Naruto had a plan but there was just a little problem, Madara had more experience in war than any of the Konoha ninjas and he wasn't tied to a single ninja village so he could be anywhere
The blond didn't know if sending Jiraiya to investigate was a good idea because the sanin was one of the few S rank ninja they had, so sending him away from the village was dangerous but staying at the defensive too because if they fought in Konoha the village would suffer just as Kumogakure did when Pain kidnapped Killed B
The blond realized there must be some kind of connection between the Sharingan and the Rinnegan because everyone was sure Madara was an Uchiha…he even was remembered as one of the first users of the Mangekyou Sharingan so probably the grey eye was some kind of upgrade but the mechanism was still unknown to them, even Itachi was surprised to hear about that
Putting that aside the Hokage summoned one of his toads to send a message to Yagura and tell him most of the information they had on Madara, with some little exceptions in the plans they worked together, the messenger toad ate the scroll and jumped out of the office leaving for Kirigakure. The next thing he did was looking at the calendar with a somber look on his face
This was the anniversary of biggest failure on his whole career as a ninja; he took a picture from his coat and looked at his younger self, a much younger Itachi, the gentle and wise Shisui Uchiha with the last team member Hyuga Hatsue
Flash back
Naruto and Itachi were friends since ever so the team worked quite well, Shisui already knew both of them and when Hatsue was added into the dynamics there were some difficulties for the power gap between them. Itachi and Naruto were average Chunin level at academy graduation so the hard worker Hyuga had to give his best effort to don't be left behind
They were a really good team so with time they started to take B rank missions very successfully just eight months after their graduation, the team was a well-oiled machine, Shisui was the frontal fighter using his Sharingan and teleportation jutsu he was practically untouchable while Itachi and Naruto were mid-range ninjutsu specialists that were able to use elemental combos covering a very wide area and Hatsue was the sensor and infiltration specialist
They had dealt with any kind of enemies, from civilian bandits to A-rank missing ninja with Shisui being A-rank on his own but some day the crossed their path with a group led by a Jounin missing ninja from Kiri who had gathered a dangerous group that was trying to take over a whole city. The main problem was the leader was the only enemy known, so when they got there and realized they had two Jounin combat ninja and five Chunin level ninja with more than a few low level criminals' things got bad
Shisui quickly dragged both jounin's attention on him while Naruto and Itachi tried to do the same with the rest of them making it a competition but one of the Chunin level criminals was smart enough to use the distraction his teammates were giving him and went for Hatsue, the girl wasn't weak but she wasn't ready to face that kind of opponent yet and ended dying after a special sword attack that used leaves to fool the opponent and mask the real strike
When the Hyuga cried in pain the boys turned their heads to see a sword descending through her torso between her neck and shoulder, it was obvious that it was a deadly strike and the surprises didn't end there because for the first time on his life Naruto's anger took control of him and he tapped into the Kyubi's chakra to destroy all of them
It took a great effort from Shisui to subdue the Kyubi with his Sharingan because the three tailed berserk Naruto was more physically powerful than him so Itachi had to distract him time enough for the genjutsu to kick in
The blond woke up three days later crying for Hatsue's death, because it was the last thing he remembered before his sight went completely red and the Kyubi took control letting him rest into unconsciousness
Before that day, Naruto and Itachi saw power as something to compete with your friends, to make a name for yourself and earn a nice rank but after that event they realized power was to protect your precious people, they would train until their eyes bleed to avoid that kind of suffer in the future 'I'm going to become so strong that everyone will fear my fury before attacking a Konoha's ninja' swore Naruto looking at the night sky
After that they came back to Konoha and the three of them changed forever, Naruto and Itachi devoted practically all his time to train and getting stronger, while Shisui asked to keep his team with a member short to avoid a new attachment, some people said the Teleporter Shisui took a hard blow and started to distance himself from people...family or society
Two months later they took the Chunin exams and crushed the whole competition giving up in the finals because they didn't want to harm each other, but they still earned promotion for their incredible tactics and combat skills
A whole passed and both of them were Jounin, Shisui told them they were ready to grow on their own and that was the last time any of them could call him sensei because from that moment on they would be friends and co-workers
End of flash back
After remembering that sad part of his past he put the picture on its original place and looked at the window 'I hope you're proud of me…I've become pretty strong but there is still one man that endangers the whole village and he doesn't fear me so I need to take him out' thought the Hokage looking at the sky through his window
