Author's Note: First of all, this fanfic broke 4000 reviews! Man, when I was beginning to write this, I wasn't expecting that this fanfic would get more than 1000 reviews, much less more than 4000. Let's see if we can rise that number to 5000 before the story ends! Shout out to Yamichaos for submitting the 4000th review!
Second, after the Hanabi Gaiden was published, a couple people reached me asking for permission to write oneshots based on the Son of the Sannin universe. I'd like to say that yeah, if anybody wants to write a oneshot, they're free to do, though I prefer if you discuss your potential ideas with me first (gotta keep things consistent).
Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the chapter:
Chapter 111:
Overwhelming Power
or
When you're crazy enough to fight a god
Shikamaru, Ino and Choji stared at the undead Uchiha, who stared back at them with lifeless black eyes. At his feet was the equally lifeless body of Shikaku Nara. Tears streamed from Shikamaru's eyes, his teeth grinding against each other. Ino couldn't suppress her tears either, and covered her mouth with a hand. Choji's eyes were open wide and his mouth left agape, as if still proccessing what just happened.
"I'm sorry for that," Fugaku dryly said, before he raised his katana in a menacing way. "Now, unless the three of you are strong enough to take down a Jonin, I'd suggest you to fall back and find reinforcements. Despite my best efforts, I can't control my actions."
"That won't be necessary!" a new voice said.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio was snapped out of their stupor when their sensei landed in front of them, and raised a chakra blade protectively.
"A-Asuma-sensei!" Ino stammered.
"Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru's dad-" Choji began, but Asuma raised a hand to silence him.
"I know. I sensed his chakra vanish all of sudden. That's why I came here as fast as I could," Asuma said, his now golden eyes looking at Shikaku's deceased form. "I may not be able to save him, but I'll be able to save the three of you," Asuma said, before pointing one of trench knives at Fugaku. "My name's Asuma Sarutobi, and I shall me your opponent!"
"I have no choice in who I get to fight. But my body is compelled to kill the strongest enemies first. If you're as strong as you appear, you may convince the one controlling me that I should focus on you and ignore the kids," Fugaku said.
"I can assure you you'll find me a challenging opponent," Asuma insisted. "Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, I can't fight an opponent this strong and protect you at the same time. Get away from here and try to fight an enemy more suited to your power and skill. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay."
Shikamaru didn't say anything, he just wiped his tears, and nodded. He turned back and ran away, with Ino and Choji trailing behind him, much to Asuma's relief. He didn't have time for an argument now. Though his relief was short lived, as he saw Fugaku's hands blurring through hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Fugaku exhaled a massive fireball, which flew towards Asuma, leaving a path of scorched grass and ground on its wake. Asuma channeled more chakra towards his trench knives, the blades of chakra they were projecting growing longer, thicker and shining brighter, as he raied them above his head.
"Sage Art: Blade of the Wind God!"
Asuma brought down both weapons, slamming them into the ground, releasing two crescent shaped vertical chakra blasts that traveled forward, carving two furrows into the ground as they moved. They cut the giant fireball coming at the leader of the Tactical Squad, splitting it in two, before the wind around the chakra crescents put the fire away.
"Incredible. Despite my jutsu's power and having the elemental advantage, Asuma's attack-" Fugaku said, before his enemy suddenly appeared before him, trench knife raised above his head, ready to deliver a vertical slash.
Time seemed to slow down, and Fugaku's Sharingan analized the blade of pure white and blue chakra slowly descending upon him. He could tell that parrying with his own katana, even channeling fire chakra to counter Asuma's wind, would be useless, as Asuma's chakra blade would overwhelm any defense he might put up.
"What's with that kind of chakra?" Fugaku thought, as he started to move aside. "His chakra is far more potent than any human... and the color of his eyes and the red marks around them... what kind of power is this?"
Time started to flow normally again, and Fugaku was able to dodge Asuma's brutal vertical swipe. It released yet another crescent of chakra that carved another furrow, as well as raising a powerful gale force winds in every direction.
"It's Sage Mode, Fugaku-san," a creepy, unnerving voice said in his head.
Fugaku recognized it as the man who had borught him back from the dead. "Orochimaru? You know about that?"
"Yes. Sage Mode is an extremely rare art. Only the most powerful ninjas are able to master it, and even then, you need to sign a contract with an animal tribe willing to teach it to you," Orochimaru said. "I wasn't expecting somebody like Asuma to be able to learn such a mode."
"Then his chances of beating me are high. Good. I already died being the unwitting puppet of a manipulator, I don't plan to continue being another puppet in death," Fugaku mentally replied.
Orochimaru chuckled. "And what makes you think you have a choice, my dear Uchiha? Now continue fighting. I want to see how the abilities of the Mangekyo Sharingan measure up against the unexpected power of Asuma's Senjutsu."
That very moment, Fugaku's Sharingan changed into his Mangekyo form, and made a single hand seal.
"Okuninushi!"
Fugaku's body released a wave of chakra in a single burst, and the air around him looked distorted, as if Fugaku wasn't part of this plane of reality. Asuma, who was on the offensive, jumped backwards while rising a chakra blade in a defensive fashion.
"Interesting. It seems as if you know already what this jutsu does," Fugaku observed.
"Because I do. I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I spoke with somebody who did," Asuma explained.
