Author's Note: So here we are with another chapter of the Akatsuki invasion. D0n't worry, I can asure you that we already passed the middle point of this arc, and it will build up towards its end from now on. How will it end, thought? That's the question. Enjoy:
Chapter 86:
The Akatsuki Invasion, Part IV
or
The Wrath of God
"Shinra Tensei!"
Once again, Jiraiya was blown away by Pain's signature jutsu in his futile attempt at getting close to him. He managed to land on his feet, sliding across the ground, until he finally came to a stop. Jiraiya glared at his stoic rival, and gritted his teeth in anger.
"Dammit! Ninjutsu won't work since that other body will absorb it," Jiraiya thought, as his eyes drifted towards the fat Pain for a moment. "And whenever I try to get close, he blows me away! What the hell can I do?"
"Come on, Jiraiya-chan! We have to keep trying!" Shima encouraged, though even the old toad was started to become frustrated and a little tad desperate.
"We can't just try the same thing over and over again," Jiraiya replied. "We must think something new!"
"I believe it's my turn to attack, then," Pain stated, and the body that looked like a puppet stepped forward. His right arm opened up, revealing a cannon, which started to gather chakra, before firing a barrage of beams at Jiraiya.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Jiraiya cursed, as he tried to run away from the rain of deadly beams of blue light. And on top of that, the Hokage sensed two more Pain bodies trying to ambush him while he fled. Fortunately, he had a defensive measure against such attack. His hands blurred through hand seals. "Ma, stay close! Neelde Jizo!"
Jiraiya's hair doubled in size and volume, while it hardened into a spiky form, and quickly wrapped around the Toad Sage, forming a protective shell around him covered in sharp spikes. One of the Pain bodies managed to break in time, but the other couldn't, and impaled itself against the hair-spikes.
"And that's not all!" Jiraiya shouted, while making a single hand seal. "Hair Needle Barrage!"
Jiraiya fired a wave of his sharp, hardened hairs in every direction, causing all the Pain bodies around him to scatter, and killing the one who was unable to stop his attack, the one with long, loose hair. The other Pain who did stop in time took its mangled body, and ran away.
"Wait a minute... those two..." Jiraiya thought, upon focusing on their respective faces for a couple seconds.
"Jiraiya-chan, focus!" Shima's high pitched shrill didn't allow him to ponder on his thoughts.
And it was a good thing he wasn't, since the main Pain body was heading right straight for him. Once again, he made the same hand seal, and fired another barrage of hardened hair strands at the body of his former pupil.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Once again, Pain's gravity blast was powerful enough to repel Jiraiya's attack, and continued his charge forward. A black rod emerged from under his sleeve, and grabbed it as if it was a sword. Jiraiya, however, wasn't going to let him get that close.
"Ma, together! Fire Release: Flame Toad Bullet!"
Ma expelled from her mouth a stream of oil, which Jiraiya ignited with his fire jutsu, resulting in a wide, large wave of fire that threatened to reduce the Akatsuki leader to ashes. While Jiraiya expected Pain to repel this attack as well –and hopefully find an opening to strike him for good–, Pain instead did something he didn't expect: the Akatsuki stabbed the rod in the ground in order to break his momentum, while also using it as a springboard to jump aside in order to dodge the incoming fire.
"Jiraiya-chan, did you see that?" Ma asked.
"Yeah, I noticed," Jiraiya replied. "He dodged it instead of using that gravity attack. That means that he can't use it non-stop. There must be an interval of a few seconds before he can use that attack again."
"Then all we need to do is strike him during that window of opportunity, and he will go down!" an excited Ma cheered.
A cacophony of whistles warned the two Sages of a barrage of missiles coming at them. However, they were intercepted by a couple of kunai with explosive tags attached to them, making them to detonate prematurely. As that happened, Anko landed besides Jiraiya.
"Nice save, Anko," Jiraiya thanked her.
"Don't sweat it," the snake mistress replied, a bit out of breath. "Man, these guys are though!"
"They're Rinnegan bearers. We can't expect anything less," Jiraiya said.
Suddenly, both Jiraiya and Anko were alerted by a huge explosion of smoke that happened at the other side of the village. Jiraiya sensed a massive chakra signature appearing on that same spot, whose chakra signature shouldn't exist, since it only existed within his godson.
"H-Hokage-sama..." Anko sttutered in shock, upon seeing what emerged from the cloud of smoke.
"So, those bastards brought the Nine Tails as reinforcements," the Sannin said, gritting his teeth.
That very moment, a couple of Katsuyu clones appeared, and jumped onto Jiraiya and Anko's free shoulder. The Snake Mistress visibly flinched.
"Yikes! What the...?"
"Don't be afraid," the slug said. "I'm a clone of Katsuyu, and I'm here on Tsunade-sama's behalf."
"Every help is welcomed, Katsuyu-san," Jiraiya said with a nod. "How's Tsunade-hime?"
"She also entered Sage Mode and is on her way to face the Nine Tails," the slug explained. "I believe she's currently the best suited to deal with a threat of such magnitude."
"She won't be able to do it alone, we need to assist her as soon as possible!" Jiraiya stated.
"Don't even think about leaving this fight, sensei," Pain coldly stated, as he and the other bodies that shared his being closed onto him. "You have nobody but yourself to blame for what's going to happen. I thought that Takigakure would be seen as a warning of what means to oppose us, but alas, you decide to ignore it. By the end of the day, Konoha won't exist anymore."
Jiraiya turned around, and cast Pain a determined look.
"You're so sure of yourself, don't you? Let me tell you something, Nagato. The Nine Tails already attacked Konoha once, and we managed to survive," Jiraiya defiantly said. "This time it won't be different."
"If you think so," Pain said, his tone remaining the same. "Then let you and your ninjas' actions prove me wrong, rather than words."
"It will be my pleasure!"
…
At that moment, far away from Jiraiya and Pain, the Nine Tails laid waste to the already wrecked ninja village, while Kakashi's Animal Squad, Rin, and a few nearby ninjas tried to hold the gigantic fox, without much success.
"Come on, Nine Tails, crush them! Crush them all!" Obito ordered his enslaved beast, as he stood on top of its head.