While Naruto was remembering the past, there was something else going on and it was his toad who would find the situation…
Two hours before
It was a typical day in the hidden mist, Yagura was wondering about the information Naruto was going to send him because he just knew Madara Uchiha was alive and that was very disturbing information
Fortunately most of the Akatsuki had been defeated and killed to the threat they posed to the world wasn't so big these days and with that reassurance he went out of the office to get a look on the village and its people, the morning mists filled the place completely but he was able to fuse them with his chakra to feel everything around, from the ninjas training very early to the civilian doing country labors such as milking some cow or planting seeds for the next season
And then he felt them…
Yagura made some hand seals and many sirens began to replace the silence of the morning to alert the ninjas to gather around the Mizukage's office and the civilian to run towards the port and take some of the emergency ships because they were under attack
When the three tails container went back to the office he saw many of his trusted allies like Mei, Haku, Chojuro, Suigetsu, Zabuza and Raiga with the Konoha's ninjas like Yamato and Kabuto "Mizukage-sama what's happening?" asked in loud voice Mei
"There are troops from Kumo coming to the village" said Yagura even more loudly to make everybody around him listen "They should be arriving within one hour so we must prepare our forces" added the Mizukage warning everybody who was nearby, war had reached the hidden mist village
The troops were getting ready to fight the invaders from the mountains of the land of lightning so when the Raikage rushed in with a quick lightning attack nobody was so much surprised, Yagura suspected Kumogakure had more ninjas than Kirigakure but they couldn't take all their men out of the village so they should be close in numbers but the Raikage was the biggest threat, without Killer B, the only dangerous ninja asides from himself was his right hand Darui of the black lightning
The problem was A, because while Naruto had broken his fighting style he didn't had that advantage over him so that would be a hard fight because even if he used Saiken's power the man was used to face the Eight Tails so he wasn't afraid of engaging a full powered jinchuuriki in combat
Yagura was quick enough to use a water mirror to block the Cloud's leader but it was an un fair fight because with his superior elemental affinity and the enhanced piercing power of his limbs he destroyed the useful technique doing some damage to the Mizukage before he shouted and his men were to intercept the rest of the Kumo ninjas
Yagura wielded his weapon tightly because at the minimal movement he should use it to block the powerful strikes from his opponent who had most of the advantages in the fight 'Okay Yagura, Naruto beat him using his brain not his muscles…so I have to think!' told the Mist leader to himself
The three-tails jinchuuriki knew the coral infestation could be a combat finisher but as long as the lightning armor is on none of his water would be able to reach his skin. The moment A moved a shoulder Yagura channeled three tails worth of chakra and used the level 1 cloak to enhance his speed but it still wasn't enough because A was able to bypass the giant hook and punch him into the face throwing him far away
Forgetting about the Mizukage, the Raikage did what Yagura feared…he started attacking any mist ninja he was able to reach and with lightning speed it was quite fast so in the three minutes it took for Yagura to return to the combat place A had killed at least twenty ninjas, that was the reason his fight was so important because despite not having so much powerful ninjas, Kumogakure had A and he was able to turn this fight into his favor
Meanwhile Mei was facing Darui because she was one of the strongest ninjas aside from the Mizukage and she had enough power to deal with special ninjutsus like the black lightning or the storm release with her own blood limits
Darui knew about Terumi Mei, the rebel's leader and wielder of two blood limits but his advantage was the elements each of them had at their disposal because while the thick mist enhanced his lightning based attacks it weakened her fire based attacks but her attacks were still deadly so when she shot a magma jet towards him he quickly dodged it mentally thanking the mist making the lava slower and countered with a self-aimed lightning missile that Mei had to block with a steam wall
….
Yagura used the level 2 cloak to hit A but the man was still too fast and moved away at the last minute but he didn't attack right away he had to stop and charge towards him hitting him but making a lot less of damage than before 'Well it seems even he has to obey inertia because he's not able to turn around in high speed…he has to stop and charge again…that means while he's in movement he can't maneuver so much' realized the Mizukage when he used the hook to anchor himself to the ground
"Lariat!" shouted A before his armor was even more shining taking Yagura for surprise because that could only mean he wasn't going at full power and that last lariat threw him away agin but this time he took a serious blow so the way back would be slower than last time. In the meantime A's focus was on the local shinobi again…
…..