"If that's the case, then somebody must have pillaged my eyes and used them for their own benefit," Fugaku said, before a scowl developed on his face. "It was Danzo, wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was him," Asuma confirmed. The Sarutobi Jonin could feel Fugaku's anger spiking, and decided that soothing him might be for the best. "Still, Danzo is no longer among the living. Maito Gai and Shisui Uchiha put him down."
"Shisui? Is he still alive?" Fugaku asked. "Wait, what about other Uchihas? Please tell me some of them survived the insurrection!"
"Aside from Shisui, only your sons survived," Asuma explained. "After your death, the rest of your clanmates decided they wanted to follow you to the grave and go down fighting, rather than face Konoha's judgement for their actions."
"Even if reduced to a fraction of what we used to be, it's good to hear that the Uchiha still lives," Fugaku said.
"They aren't the only ones. Shisui is a father of two children. It may take generations, but the Uchiha will reclaim their former glory," Asuma said, before his stare hardened. "And thankfully, their leadership won't lose their way like it did under you."
"I know. I'm sorry for killing your father. I'm also sorry for killing Shikaku Nara, even if it wasn't my intention," Fugaku said sorrowfully.
"You were close, but my father still lives," Asuma said, much to Fugaku's surprise. "And now, I shall put you down for good, so no more lives are endangered by you again!"
Asuma dashed forward, while Fugaku jumped backwards, leaving a trail of four negative colored afterimages that mimicked his movements. The former Uchiha Clan Head pulled several shuriken and tossed them at the Sarutobi Sage, and his afterimages did the same. Asuma delivered an horizontal chop in opposite directions with his chakra baldes, creating an X-shaped blast of wind chakra that travelled forward, blowing away all the shuriken.
However, more shuriken came after those, and even more after those. Fugaku and his afterimages unleashed a storm of metal that was able not only of slowing Asuma's attack down, but to stop it completely.
"What the...?" Asuma asked, surprised, as he jumped back from the incoming rain of steel stars, as he made more hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Flame Jutsu!"
This time, Asuma expelled a huge cone of flames, burning so hot, the shuriken melted into puddles of liquid metal in mere seconds, and expanded in width as it moved towards Fugaku. The former Uchiha Clan head tried to move to the side, but was unable to dodge the incoming firestorm, and he was engulfed by a sea of blazing red and orange.
"Even if he's immortal, that fire should be enough to put him down so he can be sealed away before he regenerates," Asuma said to himself, as he watched the flames in front of him quickly disappear. His eyes also returned to normal as Sage Mode vanished. "And good thing, because I used the last of the Senjutsu chakra I gathered before on that attack."
Sure, he still had a Shadow Clone hidden among the trees gathering nature energy, but he wanted to save that for an enemy of similar caliber.
However, when the flames died out, rather than a charred body in the proccess of regenerating, he saw that Fugaku was very much untouched. Around him was a giant ghostly ribcage, black with red edges, and some fire around it that quickly disappeared.
"Susanoo. Of course, I should have expected that," Asuma said, scolwing in frustration.
"You know this jutsu as well," Fugaku observed. "I presume you saw Itachi or Shisui using it."
"Sasuke as well," Asuma added.
Fugaku was a little taken aback, but made no comments on that detail about his youngest son. Then, Fugaku's Susanoo skeleton continued developing, growing arms, shoulders, a neck and a head, followed by muscle, and then skin. Lastly, two black swords appeared on each hand of the construct.
The Sarutobi Jonin seethed as he made a single hand seal. The Shadow Clone gathering nature energy was dispelled, said energy transferring to Asuma, restoring his Sage Mode.
"This is going to be harder than I believed. But I didn't get where I am now by throwing the towel in the face of a challenge," Asuma said, as he channeled chakra through his trench knives, generating two chakra baldes through them. "Let's go!"
…
Shikamaru, Choji and Ino had tried to flee and find a more suitable opponent like Asuma had commanded them. Unfortunately, they were intercepted by Sasori, who decided that they would be his next victims. They've been trying to escape from him, but whenever they moved away, one of Sasori's puppets rained poisoned kuani and senbon on them, forcing them to remain in place.
"Doesn't those things ever run out of ammo?" Choji asked, as he ran away as fast as he could from the deadly metal shower, followed by Ino.
"Even the lesser of my creations are still deadly weapons. Do not underestimate my art," Sasori said, sounding somewhat annoyed.
While one of the puppets continued to rain poisoned weapons on the two Konoha Chunin, the other one generaed blades around its arms, and dashed towards Shikamaru. The Nara, however was unfazed.
"Shadow Sewing Jutsu: Shadow Cocoon!"
Multiple shadowy threads formed around Shikamaru, and wrapped around him, forming a protective shell just in time to block the strike from the incoming puppet. There was a metallic clang upon impact, but the shadow shield didn't break. At least, until Shikamaru commanded it to.
"Shadow Sewing Jutsu!"
The protective cocoon broke apart again into multiple dark tendrils, which wrapped themselves around the puppet's arms and legs, trapping it.
"Now, time to break this thing!" Shikamaru shouted, as he made a hand seal and used his anger to empower his chakra. The shadowy threads started to apply presure, and a few cracks could be heard from within he puppet.
"I won't let you," Sasori said in his bored monotone.
