The Wanderers
Chapter 88 – Embracing the Chaos
A/N: So Naruto is over, at least the main story is. I won't put my impressions over the ending here, since this is my story and they are somewhat unrelated. Suffice to say, not bad.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, limb damage wouldn't be easily repairable.
***Previously-On***
The final battle has begun.
With three of the Four destroyed, the Quiraji leader Benkei has finally entered the fray. As the leader of the enemy, he is able to use physical and spiritual energy to their full potential, able to attack at mid-range and close combat with overwhelming power. At first he knocks out Killer Bee with a crushing head butt before getting attacked by the others. He trades blows back and forth with the shinobi strike force, succeeding in doing significant physical damage to some of them, such as internal damage to Kiba and breaking the Mizukage's hands. However the real fight begun when they were able to do some damage to Benkei and he decided to fight seriously. Seemingly out of nowhere, when Naruto tried to flank him on his own, the Quiraji leader crushed his limbs before killing with a devastating stomp. This nearly broke the shinobi's moral and made Sasuke charge forward wildly to try and avenge his friend. Upon seeing this, Benkei was able to capitalise on the situation and kill the last Uchiha at the same time. As Fiore broke down at the sight of her partner's demise, Hinata's mind snapped and she charged the Quiraji leader in a wild grief-fuelled fury. Uncaring about the damage being done to her body, Hinata was able to land several devastating blows to Benkei before surprising him with a single strike that killed him. After this, the shinobi strike force figured the battle to be over, but Kakashi wasn't willing to leave his old students to rot in their graves. With his Rinnegan he revived the two of them, but he nearly ran out of chakra in the process as he turned to revive the others that had fallen in the battle. As he did this, Benkei suddenly came back to life and killed the last Konoha Jounin before regarding the surviving shinobi strike force to begin the battle once again.
***End Summary***
For almost a full minute, there was an odd silence as the shinobi strike force tried to process what had just happened. Naruto and Sasuke were still recovering from their sudden revival at the sides of their respective partners, their bodies piecing themselves back together from the after-effects of the Rinnegan's energy transfer. But one of the first things they saw upon re-emerging into life was the death of the man that had sacrificed himself to bring them back and had been the closest thing to a father either of them had known since becoming shinobi.
Benkei's sudden revival had sent shockwaves throughout the shinobi force, but none more so than the three Kages that were present. Gaara had watched his movements as he'd moved behind the last Konoha Jounin and snapped his neck without any way of stopping him, still trying to process how he could have survived the horrifying barrage of attacks that Naruto's wife had laid into him. The Quiraji leader had taunted them with the threat that he was immortal and they couldn't kill him, but seeing it as a reality was something entirely different. For the first time since the start of their battle, the Kazekage felt true despair in his heart. If they couldn't kill the Quiraji leader, there was no hope for his village.
The Mizukage's reaction to Benkei's revival was one of frustration and anger, particularly at his treatment of a man that had done such a noble act and then had been tragically cut short before he could bring back the others. She didn't understand how Kakashi had done it, but seeing the complete reversal of the Hyuuga's girl's personality from grief-stricken to absolute relief was something she hadn't expected. She was glad that the two young men had come back, particularly since she suspected it was with their abilities that they'd be able to win this fight, but if their enemy could come back to life what could they really do.
Neji's reaction was the most controlled out of the shinobi strike force, though that was only because he was already trying to work out how it had happened. He had taken his eyes off of the disembowelled body of the Quiraji leader for only a few seconds and in that time Benkei had gotten back up, healed his wounds, travelled across the battlefield to get behind the shinobi reviving Naruto and Sasuke and kill him efficiently with little effort involved. It was a troubling puzzle, but unlike the Kazekage and Mizukage, he was not about to despair just yet. He was analytical to a fault and could see that even though there was no evidence of the wounds that Hinata had inflicted on him on the Quiraji leader's body, there was a sign of mental strain that Benkei was trying to hide in his eyes. His revival had taken a toll on him, however small, and that gave Neji hope that they could be victorious.
Though he wasn't sure what the cost would be to achieve victory. He couldn't watch Hinata lose her husband again, or any of the others. They had to fight together just to survive, beyond their fight with the Quiraji leader.
Eventually given the room to breathe, Naruto looked at his wife's face with a confusion look on his own face, "Hinata…are you okay? What…what happened?"
For a few moments Hinata didn't have the words to respond to him, still unbelieving that he had come back to her. It was clear by the look in his eyes that Naruto didn't remember his own death at all and she wasn't about to relive that experience. Instead they both turned to see Kakashi's body lying on the ground at an awkward angle, striking a spear of despair straight into their hearts. Naruto's stomach sank as he knew that the Konoha Jounin was clearly gone, something that he had never thought possible. Kakashi had always been a constant in their travels, someone too powerful to kill but also humble enough to love like the father he hadn't gotten the chance to know.
The blonde shinobi leapt to his feet and went to charge at the Quiraji leader that had killed Kakashi, but he was held back by his young wife, desperate to stop him from blindly going in and getting himself killed again. "You can't, Naruto! You aren't strong enough yet!"
"But I can't just…"
Hinata wrenched him back with the remainder of her strength, "I will not lose you again! You will stay by my side until you are ready to fight again!" Her battle with Benkei had sapped the vast majority of her chakra and strength, but she wasn't going to let him go for anything. She turned him around and stared straight into his eyes with her activated Byakugan. Her husband went to protest, but knew that he'd never be able to win an argument with her when she was like that. He could feel his strength returning by the second but she was, as usual, correct about him not being able to fight at this stage. He sighed and shook his head before turning around to glare angrily at the Quiraji leader.
Benkei looked down at his chest as he stepped over the body of his latest victim, noticing that his revival had healed all of wounds and brought him back to full strength. He clenched his fists and unclenched them, feeling his strength respond as it usually did.
For a first death, it hadn't been too bad. He'd had worse.
His dark eyes immediately dropped onto the young woman that had killed him, but he felt no anger towards her. A modicum of respect perhaps, as he would not have thought her capable of such strength, but her assault on him had left her with barely enough energy to stay on her feet. She was no longer a factor in the battle and beneath his concern.
The two shinobi that had been revived were recovering, though it was clear from the positioning of the other members of the shinobi strike force that they would not let him get to them first. He would have to go through the others first. With an emotionless expression on his face, the Quiraji leader began walking towards his enemies once again.
