monster's body, shining brighter by the second. Then, for a fraction of a second, the air shimmered as silence reigned absolute. And following that, the Ten Tails released all the nature energy that it had been stored in the form of a single, uncontrolled burst.
The effect was immediate. First, a massive hurricane formed from the Ten Tails, blowing everybody near it away, either be friend or foe. Not even the jinchuriki in their Tailed Beast forms nor the Hyuga sisters' Avatars of Kalika were unable to resist such a powerful gale of wind, and were blown away as if they were as light as little birds.
That hurricane, however, was only the first, as many more formed around the battlefield. Lightning bolts rained from the dark clouds above without pause, while hail the size of a fist pelted the ground with fury. The very earth was teared apart by a powerful quake, sending large chunks of rock everywhere, as plumes of lava erupted everywhere, creating red rivers of fire.
Even if the cataclysm lasted less than two minutes, it felt like hours for the hapless ninjas –and the Ten Teails miniclones, who weren't spared from their "father's" wrath, but they weren't smart or even aware enough to understand what was going on– who tried their best to survive the localized natural disaster that fell upon them. Many of them used their abilities to protect both themselves and those close enough to them, while others weren't so lucky and perished under the wrath of nature.
When the cataclysm ended, the battleground had changed completely. There were small mountains and depressions where it was completely flat before. Rivers of lava crossed the ground. There were many rocks of all sizes scattered around.
And most importantly, there were thousands of bodies laid across the battlefield. Many of them still alive, others not so lucky.
"Well, that should have cleared out most of the rabble," Madara said, as his Susanoo, which he used a shield against the cataclysm, slowly dispelled. He then watched the Ten Tails, and smirked. "Good. Time to move into the endgame."
…
Naruto groaned as he pushed himself from the ground. His Kurama Avatar had been destroyed in the ensuing cataclysm. The blond could feel something wet and sticky trickling down his temple, but he didn't pay it any attention. There were more important things to take care of. As he slowly got back to his knees, Naruto expanded his chakra sense in order to see how bad things were.
He felt his heart sink he noticed how the amount of chakras in the battlefield had been cut in half. Fortunately, it seemed that most of his friends had make it. Hinata hadn't landed that far away from him. Hanabi appeared to be okay too. Fu and Killer B were also away from him, but not only they appeared to be alright, if a bit beaten down, but unlike Naruto, they had managed to mantain their Tailed Beast forms. He started to feel a little more relieved as he identified the chakras of those who had survived: Kurenai, Haku, Shizune, Karin, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Tamaki... hell, even the jinchuriki shadow clones were still there. Guess those hardening seals were more durable than he thought.
"Huh?"
Naruto's thoughts were interruped when he felt a tremor shaking the earth, followed by another, and another, and another. Pushing himself back to his feet, he realized that the source of his tremors was the Ten Tails, who was dragging its body, making the ground quake whenever one of its arms hit the ground.
"No... no!"
While the Ten Tails moving was bad, it wasn't the worst part. It was where it was headed.
"No!" Naruto shouted, the adrenaline jolt as a result of his fear allowed him to get back to his feet and start running forward, towards the Ten Tails' target. "Fu, get out of there!"
Fu, still in the form of the Seven Tails, stirred, as she tried to get back. Naruto didn't even know if she was aware of the danger she was, given that the Ten Tails had locked onto her as its next target. However, no matter how much the blond was trying to run, he knew he wasn't going to reach her in time before the Ten Tails did. He tried to activate Kurama Chakra Mode once again. Calling for his tenant's chakra, a golden shroud quickly former around his body, before it flickered and put out like a candle drawing its last breath.
And reach her it did.
"NO!"
Naruto couldn't help but watch impotently how the Ten Tails' massive hand grabbed Fu, and brough her close to its face. The titanic monster opened its jaws, and began to suction air inside it. Streams of red chakra started to flow from Fu's eyes into the Ten Tails' mouth, thin and small ar first, but growing thicker and larger over time. And as the Ten Tails drained Fu of Chomei's chakra, Fu started to shrink back to her human form. Once the Ten Tails finished, it carelessly dropped Fu's lifeless body to the ground, while the monster moved towards somewhere else.
Naruto couldn't sense Fu's chakra anymore. She was dead.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
This time, however, it wasn't Naruto the one who screamed. Naruto didn't recognize the voice, until he saw somebody running towards where Fu was. It was Shino, explaining why the blond didn't associate the normally quiet young man to the heart-wrenching scream of anguish. The Aburame, followed by his teammates, desperatedly rushed towards their friend's fallen body.