Shikamaru looked at the undead redhead, but didn't see him doing anything. That's it, until he noticed something on his shin. Looking down, he saw a chakra thread attached to it. Sasori then moved a finger with the thread attached to it, and Shikamaru's leg was pulled with deceptively strong force, making him fall on his back, while Sasori pulled his now free puppet back.
"Not that I care that much for these oldies, but it's the best I have now. Then again," Sasori said, as he looked around. "There are so many skilled ninjas here... many of them with Bloodline Limits. Yes, I can start a new collection with all the bodies that will be left once this battle is over."
"Shikamaru!" Ino shouted, as she and Choji rushed to help his friend, but another rain of poisoned metal stopped her from doing so.
"Sorry, but no interruptions. That was your father there, wasn't he?" Sasori asked, his eyes locked onto Shikamaru. "I also know the pain of losing a parent to enemy ninjas, though in my case, they didn't die before my very eyes. You must feel horrible. But fear not, soon you'll be free of your misery and will be able to reunite with your dad."
With a hand wave, Sasori directed his puppet to finish the now helpless Shikamaru. However, all of sudden, the air was fill the sound of cracking electricity, a white, blue and red blur crossed the space between Sasori and his enemies, followed by the sound of ropes being snapped, and then Sasori's puppets fell to the ground motionlessly.
"What the...?" Sasori asked, as the chakra threads on his fingers dispelled. "Somebody cut the threads?"
Shikamaru felt a pair of hands grabbing him by his shoulders and helping him back on his feet. He saw that Omoi and T were the ones helping him up. In front of him was Karui, smirking at him.
"Hey man, you okay?" Omoi asked.
"I've been better, but yeah. That was a nice save," Shikamaru complimented.
Karui smirked in statisfaction. "You're welcome. You're lucky we noticed you guys were in trouble."
"Because you were constantly checking on Choji," T jabbed.
"Were in the middle of a battle, leave the goddamn teasing for when we win!" the redhead angrily yelled at her teammate.
"Yeah, I like to tease Karui as much as you, but she has a point," Omoi agreed.
"Karui!" Choji yelled as he ran towards the group. "You saved Shikamaru!"
"I know, I'm great," she said with a nod, and suddenly pulled out several shuriken from her ninja tool pouch, and tossed them towards Sasori. The redhead was trying to reattach his chakra threads to the puppets, but Karui's shuriken intercepted them before he could do so. "Trying to recover your toys while we're talking, huh? Not on my watch!"
"T, you know what to do," Omoi said.
T nodded, put herself behind Shikamaru, and started to make hand seals. Shikamaru immediately realized what she was doing, and crouched down and made a hand seal of his own.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Flash!"
T's body exploded with bright white light, those unfortunate to look at her in that moment, like Sasori, felt like a lightning bolt just fell in front of their very eyes, and instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes. But just for once, T wasn't using that jutsu to blind her opponent. The bright light, however, had the added effect of greatly expanding Shikamaru's shadow for a few seconds.
A few seconds was all what the Nara needed
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"
With a speed never seen before, Shikamaru's shadow stretched and rocketed forward, touching Sasori's shadow, leaving the undead puppeteer completely immobilized.
"This guy won't go anywhere," Shikamaru said.
"Good. T, put some chakra suppresing seals and restriction seals on him before somebody else tries to free him," Karui commanded.
"Understood," the twin braided kunoichi said, as she moved towards the incapacitated Akatsuki.
"Okay, now that we dealt with that creep, I'd like if we went after my dad. He's pretty dangerous, and I feel only I can counter his jutsu," Ino began. She was about to say something more, when suddenly the ground started to shake under her feet. "What the-"
Shikamaru's heart skipped a beat, as he knew what was going to happen. "Everybody, MOVE!"
And indeed, the next few seconds, the ground cracked, before it violently exploded outwards, sending large chunks of earth and dirt flying everywhere, and naturally, the ninjas that were standing there not even a second ago, including Shukamaru and the others. And from under the recently formed giant crack, an equally gigantic black and red centipede appeared.
"What the hell was that!?" T asked, as she looked at the gigantic centipede charging towards a group of Allied Ninjas fighting Zetsu clones. "A summoned animal?"
"Shikamaru! I saw that animal before!" Choji said. "It was-"
"Pain," Shikamaru interrupted. "Yes, that's one of his summons."
"Pain? What Pain?" Karui asked.
"Pain, or Nagato Uzumaki, as we later found, was the leader of Akatsuki, and a bearer of the Rinnegan," Shikamaru explained. "Among his many powers, he could summon a wide variety of giant animals, much stronger than the usual summoned animals." He let out a weary sigh. "Of course, it was obvious that Orochimaru would revive somebody of such power."
"So all the reanimations he sent after the other divisions weren't even his best. It seems that he's been saving his heavy hitters all this time," Karui said in realization.
"That's all nice and good, but you're forgetting about what's important," T cut in. "How do we defeat that guy? Because if he died before, that means that he we can just kill him again. Or hurt him enough to seal him. So what did you guys do the first time?"
"We didn't do anything. It was Naruto who took him down," Shikamaru replied. "And we can no longer count on him."
"Besides, Pain is way too much out of our league," Choji said. "Only somebody with the power of a Kage is a match for a guy that powerful."
"Thankfully, our Raikage is the leader of this division," Karui reminded, and his spirits quickly lifted. "Yes, Raikage-sama will make short work of that guy, Rinnegan or not!"