"Is this guy seriously immortal?" complained Kiba as he shook his head in disbelief. "Why don't we get anything cool like that?"
"Kiba, you can turn into a giant wolf and create giant fire whirlwinds," said Rock Lee in a rare example of sarcasm from the taijutsu master. "Some of us can fly."
The last Inuzuka scoffed and tried to ignore the sniggering of Akamaru at his side and tried to work out how much chakra he had left. The Quiraji leader had given him quite a beating and he wasn't really confident in going back into the battle, but neither were many of their group. The only ones that seemed mostly unbothered by the battle so far were Neji, the woman who had come with Sasuke and Rock Lee. It hadn't been an easy battle, and yet even killing the enemy hadn't stopped him.
"We need to keep him occupied," said Sasuke as he stood up on his feet, supported by Fiore's arms. He hated the fact that he was so weak, but considering what he had gone through he wasn't surprised at all. "If I have a few minutes, I'll be able to get back into it."
Seeing that he was back on his feet, Fiore released him and stood at his side with her wood ready to defend both of them from the approaching Quiraji leader, "It just wouldn't be a fight if you weren't complaining about being left out. Next thing you know you'll be asking to wear my shirts again."
Sasuke held back the comment he wanted to say due to the fact that they had company, but secretly he was grateful that she was at his side, he wasn't used to feeling so helpless for a while. He didn't need his Sharingan to see that quite a few of them were fairly low on chakra and needed rest just as much as he did.
The others seemed to notice that too, as the Otokage and Kazekage stepped forward and began strategizing quickly between the two of them. They both agreed that not all of them could attack him at once with their current strength levels, but Benkei wasn't going to just let them rest up to attack him at full strength once again. After deciding on a course of action, Gaara stepped forward with his hands over a pair of gourds at his belt while Neji turned his back for a moment to regard the rest of the shinobi strike force. In that moment he was the absolute embodiment of a shinobi leader.
"Mei, you and the others need to rest while the Kazekage and I keep him back. We have a few things we need to work out and then you guys can come in and deliver the hammer blow."
The Mizukage would usually frown at being told what to do by a younger man, but she recognised the strength of his plan and she knew that with her hands still putting themselves back together the Three-Tails' chakra she was only a liability for now. She nodded her acknowledgement of his plan and smiled at the Inuzuka shinobi standing nearby, "Think you can keep us safe for a little while, young man?"
Having a more mature woman appeal to his stubborn side was more than enough for Kiba to nod quickly in agreement, with Fiore pitching in her own support that she would use her abilities to defend them until they saw an opening to re-join the battle.
Before the others could comment, Neji turned to Rock Lee with his voice still using the same tone that he would use with his subordinates, "Lee, take Naruto and Hinata and get Kakashi's body. It should put you on the other side of the battle too; once Naruto is healed you and he need to attack with all your strength."
Rock Lee nodded quickly, recognising the fact that he was only doing that because it was clear that Naruto needed a bit of closure as well as time to recover, and Hinata wouldn't leave his side no matter what. The taijutsu master turned to the married couple and began walking them around the sides of the battlefield, with neither of them making a comment on where they were going.
With that worked out for the moment, the Otokage and Kazekage stepped closer to the approaching Quiraji leader and readied themselves for battle once again. Benkei had watched the interactions with disinterest, uncaring for how the shinobi went about their business. Seeing the two young men approach him on their own was a development worth noting, but it didn't matter in the end.
"If he breaks through us, we're going to lose people," said Gaara as sand tendrils began to swirl around his body.
Neji flicked his single wrist to pull back his sleeve and looked over the approaching Quiraji leader, "We were always going to lose people, Kazekage. We may have already lost everything, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't fight."
"You are far too cynical, Hyuuga. I refuse to believe that my village has been destroyed like he said. If we lose hope, we'll have already lost the battle."
The Otokage scoffed and stepped in front of his compatriot, "Now who is the naïve one?"
With that said the two of them moved forward while Benkei charged them with his fists raised to smash them apart quickly.
oOoOoOo
Neji watched the Quiraji leader carefully as he countered the Kazekage's sand projectiles. The first few minutes of their fighting the Quiraji leader had been a continuous exchange of attacks from both sides, with neither Benkei nor the attacking Kages able to land any more than a glancing blow. The Quiraji leader appeared to be pulling his punches as he re-adjusted to the battlefield, while the Otokage and Kazekage primarily preserved their chakra and focused on buffeting him back. Neji had blasted the Quiraji leader back with a vacuum palm form his remaining hand, circumventing his defences but not doing any damage, while Gaara lashed out at him with a variety of sand attacks one after the other so that Benkei couldn't retaliate.
His movements were tight and efficient, yet he didn't seem as fast as he had been before. He wondered whether it was due to an inherent weakness after his revival, or if it was a ploy to get him to assume he was weaker. It didn't matter ultimately, as the Otokage had no intention of underestimating him.
Activating his Byakugan to get a better image of the area around him, Neji dived back into the fray just as Gaara pulled back his rampaging tendrils of sand to defend himself from a spiritual energy attack from Benkei's fist.
Using chakra to make his movements as fast as possible, Neji shot towards Benkei's defences with his hand held in a handseal to concentrate his chakra before adopting his Hyuuga-style taijutsu. The Quiraji leader acknowledged his renewed assault with a swipe of his arm, sending a wave of spiritual energy to knock him out of the air. In response, Neji launched himself up into the air and hurled a small object from his pouch at the large man.
Benkei had the presence of mind to destroy the object from afar rather than catch it with his bare hands, but as the object exploded upon contact with his physical energy a hail of shrapnel fell down around him, bouncing off his physical armour shell. It also produced a small smoke screen that the Otokage used to momentarily conceal his movements. Benkei snarled at the young shinobi and took a large leap backwards, trying to avoid whatever attack might be coming his way.
However, that led him straight towards the flying Kazekage who had recovered from his defensive movements and was ready to attack the Quiraji leader once again. Stretching out his own hand, Gaara created a replica claw to that of his Tailed Beast occupant from the sand around him and reached out to hold Benkei in his grasp. The Quiraji leader turned and drove a fist into the sand claw, destroying it instantly, but it was enough of a distraction for Neji to appear behind him and activate his technique after clamping a small black device on the left side of Benkei's head over his ear before reaching out to place his surviving hand at the other side of the Quiraji leader's head.