"Naruto, the Ten Tails is going to absorb Gyuki now!" Kurama warned him.
This time, Naruto didn't have to use his chakra sense to locate Killer B, all he need to do was follow the direction the monster. Naruto could see that, just like Fu before him, Killer B was lying on the ground, beaten and bruised, probably barely even conscious and thus unable to defend himself. The blond began to run again, his wobbly legs threatening to make him fall. Naruto didn't seem to care why the Ten Tails was targeting the Kumo jinchuriki when he was closer. The only thing in his mind was to save his fellow jinchuriki.
However, the events from less than five minutes ago replayed before his very eyes: Naruto simply wasn't as fast as the colossal abomination. He tried to draw Kurama's power once again. This time, he could feel the Chakra Cloak's power manifesting with greater strength, forming a golden shroud around his body. This was followed by a feeling of strength returning to his legs, which allowed him to run faster.
But once again, it proved to be useless. The Ten Tails grabbed Killer B with one of its enormous hands, and brought it close to its face. It then opened its mouth wide.
"NO! NO! STOP, PLEASE!" Naruto begged, as he tripped on his feet and fell on his face.
But the Ten Tails didn't hear nor care about Naruto's pleas. Once again, red streams of chakra flowed from Killer B's eyes and mouth into the Ten Tails' mouth. As Killer B was drained of his Tailed Beast chakra, he began to slowly shrink into his human form just like Fu only a few minutes before. And once the Ten Tails was done, it carelessly dropped Killer B's body onto the ground.
And just like with Fu, Naruto couldn't sense any chakra coming from his body.
"BROTHER! NO!" another voice yelled, this one Naruto recognized as the Raikage. The blond barely noticed the leader of Kumo, followed by Killer B's students, rushing towards the man's inert body.
There was a rumble as the Ten Tails shifted its body, and locked its giant, red eye onto its final prey: Naruto himself. Or better said, the nine tailed fox sealed inside him.
"Naruto, it's coming for us! You need to move NOW!" Kurama urged. But much to the fox's surprise, and growing horror, Naruto didn't make any attempt to move. "Naruto, what are you doing!?"
And much to the fox's shock and bewilderment, not only did Naruto not move, he even fell to his knees.
…
The moment Kakashi's Animal Squad reached Fu, Shino instantly knelt before her and started to heal her body. In her unconscious state, the dying jinchuriki grunted uncomfortably as Shino introduced several of his own beetles into her body in order to analyze how bad was her situation,.
The answer: very.
"Her heartbeat is very weak!" Tamaki said, while holding Fu's wrist.
"I know. All he organs are on the verge of failing, and her chakra network is almost empty as well," Shino said, as he continued working. Apparently, he was able to rein in his desperation and keep the stoic and logic driven demeanor his clan was known for. "My beetles are converting my chakra and transferring it to her as well."
"Is that going to work?" Kiba asked, panic and insecurity evident in his tone. "I remember when Naruto told us about his mission with Gaara that only using the Nine Tails' chakra was he able to save him!"
"In that case, we need Naruto here as soon as possible," Shino stated. "I'll try to keep her-"
"WATCH OUT!" Tamaki shouted.
A few of the Ten Tails miniclones, this ones on the small side thankfully enough, suddenly appeared around them, prompting Tamaki and Kiba to jump to their feet in order to engage them, while Shino continued keeping Fu alive.
…
Not far away from there, another similar situation took place, with Killer B instead of Fu, his own students instead of Kakashi's, plus the addition to the Raikage. Unfortunately, it seemed that the results were very much the same.
"It's no use!" T cried, as she applied the Mystical Palm jutsu on her sensei's body. "No matter what I do, he keeps getting worse!"
"Keep trying! Don't even dare to stop, you hear me!?" Karui yelled. "I don't want to learn that our sensei died because you gave up too soon!"
"Come on sensei, you can't go down like this!" Omoi begged.
"T won't help my brother on her own," the Raikage said, sounding as if he was admitting defeat, even if it was far from the case. "To save B, we need a transfer of Tailed Beast Chakra. And right now, there's only one jinchuriki left."
All of them looked to their left, and a few hundred meters away, they saw Naruto, down on his knees, with the Ten Tails rapidly approaching him.