"I don't know how strong the Raikage is, but I'm really hoping your faith in him isn't misplaced," Shikamaru said, sounding a little skeptic.
"Though, is there something we can do to help?" Omoi asked, as his eyes darted towards the giant centipede. Then, there was another booming thundercalp, and saw more allied ninjas fighting against a giant lobster. "Damn, another one!"
"Those animals are pretty strong, but they can be taken down with enough firepower," Shikamaru said. "Come on, let's go!"
…
"Watch out!" Fugaku warned.
Fugaku's Susanoo's arm, which was holding a black blade with red edges, was brought down onto Asuma. The Sarutobi Sage wa stempted to parry the attack and check how did he hold against the Uchiha's power, but in the end he refused to take the risk. When the Susanoo sword hit the ground, it created a large crack that keep spreading in its general direction, shattering the ground in its wake.
"Such destructive power..." Asuma said in awe, clicking his tongue as he looked at Fugaku, encased inside the giant chakra construct. "Unstoppable offense and iron hard defense... this is going to be a challenging one..."
"To think that every Uchiha has this power buried inside their being..." Fugaku commented, sounding amazed as well.
"The Mangekyo Sharingan was known since the time of Madara Uchiha, how is that you only learned about it now?" Asuma asked.
"While the existence of the Mangekyo Sharingan was known, how to unlock it was not. Madara kept that knowledge to himself, and took it to the grave," Fugaku explained. "It was shortly before my death that I discovered the secret behind its activation."
Asuma rushed forward, and Fugaku's Susanoo tried to slam him again. This time, Asuma moved aside, before leaping at his opponent, raising both chakra blades. The Susanoo lifted its other arm, generating a sword to parry Asuma's attack. Blades clashed against each other, but in the end, Asuma's ended up slicing through Fugaku's Susanoo's, and struck the head of the chakra construct. However, the initial parry deprived his blow of much of its momentum, and only managed to make a small crack on its head.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
From within the Susanoo, Fugaku exhaled a huge fireball at Asuma, still clinging to the Susanoo's head, though he was able to jump away before the fiery attack could touch him.
"At the very least, I proved that I can overpower his defenses if necessary, though that alone won't be of any help," Asuma thought, his feet touching the ground, and Fugaku's fireball sailing into the sky. "Though the fact that Fugaku can use ninjutsu while inside that thing is troubling..."
Spikes started to grow all around the chakra construct. Asuma tensed up, and noticed that the spikes were all aimed at him.
"Susanoo: Tsukumo!"
The spikes fired off. Still, Asuma wasn't intimidated, and fast as lightning, started to swing his trench knives as fast as possible, deflecting the lethal needles aiming at him. He then noticed another spike of chakra coming from Fugaku, and realized he was making hand seals. He pulled out a handful of shuriken, and tossed them forward while exhaling fire into them, granting them an aura of fire.
"Trying to overwhlem me like that won't work! You still haven't seen the full extent of my abilities!" Asuma said, as he prepared for the new barrage. "Sage Art: Dual Elemental release: Blades of Fire and Wind!"
The blue chakra blades Asuma's trench knives were projecting suddenly increased in length and thickness, while one of them burst into orange flames, and the other turned bluish white. Asuma continued to deflect the Susanoo needles and the flaming shuriken, but now every swing released a crescent of wind or fire, many of them whom hit Fugaku's Susanoo. Said Susanoo moved forward, and tried to smash Asuma with one of its giant blades. This time, the Sarutobi clan member opted to parry the attack, crossing his blades above his head. The impact was powerful enough to sink his feet into the ground, but Asuma his senjutsu-enhanced strength, Asuma spread his blades outwards in an arc, releasing a powerful crescent of wind and fire that shattered the Susanoo's blade.
Asuma moved again. The Susanoo's other arm moved to intercept, albeit this time it appeared it was trying to grab him. As he moved, Asuma started to spin on his feet, turning into a deadly tornado of cutting wind and fire, and the other Susanoo arm was shattered as well.
"Yes! If I use the full extent of my power, I can neutralize his offense and overcome his defense!" Asuma thought in triumph. "Now time to end this!"
Asuma moved for the kill, and delivered a double thrust towards Fugaku's position. The elemental blades met with some resistance when they touched the Susanoo's shell, but this one too was shattered. The rest of the Susanoo vanished as Fugaku made a single hand seal.
"Okuninushi!"
Asuma felt a burst of chakra coming from Fugaku, and cursed inwardly as he jumped backwards, leaving a trail of negative afterimages. Asuma's blades pierced the solid afterimages, but doing so reduced his momentum, and he failed to reach the undead Uchiha.
"Shit! I was so close!" Asuma cursed in anger.
"Yes, you were close. I didn't think there was something that could match, much less overcome, the mighty Susanoo in terms of power," Fugaku said, as the Susanoo formed around him again. "However, you didn't see the whole extent of its power. That was merely the humaoid Susanoo. Here's the next stage, the armored Susanoo!"
The chakra construct grew in size, and gloves, vambraces, shoulderpads, a helmet and a chestplate formed around Fugaku's Susanoo, encasing it in armor. Then, a cowl covered its head, falling behind its back forming a cape. Finally, it raised a hand, generating a double-bladed katana.