"Otogakure Ninjutsu Ougi: Otoshougeki!" (Hidden Sound Special Technique: Sound Crash)
Invisible to the naked eye, two sets of sound waves vibrated at an incredible pace between Neji's hand and the device, passing through the Quiraji leader's head between them at a devastating strength. It was too high-pitched for normal human ears to hear, but when it was so densely concentrated in such a small area, the effect was instantaneous.
Benkei roared out in pain and tried to swipe at the shinobi leader, but his movements were sluggish and unfocused, instead sending of a wave of physical energy directly around him that missed Neji altogether. Blood dripped from his ears as he clutched them painfully with his hands, but all he could feel was a stinging sound that made his brain feel like it had been sent directly into the centre of a lightning storm.
Seeing their enemy's temporary disability, Gaara took the advantage given to him and wrapped a large amount of sand around the Quiraji leader's lower half, clutching it as hard as he possibly could. It wasn't enough to break Benkei's physical armour, but it was dense enough to stop him moving for a few moments. The Kazekage looked up at his companion to see Neji stepped up behind their mutual foe and produce a long length of wire. He looked to want to garrotte the Quiraji leader, but Gaara was dubious as to how effective such a weapon would be with only one hand controlling it.
His fears were for naught, however, as Neji expertly stringed the wire around the writhing Benkei's neck and tied it off with his fingers before pulling tightly and threading his blue chakra through it.
The Quiraji leader felt the wire against his neck and moved one of his big hands to try and remove it, but he wasn't able to fit his fingers between the wire while Neji pulled back on it tightly. He dropped to his knees under the pressure and tried to punch backwards at the Otokage, but Neji's Byakugan allowed him to see the attacks coming and move his head the minimum distance to avoid them.
The chakra he was running through the speciality wire that he held tightly in his hand allowed it to vibrate at a ultra-fast pace, similar to those used in the large scale weapons currently being employed to defend the Fire Temple from the Quiraji invaders. As powerful as Benkei's physical armour was, it wasn't able to stand up to the constantly changing movements and sharpness of the Otokage's wire and eventually broke down around the Quiraji leader's neck. After a few seconds of struggling, Neji planted his foot into the centre of Benkei's back and pulled back on the wire with all of his strength.
Benkei's neck resisted for a moment before the vibrating wire removed his head from his shoulders and sent Neji crashing to the ground behind him. The Quiraji leader's head landed a short distance away from him, while blood fountained out of his body that was contained within Gaara's sand. It was a gruesome scene, but one that came with a profound sense of relief.
The others of the shinobi strike force slowly made their way to their section of the battlefield, seeing that the Quiraji leader had fallen once again. Gaara pulled away his sand and did his best to wipe off the blood that had drenched it, while Neji looked down at the head of the Quiraji leader with nothing but contempt. He snarled and kicked at it unceremoniously, taking it further away from its body.
"That's one way to do it," said Kiba with an impressed smile. "Messed up, but effective."
"Didn't think you had it in you," said Sasuke as he stared at the collapsed Quiraji leader's body.
The Mizukage nodded her approval to her fellow leader, but wasn't able to shake the uneasy feeling coursing through her body. Her hands had almost fully recovered from Benkei's attack, but the sheer amount of power that had exuded from him at the time had scarred her deeply and left a harsh impression that she doubted she would forget anytime soon. "Are we sure he is really dead?"
As the only animal present, Akamaru felt the need to bark out his response to her with full authority, though he still relied on his partner to translate for him. Kiba grinned and jabbed a finger at Benkei's head, "He's right, if that ain't dead enough for you, then what is?"
"He recovered from Hinata's attacks within five minutes," said Gaara grimly as he landed on the ground from his sand platform. He was more fatigued than he would have expected, though the constant battling was not conducive to someone who didn't have much stamina like he did.
"There is an easy way to make sure he's dead," said the only non-shinobi in their strike force, removing herself from Sasuke's side and clutching her wooden staff in her hands. She shifted it into a long spike and stepped over the Quiraji leader's head before driving it straight down into his forehead. The wood pierced through with no resistance and kept it stuck to the ground.
"Seems pretty dead to me," said Kiba again. He was feeling a bit frustrated that he hadn't been very useful in the final fight, but now that the enemy was surely dead he was more concerned about other things to do with the war. "What's our next step?"
Back at the scene that held Kakashi's body, Naruto and Hinata looked over to see that their enemy had been beaten once again, though neither of them were particularly convinced. Rock Lee had removed himself from the battle while trying to think of a better way of forcing his way through the Quiraji leader's defences, but like the two of them he wasn't so convinced the battle was over either. The body sitting at their feet was more than enough proof that the enemy had more tricks up his sleeve and all three sets of their eyes drifted towards the immobile Shikyo near the small building's entrance. She didn't seem to register that her master had been killed once again, but a small flicker of life seemed to appear in her normally-lifeless eyes for a split second before returning back to their regular black.
Naruto didn't need the Kyuubi to shout out a warning as he felt a terrible shiver up the back of his neck at the same time as it happened. He turned and shouted as loud as he could for the others to get away from the area, but it appeared that they already knew as the group on that side of the battlefield had already leapt back a fair distance from the Quiraji leader's body.
Gaara brought up a wall of thick sand to protect them from any potential counter-attack, while Neji kept his white eyes fixed on Shikyo. It had only been for a moment, but he had seen the transference of energy on such a tiny scale that if he hadn't been looking for it he wouldn't have noticed it at all. It travelled out of the Quiraji leader like it was being drained, floated in the air across the battlefield before landing square in the middle of the fallen foe's bloody chest.
While blocked by Gaara's sand, most of the shinobi strike force wasn't able to witness what happened next, but with his Byakugan Neji was able to see everything, while the other three shinobi near Kakashi's body had the full view to the horrifying spectacle.
The Quiraji leader's body jerked awkwardly like a jolt of electricity had been sent throughout its nerves. It didn't move for a second before the legs and arms began to move as if a puppeteer were controlling it from above. Since his heart had stopped the blood had begun to slow from the gaping hole where his head used to be, but upon standing back on its feet the blood began to flow freely once again. Benkei's body turned around and aimed itself at where his head had been spiked to the ground by Fiore's wood, stretching out a hand as if summoning it from its funeral stake.