The Nine Tails let out a deafening roar, before delivering a claw swipe forward. Fortunately, the Konoha ninjas were able to jump back and dodge it. Even then, it packed so much force, it created a shockwave that not only hurled them backwards, but it wrecked nearby buildings as well.
"Shit! How the hell are going to fight that thing!?" Kiba complained.
"To think that Sasuke-kun's team fought against this as well with almost no backup..." Tamaki said, before she realized something. "Rin, you were with Sasuke-kun that other time! What did you do to defeat this thing?"
"We didn't defeat it!" Rin replied, clearly panicked. "And even then, we had the help of a jinchuriki with perfect control of her Tailed Beast! We have no such thing here!"
"For the time being, we'll have to work with what we have," Kakashi calmly said, as his Sharingan eyed Obito, before he looked at his other former teammate. "We do know Wood Release can subdue the Tailed Beasts. Rin, you're our only hope now."
"Alright, but I don't know if I'm powerful enough to subdue it on my own," Rin said unsure, before she also looked at Obito. She then shook her head, pushing away all her doubts, and adopting a determined expression. "No, I can't afford to hesitate! I will stop that beast, you can count on me! I won't let Obito harm anybody else!"
"Very well then. Kiba, Tamaki, cover her and keep her safe. I'll take down Obito," Kakashi stated. "Given that it was him who summoned the Nine Tails, the summoning will be undone if the summoner is neutralized."
"Okay, leave Rin in our hands," Kiba said, before smirking. "Or paws."
"We won't fail you, sensei," Tamaki added.
"I know you won't," Kakashi said, smiling under his mask. "Now go!"
The three of them nodded, and contrary to what their self-preservation instincts screamed, ran towards the rampaging giant fox, though they stopped at a cautionary distance. Rin stared at the best, and sighed.
"This would be easier if I had time to complete my Sage training..." the medic-nin lamented, before making a series of hand seals. "But wallowing in regret won't help anybody. I'll have to do my best. Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
The ground started to shake, and a multitude of trees started to emerge under the nine Tails and around it, the closest ones wrapping their branches around his legs, body and neck, immobilizing it completely. The Nine Tails tried to break free, letting out another thunderous roar, but was unable to.
"Good job, Rin! You did it!" Kiba praised.
Rin, however, fell to one knee, her hands still locked in a seal. She was pnated heavily, and beads of sweat ran throgh her face.
"That... was more exhausting than... I thought," the medic-nin said between pants. "I had to expend more than half my chakra on that jutsu alone, and I don't even know how long will it last."
"It's okay, Rin. You did far more than any of us could," Tamaki reassured, patting the other brown haired girl in the back, before looking back at the beast. "Now it's all on Kakashi-sensei."
And indeed, just as Tamaki said those words, Kakashi climbed through the newly formed trees at lightning speed, until he finally reached the Nine Tails' head. His hand crackled with electricity, as he prepared his signature ability to end the life of whom was once his comrade and best friend.
"Lightning Blade!"
Obito, however, sidestepped while grabbing the wrist of the hand that was channeling the jutsu, and used Kakashi's own momentum against him by hurling him away. Kakashi, however, managed to land on his feet on one of the trees around the Kyubi, and shot himself again towards Obito. Obito repeated the same maneuver as before, but didn't realize that Kakashi's momentum was much greater, and even if the Copy Ninja failed to pierce the Akatsuki with his attack, he managed to push him out of the Nine Tails' head.
"Don't think that you can escape from our duel just because you summoned that monster," Kakashi said in an icy cold tone.
"You think I need to escape from you?" Obito asked, sounding indignant, while kicking Kakashi away from him. "Ha! I welcome this chance of getting my eye back!"
"I thought you say that you didn't regret giving it to me?" Kakashi mockingly asked, as he made several hand seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Blades!"
Kakashi exhaled several blades of wind through his mouth. Obito's Sharingan quickly analiyzed their trajectory, and allowed the Uchiha to nimbly dodge them.
"Given how much of an annoyance you're turning out to be, I changed my mind," Obito angrily replied.
"It's not polite to ask for a gift you gave yourself freely," Kakashi replied, as he landed on his feet, before he made a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A clone popped besides Kakashi, and the two of tem started to make hand seals as well. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu! Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Kakashi exhaled a fireball at Obito, while his clone blew a powerful gust of wind from his mouth. The two attacks merged into a massive firestorm that quickly engulfed Obito. After a few seconds the massive fire quickly receded, revealing nothing but a hole underground. The copy ninja immediately knew what this meant.
"I need to stop him before he can attack!" Kakashi said, as his hands quickly flew through hand seals. "Lightning Release: Breaking Thunderbolt!"
Kakashi closed his hand into a fist, which started to crackle with electricity. He then slammed said fist down, sinking it into the ground, releasing lightning bolts everywhere, which shattered the ground as they traveled. It produced the desired effect when Obito was forced to appear in the surface before he had intended. Kakashi smirked under his mask, and went for the kill.
"Lightnging Blade!"
Obito barely had time to react before Kakashi's electrified palm pierced his whole torso, impaling his heart. Obito wheezed, as his eyes grew wide while his irises shrunk. Kakashi let out a sigh of both relief and sorrow as the electricity on his hand died out. He shoot Obito a look full of pity and regret.
"Obito... I'm sorry this had to end this way..." Kakashi said.
Obito didn't say anything, just stood there, immobile, with his eyes threating to jump out of their sockets, as he clung to his last bits of life. However, Kakashi realized that something was wrong. He didn't hear the Nine Tails vanishing. What was going on?
"Kakashi, watch out!" he suddenly heard Rin shout. "That's not the real Obito!"
Obito's eyes turned back to normal, and smirked. "You will be sorry, Kakashi," Obito said, as he grabbed Kakashi's arms, stopping the silver haired Jonin from pulling it out of the Uchiha's body, leaving him trapped. 'Obito' then lost all color, as his clothes and skin started to turn in what appeared to be tree bark.
"A wood clone?" Kakashi said, realizing of the mistake too late. "Don't tell me he wanted to...?"
"He wants to liberate the Nine Tails!" Rin shouted again.