The Susanoo raised the double bladed katana even higher, and started to spin it. The force of the spin was so great, it raised a small tornado around it. Once it built enough momentum , Fugaku tossed it forward.
"Susanoo: Helix!"
"If I dodge that, it will continue forward, and Kami knows how many allied ninjas will die to that! I need to stop it!" Asuma said, as beads of sweat ran down his temples.
Channeling chakra into his arms, he delivered a swing with both his blades, hopping it would be enough to stop the attack. The black double katana was shattered by the impact, but it produced an explosion that hurled the Sarutobi clan member backwards, landing painfully on his back. And on top of the damage taken, Asuma felt how the last of the nature energy strengthening his body faded away.
"S-Shit..." he cursed, as he tried to get back on his feet.
Fugaku moved forward, and his dreadful Susanoo with him.
"And that isn't even the whole power of the Susanoo," Fugaku said. "Orochimaru wanted me to test how my power did against that of a Sage, and now that he has the answer, he doesn't need me to hold back. Now be prepared for the power of the Perfect Susanoo."
…
"Asurato!"
Nagato raised his arm, which reassembled itself as if it were a machine into a canon. The barrel of said canon started to glow with a white light as it gathered energy, before finally firing a bolt of chakra at the Raikage.
The Raikage, however, proved that his monicker of fastest man alive wasn't an exaggeration when he was able to move fast enough to dodge the incoming bolt. More bolts were fired, but the Raikage, now barely a white and brown blur, dodged them easily as he zigzagged towards Nagato, leaving a trail of dust and blades of grass behind. Unfortunately, Nagato had something the Raikage's speed was useless against.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Once again, A felt like gravity no longer affected his body a fraction of a second before an invisible force launched him backwards. Despite tumbling a few times, he was able to land on his feet, skidding back into the ground. Then, all of sudden, the sidestepped and wrapped his arm around seemingly thin air.
"Ha! You think you can catch me off guard with such a pathetic trick?"
The air behind the Raikage rippled and shimmered, revealing a gigantic chameleon, with A's arms wrapped around the neck of the snake that was attached to its head. The snake hissed angrily, but the Raikage didn't budge. And showing once again that his muscles weren't just for show, the Raikage lifted the chameleon aove his head before spinning around his feet, building up so much momentum, a small tornado began to form.
"This... may be a problem..." Nagato observed, taking a step back.
"You can have your repulsive pet back!" the Raikage roared, before launching the gigantic reptile at Nagato.
The undead redhead reflesxibely raised his other arm, and fired his most used and versatile jutsu.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The chameleon screeched as the force of the Raikage's throw clashed against the gravity blast of Nagato's attack, crushing the animal's body, resulting in its forced unsummoning, leaving a cloud of smoke behind. Said cloud was split in two the moment the Raikage blitzed towards Nagato again.
"Five seconds before he can use that jutsu again!" the Raikage thought, as the closed the distance between the two once again. "But this time, make sure no other animal interferes... there!"
A huge shadow blacked the sun, followed by a loud and high pitched caw, and the Raikage jumped in time just to avoid a gigantic bird gore him with its large and deformed beak, landing on its head, before running through his body. Upon seeing that it had a leg sticking from its back, the Raikage smirked as an idea formed in his mind.
"That was a big mistake on your part!" A said, as he grabbed the bird by the leg, and jumped towards Nagato, dragging the confused animal with him, before slamming it down on the redhead.
"Mistakes like that are easy to fix," Nagato said, making a hand seal.
That moment, the bird was unsummoned, leaving the Raikage empty handed, the sudden lack of the massive weight he was carrying fumbling his balance. Something Nagato took advantage of, as he jumped backwards while casting his hand forward.
"Bansho Ten'in!"
Falling prey to the same feeling of weightlessness, this time the Raikage was pulled towards Nagato's hand, which wrapped around his throat, as another hand grabbed his head.
"I'm sorry. But you're already dead. Ningendo!"
Nagato then moved the hand back, pulling the Raikage's soul away from his body. Or that's what he would have done, if the Raikage didn't grab his wrist, leaving the large man's soul only partially out his body. The two of them struggled as if the soul was a rope in a tug-o-war competition.
"Don't you dare underestimate me!" the Raikage shouted, as he forced Nagato's hand to leave his soul into his body.
"What the...? How are you resisting this jutsu?" the stunned Nagato asked.
The pressure on his wrist intensified, until it burst in a small cloud of dust and paper bits, causing the hand to fall to the ground lifessly, while the Raikage's soul fully returned to his body. Not giving Nagato another chance, the Raikage delivered a rather brutal kick to the redhead's chest, sending him flying backwards.
Before he could press the attack, the Raikage was alerted by another giant shadow looming over him. He jumped away just in time before a giant bear claw smashed agaisnt the ground, opening a crater. The Raikage glared at the newcomer with a mix of frustration and anger.
"Now a panda bear?" the Raikage asked in exasperation. "Just how many of these things can you summon!?"
The panda let out a roar, as it stomped towards the Raikage, letting out a loud roar. The leader of Kumogakure was unfazed. Electric sparks loudly crackled around his body as he directed more chakra towards his Lightning Chakra Cloak.
"Thundering Elbow Smash!"
In less than a second, the Raikage leaped at the Panda, and sank his left elbow into the giant bear's gut with all the strength he could muster, making the white and black plantigrade to tumble and fall on its back as if it was a chopped tree.