The head shimmered for a moment like it was a mirage in the desert before disappearing into the air and leaving the wooden stake standing in the stone with nothing to show why it had been placed there. Within seconds the shimmering image passed across the air and placed itself atop the Quiraji leader's shoulders, revealing itself to be Benkei's head, newly reattached to his body. The wounds and scars that he had accumulated from the previous battle smoked for several moments as they healed themselves and within seconds he appeared as strong and healthy as he had been when he had walked out of the building to greet them.
Benkei had been revived, once again.
oOoOoOo
The Quiraji leader was not satisfied with the current run of events. The last significant battle he had fought against the hated shinobi had been the last gasp of the shinobi nation trying to contain them and destroy them on the Quiraji continent. That had been a battle on an epic scale with the shinobi leader, the self-titled Sage of the Six-Paths and the Nine Tailed Beasts at his side, against Benkei and his Four children, newly created in his desperation to save his race. That battle had been extremely one-sided, as the massive chakra beasts had no defence against their immunity to their attacks and abilities, and Benkei had personally taken down the shinobi leader with his own hands.
But these shinobi were different. Years of fighting against his forces and his children had given them experience fighting against their abilities, enough to actually threaten him if he didn't have his trump card on hand. Several of them had the abilities he had personally created, while the others like the shinobi leaders had abilities that were a threat to him without the chakra-nullifying field he had destroyed.
It was frustrating, but also fascinating. The last gasp of a race flailing against inevitability.
"Is there nothing we can do?" asked a bewildered Naruto a fair distance away, shaking his head at what they had just seen. "Even after getting his head cut off he just keeps coming."
"He is certainly tougher than he first appeared," said Rock Lee, tapping his legs to adjust the weight on his ankles. "We need to keep on our toes; otherwise he'll grind us down."
Hinata shook her head the same way her husband did, "If he can survive what I did to him, then maybe there isn't much we can really do."
Naruto turned back to look at her with a raised eyebrow, "What did you do?"
Suddenly realising that her husband hadn't been present during her rampage and that she'd just admitted to remembering everything that she had done to the Quiraji leader in that time, Hinata blushed terribly for the first time in a long time. "I…uh…"
Seeing her discomfort, Rock Lee cut in quickly, "She took Benkei out when you fell, Naruto. You should be proud of her."
The blonde shinobi smiled warmly at his wife and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek, "I always have been."
Hinata resisted the urge to wrap her arms around him at that moment, recognising there was a time and a place for everything. She gave him a look with her white eyes that told him she would discuss it at length in a more private setting later on, before turning her attention back to the Quiraji leader. He had so far ignored her after his first revival, but she figured that was likely because she was in no condition to contribute any further to the fight. She was using her chakra to repair her internal damage as quickly as she could, but once she was done with that she knew she wouldn't be able to fight anymore.
Though a part of her was a little relieved at the notion. She had already killed the Quiraji leader once and didn't relish reliving that experience again. The grief of the loss of Naruto was still too close to her, even with his return to life. She drew a long breath and went to tell him that he should re-join the fight with the others, but Naruto's eyes glazed over in a way she recognised as his way of indicating that he was talking to his occupant.
Seeing that they were okay, Rock Lee powered back into the fight to join the other combatants. The Quiraji leader seemed to be analysing their presence after his revival and was unwilling to engage them at that time. He landed at the side of his old teammate and glanced over a question at the Otokage.
Neji put up his hand to signal him to wait, his white eyes still fixed on Shikyo a short distance away. He couldn't quite figure out how the transfer of energy was being done, but he was sure that it involved the Quiraji leader's inability to move. If they could take her out, then he figured they would finally be able to kill Benkei permanently, but as the Nine-Tails had warned them, the moment they attacked her she would turn on them and from the information they had on Shikyo she was invulnerable to any type of attack as well.
Sensing the same thing as the Hyuuga leader, Sasuke turned his Sharingan back on and placed his hands into a handseal, "Perhaps if we seal him he won't revive again."
"It's not as if sealing something as powerful as him is easy," said Gaara dryly. "I doubt we have a way to keep him still long enough to do something like that anyway." He turned to his fellow Kage with tired look in his eyes, "What are you thinking?"
Neji bit at the corner of his lip and deactivated his Byakugan, "We should concentrate on Benkei for the moment. He's not invincible, though I doubt I can use the same trick twice. We have to be careful, or he'll wear us down and that'll be the end of us."
The Mizukage gave him a sly smirk, "Speak for yourself, young man. If it weren't for the Three-Tails I'd be running on fumes."
"Maybe we can buy you guys some time to recover," said Lee as pulled out a pair of nunchaku from his belt. He turned to the other speedster in the group, "Can you and Akamaru keep up with me?"
Kiba barked an insult at the taijutsu master in canine speech and patted his large companion on his white head, "Let's see if you can keep up with us!" He put his hands into a handseal and leapt onto Akamaru's back before the two of them disappeared into a large cloud of grey smoke. At the same time, Lee aimed himself at the Quiraji leader and launched himself forward at close to his top speed. The others were loath to let them fight on their own, but they weren't stamina freaks and needed a few moments to catch their breaths, primarily to avoid Benkei taking advantage of their exhaustion.
As the pair of shinobi and canine charged towards the Quiraji leader, Benkei decided that he was done fighting with just his fists for the moment. He didn't have any large pockets in his pants, but even so he flicked his hand and produced a ball of pure steel that he moved and manipulated into a long sword in a manner very similar to what his child used to do. He grasped the hilt with one of his large hands and waited for the fast shinobi to come at him.
Rock Lee and Kiba were a little wary of the weapon Benkei had produced, but they knew they needed to give the others time to recover and they also couldn't defend either, as they were both attacking types. Rock Lee's nunchaku spun around in his hand and he moved around the battlefield as fast as his legs could reasonably carry him with the intention of attacking his sword hand directly. He lashed out with his weapon from an awkward angle, but the Quiraji leader stepped back and avoided the blow while bringing down the edge of his sword towards Rock Lee's head. The taijutsu master was too fast to be caught by such a motion, but the movements the Quiraji leader was demonstrating showed him that he hadn't lost much movement at all despite being killed twice. He created some distance between the two of them as he sensed a large attack coming from behind him, where Kiba and Akamaru had created a spinning whirlwind that slammed into Benkei directly. Since his previous assaults on the Quiraji leader had failed, Kiba had adjusted the amount of power both he and Akamaru contributed to the technique.