And indeed, what he presumed was the real Obito appeared near the trapped Nine Tails. He then threw seveal kunai with explosive tags attached to them at the trees that kept it trapped. Kiba and Tamaki dashed at the Uchiha, but he was able to detonate all the explosives before they could get close, destroying some of the trees. Even if the giant fox wasn't completely free, he was able to break the rest of his wooden bindings on his own.
"What was what sensei used to say, Kakashi?" Obito asked in a mocking tone. "To look underneath the underneath? That's a lesson few ninjas take seriously nowadays. Sasuke Uchiha and his teammates made the same mistake you just did."
"Rin, can you summon more trees?" Kakashi asked, trying to sound confident, but desperation was palpable in his voice.
"I'm afraid not," Rin replied, shaking her head, and panting a little. "I poured more than half my chakra into that jutsu. I may have the First Hokage's DNA spliced into mine, but I'm not him. I'll need some time until I can regenerate my chakra."
"It's okay, Rin, you did what you could," Kakashi thanked his teammate, before his eyes focused again on Obito and his enslaved beast. "Then we'll need to buy so that time until then!"
"Like hell I'm going to let you!" Obito shouted. "Nine Tails, time for a Tailed Beast Ball! Wipe them from the face of this world!"
The Nine Tails opened its jaws, and blue and red chakra particles started to gather, forming a dark purple energy orb that grew in size each second. Neither Kakashi nor his students had ever seen a Tailed Beast Ball in action, but they knew that its destructive power was enough to level an entire village. Even a low powered one could ravage several street blocks.
"We need to stop that thing from firing!" Tamaki urged.
"I'll use Kamui to send it to another dimension!" Kakashi said, as he made a hand seal, while focusing his Mangekyo Sharingan on the forming energy ball.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Obito asked, laughing. "Remember that you send one of your students there in order to stop me from using Kamui. And I don't think you plan to sacrifice him like that, do you, Kakashi?"
Kakashi remained frozen in place, but he was no longer preparing the Kamui. He felt as if he'd been splashed by cold water. Shino. He was so focused on Obito and ending the fight, that he had forgotten about him. And sadly, Obito was right. Even if his sacrifice could save hundreds of lives, he couldn't send one of his students to his death so easily. He was better than that.
"So, what's going to be, Kakashi?" Obito asked, clearly relishing in the painful dilemma that he had put his former teammate in. "Well, too late to do anything now!"
The ball finished charging, and the fox was ready to fire it in his general direction. However, before he could do that, a yellow blur fell from the sky, and landing onto the Nine Tails' head, slamming his head into the ground, and forcing his jaws shut. He was forced to swallow the Tailed Beast Ball, which exploded inside his body. When he opened his jaws, it let out a massive tower of smoke.
"It seems I arrived just in time," the newcomer said.
"Tsunade-sama!" Tamaki cried, upon seeing the Sannin. "Finally, some heavy hitters!"
Kakashi was also thankful that Tsunade had arrived. He noticed that the Slug Sannin had red marking around her eyes, which were now golden rather than hazel. One of Katsuyu's mini clones was on her shoulder.
"Sage Mode," Kakashi observed. "If Tsunade-sama was strong before, I can't imagine the height of her power now."
"And she isn't the only one here!" another voice said, this one belonging to Naruto. The jinchuriki was also in Sage Mode.
"Good we could make it in time, son," Tsunade said, before she looked at Obito, and smirked. "Hey, brat, remember me? How about if I finish what I started the day of the Uchiha Insurrection?"
"Yeah, and you nearly lost your life in the fight," Obito angrily replied. "You might have Sage Mode now, but that is no match for the power of the strongest Tailed Beast!"
…
Meanwhile, in the skies above Konoha, the aerial duel between Kurenai, Haku and Deidara continued. While Haku tried to keep the two Explosive Clay Hive Queens while the genjutsu mistress focused her efforts on the blond Akatsuki.
"Die already!" Deidara screamed, as he created multiple clay bats, which quickly flew towards the raven haired woman. The bats quickly surrounded her. She tried to swat them away, without any success. Deidara then made a hand seal. "BOOM!"
A chain of explosions engulfed the genjutsu mistress and her giant ice bird. Deidara smirked, as he looked around, trying to see where Haku was.
"Alright, one bitch down, another one to go!" he cheeerfully said.
However, before he could proceed, he noticed something weird. The smoke created by his explosions didn't dissipate. Far from it, it was now condensing into a cloud, almost forming into something, like it was alive. Then, the cloud split into smaller clouds, and each cloud grew in size while taking the form of Kurenai riding that giant ice bird once again.
"Your so called 'art' is useless against me," all the Kurenai said in unison, as they began to fly in circles around him.
"What the hell's going on!?" the frustrated Akatsuki asked, looking around, before he finally realized it. "Oh, I see. A fucking genjutsu."
He brought his hands together in a seal, and after a burst of chakra, the genjutsu disappeared and reality returned back to normal, revealing only one Kurenai.
"You really like to mock my art, yet your shitty illusions fail to harm me in any way!" Deidara angrily shouted.
"Genjutsu is more dnagerous than most people give credit for," Kurenai calmly replied. "For it makes one to doubt what is real and what is not. From this point onwards, you won't be able to fight me without wondering if what's going on is really happening or not."
"Those are some big words right there, but big words alone will do you no good!" Deidara replied. "Besides, beating genjutsu specialist is easy! I only need to find anything out of the ordinary, and keep my chakra undisturbed! As long as I'm able to do that, you won't be able to touch me!"
"You sound rather confident for somebody who clearly had no prior experience fighting against a genjutsu specialist," Kurenai retorted. "That's it, unless we count our brief clash in the Land of the Rivers."
"I could say the same about you! Let me show you why Iwa's Explosion Corps are feared across the Elemental Nations!" Deidara shouted, as he commanded his clay dragon to attack.
Said clay dragon started to shoot explosive projectiles at the fleeing Kurenai, which she was barely allowed to dodge. As this happened, Deidara's hand mouth spat another blow of clay, which instantly grew in size and took the shape of a bird with a rather long neck, round body, and tiny wings.