"Lightning Combo: Rapid Fire Series!"
A's fist were coated with electricity, and started to deliver a series of extremely fast paced punches towards his opponent. The panda's furry flesh felt soft at first, but suddenly it hardened into something that resembled iron, and the Raikage's lightning-enhanced punches were barely making a dent on it, something the man quickly noticed.
Despite being lying on its back, the giant panda delivered another claw swipe at the Raikage, who jumped back before the slow moving animal could reach it. Several whistles alerted him of danger, and looking up, he saw a multitude of missiles raining upon him. He remained still, letting the missiles fall around him, producing multiple blasts that engulfed him in a massive storm of fire.
Said storm of fire was instantly dispelled as a surge of chakra burst outwards from the inside, revealing the very much unscathed Raikage.
"I could have dodged that pathetic attack had I chose to. But I wanted to see the extent of your raw strength," the Raikage said, looking at how Nagato moving towards him. "And frankly, I'm not impressed. Then again, there's no ninja who has been able to pierce my Lightning Armor."
"I see. Unfortunately for you, what you saw isn't the full extent of my abilities," Nagato said, as his hands started to form hand seals.
A couldn't prepare for Nagato's attack, as the giant panda got back on its feet, and tried to stomp the Raikage, forcing him to jump sideways. And it was that moment when Nagato unleashed his attack.
"Wind Release: Air Bullets!"
Nagato expelled from his mouth several projectiles of compressed air at the Raikage.
"He waited for me to be in the air so I couldn't dodge. Clever bastard," the Raikage thought, as he saw the air missiles coming at him, while trying to position his body in order to avoid as many of them as possible. "I must increase the power of my armor!"
Before his feet could touch the floor again, several air bullets hit the Raikage, on his right forearm, right shoulder, and left side of the chest. Even if the armor greatly reduced the power of the attack, they still drew blood and made him feel pain. He did manage to dodge and outrun the rest of the projectiles once he could run again.
"As expected, if your chakra armor is based on lightning, then wind chakra can pierce it," Nagato observed. "And very few people can match me when it comes to elemental ninjutsu."
"Not just the Rinnegan, but an affinity that beats mine," the Raikage growled, as he fixed Nagato with an angry stare. He also could hear the giant panda stomping towards him again. "Then again, I didn't became Raikage by shying away from a challenging fight!"
The Raikage jumped just in time to avoid the bear's claw swipe, though rather than jumping away from him, the Raikage leaped towards it, and performed a downward kick as he landed on the beast's head.
"Let's get rid of you first! Guillotine Drop!"
A slammed his foot onto the panda's head with such force, it made it drop into the ground headfirst. As he let gravity pull him towards the panda on the ground, the Raikage aimed his fists down and started to spin.
"Kumogakure Drilling Whirldwind!"
The panda had no time to harden its body, and the Raikage's brutal attack pierced its flesh and skin. Taking critical damage, the creature's summoning was undone, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. As the smoke dispelled, the Raikage pointed a finger at Nagato.
"You're next, zombie," the Raikage said. "And don't think that just because you have wind affinity you have an advantage over me!"
"My affinity isn't just wind, but all five elements. That's one of the many gifts of the Rinnegan," Nagato said, as he started to make hand seals. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Nagato slammed both hands into the ground, and suddenly the grassy terrain around them turned into a vast quagmire. The Raikage quickly started to sink, but Nagato remained at the top as if it was solid surface.
"I recognize this jutsu, it's from Jiraiya!" the Raikage said, as he struggled not to sink. "So it's true he taught you ninjutsu."
"Yes. Your biggest strength is speed, and this will make sure to curb that. For your sake, I hope you have something to counter this, because I don't want yet another innocent in my conscience," Nagato said in a sorrowful, almost pleading tone.
The Raikage, however, took that as nothing but an insult. A vein in his forehead swolled in pure anger.
"YOU THINK A LITTLE MUD IS ENOUGH TO STOP ME!? A bellowed as his Lightning Armor burst outward with energy. "THINK AGAIN!"
And much to Nagato's surprise, A lunged at Nagato, slower than before but still at a breaknecking speed, raising a wave of mud as he moved.
"Incredible, even with such a disadvantageous terrain, his speed is still something to behold," Nagato thought in awe. A chakra rod formed in his hand, as he prepared to endure the incoming clash. Nagato channeled wind chakra through said said rod, and lifted it just in time to parry a brutal ligntning-enhanced punch from the First Division Commander.
The rod broke,but it was able to absorb most of the punch's momentum. And it wouldn't be the last thing that was about to be absorbed. Nagato then placed his other hand on the Raikage's chest.
"Gakido."
The Raikage could feel how his chakra was drained into Nagato, as the lightning armor that surrounded his body started to flicker and disappear.
The Raikage mentally kicked himself for making such a mistake. "Shit! His ability to absorb chakra! Since I'm a taijutsu specialist, I didn't pay it much mind, but I should have realized he could have used it to absorb my Lightning Armor!"
Despite the mud reducing his mobility, A jumped backwards as he channeled even more chakra into his receding Lightning Armor, quickly restoring it to its peak strength. The Raikage prepared to attack again, this time reminding himself to be more careful of the chakra-absorbing ability. But before he could resume the battle, a violent tremor shook the entire battlefield.