…
Darui was getting the upper hand because Mei was being on the defensive while his attacks were faster so she was being cornered and he was just manipulating the mixed elemental attacks to attack her from blind spots in an effort to surprise her with a lethal shot but suddenly the temperature dropped a couple of degrees and an ice wall emerged from the ground around his right arm catching him arm by the wrist and in the moment he lowered his guard because of that a senbon hit his neck and put him in a death-like state
"Thanks Haku" said Mei getting back on her feet but quickly she found a sensor ninja and asked him about the situation "Yagura-sama has been trying to hold the Raikage but his hits are too powerful and every time he sends him away he start killing any ninja he come across…at this point he's going to win this by himself" reported the sensor ninja
Mei asked her for some pointers and quickly took Haku to form a squad able to face the Raikage so they ran in the pointed direction to find Ao and Suigetsu dealing with many enemies at the same time "Guys we need your help to fight the Raikage" asked Mei when they were close enough "Do you have a plan? You know I'm not very useful close a lightning technique" said Suigetsu remembering her about the main weakness of his blood limit "Yes…the Samehada will provide you enough protection-" said the red head before a giant thunderbolt was heard in the whole village
"What was that?" asked Suigetsu a little shocked with the display "A's just killed Raiga" said Ao who could locate the giant chakra signature with his Byakugan "We need to help the Mizukage now!" shouted the rebel's leader before a new voice appeared
"I'm afraid I'll not let you go" was heard before a new person was seen and then after some seconds two more could be seen next to the first "The three sons of the fourth Kazekage" said Ao informing to the rest. All of them could feel the chakra levels of these kids so they were a threat and had to be taken seriously "Haku…you're the fastest ninja in mist so you must go and help Yagura-sama we'll go as soon as we can" said the voluptuous woman before assuming her guard against these new enemies, she only hoped Haku could make a difference in Yagura's fight otherwise they were all doomed
…..
…
This time it took six minutes for Yagura to get back at the fight, the first four were used to get on his feet and make his head stop spinning and the other two were spent channeling Isobu's chakra to reform the level 2 cloak and dash towards the Raikage
When Yagura faced the cloud's village leader he quickly channeled most of Isobu's chakra to fully transform in the three tails and fight. The fourth Mizukage didn't knew if it was bravery or experience but A didn't even flinch against the sight of the colossal turtle he just charged his lightning armor even more 'I hope that is his full power' thought Yagura on the inside of the large chakra construct "Drop Kick!" shouted the muscular man before disappearing from sight and showing himself in front of the fully transformed Yagura who took the direct hit before being able to put his tails as defense
This body might be made of chakra but his body was still on the inside and if his fist were hard his kicks were insane and any hit he landed gave him quite a shock into his system so he wasn't feeling so well at this point 'I have to endure' commanded himself before getting back into the fight "Shell Spear!" screamed off and then he covered with the spiked tails before spinning in A's direction trying to crush him
Unfortunately A's was too fast for the giant turtle-ball but the bright side was he had to stop before turning while Yagura just had to bend a little to change direction and every turn A had to take let him be a little closer to his adversary
What anyone didn't expect was for A to give a hard hammer hit to the ground making a large crater that made Yagura to lose momentum so his attack stopped and A jumped into the air spinning "Guillotine Drop!" shouted making a new maneuver with his technique because after the fight with Naruto he trained further with his lightning armor and now he was able to release all the lightning chakra at the moment of impact and replace it to cover his body from the aftershock but like his opponent wasn't so lucky he got shocked by thousands of volts
Yagura released Isobu's chakra and let out a cry of pain, he was alive but he wouldn't be able to fight or move in weeks and A was still standing; suddenly A was surrounded by many ice mirrors and all of them showing a masked ninja "Is this the best you can send?" asked A before Haku threw some ice needles at him but he saw him jump from the mirror and ignoring the ice fragments that were able to pierce his armor thanks to the wind chakra within them he dashed for the ninja who was barely able to enter the ice before said mirror was broken by a heavy hit
The weak Mizukage saw this and thought of a plan…a last plan so he just saturated the mist with his chakra making it thicker and that was the last act he did before passing away for good 'Kami help us' was his last silent prayer