"Okay, and this for-" Deidara was about to say, before he saw Kurenai turning around and flying back at him while making hand seals. "Oh no, you aren't going to catch me off guard with that again! Release!" Deidara preemptively send a burst of chakra through his body to undo whatever genjutsu was she casting before it could take hold of his mind. "Like I was saying, this is for my man Sasori! Die!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Kurenai blew a gust of wind from her mouth that not only pushed the projectile back, but it carried so much force it hurled the clay dragon backwards, almost making the Akatsuki fall to the ground.
"Shit, she was using ninjutsu instead of genjutsu!" Deidara said, gritting his teeth in anger. "Enough with your trickery! Fight me like a real ninja, you coward!"
"I'm fighting like a real ninja," Kurenai said, shrugging in an almost comical way. "Ninjas use deception and trickery to achieve victory, while samurai tend to fight upfront. But guess that your love for big flashy explosions made you forget that."
"I'm going to show you how much I love my big flashy explosions!" Deidara said, before taking a chink of his special clay, and feed it to his actual mouth rather than the one in his mouths. After chewing it a few times, he spat the glob upwards, while making three hand seals. "Explosion Release: Harbingers of Devastation!"
The multiple globs of clay appeared alongise the original, and all of them started to grow and change its shape, resembling deformed humaoid figures with wings on their back.
"Release!" Deidara once again disturbed his own chakra just in case Kurenai tried to put him under a genjutsu. "Now go and get her!"
The winged humaoids all flew in formation towards Kurenai, moving as fast as birds of prey. The genjutsu mistress was left with no other option but to flee, and try to counterattack. So far, she knew that making them explode prematurely was a valid tactic. As she commaned the ice bird to fly away, her hands rushed through hand seals.
"Earth Release: Crushing Avalanche!"
Multiple rocks appeared between Kurenai and the explosive figures, before they launched themselves at the latter. However, the figures skillfully dodged the attack as they had mind of their own.
"You can't hope to outmaneuver my intelligent bombs!" Deidara boasted, as his dragon flew above Kurenai. "Now die already!"
Deidara's dragon shot another explosive missile at Kurenai. She quickly tossed a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it in order to detonate it prematurely. And while she suceeded at doing that, she was unable to stop the explosive flying figurines for closing onto her.
"Damn, this is bad!" Kurenai panicked as, seeing no other options, jumped from the ice bird before two of her assailants exploded near it, shattering it to tiny bits of ices.
"Haha, yes! Now wait until she splats against the ground!" Deidara said with a sadistic glee. However, that moment, a second giant bird made of ice swooped in, and caught the genjutsu mistress in time. "OH COME ON!"
"Thank you, Haku," Kurenai said, sighging in relief. "That was a close one."
"Don't mention it," the Ice Ninja replied.
"Did you get rid of those clay insects?" Kurenai asked.
"They gave me far more trouble than I thought, but in the end I prevailed," Haku replied, sounding a little proud. "I guess this Akatsuki also proved to be a more formidable opponent that we initially thought."
"Your guess is a correct one," Kurenai replied. "But maybe between the two of us, we can bring him down for good."
"Haha, you idiots! If you have your flying mount carry two people, it will fly much slower!" Deidara laughed. "Now go, my creations! Turn them into pieces of art!"
The remaining flying suicide bombers obeyed, and dived at the two Konoha ninjas.
"Haku, those things know how to dodge ninjutsu," Kurenai told her student. "But your elemental jutsu have a wider area of effect than mine. Maybe you can bring them down."
"I'll try," Haku said, as he switched places with Kurenai so he could face the incoming flying figurines better. He made several hand seals as fast as he could. "Ice Release: Breath of Winter!"
Haku exhaled a gust of extremely cold, misty air. The clay beings noticed the attack, and they started to spread out in an attempt to avoid it. However, like Kurenai said, the area of effect was larger than average, and they ended up moving away not just from the Konoha ninjas, but from each other as well.
"What the hell are you doing, you idiots!?" Deidara screamed. But he had no time to berate his artificial creations, since the ice bird with Kurenai and Haku was now flying towards him.
"This is our chance to attack!" Kurenai said, as she and Haku started making a hand seals. An ice mirror appeared besides Haku, and the Land of Water native entered it as if it was a portal.
"You won't catch me off guard with your pathetic ambush!" Deidara replied, as he sent yet another burst of chakra to disturb his network, canceling Kurenai's jutsu before it could take root in his brain. A cold breeze warned Deidara of an attack from above, and just like he expected, a second ice mirror formed around him, with Haku emerging from it, several senbon in his right hand. "Too slow!"
Deidara, showing that explosions wasn't the only thing he was good at, gracefully sidestepped the attack, grabbed Haku by his arm and forearm, and used his own momentum to toss him away. Fortunately for Haku, Kurenai was there to repay him the favor and saved him before he could crash against the floor.
"Your pathetic skills can't measure up to my art!" Deidara boasted. "Now, it's time for you to- uh?"
Deidara stopped on his tracks when he noticed bits of frost forming around his hand. The frost started to grow and spread, freeezing his body as it grew, slowly encasing the Iwakagure missing ninja inside a block of ice.
"What the hell? How did you...!?" Deidara shouted in anger, as he quickly lost all mobility. "Shit, this is bad! I need to get the hell out of here!"
Deidara tried to maneuver his clay dragon into flying away, but with all the ice getting in the way, he was unable to, and the artifical beast started to wildly fly in erratic patterns, before it dived towards the forest surrounding the village, and crashed there.
"Should we go after him?" Haku asked.
Kurenai nodded. "Yes. We need to kill or capture every Akatsuki member when there's a chance. Hopefully, we'll be able to take him alive for interrogation."
"Understood," Haku said with a nod. "I think he fell over there."
"By the way, nice genjutsu there," Kurenai praised. "I didn't even know you could place a genjutsu in such a small window of opportunity."
Haku's mouth curved into a smile. Turn out, when he was about to attack Deidara he pretended to go for a physical attack, when in reality he put the Akatsuki under a genjutsu. And due the nature of said genjutsu, Deidara wouldn't realize immediately that the ice was merely an illusion.
"Thank you," Haku replied. "Let's hope we can do the same with the other Akatsuki attacking the village."