"What the...?" the Raikage looked around, and immediately saw the source of the disturbance. A gigantic chakra construct, black in color with red edges, about twelve meters in height, of a heavily armored samurai whose face was covered by a mask with the appearance of a Tengu. He was carrying a double bladed katana that was holding with both hands. "What the hell is that!?"
"Susanoo," Nagato's voice replied. "An Uchiha's most powerful ability. I've never seen one before, only heard about it. Seeing one with my own eyes is... breathtaking."
The chakra construct raised his sword, before bringing it down in a descending arc, opening a huge crack in the ground, sending the unfortunate ninjas caught in the strike flying in all directions, and creating yet another tremor.
"Orochimaru was keeping such a powerful ninja under wraps?" the Raikage asked, as he turned towards Nagato. "I see. He didn't want to show his best cards until we got comfortable with the war."
"Unfortunately, this isn't the worst Orochimaru has to offer. If you don't like the Susanoo, you're going to like this even less," Nagato said, as he raised a hand at the Raikage. The Kumogakure leader braced for whatever jutsu the undead redhead was about to unleash at him. But much to his surprise, Nagato raised his hand further, almost aiming into the sky. "Chibaku Tensei!"
…
"Water release: Double Water Palm!"
Hikari thrust both hands forward, blasting her undead husband with a torrent of water. Hiashi countered it with a Vacuum palm, but it was overpowered, and was hit by the powerful stream of water. His Byakugan noticed Hiazashi coming closer, but was in no position to do anything, Hizashi's chakra flared with power.
"Eight Trigrams: Thirty Two Exploding Strikes! Two Strikes! Four Strikes!" Each one of Hizashi's palm hits was accompained by a small chakra explosion that tore some of Hiashi's artificial flesh from his body."Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! THRITY TWO STRIKES!"
When Hizashi was finished, Hiashi's body was smoking, missing several chunks of his arms, legs, torso, and even head. He limply fell on his back, as he felt the regeneration starting to kick in. But he knew, much to his relief, that he wouldn't regenerate in time before being sealed. And indeed, a couple of sealmasters landed besides the Hyugas, and quickly went to seal the downed Hiashi.
"Don't worry, brother, soon you shall return to your eternal rest," Hizashi solemnly said. "And return to the afterlife knowing that, while the night we lost you we also lost many clan members, the Hyuga Clan is stronger than it has ever been."
"That's... all what I could have... asked for..." Hiashi said, as his body was wrapped in cloths. "I'm glad... that you two... and my daughters... are doing good..."
With that, the sealmasters took the cloth cocoon away, leaving the two Hyugas alone. Hizashi made a move to walk away, but Hikari remained frozen in place. The former leader of the Branch house walked towards Hikari, and a put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hikari-san, I know better than anybody how must you feel now," Hizashi said emphatically. "But the battle is far from over. We can grieve over reopen wounds once we stand victorious."
"Y-Yes. Sorry about that. Let's meet up with-"
Hikari was interrupted when a tremor shook the battlefield. The two Hyuga immediately focused their Byakugan towards the source of the commotion, and immediately found it: a massive Susanoo armor.
"Susanoo?" Hizashi asked. "Whose is that? Shisui went with Hinata-sama to the Moon, and I'm sure Itachi and Sasuke weren't on this division."
"It's obvious that such Susanoo belongs to a reanimation. Other divisions reported of undead Uchihas," Hikari said, as he tried to piece the look of the caster. Unfortunately, the chakra of the Susanoo acted as a barrier for the Bykaugan's enhanced vision. "Plus, the color doesn't match with the Susanoo we know."
"It's massive. Much larger than the Susanoo of Itachi, Sasuke or Shisui," Hizashi said, trying his best to hide his fear and uneasiness. "How are we going to fight that thing?"
"I don't know," Hikari admitted. "I believe Tsunade-sama or Hanabi-chan wouldn't have any problem destroying that thing down. If we could only contact HQ and-"
Once again, Hikari was interrupted by yet another tremor, except this time it wasn't the Susanoo the source of it.
"Over there!" Hizashi pointed into the sky.
Hikari looked were Hizashi was pointing, and saw a massive amount of chakra concentrated into an extremely small point. She only saw something similar once before in her life.
"Hikari-san, is that...?"
The answer in the form of large chunks of earth being ripped apart, trees uprooted from the ground, and rocks elevating into the sky and pulled into the almost invisible chakra orb. And not just that, but some Allied ninjas and White Zetsu clones were pulled into the forming planetoid as well, screaming in horror as they were buried alive by tons of rocks. The fights ceased, and soon everybody was more worried about avoiding an horrible death than killing the enemies. Most of the Zetsu sunk underground in order to escape the powerful gravity pull, but the human ninja weren't so lucky.
A feeling of overwhelming dread overcame the Hyuga matriarch, and scanned the entire battleground, trying to to find somebody whose chakra matched the one from the gravity core. It didn't take her long to find the source of her worries, given that the chakra of the caster was so powerful, it was like a beacon in the night.
She was greeted by the sight of the division commander, the Raikage, in the middle of a heated fight with a redheaded man wearing the Akatsuki cloak. But what drew her attention the most were the man's eyes: purple and with a ripple pattern. Despite the fact that she never saw such a man before, she knew his identity.
"Pain..."
…
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Karui screamed, as she tried to stay anchored to the ground through the tree walking jutsu. But the gravitational pull was so strong, it was increasingly hard to do so.