Haku was nervous because this man just broke one of his mirrors as if they were nothing and he was even able to track him jumping between them so it was just a matter of time for him to get used to the pattern and hit him for good so the young ninja did the best thing he could think…he gathered all the water he could from the mist and turned it into thousand ice needles and threw them in A's direction
The Raikage knew they would land but that was just a collateral effect so he just went for the mirrors and started to dash around breaking them as if they were just fragile glass while the lightning armor melted the needles that pierced his skin
That was the first sight Naruto's toad saw when he appeared in Kirigakure, a destroyed village with many bodies dead on the ground and a weakened Haku hiding from the Raikage who was just breaking the mirrors he left as a cover "Help up…please" he begged to the confused toad who didn't expect something like this 'Naruto'll know what to do' thought the summon creature before doing some legs-seals (I'm assuming regular toads have legs for hands) "Reverse Summoning" said in a quiet voice
"What the hell….?" Asked Naruto with an open mouth holding a fork whole he realized he had been summoned to a demolished place that had a lot of chakra around, it was clearly a war zone "Giro what happened?" asked the blond to the toad while it pointed in Haku's direction
Then the blond realized what this was "The Raikage is here" said Kurama on his mind while he begun to gather natural energy, the blond channeled a lot of chakra and made some kind of wind explosion that threw the mist away letting the Raikage see him and letting Naruto see the dead body of his friend and jinchuuriki fellow
Unlike everybody would think when the Raikage first saw Naruto and his angry face after seeing his friend corpse his first reaction was to run away "Oh, no you don't!" screamed Naruto making his eyes red before many roots emerged from the ground binding the muscular man who tried to struggle against them but the ground connection of the roots made him lose his lightning armor because they sucked any electricity they had contact with "Naruto, if you drag more of my energy you'll disrupt the natural one" warned the Kyubi to his keeper who was getting too angry for using natural energy and wood release moves. That seemed to have a positive effect on Naruto because he stopped moving and just stood some moments there breathing "Do you feel that?" asked the nine tails 'Yeah…Yagura died protecting his village' answered the blond with a smile "You're already dead" stated the blond before going away to help kirigakure in another fight
A was wondering what he meant with that when he was able to free himself from the roots and then ne noticed his arms were stiff, he felt his finger's skin rough and then his right arm was turn into coral 'Damn kid' thought the Raikage before turning completely into a rock statue
….
..
In another battlefield of this war Mei and Suigetsu were fighting Temari and Kankurou while Kabuto healed Zabuza and Tenzo was trying to hold Gaara off, being trying the keyword
Tenzo was able to get the Mokuton affinity probably because his natural cells were sync with the earth and water elements but the Senju traits were not something that could be absorbed so his wood release had some properties with the bijou but he couldn't force the tailed beast into submission on his own and Shukaku's body was too slippery to be held by wood
So when six wood dragon heads emerged from the ground everybody looked at him with a Why didn't you did that sonner look while he had a I don't know what's happening face but suddenly the Shukaku bent his body showing submission, Kankurou's giant earth wurm shattered into its pieces and Temari was held by an ice armor-like that took away her ability to move
As the main enemies had just been taken care of, the Kirigakure's ninjas looked to find an angry Hokage staring at the foreign ninjas "I'm sorry but I've just arrived here" said the blond controlling Kirigakure's natural mist to make mirrors in the whole village showing his figure to all the ninjas in Kirigakure "Cloud's ninjas your Raikage and most of the strongest ninjas are dead…so you have two options go back to your village or die" shouted Naruto enhancing his voice with his wind manipulation
Most of the invading ninjas stood still for a while, thinking about their options when some of the thick-heads resumed their fights but some lightning bolts came from the sky killing them instantly
Mei was watching Naruto in awe because he just neutralized their three enemies in a second and he was somehow seeing through the ice mirrors to hit only the enemy ninjas with the electric attacks, the blond was able to use a village-wide sensory technique while he controlled a giant storm…'I hope we never get on the receiving end of his rage' thought the red-headed woman