…
Jiraiya jumped away just in time before being crushed by a giant panda bear, with the ponytail-sporting Pain riding atop its head. Jiraiya's hands flew through hand seals as he prepared a fire jutsu.
"Fire Release: Greater Flame Bullet!"
Jiraiya breathed a stream of oil that instantly ignited, turning into a stream of fire that engulfed the gigantic bear. He could hear something that sounded like rocks fathering together and becoming compact, before the Panda walked through the fire completely unscathed. His fur now had a rocky-like texture.
"That animal can harden his skin in order to avoid damage," Shima observed.
"In that case, we'll need to use something such defense will be useless against!" Jiraiya said, as he prepared more hand seals. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The Hokage slammed his palms into the ground, which quickly turned into a muddy swamp. The panda quickly started to sink. He began to trash wildly in a vain attempt to break free, but all what he achieved was sinking even faster.
"And here come the other two," Jiraiya said, as he jumped into the air just before a cluster of missilies fired by puppet Pain reduced him to ashes.
"Bansho Ten'in!"
Jiraiya grunted just as an invisible force violently pulled him towards the main Pain, who had his hands stretched out. Fortunately, even if Jiraiya had no way to counter that jutsu, he had some help with him.
"Hang in there, boy!" Shima said, before opening her mouth and wrapping her long tonge towards a nearby broken concrete column. Shima's tongue was strong enough to keep Jiraiya in place and stop Pain's kinetic pull.
"And... now!" Jiraiya said.
Shima relased her tongue, which caused both her and Jiraiya to be jerked towards Pain once again. However, this time Jiraiya would use said momentum in his favor, and prepared to deliver a flying kick to the main Pain. The fat Pain, the one who could absorb ninjutsu, placed himself between the two of them, but was yanked away by a mass of snakes.
"Not so fast!" Anko said, as he pulled said body towards herself.
Without any nearby body to use as human shield, and his powers unavailable, Pain had no way to avoid the flying kick to his chest, which hurled him backwards, until it landed on a pile of debris.
"Yes! Finally managed to land a blow!" Jiraiya cheered, pumping a fist.
"Jiraiya-chan, look out!" Shima warned.
"I know, I sensed it too!" Jiraiya said, as he jumped away, avoiding some invisible attack.
The attacker made itself visible, revaling to be a gigantic chameleon with a snake for a tail, with the same Rinnegan eyes on both heads. The reptile then slithered away, and used its tongue as a rope to pull the giant panda out of the swamp Jiraiya had summoned earlier.
"Oh no, you won't!" Jiraiya said, as he summoned a single Shadow Clone. He started to form a Rasengan as the Clone poured fire chakra into it. The Rasengan started to grow and flare with a red-orange light. Once it was completed, it appeared as if Jiraiya was holding a small sun in his hand. "Take this! Fire Release: Spiraling Inferno!"
Jiraiya tossed the giant fireball at the two animals, Ponytail Pain still on the Panda, and the projectile hit both of them. It then blasted into a massive dome of spinning fire, a raging firestorm that could reduce anything inside to ashes. When the fire receded, a crater had formed in the zone of impact, with a single, charred to the point of being unrecognizable body on it. There was no trace of the summoned animals, thus Jiraiya guessed that, with the death of their summoner, they all had vanished.
"Amazing! Good job, Jiraiya-chan!" Shima praised.
"Thanks, but we aren't done yet," Jiraiya replied, as he looked at Pain, who was joined by Konan, the chakra absorbing body – it seems he managed to break free from Anko, whom landed behind Jiraiya shortly after– , as well as the pupet. "We got rid of quite the nuisance, but those three bodies form a powerful combo that's both offensive and defensive. My ninjutsu won't work as long as that guy... hey, wait a second..."
"Something wrong, Hokage-sama?" Anko asked.
"That man! I know who he was!" Jiraiya said in realization. "He used to be a Kusagakure ninja! I know because I met him when I visited the village! He was a fan of my books! And that other man..." Jiraiya's eyes rested on Puppet Pain, who returned the stare with empty eyes. "He was a puppeteer missing-nin from Suna turned mercenary!"
"So... you know them?" Anko asked.
"Yes," Jiraiya confirmed. "At first I didn't remember them because of the Rinnegan eyes, the dyed hair and all the body piercings. Wait, if those two used to be normal humans, then the others..."
As Jiraiya recalled the other three bodies, his mind went into overdrive as mmeories poured in. A Takigakure ninja. A mercenary from the Land of Rice Fields. A priest from a destroyed village that was looking for his disciple. And finally, Yahiko himself. Yes, now it made sense. He had finally cracked the secret behind the Rinnegan.
"You aren't really here, are you, Nagato?" Jiraiya asked. "Those are reanimated bodies you're controlling remotely from a safe location. A location that has to be close to the village. Am I wrong?"
Pain remained impassible, but Konan gasped in shock.
"Bravo, sensei," Pain said, as he gave a couple of slow claps. "But figuring such thing out won't do you any good."
"You think so?" Jiraiya said with a cocky smirk, before looking at the small slug on his shoulder. "You heard that, Katsuyu-san?"
"Indeed, Hokage-sama," the Katsuyu clone stated. "Everything I know, my clones know as well. I'll make sure the information reaches every single Konoha ninja."
"There you have it. All I have to do now is to keep you busy until your real body is found by my ninja," Jiraiya said. "You already lost."
"Pain, I need to leave now and go secure the real you!" Konan hastily said, as she prepared to take off.
Pain, however, raised a hand to stop her. "No, he's bluffing. Even if he knows my secret, it's too late to do anything. Even with such knowledge, he has no idea where my real body is, and no Konoha ninja can afford to leave the village in order to search the hunderds of hectares of forest around the village, at least not until every Akatsuki has been driven off. And that's not counting the hundreds of Zetsu and Moon puppets. He's probably expecting you to leave so he can send an spy to follow you and track my real body. Besides, I need you here as well."
Konan seemed to be relieved by Pain's confident statement.
"Very well then. I shall fight at your side," Konan agreed with a nod.
That moment, Gamabunta landed behind him with a thunderous thump, and Aoda slithered by.
"You guys are done already?" Anko asked her summoned snake.