"Chibaku Tensei! One of Pain's most powerful jutsu!" Choji explained.
"You saw this already!?" Omoi asked in shock.
"Pain used this attack when he and Akatsuki invaded Konoha!" Choji replied.
"Once the moon forming about us is big enough, Pain will drop it onto our heads!" Ino told therm. "That's why we need to run away from it!"
"How the hell Konoha still exists after Pain used that jutsu above it!?" Karui asked in disbelief.
"Because they were able to counter it, right?" T said, looking at Team Asuma with renewed but still fragile hope. "What did you guys do to stop it?"
"Tsunade-sama and Naruto destroyed it," Ino said. "Unfortunately, we don't have any of them here with us right now!"
Karui looked up at the forming planetoid, and felt dread creepying through her body unimpeded. This kind of power was something not even her admired Raikage would be able to stand against.
…
Upon seeing Nagato's jutsu in action, the Raikage launched at the undead redhead, overwhelming him with a barrage of lightning fast punches and kicks. However, even if he was pushed into the defensive, Nagato was able to withstand his onslaught. The Raikage's desperation grew as he realized that, no matter how much he intensified his attack, the jutsu didn't stop. As it grew in size, it also gained more and more altitude. It eventually grew so big, it was able to block the sun, like a man-made eclipse.
"Impressive, isn't it? You know, outside of training, I only used this jutsu once: to destroy Konoha when I attacked it," Nagato commented, though the lack of pride in his words was evident. "Fortunately, they managed to stop it in time."
"And I will stop it as well! BY STOPPING YOU!" the Raikage bellowed, his Lightning Armor flaring bright.
"I wish you were able to. Like I said before, I killed many innocents in my misguided crusade for a better world," Nagato gloomly said. He then raised his hand, before motioning it down. "And now, even in death, more victims will be added to my conscience."
The Raikage turned around, and saw the planetoid falling down. Even if most ninjas had already moved from the zone where the giant mass of rock and earth was going to land, the resulting shockwave and destruction caused by the crash would cause untold amounts of death. And unlike what happened the last time, Nagato wouldn't bring the deceased back to life.
A had the urge to run towards the falling asteroid, but the rational part of his mind told him that he would only get himself killed. So he was forced to watch impotent how it finally crashed down, resulting in a deafening booming sound followed by a storm of rocks, dirt, dust and human bodies being flung in every direction.
The resulting tremor could be felt from many kilometers away.
…
Mountain Graveyard
Leaning against a stone column, Obito watched how Orochimaru used a makeshift board and some kind of white pellets to direct his army of undead. The Sannin had been smiling and muttering something between laughs for quite some time. It unnerved the Uchiha, but at least it algo gave him hopes that maybe this time the battle would go in a different way.
That moment, Zetsu emerged from the ground. He, too, appeared to be pleased.
"Boss, the battle is ours. The enemy has suffered massive casualities, and the Raikage has ordered retreat," the white half explained.
"The reanimated Nagato proved to be quite an asset," the black half added. "His Chibaku Tensei wiped quite the enemy ninja."
"Good to hear that," Obito said, nodding. "About time your abominations managed to bring some results, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru turned at him, and flashed a mocking grin at him. "Yes. Now imagine what you would have done without my 'abominations'. Do you think your pitiful army of White Zetsu would have accomplished anything on their own?"
"Um, sir? What are your orders?" the black half of Zetsu asked, hoping to stop the argument or fight between the two men before it could happen "The enemy is retreating. Should we chase them?"
"Yes," Obito said, his eyes, not leaving Orochimaru. "Our forces must continue pursuit. I'm sure that the Alliance will send reinforcements, but that is of little consequence. How is the search of the jinchuriki hideout going?"
"Our aerial Zetsu have begun the search. The seas to the side of the Land of Lightning are vast, and storms are common over those areas. It might take a while," the white half replied.
"Even if we can't find their location, the news of one of their villages being destroyed will make them come out," Obito said. "Return to the front and continue watching over the enemy."
"At once boss."
And Zetsu disappeared, leaving Obito and Orochimaru alone once again.
Author's Note: I already said in the previous chapter that this battle would be an Akatsuki victory the moment they got their hands on the location of the jinchuriki, but I wasn't done yet. I wanted to to make this not only a stretagic defeat, but a tactical one as well, with the Alliance also losing on the battlefield.
There won't be the typical "after action breather" after this chapter, given the way it ended. Mostly since the battle hasn't ended yet. They're now in retreat, with Akatsuki in full pursuit, and in dire need of reinforcements. Who the reinforcements are, I'm sure you guys can imagine.
But that won't be next chapter. Because next chapter... we go to the Moon! Yeah, it's about time for Hinata to face Toneri for the last (heh) time.
Oh, and while Akatsuki learned about Naruto, Fu and B's location, it will be some time until they learn where they are exactly (remember that they're on an island that moves constantly. Even with the knwoledge of its exsitence and the flying Zetsu, it will take some time for Akatsuki to nail their position). There are still a few battles left until Akatsuki try to capture the jinchuriki.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
So, what did you think about the chapter? Tell me your thoughts in a review! Or if you don't feel like leaving a detailed review, I do appreciate if you leave a few words of encouragement as well. Long or short, reviws make me really, really, really happy!