"What's that idiot doing!? He's going to get himself killed!" Karui screamed in horror.
"Come on, we need to protect that Konoha ninja from the Ten Tails!" the Raikage said as he got on his feet. "Follow me!"
However, before the Raikage could take another step, a giant Ten Tails spawn landed in front of them. Several of the smaller variants were cligning to its body, but dropped to the ground the moment its feet touched the floor.
"You won't get in the way!" the Raikage said, as he charged forward. "I'm going to get Naruto! You two protect your teammate while she keeps B alive!"
…
Naruto continued on his knees, not realizing, ot maybe not caring, that his impending doom was dragging itself towards him, its red eye looking at him with hunger. His whole body being felt numb. He could swear he could heard a voice that sounded like Kurama's, but he wasn't really sure. Did it matter anyway?
As the deaths of Fu and Killer B replayed in his mind, he coulnd't help but recall his failure at trying to save Utakata and Roshi. He had the feeling that it would be different with Fu and Killer B, but alas, it wasn't the case. It seemed that all the jinchuriki were fated to die to feed Akatsuki and Madara's immense ambitions. And now, all what was standing between them and the rest of the world was Naruto himself.
And Naruto felt too tired to continue fighting. He simply wanted the suffering to end.
The world around him darkened as a gigantic shadow loomed over him. He didn't need to look up to realize it was the Ten Tails. A part of his brain, one that sounded like Kurama, told him to run, but why bother? The monster would chase him to the end of the world if necessary, killing even more people in the way.
So he didn't resist when the Ten Tails lowered one of its hands to grab him...
"Amethyst Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
"Turquoise Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
A massive storm of purple lightning bolts and a huge stream of teal flames came from different directions, crashing at once against the Ten Tails' only eye, which being so focused on Naruto, it didn't notice the new pair of interlopers. With its only eye damaged, the Ten Tails let out a loud screech of pain as it recoiled.
That moment, Hinata and Hanabi's Avatars of Kalika landed between the colossal beast and Naruto wth a loud thud, standing protectively in front of the former.
"Good, we managed to blind it. But I'm afraid it won't last long," Hinata said.
"What the hell's wrong with Naruto!?" Hanabi asked. "Why is he like that, all catatonic?"
"I don't know, but I plan to find out," Hinata said, before her Avatar of Kalika crouched, and with a swift hand motion, scooped Naruto with one hand and placed it inside its head, alongside Hinata. "Naruto-kun! What's going on? Please, answer me?"
"Hi...Hinata...?" the blond weakly replied.
"Yes, it's me, Hinata! What happened!?" Hinata franctically asked.
"I... I failed. I failed them, Hinata," Naruto said, his voice almost a whisper. It appeared as if he wanted to cry, but was unable to.
Hinata remembered how badly Naruto took their failure to save Utakata and Roshi from Akatsuki, especially the later –albeit in that one, Hagane's close call was probably a factor as well– and they were practically strangers to him. Killer B and especially Fu were people Naruto had known for far more than a coupel days, and thus his bonds with them were far more meaningful, so their deaths must affected him even worse.
"Their demise is... something tragic," Hinata had to choose her words carefully, not to make Naruto's situation any worse. "But we can't afford to mourn them now. Not until that beast, and Madara and Obito, aren't done with. So please Naruto-kun, please stay with me and let's fight together."
"There is no hope. That thing's too powerful and it won't stop at anything until he gets its claws on me," Naruto said in a depressed monotone, refusing to make eye contact with Hinata.
"No, it's not! We can fight, we can win! No matter what kind of obstacles life throws at us, we will always overcome them, even if not at first, and this one is no exception!" Hinata insisted, desperation growing inside her as she watched her boyfriend becoming more and more an empty shell.
"Just... take your sister and the others and leave. That thing only wants me. I don't want you to die pointlessly like-"
SLAP!
It took a couple seconds for Naruto to register the pain on his left cheek. He wordlessly brought his hand to Hinata's face still resting on his face, and for the first time, he made eye contact with Hinata. Her Tenseigan eyes flared with a mix of anger and sadness.
"Did you just tell me... to abandon you!?" Hinata seethed. "So... are you telling me that if our roles were reversed, you'd had to no trouble leaving me to my fate? Is that what you're saying!?"
"W-What? No! I would never...!" Naruto stammered, but Hinata didn't let him finish.