"The creatures vanished as we were fighting them," Aoda replied. "We assumed that the summoner had been dealt with."
"So we decided to give you guys a hand!" Gamabunta helpfully added.
"Yes, Konan, fight alongside the walking corpse of your dead friend," Jiraiya confidently said, as he crossed his arms. "He's going to need that help!"
…
On another side of the village, the Hyuga civilians and Moon Acolytes finally reached one of the shelters, thanks to Itachi and his ninjas protecting them from the White Zetsu clones and the Moon Puppets. There were many sighes of relief and cheers of joy when the gates to one of the underground bunkers was seen, quickly running towards their safety.
Protecting the entrance were a squad of ANBU led by Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, clad in his old and worn but still usable battle armor.
"Another group?" the former Hokage asked. "It's been a while since we saw more survivors. Good to see that there were people alive out there."
"Come on, get inside, quickly!" one of the ANBU urged. "In case there are wounded among your group, we have medical ninjas ready to attend them!"
They didn't need to be told twice. While the new group of civilians fled to their safety, the former Hokage walked towards the Uchiha.
"Itachi, how's the situation out there?" Hiruzen asked. "This gorup of ANBU and I have been protecting this shelter from constant attack of those creatures, but it seems the attacks have been slowing down over time."
"There are good news and bad news," Itachi said. "I got word that the Akatsuki Kisame, Deidara and Toneri have been driven away by our forces, and that they're unlikely to rejoin for the remainder of the battle. Meanwhile, Jiraiya-sama is keeping Pain and Konan at bay with the help of some ninjas."
"Good knews indeed," the Hokage agreed with a nod, before he prepared for the inevitable. "And the bad news?"
"Obito summoned the Nine Tails in the middle of the village," Itachi said in his usual calm demeanor, and watched how Sarutobi lost all color in his face.
It took the former Hokage a few moments to regain his bearings. He sighed in resignation. "Well, we knew he could be able to do this, and he would be an idiot if he didn't. Still, those are terrible news. Our shelters will be useless against a Tailed Beast's destructive power. Any word on who's dealing with them?"
"According to my crows, Kakashi Hatake and his students were engaging Obito before he summoned the beast," Itachi replied. "Rin Nohara was with them."
"The girl's Wood Release will be an invaluable tool in subduing that monster," Sarutobi stated. "Though I doubt if it will be enough."
"Tsunade-sama was also seen heading in the Nine Tails' direction," Itachi added. "Maybe with her help, the threat can be contained."
"Yeah, let's hope," Hiruzen said, before a realization dawned upon him. "Itachi, you told me about Kisame, Deidara and Toneri being defeated, and Pain, Konan and Obito remaining. What about Orochimaru?"
"Nobody has seen him yet, Hokage-sama," Itachi replied. "At this stage of the battle, he should have made an appearance already. Of all of us, you're the best who knows how Orochimaru's mind works. What do you think he's planning?"
Hiruzen took a pensive stance. That was indeed a good question. "I don't know my former apprentice's mind as much as I would love to, but I agree that Orochimaru should have made his move already. He didn't take long to show up when he invaded the village shortly after the Chunin Exams."
"It is possible that Orochimaru may take advantage of the ensuing chaos to release that minion of his from T & I?" Itachi asked. "You know, the clone of one of Jiraiya-sama's children."
"It's a possibility, yes," Hiruzen said.
"Alright, then that's were I need to go," Itachi said. "If Orochimaru plans to release his minion, I'll be waiting for him."
"Understood. Be careful, Itachi."
…
Meanwhile, back with the Nine Tails, the gigantic beast was glaring at Tsunade below him with hate filled Sharingan eyes. Even under mind control, he still could still feel anger towards the puny woman who dared to kick him in such brutal way, forcing him to swallow his Tailed Beast ball, which didn't do him any good.
She was quickly joined by Naruto, Rin and Kakashi's students. With the Sannin and her son at their side, they felt far more confident with their chances against the mighty nine tailed beast.
"Tsunade-sama, if we can keep this monster busy until Kakashi defeats Obito, then the summoning will be undone," Tamaki told Tsunade.
Tsunade shook her head. "We won't do such a thing."
Everybody minus Naruto gasped at her words.
"What?"
"But why?"
"It's the most logical course of action given the circumstances."
Tsunade merely smirked. "Given that Obito took the effort to bring the other half of the Nine Tails here, it would be incredibly rude if we just turn him back, don't you think?"
"Wait, you're suggesting..." Rin began.
"Yes. We're going to seal the fox inside Naruto!" Tsunade stated.
"Did you hear that? You're going to be whole again," Naruto told the half of the Kyubi inside him, but got no response.
It seems the Kyubi –the one outside under Obito's control– heard Tsunade, and didn't like what she said one bit, as he let out a thunderous, deafening roar, asnd raised its paw, before bringing it down on Tsunade. The giant paw smashed the ground into a crater when it hit, but unfortunately it missed its mark as Tsunade and the younger Konoha ninjas scattered just in time.
"Okay mom, get ready, I'm going to create an opening!" Naruto said, as he created a single Shadow Clone, followed by a Rasengan. Said clone started to pour Wind Chakra into the rotating sphere, which started to grow and take the shape of a shuriken made of wind. "Alright, take this you furball! Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Naruto tossed the Rasenshuriken towards the giant Fox's face, making an horribly loud metallic noise as it flew. The gargantuan beast barely had time to react before the jutsu hit him square in the jaws, before it detonated, exploding into a spinning dome of razor winds. The Nine Tails cried as the unleashed jutsu pushed him back.
Once the explosion of razor winds died down, the Kyubi opened its eyes, ready to smash the annoying blond into pulp. Or he would, if it wasn't for the fact that yet another Rasenshuriken was flying towards him.
"And another one!" Naruto shouted, as his Sage Mode slowly disappeared.
The Fox, however, owning to his animal stereotype, didn't allowed to be hit by the same attack twice in quick sucession. Ignoring the pain the previous attack had caused, he quickly moved back while using two of his tails to swat the Rasenshuriken away. It was sent into the sky, where it harmlessly exploded.