After some minutes the battle had ended and some ninjas went for the civilian people of the mist who were in the sea while the medics tried to help those wounded in the battle but Naruto, Mei and some of the swordsmen of the mist gathered around Yagura's body "I'm sorry but I wasn't quick enough to save him…in the end he gave his life for his village so I hope for the people from Kiri to keep that image of him and not the sad times when he was as much of a victim as the bloodline wielders" said Naruto getting a hug from Mei because she knew how much the blond cared for the fellow jinchuuriki
"Yagura died saving the village from the most dangerous man in the lightning country and he'll be remembered for that" said Zabuza raising his sword making Suigetsu, Chojiro and Ao follow him; the remaining swordsmen would honor his memory
Mei composed herself and started giving some instructions to gather the dead bodies and rebuild the village "Naruto-san I'm sorry for this but the Akatsuki response team has to disassemble because Haku and me have to stay here" apologized to the Hokage who just raised a hand "Don't worry it was effective to protect Kirigakure and besides there is not so much of Akatsuki at the moment but I'll leave Kabuto and Tenzo with you to help with the village's recovery" answered the kyubi's jinchuuriki looking at his two ninjas with an asking face because they would have to stay away from Konoha a little more
"Giro let's go back to Konoha" said finally Naruto to his toad who jumped to his head and traveled with him wishing good luck to the people from Kiri; the blond knew Mei would probably be the next Mizukage and without A, Onoki or Pain the village would be safe
….
..
In Konoha Itachi was worried because he was having lunch with his friend when he suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke, it was obvious he had been summoned but when the night came and he still was absent he was starting to worry so he went to his ANBU and ordered to find him
The Uchiha genius knew Naruto was too powerful to be in danger but he was still human and with Madara out there you never knew what could happen, the legends said a lot of things from the Uchiha patriarch
Itachi himself was wondering how would close or far would his power be from Madara, the mas was said to be the first Uchiha to have an eternal Mangekyou Sharingan but the ANBU leader had the same eyes and he had developed them quite well
The Root ANBU found Naruto…or at least one Naruto in the forest of the fire country that surrounded Konoha, when they got close they tried to hide but the Hokage said there was no problem because he suspected Itachi had sent them so he just told them to go back and report his wellbeing and soon return to the village and then he disappeared in a cloud of smoke
What they didn't know was that the blond Hokage was executing one of his most recent ideas to protect the village; he sent many of his clones to plant some seeds he made with his own chakra in the whole forest that surrounded Konoha so if someone would try to invade them, the jinchuuriki would know it 15 or 20 hours before they arrived at the gates
When the last bunshin dispelled himself the Hokage opened his eyes and gathered a lot of nature energy from his surroundings, he was sitting in a meditation pose in the middle of a dense forest so he channeled his wood chakra into the ground making all the seeds to grow into fox-headed totems, all the forest was filled with 5 meters tall and 1 meter wide wood totems
The best part of that was the network he did between them because they were like nature energy beacons and felt other close totems so he just needed to connect with one of them to detect the whole area that meant a three-hundred kilometers radius
After that he returned to Konoha and resumed his duties calling for a meeting to all the counselors and clan leaders to inform them about the current situation, the Mizukage and the Raikage were dead, the third Tsuchikage shared their destiny and the new one was young and little trusted so that put him as the most powerful man in the world, physically and politically but then the Hokage reminded them about Uchiha Madara, somehow the Konoha's founder had found a way back to life and he was at least in the same level than Naruto meaning that the victory would go for the better fighter not the most powerful one
Practically everybody said they had confidence in him and his abilities because he had always been a superb thinker and was able to find a weakness in every enemy he had faced on his life to this shouldn't be an exception and the most powerful ninjas in the place like Tsunade or Hiashi offered their help if he needed some advice
Naruto had some ideas from the talk with Tsunade prior to the fight with Tobi so he was going to keep that in mind for this match but the problem was about their location because he didn't know where Madara was and the man was too experienced in war to be sitting like a duck for the blond to come and face him, he suspected the Uchiha would try to gather the remaining members of Akatsuki and then make their move but the question was where