"No. Because you're Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who wants to be Hokage, who wants to become the best ninja there is while helping others becoming the better version of themselves as well. You would never abandon anybody. And thus, none of us, much less me, are going to abandon you in return!" Hinata shouted.
"Hinata..." Naruto whispered.
"I'm not going to abandon you! And you can't abandon us! You never would!" Hinata said, her voice growing louder. "Because if you abandon now...Fu-san and Killer B... all the people who lost their lives in this war... then they would have died for nothing!"
Those words felt like a cold splash of water against his face, shaking him off of his quasi-catatonic state. Which in turn, allowed him to finally listen to somebody else.
"Don't forget about me, you brat!" Kurama yelled from the seal inside Naruto. Kurama. The blond suddenly remembered that he still was there. "You weren't going to let that thing turn me into its dinner, were you!?"
"Kurama..."
"Your jinchuriki friends weren't the only ones who died to the machinations of Akatsuki! Your birth parents... they sacrificed their lives to save you from me! And that's how are you going to honor them?" Kurama asked. "And what about my siblings? You said you were going to save them! Did you forget about that too?"
"I... no, of course not," Naruto replied, shaking off the feeling of numbness completely. "I still plan to."
"Then do it! Prove me that those weren't just empty words to get on my good side!" Kurama added.
Naruto smiled. He then grabbed Hinata's hand, and lowered it down.
"I'm sorry, Hinata-hime," Naruto replied. Hinata smiled upon hearing her boyfriend using the usual honorific. "You're right. We can't stop fighting, not after going so far. Even if we're doomed to lose and we can't stop Akatsuki's victory from happening, we still need to do everything in our power to stop them.
"However, we aren't going to lose," Naruto said, filled with determination as he turned towards the Ten Tails. Apparently, the monster had now recovered, and his damaged but still functional eye was focused once again on the blond. But it was expecting an easy prey, it had another thing coming. "Let's go, Hinata! Together!"
"Yes!"
Naruto and Hinata shared their chakra with each other, merging their power. And all of sudden, they were blinded by a very bright flash of white light. Aside from being blinded, they couldn't hear the noise the Ten Tails was making as it dragged towards them, of the battle going around them between the Allied Ninjas and remaining Ten Tails Spawns. Naruto couldn't sense anybody anymore either aside from Hinata, much to his shock.
"What the...WHOA!"
When Naruto and Hinata opened their eyes, they were no longer on the battlefield in front of the Ten Tails. Instead, they were in space, floating just above Earth's orbit. In their shock, neither of them realized that they were able to breathe just fine.
"Greetings, child of Hagoromo, and child of Hamura," an unknown female voice made the couple realize that they weren't alone. It sounded stoic and monotone. "We finally meet at last."
Naruto and Hinata turned around, and saw a woman. Or what appeared to be a woman, since she didn't look to be human to begin with. She had chalk white skin, ashen hair that went down to her feet. She had two white eyes not unlike those of the Hyuga, plus a third eye on her forehead that ressembled the eye of the Ten Tails. A pair of horns crowned her head. She was wearing a long regal kimono decorated with magatamas and golden and purple trims.
The two teens gasped. While they never met this woman before nor heard her speak, they had seen pictures of her and were told about her before. And if what they knew about her was true, her presence didn't spell good omens.
"Do you know who I am?" the woman asked.
Two words left Naruto's mouth.
"Kaguya Otsutsuki..."
Author's Note: So yeah, Fu and Killer B are- *ducks behind a table to dodge a barrage of sharp objects, some of them on fire, that angry readers throw at me* yeah, I'm terribly sorry about that, but I needed something to truly drive how dire the situation is, and nothing else would do the trick. I know it's a decision that it's not going to leave anybody indifferent. Though, all I'm asking is for you to wait for the next chapter before you decide that this story is ruined forever and deleting it from your favorite and alert list.
And if that wasn't enough to alienate the readers, here comes Kaguya Otsutsuki, whom was somehow summoned by Naruto and Hinata (the "somehow" will be explained next chapter, don't worry). But what does this mean for our heroes, and the story as a whole? I can assure you, though, her role isn't what most of you are imagining.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
Next chapter will be up in two days, because I know you guys are dying to see what's going to happen next. At least those who still plan to continue reading. So if you're still there, don't forget to leave a review, even if it's to tell me how much I suck and you wish I die in a fire. Reviews make me really, really, really happy!