"Aw shit..." Naruto lamented, unhappy that he had wasted half his nature chakra like that. He made a hand seal, and dispelled one of the three clones gathering nature energy he had left in his house's basement. Soon, he felt a rush of power as all the Senjutsu chakra invaded his body. "Let's hope this time I can make a better use of my Sage Mode."
However, even if the second attack didn't land, it did provide a needed distraction that Tsunade used to get close to the giant beast. Using the remnants of the trees Rin had created, the Slug Princess climbed one of them and used it as a springboard to jump above the Kyubi. Fortunately, he didn't saw her yet.
"Heavenly Foot of Destruction!"
As Tsunade fell foot first, she pumped as much chakra as she could to said foot, which was engulfed by blue chakra flames. The brutal Senjutsu-enhanced stomp connected, resulting in a sick crunching noise, and the surprised Tailed Beast felt as if a whole mountain was dropped on his back, pinning his body against the ground.
"Good one, mom!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist.
Obito, while still engaged against Kakashi, didn't miss what just happened, much to his shock and disbelief.
"The hell!? No matter how powerful, no mere human should be able to harm a Tailed Beast so easily!" Obito angrily protested.
"This wouldn't be the first time you underestimate Tsunade-sama, do you?" Kakashi mockedly asked, as he traded fast punches and kicks with his former teammates. "Tsunade-sama's famed strength was devastating before. If she has combined it with the additional strength boost provided by the Sage Mode... there's no limit to what feats of destruction she can accomplish now."
Even being hit by such a devastating attack, the Nine Tails didn't give up. Converting his pain into rage, and rage into power, once again the giant Fox used his tails as a whip, and tried to use them to swat Tsunade away like he did with Naruto's Rasenshuriken.
"OOF!" Tsunade shouted, as the wind was blow out of her stomach when the massive tail smashed into her body. Still, the Sannin managed to get a grip on the tail. "You aren't getting rid of me so easily!"
"Hold him like that, mom!" Naruto called, another Rasenshuriken ready to throw. "Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Once again, Naruto tossed another shuriken of pure wind chakra at the giant beast. However, the Kyubi wasn't going to fall again for that. Locking his eyes onto the oncoming attack, the Nine Tails opened his jaws, and fired a small Tailed Beast Ball. The two projectiles crashed, resulting in a huge explosion, which lead to a large cloud of smoke. Though apart from getting some wind in the face, he didn't get any harm.
"Wind Release: Bounce!"
From said cloud of smoke, Naruto shoot forward like a missile, both hands cast upwards, each one holding a rather large Rasengan. The Kyubi barely had time to react before said energy spheres smashed into his face.
"Double Big Ball Rasengan!"
The Nine Tails roared in pain as the two supersized Rasengan blew up in his face, pushing him backwards, and blinding him for a moment. All his tails started to swing wildly, bringing down nearby buildings, and killing some nearby Konoha ninjas and White Zetsu clones alike. Tsunade, still clung to one of the tails, let go when it swung upwards, launching her up in an arc.
"Alright, now it's a matter of nailing the landing zone..." Tsunade said mostly to herself, as she positioned herself so the arc made her land on top of the Kyubi's head. "Perfect! Heavenly Fist of Destruction!"
Tsunade's fist burned with blue chakra as she slammed her fist into the Nine Tails' skull, with such force, it slammed his head into the ground. The Kyubi let out a yowl of pain, before his eyes rolled back into his head, and his entire body slumped. The Sannin jumped from the head, landing safely onto the ground.
"Rin, are you ready?" Tsunade asked, shaking her sore fist.
Rin was sitting on her knees, with a Naruto clone placing his hands on her back, transferring chakra into her.
"Yes, the recharge is now complete!" Rin said, standing up. "Thank you, Naruto! That ability to share your chakra is so useful!"
"I know, right?" the blond proudly replied, before chuckling.
The brown haired medic nin walked towards the aallegedly unconscious Tailed Beast, and fighting off the sense of deja vu, she formed a sequence of hand seals as fast as she could.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
The ground started to shake as big, large tree roots emerged around the Nine Tails, wrapped themselves around his neck, limbs and tails, immobilizing it completely. Even if it didn't appear that he would move anytime soon, one couldn't be too confident in this kind of situation. Once the beast was tied, Rin allowed herself to sigh in relief.
"Sorry Obito, you lose this time," Rin whispered to herself, before turning at Tsunade and Naruto. "Tsunade-sama, the beast is immobilized! Commence the ritual at once!"
Tsunade nodded, and made a hand seal. "Let's not waste another second then. Eight Trigrams Divination Seal!"
A burst of smoke produced in front of Tsunade, and when it dispelled, there was an octogonal platform with a stone altar in the middle, and eight lit candles at each of its corners.
Close to them, Obito and Kakashi continuede their duel. Even if Kakashi did his best to keep Obito away from the Nine Tails, Obito always managed to push him back. Naturally, he witnessed the defeat of his ace in the hole, and how Konoha was about to claim it.
"No! How can this happen!? How can the Kyubi be defeated so easily!?" Obito angrily shouted.
"Face it Obito. No matter how many times you invade Konoha, no matter how many allies you gather or powers you get, your fate will always be defeat," Kakashi said in a taunting manner. "Guess that I should thank you for bringing the other half of the Nine Tails back to us. Guess that deep down, there's still some love for Konoha inside your withered heart."
Obito watched in anger and impotence how Tsunade and Naruto prepared the ritual to seal the Nine Tails into the latter. As much as it pained him to do it, there was no other option but retrear for now. He made a single hand seal.
"Summoning Jutsu: Cancel!"
The bound Nine Tails disappeared, leaving a cloud of smoke behind.
"Like hell you're getting your hands on the other half of the Nine Tails!" Obito shouted, as he was slowly abosrbed by a vortex around his right eye. "Enjoy this victory as it lasts, Konoha scum, for it will be the last one!"
And thus, Obito disappeared.
Sighing in relief, Kakashi allowed to relax his muscles, and calmly walked towards the group of his students, Rin, Tsunade and Naruto. Both blondes looked rather upset, Naruto especially.
"Aw damn! I can't believe we let the Nine Tails escape!" Naruto protested. "A few seconds more, and he would have been ours!"