Benkei's physical energy armour held as he took the spinning attack head-on, but the momentum slamming into him constantly from the last Inuzuka didn't allow him to bring up his sword to attack the wild shinobi and canine. He snarled and took a step back to try and redirect the whirlwind, but Kiba had learnt from his past mistakes and cancelled his spinning technique to hang suspended in the air. He bared his teeth viciously and slashed across the Quiraji leader's face with his claws. Even with his physical energy armour up, Benkei wasn't able to protect his eyes from the attack. Kiba's claws tore at one of his eyes and left it useless, while Akamaru moved around the side to try and bite at their enemy's liver.
In a fit of rage at having one of his eyes clawed out, Benkei let out a burst of spiritual energy that sent Kiba flying back, straight into the area where Rock Lee was about to charge back into the fight, before turning with his good eye and swinging his sword around to drive it into the white dog's body.
Akamaru let out a loud yelp as the blade glanced off the top of his body before retreating back to its master. Kiba landed on his feet quickly and saw Akamaru running towards him with a bloody streak running from the top of his body, feeling his own anger rising at the treatment of his closest friend. He watched Rock Lee charge past him and made sure that Akamaru was okay before charging back in as well. He could already see the smoke rising from their enemy's eye socket that told him that Benkei was healing the damage he had done, but with the two of them he was hoping they would be able to continue to keep him occupied in close range combat.
Seeing the two of them charge towards him again, Benkei changed his strategy of attack and held his sword in both hands and slashed in a downwards motion directly towards the shinobi that had slashed his eye apart. The weapon amplified his physical energy and cut apart the air between him and the shinobi, making a loud sucking sound as the air tried to fill in the gaps from his strike. Rock Lee was able to dive out of the way of the slash with the suspicion that he had done what he had, but Kiba wasn't fast enough.
His strength faded quickly as Kiba stopped his charge and felt at his chest with his hands, looking down to see them covered in blood. There was no pain for some reason, but there wasn't anything else either. He tried to look back at his white companion running towards him, unsure why Akamaru was yelling at him so much, but his eyes were already starting to glaze over and he fell onto the ground face-first. Akamaru reached his friend within moments and pushed at his body with his nose, but it was clear from the amount of blood flowing from his chest and the dead look in the last Inuzuka's expression that he was already gone.
Rock Lee's heart sank at the image of his friend being cut down so easily, but he couldn't stop his assault as he saw Benkei moving to replicate his slash towards the shinobi strike force recovering nearby. He spun his nunchaku quickly and hurled it towards the Quiraji leader's sword hand, striking it hard enough to dissuade his enemy from ignoring him as he charged forward and unleashed a barrage of taijutsu attacks in extreme close range.
Every blow carried the full weight of his strength and he moved as fast as his limbs could possibly carry him, far quicker than even Benkei could dodge. He landed several heavy blows to the Quiraji leader's chest and arms, while dodging his sword strikes and punches that he knew would probably kill him in a single blow. Rock Lee knew he wasn't going to be able to sustain this assault for long as it sapped his strength something shocking, but he also knew that his blows were getting through to the enemy as Benkei's movements were becoming increasingly agitated and sloppy.
After dodging a long stab from his enemy's sword, Rock Lee rolled along the ground to attack the back of his legs, but was stopped when he saw a white blur charge faster than even he could have moved knock Benkei off his feet and onto the ground. It opened up a white mouth of teeth and sank them straight down into his neck.
Rock Lee rolled backwards and leapt to his feet to see Akamaru standing on the chest of the Quiraji leader trying to rip his neck out. He could only watch as Benkei reached up with his free hand and clenched the canine by his head, as Akamaru's teeth hadn't been able to penetrate the physical energy armour that was around the usually vulnerable neck area. He held the dog in place for only a moment before driving his metal sword straight through his body and out the other side, spraying his body with blood and tossing his aside like a doll. The last of the Inuzuka had died around the same time as his life-long friend had, but there was no time to grieve for the two of them as Benkei stood back up on his feet and turned his gaze towards his other opponent.
Without waiting for even a moment to let Rock Lee process the deaths of his old friends, Benkei reached up his sword and slashed towards him with a powerful strike. The taijutsu master knew he had the speed to avoid the attack, but he saw he didn't have to as a wall of sand reached up in front of him and took the strike directly. Rock Lee looked over to see the Kazekage, Fiore and Sasuke charging towards their mutual foe. The last Uchiha breathed a wide torrent of fire pumped with spiritual energy directly at the Quiraji leader, while Fiore dropped down to Kiba to check whether what they suspected was true. Gaara gave Rock Lee a quick nod to make sure that he was okay before directing his sand flow towards their enemy.
Benkei stepped back several times under the assault and consolidated his position while he came under attack from the four enemy combatants. Rock Lee and Fiore attacked him at close range, him with his recovered nunchaku and her with her spiked wooden gauntlets on her hands. While they kept his attention, Sasuke preserved his chakra and waited for an opening to attack with spiritual energy lightning attacks and Gaara attacked with sand tendrils like he had before with the assistance of Shukaku's chakra.
As the shinobi strike force attacked Benkei, the Quiraji leader moved around their attacks like he was a stream of water moving around the rocks in its path. Rock Lee's ultra-fast taijutsu movements and nunchaku strikes missed by bare millimetres, while the others were avoided quickly by Benkei's efficient movements that his large body didn't appear like it should be able of making. He was on the defensive, but he didn't look like he was in trouble as his injured eye continued to repair itself and his movements were becoming sharper.
Jumping back from his close-quarter fight with Benkei for a moment, leaving Fiore to occupy their enemy, Rock Lee landed beside the Kazekage, "Can you bind him, like you did before? With enough power behind my strike, I might be able to finish him."
The young shinobi leader nodded and dropped down to his knees to clench his hands tightly into the ground, while Rock Lee jumped back into the fight. Benkei swept his sword across Fiore's body, but was only barely able to glance her flank as her wood came up to defend her. In that moment a bolt of lightning came flying over her shoulder and slammed into the centre of the Quiraji leader's chest.
Sasuke's strike was just strong enough to force Benkei off his feet, but that was all Gaara needed to grasp at his legs with a huge claw of sand from underneath the ground.
It could only hold the Quiraji leader for a few moments, as Benkei had already seen this technique and was already slashing it apart with his sword. But that was all the time the attacking force needed to attack.