"A pity indeed," Rin agreed. "But guess we should be happy that we forced Obito to recall it."
"Yes. It will be only a matter of time before he uses it against us again," Shino interceded. "And then, we will be prepared."
"The key is to break the summoning contract," Kakashi said, as he joined the conversation. "Sensei knew how to do it, though I believe it's not too hard for somebody versed in fuinjutsu," Kakashi suggested, before knowingly glancing at Naruto.
"Yeah! Leave that to me!" Naruto proudly stated. "Next time we see-"
However, te blond was interrupted by a tremor shaking the entire village. Everybody turned around to face the direction from where the tremor and the noise came from. All of them lost all trace of color from their face.
"What... what the hell is THAT!?" Tsunade asked in shock.
…
While Tsunade and Naruto were busy taking down the Nine Tails, Jiraiya and Anko, with Gamabunta and Aoda looming behind them, continued their fight against the Six Paths of Pain and Konan. So far, only Yahiko's body, the puppet, and the one who absorbed chakra remained. Gamabunta decided to attack first.
"There's nowhere to escape!" the Toad Boss said, as he brough down his gigantic sword. "DIE!"
Pain, however, merely jumped into the air, dodging the gigantic sword as it carved a large trench into the gound. Once he reached the Toad's eye level, he cast both hands forward.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Gamabunta wasn't expecting that such a tiny creature could project such a force so massive it could be able to violently hurl him away as if he weighed nothing.
"GRAAAAAAHH!" the giant Toad screamed, as he painfully rolled away.
"Bunta!" Jiraiya called, futilely.
Anko, however, knew it was the chance to strike.
"The five second cooldown! Aoda, crush him, quickly!" the snake mistress commanded.
"As you say," Aoda obediently said, as he quickly slithered towards Pain, just as he was descending. Aoda opened its jaws, ready to swallow Pain whole.
However, before the giant snake could gobble the Akatsuki leader, Konan swooped in and grabbed him just a second before Aoda snapped his jaws shut. The giant snake hissed, as he gave chase to the two Akatsuki.
"Damn, we failed," Anko lamented. "Anyway, while they're busy, we should get rid of-"
Anko then was suddenly silenced when a hand was placed on her head. Her eyes rolled back into her skull, as if the mere touch was enough to knock her out.
"YOU!"
Jiraiya saw in shock how one of the Pain bodies, the one with long hair, whose abilities still remained unknown, kept Anko immobile with his mere touch. Then, he pulled the hand back, gripping between his fingers a plasma-like substance with Anko's form, almost as if he was pulling the Special Jonin's very soul out of her body.
Anko then fell to the ground facefirst, and didn't move. Jiraiya couldn't sense her presence anymore. She was dead.
"NO!"
Aoda, still giving chase to Pain carried by Konan, disappeared all of sudden, leaving a cloud of smoke behind. The immediate danger gone, the blue haired woman dropped Pain back on the ground. The moment his feet touched the floor, he started running towards Jiraiya, with his second in command flying behind.
"The snake mistress has been dealt with," Pain declared. "Now it's time to send the Hokage to his grave."
Thanks to his shared vision, Pain could see Jiraiya fighting against three of his bodies, while the summoner was being resurrected as it happened. It seemed that Anko's death had a demoralizing effect on Jiraiya, who fought with far less fire. And now, he would put out that fire permanently. He raised a hand towards the unsuspecting Sannin.
"Bansho Ten'in!"
Unlike the other times, the attack wasn't aimed at the Sannin, but at the toad on his shoulder. Shima gasped in shock upon being pulled towards Pain.
"Ma!" Jiraiya cried. He wanted to catch her, but the other Pains got in the way.
A black rod emerged from one of Pain's sleeves. His fingers wrapping themselves around the tool, he used it to impale Shima in her gut just as she reached him. The poor elderly toad was killed almost instantly.
"MA! NO!" Jiraiya shouted even louder.
"You also possess Sage Mode, but unlike Naruto, you don't seem to rely on clones for it," Pain stated. "Then it hit me. That toad on your shoulder. She was the one keeping your Sage Mode active, wasn't she?"
"You... you will pay for this," Jiraiya seethed.
"I think not," Pain said, raising his hand at Jiraiya once again, the cooldown of his jutsu reaching its end as he did. "Chibaku Tensei!"
Pain fired a small, pure black orb of chakra at Jiraiya, at such speed he wasn't able to dodge it. The orb, no bigger than a marble, imbeded itself into the Sannin's chest, and started to lift him into the air. And as it happened, chunks of earth, debris and dirt were pulled towards it, burying Jiraiya inside it. After a few seconds, the Toad Sage couldn't see the light of the sun anymore.
As it gained attitude, more and more chunks of earth, rock, metal and concrete were being pulled into the forming asteroid, until it became a small planetoid. This one was even larger than the one he had used against Naruto during the fight for the Six Tails. Finally, it stopped at about one hundred and fifty meters above the village. No more chunks were being added to its form anymore.
"Now it's time for Konoha..." Pain said, as he motioned his hand down. "To disappear."
And with that motion, the asteroid was brought down.
Author's Note: Yep, RIP Anko and Shima. I know a certain somebody is going to be especially pissed at me for killing Anko off (well, several people probably, given that Anko is a pretty popular character). And Jiraiya isn't going to fare much better as you could see. But that's what happens when you fight against such a powerful opponent. Now, will they revive like it happened in canon with the people who died during Pain's attack, or will they remain dead for the rest of the story?
Though, not everything is bad news. Deidara, Obito and the Yin nine Tails have been removed from the battle as well, meaning that only Pain and Konan remain as threats to the village. For some reason, I had quite a lot of reviewers expected Deidara to die. Do you find him that expendable? Also, I know many of you were also expecting Naruto to get the other half of the Nine Tails as well, though sadly, I cannot do that yet. I need that other half for a future plotline.
I also had the feeling that I had Yin Kurama lose too easily but... he was fighting against not one but two Sages, one of them being Tsunade who is strong enough without Sage Mode, while in canon Sage Mode Naruto was a pretty good match for the fox.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
Next chapter, the climax of the Akatsuki Invasion! I'm sure you're excited to see how this is going to end! In the meantime, leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!