Fiore split off her wooden defence and sent hard spikes of wood directly into Benkei's legs, while Sasuke leapt forward to try and bury his sword into his chest. At the same time, Rock Lee leapt high into the air and spun like a rock falling down a hill, kicking at the air to increase his speed tenfold before bringing the back of his foot down onto the top of the Quiraji leader's head. The momentum and the culmination of Rock Lee's physical energy was enough to shatter Benkei's spine and kill him instantly, dropping him to the ground. The shinobi strike force wasted no time in driving as many of their attacks and weapons into his body as possible.
While this all happened, Neji watched the battle carefully with his Byakugan activated. He saw the life disappear from the void that represented the large Quiraji leader with interest, yet he could also see the lowering of his allies' chakra at their attacks. They all knew that it wouldn't be enough to fully kill the Quiraji leader, but there wasn't anything else they could do at this stage.
The first two times it had taken Benkei a few minutes to be revived. The Otokage watched carefully as there was a clear transference of energy between the immobile Shikyo at the other side of the battlefield and Benkei's body, pulling it back together and restoring life to it. It was clear to him now that she was the key to his apparent immortality, but there wasn't too much he could do as Benkei's body wrenched itself out of the sand holding it down and sent out a shockwave of spiritual energy that batted back the four opponents that had worked together to kill him. The Quiraji leader's eyes slowly flickered back to life and he first looked down at the ground to see his discarded sword broken in two, thanks to Fiore's efforts, but he had little interest in using it again.
His black eyes turned to the one that had killed him, seeing that Rock Lee was struggling to stay on his feet after the expenditure of effort it had taken to attack him. He made no motion to hesitate as he reached out a hand and used spiritual energy to grasp at the taijutsu master's legs tightly from the distance between them. Rock Lee tried to struggle out of his phantom grip, but before he could get away Benkei squeezed down as hard as he could, crushing the ex-Konoha shinobi's legs instantly.
Rock Lee screamed out in pain and flopped down to the ground as Benkei released his legs, holding his shattered legs with his hands while trying not to faint at the sight of bones sticking out of his bloody skin and the ripples of pain that felt like thy would last forever. He had no means to defend himself as Benkei moved to crush his head next, however he was saved when Neji shot forward and blasted the Quiraji leader back with a vacuum palm attack while the Kazekage lifted Rock Lee off the ground with his sand and placed him a fair distance away from the battlefield.
They had no means of healing his injury quickly enough for him to contribute to the battle any longer, particularly since their own healer, Hinata, was dangerously low on chakra to begin with, so Rock Lee knew that if he was going to survive he had to do it on his own. He picked up a nearby broken rock and placed it between his teeth, biting down as hard as he could as he reached down to start pushing his bones back into his legs. The pain was almost unimaginable, but he was able to endure it because he had already been through worse. But he was out of this fight now, and that wasn't an insignificant fact.
The remainder of the shinobi strike force kept their distance from the Quiraji leader, wary of what he might do next. Sasuke and Fiore stood side-by-side and watched him carefully; the last Uchiha noticed that the Quiraji leader's movements were extremely angular and tight, though they were slowly moving back to his normal movements. The Otokage and Kazekage battered Benkei with constant attacks so that his recovery was slowed, while the Mizukage shot forward herself and began collecting water around herself as her hands were healed and she was able to re-enter the battle.
Benkei began to recover quickly and he began fighting back against his opponents once again, having sent another one of their number out of the battle. The odds were moving back into his favour once again, though for the moment he had his sights set on two of the shinobi that had been out of the battle for a while, presumably coming up with a plan and recovering their energies. While fighting off the shinobi leaders, Benkei suddenly turned on his heel and shot towards the still Naruto and Hinata with a great speed.
Seeing that her husband was still occupied with his internal conversation, Hinata moved to his front to intercept him, putting up her hands into her Hyuuga stance despite her lack of energy to fight. She would protect him with her life, as he had done for her.
Benkei raised a fist with the intention of bashing her out of the way like the insect that she was, while the others of the shinobi strike force moved to try and intercept him but they knew they weren't going to reach him in time.
A flying arm covered in lightning appeared in front of her and slammed into the neck of the Quiraji leader, with the full momentum of a charging herd of rhinos. A loud voice shouted out "Lariat!" as the Quiraji leader was sent flying off into the distance, the strike haven bitten through his physical energy armour in that moment, while the Eight-Tails container stepped back onto the ground and struck an amused pose in front of the defending Hyuuga heiress.
"Bee…" said a surprised Hinata, having steeled herself for taking the Quiraji leader's attack wasn't sure how to process his sudden defeat, though through her Byakugan she could see that Benkei was already picking himself up from the ground and moving back into the battlefield.
Killer Bee turned and grinned at her for a moment before charging back at the enemy that had knocked him out before, eager to get revenge for having left him out of the battle for so long.
Quietly thanking their friend for his assistance, Hinata stepped back to Naruto's side and waited for him to return, while the others of the shinobi strike force banded together with Killer Bee and attacked the Quiraji leader once again.
The battle was far from over yet.
oOoOoOo
Within Naruto's mindscape, he could see that the Kyuubi had redecorated since they had come to their agreement to fight together against their mutual foe. The sewer was gone and had been replaced with an oasis that expanded all around him. There were palm trees and open skies above him, yet the temperature was pleasantly warm rather than scorching hot.
Naruto liked it, but he would never tell his occupant that. He didn't want to inflate the creature's ego too much.
He turned his attention to the small open room to his side, where it looked to be where the creature had been living. It had a large feathered bed that could hold nearly five people, though far too small for its beast-form. Along the side of one of the walls were a number of scratched-out photos of shinobi that Naruto didn't recognise, though his stomach dropped as he saw a photo of himself at the end with a dagger stabbed into where his forehead was.
Clearly the Kyuubi was occupying its time by mentally hating him, as it still hadn't forgiven him for old grudges suffered. Naruto had wondered whether there would really be able to be peace between them, though he certainly knew that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
But for now, he had a few questions for the Nine-Tails, ones that couldn't wait.
"Why have you come here?"
Naruto turned around to see the Kyuubi standing behind him in its beast form, overbearing in both presence and appearance as its demonic eyes stared down at him. The big tails waved in synchronisation with the warm winds that blew around them, seemingly ready to threaten him if he were to attack. Even with its strength and presence, it clearly feared the young blonde shinobi, particularly after the last battle they had fought.
"I need you to tell me what you're keeping from me," said Naruto quickly, wanting to get back to the fight as fast as he could.
The Kyuubi's oversized head cocked to the side, "You presume to know me?"
Naruto rolled his eyes and tapped his fist on the edge of the Nine-Tails paw, "I'm not an idiot, Kurama. I've lived with you for my whole life."
The Tailed Beast's eyes squinted at his almost casual use of his name, but he made no comment on it at that stage. "Boy, last night you had a dream where you were covered in custard and Sasu…"
His jailer's hands shot to his ears immediately and he cringed heavily, "Don't remind me! It's bad enough that I had to go through it."
"Is that why you were that…aggressive with your mate afterwards? She seemed to quite enjoy that."
"Were…were you watching us?" Naruto took a step back to show his shock; he did not like the idea of the Kyuubi seeing everything he did with his wife. "You're a big pervert!"
The Kyuubi snorted loudly, "Says you. She is quite flexible…"
"Enough! I don't want to hear it!" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and glared up at his occupant, "Tell me what you kept from me earlier."
"I have no idea what you are talking about." The Nine-Tails was in no mood for discussion, particularly after its jailer had only just been revived with the Sage's doujutsu. He would never tell the blonde shinobi, but his revival had saved its life, as if he'd been dead much longer the Kyuubi's chakra would have tried to escape to be reconstituted elsewhere and would have been destroyed by the Quiraji leader. He had felt the terrifying gaze of the large man fall on him when he had killed Naruto the first time, something that he had specifically warned him against.
The blonde shinobi sighed and uncrossed his arms, trying to give his occupant the impression that he was trying to be more open and friendly, "Kurama, I don't exactly have much time."
"Time runs differently in the mindscape, you know that."
"It's a metaphor damnit!" Naruto shook his head as a way to try and calm himself down. "When you warned us about Shikyo, I could sense that you were keeping something to yourself. We need your help in this battle, Kurama. Otherwise, we might lose."
The Kyuubi glared at his occupant for a few moments, trying to get a reading on the blonde shinobi's intentions. Naruto was honest almost to a fault and it didn't sense any dishonesty now. With a heavy sigh, it disappeared into a red mist. After a few seconds it reappeared in a humanoid form, still towering over his occupant but now by only a few feet. It waved a hand and summoned a pair of chairs for them to sit on, taking its seat and indicating for Naruto to do the same.
"I wasn't lying earlier," it started as Naruto sat down opposite it. "That Shikyo is the shell that contains the essence of Kaguya, the mother of all shinobi."
"I didn't think you were," clarified Naruto as he leaned back in his chair. "But something tells me you had an idea that you didn't want to share because it was a bit crazy."
The Kyuubi chuckled, a deep throaty sound that was more ominous than it should have been. "That's a big presumption, boy. I don't have a plan, or idea or anything."
"But you also want to see Benkei…" started Naruto.
"…obliterated," finished the Kyuubi. "We thought we had killed him once, but his use of Kaguya had prevented us from our total victory and instead turned it into our absolute defeat. We only survived at the whims of our enemies…"
Naruto nodded in turn as he heard the Kyuubi recount the fight it had shared with the Quiraji leader. It seemed so long ago to him, but the Nine-Tails appeared to remember it as if it had only happened a few days earlier. While it spoke he wondered what kind of properties the mindscape truly held and whether the Kyuubi might have been replaying that battle again and again to try and find the Quiraji leader's weakness. The mindscape allowed for almost anything, limited only to the user's imagination, as a by-product of the seal that had been used by his father to seal the Tailed Beast inside him in the first place.
A seal that Naruto knew most of the properties of. An idea slowly formed in his mind as the Kyuubi finished its tale and asked Naruto what he was thinking.
"If we were able to destroy Benkei's influence on Kaguya, do you think he would lose his immortality?" It seemed an obvious question, but Naruto was trying to get at a deeper idea.
The Kyuubi shrugged its large shoulders and leaned its feet on a nearby table, tucking its blood red kimono around its ankles, "Probably, but it's not as if you could…" It hesitated for a moment as it realised what its jailer was getting at. "…you can't possibly mean…"
Naruto grinned as he usually did when he thought of a wicked plan, "Can we do it? I know it's risky…"
"It's damn near suicidal is what it is. Are you so willing to rush blindly back into your own death? You'd let your mate fight your battles for you?"
Its jailor dismissed its last comment with a wave of his hand, "Hinata can take care of herself. I have no intention of dying again. It was unpleasant enough the first time."
The Kyuubi glared at him for several moments, trying to work out whether it should dissuade him from his current path or praise him for his idea. Eventually it caved to its own amusement and barked out a loud laugh while slapping its legs. "Damnit, if you aren't amusing boy. You might be a fresh bowl of crazy, but maybe that's just what we need."
Naruto's grin widened at the Kyuubi's endorsement, it was nice to be able to speak to the Tailed Beast without the hateful undertones that were usually layered into their conversations. "So it's doable then? What do I need?"
Taking its feet off the nearby table, the Kyuubi stood up and looked down at its occupant. It was a risky move, one that would likely backfire, but it doubted the Quiraji would expect it.
"First of all, you need more chakra. That's including my own, by the way. We need enough to power through the Quiraji shell."
Naruto nodded and stood up from his own seat, "Thanks for your help in this, Kurama. You are a good ally."
"Watch yourself, boy. If you keep talking like that, we might become friends."
"Now that's crazy talk."
oOoOoOo
Naruto woke up from his journey into his mindscape and immediately leaned across to kiss his guardian wife on the cheek. With a quick wink he told her everything she needed to know before moving as quickly as he could towards the others. He could see most of them had engaged Benkei in battle once again, including a revived Killer Bee, who he had thought was out for the count from that devastating head butt earlier, though it despaired his soul to see the bodies of Kiba and Akamaru on the battlefield. He knew that it would have crushed Hinata to see them fall, but she had stayed by his side despite that, perhaps because she was barely standing as it was. If he had the ability to transfer his own chakra to her without threatening the plan he and the Kyuubi had concocted he would have, but that wasn't an option.
It didn't take him long to reach the others, though getting through to his target would be much more difficult. Having recovered as much as he had, his old Team Seven partner had avoided battle for the most part, but upon seeing Naruto moving towards them Sasuke immediately moved to attack the rampaging Quiraji leader.
Seeing that, Naruto teleported in front of him and stopped him with a hand, "Sasuke, I need your help."
The Uchiha shinobi frowned at being stopped by his rival, but something about Naruto's tone made him stop from pushing past him. "We're in the middle of something, Naruto, if you haven't noticed."
Not one to be dissuaded, Naruto motioned towards the immobile Shikyo a fair distance away near the small building that had been conspicuously untouched in the battle so far. "The Kyuubi and I came up with a plan that might stop him from reviving. It's risky, but it's the only chance we've got."
Sasuke gave him a suspicious look as he saw Fiore charge back at the Quiraji leader that had batted her away earlier, "Then go for your life. I'm going to go and burn Benkei down to his bones for what he did to Kakashi."
Naruto took note that he wouldn't have expected such a reaction from his old teammate, as he'd only ever seen him and their old Jounin instructor fighting rather than getting alone. He supposed that he probably had a similar feeling towards Kakashi that Naruto did, and that was something they could probably talk about after the battle, assuming they survived. For now though, he needed his help and they didn't have much time, otherwise more people might end up like Kiba.
"We need your chakra, Sasuke. Something about the two lines of the Sage…or something. Just come with me!"
Sasuke was able to avoid the reaching hand of Naruto just in time, but it was clear that he wasn't going to let up. He groaned loudly, "Fine, fine! What are we doing?"
His old teammate grinned and the two of them ran as fast as they could towards the immobile Shikyo. While they moved, Naruto gave Sasuke the cliff notes of their plan. Most of the details came from the Tailed Beast within him, but Naruto wasn't as slow as he sometimes put on, he understood the vast majority of what they needed to do. In the few moments they took to get to the other Quiraji leader, the Uchiha shinobi added his own comments to the plan that made even the Kyuubi consider whether or not it would work. Regardless, he recognised that they didn't have a huge number of options any longer.
The two of them slowed to a walk towards the immobile Quiraji leader, trying not to show how uncomfortable they were with the fact that they had to do what they were about to do. The Kyuubi had reassured Naruto that the plan to enter her mindscape would work, but Naruto was loath to trust the Tailed Beast completely after what it had done to him in the past. However, at the rate they were fighting Benkei and the accumulated damage the shinobi strike force had accrued, in combination with the Quiraji leader's apparent immortality, it was clear that they would eventually lose this battle.
Even if Sasuke's observation was correct and the several deaths they had inflicted on him were slowing his movements and potentially damaging his spirit, they wouldn't last.
"This is a stupid idea," said Sasuke as they stopped in front of the pale-robed woman. "The Nine-Tails is surely leading us on."
Fumbling his hand around his pocket, Naruto felt a cold metal against his fingers. His mind flashed back to the last time he had spoken to the old man that had assisted them in the Quiraji continent, remembering the words that Magnus had spoken to him.
"Just because something can't die…doesn't mean it cannot be destroyed."
Sasuke turned to his friend with a confused look on his face, "What?"
Naruto produce the long jagged knife that seemed to be as dull as the blades of grass that once sat on the ground they now stood on. "Just something an old friend said. I think I'm meant to use this."
The last Uchiha frowned and brought up his hand, covered in lightning chakra as their old teacher's signature technique, "I think mine's sharper."
"Follow the old man's advice, Naruto."
"The Kyuubi is right; we have to do this the right way." Naruto grasped the dagger on the hilt and stepped into close range with the woman that had destroyed their village. With the knowledge that the Nine-Tails had given him about her true nature, Naruto could now see the similarities between the Quiraji leader and the mother of all shinobi. She was shorter, without the specialist eyes and horns, but the general face shape was the same. Her body was practically skeletal within the pale robe that she wore, making it look like she had sat in a dusty room for a few centuries before arriving at the battlefield.
However, it was obvious from the power emanating from her that the 'good' side of her was losing the internal battle. Neji's observation about the power transference between Shikyo and Benkei was likely contributing to that factor and Naruto and Sasuke couldn't disagree with him now that they were this close. They had both died recently and had no interest in repeating the process, though they had no memory of the experience. The knowledge that if she was to turn, she would only need to reach out and they would instantly die weighed heavily on their minds.
"Grab my shoulder, Sasuke."
"Do I have to?"
Naruto sighed and pulled up his hand to show his friend the ring on his finger, "Sasuke, I'm a happily married man and you're a little girl. Do what I say." He could see the stubborn streak in the Uchiha's face, but they didn't have time to waste.
Sasuke groaned loudly and swore at the pain-in-the-ass method of enacting their plan of attack before reaching out and placing his hand tentatively on the blonde shinobi's shoulder. He could feel the chakra flow of the Kyuubi immediately upon contacting Naruto's body, far more than it had been when they had fought before. The Nine-Tails had clearly recovered from its near-death experience and was willing to work with them for the duration of the battle to help kill their mutual foe.
"So, now what?"
The ex-Konoha shinobi turned to his friend with a mischievous look on his face that he hadn't worn in years, "Why Sasuke, you could at least buy me dinner first…"
The last Uchiha wrenched his hand back with a furious look in his Eternal Sharingan eyes, "I knew it! You're such a damn loser!"
Naruto let out a loud cackle and suddenly turned serious as he gripped the dagger's hilt and looked at the Quiraji leader. Sasuke sighed and grasped his friend's shoulder again, swearing that he would get him back for making fun of him. The Nine-Tails' chakra flowed from Naruto into his body at a slow trickle, linking the two of them together through their chakra. He still wasn't sure about the idea, but it wasn't as if they had anything better to try at this stage. He nodded to Naruto that he was ready.
With a long breath, Naruto prepared himself and buried the dagger into the middle of Shikyo's front, below her neck. The two ex-Konoha shinobi gasped as the Nine-Tails' chakra thundered between them and flowed through the dagger into the Quiraji leader's body. Their feet planted into the ground and their eyes glazed over upon the contact.
Having mostly recovered from her battle earlier, though her chakra levels were still dangerously low, Hinata moved into stand behind her husband and Sasuke, her hands up defensively with her white eyes fixed on the battle being fought. If Benkei turned his attention towards them she doubted she would be able to hold them off for long, but there wasn't much else she could currently do in the fight.
The others of the shinobi strike force looked at the two of them risking their lives for a moment, respecting their decision before returning to the fight.
The battle was still yet to be won.
Author's Note:
See, things are looking up. I only killed off two people in this chapter. I'm just kidding, obviously. The battle is still ongoing, but maybe the shinobi have a chance now. Who knows? I mean, I do, but where is the fun in that?
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.